All glories to the assembled devotees

[Guest guest]

Srimad-Bhagavatam, 11.26.31-34:

 

"Just as cold, fear and darkness are eradicated for one who has

approached the sacrificial fire, so dullness, fear and ignorance are

destroyed for one engaged in serving the devotees of the Lord."

 

"The devotees of the Lord, peacefully fixed in absolute knowledge, are the

ultimate shelter for those who are repeatedly rising and falling within

the fearful ocean of material life. Such devotees are just like a strong

boat that comes to rescue persons who are at the point of drowning."

 

"Just as food is the life of all creatures, just as I am the ultimate

shelter for the distressed, and just as religion is the wealth of those

who are passing away from this world, so My devotees are the only refuge

of persons fearful of falling into a miserable condition of life."

 

"My devotees bestow divine eyes, whereas the sun allows only external

sight, and that only when it is risen in the sky. My devotees are one's

real worshipable deities and real family; they are one's own self, and

ultimately they are nondifferent from Me."

[Guest guest]

Thank you for posting this,

we cann't have enough tongues to glorify the devotees of the

lord,is

why we MUST REFRAIN FROM DEVOTEE APHARADA,I think now days we don't

teach properly ourselves and others that we must under any

circumstance,perform devotee apharada,this is one of the biggest

obstacles in our spiritual life,is like the elephant taking bath

and

then going back to the mud,if we chant and chant,but we don't

refrain

from apharada ,what is the benefit? We must strive to become

nonjudgemantal and tolerants of each others,

hari bolo!

tulsi

[Guest guest]

This is applicable to other great vaisnavas, too--assuming that we

can perceive the great vaisnavas amongst (Bhagavata, 8.7.33):

 

"Exalted, self-satisfied persons who preach to the entire world

think of your lotus feet constantly within their hearts. However, when

persons who do not know your austerity see you moving with Uma, they

misunderstand you to be lusty, or when they see you wandering in the

crematorium they mistakenly think that you are ferocious and envious.

Certainly they are shameless. They cannot understand your activities."

 

Purport

 

"Lord Siva is the topmost Vaisnava (vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh). It

is therefore said, vaisnavera kriya-mudra vijne na bujhaya. Even the most

intelligent person cannot understand what a Vaisnava like Lord Siva is

doing or how he is acting. Those who are conquered by lusty desires and

anger cannot estimate the glories of Lord Siva, whose position is always

transcendental. In all the activities associated with lusty desires, Lord

Siva is an implement of atma-rama. Ordinary persons, therefore, should

not try to understand Lord Siva and his activities. One who tries to

criticize the activities of Lord Siva is shameless."

 

MDd

[Guest guest]

I agree with you,Srila Prabhupada,always glorified other Gurus from

other Religions,I would like to bring here His views on Christ and is

an example of How infinite His wisdom was to see a pure devotee

everywhere.

 

The Tolerance And Compassion of Christ

by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 

 

The Srimad-Bhagavatam states that any bona fide preacher of God

consciousness must have the qualities of titiksha (tolerance) and

karuna (compassion). In the character of Lord Jesus Christ we find

both these qualities. He was so tolerant that even while he was being

crucified, he didn't condemn anyone. And he was so compassionate that

he prayed to God to forgive the very persons who were trying to kill

him. (Of course, they could not actually kill him. But they were

thinking that he could be killed, so they were committing a great

offense.) As Christ was being crucified he prayed, "Father, forgive

them. They know not what they are doing."

 

-------

Christ, the Friend Of All Living Beings

-------

 

A preacher of God consciousness is a friend to all living beings.

Lord Jesus Christ exemplified this by teaching, "Thou shalt not

kill." But the Christians like to misinterpret this instruction. They

think the animals have no soul, and therefore they think they can

freely kill billions of innocent animals in the slaughterhouses. So

although there are many persons who profess to be Christians, it

would be very difficult to find one who strictly follows the

instructions of Lord Jesus Christ.

 

-------

We Adore Lord Jesus Christ

-------

 

Jesus Christ was such a great personality -- the son of God, the

representative of God. He had no fault. Still, he was crucified. He

wanted to deliver God consciousness, but in return they crucified

him -- they were so thankless. They could not appreciate his

preaching. But we appreciate him and give him all honor as the

representative of God.

 

Of course, the message that Christ preached was just according to his

particular time, place, and country, and just suited for a particular

group of people. But certainly he is the representative of God.

Therefore we adore Lord Jesus Christ and offer our obeisances to him.

 

-------

Jesus Is Our Guru

-------

 

Once, in Melbourne, a group of Christian ministers came to visit me.

They asked, "What is your idea of Jesus Christ?" I told them, "He is

our guru. He is preaching God consciousness, so he is our spiritual

master." The ministers very much appreciated that.

 

Actually, anyone who is preaching God's glories must be accepted as a

guru. Jesus Christ is one such great personality. We should not think

of him as an ordinary human being. The scriptures say that anyone who

considers the spiritual master to be an ordinary man has a hellish

mentality. If Jesus Christ were an ordinary man, then he could not

have delivered God consciousness.

 

-------

Krishna or Christ, The Name Is the Same

-------

 

Christ comes from the Greek word Christos, and Christos is the Greek

version of the word Krishna. When an Indian person calls on Krishna,

he often says "Krista." Krishna is a Sanskrit word meaning the object

of attraction." So when we address God as "Christ,Krista,"

or "Krishna," we indicate the same all-attractive Supreme Personality

of Godhead. When Jesus said, "Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed

be Thy name," that name of God was Krista or Krishna. "Christ" is

simply another way of saying "Krista," and "Krista" is another way of

pronouncing Krishna.

 

Therefore, the Christian clergymen should cooperate with the Krishna

consciousness movement. They should chant the name Christ or Christos

and should stop condoning the slaughter of animals. This is not some

philosophy that I have fabricated; it is taught in the Bible. If the

Christians follow these principles, the world situation will improve.

If they simply stop killing animals and chant the holy name of

Christ, everything will be perfect. The Bible also demands this. So

the Christians should cooperate with us and chant.

 

Actually, it doesn't matter -- Krishna or Christ -- the name is the

same. The main point is to chant the name of God. 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.

 

To practice bhakti-yoga [loving service to God] means to become free

from designations like Hindu, Muslim, Christian, this or that, and

simply to serve God. We have created Christian, Hindu and Mohammedan

religions, but when we come to a religion without designations, in

which we don't think we are Hindus or Christians or Mohammedans, then

we can speak of pure religion, or bhakti.

[Guest guest]

achintya, "Tulsi108" <tulsi108> wrote:

> I agree with you,Srila Prabhupada,always glorified other Gurus

from

> other Religions,I would like to bring here His views on Christ and

is

> an example of How infinite His wisdom was to see a pure devotee

> everywhere.

 

As a general rule, I think it is not appropriate to try to

reinterpret other religions and their views here. Whether we are

right or wrong about them is immaterial. The point is, I cannot

allow members of other religions to object here when members try to

interpret their religions. This necessarily makes any discussion of

other religions one-sided and thus unfair for members of those other

religions.

 

Besides which, this forum is primarily attended by Vaishnavas.

Articles like these are more intended to introduce Vaishnavism to

Christians. Hence, this isn't really the audience for it. You cannot

prove based on Vedic literature that Christ is a Vaishnava. Other

Hindus will likely see such claims as just a tactic to make

Vaishnavism more palatable to Christians. Even the Bible contains

examples of Jesus' behavior that are not consistent with Vaishnava

character.

 

The best thing, therefore, is to let members of other religions

interpret or reinterpret their own religions. We should just stick

to discussing Vaishnavism. Vedic truth does not depend on the

approval of any other religion. Even if all other religions and

their prophets spurn us or condemn our philosophy, it will not

change what we preach. We should just represent the Vedic literature

honestly and accurately to them, and if we do so properly, maybe

they will want to reinterpret their teachings to make them more

consistent with ours. Whatever the case, we most certainly will NOT

reinterpret our beliefs to make them more palatable to others.

 

Thank you for your consideration.

 

Krishna Susarla

Moderator, Achintya