The item contains recordings of informal meetings between Babaji and his students and guests at Jiva Vrindavan.
These meetings took place during the previous Bhakti Ratna semester from January through March 2023. After the morning kirtan devotees would gather around Babaji and ask questions on a variety of śastric and devotional subjects and pose practical day-to-day queries. Thus the name śāstra-charcha — discussion on śāstra, mostly scriptures relevant to Gaudiya Vaishnavism. In between Babaji also reads from the book Chitta-vinodini, “a collection of ślokas that entertain the heart.“
Part 1 covers recording of meetings between January 2–16, 2023. It consist of 10 recordings (~4h) and a detailed content description.
Jiva has its own identity, separate from Bhagavan. If Bhagavan and Jiva are absolutely one, then there can’t be a relationship between worshipper and the worshipped, or master and servant, or lover and the beloved. For a relationship there must be two distinct individuals with their separate identities. Advaitavada says that in the ultimate stage there is no distinction between Jiva and Brahman. We don’t agree.