---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <sharelong60@...> wrote :
Ann, it's the post I sent on Monday at 11:45 am. Oh, but that was a quote by someone else. I didn't understand or read it as something you were saying or making reference to as your personal reason for the "useful" aspect in your life. I still don't know how it relates personally to you but the quote was interesting. (snip) On Monday, June 9, 2014 2:46 PM, "'Richard J. Williams' punditster@... [FairfieldLife]" <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> wrote: On 6/9/2014 11:45 AM, Share Long sharelong60@... mailto:sharelong60@... [FairfieldLife] wrote: Rasas and bhavas are all about emotions > According to what I've read, the term rasa and bhava in Sanskrit can mean internal feelings, emotions, a mood or a devotional state of mind. It is usually associated with devotional emotions and one's mental condition toward one's istadevata. In bhakti yoga, the term rasa is associated with the youthful Krishna and the Gopis in the so-called Rasa Dance under the Autumn moon at Vrindavan. The rasa or mood of the gopis was directed toward Krishna and so the cow girls performed a dance full of rasa - loving devotion toward the Lord. It's called the "rasa dance" for a reason and one thing is clear, all the gopis were adult married women and Krishna was but a child. Apparently the gopis were so attracted to Krishna that they couldn't control their emotions. Go figure. However, sometimes the term "rasa" refers to certain base persons who merely imitate the moods of prema or love, for material gain or personal enjoyment. Certain "rasiks" sometimes imagine that they feel the divine emotions of Krishna or Srimati Radharani. Yet, these persons sometimes do not understand that the term 'rasa' means transcendental nectar, not in the sense of mundane pleasure, but nectar in the sense of effortless, spontaneous transcendental devotional service. In Ayerveda, rasayana is a general tonic used for the rejuvenating of energy in adults and children. It is a mind-transforming decoction akin to the Vedic amrita or soma. Rasayana is an amphoteric, which in the days of the Indian alchemists, used to contain mercury. In fact, the actual ingredients of the Vedic soma are unknown for certain. The key word here is 'ambrosia', the 'Food of the Gods'. In the case of Krishna and the gopis, the 'ras', or devine nectar was sexual in nature. Apparently, having sexual relations is ideal during the Autumn moon, and this I can agree with without hesitation. However, to be sexually molested as a mere boy, by dozens of emotional and sexually excited gopis, in the middle of the night is pure tantra, fer sure!
