Nrsinghadev

Singing in church is good, it's glorifying the Lord so it's proper. Like I said, being good to others occurs quite naturally if one correctly practices devotional service and attains love of God by chanting his holy names. Advanced devotees see the Lord's presence in everything, from the birds to the trees to the most demonic of humans. But just doing good and nothing else doesn't lead to salvation because I can do good without surrendering to God. We may know if that particular wanderer is jiva or God in disguise by observing whether he is full in all six opulences. Haribol!

Please stop bashing other religions, if you don't like or belief them, ok your choice but at least respect it as your hurting other people by your comments, which is not devotee behaviour. Whether the bible was man made or not, this has nothing to do with Jesus, who was real and bonafide. True Krishna devotees are always respectful of other people's beliefs. One said, even recently the Bible was revised, well I have some news for you, recently the iskcon Gita has been revised as well. Does that prove our religion is manmade? No, it only says something about the people involved in it. Go figure. Haribol.

No, this does not matter more because just being good to others doesn't take you back to Godhead and is a natural side effect of devotional service anyway. No, it's Like Gopalapriya already quoted and any other speculation is nonsensical: harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha "In this age of Kali, there is no other religion than glorifying the Lord by utterance of His holy name, and that is the injunction of all the revealed scriptures. There is no other way, there is no other way, there is no other way." (Brihan-naradiya Purana) That leaves no questions, it can't be put more simple and clear than that. Christians used to chant on their rosebeads, they should pick up the practice. Haribol!

Horrible stuff, I don't understand how they can let this happen. They're supposed to be the most forthcoming government when it comes to religion. I was overjoyed when I read a year or so back in the paper that India had a new law that probihited all slaughter of cows. Don't know how true this is, but it sounded like pure bliss back then. Haribol!

actually there are plenty of leatherfree shoeshops available nowadays. Just recently I ordered a 2 pair of "vegetarian shoes" from mooshoes.com, gotta tell ya feels good and fits good too. At least now I don't feel like a hypocrite when I speak to people about vegetarianism while wearing my leatherfree shoes! Haribol!

Haribol, There are no proper Ksatriya's to execute such an operation anymore. If such warriors should come out of our movement at this moment, we'd be probably be putting it's continued existence on the line or at the very least a scar on it's presence. Kali-yuga is an unstoppable vortex, it is meant to happen this way, and though a golden age witin Kali-yuga has been predicted with the advent of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu I sincerely doubt that He intended it to start by dispatching a bunch of demonic world leaders and taking control in their stead. That is not very Krishna-conscious practice. Not to mention such an occurance would be very short-lived and overly idealistic. Rather take heart in that it's already very auspicious for semi/non-religious families to have sincere devotees in their midst. Simply be a devotee of the Lord and encourage others to engage in this practice and ignore the useless cackle of politicians with their endless and pointless debates and resolutions. Impose KC onto anyone, and we'll be no better than whatever terrorist organisation, and we'd be viewed that way so I guess that's definitely not an option. Hope this helps! Hare Krishna!

Hare Krishna, It is definitely cheating, but let's not point the finger at those people who stick to such a diet. At least they're attempting to the best of their ability to abstain from the bigger sins. Bear in mind that most of these people are unaware of Vedic scriptures and stick to such a diet simply out of (a skewed)compassion, which is always a fragile startingpoint. So at least these people are not commiting the greatest sin of cow-killing and eating, and in a somewhat lesser way, the killing and eating of other animals that are more conscious, such as pigs and sheep. Chickens are even less aware of their situation then aforementioned animals, but due to their horrific situations of industrial processing and slaughter on a more massive scale, I would still count them in the same section as the sheep for sheer massiveness of misery. It goes without saying that we should never recommend eating meat,fish or eggs to anyone, so that is how we should always approach this matter. First, make clear that you disapprove of meat/fish/egg-eating, or animal killing of any kind for that matter, and go from there. At best, if these people are unable to stop eating chicken ,they should at least be urged to opt for the choice of chickens who are not treated like a product and get to live in a natural environment. It's still death and great sin, but the suffering is less. Those who are just starting to get involved in the Vedic culture should be given their time to quit eating sin, simply because if they stick to the culture then the knowledge gained paired with Krishna's blessings will shortly do the work for the neophyte anyway and their hunger for the flesh of dead animal corpses will turn naturally into an honest disgust of the diet. In my experience the treshold for some of the general public, who are just curious as to what this culture is all about and come to visit us, is already pretty high. We may know that it's crazy to be scared of our loving culture, but to an outsider, who's main feed of info on the Krishna movement has been through the media of one-sided,ill-informed books and the presscoverage of internal scandals, it's a colossal undertaking. Obviously we should mention that we abstain from eating meat/fish/eggs accompanied by the reasons behind it, but this should be done without imposing. This is all of course only my humble opinion and I mean no offense. Haribol!

Hare Krishna, I'm sorry to read that your friend has fallen into some bad association causing him to reject the path of Bhakti Yoga. A few misled individuals from within the Krishna culture however, are no reason to reject the whole path. Otherwise one could just as well reject Christianity and label it a sect over some priests overcome by maya, assaulting some choirboys. Please bear in mind that these are not practices of the actual religions, but just seperate,ill-fated practices made by individuals within their respective religions. We should also not be quick to judge these people as they have decided to declare war on material life, and since this is the biggest battle one can face, obviously (grave) missteps can be made. This is one reason why bonafide spiritual masters are so important, as they are the living examples of how one should take to devotional service, and show that it's not some mental concoction. One should not hurriedly take to any one "spiritual master" without first exploring his sincerity and his truthfulness to following the path. I'm saddened to read that no spiritual spark has awoken inside of him, despite attempting to perform devotional service to the Lord for years on end. I can't make any judgement, but from what I read it was most likely caused by some misled devotees around him who took to their own interpretations and so perverted the beautiful message of universal love, giving your friend the impression that the religion was all a fraud. I'm happy to report that in my case, it was completely the opposite. My life made no sense (and no, I wasn't a psychological mess ready to pick up on anything coming my path), and my deepest questions remained ever unanswered until I became engaged in Krishna consciousness through a series of "fortunate" events. From the moment I had my first encounter, it was like the the key fell into the intricate lock of my soul, and everything fell into place, chaos turned to structure. There were no more loose threads. Everything made sense, both good and bad things. I instantly knew in my heart that this point of view had the correct viewing angle. And to say that I'm just a neophyte in this. Perhaps if he had focused more on the spiritual masters instead of those around him he would have had a different opinion as well. Please don't think that Krishna devotees are brainwashed lunatics following some obscure new sect engaged in illicit activities, for that is a highly biased and ignorant view on our religion that probably resulted from the turbulent times when Srila Prabhupada first came to America. His goal was to spread Krishna consciousness to the west, and boy did he succeed. It didn't just stay in the west, it's worldwide now. And on such a large scale, it is hardly surprising that there can be a few bad apples that in the pack. This path is the oldest religious path in the world, it predates any other religious movements that we now consider as normal and accepted while they also bathed in a past best forgotten. While true that many horrific events occured inside the Krishna movement in the early days, and who for all I know even now, it is by no means the standard to judge the movement by. These type of incidents have occured, still occur, and in all probability will keep occuring in all major religions around the world and do not represent the religious path itself. Our path of Bhakti yoga is non-sectarian,full and perfect, and if you dig deep enough and don't jump to any premature conclusions you'll find there is truth in what I say. Hope this helps, and if at all possible, show it to your friend for he seems most fallen, like we all are, only he seems unaware of it. Hope this helps! Hare Krishna, yours truly.

the different names don't prove any difference between Krishna or Yawheh as God,as we all know Krishna has countless names.But I do have to say that I've come across sections in the bible where God specifically claims the people of Israel to be His people, and now again I find it in this article.I find it very odd indeed for the Supreme to claim one people as His only, as if the others weren't His. Who am I to say, but I think this seems not like the behaviour of the Supreme Lord, from Who everything originates. So maybe these texts have become perverted over time, who knows? Haribol!

Indeed, some people posting here seem to think that Lord Jesus was a common man because to them he seemed helpless and he 'died'. Failing to grasp how these events were all just His pastimes which served their purpose as instruction in stories. Whatever happened to Him he stayed true to the path of Bhakti. It is clear from a vedic perspective that Jesus followed the path of Bhakti and was a bonafide Avatar of the Lord. He displayed perfectly the Father/Son relationship one can have with the Lord. Those devotees who don't see Lord Jesus as a bonafide avatar will find an interesting read on http://www.iskcon.net/oregon/jesus/ I hope this read will prevent any further insults towards Jesus and Christians on behalf of our community, as it's throwing insults is not the kind of behaviour befitting the devotee. As our dear friend Max quoted so nicely from the Caitanya Caritamrta in a similar thread where insults were being thrown around to other religions: "Sri Krsnadasa Kaviraja, the author of Caitanya-caritamrta, says that all good qualities become manifest in the body of a Vaisnava and that only by the presence of these good qualities can one distinguish a Vaisnava form a non-Vaisnava. Krsnadasa Kaviraja lists the twenty-six good qualities of a Vaisnava: "(1) He is very kind to everyone. (2) He does not make anyone his enemy. (3) He is truthful. (4) He is equal to everyone. (5) No one can find any fault in him. (6) He is magnanimous. (7) He is mild. (8) He is always clean. (9) He is without possessions. (10) He works for everyone's benefit. (11) He is very peaceful. (12) He is always surrendered to Krsna. (13) He has no material desires. (14) He is very meek. (15) He is steady. (16) He controls his senses. (17) He does not eat more than required. (18) He is not influenced by the Lord's illusory energy. (19) He offers respect to everyone. (20) He does not desire any respect for himself. (21) He is very grave. (22) He is merciful. (23) He is friendly. (24) He is poetic. (25) He is expert. (26) He is silent." So by means of request on behalf of Guru's instructions I would like to humbly ask those ,who are partaking in use of insulting/abusive language on this board and speak in the name of the Gita, to memorize and put to use the qualities described as a guideline for the examplary behaviour befitting a Vaisnava. Any other behaviour simply implies one is not acting in Krishna consciousness. Please be wary of this kind of degradation. Hare Krishna

All praise to Lord Jesus! Hare Krishna! Fortunately our philosophy respects and embraces other authentic scriptures as they contain in a very limited way the same principles that our scriptures. It is this attitude of acceptance that allowed this religion, the oldest in the world, to stay pristine even after numerous raids and pillages by foreign invaders.Even though countless ancient temples were destroyed by the Muslims, Christians and who not,they who followed the Vedas in a way similar to Jesus, displayed no hatred towards these people and their religion even though their holy Places were destroyed,and many Vaisnava's were murdered over something as simple as a different point of view. Refusing to even listen to the voice of reason, these raiders thought they were doing God's work, while the Vaisnava's knew they were just being clouded by Maya and overcome by the guna's of raja and tama. So that is why wise people here won't resent your Christian crusade on this board, or your denial of God, Sri Krishna. Like you quote from the bible "Taste and see that the Lord is good." most people here are experiencing on a daily basis through their method of worship. Since the Lord is omnipresent and all powerful as I'm sure you will agree, He can do whatever he wants to do, anywhere, anyhow. So through the revealed scriptures, methods have been described for performing numerous types of worship of God in order for the devotee to be able to use all the senses in service of the Lord. And so it has been described how to make deities of the Lord ,by following strict rules, in which He will then by His own will manifest Himself to allow for worship. In a Similar way, you correctly consider the Bible to be instilled with the energy of the Lord, the church to be holy ground, and also have the image of Jesus on the cross hanging in the church, which I'm sure you sometimes turned to in prayer. So as all these Holy things are objects to help in worshiping the Lord, we install deities in temples by proper procedures so that we may have all of our senses engaged in our worship of the Lord. It is a common misunderstanding for any outsider to regard deity worship as the worship of the outer shell of these deities, thinking the people stupid to expect wishes to be granted or praises to be heard by an immobile statue. But if you regard my points made, you should by now have come to the understanding that it's not the material wrapping of the deity that is being worshiped, but the presence of the Lord, who by His own will and joy, comes to stay in these deities like residents stay inside a house. We also fully comply with the notion that one can only get back to the home of God by His Grace, and that the way of Jesus certainly is one way to go there. Of course, if you believe in God's infinite power, you would also have to agree that God wouldn't be God if He in his omnipotency would be able to provide for just one single path that leads back to Him, when He created so many different kinds of human beings? So once more, praise Lord Jesus! Hare Krishna!