namaskaram Nitai dasa ji
Ekachakra Dham (the birth place of Sri Nityananda).... Ki Jai
thank you for opening this thread and the opertunity to glorify their lordships Sri Sri Chaitanya and Nityananda , ...
my appologies for not realising you were allready posting on the thread ....
http://www.religiousforums.com/threads/nityananda-sri-chaitanyas-associate-gaudiya-vaishnava
thank you it has made very enjoyable reading , ...
it is hardly surprising that there is so much missunderstanding as to the nature of the supreme , somthing which in our limited form is allmost impossible to fully comprehend , ...thus the lord himself appears time and time again for the diliverance of those under the illusion of maya , ...
something l think which is also some what confusing especialy for those in the west that even amongst Vaisnavas there are different liniages with different alegences to one or other form of the lord , ...furher more there are also differences between Gaudiya liniages allthough we are very closely connected , ..yet in truth we all worship the same supreme , ...
please if you would expand a little on the importance of this sankirtan movement from the perspective of your sampradaya , ...l have limited time this morning but will re join you this evening , ...
Nitai Gauranga Hari Hari bol
Nitai! My only goal in life is to please Nitai and the Vaishnavs. Dandavat pranam ratikala Ji.
Thank you for your query, by whose excuse we can glorify the sankirtan movement. I will write a few words about this and Lord Nitai's role in our sankirtan movement.
Nama Sankirtan
Nama Sankirtan, or the congregational chanting of the God's Name, is the most spiritually powerful and merciful process in this dark age of Kaliyuga. Nama Sankirtan is accepted as the Yuga Dharma, or the religious practice of this age by all four Vaishnav Sampradayas. In fact there is no other way than Hari Nama in this Kaliyuga. This is confirmed in Brhad Naradiya Purana:
"Harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha"
"In this age of Kaliyuga, the only means of deliverance is the chanting of the holy name Lord Hari. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way"
Notice how the verse repeats "Harer Nama" (Hari's name) and "nasty Eva" (no other way) three times to truly emphasize how important the Name is.
Now many people do not have faith in the God's Name, because they believe that His Names, like Hari, Narayan, Krsna, Madhav etc, are just a man-made combination of words, or not spiritual potent. However this is incorrect. Just like the Lord, is Complete and Perfect, similarly His Name is also Complete and Perfect. This is confirmed in Sri Isoupanishad, which says "purnam idam, purnam adah", meaning if something is Perfect then respect parts of that object must also be Perfect. Therefore since God is perfect, His Name, Form, Qualities, and Pastimes are also perfect. In this way, the Name of Sri Krsna, is non-different from Sri Krsna Himself. When one chants the Name, then Lord Sri Krsna descend and dances on our tongue. Such is the glories of the name!! The Name is described by Rupa Goswami as "cintamani" meaning it can easily give any of the four purusharthas (Kama, Artha, Dharma, and Moksha). The ultimate fruit of the Name however is Krsna Prema, or Love for God, which even the demigods like Brahmna and Shiva find difficult to attain. Nama Sankirtan is especially powerful, because when the Nama is sung, then Kirtana, Sravana, and Smarana all occur at once. Further, if a Suddha Vaishnav is in the party, then our Nama also reaches Krsna.
Nama Aparadha
However we find that then we chant the name of Krsna, nothing happens. We don't see His form, or see His pastimes either which is supposed to be one of the fruits of the name ( isat vikasi punah dekhai nija rupa guna). This is due to the Nama Aparadhas (offenses against the Name) which covers us so we cannot experience the true power of the Name. There are ten Aparadhas in total. This is why, even when people chant for 20+ years, they still cannot see the Form, because of Nama Aparadha. Generally, it takes three lives to over come Nama Aparadha and thus have a Darshana of Sri Krsna. This is where Lord Nitai Gaur come in.
Nitai-the distributor of Offenseless Nama
However Krsna and Balarama have descended again as Gauranga and Nityananda respectively just for us fallen souls who cannot experience the power of the Name. They are so merciful they do not concider offenses and ask only for a little faith, and will give everything in return. This is confirmed in scripture:
"Nityananda Chaitanya nahi esaba vicara, nama laite Prema dena vahe asru dhara"
Lord Chaitanya and Nityananda do not concider the Nama Aparadhas, simply by taking their names one is gifted Prema and tears flow out of ones eyes"
That is why, those who take shelter of Lord Nitai Gaur will attain Swarupa Siddhi (realization of ones spiritual form) and darshan of Sri Radha Krsna in this very life. Nityananda Prabhu especially is very very merciful because He does not see any qualifications. You only have to ask with little faith, and He will mercifully give. This is because Lord Nitai is also the paramatma in our hearts, so he personally understands the pain and misery of each soul. That is why His disciple, the great Vrndavan Das Thakura, writes:
"Doyala thakura Nitai, para dukhe jaane, harinama mala ganthi dila jane jane"
"My Lord Nitai is very merciful because he understands the pain of each and every soul. In order to mitigate that suffering, He is personally threading a garland of Harinama which He gives indiscriminately to everyone"
That is why my Gurudeva is preaching the importance of Lord Nitai. It is only due to Lord Nitai that Harinama has descended into this world. This is confirmed by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura:
"Nitai jivera dasha maline dekhe nama eneche braja theke re, madhura ei harinam, madhura ei harinama"
"Lord Nityananda seeing the pitiful and fallen condition of the living entities has brought the Holy Name from Goloka Vrindavan, that is Name is sweet, that Name is sweet"
That is why my Gurudeva has manifest the long lost spiritual practice of Nitai Mantra writing, or Vayu Lekhan. It is the culmination of his 30+ years of spiritual practice and He is spreading it under the direct order of Lord Nityananda. This process involves writing the Name of Nitai, in the air, while also visualizing it in the mind. This process grants offenseless Nama very quickly, and one will be able to have darshan of Sri Radha Krsna in this very life. Even when someone as wretched and fallen and me writes Nitai's name I can feel the ecstasy building up in my arms, simply from writing His holy name. I will be happy to share some of my experience regarding Lord Nitai later. More information about this process can be found here:
http://nitaism.com/the-most-effective-process-of-nitai-airwriting/
That is the basic gist of our mission. Take shelter of Merciful Nitai and chant Harinama. Everything else is secondary. Nitai!!