gourshyam

Why do you insist on formal conversion? Anybody can take shelter of Harinam and such a person becomes a vaishnav. Don't care so much about the external designation or religion. Follow the principles of bhakti and you will find happiness automatically. Yes, in India anybody can convert to Islam, but conversion to Hinduism is very strictly monitored! This is the irony!

Our existence in the material world denotes a negative position. The jeevas living a materially conditioned existence are simply wandering through the cycle of birth-death-birth propelled by the reactions of karma. The jeeva is in a position of aversion to the Supreme Being. When one reaches the ground zero, ie. a position of neutrality with respect to the Supreme Being, one is established in brahmjyoti : merged with the "Supreme" (Brahma-jyoti). The aim of bhakti is to reach beyond the brahma-jyoti, to serve the Divine Names/Form/Qualities/Pastimes of the Lord which are actually hidden by His bodily effulgence (light) : brahma-jyoti. I don't want any debate on it, but wanted to put forth my understanding of why "becoming one with the Supreme" may not be the best option. Also, it is written in the shastras that the (sincere) worshippers of devi-devatas will attain the abodes of those devi-devatas and attain moksha along with the devi or devata whenever they return to vaikunth. In other words, they have to wait a longer period of time in this material universe (although in a much higher abode than the earth) and any mistake can land them back into the mortal plane or even lower. As long as a jeeva is within the 14 lokas, he can fall down. However, the position of one who has attained vaikunth is infallible. So it is wise to give up prejudice and to accept the path that leads to the highest perfection. Rest is up to individual fortunes!

There is no question of criticizing any Acharya. Mayavad theory is not acceptable for devotees of the Lord, as becoming one with God would destroy any chance of performing devotional service.The life and soul of bhakti is devotional service and the ultimate aim of bhakti is also devotional service! The bhakta doesn't desire anything else, including five types of mukti. Anybody and everybody is not God, jeeva can never become one with God. Besides, worship of devi-devatas doesn't constitute the worship of God. This is proved by the Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta verse "yanti deva-vrata devan....". Anyway, people have their sensivitivies and faiths. So this topic cannot be discussed in this forum. Every spiritual practitioner reaches some end, some destination. If someone finds it to be the highest aim to merge with the Brahma-jyoti, it is their choice. If somebody considers all devi-devatas as equal to God (Vishnu),that is also their choice. The destination achieved will be according to the path one follows. Why should we quarrel over it? We can get whatever we want, provided we follow the proper spiritual path.

We need to understand that human beings are modeled after God and not the other way round. So, all human beings, devi-devatas their bodies are modeled after God. But those bodies still aren't as perfect as the bodies of the nitya siddha parshads or of Vishnu forms. It all depends upon good fortune to be able to understand it even a bit.

This is something to be realized. "Since you are copy-pasting volumes on the topic, a simple description of this form would be of help. " It requires some sadhana to be able to accept such high truths. Without sadhana, it is just a speculation and endless debate.

Someone said "God Is the one. Whther it is Vishnu or Shiva or Shakti or Sai baba or Christ or Allah all are same but with different forms." Jesus cannot be compared to Vishnu. Allah is an impersonal form of God, contemplated (or speculated) by Muhammad. In fact as per history, Allah is one of the feminine deities of Kabah. Given the description on Allah , I can only consider Allah to be the material energy or Maya shakti. Sai Baba is a siddha, Shirdi Sai Baba is a siddha. Those who worship him as God as "kartabhaja", an apasampraday.

Lord Sadashiva is considered to be non-different from Mahavishnu. Mahavishnu is purush incarnation of Krishna. Again, if you are inclined to Shiva worship, you should go ahead and continue sincerely along that path. "alpa bhagye kare na maniho Krishna dasa nama, alpa bhagye dasa nahi karen bhagawan". Hare Krishna.

Please do not listen to just any other preacher. That is bound to confuse you a lot. Take shelter of Lord Krishna if possible. However, if that doesn't appeal to you and Shiva appeals to you, it should be fine to worship Shiva. It all depends on what your actual position is today, you cannot accept a level that you are not meant for. Shiva is a gunavatar of Krishna, but if you are a shaivite, you will disagree. No point in arguing about it.

Srila B V Narayana Maharaj is one of the seniormost Gaudiya Vaishnavas on the planet. I know there are a lot of misleading statements made both ways, by devotees either from ISKCON or GM. We should learn to see our own shortcomings, instead of "prying on the frailties of others". I have found the books of Shrila Narayan Maharaj very enlightening,as compared with books published by recent ISKCON writers other than Shrila A C Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupada. Yes, Srila Narayan Maharaj is not an ex-ISKCON Guru. A Guru is not a part of some organization or institution. Anybody who is following the teachings of His Guru parampara can be a a Guru. About marrying someone who is disciple of another "Guru" : first of all, you both must be at least kanishtha adhikari. Then you will not see such differences between "Gurus" and realize that the same Guru tattva manifests everywhere. However, if you find a conflict at the spiritual level, it may be better to follow one Guru than two. Conflicts at a spiritual level are much more difficult to solve than those at mundane levels. Hare Krishna. (neither ISKCON, nor Narayan Maharaj follower, I am a Gaudiya Math disciple of Shrimad Hrishikesh Goswami Maharaj, disciple of Shrila BSST Prabhupada).

Hare Krishna Prabhus, Dandvats. Sorry for the weird header. Why are we, the Gaudiya Vaishnavas of Saraswat Parampara becoming fanatical about institutions ? I don't understand why there is so much concern about Gaudiya Math / ISKCON identity . I am a Gaudiya Math devotee and also have a great regard for ISKCON. Why does a Guru have to tell you whom to marry ? Marriage is a personal matter and related to material life. Indeed, we should not forget that Gaudiya vaishnav siddhanta is for your transcendental life, not for mundane material matters like marriage. Unfortunately sometimes the institution tries to control the life of the devotees, "forcing" them to do service. Such service fails to rise to the standard of pure devotional service. No wonder we see so many fall downs and other problems. Asking forgiveness for any offenses. I tend to speak fearlessly.