Guest guest Posted November 21, 1998 Report Share Posted November 21, 1998 Dear Devotee's, please accept my hunble obeisances, all glories to Srila Prabhupada and all Vaisnava Acharya's. My contribution to this alarming exposure comes in the form of a lecture given by Bhaktivinode Thakur delivered in 1869. I will just print selected paragraphs to keep things concise and to the point. "Party Spirit-that great enemy of truth, will always baffle the attempt of the inquirer who tries to gather truth from the religous works of his nation and will make him believe that the Absolute Truth is nowhere except in his old religous book. Liberty then, is the principle which we must consider as the most valuable gift of God. We must not allow ourselves to be led by those who lived and thought before us. We must think for ourselves and try to get further truths, which are still undiscoverd. In the Srimad Bhagavatam(11.21.23) we have been advised to take the spirit of the Sastras and not the words. The Bhagavata is therefore a religion of liberty, unmixed truth and absolute love. The other characteristic is progress. Liberty certainly is the father of all progress. Holy liberty is the cause of progress upwards and upwards in eternity and endless activity of love. Liberty misused causes degradation, and the vaisnava must always carefully use this high and beautiful gift of God. The spirit of this text goes far to honour all great reformers and teachers who lived and will live in other countries. The Vaisnava is ready to honour all men without distinction of caste, because they are filled with the energy of God. See how universal is the religion of the Bhagavata. It is not intended for a certain class of Hindus alone, but it is a gift to man at large, in whatever country he is born and in whatever society he is bred. In short, Vaisnavism is the absolute love binding all men together into the infinite unconditioned and absolute God. May peace reign forever in the whole universe in the continual development of its purity by the exertion ot future heroes, who will be blessed according to the promise of the Bhagavata with powers from the Almighty Father, the Creator, Preserver, and the Annihlilator of all things in Heaven and Earth". We all belong to the female energy and are therefore enjoyed by Krsna. In our quest for establishing social structure let us remember our real position as servants of Krsna's servants and open our hearts to the essence of the sastra's. If that is our determination then such language and attitudes as found in these exposed conversations will not exist. Your servant Sundarananda das Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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