2011-02-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

Hello World!

The following essay was written after I watched an inspiring documentary on Buddhism. Since I was raised a Christian (went to Lutheran church) and then practiced Bhakti Yoga (what the Hare Krishnas practice) and now I practice Bhakti Yoga AND I'm a Catholic Christian (since I always loved the Rosary since I was introduced to it right after High School and now I live in a big city neighborhood with a Catholic Church in every direction, it was a natural move to worship with the Catholics). Write to me what you think after reading it! Thanks,

Divine Love

Let us strive for world peace by striving for unity amongst our spiritual brothers and sisters, not just within our own religion, but with people from other bona fide religions as well. Christ also loves them and sees the love in their hearts. Remember, He sees everyone who does the will of His Father as His true mother, brother or sister. As the author of The Purpose Driven Life wrote, “God expects unity, not uniformity, and we can walk arm-in-arm without seeing eye-to-eye on every issue.” He writes that in reference to Christians, but we can also apply that message to how we see people from other religions.

Anyone who has humbly studied the major religions of the world can see that they are each like “Spiritual Universities”. They have different methods of teaching the same basic subject: Divine Love. Some persons may not be attracted to learn about a religion other than their own and that is fine. But still, they should open their minds in order to see that God is guiding all sincere followers of all bona fide religions towards purity. Whether we are a Christian (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or one of the many other Christian churches), Muslim, Jew, Hare Krishna (Vaishnava), Hindu, etc. we should not think that we have a monopoly on Love of God. This sectarian mentality causes so much grief. Sectarianism brings forth terrorists and encourages nothing but quarrelling.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who became so famous due to her humility and simplicity, was not a closed minded sectarian. When asked whether or not she tries to convert the poor people she serves to Christianity, she replied

“Of course I convert. I convert you to be a better Hindu or a better Muslim or a better Protestant. Once you’ve found God, it’s up to you to decide how to worship Him.” She had a simple yet profound wisdom and worked tirelessly to inspire us all to cultivate our relationship with the Supreme Lord. Another one of her many quotes is: “Keep the joy of loving God always in your heart and share this joy with all you meet.” One Catholic saying that is very helpful in spreading tolerance among the peoples of the world is: “WHEREVER THERE IS CHARITY AND LOVE, THERE IS GOD.”

In Luke 9:50 in the Holy Bible there is a good story to show how Jesus did not approve of hostility or intolerance towards those outside one’s own group. The disciples had wanted to put a stop to one man’s efforts because this man was casting out a demon from someone while calling on the Holy Name of Jesus Christ although he did not belong to their group. He did not associate himself with the new disciples of Christ Jesus who became known as Christians. He was not an “insider”, he was an “outsider”. Did Jesus go to the man and convince him that he must join HIS group? No. Jesus said: “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”

Now I’d like to help clear up a common misconception about Hinduism. Many think that all Hindus believe in many Gods. This is not true! His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada taught that the sincere and truly intelligent Hindus follow the important Vedic Scriptures (such as Bhagavad-Gita & Srimad Bhagavatam), which teach that there is only one Supreme Lord. All followers of the one Supreme Lord are called Vaishnavas. Vaishnava means follower of Vishnu. God has numerous Holy Names and comes to earth in many different forms. The Incarnations of God that are important for us to know about are mentioned in the 5,000 year old Vedic scriptures of India (Vedas); Lord Jesus and Lord Buddha are also spoken of there. Many Hindus do worship demigods though, who are powerful personalities in God’s Government; usually in order to receive some sort of temporary materialistic profit. But the Supreme Lord is giving the demigods their power, so since all blessings originate from Him, it would be wise to concentrate our worship only on God, from whom everything is emanating. A Hindu who is devoted to demigod worship is like if some Catholic Christians were to forget about Lord Jesus and the Holy Trinity (God the Father, God the Son-Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit-Love of God personified) and start churches where only one or more of the Saints or Archangels are worshipped.

If we sincerely devote ourselves to developing our loving relationship with God, we will discover that faith, hope and pure love is growing in our hearts. If we are not on the path of pure devotion yet, then we must ask the Lord to help us begin our journey. Just talk to God. Let Him know that you are now opening your heart to Him. Then try to follow His gentle guidance. He will never expect us to do anything unreasonable. Each of us has a very personal, intimate relationship with God and we shouldn’t fear Him (when we read in the Bible about fearing God it means respecting) for He is the perfect, most loving Parent and Best Friend to each living being.

Please also open your mind to the idea of changing the way you eat if you eat meat, especially cow meat (beef). Food that is received through torture and death will have ill effects on our body and soul. Many Hindus and others from all religious backgrounds avoid eating meat because they know that God cannot be pleased by our maintaining cruel and hellish places called slaughterhouses. If you’re not sure, it may be a good idea to visit a slaughterhouse. Stopping our meat eating (especially beef, since cows and bulls are very dear to God) is a win-win situation for the animals and humans. The animals get to live out their natural lives and we become much healthier physically and spiritually. The only losers would be those who want to keep making money from this killing business.

I will end now with the wise words of Srila Prabhupada, who in this conversation is speaking with a Priest of the Catholic Church:

Prabhupada: “Christos is the Greek version of the word Krishna... When an Indian person calls on Krishna, he often says, ‘Krishta’. Krishta is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘attraction’. So when we address God as ‘Christ’, ‘Krishta’, or ‘Krishna’ we indicate the same all-attractive Supreme Personality of Godhead. When Jesus said, “Our Father who art in Heaven, sanctified be Thy Name”, that name of God was ‘Krishta’ or ‘Krishna’. Do you agree?

Priest (Father Emmanuel): “I think Jesus as the Son of God, has revealed to us the actual name of God – Christ. We can call God ‘Father’, but if we want to address Him by His actual name, we have to say ‘Christ’.”

Prabhupada: “Yes. ‘Christ’ is another way of saying Krishta, and ‘Krishta’ is another way of pronouncing Krishna, the name of God. Jesus said that one should glorify the name of God... THE MAIN POINT IS TO FOLLOW THE INJUNCTIONS OF THE VEDIC SCRIPTURES THAT RECOMMEND CHANTING THE NAME OF GOD IN THIS AGE. THE EASIEST WAY IS TO CHANT THE MAHA-MANTRA:

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA, KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE, HARE RAMA HARE RAMA, RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

Rama and Krishna are names of God, and Hare is the energy of God.”

Note: Hare is pronounced “huhray”. Rama rhymes with “drama”.

Chant these Holy Names of God OR the Holy Names of God found in other religious traditions. For example, Christians could pray more by remembering these simple prayers: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner”, all or part of the Holy Rosary, “Jesus, I trust You”, or even simpler, “JESUS!”, sing songs that praise God or make up your own, it’s up to you! However you pray it’s good to often include the actual Name of God in your prayer because The Holy Names have as much power as God Himself; they are nondifferent!

Have faith in the Holy Names of God!

What the world needs now is our prayers.

Let’s pray more, thus saving our own souls and the souls of those we pray for from losing our faith; this would be the greatest tragedy. Let’s keep our faith alive!

soul Sunshine