PAMHO. Jai Madhav. AGSTP.
I have this doubt that has been bothering me. Every religion or spiritual path on Earth says "our way is the best", and denounces the others by branding them sacrilegious or (as in ISKCON) "demonic". Who is right?
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Hare Krishna! Dandavat Pranam!
What good is harward university, if one's learning capacity is only so much ? Suggestion is to stick to one path and when the elevation is due, the lord himself will knock the door. By looking at and analyzing multiple paths, does not help any way.
Bg 2.41 — Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched.
Hare Krishna! Dandavat Pranam !
SB 1.3.33 — Whenever a person experiences, by self-realization, that both the gross and subtle bodies have nothing to do with the pure self, at that time he sees himself as well as the Lord
Till this state, it is the 'Ahankaram' [Ego] that makes one think / argue something is better/superior than something else. Spiritual pursuit is not an exception to this either. Those who are realized, do not compare anything.
Bg 5.18 — The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal vision a learned and gentle brāhmaṇa, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater
Bg 4.11 — As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.
Surrendering to Lord is transcendental, like the Lord, is supremely independent. Indeed, surrendered person achieve knowledge and detachment as concomitant effects.
Those who take exclusive shelter under lotus feet of Lord, do not need to have eyes or ears for progress on the path, therefore such path is considered to be greatest .
I think Sri Sri path is most a most pleasing surrender in God, All Vadic paths are generis paths & Educational for the faithful to build faith by connection with the Faithful Faithfully! Experiencel Knowledge is the root of a very strong Faith. ?
The minds/attentions/energies & intintions of those who are
"less resolute" are many branched! Experiencely we can see The today The Foremost subject of the Vadic Ledgends Vishnu esists today un-preterbed & unchanged by time's passing We know we trust we see Ji Krishna
Ji RAMA
It's only getting started' ji Sri ji Addi-Guru Sri Sri (HDG)
Bg 18.66 — Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.
Hare Krsna Prabhuji,
PAMHO.
We in ISKCON do not call others path demonic. We say that there are 4 paths which are authorised by the supreme lord Himself.
1) Brahma
2) Shiva leads Rudra Sampradaya
3) 4 Kumaras lead Nimbarka sampradaya
4) Lakshmi leads Sri Sampradaya
We are followers of Brahma Madhva Gaudiya sampradaya. It begins with Brahma, then one major acarya in this paramapara was Madhvacharya, then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Thats why Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Sampradaya. We have very very good relations with Sri Sampradaya - I stay in South India, where Sri Sampradaya is prevelant, thats why I can personally vouch for it. The other sampradayas also we accept as authority and give them full respect.
When someone comes up with his own philosophy, and does not belong to any sampradaya, we reject them and do not even hear their philosophy.
At the same time, we have full respect for devotees like Mirabai, Tukaram, Kulasekhara.
Its like getting answer to an algebra question where we are asked to find out the value of x, y & z. If we get an answer like 1.225, 2.32, 4.89, we may have doubts and try to check with the student beside us what values he has got. If we get answer like x=1, y=2, z=3, we dont even need to check, we know its the right answer. Same way, when you are on the right path, you get the answer from within. Paramatma guides from within prabhu.
You can choose any one of the sampradayas mentioned above and follow that path. The trick is to choose one path and start walking on it. Otherwise we can spend lifetimes trying to decide which path is better and still not come up with an answer.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Radha Rasamayi DD
Thank you for taking the time out and responding to my question Mataji. You are the shining beacon of this online community of the Krishna Conscious.
But my mind is not clear yet. You have mentioned only sects of Hindusim. But what about Mohamedanism, or Christianity, of Zoroastrianism, or maybe some tribal "isms" that have been followed for tens of thousands of years without much change? All of them would claim that their path is the right path, but they (mostly) follow different rules and regulations, some of them eat meat as part of their regulations, some feel that God is without form, some of them would leave their dead to be eaten by carrion feeders and so on. And most of these are not new inventions, some of are age old, even probably older than our scriptures.
So is there any tangible evidence that our path is the greatest, or is it all perception?
Forgive me in case I offended you, but questions are clouding my mind.
Hare Krsna Prabhuji,
PAMHO.
I am simply trying my best to serve, so that whatever I know, I can share with others and help them on this path.
Now coming to your questions - nothing offensive at all. Dont worry about it.
I can talk maximum about Christianity and Islam. Dont have any idea about the other religions.
Jesus Christ himself says I am the son of God. Son can never be father. ISKCON also recognises him as such and has full respect for his teachings. If you read carefully, his teachings are completely in line with vedas. It is rumoured that he was in India, Puri specifically, and that he learnt spirituality from here and went back to preach. However, he could not say much because the level of people at that time was not so good, he could barely preach for 3 years and then he was crucified for his preaching, people were so barbaric at that time.
Hindus recognise Prophet Mohammed. I have read in Vishnu Sahastranaam - Om Allahyah Namah. As you have mentioned in another post, the teachings are always as per time, place and level of the people at that time. So the teachings of Prophet Mohammed was accordingly. Jesus Christ could not even say who is God - he simply said love God, love everyone as a creation of God. With the little information he could impart in 3 years, he was crucified, he could not give the complete information. Same with Prophet Mohammed - he could not say God has form because at that time, the tribes were just not ready to accept. I have even heard that the teachings of Paigambar include "Do not have sex with your mother" such was the level of people around him. How could he talk higher things?
Now recently I read a whatsapp forward which was proving that both Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed were strict vegeterians, as against popular belief in this regard. I am inclined to believe this for the simple reason one cannot love God and eat one of his sons, in any form.
Regarding God being with form or without form, this dispute is going on endlessly over the ages. Our vedas very helpfully mention both - that He is with form and that He is formless. It is as per the level of each person.
Regarding leaving their dead to be eaten by other life forms, I cannot comment - dont know shastric reference of this.
Proof of the pudding is in the eating prabhu. Follow any path, you will know. SOmewhere one has to trust. I feel its like a geometry theoram - we start with some assumptions and then prove those same assumptions by the end of the theoram. Same way, start by assuming God has form and He is Krsan, read Gita. You will be convinced at the end of Gita. That conviction comes from the heart, nobody else can convince beyond a point prabhu.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Radha Rasamayi DD
Thank you Mataji. A very well written response. I can't say the clouds have completely cleared, but I understand that one has to take it in with faith.