Participants in the current session -

You are cordially invited to study the current title with us.

Current title: Guru-tattva-vijnana - The principle of Sri Guru by Sri Ananta Das Babaji Maharaja.

Please make a post in this thread to let us know you're currently following the reading assignments and participating in the study. We like to keep track of who's onboard. And yes, it's for free.

No, the world doesn't end if you don't have the time to participate in every single assignment. However we would hope that only those who read their assignments posted comments on the follow-up threads.

Count me as one insignificant speck in this discussion. I was just thinking the other day that I should read GTV again, so I'm really glad this is the first book. I'm excited!

Dandavats,

Lancer

I am participating.

DharmaChakra participates.

Others?

I will be participating as of monday.

Yes I’m, but the thing is I think we left the GTV in Washington Lake, NY. I ordered the book from the Loibaazar, as I told Dharma, but I’m waiting for it. Is there a way that I could get a copy to paste, from somewhere, while I’m waiting to be delivered?

I think the first session's worth is available in the free sample at Krishnacaitanya.Com.

I will be in.

Thanks!

GBTV

I can participate from the next week (April 18), when I'll return home and shall have real Internet connection (now I have very limited one), but I don't understand clearly what is meant by "participate"? Take part in discussion?

Basically, participate means:

1. Read the weekly assignment starting on each Friday,
2. Participate in the follow-up discussions that start on each Monday, and
3. Fill in a quiz every month.

A quiz?!? Harrumph -- if we have to take a quiz, I'm hoping that afterwards we'll each receive "a handsome certificate, suitable for framing".

Seriously, though, I like tests and quizzes -- it's a way for me to doublecheck to see whether I actually understand something, and it also is one more added impetus to delve a little deeper into the material. My day job (or one of them -- I'm a busy, busy boy) is teaching at a junior high school, and I always tell my students that if they would study, I'd never give them tests, but since some of them won't study unless the onus of a test hangs over their heads, what can I as a teacher do?

And I've started re-reading GTV, and I'm having a blast. Why is it that spiritual topics become more relishable when reviewed and rehashed, but mundane topics just become more tedious? (rhetorical question, doesn't require an anwer) Anyway, one difference I've added this time through is to copy out some of the Sanskrit and Bengali verses that Babaji quotes so that I can memorize them.

Thanks again to all of you who are behind this study group!

Dandavats,
Lancer

I'll add that the quiz is optional indeed. However those who pass do indeed get a handsome certificate, suitable for framing, although you'll have to print it yourself.

Yes, count me in, Madhava! Otherwise, I'm in too many books at the same time. I like this idea very much, and fortunately the book is just beside me waiting to be read.

Gaur Haribol!

I'm not sure if this tol is gender restricted - is it?

Hmm... no? Yes, men are also allowed.

Very funny!

Just wanted to make sure since I don't see any saha-pAThinI.

Malati says she's in. She'll get her own laptop sometime after the 16th of May, after which she'll participate more.

Please count me in as well. My thanks to you all, especially DharmaChakraji and Madhavaji, for this great opportunity. Jai Radhe!

I just got back from trip abroad so it was great to see this was up & running.

Please count me in.

I'm in, definitely.

Radhe Radhe!

I apologize that I haven’t been able to participate. On top of all of the computer issues and such I lent my one copy of SSGTV-SSBTV to an employee who was traveling to India for a few weeks. What can I say but Book Distribution KI JAYA! So any participation will be off everyone’s great observations and comments!

Rasaraja dasa

I may not participate actively but want to enjoy the discussion.

I’m still here.

Can I just ask, who was participating in this week's session?

I was participating -- that is, I read the assigned passage, thought about it some, realized that I have never done a lick of guru-sevA in my life, posted some things (including a long passage regarding nAmAparAdha which seemed to kill off its thread, no replies), read what other people had to say, thought some more, realized that not only have I never done a lick of guru-sevA but that I would be qualified to do so only if the guru were especially merciful, read some more, thought some more, now patiently waiting for my "handsome certificate, suitable for framing".

I have learned some practical things. The list of things not to do in front of the guru and its online discussion reminded me of several things that I should have known but have forgotten and introduced me to several more (I'm going to have to pay attention not to pop my knuckles if Srimati Radharani ever allows me to reach Radha Kunda). The one important thing that I knew before and still know is that bhakti starts with sAdhu-saGga, and I will only reach the stage of being able to serve the guru if the Vaisnavas shower their causeless mercy on me, causeless not because I'm parroting IGM jargon but because there would be no good reason for them to look favorably upon me. I really liked that passage a week ago that said that hari-nAma japa before initiation leads one to the guru -- now if only I had any attachment to the Holy Name.

Sorry I didn't post more, because I've been as busy as the other members, but I was participating, if only by reading and pondering Madhava's excellent posts.

Actually, my real worry, and one reason that I'm glad this last session was extended a few extra days, is that I expect our next book will be the Bhakta-tattva, and I know that comparing myself to what it says I should be will really depress me. Notwithstanding that I don't meet the qualifications in the definition of bhakta, my first question in that discussion will be whether an uninitiated soul like myself can even consider himself a bhakta, which is certainly no ordinary thing.

Fortunately, the real end result of re-reading this essay is that I better understand not only the importance of initiation, but also the all-powerful mercy potency of the guru and how it flows from Bhakti Devi and the Lord himself. This gives me a few drops of faith and hope. I think I have worked up enough nerve to write to Sri Srimad Ananta Das Babaji Maharaja, and I even know how to address the letter. I beg the blessings of the assembled Vaisnavas in this endeavor.

Dandavats,
Lancer

Sorry, I've been abroad. Also I am kind of bumping along without much enthusiasm at present. Hoping to hang on until the tide turns!

Glad the rest of you are posting though!

Babaji Maharaja said this to me a couple of times so I can vouch that attachment isn't necessary. I think it was his polite way of saying, "God knows how you got here!"

I suppose it depends on how much I can twist the definition of "participating" If reading the set portion of the text, following the discussions, and posting one line counts, then I was participating.

Pretty shameful really, I know.