AncientMariner

I have to admit that was funny.

You have very nicely summed up my experience with Christianity. "Religionists who cannot ever concieve of comparitive religious study because of their false identification with the self. Their clan, their congregation. Their false identification with their stupid and temporary causes to the point of artificially pretending their masters approve of their demonic behavior." I try to be nice but the older I get the more I tend to agree with your sentiment "If one offends a pretender Christian, no sweat, for they are more offensive than the hedonists without pretense about what they hold valuable." Anyway I appreciate your intelligent and straightforward manner of speaking.

Hare Krishna

That's very well said. It is very superficial to say Jesus died but still Christianity seems to stress the fact that He died rather than the fact that He is still alive. Sorry no offense to Christians intended.

I think it is brilliant and humerous at the same time what Sankaracarya did. In fact reading that introduction just leaves me in a state of amazement. The Lord is a real prankster. It just shows you how subtle He is. Rest assured the Lord will rescue us eventually from impersonalism and voidism. He always does.

I was just reading about a Sripada Sankaracarya in the introduction of Srimad Bhagavatam. Apparently he was an incarnation of Lord Siva. Srila Prabhupada says:

"The Lord said that but 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 superfluous and concocted.

The Lord further added that the Mayavada philosophy taught by Sripada Sankaracarya is an imaginary explanation of the Vedas, but it had to be taught by him (Sankaracarya) because he was ordered to teach it by the Personality of Godhead. In the Padma Purana it is stated that the Personality of Godhead ordered His Lordship Siva to deviate the human race from Him (the Personality of Godhead). The Personality of Godhead was to be covered so that people would be encouraged to generate more and more population. His Lordship Siva said to Devi: "In the Kali-yuga, I shall preach the Mayavada philosophy, which is nothing but clouded Buddhism, in the garb of a brahmana."

If we are talking about the same Sankaracarya then in Srila Prabhupada's view Sankaracarya was intentionally trying to mislead people but he was instructed to do so by the Personality of Godhead.

I L K,

Bhakti-yoga is recommended by 3 out of 4 Vedantists to cure the material affliction. It should be 4 out of 4 but in the Kali-yuga it gets reduced to 3 out of 4. So even in the Kali-yuga the majority of Vedantists recommend Bhakti-yoga over any other form of yoga. just kidding about the 3 out of 4 thing.

Whatever floats your boat but I prefer Bhakti-yoga. As Srila Prabhupada says in Bhagavad Gita. "The culmination of all kinds of yoga practice lies in bhakti-yoga. Yoga actually means bhakti-yoga; all other yogas are progressions towards this destination." From the beginning of karma-yoga to the end of bhakti-yoga is a long way to self-realization. Karma-yoga, without fruitive results, is the beginning of the path. When karma-yoga increases in knowledge and renunciation, the stage is called jnana-yoga. When jnana-yoga increases in meditation on the Supersoul by different physical processes, and the mind is on Him, it is called astanga-yoga. And when one surpasses astanga-yoga and comes to the point of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, it is called bhakti-yoga, the culmination. Factually, bhakti-yoga is the ultimate goal, but to analyze bhakti-yoga minutely one has to understand these other minor yogas."

Take the Christians for example. They are offering service to Lord Jesus who is a bonafide representative of Krishna so if they follow perfectly the instructions of Jesus they will be elevated to a position where they can associate with Jesus and Jesus will reveal to them Vedic knowledge. But if they simply make a show of being devoted to Jesus and are actually falling more into the bodily conception of life then they are simply wasting their time and will continue to transmigrate in the material world. Chanting the holy names of the Lord is the only religion in the Kali-yuga. If you don't want to chant Hare Krishna then chant the name of his bonafide representative like Jesus.

That gives me an idea. I am going to go to my local Mormon temple and tell them they are creating an unnecessary disturbance in society. Oh this is going to be fun. Just kidding.

Funny I was just reading in Bhagavad Gita and Srila Prabhupada commenting on Chapter 7 text 2. Srila Rupa Gosvami writes in his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu: "Devotional service to the Lord that ignores the authorized Vedic literatures like the Upanisads, Puranas and Narada-pancaratra is simply an unnecessary disturbance in society". I assume it is safe to say that most of the worlds religons do not accept the authority of Vedic literatures so based on this statement if it is God who has created all these religions then He must have wanted to create a "unnecessary disturbance in society."

He has lots of karma to deal with but he is fundamentally a good natured human. He grew up with 7th Day Adventism stuffed down his throat day and night so anything to do with eastern religions is seen as demonic or whatever. I pray the Lord will forgive him and ease his karma because he did it out of ignorance.

It's cool that you have a family that is aware of Krishna. My dad once burned my copy of Bhagavad Gita. I couldn't believe anyone would do that.

I know a Buddhist scholar pali translator who told me that the no selfer Buddhists actually do not follow anything the Buddha said. In fact he told me that the Buddha said the self is the only refuge and the Buddha talked about unification with Brahma. Take it for what its worth because I personally know very little about Buddhism but according to him almost all "modern" Buddhists are a bunch of "deluded muthas."

I know a Buddhist scholar pali translator who told me that the no selfer Buddhists actually do not follow anything the Buddha said. In fact he told me that the Buddha said the self is the only refuge and the Buddha talked about unification with Brahma. Take it for what its worth because I personally know very little about Buddhism but according to him almost all "modern" Buddhists are a bunch of "deluded muthas."

Call me brainwashed, a blind follower or whatever but if Srila Prabhupada says the Kali-yuga is 5,000 years old then thats good enough for me.

Call me brainwashed, a blind follower or whatever but if Srila Prabhupada says the Kali-yuga is 5,000 years old then thats good enough for me.

I was going through the same thing. I don't know for certain anymore if it affects the weather but I know since I have been chanting Hare Krishna that I am losing attachment for my physical body so I don't really feel affected by changes in weather even if the weather goes to extremes. I think chanting the Hare Krishna mantra makes you more sensitive to what is happening in the universe and consequently you may notice things more closely than somone who is struggling with their fear of annihilation. Not everyone is experiencing the weather in the same way.

I respect your love for Jesus don't get me wrong. I do think you are being a little fanatical. Krishna is the father of Jesus so how can you truly respect Jesus without respecting his father? Krishna is the father of all living entities. How can you not respect Krishna?

Its this kind of fanaticism that made me disgusted with Christianity and made me become a Hare Krishna. So if they were trying to save me they actually drove me to to Krishna and they don't even realize how grateful I am to them. No offense to Jesus.

Well said Theist.

Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1, Ch. 3 text 25

"Thereafter, at the conjunction of two yugas, the Lord of the creation will take His birth as the Kalki incarnation and become the son of Visnu Yasa. At this time the rulers of the earth will have degenerated into plunderers."

The Kali-yuga lasts 432,000 years of which we have passed only 5,000 years after the Battle of Kuruksetra and the end of the regime of King Pariksit. So in 427,000 years the Lord is going to incarnate as the Kalki Avatar and kill all the demons on the Earth.

Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Ch. 3 text 26

"O brahmanas, the incarnations of the Lord are innumerable, like rivulets flowing from inexhaustible sources of water."

Regarding books being thrown in the trash that brings back memories when I met some devotees in the Seattle airport. I was picking up my brother and this really nice devotee came up to me and offered these books so I gave him 20 dollars for The Quest for Enlightenment, The Journey of Self-Discovery and Bhagavad Gita. I was with my dad and He looked at me like I was crazy for giving money to a Hare Krishna. Anyway my brothers flight was late so I had to go back to my car and I took the books with me. Later on I went back through the airport and saw that devotee again. I am sure he noticed I didn't have the books with me and I have always wondered if he thought I threw them away or something.

This whole Bible versus Gita debate and whether Christ is the only way to God is going to be going on for a long time.... ad infinitum

In the name of the father the son and the holy ghost lets just all work together to bring about a revolution in the impious lives of humanity. After all we don't want to end up in an unmanifested state until the next Kali-yuga.

Sinimat, you just said it all my friend. That is one of the most simple and best posts I have ever read on this board.

Hare Krishna

I don't know anything about hand signals but I can tell you after years of Krishna fooling around with me that He does test your every weakness etc. waiting to see if you can control your emotions. He just keeps doing this over and over so you become well practiced at managing your emotions. Its all preparation for ultimately meeting Krishna in the spiritual world.