Why There Are Different Religions

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Why There Are Different Religions

1(A Class on Jaiva Dharma)

Murwillumbah, Australia: Feb. 15, 2002 (Evening, Part 2)

1

Tridandiswami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja

One day, in the early morning during brahma-muhurta (one hour 36 minutes before

sunrise, during arunodaya, when the sun has not yet arisen but the darkness is

about to go), Premadasa Babaji Maharaja was sitting near Tulasi, who was very

large and spread out. Babaji was sitting on a kusa-asana, an asana made of

banana leaves, chanting his two lakhs of harinama. The holy name can be chanted

whether or not one has taken bath. It can be chanted even while one is sitting

on his bed or walking, but one should try to be seated. The chanter should have

a pure, one pointed mind, and while chanting Hare Krsna, he should remember the

pastimes of Gaurangacandra and Krsnacandra. Premadasa Babaji was doing this. He

was thinking about Krsna and Radha, with Their many sakhis in Sanketa-kunja.

All the sakhis were serving Radha and Krsna in so many ways, in the early

morning before sunrise. At that time, the old monkey of Radhika called out that

Her mother-in-law Jatila was coming, and that they should all go to their homes.

When he yelled, "Jatila! Jatila!" Radhika thought he was trying to say, "You are

living in Your in-laws home, but You stealthily leave at night. You are unchaste

and very tricky. Because you are a very great cheater, Jatila is coming to give

you your just reward. Wait a little. She is coming with a bamboo stick. Be

seated here and she will come." Hearing the monkey's call, everyone became

disappointed and thought, "Oh, Jatila is coming! We must go to our homes right

now."Babaji Maharaja was hearing all this. There was no monkey, but he heard

the monkey's voice and said, "Oh, Ananga Manjari is telling you to make this

old monkey silent. He should not disturb. Radha and Krsna are sleeping here.

Ramana Manjari, go and stop

that monkey.'" It did not appear that he was speaking to anyone in particular,

but Sannyasi Thakura was present and eager to hear. Therefore, when Babaji

Maharaja said with his eyes closed, "Ramana Manjari, go and tell that monkey

not to create a disturbance," Sannyasi Thakura knew, "My Gurudeva is directing

me. My transcendental siddha-deha name is Ramana Manjari, and one of my duties

is to serve Radha-Krsna Conjugal so that no one will disturb Them. My service

is to fan Them with a camara, and to do all related activities."Premadasa

Babaji Maharaja then lost his external consciousness, and began to roll on the

ground. This is the real process. Don't be like the sahajiyas who think they

can have siddha-deha when they still have many worldly desires, and when kama

and krodha, lust and anger, are still in their hearts. You cannot forcefully or

artificially attain these perfections. Chant nama and serve your Gurudeva very

patiently. When you seriously execute this service and

are sufficiently qualified, Gurudeva himself will reveal all these confidential

truths to you. On the other hand, if you are not qualified and you take

siddha-deha artificially, you will achieve nothing. You will only be ruined.Now

the cuckoos were singing, peacocks were dancing, and the sun was rising.

Sannyasi Thakura began to chant somewhat loudly, "Hare Krsna Hare Krsna," and

these words entered the ears of Premadasa Babaji. Babaji Maharaja opened his

eyes and asked, "Where am I? What was I doing?" He then began again to chant

Hare Krsna. This is bhajana, and we should also try to enter that bhajana

realm. Don't endeavor to collect money, position, or a lady friend or

boyfriend. Don't go in that direction. You have already engaged in these

activities when you were hogs and dogs, and those animals can enjoy better than

you. Why try to imitate them? If you are married, no harm. Remain with your wife

and be like a brahmacari; you and your wife or husband can do bhajana

together.Sannyasi Thakura wanted to ask his Gurudeva a question, and therefore

he offered his pranama and said, "I want to know something. Please, if I'm

qualified, then kindly give me an answer. The decision regarding my

qualification or lack of it is yours. If I am qualified, then kindly answer."

Hearing this, his Gurudeva became very happy.After I joined the Matha and my

spiritual life with Gurudeva, I was never silent. I continually asked Gurudeva

questions, and he never became disturbed. He was always very happy to patiently

satisfy me by his answers. He convinced me of his conclusions by using so many

kinds of logic. He mostly used logic and not so many slokas, but the slokas

kept running after him and following him. Paramapujapada Sridhara Maharaja and

my Guru Maharaja always discussed with one another on the basis of logic.

Sometimes Srila Sridhara Maharaja defeated my Gurudeva, and then my Gurudeva

would answer his questions and defeat him. Sometimes the

balance scale was up on one end, and sometimes it was up on the other. Hearing

these conversations with utter attention, all the other devotees used to

enjoy.Sannyasi Thakura began, "There is one God, and all living entities have

come from Him. Because God is one, there should be only one religion throughout

the world. We are all souls, so our dharma should be one; but I see so many

differences everywhere. So many very highly learned scholars preach about

dharma, but their moods and teachings are different. I want to know what is

really the dharma of all living entities, and why all these gurus and acaryas

explain this topic in so many different ways. If religion is one without

second, why is their preaching not one?"Sankaracarya has taught one thing,

Srila Vyasadeva has said something different, and Sad-darsana acaryas Jaimini

and Kapila have said something still different. Why do Christians have

different opinions, and why do we differ from them? Muslims kill all

those who are not Muslim. They say, "These people are kafar (those who do not

believe in the Muslim dharma), so it is best to kill them." Nowadays this is a

big problem. Taliban and Bin Ladin want to make the entire world, and the

entire universe, along with its Sun and Moon and everyone in it, Muslim; and

they want to kill all those who will not become Muslim. This is the biggest

problem at the present time.After hearing the inquiry of Sannyasi Thakura,

Babaji became very happy and said, "This is a very good question. You are

extremely fortunate. I am not perfect, but I will answer you to the best of my

knowledge." A bona fide guru will not say, "I am perfect." Rather, he gives

credit to the All-perfect Krsna. Krsna has explained in Bhagavad-gita about the

real, transcendental dharma for all jivas of the universe. There is only one

dharma. Krsna never said there is any such thing as Hindu-dharma,

Muslim-dharma, brahma-dharma, or any other. He has only said 'dharma,' the

religion of all living entities.[Pundarika dasa reads from Jaiva Dharma:]

"Paramahamsa Babaji meditated upon the lotus feet of Bhagavan Sri Krsna

Caitanya, and began to speak: 'O most fortunate one, I shall describe to you

the principles of dharma as far as my knowledge allows. An object is called a

vastu, and its eternal nature is known as its nitya-dharma, eternal religion.

Nature arises from the elementary structure of an object. By Krsna's desire,

when an object is formed, a particular nature is inherent in that structure as

an eternal concomitant factor. This nature is the nitya-dharma of the

object.'"[srila Narayana Maharaja:] Try to understand. There are two

substances: jada and cetana, or conscious and inert. What we see with our eyes,

what we feel by our intelligence, what we touch and what hear, are all jada,

inert. They are not transcendental. That which is beyond the vision of these

eyes exists forever, with no change; and those who have free will, or

independence, are cetana, conscious. Ants are very small, and yet they have free

will and they can realize happiness and sorrow - but the body can never. Due to

the soul's presence we feel something, we walk and we do so many things. If the

soul is not there, we cannot realize anything. Where there is free, independent

will and the experience of sukha and dukha, happiness and sorrow, and

suffering, there is consciousness.There are two conscious entities; one is the

soul and other is the Supersoul. All souls are eternal servants and part and

parcel of the Supreme Soul; the Supersoul is the Supreme Lord Krsna Himself.

There is a relation between the souls and the Supersoul, whether they are in

India, or in America, Australia, Africa, New Zealand, or even in China or

Russia. There are not many Gods, like an Australian God, Indian God, Christian

God, and Buddhist God.Actually, in the Buddhist philosophy there is no God and

no soul. They have no idea how they are alive;

they are like mad persons or mad dogs. A mad dog is always busy, but for what is

he busy? He has no goal of life. As he very quickly runs on the road, I may ask

him, "Where are you going?" and he will answer, "Oh, I have no time to tell

you." Then he will go some distance and see a milestone (a large stone on the

side of the road with information written on it regarding the mileage to any

destination), and he will quickly pass urine and then quickly turn back and run

the other way. Someone may then ask him, "Where are you going?" and he will

again reply, "Oh, I have no time to tell." We are like that, and especially the

Buddhists are like that. Buddhists have no goal, no life; nothing. Buddhism is

popular because so many want sense gratification nowadays. They are like

he-dogs and she-dogs, and they are thus attracted to the Buddhist 'dharma.' I

pray that you do not go to the assembly of these mad persons. So there are no

separate Indian, English, or Christian Gods. God is

one, and all living entities are souls. There is no difference between the souls

in dogs, cats, rats, ants, or even grasses and creepers. The quality of all

souls is the same. They have forgotten Krsna, they are in different species of

life, and they are tasting the fruits of their past activities.The relation

between the Supersoul and the soul is called prema. It is only prema and

nothing else. Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to give this love and affection to this

whole world, and this is really the religion of the entire universe and all

living entities. We have forgotten this, and that is why we suffer so much. We

will have to suffer. So try to chant more and to associate more with pure

devotees, so that in this life you can give up all material attachments and be

happy forever. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has been explaining all these truths

in Jaiva Dharma.Caitanya Mahaprabhu came only to give this love and affection

to all. He gave it to tigers and bears on the way to

Vrndavana. He gave love and affection even to trees and creepers, and even to

Jagai and Madhai. I have come to remind you that you can only be happy by

following this very religion.Gaura PremanandeAdvisory: Puyjapada Madhava

MaharajaTranscribers: Raghunatha dasa and Jagad Mohini dasiEditor: Syamarani

dasiTypist: Radhika dasi

 

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Why There Are Di.........y morning during brahma-muhurta (one hour 36 minutes before

sunrise, during arunodaya, when th..............

 

 

 

All the religions in the world are the feathers of the same bird

 

All the religions in the world are the feathers of the same bird i.e., God with different colours. There is only one God and there is only one universe. Similarly the man is also only one. Man should aim that one God and he should belong to all the religions in the universe. He should pick up the diamonds from all the religions and use in his spiritual path. One can have love towards the nationality. Every nation has some physical boundaries. The people who are living in that nation have that nationality. Thus there is a meaning in the nationality because it has physical sense. But in the case of religion and spiritualism there is no physical sense.

Every religion belongs to every man. Therefore in religious and spiritual matters all the religions can be used. The human incarnation in every religion announces that He is the universal preacher. The message of Lord Krishna i.e., Bhagavat Gita is for the entire world. The message of Jesus i.e., Bible is for the entire world. The message of Mohammed is for the entire world. So there is no need of conversion of religions. Just like in science the invention of Einstein is useful for the whole world, every religious preaching is for everybody. Different scientists belonging to different countries have discovered different scientific inventions. The subject science contains all these inventions. If any invention is removed the science become discontinuous. Similarly the spiritualism consists of the preaching of the preachers belonging to various countries. The spiritualism must be built up by the preaching of Lord Krishna, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Mahavir etc. Spiritualism means truth like science. Different religions are following their preachers and they have taken the essence of their scriptures into the practice. Such traditional practices are like different experimental parts of Science. The scriptures of different religions are like the different theories in various chapters of science. In science the student does not distinguish the scientist based on his nationality. Similarly in spiritualism one should not have repulsion or attraction to any scripture or tradition in the World.

The spiritualism requires divine virtues, which are emphasized in various religions. The firm faith of Islam, the infinite love of Christianity, the tolerance towards other religions of Hinduism, the social service of Bhuddhism and the non violence of Jainism are important virtues of the spiritualism. These are the practical traditional aspects of various religions, which are more precious than those scriptures. Tradition is the most important essence of the scripture.

One must praise the firm faith of a Muslim on God associated with strict regularity and discipline. People are worshipping God either in the leisure time or on a holiday. But a Muslim worships God on every day whether it is a holiday or not. He worships God regularly at some intervals of time whether it is leisure or working time. The faith on God and the importance to God supercedes everything and every activity. This aspect is a page in the book of spiritualism.

Another page in the book of spiritualism is a tradition of Christianity, which is the infinite love. Bible says “revenge is mine”. The Christians love even their enemies proving that love is infinite. Love is God. God is infinite and so Love is infinite. Such infinite love can only attract the God. The proof of love is sacrifice in service. Christians sacrifice lot of their money for the spiritual works. Their love is so unlimited that they sacrifice money even to the spiritual centers of other religions. Even if some religion is opposing their religion they fund the other religion and this shows their love even to enemies. Their love in the family bonds is very weak. So the love is stored in their hearts without flowing. This concentrated love in the heart flows entirely towards God and so they sacrifice lot of their earnings for the work of God. They do not store the wealth for their children, and they ask their children to earn and live after certain age.

Hinduism should be another page. The house of every Hindu contains photos of different forms of God. At the same time they find only one God (Para Brahma) in all those forms of God. They treat the different forms of God as the different dresses of the same actor. This indicates that there is only one God for the entire world and Lord Krishna, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, and Mahavir are only the different dresses of the same God. This brings the brotherly hood of all the human beings in the entire world.

Another page must be Buddhism. Buddha kept silent on God because Veda says that God is beyond even imagination. His silence is misunderstood as atheism. He concentrated on the society, which is entire universe. All the human beings in this universe must be uplifted through right knowledge. Buddha means knowledge. Any incarnation of God does the same work.

Jainism is another page. They do not kill any living being. The highest justice (Dharma) is non-violence (Ahimsa). God has given life to any living being. What right you have to kill and eat it? You can kill even a human being if he disturbs the peace and justice of a human society. Lord killed evil people in that way. But to kill a living being which does not harm you in any way is the highest sin. God has given sufficient vegetarian food to all the living beings. Science proves today that non-vegetarian food is not good for health.

Similarly there are precious traditions of other religions which should be copied on different pages of the book of spiritualism. It should be just like a book of science. Spiritualism is the most important practical line to achieve the grace of the God. As the Science is the universal subject, spiritualism must also be the universal subject. The nations may have physical boundaries but the spiritualism is the single ocean in which all the religions mix like rivers. Every human being in this world must enter this ocean through a river and settle there as a sea fish. The man should not stop the journey while he is in the river. He should follow the journey of the river up to the end where he can find the sea with unlimited boundaries. The man is not moving along with his religion and is becoming stagnant as a river fish only.

At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami

Anil <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Antony</st1:City></st1:place>

www.universal-spirituality.org

Universal Spirituality for World Peace

antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org