Harekrishna
AGTSP
respected devotees,
my child hood friend has grown up as an athetist... but how to get her back to god consciousness.. ??
the more u convince her she will become firm in her stand.. she is very good lady and strongly believes in her efforts but no love or faith in god..
Replies
Hare Krishna. So it is best to ignore the atheists? But then if we ignore them who is going to save them? I do a little preaching sometimes on the internet and I am amazed that there are so many atheists in the world. I wish there was a book that would have specific instructions such as "When an atheist says this then you say that". Like have 100 examples of what an atheist might say and what our answer would be.
Its a Nam Aparad, 7) To instruct the faithless on the glories of the holy name.
You will lose taste for Holy Names if you preach to those who are not interested in confidential knowledge of Krishna.
Jesus, put it in simple words. Do not cast pearls in front of swine. Because they do not appreciate the value.
Even believers sometimes become atheists because of committing offenses against other devotees/practicing devotees.
Here is the list of 10 offenses one must avoid at all costs... Source: Harinama Cintamani free Pdf on Google
Naam Aparad - 10 Offenses against Holy Name of Lord Hari
1) Blasphemy of the devotees of the Lord.
2) To consider demigods to be independent of the Supreme Lord, and to similarly think Lord Krsna's name, form, qualities and pastimes are separate from Him.
3) To disobey the spiritual master who reveals the truth about the holy name.
4) To criticize the scriptures that describe the glories of the holy name.
5) To think the excellences and divine qualities of the holy name are imaginary, and to so interpret the scriptural glorification of the holy name.
6) To commit sinful activities on the strength of the holy name.
7) To instruct the faithless on the glories of the holy name.
8) To equate chanting of the holy name with auspicious ritualistic activities recommended in the karmakanda sections of the Vedas.
9) To be inattentive while chanting the holy name.
10) To not develop love for the holy name after learning the name's glories because of maintaining attachments to the body and things related to the body.
Rajashree Mataji,
"Always remember Krishna....Never forget Krishna."
This is what we are taught.
We have FAITH in Krishna.
Then we begin to really BELIEVE in Krishna.
Then we gain bona-fide KNOWLEDGE of Krishna.
Then we start to actually know who Krishna is.
AND, we SERVE Krishna.. in Faith, with our hearts Belief,
and with the Knowledge given by Srila Prabhupada and our Gurus.
Then Sri Krsna becomes very attracted to us, and we to HIM.
Humbly submitted, Bh. R.
haribol krishna iccha without his mercy no grass will move.... but i am happy she is a believer she has not stopped beleiving....
Harekrishna one more friend considers her own father who has disappeared from this planet as god. she says my father is god for me. she offers all food to her father photo and talks to him...how far is this correct..... all her friends tease her why u r talking to ur father he is dead.. she is a believer in god.
http://www.asitis.com/10/
Chapter 10, Verse 20
I am the Self, O Guḍākeśa, seated in the hearts of all creatures. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings.
i would advise you to stay away from her and aavoid her sanga as she is an atheist it is very difficult to get her to krishna but the best option is to avoid her sanga and think more about yourself how to attain krishna. Let me tell you one interesting point leave her and instead make a similar relationship with radha rani. she would maintain the relationship better and you would uplift to innerself. Best of luck with krishna.
Hare Krsna Mataji,
PAMHO.
Since she is a childhood friend, you may delve into the past and find out what her experiences were which made her believe there is no God. Those experiences, when she narrates, you can give another dimension to it by giving your view point that the same thing can also be interpreted in another way. This way, you have to slowly sow the seeds of belief in her and pray for her. YOu have to feed her Krsna prasadam all the while and handle her carefully.
You can pray to Krsna for mercy so that she develops basic faith. After you have fed her sufficient prasadam and in a weak moment for her, you can hand over one copy of Bhagavad Gita As It Is to her and ask her to read ait as an acedemic interest to find out what is written in our scriptures and then to reject it.
Since she has decided she is an athiest, it may not be easy to bring her to the temple to the association of other devotees. YOu can expose her to soulful kirtan, maybe playing in your car, when you both are going somewhere.
This is pretty much what you can do mataji.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Rashmi