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Vedic Texts Debunk Gay "Reparative" Therapies by Amara das Posted August 17, 2011 Vaishnavas, Hindus and other followers of Vedic knowledge needn't have any doubts regarding the fallacy behind claims that homosexual orientation can be "cured." Although highly discredited by every major psychological and psychiatric association, religious-oriented clinics have sprung up in recent years touting what has become known as gay "reparative" or "pray away the gay" therapy. Believers assert that homosexuality is unnatural, harmful and acquired through childhood trauma, whereas opponents (including a growing number of victimized outpatients) counter that homosexual orientation is a natural human variation, inborn and essentially benign. The basis of gay "reparative" therapy is rooted in this "nurture vs. nature" debate: is homosexual orientation an acquired vice that can affect everyone (like smoking, stealing, drinking alcohol, etc.) and is reversible through abstinence and prayer, or is it a pre-wired biological trait of a limited minority (like left-handedness) that cannot be changed but instead must be somehow accommodated? For gay people themselves this is not a question, since they know through personal experience that homosexual orientation is lifelong and unchangeable. For those who are uncertain, however, the Vedic scriptures answer this question quite clearly. Ancient Ayurvedic (medical) texts like the Sushruta Samhita mention homosexual desire only within chapters concerning embryological development in the womb (3.2). Homosexuality is cited as being determined by various factors such as previous life activities and desires (samskaras), the strength of the parent's seed (sukra-bala), methods of intercourse (mithuna-vidhi), and astrological influences or divine ordinance (daiva). According to these texts, the basic sexual nature of any person is determined at the time of conception and developed up through the second month of pregnancy. Beyond that point it is considered unchangeable. Dharma texts such as the Narada-smriti (12) therefore declare homosexual men (mukhebhaga, sevyaka, etc.) "incurable" and unqualified to marry women. (Bisexual men or paksha are usually considered qualified after further review.) Clearly, ancient Vedic rishis, or seers of the truth, correctly viewed homosexual orientation (and other variations of gender such as transgender identity and intersex) as an immutable, biological trait. They did not waste time trying to change inborn qualities, nor did they recommend the adoption of false, artificial roles. Rather, they encouraged sense control equally across the board and engaged everyone in Krishna's service according to their own specific nature and ability (sva-dharma). Engaging in another person's duty or path in life was considered dangerous and ill-advised (Bhagavad-gita 3.35). Unfortunately, in Kali-yuga foolish religious groups continue their futile fight against nature while creating confusion and great pain to others along the way. Krishna clearly allows certain people to be born gay for the purpose of fulfilling their karma, desires, or for whatever reasons we may not understand. This is true for all types of living entities born into this world. The real panacea or "cure-all" for any type of material birth — gay, straight or otherwise — is simply to come together, chant Hare Krishna and serve the Supreme Lord. Misunderstanding, misdiagnosing and mistreating others will only serve to drive them away from this important spiritual process.
For more information on this subject matter:
GALVA-108 Website [www.galva108.org].
Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex [http://www2.xlibris.com]
This is a letter I wrote a few days ago to my local ISKCON temple: Please accept my humble obeisances. My name is Kevin Bello. I am 21 years old. I love culture, religion, languages and philosophy, as well as general neatness. I have practiced Krishna consciousness, Gaudiya Vaishnava dharma for only 2 years, so I am still very neophyte. I belong to a glorious organisation called Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math under the lineage of His Divine Grace Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj and Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj (he wrote the Prabhupad pranams that all ISKCON devotees recite constantly), and am aspiring to have connection with the current successor of the Math, His Divine Grace Srila B.N. Acharyya Maharaj. I also suffer from a condition known as Gender Identity Disorder, or GID. Forgive me if I have made any mistakes or offenses in this endeavour of clarification; however, it is an issue that must be addressed in the Gaudiya Vaishnava community, and will needs be understood with proper guidance. Gender Identity Disorder, or GID, as I understand it, is a karmic variation of human subspecies: it is a fusion of a gendered gross body, while the subtle body is also gendered in another fashion. In this circumstance, one may have a female gross body, but possess a male subtle body, or a male gross body and a female subtle body. There are gradations of strength in this regard, but sometimes the desire is so strong that it needs to be expressed in the physical plane. This is not to be confused with sahajiya-vada which attempts to take the spiritual conception and pollute it with our mental speculation and carried further into the material realm. GID is solely a material problem, and not a spiritual one. Those who suffer from this are called transsexual or transgender. It is not a sexual orientation; it is gender dysphoria. In Vedic history, we understand of the existence of tritiya prakrti, these third gendered souls described in the Bhagavatam as neither male nor female. Even at Mahaprabhu's most auspicious birth, such third gendered souls expressed their joy for the Golden Lord by dancing before Him. Such souls undoubtedly have the mercy of the Lord, despite their so-called low birth. Such people in Vedic times were very much respected, and were falsely named 'eunuchs' by English society as an attempt to describe the third gender. We have Vedic descriptions of such people like Brihannala, although this was Arjuna's disguise for a mere year. Nowadays, with the implimentation of this birth-based caste system, the third gender (hijras) are reviled by society. They are treated as non-human, and because no one is willing to hire them, they are subject to jobs as prostitutes, and depression brings them into drugs and alcohol abuse. Even in the West, this is also happening. Such sincere souls who just desire for acceptance are subject to the fate of societal fear, hatred and rejection, with great difficulty in acceptance for job opportunities. They turn to prostitution for money, and drugs and alcohol for comfort. They are seen as unintelligent, mentally disturbed, and less than human. Indeed, through this discrimination, it is no wonder why such persons become depressed, lonely, and suicidal. It should not be surprising that they eventually embody the very prejudices of society. Understanding this, one would think that with the mercy of Sri Guru and Mahaprabhu, one would be able to overlook such material problems and address that individual soul according to spiritual merit. However, I found that this is beside the case, after having heard these devotees and their individual experiences with ISKCON. Having talked to both a doctor and a psychologist, I was diagnosed with GID. When I was transitioning (changing my body from male to female), I was shocked at what kind of person I was treated. I still remember the confusing messages given to me, and the treatment I had from Sankarshan Das Adhikari. First of all, his wife and he himself addressed my transitioning at a public home program in front of everyone, telling how sinful it was to transition and that we must go beyond the body... And the second instance still amazes me to this day. I was arranged to meet with Sankarshan Das Adhikari with his wife. He told me that I should not take initiation if I transition, having to subject the guru to be born again and again until I go back to Godhead. I was told by him that I will never go back to Godhead, and his wife also suggested to me and her husband that I could be born in a lower species of life! I felt humiliated, burned, discriminated against, embarrassed, and traumatised from that point. The very temple of which I have given my heart to, my life and soul, has now rejected me, not because of any spiritual disqualification, but of my material situation. What have I done wrong to merit an angry guru and wife to tell me how sinful I was? I was not even aspiring for initiation, and yet I was still given this treatment. Even after giving some evidence in a compilation that Srila Prabhupad said nothing against transsexuality and even gives implicit support, I still was given the burnt end and felt that I had no one to look to except the Lord alone. Along with this feeling of helplessness and nowhere else to go, the opportunity to move to Alberta awaited me. And although that move had helped me to deal with the feelings that I had, the damage has been done. I have never felt so hurt by a spiritual organisation that is supposed to be the embodiment of Srila Prabhupad's mercy as I did during my transition. Although I can not consider transitioning, or changing my body any more due to the societal and financial implications, I can not but help feel this general hopelessness for people like me who are interested in spiritual life and developing a loving relationship with the Sweet Absolute, Shri Krishna. I now must deal with the pain of this dysphoria between subtle body and gross body, that I have to live with a female mind and a male body. Unless you are third gendered as I am, you can never understand this loss of identity in a society which puts so much emphasis on the strict dichotomy of two genders: male and female. And all we ask in return is compassion and a chance to practice Krishna consciousness in the loving association of devotees. I am thankful for the philosophy of SCS Math, but unless ISKCON Vancouver shows more compassion to such people, I can not recommend ISKCON Vancouver to such sincere souls who happen to be transsexual. Any Gaudiya Vaishnava society is not perfect, simply because it is not made for saints, but for sinners. If we were all pure devotees, shuddha-bhaktas, we would have no need of societies such as ISKCON or SCS Math or even SGVS (Srila Narayan Maharaj's group, the Sri Gaudiya Vedanta Society). So before you judge someone's salvation and spiritual gradation towards Krishna consciousness, look at your own life and focus on your own spiritual life. Srila Govinda Maharaj said that true religion is finding faults with one's self, and practicing the virtues of Humility, Tolerance, and Giving Honour to all living beings. Otherwise our vaidhi-bhakti (devotional service according to the rules and regulations), our sadhana (spiritual discipline) is in vain. As Srila Sridhar Maharaj once said, Mercy is always all-encompassing and all-extending. The only qualification necessary is our sincerity to receive it. I hope that this succinct e-mail will capture but a truffle of the experiences that I had to go through. I have nothing against Srila Prabhupad nor of ISKCON, nor of Sri Sri Radha-Madan Mohan. My only contention is that the treatment of transsexual devotees (not even 'non-devotees!') is deplorable, and needs be rechecked and re-examined. The temple authorities, being in positions of leadership, must be exemplary examples of Humility, Tolerance, and Honour, and even if not, the sincerity to practice such virtues should be there. These should be extended to everyone, regardless of any material situation.
I hope this helps clarify my position on the matter. Please forgive any offenses that I may have caused...
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Open Letter to ISKCON Sannyasa Ministry by Amara das Posted March 25, 2012
Dear respected Prahladananda Maharaja and others, On a section of the ISKCON Sannyasa Application Form entitled "Other Things The Sannyasa Committee Should Know" it is stated: "Please list other things that you think the Sannyasa Committee should know, such as [having] a different sexual orientation than what is considered normal." I humbly request you to consider removing this part of the form for the following reasons:
Please consider these points very carefully, so that we can avoid instances of discrimination within ISKCON. Let's keep Srila Prabhupada's vision of fairness and all-inclusiveness alive in the years to come by removing this clause. Otherwise, kindly let us know why you deem it to be so important. Again, until ISKCON enacts an official policy protecting LGBT devotees from discrimination and exclusion, there is much potential for abuse by requesting such information on any ISKCON application form. Similar problems have already arisen in the past regarding forms designed for admitting new bhaktas into ISKCON ashrams. (See Chakra article: "Gays Need Not Apply", March 22, 2005.) Thank you for your kind attention in this regard.
Your humble servant, India's National Gay & Lesbian Magazine recently published a ground-breaking article on openly gay Vaishnavas within ISKCON and the Vaishnava tradition in general. The article features interviews with Jayesh, a young Indian devotee struggling for acceptance, and Amara Das, one of the Gay and Lesbian Vaishnava Association's original founding members. "Men like Jayesh and Amara Das are slowly, but definitely changing one of the most influential Hindu movements of all times. How their battle turns out will have a bearing on the lives of all those who are struggling to reconcile their faith with their sexuality, and more importantly, test the inclusiveness and tolerance of the world's most ancient religion."
(Click here for the full article at Pink Pages)
Click Here
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