AncientMariner

That is a funny story even though I know it was not funny to you. I have had the same problems with my relatives always asking why I don't eat meat. Well its because I don't find feeding on the dead carcasses of animals to be that appealing. They always have a dumbfounded look on their faces like what is wrong with this person. Of course my family looks at Dave Thomas as a legend because they knew him when He was just starting Wendy's fast food chain.

That is a funny story even though I know it was not funny to you. I have had the same problems with my relatives always asking why I don't eat meat. Well its because I don't find feeding on the dead carcasses of animals to be that appealing. They always have a dumbfounded look on their faces like what is wrong with this person. Of course my family looks at Dave Thomas as a legend because they knew him when He was just starting Wendy's fast food chain.

All the girlfriends I had just simply plundered my my sanity. I used to love to play sports now I find them to be completely boring. The only thing I enjoy anymore is sitting around thinking about Krishna. All I can think about is Krishna. I even try to play video games every now and then and they seem like a phantasmagorical pleasure that leave me with an empty void.

Yeah He definately is fulfilling my desires but to be straight up honest with you the only desire I have left is to see Krishna. This material world is really quite boring to be honest. I stick around to help my dad out. He is an old man thouroughly overly attached to his home and He is probably a demon considering how he ran out on my Mom but I was reading in a Joseph Campbell book how it is the duty of the son to save the father from all types of abominable conditions. So I keep trying to preach Krishna Consciousness to him but he is usually very resistant so I guess I have to take it slow.

That since I have been chanting Hare Krishna my yard looks nicer and the weather is better. I live in a trailer on my Dad's property and noone around here is allowed to live in trailers but since I have been chanting Hare Krishna the authorities don't even bother me.

What is a person who feels the light of Christ but sees the shortcomings of Christian theology supposed to do?

What is a person who feels the light of Christ but sees the shortcomings of Christian theology supposed to do?

Have you ever seen the movie The Sixth Sense. It may sound funny but when you really study Krishna Consciousness people begin to look like that movie. The actions of non-devotees are ghostlike. They see what they want to see.

Have you ever seen the movie The Sixth Sense. It may sound funny but when you really study Krishna Consciousness people begin to look like that movie. The actions of non-devotees are ghostlike. They see what they want to see.

One of the things I really like about Krishna Consciousness is that you don't have to live your life in fear of burning in hell forever. If you fall down from the devotional platform and take birth in the material world again any devotion you have performed in a past life will be the starting point of your next physical embodiement. Even the smallest amount of devotion goes a very long way in saving you from repeated births in the material world. That being said it is healthy to fear the material world to some extent because it keeps you alert to the constant danger in the material world.

I don't know anything about schizophrenia but I was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder or manic depression in my early 20's. I personally couldn't bear the thought of being under the control of a psychiatrist my whole life and being forced to take medication so I opted out of the system all together and it was the best thing I ever did. Ever since I have found Krishna Consciousness I feel like I have gotten to the root of my problems and it has stabilized my emotions. I realize there are people that suffer much worse illnesses than mine and Krishna Consciousness might not be a cure all for them but in my case I felt like everything else was a temporary band aid and ultimately a waste of time. Once you realize you are not this physical body and your true home is with Krishna in the spiritual world it makes tolerating the ups and downs of the material world much easier.

I don't know anything about schizophrenia but I was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder or manic depression in my early 20's. I personally couldn't bear the thought of being under the control of a psychiatrist my whole life and being forced to take medication so I opted out of the system all together and it was the best thing I ever did. Ever since I have found Krishna Consciousness I feel like I have gotten to the root of my problems and it has stabilized my emotions. I realize there are people that suffer much worse illnesses than mine and Krishna Consciousness might not be a cure all for them but in my case I felt like everything else was a temporary band aid and ultimately a waste of time. Once you realize you are not this physical body and your true home is with Krishna in the spiritual world it makes tolerating the ups and downs of the material world much easier.

That was just a little joke that was actually more relevant than you would think. When I was just out of high school I started reading Bhagavad Gita on my own and I didn't understand it. At the time I had severe depression and I was taken to a mental hospital. I kept telling them I needed to find a spiritual master and they all looked at me like I was crazy. I was even at the point where I wanted to go to India and try to find Srila Prabhupada. I didn't know he had already passed away.

LOL

I was looking in the yellow pages and I can't seem to find a qualified spiritual master anywhere.

I am sorry I forgot to login again in the above post.

Look at what Buddhism has become because of too many unauthorized commentaries. Now people think Buddhism advocates there is no God and there is no self which is completely false if you actually read the Buddha's teachings.

I can't seem to find one Christian that believes animals have souls. They keep telling me that God gave us dominion over them so we can eat them all we want. I am not trying to cut down Christians but I can't believe how many of them believe that animals are just lifeless lumps of matter.

Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 2 Text 2 "Srila Suta Gosvami said: Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the great sage (Sukadeva Gosvami) who can enter the hearts of all. When he went away to take up the renounced order of life (sannyasa), leaving home without undergoing reformation by the sacred thread or the ceremonies observed by the higher castes, his father, Vyasadeva, fearing seperation from him, cried out, "O my son!" Indeed only the trees, which were absorbed in the same feelings of seperation, echoed in response to the begrieved father." Excerpt from Purport "Srila Sukadeva Gosvami was a Vaisnava from the beginning; therefore, there was no need for him to undergo all the processes of the varnasrama institution. Ultimately the aim of varnasrama-dharma is to turn a crude man into a pure devotee of the Lord, or a Vaisnava. Anyone, therefore who becomes a Vaisnava accepted by the first-class Vaisnava, or uttama-adhikari Vaisnava, is already considered a brahmana, regardless of his birth or past deeds. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepted this principle and recognized Srila Haridasa Thakura as the acarya of the holy name, although Thakura Haridasa appeared in a Mohammedan family. In conclusion, Srila Sukadeva Gosvami was born a Vaisnava, and, therefore, brahminism was included in him. He did not have to undergo any ceremonies. Any lowborn person - be he a Kirata, Huna, Andhra, Pulinda, Pulkasa, Abhira, Sumbha, Yavana, Khasa or even lower - can be delivered to the highest transcendental position by the mercy of Vaisnavas." So if you are a devotee you are already considered a brahmana.

Srila Prabhupada was trying to create a Brahmin class (in the Kali-yuga there is virtually no Brahmin class. Nearly everyone is a sudra) so that there would be an intelligent class to society. He knew if he could do this that all the social orders and castes could progress together towards realization of the Absolute Truth.

Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 2 text 13 "O best among the twice-born, it is therefore concluded that the highest perfection one can achieve by discharging the duties prescribed for one's own occupation according to caste divisions and orders of life is to please the Personality of Godhead." Purport Human society all over the world is divided into four castes and four orders of life. The four castes are the intelligent caste, the martial caste, the productive caste and the laborer caste. These castes are classified in terms of one's work and qualification and not by birth. Then again there are four orders of life, namely the student life, the householder's life, the retired and the devotional life. In the best interest of human society there must be such divisions of life, otherwise no social institution can grow in a healthy state. And in each and every one of the above mentioned divisions of life, the aim must be to please the supreme authority of the Personality of Godhead. This institutional function of human society is known as the system of varnasrama-dharma, which is quite natural for the civilized life. The varnasrama institution is constructed to enable one to realize the Absolute Truth. It is not for artificial domination of one division over another. When the aim of life, i.e., realization of the Absolute Truth, is missed by too much attachment for indriya-priti, or sense gratification, as already discussed hereinbefore, the institution of the varnasrama is utilized by selfish men to pose an artificial predominance over the weaker section. In the Kali-yuga, or in the age of quarrel, this artificial predominance is already current, but the saner section of the people know it well that the divisions of castes and orders of life are meant for smooth intercourse and high-thinking self-realization and not for any other purpose."

I am sorry that last post was me AncientMariner. I keep forgetting to log in.

When Srila Prabhupada talks about men's and women's roles in society isn't he talking about what functions best in order for people to become Krishna conscious? Once you are on the spiritual platform you no longer associate the self with the physical body anyways and you are completely dependent on the will of Krishna. Even my own mother admits that generally women are more emotional and prone to irrationality and she is a woman that was forced to raise children with little assistance from my father.

I see. Thank You for clarifying that.

I see. Thank You for clarifying that.