I think many people in this world do not believe in God, visit temples or perform any religious activities. But they are very good human beings, helpful to fellow humans, feeds the poor or does something which would benefit the poor, etc.
So my question is; is it not better to be such a person than involving in symbolic activities (though KC goes much beyond being just symbolic). I am not sure if my question sounds very valid.
Replies
Hare Krsna Prabhuji,
PAMHO.
A good human being helps others or feeds the poor and achieves only becoming 'a good citizen of the world', where the person is following what are supposed to be human qualities in the first place. This can at best take the person to heavenly planets - which can be compared to a 21 star hotel. The moment the credit of the pious activities gets over, the soul has to fall back to earth and get into the evolutionary process of 84 lakh life forms.
As compared to that, there are persons for whom it is symbolic to maybe attend church/ temple once a week, pray for atonement of sins, and come back and commit the same sins all over again. Such people are also trying to be 'good citizens of the world', because praying is also recommended for human beings. Different religions have different rules for their followers and most followers may be doing things mechanically or symbolically.
It is only a seeker who goes to temples or follows certain rules and regulations for a higher purpose.That higher purpose is achieving loving devotion for the lord and understanding the science of god - who is god, whom to pray to , how to pray to and why to pray at all. Such a seeker is automatically a good citizen of earth, because that is the actual purpose of human form of life. Have you ever seen a true seeker who is rude to others or is genuinely bad to others? Have you ever seen a true devotee who has no compassion in his heart? The idea is - when one starts seeking for the absolute truth, the qualities of 'a good citizen of the world' are automatically developed in such person.
We should be clear about what we are doing and why. I have also come across a lot of persons who say why are you wasting your time going to the temple, why dont you do some charity instead? My answer is that I can show the way to others only when I know the way myself. I can do charity, that is at best limited in scale and time, both. Wouldnt it be better to offer something indestructible? I can explain with an example - suppose there is a child in your neighbourhood known to you, who gets lost suddenly. Suppose you go somewhere and see that child there. What would you do - give that child good clothes, good food for a day or so and come back, or take that child back to his parents - even against his wishes if required. The charity we do is the first option, the preaching we do is the second option. We try to tell the people that you are not the body, you are soul; and your rightful address is in the spiritual planets, not on earth. That is true charity. If you want to give food, please offer that food first to Krsna before giving, so that the soul also gets nourished alongwith the body. It is possible to do good to others keeping Krsna in the centre.
For arguments sake, there are so many people who are doing good to others and trying to eradicate poverty. But has there been any point in time in history when poverty has been eroded from the world, even temporarily? Or all the people of the world have slept on full stomach? Or suffering has been successfully removed from the face of the earth? The answer to all 3 is no - because the world is a place of misery and it is temporary. These are the characteristics of the world as explained in Bhagavad Gita - dukhalayam asaswatam and anityam asukham lokam.
Therefore, instead of getting entangled in the problems of the world and trying to eradicate them, it is better to concentrate on our sadhana and do whatever little we do, sincerely.
I hope I have made some sense. Sorry for lenghty answer.
Your servant,
Rashmi
Hare Krishna Prabhu!
The reason temples are constructed, religious sacrifices (yagnas) are performed, and God resides in the deity form is for our own benefit. These are simple instruments to help connect us back to God. When we go to the temple, it is to see Krishna being worshiped nicely. We do yagnas for the pleasure of Krishna. These are all self-less acts because it's all about Krishna.
If we cannot keep Krishna in the center or even to the side in our material life, what use is doing materially pious activities that will never give us the taste of true happiness or even a chance to see Krishna. Doing materially pious activities is better than adharma, no doubt, but it doesn't compare to serving Krishna. Besides when we serve Krishna, we are serving the entire world, like ISKCON Mayapur. They worship Krishna, but they distribute the prasadam to everyone in a 10 mile radius (the number might be off). (Sudipta Prabhu also mentioned this, but I think the emphasis is important)
And also people suffer not just because they lack money But most of the time we see in India the habit people have like Intoxication, illlicit sex, gambling which causing poverty to their family. No matter how much humanitarian activity we may do to help them if they are not sense controlled or pure in their habits then all our effort will simply go to vain and further sin will occur for both who is giving and who is using.
So in that sense even Philanthropically Krishna consciousness is the only option and other activity like food, shelter that will be taken care of with this. Like if we see in Mayapur due to Iskcon how many people got job, opened business, the total economy got changed in Mayapur and also food for life is there to feed. BUT the most important is KC.
Hare Krishna Prabhuji. Pamho. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Doing good for others like you mentioned (being good to others, help others, feeding poor) is certainly great activities from moral point of view of this world. They are called pious activity. But pious activity doesn't lead a person to liberation from repeated birth, old age, death and diseases.
Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.10: Ignorant fools, regarding sacrifices and humanitarian works as the highest, do not know any higher good. Having enjoyed their reward on the heights of heaven, gained by good works, they enter again this world or a lower one.
Pious activities like philanthropy are karma-Kandiya means it can elevate one person to heaven and that person can enjoy heavenly happiness there but again He falls down to this earth and this is a like a roller coaster ride. Krishna says about this in Gita 9.21
Bhagavad Gita 9.21: When they have thus enjoyed vast heavenly sense pleasure and the results of their pious activities are exhausted, they return to this mortal planet again. Thus those who seek sense enjoyment by adhering to the principles of the three Vedas achieve only repeated birth and death.
Generally because of our limited vision of this life we think that this kind of humanitarian activity is all in all and we can do the ultimate good of the people by this. But this is narrow understanding. we may feed a person for years, can give him a material education , can provide him clothes , this are certainly good BUT we have to understand that by this we can't help them from repeated old age, diseases , death . And also this things can't make a man happy. Because if material comfort equals to happiness then rich people, rich nation would have been most happy people but are not detah, old age, diseases, mental anxiety , relationships problem also affecting them.
See we have to understand that we are eternal souls trapped in this temporary body of matter and hence suffering all kind of misery and our purpose of life is to get out of here and reestablish ourselves in our original constitutional position as one of the associate of supreme Lord Krishna in his abode. Then only we can truly make a person happy. Sharing Krishna consciousness with others and practicing ourselves is absolute good one can do in this human form of life. This is permanent settlement.
If you see the scriptures, Legendary Acharyas like Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Madhava, Chaitanya they never proposed humanitarian activity as the topmost because they had the absolute vision of helping the trapped jivas so they gave ultimate solution. we have to follow them then we can understand what is good for others.
ys,