jinglebells

What surprises me specifically is the 'blame the jew' mentality, because this has been going on forever. Of all the races in the world, why the jews? And almost all people in the world accuse jews of practically everything that's wrong with this world, this is even more surprising. The germans did, British, russians, recently the muslims, and many others. Doesn't this strike you as odd at all, the jews being made scapegoats by many, many nations/races/religions throughout the world? It's almost as if 'blame the jew' mentality is some kind of disease that's spreading (or, rather, has spread) all over the world.

I agree with your other points about certain people using war as an excuse to make money, while innocent people die for them. But the idea about jews controlling the show sounds like a conspiracy theory. It's so hard to believe a tiny nation/population could control larger nations, superpowers. For a long, long time, this has been going on all over the world, I mean, the tendency to blame jews for everything. When will the world wake up to the fact all humans are driven by greed, lust etc., and these things cannot be restricted to certain races?

If you're pro-freedom, then you ought to be pro-abortion. Otherwise, I'll be forced to call you a nazi.

And one wonders why the world hates religious people.

Are you sure? Most of the violence comes from arab nations...

All I am saying is we have to choose the lesser of the two evils, we can't expect everyone to be perfect. This is the material world, after all. Are you seriously trying to tell me that Jews are as bad as the Muslims who're given to suicide bombing, mutilation, stoning, talibanization etc. on a daily basis? Come on, Kula, I know you're intelligent. I am not defending the Jews, but when we compare the standard Islamic activities (as mentioned above) with Jews/Christians, the latter seem far better, or at least people we can live with. That's all I am suggesting, we can live in an area populated by Jews/Christians without any fear, is it possible to live in a Muslim-dominated area without the constant fear of terrorism, suicide bombing, stoning, and the rest? Your honest response is appreciated.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu taught that one must be more tolerant than a tree. So this is a very good chance for you to practice tolerance. Avoidance is not the solution, putting people on ignore is not the solution. You must face these things with firm faith in Krishna and guru.

Jews are too small (in number) to do real damage, and besides, they don't have a history of violence like jihad, inquisitions, crusades, as do the other two.

Another problem with Vaishnavism is that many people find it impossible to accept a benevolent god, and also reconcile it with the evil that they see around them. No matter what we do, we can't make sense of these terrible things (just see the picture of the sudanese boy and vulture in the "tragedy" thread). But since advaita claims this world is a dream (and bizarre things happen in dreams), it sort of explains why such terrible, crazy things happen, without resorting to karma, past life, benevolent god, and all that.

Maybe, it's got to do with the way both parties present their arguments. I've listened to advaitins, and never once have they attacked other schools. They just speak on advaita, and that's that. And I've also listened to vaishnavas, and more often than not, their 'lectures' revolve around attacking others, calling them names. Their lectures usually have little to do with vaishnavism, Krishna etc. Perhaps, this is why people are moving away from vaishnavism, due to the bad behavior of most vaishnavas, especially their foul language which sometimes becomes intolerable to hear.

When iskconites say veda, it shouldn't be taken literally. It simply refers to iskcon literature, and to an extent, gaudiya literature (except places where criticism of christianity is intense).

If we really feel compassion, we must go to these countries, and help the starving people. Not doing much good posting pictures, and offending sensitive people.

Ironic that you're able to communicate this message ONLY with the help of technology!

I forgot to mention another thing as to why advaita is popular amongst the modern, sophisticated class. It's tolerant and liberal. We've had vaishnavas calling non-vaishnavas as demons, fools etc. Even Prabhupada used to call people as rascals. But most of the time, advaitins come across as extremely gentle people, hardly ever attacking other schools. We've heard of the label 'vaishnava fanatics,' but has anyone ever heard of 'advaita fanatic?' Impossible. So I believe this is also a reason for advaita's popularity, the exemplary behavior of most advaitins, which is sadly missing in our vaishnava community, where people toss around words like demons, rascals, as if there's no tomorrow.

What's wrong if they think Krishna has a material body, why does it upset you so much? Is he any 'less' on account of that? There are some, who think he doesn't even exist.

Sorry to hear all this. I hope you'll be fine. Best wishes!

What's this disease called, if you don't mind my asking?

Sankara was not an impersonalist, because SP says so. Jesus was a Vaishnava, because SP says so. Man never went to the moon, because SP says so. Do you see what I am getting at here? Try to think for yourself, cbrahma, you claim to be an educated man. I am seriously beginning to doubt it.

Why do you feel impelled to fight with everyone, cbrahma? Why this fanaticism? Maybe, this is why people hate religion, they just can't tolerate the fanaticism of most religious people.

If you can't fight them, join them, eh? SP was smart enough to co-opt Sankara, thanks to the latter's immense popularity.

Cbrahma, I think you're frustrated. Maybe, christianity will be the right religion for you? It's simple and easy to practice, and comes with guarantee;), perhaps you must give it a shot.

I personally believe Moses was highest stage of perfection. Oscar-winning movies have been made of him, he's so popular and the perfect blend of bhakti, jnana, and karma yogas.

I think you're rushing to conclusions. Consider this. If you have a headache, the "I" identifies itself with the head. If disturbed, the "I" identifies with thoughts, and so on. If there's no identification at all, there is no personal "I." Yet, there is consciousness. In short, there's consciousness without an "I." Because there's no "I," we can't call it personal. We have to call it impersonal. And because this consciousness isn't restricted by attributes and forms such as body, mind etc., we call it nameless/formless/attributeless.

I only know this theoritically, having spoken to advaitins. I just wanted to know about your experience, hence the q. But it seems like you're offended, so sorry, I won't bother you anymore.

I don't think people have properly understood what they're trying to refute. Let me give another instance. Consider the bhagavat gita verse 2.13. You exist as a baby, then as a youth, then as an old person, and so on. The forms of existence (such as youth, old age) may vary and can be subsequently negated, but the fact of existence remains a constant. Which is why we're forced to conclude that existence must be formless, or we should make the blunder of negating existence itself along with youth, old age etc. Hence, the advaitins argue that existence with names/forms are illusory, and formless existence is the one truth.