Greetings

GPandit · Post by **GPandit** » Wed May 11, 2005 4:05 pm

Just wanted to introduce myself and say hello. I came across this site a few days ago, and really enjoying the lectures. Hari, it's good to hear your voice again after all these years. Circa 1973 or '74 Henry St. Brooklyn.

I've listened to several of the lectures, and my interest is really peaked. Because of my background (similar to others on this site), I have tried to come to terms with many of these questions (e.g., demigods, Shiva, etc.) for a long time. Thanks for the lucid explanations. I look forward to traveling along with you for a bit. I'm quite excited already, from the lectures.

If there are books, authors, etc. that you'd recommend, I'd be interested. Or tips on how to incorporate this information/training. Keep up the great work.

Garuda Pandit

Hari · Post by **Hari** » Wed May 11, 2005 10:48 pm

Thank you Garuda Panditji for your greeting. I hope that we can offer you something useful!

There are many books that I like, but perhaps you can be more specific in your desires? Shall I just post a list of some good books or do you want some specific subject addressed in a book?

Thank you for your support. I need it. I know that might sound impertinent, but honestly speaking, without there being real people out there to present things to, I would have no reason to do so. It is easy to say that I should just do it for the sake of doing it, but I am not like that. I like to reciprocate with people and when they say they like what they are getting, I get encouraged to continue.

Hope you are well,

Hari

GPandit · Post by **GPandit** » Thu May 12, 2005 1:15 am

You have a lot to offer, Hari. There are many people who can benefit from your realizations and experiences. Some (like myself) have been through the heavy indocrination and narrow-mindedness of Isckon. I've had to do a lot of work to clear out the fear and guilt. That's long gone now, but it is not always clear how to get back to the joy of that mystic experience we were looking for so long ago. So I believe you may have some of the answers/connections.

More specifically about the books: what books helped you to become liberated from those old negativities? which ones were pieces to the puzzle which we are trying to understand? Or, whatever else you feel like recommending

Many more questions, but I don't want to be a hog. Let me finish listening to the lectures first. Really appreciate what you are doing Hari.

Wishing you well,

GP

Hari · Post by **Hari** » Thu May 12, 2005 2:20 pm

GPandit wrote:More specifically about the books: what books helped you to become liberated from those old negativities? which ones were pieces to the puzzle which we are trying to understand? Or, whatever else you feel like recommending

Thank you again for your appreciation. Yes, we have gone through difficult times and regaining our confidence in ourselves as good, spiritual, strong, capable, powerful, independent and intelligent people who are NOT bad, fallen, useless, and so on, is a real achievement!

Specifically, the books that helped me the most to understand life in a really positive and spiritually relevant way were Conversations with God (Neal Donald Walsh) and the follow up books, Communion with God, Friendship with God and so on. Although not every word in these books resonated with me, there were enough wonderful things, wonderfully phrased, that I felt very happy and enlivened and very confident that recommending these books to others is a very good thing. But every word made me think, made me question, and made me appreciate my life and all that has happened in it. Probably you have already read them, but these books specifically address the negative conditioning that is there in fundamentalist organizations which require their members to think and fit into molds which are not necessarily good for them as individuals.

I don't even care if someone agrees with what is presented or not for these books make you think. I was never able to read many pages at a time since I would often simply put down the book and absorb something that was said.

Some have tried to discredit Mr Walsh since he later on said some things which they do not agree with about Krishna or others. I think it is good that he did that since it confirms to me that he is not really the source of the knowledge he presented. There was a part towards the end of the third book in the series when I could feel his personal prejudices color and transform the presentation. This is my personal opinion. When I read the books the he personally wrote I see a big difference from the books that flowed through him (the one's that I quoted above). This does not mean that he has no value personally or that his own writings are not important, for they are important as expressions of himself and how he sees reality. I think it is great that he stands on his own as a teacher and presents things according to his own realization as this is a good way for him to grow and for some people to learn from another point of view. But the original books are world class and extremely valuable, especially for those who have been in movements, organizations, sects or however you wish to label groups of people who all accept some system without the freedom to question the axioms upon which these systems are based.

Since you asked about getting free from the old negativities, these books seemed to be the best way to start. There are others, many others, in all kinds of fields that are valuable and filled with wisdom, but none address this particular issue as directly and appropriately as these books do.

Psychology has many wonderful authors who either are influenced by Abraham Maslow (the most quoted psychologist of all time), Carl Jung, or others. In my opinion, there is no better source to find out about the mind and character of children and an enlightened way to see their development than Rudolf Steiner.

Ah, the list is endless! I could go on for hours listing good books.

GPandit · Post by **GPandit** » Fri May 13, 2005 1:46 am

Thanks for the recommendations--actually, I have not read these books and look forward to checking them out.

Regards,
GP

Nanda · Post by **Nanda** » Mon May 23, 2005 5:24 pm

Hari wrote:Thank you again for your appreciation. Yes, we have gone through difficult times and regaining our confidence in ourselves as good, spiritual, strong, capable, powerful, independent and intelligent people who are NOT bad, fallen, useless, and so on, is a real achievement!

Specifically, the books that helped me the most to understand life in a really positive and spiritually relevant way were Conversations with God (Neal Donald Walsh) and the follow up books, Communion with God, Friendship with God and so on...

... Psychology has many wonderful authors who either are influenced by Abraham Maslow (the most quoted psychologist of all time), Carl Jung, or others. In my opinion, there is no better source to find out about the mind and character of children and an enlightened way to see their development than Rudolf Steiner.

Ah, the list is endless! I could go on for hours listing good books.

Hello, dear friends. This is my first day on this new site, I am so happy to discover it as something what we really need, as a new step and experience to help each other to go step (and more) further in our spiritual life.

Thank you, dear Hari, to you and Kamala, for this gift.

I am more than agree with GPandit that you have a lot to offer.

During those past years, I asked myself many times why some "things" have happened under the name of "bhakti", "love" and "understanding"... But, non of that "narrow-mindedness" and other ISCKON things, did touch my desire to know, to find and understand God, to open my heart to Him. Just because of the way how did you, by your words and love, had led me trough my first spiritual journey.

Reading now your answer to GPandit and books what you recomanded, I had to say those things because - those books helped me a lot to continue and to improve my understanding of God, to think, to love... to develop a desire to research and find more spiritual knowledge trough many different ways. With mercy and help of Lord Krishna.

Thank you again.