Azygos

Enough of this ISHKON NONSENSE.... the time has come for the deeds of this fanatical sect to be known to one and all 1. Bhagavad Geeta as the words of Krishna -> And those beautiful words had been lost for ages. And who re-discovered them??? The advaitic Shankara..... 2. Prabhupara was a mediocre teacher at best....his commentary on geeta is full of errors...it seems he did not have a introductory knowledge of the sanskrit language 3. ISHKON has done more harm than good for India. It is associated with hindu fundamentalism all over the world. All they did were convert hedonist hippies, who were unfit for any kind of religion 4. Recently ISHKON had to settle sexual abuse case with 10 million $. You fools, learn something from the Ramakrishna Mission which does so much for social welfare. You people, dont do an ounce of good, and yet have the audacity to attack great teachers like Aurobindo, Vivekananda and Ramakrishna!!! Hypocrites, all of you......

STOP THIS NORTH INDIAN SOUTH INDIAN . We are all indians first and indians last..... Moreover, advaita is not shiva worship. Adiata is absolute monism, nonduality Stop deciding who is greater Shiva or Vishnu. Have you seen any of them yourself??? WHo are you to decide!!!

Read some different commentary of the geeta, not the one by prabhupara!!! I will recommended swami sivananda's version of the geeta or any published by the ramakrishna mission [www.sriramakrishnamath.org] Then you will clearly understand that Krishna asks NOT to surrender to him [or krishna the god] but to your own atman...which is the brahman...the absolute itself Regards, Saurav

I cannot say, if there is a definite meaning to existence, but one must strive to know about it. All the sensual pleasures in this world cannot satisfy our senses, and there is indeed something much higher than them. ->> In the long run, all desires can bring only misery, and it is better to shun them, especially sexual ones as they sex and spiritualy are incompatible.......I am myself trying and struggling....but one must set an ideal and work towards it ->> Working in a service organization, and serving the downtrodden is good for one's spiritual upliftment. If you truely have the desire, then definitely go ahead. ->> Also, you should continue to read spiritually potent readings.... i would definitely recommend to you the 'complete works of swami vivekananda -> http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/ ->> Works of Swami Rama Tirtha www.ramatirtha.com ->> Works of Swami Sivananda http://dlshq.org/download/download.htm * Prayer and chanting is indeed helpful in the spiritual path but solely chanting "hare krishna" will not do, atleast it won't enlighten anyone except in the rarest of the rare cases. * Karma (action), jyana (knowledge of discrimination) and meditation (raja yoga) are essential too Regards, Saurav

1.There is no subtle difference between the saint and the sinner. The former manifests a greater part of the divinity than the latter. Evil and good are like the two banks of a river. THe difference between the saint and the sinner is only in degree and NOT in Kind 2. THe law of Karma is not that easy to comprehend. There are various types of karma. That is why, i recommended you to read those lectures but you prefer to live with your preconceptions; within a fool's paradise. -> The atman does not suffer but due to the effects of imbalance of material qualities or gunas of sattvas, tamas and rajas gets deluded into the belief of suffering. All the suffering and joy in this world, is due to maya...the magical power in creation, emanating from the brahman itself which creates the barriers of time, space and causation. When maya is transcended by yoga, then the apparent reality or delusion is lost, and man understands his real nature. 3. Nope, it doesnt work that way. Bharata in the ramayana even in his deathbed, was thinking about his beloved deer, so in his next life he became the deer itself. It is not that if u do, one good deed and one bad deed they will cancel out. You will have the fruit of the good deed and the fruit of the bad deed too. "EVERY CAUSE HAS AN EFFECT, EVERY EFFECT HAS A CAUSE". THis is the basic premise of the law of karma. But remember, the Geeta explicitly mentions Krishna asking Arjuna to forfeit the fruits of work, "work for work;s sake -> to NOT think of the results or the fruits of your action"....only then can karma become a valid path to realization. Regards, Saurav

Dear Donna, Howsoever preposterous your posts might have proven to be, i would still request you to avoid unnecessary slander on any religion without even knowing its tenets. The basis of Hinduism is not on idols, and niether on multiplicity of gods. The gods are the forms in which the bhaktas have seen them. Sanatana dharma recognizes the fact, that all people are not in the same position to envisage the highest truth because of their past karma/samskaras which dictate their present state of intellect. THus, the forms of worship like rituals, idol worship, etc are as essential as the higher forms. Man moves not from error to truth, but from lower truth to higher truth The problem with you, and your religion is you have a shopkeeper's attitude towards religion. You pray to god, and he showers you with gifts. You convert a 100 people and u get a ticket to the sensuous heaven. WHen the goals are so immoral, how can the means be anything but blatantly hedonistic To a hindu, his religion is renunciation and love. Thus say;s the geeta "work for work;s sake", "love for love's sake" and "duty for duty;s sake" Hinduism;s final vedantic conclusion is Advaita which states that man is god. [some sects like the Vaishnavs believe in qualified monism, with god having both a personal and impersonal aspect]. However, all other religions, except Buddhism + certain judaism sects are merely dualistic religions. A creator god ruling over the hapless humans, he is niether benevolent but can be cruel like Jerovah of the old testament......He demands faith and torments the infidels in the fires of hell... Sorry, but Hinduism prefers Not to believe in such illogical concepts where u have a creator god. If such a religion satisfies you, so let be it. If the disparity in the world doesnt move you; and doesnt make you question the impartiality of your creator god; then let be it. THe fact of the matter is, you are yet NOT ready for the true religion -> for what else is religion but realization of the highest truth. But there is hope, for sanatana dharma beholds everyone as potentially divine and each will realize his divinity in the time to come. Regards, Saurav

To work the right u have but not to the fruits thereof -> follow this basic message of the geeta There is nothing wrong in making money by following a rajasic life. But, the aim of life is self realization and not just materialism. Working hard to make money is good but just in case, you dont succeed in your endevour, dont lose heart. Perhaps, you are here to do infinitely greater things than the ordinary pursuits of money making And finally, you and only you can make your own destiny. You might also like to refer to the karma yoga lectures by Swami Vivekananda -> available online http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/complete_works.htm Regards, Saurav

The difference between other religions and Hinduism is, the goal of Hinduism is to directly perceive god or the absolute truth within this mortal frame as the only means of moksha..... hence, hinduism might appear complex but the truth was never easy........ several gods.....because we need symbols....in this world encompasses with maya.....to describe anything we need 2 things; name and form [nama rupa[ Idol worship is a lower form of spirituality.....one must go higher and higher....transcend, the need for idols he must However, dont make the mistake of neglecting symbols....from the cross in christianity , to facing the mecca while praying all are symbols Hinduism has the concept of nirguna brahman. But it cannot be envisaged by the human mind. For every thought in mind, there is a form as its counterpart. Hence, the need for symbols U are wrong to mention, that no idols have been found from harappa.....idols of bulls [nandi], etc have been found Moreover, most ancient indian temples in North India were destroyed by the invaders [mostly by the islamic barbarians] To get a better perspective of Hinduism, i would refer to you the lectures of Swami Vivekananda; especially his paper on Hinduism which he presented at the . of religions. Also refer to the lectures on Bhakti yoga [for the need for symbols], karma and gyana yoga http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/complete_works.htm

plz dont impose the theory of ahimsa on Hinduism.....the geeta explicitly mentions to fight to defend righteousness, but only as a last resort when all other measures of peace fail. The aryan society did eat beef but later gave it up The ramayana has explicit passages which mention eating of meat and drinking of wine Finally, vegetarianism out of compassion for animals is excellent thought, but not out of dogma Swami Vivekananda himself ate meat....and he was realized....so it is vaishnav myth that meat eaters are doomed......

The puranas mention a man can live for 10,000 yrs. The vedas mention a man can lives on an average for upto 100 yrs. Which to believe? Chaitanya;s philosphy and what Krishna quotes are qualified monism. The problem is in within the realm of Maya, the brahman can be expressed only as dualistic or qualified monistic / visitadvaita Man moves not from error to truth, but from lower truth to higher truth. hence, niether is dvaita or visitadvaita wrong but they are lower truths than the highest truth of advaita. The verses of Geeta are all about interpretation, depending upon the spiritual quotient of the aspirant there are no rules involved. Hence, Krishna;s teaches Arjuna to move from Dvaita -> Visitadvaita -> Advaita taking recourse of all yogas.

Reading bhagavad geeta as it is, without a good commentary is dangerous for beginners because there is great danger of misinterpreting the statements of Krishna..... Sorry, you have reduced Hinduism to a dualistic religion like Christianity. THat is not the essence of Hinduism The problem with all abrahamic faiths is if the existence of their founders like Jesus becomes disputed, the whole religion will fall flat. But in Hinduism, even if Krishna;s existence is belied, nothing will happen because the very basis of Hinduism is in its principles. There is no place for personalities. but it is also gita who says that who surrenders to krsna, leaving all other duties, he's saved. ->>here Sri Krishna assures us that if we want to go beyond all Dharmas (actions and endeavours to become Free), the desire that springs from the sattvik guna of Prakriti, the only recourse left to us is to seek God without the adjunct of Maya. This is Advaita, pure monism! ->>The important point to remember here is that as a concept, Sri Krishna preaches only Advaita, but as method - Yoga - to reach that level of Absolute Consciousness, to realize the Highest Truth in principle (the Tattva of it) one has to start with the worship of God with adjuncts of Maya -the personal God or Ishwara. if you say that prabhupada is a dvaitist, you have not studied him enough to criticize.. maybe you have not opened a book ->> Any person who declares that freedom is only in believers of Krishna but not for others, who declares that jyana takes us merely to higher materialistic worlds, who declares that mayavadis are fools, who delcares that the highest goal is to be in brahmaloka seems to be a dualist and nothing more. Read this article to clear some doubts http://www.geocities.com/neovedanta/gitac.html Regards, Saurav

Swami Vivekananda has mentioned time and again to dump the puranas when they contradict the vedas......My point is when two things contradict each other, only one of them can be right. When the upanishads categorically mention there is no hell, the puranas by bringing in hells, contradict. Hence, Hinduism will become a religion of contradictions if we agree to both puranas and vedas. Moreover, the vedas and upanishads are infallible. No person who doesnt believe in them is a Hindu. But, a Vaishnav and Shaivite can dispute over the several puranas and yet be Hindus at the same time. Also, upanishads are timeless while most puranas where written around 200 A.D. The puranas were the exoteric path while the upanishads were the esoteric ones. Thus, upanishads will always be the primary scriptures and puranas as the secondary scriptures...... Hell fearing persons are no good to society because all they do is abuse the karma kanda part of the vedas. They are not constructive, their lives are either rajasic or tamasic. Only a person who does work for work;s sake, love for love;s sake, who believes in the brotherhood of all beings can be truely sattvic. And only the sattvic person can attain sat-chit-ananda.

Love conquers all fear..... There is nothing to fear for we are all eternal beings..... Why marry a muslim when you already love someone.....why endure a heartbreak when you can avoid it....... Suppose, you marry a muslim and he isnt compatible with you, you will have to undergo silent suffering for a lifetime........Life will become a living hell..... God cannot punish, he can only be benevolent...... If you really feel, you love him and the feelings are mutual and reciprocated by your bf, then do go ahead....life is not about living in fear...... Realize god with your husband, whom you can look to the ideal Marriage is NOT a compromise until you want it to be one....It is a sacred act, not a means to satisfy lust.... it is a lifetime commitment and not mere investment...... However, do discuss all these problems with your bf and try to gauge his feelings on this issue. Only if the feelings of love are mutual, and not merely attraction is it worthwhile for you to make a sacrifice of this nature. You dont need to convert to christianity to marry a christian. There are court marriages too. I know this will not sound pleasant but let the laws of Islam go to hell....Islam would have been a very good religion but for the fact that its laws are still archaic. Laws are not made by god, they are made by men. And they change with the vicissitudes of time. Thus, the laws of Islam which did serve a purpose 1500 yrs ago are no longer valid in the modern day world. Even in Hinduism, we had lawbooks like ManuSmriti but no longer they are followed because many of those laws are NO longer applicable to the modern day world.

The problem is you are interpreting the bhagavad geeta from prabhupara's viewpoint and it is in direct contradiction to the highest viewpoint. Karma will lead to the highest, so will gyana, so will bhakti... Buddha was agnostic, yet he attained nirvana Secondly, the path of the bhakti is very good only for the emotional type For the active person -> karma for the psychic -> raja for the philosopher -> jyana Since, no person is absolutely classifiable under any of these cateogires, following an amalgum of all 4 paths is the ideal No dualist can attain nirvikalapa samadhi.....at that point man will stand on Krishna;s head according to Krishna himself....... Dualism and qualified monism are lower truths than advaita....Prabhupara couldnt realize advaita but that doesnt mean Vivekananda, Ramana Maharshi, etc didnt realize it. Even brahmaloka will disappear when the true feeling of oneness is attained...... Also, Prabhupara;s idea that only those who surrender to Krishna will be saved is just a parallel of catholics who say those who surrender to jesus will be saved......this is the disadvantage with dualism because it is NOT all inclusive, all embracing like advaita THe debate on dvaita and advaita i feel is immaterial.....if you feel dvaita is the highest stick to it, but i dont feel you have the right to point fingers at advaita before realizing nirvikalpa samadhi...... The religion of Hinduism is based on principles, not on personalities, not even is it based on Krishna. Regards, Saurav

Again, the hells are in puranas which are smritis and whenever they are in contradiction with the srutis, dump them! They are only good as long as they agree with the srutis Regards, Saurav