AncientMariner

My mom isn't a vegetarian despite me trying to influence her into becoming one. She had colon cancer a couple of years ago and has recovered very well but the doctors she goes to have her convinced she has to eat meat on a protein diet.

Thanks for your kind words. Hare Krishna

Now you are beginning to see why at the end of the Kali-yuga that the Kalki avatars mission is going to be to kill every human being on Earth to deliver them from their karma.

According to the Prabhupada I was reading the only aspiration a devotee has is to be reclaimed by the Lord from the miserable conditions of this world. I could care less about politics anymore, they wouldn't listen anyway.

I just read that whole story on Prahlada Maharaja and He indicates that his only wish is to become engaged in the service of Krishna's servant. I am guessing that is the same attitude we are supposed to aspire to so my question is by following Srila Prabhupada's instruction of no meat-eating, no gambling, no intoxication, and no illicit sex, is that serving the servant of Krishna? I had some good news from my father the other day. Not to inflate my own ego but he came home the other day and told me I was right and that he wasn't going to eat meat anymore because of the Mad Cow disease we had up here in Washington. I guess it took an act of God to convince my father to give up meat-eating but so be it.

I am not attempting to advocate suicide. The civilization I live in advocates suicide far more than I ever could by encouraging people to become attached to material opulence and a beautiful wife. I agree with you chant Hare Krishna and be happy.

A lot of devotees die because they can no longer stand the pain of seperation from Krishna any longer. A lot of the gopis died trying to get to Krishna and to the uneducated mind they would probably think they were suicidal.

I distinctly remember reading in Srila Prabhupada's books that if a person wastes there life in sense gratification but at the end of their life if they go to a forrest and leave their body where it will never be found by any of their relatives they will be raised to the highest goal of life or Krishna.

Fasting until you die while chanting the mahamantra? Or just walking off into the mountains and walking until you perish while chanting mahamantra? Is that considered suicide? I thought I read in Srila Prabhupada's books that in the Kali-yuga a man should retire to the forrest at the age of 50.

I have this Buddhist friend of mine and the guy is just brilliant but he can't seem to grasp the fact that Puranas etc. are real history. He believes the Godhead is real but he thinks "it is sometimes portrayed mythologically" hence he can't quite understand Krishna. I made that mistake myself when I was younger, couldn't grasp the fact that Puranas are real history. This person knows just about everything there is to know about Buddhism but I just can't quite communicate to him about Krishna.

Ever since I have been chanting Hare Krishna mantra 300,001 times a day I have been noticing that my family and friends are beginning to treat me like I no longer exist. This must be a great blessing from Krishna. Human beings look like ghosts to me now and they treat me like I am a ghost.

I think it is more pleasurable to be a devotee of Krishna than it is to be Krishna even though Krishna is the Greatist In All Respects. I know you are going to accuse me of engaging in mental speculation because I used the words "I think" and you could be right.

I just spent a weekend with my mother and she went through colon cancer and the doctors have her on that protein only diet so she thinks eating meat is the only good thing for her to eat. With both of my parents I can't convince them that meat eating is horrible and I have been trying for over 10 years. Is there any way Krishna will forgive her for her meat eating because she is being fooled by these doctors? My parents are the whole world to me and I can't bear the thought of them suffering like they are going to if they keep eating meat. Is this Krishna trying to have me become detached from my parents?

Here is a good quote from Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1, Ch. 2 text 7. "By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, one immediately aquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world" Purport "Those who consider devotional service to the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna to be something like material emotional affairs my argue that in the revealed scriptures, sacrifice, charity, austerity, knowledge, mystic powers and similar other processes of transcendental realization are recommended. Acording to them, bhakti, or the devotional service of the Lord, is meant for those who cannot perform the high-grade activities. Generally it is said that the bhakti cult is meant for the sudras, vaisyas and the less intelligent woman class. But that is not the actual fact. The bhakti cult is the topmost of all transcendental activities, and therefore it is simultaneously sublime and easy. It is sublime for the pure devotees who are serious about getting in contact with the Supreme Lord, and it is easy for the neophytes who are just on the threshold of the house of bhakti. To achieve the contact of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna is a great science, and it is open for all living beings, including the sudras, vaisyas, women and even those lower than the lowborn sudras, so what to speak of the high-class men like the qualified brahmanas and the great self-realized kings. The other high-grade activities designated as sacrifice, charity, austerity, etc. are all corallary factors following the pure and scientific bhakti cult"

I certainly didn't mean to contradict anything Bhaktivinoda says or offend any Krishna conscious people or suggest that helping people and charity is a bad thing. I was only speaking that when I was young I use to feel like it was my responsibility to solve all the worlds problems and take care of everyone and ultimately I just found myself extremely stressed out and frustrated. I found it extremely burdensome to always be worried about other people's problems that I had no real power to solve anyway. It got so bad that I was eventually thrown in a mental hospital from a nervous breakdown. Once I started chanting Hare Krishna it just seems as if those problems begin to solve themselves without any extraneous effort. Kindness to living entities is just common sense and I didn't mean to suggest otherwise. Being self satisfied in the service of Krishna has been wonderful for me and I feel like I will be able to keep my sanity this time around. Chanting Hare Krishna has been a much better antidote than any anti-psychotic drug I have ever been on. Don't listen to me anyway because I am crazy, crazy, crazy.

That's a good question I know I have struggled with the same thing. Call me selfish or whatever but I don't worry about helping people that much anymore because the only help you can actually give someone is the maha-mantra and that requires them to be interested in devotional service which most people I know are not interested in at all. Just become self satisfied by chanting Hare Krishna and you will be an example for the whole world. Philanthropy is really quite exhausting and it doesn't really solve the root of the problem. Just keep chanting and chanting and chanting.

I take my hat off to devotees that are advanced enough to go out and spread Krishna consciousness to the masses including atheists etc. That takes some real devotion to do that. I know I am still a neophyte devotee because I would rather just stay in my trailer chant Hare Krishna and never talk to an atheist again. I think the devotees I met in the Seattle airport were maha-bhagavatas.

Forgive me for my ignorance of the Bible because admittedly I don't know much about it but I always recall someone saying Jesus said something to the effect of "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do". If indeed this was said was it said in the context of those who crucified him or some other context? Possibly this is the statement Srila Prabhupada was refering to or possibly I have gotten everything out of context. If so I apologize for my ignorance.

LOL. That's a good one.

I have to admit personally I would find it rather humorous if Jesus didn't exist because having grown up around "Christians" I have found a lot of them to be arrogant hypocrites but I have a difficult time believing Jesus didn't exist. Possibly I am blinded by some false sentiment and I find it quite interesting that Pagan religions have some of the same myths in them that Christianity has but I still believe Jesus existed. The information you presented is very interesting and entertaining.

You said it Theist. You are always humble and say you are not a good devotee but I think you are one of the best devotees.

"The great Mayavadi sannyasi Prakasananda inquired from the Lord as to the reason for His preferring the sankirtana movement to the study of the Vedantra-sutra. What caused the Lord to indulge in sankirtana?" "After this inquiry, the Lord submissively replied: "I have taken to the sankirtana movement instead of the study of Vedanta because I am a great fool." The Lord thus represented Himself as one of the numberless fools of this age who are absolutely incapable of studying the Vedanta philosophy. The fools' indulgence in the study of Vedanta has caused so much havoc in society. The Lord thus continued: "And because I am a great fool, My spiritual master forbade me to play with Vedanta philosophy. He said it is better that I chant the holy name of the Lord, for that would deliver Me from material bondage." "In this age of Kali there is no other religion but the glorification of the Lord by the utterance of His holy name, and that is the injunction of all the revealed scriptures."

Prabhupada often mentioned how many scholars are fools. Was he just saying that to tailor to the needs of his audience?

My dear guest, Here are some more quotes for you out of the introduction to Srimad Bhagavatam. "The Lord said that but for these three items- namely, eternal relation with God, exchange of dealings with Him, and the attainment of love for Him- all that is instructed in the Vedas is superflous and concocted." I hope it is in this spirit of attainment for the love for God that we can put aside our animosity and Chant Hare Krishna together. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna

I don't understand why you are getting mad at me. I simply quoted something out of the introduction to Srimad Bhagavatam. I was just joking about the Mormon thing. God bless the Mormons. If you have a problem with Srimad Bhagavatam please leave me out of it because I don't feel I have any authority to question its legitimacy.I never would have dreamed I would have invoked so much anger.