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Appreciation Letters |
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HARI BOLOOOO!!!
congratulations for vaisnavi.com
very nice!!!
I have some articles that can be of your interest for the site. Some things of Srila Tripurati Maharaja, some others of Atulananda Acarya from Chile, and some others thinks. I will send them this week, all right? then you see if are good or not for vainavi.com...
Radhe Radheeee
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Reverencias madre, felicitaciones por la página web.
Le envío unas fotos que tome este año acá en el ashram de madres en Santiago de Chile donde tenemos la misericordia de vivir junto a Gurudeva Atulananda y su familia. Pronto le envío más fotos.
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Thanks for your story and the link to the womens site. I sent the link out to friends and our egroup for disciples of Swami.
I appreciated your site very much and I have some suggestions. I think you could use more articles from women on your site.
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I went to your site again and took more time to look around. I think you have the makings of a great and important website. There is a book from Mandala called Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Posting the stories of the Goddesses and information from that or another relevant book would be a good idea. Also the idea that we are actually what SM called suddha shaktas or followers of Radha the Supreme Shakti.This is what distinguishes the Gaudiyas from other Vaisnava sects. Look in the sanga archives at Shakti and Supreme Shakti. Also Narsinga M has an article about Radha as suddha shakti as well. You are the editor of your site and you don't have to use every word from the various authors. You can edit out "unsuitable" or harsh comments by saying that the post is "excerpts from" so and so or such and such.
Someone should have informed SP that some of his comments about women should not be included in his books. But devotees were all too much in awe of him to render this type of advice. In the book Hare Krishna explosion Hayagriva tells how Prabhupada gave him his Gita to edit. As a university professor Prabhupada trusted him and told him to do what was necessary to make his Gita presentable and respected to scholars and educators. I believe if Hayagriva or anyone would have made a case against those comments Prabhupada would have had them edited out.
Now because of comments about women in the first chapter even Hridayananda M said he cannot use SP book in the University classes where he teaches Gita. Modern women won't tolorate such statements and I believe SP disciples failed him in this matter.
In our movements harsh male dominated culture women need a site like yours. Iskcon may have such a woman's site where you might get some info. Show from Prabhupadas vedabase how much he loved his female disciples. If you don't have vedabase maybe erica can help you.
As xxxx I link readers and enquirers to sites every day. I need a good woman's site to link people (devotees and otherwise) to. You have the talent to make your site one of great merit. You are doing so now by posting Swami's much needed words on women. Balance everything by posting Prabhupadas favorable comments as well. Prabhupada said when it comes to preaching girls are as good as their brothers. Show how this is true. Post more information on Vaisnava women's history. Don't leave Mira out but tactfully include her and something of our view (softly) as well. Make this site you life's work. It is needed.
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I haven't had time to fully check out your site, but I wanted to let you know where you can get info on more Vaisnavi Saints. There is a book called "Vaisnavi: Women and the Worship of Krishna". It's a collection of essays edited by Steven Rosen, Satyaraja Dasa and I believe it was published in 1997. It's a must read for any Vaisnavi. Whenever I'm feeling disenheartened by the patriarchal system, I pick up this book to reassure myself that I'm in the right place.
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I have a lot of service to do, so I don't think I have time to write an article myself, but I am keeping my eye out for stuff for you and I posted info about your website on the Vaisnavi Yahoo Group. (There are only 7 members, don't get too excited. ;) ) I will try to look thru the Vedabase for good things Prabhupada said about women. You may get some criticism for publishing only the good things, however, I feel that people are usually only repeating the bad things (women are lessintelligent, etc) and forgetting all the good things he said and these are the things we need to be reminded of. We'll let the GHQ and others remind us of the bad things. ;)
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I don't know what you think about this, but maybe your website can do something with counseling ladies. I know that there are a LOT of ladies who are in great anxiety and are looking for someone to talk out their problems to. Even if nothing else, they are looking for an "ear" to listen.
If you want to do something with this, I am willing to handle the service in the form of emailing WHEN I can get to a computer.
Let me know if you are interested in this idea.
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Below is the edited version of my answer. It includes the points I wanted to make about diksa mantra. Thanks for posting it on your site. Whenever I go to www.vaisnavi.com I appreciate your work more and more and I have begun to refer sanga questioners to your site. In my view you are doing a very valuable service. I also appreciated the posted photo of you and the baby. I think the photo adds feeling and humanity to the philosophy found there. If possible in the future consider posting photo pages of women who regularly contribute articles to your site (as they do on VNN). I think the Krishna consciousness movement could use a little more sisterhood so to speak. Our philosophy is presented so often from the harsh male dominated viewpoint that I feel some balance is sorely needed. So carry on and if my blessings are worth anything then you surely have them.
One thing I should mention is that I send out holy days information that contains bio's of saints copied from a regular presentation posted on tattva-viveka the egroup for disciples of Swami Tripurari. I do not compile this info I only copy and send it around. This holy days presentation is expertly done by xxxx a disciple of Swami. On your site you have some info said to be contributed by me that were compiled by xxxx so it would be wrong of me to take any credit. If you can, please change the credit to her name and know that anything that comes to you in that format has been compiled by her.
This is just another example of a man getting the credit for all the work done by a woman.
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I'm thinking of writing some bios for some lesser known Vaisnavis, so I'll forward them to you if I ever get around to it. I was going to start with Uttara. I was amazed that she and Pariksit are the main speakers in Sanatana Gosvami's Brhad Bhagavatamrta. Didn't know that before I started to research her. :)
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I just wanted to drop you a note to say "wow!". I've just looked at Vaisnavi.com and seen how busy you have been in the articles section. I am now going to read all of them.
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Hare Krishna: Nice site! Thank you; maybe some of us guys will be enriched by visiting it.
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