Ayodhya

To cbrahma: I do not follow Jesus' rules, thus eventhough you say that Jesus loves me, it cannot be true. That is all I am saying.

Simply because I defend a school of thought does not mean I belong to that school of thought. You are naive and foolish to assume such a thing.

So are you saying that Jesus doesn't love me? If he doesn't, than obviously Christianity is not universal and not the great religion you suppose it is. I have never claimed to the eternal individuality of the soul because I do not believe that can ever exist. If you remembered correctly, I do not consider myself to be of any sect - Bhaktin, Advaitain, etc. I am the farthest from a fundamentalist than any of you. I guarantee it. Only a fool would say that the Bible is not one book, because it is. I am not a neither a Gaudiya Vaishnava nor a Vaishnava in general, so my spiritual advancement does not come only from the Bhagavatam Purana or the Bhagavad Gita. Hindu texts range from the Vedas, to Upanishads, to poetry about the sublime. Also, surprising as it may seem to all of you, there is spirituality in Western literature besides religious texts! Forget Christianity for a second and examine yourself. When did I ever state that I accepted the statue itself as God? When? The answer: never. Being as naive as you are, you are putting words in my mouth to prove the superiority of one religion over another. The statue is a representation of God, not God Himself.

Same here. This has happened to me hundreds of times. I never looked at it in terms of fate, though, just coincidence.

Jesus does not love me, because I am a pagan. I do not believe in the God of the Old Testament. I do not believe that Jesus is my savior. I do not believe Jesus to be the best person on the planet Earth (Gandhi definitely seems better) I do not believe that Jesus died for my sins. I bow to idols. I've broken the First Commandment a thousand times, thus as God, he would feel the need to punish me as Moses did when they created a statue of a cow (which by the way, I consider sacred). Your hatred for ISKON blinds you cbrahma. Simply because it states in the Bible that Jesus rose the dead does not mean he actually did it or actually even lived. You are discrediting an entire religion because of one book - and that is the mark of a fundamentalist (which is a bad thing, by the way). Can it also be said that simply because Frodo took the ring to Mt.Doom that it is also true? You're acting on blind faith, not reason. This gets you nowhere, however comforting it may be to derail another's religion.

Wow. I didn't think crazy Hindus existed until I met you. Stating that "Shaivites are bogus and not the genuine Shiva Sampradaya" is absolutely false, rude, and derogatory. Shaivites today are genuine Shaivites who believe and have believed for all time that Shiva, and his consort, Shakti, are the supreme. Do not defile the beliefs of others with your bias. Surely, despite whatever you believe, you can see that your thoughts are based on your teachings from a Vaishnava guru and a Vaishnava upbringing? If you were born as a Shaivite, I'm sure you would think differently. ----- To answer the original question: Krishna may not have been initiated by a Shaivite guru, but if he did, what difference does it make? Wouldn't Krishna show respect to Shiva? Read the Shiva Purana and you will find that Vishnu bows to Shiva on several occasions. Shiva and Vishnu are both one and the same and to think them any different is foolish and does not lead to Enlightenment.

Uhhh... Shaivites consider Shiva to be Supreme, Guruvani. They believe him to be the Preserver, Creator, and Destroyer, not just the guru. I think a little bit of your fanaticism is creeping up.

Then obviously, Hitler reaches enlightenment and Jesus gets to be reborn.

So, Jesus wants to save me too, a pagan, and idolater, who he specifically condemns to Hell? No, he doesn't want to, because Jesus doesn't love me. Who says these gurus are not God? You? And what makes Jesus different than Self-Realized souls? The fact that it says so in the Bible? That doesn't meaning anything. And why is idolatry bad? I can't prostrate to a statue of Krishna?

Ummm... Did someone forget that hundreds of priests raped altar boys? Christian theology may, on a more metaphorical level, come close to Eastern theology, but in, in no way surpasses it. Krishna is Love incarnate, as are we all, if we choose to be. Follow whatever faith you wish, but I think it is important to keep the spirituality alive. Don't completely wipe out any fragments of Eastern theology that may have existed simply because of some silly organization. Hindu thought goes far beyond Krishna Consciousness, man. If you need a regular Hindu to talk to, I'm here.

What about other religions who condone the eating of meat? Would they not consider their dominion over the plants and the animals a viable explanation? They have absolutely no reason to refrain from eating meat.

I thought it was good! Doesn't Article I contradict Article X? If we are immortal and can't die, how could we attain Vaikuntha through a head-on crash?

Sagan and Hawkings are both very open-minded and amazing scientists. Only a few scientists can say with such humor that it is possible for the Universe to exist on the back of a tortoise. Sagan, specifically, has stated in a couple of his books that the Hindu religion is the only one which coincides the best with modern day science.

Thanks for the explanation about Diti. You were probably joking, but I would rather not think that Krishna would create people simply to fight with. Perhaps its the version I'm reading? I'm getting a different vibe from this version of the Bhagavatam. http://bhagavata.org/canto10/chapter3.html And I quote: Krishna says: "As a man and wife without a son did you, for the sensual life to achieve this so strongly attracted to My divine energy, never ask Me for liberation from this world [see also 4.9: 30-35]. (40) After My departure, having received the benediction, you engaged in enjoying sex and was by the both of you the desired result achieved of having a son like Me"

I'm glad the Hindu American Foundation exists.