Kyros

The Brahma Samhita and Garga Samhita are acceptable by everybody. Apparently it's convenient for non-believers to reject those scriptures and say only Gaudiyas accept those. Thanks to the British (ironically) the Garga Samhita at least could be found outside of India. Krishna says he's the source of everything, and he further expands that in the same chapter where he mentions stuff like "of the Vedas I am the Sama Veda,of the demigods I am Indra,of the Adityas I am Visnu." The point of that chaper was to point out that Krishna is the best"." <- period The Kali-Santarana Upanisad is only corrupt up to the point that a couple of the lines have been switched around. There's no reason to reject a scripture because of that lame reason. Might I add that it doesn't really matter if Krishna is the source or not. All Visnu-tattva are all plenary (full in all respects) expansions/forms or whatever you want to refer to them. There is no reason to worship Krishna because he is the source. He expands to attract the living entities back to the spiritual realm. Hence why he's referred to as the all-attractive. Even Prabhupada himself said that not everybody will accept Krishna, kind of like how Hanuman won't accept anybody but Lord Ramacandra, or how the Gopi's won't accept anybody but Krishna.

Brahma Samhita, Garga Samhita, not to mention Bhagavad Gita, specifically chapter 10 verse 8 point out Krishna to be the source of everything. There are two translations of the Kali-Santarana Upanisad, one where the mantra starts with Hare Krishna, and another where it starts with Hare Rama. Both can be found on the internet somewhere, just use google. Obviously someone has corrupted the text. I personally go with the Hare Krishna starting since it's the one that gained the most popularity, and still growing

We search for God so we can get out of this material condition. This world is not a fun and happy place to be, we all have practical experience with this. You may do something you think is fun, but after awhile it loses it's value. In God's realm there is no such ending, it is an existence that is always fun, pleasurable. Without going into so much detail, just chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra for a couple of hours everyday for a week or two. There is so much energy associated with that mantra it feels refreshing. All you have to do is pay attention to the names when you're chanting. What do you have to lose?

Ah, well if that's the case, then I should hold my own ignorant tongue

I find this quote particularly ironic, considering it's coming from a person whose forum handle is Lover of the Bhagavata... All of the Bhagavata is important, otherwise Lord Vyasadeva wouldn't have wasted his time writing it. As for the planetarium, you'd have to pretty narrow-minded to ignore what spiritual effect this would have in the world. The actual model of the planetarium has also been contributed by the Sri-Sampradaya as well, so please hold your ignorant tongue. And last but not least, if the planetarium is not sanctioned by Lord Chaitanya/Krishna, then it won't happen, especially if it's being built in the sacred city of Mayapura.

Sex with your wife for reasons other than begotting children is lust, not love. The reason you believe differently is because you haven't realized what Srila Prabhupadas point is. The same thing with eating garlic and onions, as well as taking caffeinnated beverages or foodstuffs. You can take my life for example if you want. I used to eat all kinds of stuff (no meat, but I did eat eggs). I ate tons of chocolate, drank chai (Indian coffee) since childhood. I listened to all sorts of music, from rap to hardcore rock; watched all kinds of cinemas (and I do mean all kinds). Yet, because of Prabhupada's books(and some others), I can see very clearly why those things are detremental to a human being. I don't listen to any other kinds of music other than bhajans nowadays. I have lost most, if not all, taste for TV and movies. I no longer have a desire to eat outside food, and for the record, my addiction to Taco Bell is popular in my family. My life is a whole lot better because I gave up all those things. Looking back, I couldn't believe I was addicted to such nonsense. My advice is to do some research. Prabhupadas books are very confusing to read if you don't understand his line of thought. You're not alone in this, I had the same problem, and I can understand very well what your position is on this matter, for I to did not think I could give up sex, chocolate, video games, and anything else.

It was "chanting away for some time" that allowed me to come to this point in my life. Also, my words may not be considered flowery to you, that is not my concern about your feelings toward something I consider completely faux. It would be pure hypocrisy for me to do something like that.

I don't remember Lord Krishna ever drinking, but then again, it was okay for the Kshatriya class to indulge in a little drinking (that doesn't mean it was good). To understand Lord Krishna's pastimes takes a great deal of understanding. One shouldn't go on reading about him and thinking him as an ordinary person. If that's the case, then there was nothing wrong with Krishna looking at the gopis naked, or him in the Rasa dance, because by mortal standards, he was at most 7-8 years-old at most in the later. A normal boy that age wouldn't even care about that stuff. If you don't understand Krishna, then don't speak about him. There is always a reason why he does things.

Daas ka daas, don't assume things about other people. You claim that it was my fault that I never followed my niyams correctly, or that I did something wrong, but you're not helping your own arguments by falsely accusing me of these things which I never stated or implyed. If Swaminarayan was such an all-merciful God, he wouldn't have had me deter in my path like this, and I wasn't even as bad as I was with my devotion to Lord Krishna. I didn't even start out perfectly in the Vaishnava-sampradaya path. I was watching all sorts of things on TV, playing video games, checking out women, etc etc. All these manifested when I gave up chanting "Swaminarayan." I never even thought of doing these things so much back when I was following the Swaminarayan-sampradaya. But even from that position, I took up Krishna consciousness, and even though I fell many times between then and now, I always had an unsung taste to come back to it. Always. I no longer have a great desire to watch movies, or TV, or play video games, not unless they're about the Lord or his devotees. I have pretty much given up all sorts of music except for some soundtracks (I.E. No Words), but even those soundtracks sound dull. That's a long way for me since I was always listening to things like Eminem, 50 cent; some of the most rotten types of music you can imagine. Like I said before, it's all experience. If you truly believe that the Swaminarayan-sampradaya is for you, so be it, but from what I have learned between these two sampradayas, is that you must never follow things blindly.

Actually whenever I fall back into the material society, and remember that my position isn't actually here, it makes my feeling of seperation grow even stronger because of that temporary fall down. Always look for a positive thing even in the negative.

It's not just in India. Women everywhere are being exploited and mistreated, just look at the media in "westernized" countries. The only difference I see between women in the past, and women in the future is that in current times, women are voluntarily giving themselves to men instead of being forced on. Now that doesn't mean we should restrict them from leaving the house as the Laws of Manu state, but we should educate them thoroughly in the Vedas. After all, Lord Krishna states in the Gita that intelligence is feminine quality, and I read somewhere that is the mothers primary job in the family to raise and educate the child. Women aren't stupid as men have made them out to be for the past thousands of years or so. They are fully capable of taking care of themselves, but even women aren't perfect, and have faults, as do men. Both of them need to realize the "power" they have and use them properly. It's modern society that undervalues the status of feminine roles in society, that's why women these days want to get rid of things like "feminine things" and "masculine things" because men always claimed that "masculinity" is superior and "femininity" is inferior, when in fact, both are equal in their own regards.

Simply beautiful.

Pretty much everything else is the same except for who the Personality of Godhead is. They believe this Swaminarayana personality to be truly the most absolute, and pretty much the true core of God. Every other God we learn and see about, like Rama, Nrsimha, and Krishna are his extensions. Ironically, Swaminarayana himself worshipped Lord Krishna from a very early age (6 years old I believe). What totally destroys any logic is that this guy later on claimed to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, despite the fact he was a devotee of Krishna, and that is a well known, accepted fact in the Swaminarayan faith. From my viewpoint, I would say the birth of this faith is a curse upon the Gujurati people. Despite claiming to be pure, not many people outside of that specific group have taken up this faith.

It is ultimately up to us whether or not we believe in reincarnation or not. The opportunity is always there, but most people decide to reject it. We are all different from Krishna, with our own unique personality. To say that Krishna controls whether or not we believe in something is incorrect. It is our own choices we make that determine if we believe in karma or not, not Krishna, even though nothing happens without his permission. If Krishna did choose if we believed in anything at all, he would immediately have us all believe in him, wouldn't he? Especially to those of us here that desire to understand him right now. No, it's up to us if we believe in anything or not, for our own beliefs affect us.

A lot of us here keep throwing around citations from the various books and scriptures about whether or not Swaminarayan or Krishna are avatars or Gods of each other or whatever. It has already been foretold that in the age of Kali, there will be many freudulant people who pose themselves as gurus or even avatars of Gods themselves. Therefore, it is recommended that in this age, instead of blindly following something, you should question it's authenticity for yourself. What I mean is, do you really believe in what this person is saying? Or is what this person is saying really making sense to you? I myself follow this lifestyle, but only after the change of events I've had in my life. For I use to accept Swaminarayan as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but now I outright reject him. To explain how I got to this platform is a whole 'nother story, but to put it simply, I feel no attachment to the name "Swaminarayan" when I chant it, and I chanted it faithfully. Many things I see in the Swaminarayan faith don't seem to make sense to me either. Repeatedly, I see these Santos (Saints) give material benedictions to people, when they should truly be doing the opposite (give spiritual benedictions). They also say that it is okay to sell tobacco products and liquor to people, as long as you donate some of that money to the temple to purify your profits. So here we have these people preach on how intoxication is horrible for a person on the path of spiritualism, yet at the same time find it okay to sell that stuff. Even their leader, whom they call "Bapa" does the very same thing. Now granted, the majority of my experience is with the Swaminarayan branch of BAPS. However, I have also been in contact with a few others (yes, there are quite a few of them), and they don't seem to be any different. The majority, if not all, of the followers are also Gujurati people. For a faith that boasts their lord as being the Absolute Supreme, it has a very, very, VERY, selected group of people. The BAPS leader doesn't even know another language besides Gujurati. I find it more wonderful that someone like Srila Prabhupada came to America, and in just 10 years spread the name of Krishna all over the world, and converted hundreds of some of the most fallen to his side. Though while ISKCON suffered quite a bit do to the dog-minded people that took over after Prabhupada left, it's still around, and after 20 some years, it's slowly reviving stronger than ever. For the record, I am a Patel, and was born in a 100% Gujurati family. My parents both believe in Swaminarayan, most of my dads family is devoted to that faith, while my mothers side is practically athiest with a couple of exceptions. They're not very big into religion as they claim to be. I wish they took the words of the preachers more seriously, even if it's the Swaminarayans faith, but they just don't, and many other Gujurati families I see the same way. I grew up in association with the Swaminarayan faith, so I do not speak blindly about this experience. Whatever the case though, I will follow Krishna, and if you want to follow Swaminarayan, then so be it. But you can learn about Krishna to.