Eternity Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 Good night, This small message for public wondering : I have some questionnings about the faith. I am a roman catholic, borned and raised catholic but I don't succeed to believe very much and well I have difficulties to bow in front of the lord Creator. People in my family are firm believers and practicers but I don't succeed to follow them and have such faith and love for a beeing (God) I am not really in touch with, who is invisible and all... Further more, I am interested in all religions, like to read about Hinduism and old scriptures ; would it be me, and would I have to choose a religion I would maybe choose to be Hindu. But since it is said that you have to be born a Hindu in order to be a Hindu then I cannot be a Hindu. Or I would maybe be Jew but I don't know that much about this religion... Are people here feeling the same... ? I see lots of praying, on this website, in my religion and also a lot of religious behaviour -when I went to India for instance- but I don't succeed to understand the purpose of it. Well, I believe extra-people, gods or GOD is living up there but what's the point to talk to him... I am praying sometimes but none of my prayers are beeing achieved it seems and there is no result, why then ? How can we also love someone beyond our comprehension and in the upper world, that's very difficult for me to understand and to feel it. How can people chant the name of Krishna all the time "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna etc..." I don't understand (well, sorry I shouldn't say that here maybe). So that was my reflection. Why not focus on ourselves on this earth and think about the "upper-earth" later... or why bending in front of the lord, why asking him things and giving him offerings... Are not we disturbing them by giving offerings, maybe (for example in India) that Ganesh hates Coconuts. Why does he have eternally some coconuts in front of him in the temples... well, these were my spiritual thoughts of the day sorry... what do you people think if I can ask... Eternity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kulapavana Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 I am a roman catholic, borned and raised catholic but I don't succeed to believe very much and well I have difficulties to bow in front of the lord Creator. There are many different ways to perceive God. Some see Him as a great power and feel compelled to bow down before Him, others see Him as a friend and do not see the need to assume subservient position. It can all be reconciled. And you do not need to be born Hindu in order to understand God through the eyes of the Vedas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gHari Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 It was asked "How can people chant the name of Krishna all the time "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna etc..." I don't understand (well, sorry I shouldn't say that here maybe)." Try it. You'll like it. There is no experience more enjoyable. Jesus told us not to bother about the things of the world, but just seek the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6). Once there, the world will have no more glitter. Seek the higher existence and live life-everlasting, now. That's what life is about, what chanting Hare Krishna is about, what Jesus is about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HerServant Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 Good night, Well, I believe extra-people, gods or GOD is living up there but what's the point to talk to him... I am praying sometimes but none of my prayers are beeing achieved it seems and there is no result, why then ? How can we also love someone beyond our comprehension and in the upper world, that's very difficult for me to understand and to feel it. Eternity Jesus renounced His divine power and took the form of a helpless infant. Rather than us reaching up to a God, He stooped down to become one of us and share in our sufferings. He is a real Person, the Son of the Eternal Father. He who Is Beingness is seen, understood, comprehended and loved as a person, a humble child. One among us. "Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." - Philippians 2:5-11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasLB Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 Eternity- You might be interested int he works of Father Bede Griffiths, a Catholic priest who spent his life trying to reconcile the Catholic and Hindu faiths. His official website is bedegriffiths.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HerServant Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 Eternity- You might be interested int he works of Father Bede Griffiths, a Catholic priest who spent his life trying to reconcile the Catholic and Hindu faiths. His official website is bedegriffiths.com Yes. Also a friend of the Vaisnavas and the priest/sannyasi that consecrated and blessed the Jesus and Mary murthis that once resided in the temple at New Vrndavan. HH Radhanath Swami introduced Fr. Bede ( Dayananda Swami ) to Srila Prabhupada's BG, SB, and CC prior to his death and "he was reading these works". His exposure to Hinduism prior to that time was almost exclusively advaita. HerServant and yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eternity Posted November 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 Thank you for your answers. I am sorry, Ghari I try to chant Hare Krishna but I can't, well i don't like it or feel it. I believe this is a special state of mind to be in. One can be inspired by anything provided he puts himself in this direction and appeal, no... well, I myself don't feel the big rollercoasters. And it seems so ridiculous and crazy... sorry... Well, Thomas ; are you sure father Bede Griffith was not a Hindu priest trying to reconcile Catholics and Hindus ? It seems more to me so when I look at this man... Anyway this is very difficult for me. Despite I strongly believe that people are out there (and maybe listen to us), i have difficulties to address them... to bend in front of the invisible and pay my duties and offerings... I hope I am not doing any mistakes or whatsoever... ans all this dogma looks so particular... what about the knowledge and free will in all that ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murali_Mohan_das Posted November 19, 2007 Report Share Posted November 19, 2007 Often, the example of jaundice is given. A treatment for jaundice is sugar cane, but in one's jaundiced condition, sugar cane tastes bitter. If one persists in the treatment, the sugar cane becomes sweet. Unlike allopathic medicines which often treat the symptoms of an illness while ignoring the root cause, so, those things which we *think* we like often only provide temporary relief for our ailments while not treating the cause of our disease. If you sincerely have any theoretical interest in chanting the Holy Names, then you need to give it time to work. Chanting in association with the faithful tends to make the chanting more efficacious. The greatest strength of Krishna Consciousness is not it's rational presentation (though that is certainly there). It is its *beauty*. To what are you more attracted and why--beauty or reason? I'm not sure to what you specifically refer when you mention "knowledge and free will", but, no matter how knowledgeable we become, we will still only know a tiny fraction of all there is to know (and there's a good chance our knowledge will be out of date in a couple of years). As for free will, we're free to suffer for as long as we like, and we're free to end our suffering by changing the way we look at things. Thank you for your answers. I am sorry, Ghari I try to chant Hare Krishna but I can't, well i don't like it or feel it. I believe this is a special state of mind to be in. One can be inspired by anything provided he puts himself in this direction and appeal, no... well, I myself don't feel the big rollercoasters. And it seems so ridiculous and crazy... sorry... Well, Thomas ; are you sure father Bede Griffith was not a Hindu priest trying to reconcile Catholics and Hindus ? It seems more to me so when I look at this man... Anyway this is very difficult for me. Despite I strongly believe that people are out there (and maybe listen to us), i have difficulties to address them... to bend in front of the invisible and pay my duties and offerings... I hope I am not doing any mistakes or whatsoever... ans all this dogma looks so particular... what about the knowledge and free will in all that ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murali_Mohan_das Posted November 19, 2007 Report Share Posted November 19, 2007 If you sincerely have any theoretical interest in chanting the Holy Names, then you need to give it time to work. Chanting in association with the faithful tends to make the chanting more efficacious. Consider, if you will, another practical example: exercise. If we begin a new exercise regimen--especially if we have spent a long time living a sedentary life--it can feel like torture. We can dread each trip to the gym (or whatever mode of exercise one choses). In time, though, we make progress, our strength and endurance increase, and we begin to acquire a taste for the "runner's high". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murali_Mohan_das Posted November 19, 2007 Report Share Posted November 19, 2007 I venture to guess that you didn't succeed at walking the first few times you tried it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eternity Posted November 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2007 Yes, but for what purpose all that. Why would i force myself to chant the name of Krishna. The title of my message is "I don't succeed to be religious". Should be maybe "why be religious ?". Well, I see no point in all those religious practices, for me it is like a loss of time and energy. To be very honest, I go back to church for a little while but I do it only to know more about my religion and listen to the scriptures which I find interesting. I have very big difficulties eating the "body of the Christ" and praying and all... Thanks for your reply, no need to answer it's ok i understand. Eternity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murali_Mohan_das Posted November 19, 2007 Report Share Posted November 19, 2007 Why bother learning to walk? Why not just stay a baby forever and be carried around by one's mother? What greater purpose can there be than our heart's true fulfillment (and not fleeting, empty, mundane fulfillment)? Yes, but for what purpose all that. Why would i force myself to chant the name of Krishna. The title of my message is "I don't succeed to be religious". Should be maybe "why be religious ?". Well, I see no point in all those religious practices, for me it is like a loss of time and energy. To be very honest, I go back to church for a little while but I do it only to know more about my religion and listen to the scriptures which I find interesting. I have very big difficulties eating the "body of the Christ" and praying and all... Thanks for your reply, no need to answer it's ok i understand. Eternity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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