rsrowland

>>>in the words of ramakrishna paramahamsa we have to get moksha at any cost. this world is horrible and terrible:crying2:<<< Damn. That's it...I'm gone...you guys are sick and in need of some serious psychological help.

>>>As if any of us know right from wrong? Puh-lease!!! Just a bunch of blind men describing the elephant.<<< Sick and pathetic self-loathing. You should be ashamed of having so little love for and faith in a creation of the Lord.

I think perhaps the best thing to do is for everyone to reach out and be compassionate in their own "circles". This means family, friends, towns, countries, etc. I never give any donations or foodstuff to Africa, or India, or Mexico, etc. These are people and places not within my own realm of immediate and face to face influence. Help and teach where it matters most...home. If everyone could actually be compassionate to their own first and get their own "houses" in order...THEN we can reach out internationally. >>>And I support you in trying to make these kids happy and I think the holy name would also give them much happiness.<<< I disagree. This is the same line of BS that fundie Xians use to shove their brand of "religion" down kid's throats. Heck, the brain isn't fully formed until age 18 and even then, the rational frontal lobe isn't 100% until age 23 on average. Do you really think chanting some mumbo jumbo is gonna help them if they don't fully comprehend the why? No...let kids be kids.

This is what happens when neo-hippie zealots get ahold of "eastern philosophy". Anything that increases education and the ease of life is a boon. Living simply does not mean living in a hut and working all day. It means having an unattatched mind and not indulging in luxary and "wine and women/men". Does that mean that we should not seek the scientific facts of life or the art of letters and mathematics or the institutions of medicine and law? Of course not. These are the things that help in the upliftment and further advancement of humankind. These are not luxaries...they are evolved societal neccessities! I am so sick of these hippie wannabes who whine about modern life and pine for the bliss of God and think that everything would be a-ok if we all lived in squalor and chanted "hare krishna". If you hate life so much and want to live on your cloud 9 with all the other ignorant gopis...do us a favor and shoot yourself. Telling us that the only real knowledge is knowledge of God and that life itself is useless is just sick BS. Really...if Krishna created us all as we are then why in the world are we always trying to deny ourselves of our own potential and continually beating down ourselves? You feel bad having a good job, a good family, and wealth? Oh boo hoo! Get the hell over it and ENJOY what Krishna has obviously been kind enough to give you! My goodness people...how dumb do you have to be to not take advantage of the cycle of karma when it smiles on you? Oh, wait...yeah...all of this useless and only God is what we want...damn neo-hippies. Live a friggin' REAL life and THEN get back to me about what life should be about and how we should properly enjoy it and use it to praise Krishna. Get the stick out of your bum already.

Namaste all, Real quick...what, according to your own sampradaya is the purpose behind creation, the general view of physical life, and our own role in it all. To show you what I am looking for, let us take a look at Christianity and Buddhism. In Christianity the purpose of creation is for Yahweh's own self-aggrandizement and glory, the view of life is that it is inherently sinful and bad, and our role in it is to live according to the law of God and humble ourselves and believe in the sacrifice of Christ in order to be "saved" and go to Heaven. In Buddhism, there is no inherent purpose to life but rather the important thing to take note of is that we exist and that this is special but more or less they leave speculation of origin to science. The view of life is more or less similar to Christianity although it is not life itself which is bad, but how we react to life that is usually bad or "unskillful". Our role is to live compassionately and help make the world better for our being here and somewhere in the mix of it all seek enlightenment. So, what say you?

So because you think that you have right belief that that gives you a free pass to be a jerk to people? Man that is some pure BS. That is no better than the smug inhumanity of most christians. If this is the end result of Hare Krishna then you all can shove it.

"No, I told Jaganath that Krishna is your real soul mate and you both have to remind each other of that. He went off in a huff and hasn't spoke to me since." Can't say that I blame him. That was a very hurtful thing to say considering the timing. Couldn't you of said "I am glad for your happiness" and then say something about it when you were actually discussing the religion and the beliefs? No, I don't think this shows you as a good friend. It would be like some Christian coming to a funeral and saying "you do know he is going to hell right?".

Out of curiosity...aren't all relations and longing for relations to be avoided except for desiring Krishna?

>>>And one may be seemingly content with his material life for the time being but the material nature is endlessly mutable. Any content situation is doomed to disappear and that soul will then again become discontented. This is a most basic understanding of why the spiritual self can never be happy in the material atmosphere. The self, being eternal, outlives every material circumstance even the universe itself. Actually this whole universal situation is nothing but a blip on the radar screen of eternity. So how will some soul be eternally content within the material atmosphere?<<< Well, right off of the top of my head...by NOT whining and pining for some spiritual pipe dream. This is not to say that the flow and flux of material life doesn't have its eventual end...but rather that we should embrace Krishna's gifts in a dharmic way and not to hate and despise them. All souls make their own ships to sail the ocean of Brahman...is it really that surprising that some ships prefer to be anchored to the shore while floating on the water?

Some rishi could of had prophetic visions or dreams of the future and wrote stories about it not knowing exactly what they were.

Guruvani, I have ran across alot of your posts and debates on this forum and I have to applaud your rationality and sincerity for the truth. The ones who speak true and challenge falsities always are attacked...but keep your chin up and stay on course. Om Sri Ganeshaya Namaha!

Ramesh, What do you feed your dog? This is one of the points that Vaishnavas in general have against owning pets...most of them are carnivores. I personally have one dog and two cats and gladly accept the karma of both feeding for them and caring for them, but also being the buyer of meat based kibble. It is their dharma to eat meat, but it is also our dharma to seek companionship and to care for the earth. I feed them only organic kibble...especially after the scare with the horrid practices in the factories of China. Shanti Om to all of our beloved furry children!

>>>Rama killed Vali from hiding simply because he had not the ability to face Vali in Battle (no one did). As Vali is dying, he criticizes Rama for his shameful behavior. Rama skirts the topic and instead digresses. Anyway, in his next avatar as Krishna, he is killed by a hunter in a similar fasion to atone for that deviation from proper conduct.<<< If this is true, then logic would dictate that Vishnu is not the Supreme Being since He is above Karma...unless...he allows Himself to go through the motions of Karma in order to respect his own play of Dharma and abide by the cosmic rules. All life is a lesson... Hari Om