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Re: New Member

From the Bhakti List Archives

K K • February 25, 2000 


Gregory
  Its wonderful to have you here, and to know your
life style.  It's very important to give what you know
to others, and its wonderful to know that you are into
teaching and you wanna know more about Visistadvaitha
Philosophy !!! Well i guess you got the right
website,and the right person.  I am one of the
Directors in the IT Department at Kforce.com, formerly
Romac International, @ NY.  Also i serve as a servent
in a 100% pure Visistadvaitha Temple at NY, its called
Sri Ranganatha Temple.  

Well anyway Let me answer your questions and if you
have any questions at all, please feel free to call or
email.

Question: 1. I understand why the object of worship is
fixed. 
> But isn't it fixed as
> Vishnu?  There are many deities.  Why Vishnu?

Why Vishnu, This is the best question ever you can
ask, if One understands this then its like
Understanding the Ultimate Truth and goal in Life.  
Well here is the answer, Vishnu is the Only
Parabrahman inthe Entire cycle of GodHead.  To explain
better, even from Brahma to Siva, and all other demi
Gods are all considered as jeevathma, and its only
Vishnu who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. 
There is no end or beginnig for him, he is Ayonija,
and He is the only one who pocess the dive qualities
of Being the supreme Personality of Godhead.  He is
also called through different names, for example,
Krishna, Vishnu, Sriman Narayana, and soforth.  But
primarily he is called as Sriman Narayana.  The reason
why is even the demi Gods pray one and only to Vishnu,

The Vedas, and Scriptures, and epics, and even the
Upanishads, and anything and everything you know in
reference to the philosophy of the Sanathana Dharma
(Hindu religion)  proves that Narayana(Vishnu) is the
one and only Supreme personality of Godhead.  And that
is why its Only Vishnu who is Spreme.  

Question:I would like to
> visit, with the students, a true Sri Vaishnava
> temple or service.  Is this
> possible in the New York metropolitan area?

Well you are in luck pal, Sri Ranganatha Temple is
right in NY, Which follows true Vaishnava philosophy,
coz at Ranganatha temple, they do-not have any other
devi Devatha worship, they follow strictly the
Philosophy of Sri Ramanuja.  I believe its the only
temle in the entire country which follows Strict
Vaishnavism,  This is actually said by great Sanyasi
who visited America often, His name is Sriman Naryana
Jear of Andhra Pradesh.  Also through various other
Sanysis's from India that This temple is considered as
the SriRangam of America, ( Well Sri Rangam has the
Original Ranganatha Temple in India, which is very
famous for the glory of that lord who blessed
Billion's of devotees onthe Earth.) This temple is
acutally 20 Min away from the GW Bridge, please feel
free to call the temple at 914-627-6716 for various
programs they have, which goes on every week, for
traditional services, and etc... anyone is welcome. 
Please feel free to join us, and get to know the
philosopy of the Vaishnav Tradition better.  

Once again its a pleasur to have you here and feel
free to post any questions or comments. 

Regards
Krishna



--- Gregory Goode  wrote:
> Greetings all!
> 
> My name is Greg Goode.  I am pleased to participate
> (that is, listen and
> pay attention) on this list.  I work as a Computer
> Support specialist at
> Davis, Polk & Wardwell, an international law firm in
> Manhattan, New York.
> My education includes a B.A. in Psychology and an
> M.A. and Ph.D. in
> (Western analytic) Philosphy.
> 
> Although I have no background in Sri Vaishnavism or
> Visishtadvaita, I was
> attracted to the bhakti element from the excellent
> Sri Vaishnava Home Page
> and the Dvaita Home Page.  My spiritual background
> includes six years of
> Pentacostal Christianity (a very bhakti path), and
> about a decade of
> Advaita Vedanta.  This latter has been independent
> study, and under the
> auspices of the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam and the
> Chinmaya Mission.  I am a
> co-moderator or the advaitin and HarshaSatsangh
> mailings lists, and I
> maintain a web page on Western Philosophy and
> Non-dualism on
> www.nonduality.com/western.htm.
> 
> There are a few questions I have, if I may, for the
> distinguished members
> of this list.  I am teaching Vedanta Philosophy at a
> yoga center in
> downtown New York City.  The class is primarily from
> the advaitic
> viewpoint, but I would like to expose the students
> to information and
> activities from the Visishtadvaitic and Dvaitic
> viewpoints, to which I have
> very little exposure.  Can you help?
> 
> 1. I understand why the object of worship is fixed. 
> But isn't it fixed as
> Vishnu?  There are many deities.  Why Vishnu?
> 
> 2. There are many devotional activities available in
> the New York in the
> yogic traditions and Westernized quasi-Hindu groups.
>  But I would like to
> visit, with the students, a true Sri Vaishnava
> temple or service.  Is this
> possible in the New York metropolitan area?
> 
> Thank you for any information possible!
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Greg Goode
> 
> 
> Greg Goode (e-mail: goode)
> Computer Support
> Phone: 4-5723
> 
> 
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