Iskcon accepts Hinduism? hinduism.iskcon.com

[dhaa]

Right on the main page of iskcon.com > Heart of Hinduism

 

They accept it now?!

 

http://hinduism.iskcon.com/

 

Then what about all the sanatana dharma and story about Sindu etc...

 

Updating the policies?

[theist]

Have to read the site to see the subtleties. Notime now. It is not wrong to present Vaisnavism in a Hindu context. It is wrong to present Vaisnavism as Hinduism or a branch of Hinduism. Have you check it out Dhaa?

[suchandra]

 

Right on the main page of iskcon.com > Heart of Hinduism

 

They accept it now?!

 

http://hinduism.iskcon.com/

 

Then what about all the sanatana dharma and story about Sindu etc...

 

Updating the policies?

It is a service by ISKCON London where they have the largest Hindu community in the West. Looks like it promotes varnashrama dharma:

 

5. Inter-caste marriage

Endogamy refers to marriage between members of the same varna. This was to produce cultured children of high pedigree. Scripture forbids inter-marriage where the groom comes from a lower varna than his bride, although the reverse is acceptable. In practice, parents often insist that their children's partners belong to the same varna and even the same jati. Children rejecting parents' wishes have caused the Hindu community to re-evaluate caste practices.

 

Srila Prabhupada said his books are initiation. Diksha means (di) divyam jnanam which (ksha) destroys sins, and he said his books are meant to do that and can do that for 10,000 years.

[dhaa]

Subtle ways, services, wrong or right...what's Iskcon's official position now? Updated their policy on Hinduism?

[suchandra]

 

Subtle ways, services, wrong or right...what's Iskcon's official position now? Updated their policy on Hinduism?

Good question, could be they are right in the middle on the path of identification process or self-discovery? Now they say, don't bother about anything, don't try to find guru, your guru will find you, http://www.dandavats.com/?p=5041

At least Prabhupada says something more clear, read Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Caitanya-Caritamrita, Nectar of Devotion, Sri Isopanisad and when having studied all Srimad-Bhagavatams, you're a self-realized soul.

When watching Hindu pilgrims being interviewed on a pilgrimage they all said the same, you have to accept different kind of austerity and ultimately you're rewarded with material opulence. Seems they aren't educated about the yuga-dharma and kept in ignorance.

Scrolling further through Hinduism.iskcon.com it says, there's an ultimate goal:

http://hinduism.iskcon.com/concepts/109.htm

 

"Within a broad spectrum of religious practices, Hinduism accommodates both material and spiritual needs. However, as material benefits are temporary, most traditions consider eternal moksha the ultimate goal. Hindu texts detail four sequential aims – dharma, artha, kama, and moksha. Dharma recommends righteous and regulated living, so that one is able one to acquire wealth, artha. With prosperity one can then enjoy kama, sensual pleasure. When one realises the futility of temporary gratification, one eventually seeks moksha (liberation). Some traditions, particularly of the bhakti school, accept moksha, but point out the selfishness in even desiring liberation. They mention a fifth goal called prema (love of God) or nitya-lila (eternal loving service).

Spiritual emancipation is therefore considered the main goal of life, and other goals are necessary stepping stones towards it. Hinduism thus recommends a balanced life with an ultimate spiritual goal. Liberation usually entails union with God, conceived of in various ways by different traditions. The word for this process is yoga, from which we can derive the English word yoke, meaning to join."

 

 

 

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[Murali_Mohan_das]

If Srila Prabhupada (Bhaktisiddhanta) was willing to bring in meat for guests accustomed to eating meat, why would he or his disciples object to using the term "Hindu" to attract favorable persons to Krishna Consciousness?

[mahak]

why not muslim or christian or jewish. Why just hindu.

 

When Srila Prabhupada founded ISKCON, he insisted non-denomination, non-sectarian. Once HINDU is linked, we dont attract favorable hindus, we rebuff favorable christians, jews, muslims. This is human nature, and our business is to present this science free from all religious designation that is the bane of the world. Our main study concludes that we must abandon all varieties of religion in favor of surrendering to the Supreme Lord. Our science was founded on the principle that we are NOT christians, jews, muslims, hindus.

 

I dont object, mind you. But if this is patronization of religion, it is apostacy, and against the actual teachings of Srila Prabhupada. I suggest that ISKCON use "sanatana dharma", because this phrase describes rweality and eternal function of the living being, not some fools religion that anyone can join, quit, be acceprted by or excommunicated from. Hindu is a culture anyway, not a religion, therefore, I do not object, as long as ISKCON keeps the teachings of the necessity of abandoning all varieties of religfion in favor of serving the supreme lord intact.

 

Hare Krsna, ys, mahaksadasa

[tackleberry]

 

Once HINDU is linked, we dont attract favorable hindus, we rebuff favorable christians, jews, muslims.

 

Instead of the word hindu, one may call it sanatana dharma, but christians/muslims will still continue to link sanatana dharma to hinduism, it's inevitable. For them, krishna is a hindu god, and vaishnavism a hindu religion, so regardless of whether you distance yourself from hinduism, muslims/christians will continue to treat you as a hindu.

[theist]

 

why not muslim or christian or jewish. Why just hindu.

 

 

EXACTLY Mahakji! And Krsna consciousness can even be presented in a non-religious context like modern science. Or it can be presented within the context of ordinary altruist activities like feeding the poor and disaster relief as many devotees do. Thinking of Jahnava Nitai das here.

 

Ordinary activities of goodness become yoga when done in the spirit of Sri Isopanishad. They become extra-ordinary activities or IOW's karma-yoga.

 

For the devotee with vision who can see outside the tightly structured boxes of religious affiliation there is really no limitation. It's about motive and results.

 

But if this is patronization of religion, it is apostacy, and against the actual teachings of Srila Prabhupada.

Yeah this is the danger line that I fear gets crossed all too often. Sucking up to Hindu society because of financial support. Allowing temples then to become "Hinduized". Prabhupada set up how he wanted his temples to run. Not that because some Hindu donors give big money that they should be able to bring in other practices in place of Prabhupada's programs.

[suchandra]

 

If Srila Prabhupada (Bhaktisiddhanta) was willing to bring in meat for guests accustomed to eating meat, why would he or his disciples object to using the term "Hindu" to attract favorable persons to Krishna Consciousness?

 

Good point, also it looks like ISKCON does presently a lot to attract people with methods that were quite unknown around 1977.

 

Jan 11, BANGALORE, INDIA (LIVEMINT) — The foundation gives mid-day meals to 830,000 children, so that they don't get an excuse to cut school.

 

Then, the class II student of RBNMS Cantonment Thirukulathar School, a government-aided Tamil medium school in Bangalore, gets to tuck into a meal of rice, sambhar (vegetable stew) and a cup of plain yogurt.

 

It may not sound like an exciting daily menu, but more often than not, it is also Prakash's only meal for the day His father is a mason who gets work irregularly and his mother works as a maid. "I have two siblings," he says. "At school, I enjoy an afternoon meal. If I'm at home, I have to wait till night for some food. Some days it might only be water."

 

State governments across the country have tried to tackle the issue of school dropouts by implementing mid-day meal schemes, which were pioneered by former Tamil Nadu chief minister, M.G. Ramachandran in the early 1980's.

 

Scrumptious: A mid-day meal at the RBNMS Cantonment Thirukulathar School in Bangalore, which is one of 4,500 schools across five states where the Akshay Patra Foundation is operating the scheme. (Photo: Gopinath Nair/ Mint) But, the schemes have had mixed results, in part because of logistical hurdles.

 

For instance, food is to be cooked on the school premises and many government schools don't have enough space or other infrastructure. Also there have been several instances of parents forbidding their children from eating because the food has been cooked by those of lower castes. And there have been instances of corruption by teachers and school authorities.

 

As a result, some state governments have tried to tackle the problems by entering into a partnership with private charitable players. Consider, the Akshay Patra, a project which operates in five states-Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat-and is managed by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

 

Launched in 2000 by Iskcon, the Akshay Patra Foundation, named after a Sanskrit word for abundance, initially began by feeding 1,500 children in five government schools on Bangalore's outskirts. The response was overwhelming and in six months, there were requests to expand the scheme. So, new kitchens were set up with support from companies, individuals and foundations.

 

Today, the foundation feeds 830,000 children everyday, mostly from poor socio-economic backgrounds, in 4,500 government- run or aided schools, in 14 centres across five states. The operations are overseen by a team of more than 60 volunteers.

 

The foundation's menu has three items that vary based on local food habits. In Karnataka, children are served rice while they get roti in the northern India schools. Every Saturday, there is a treat-pongal in the south and kheer in the north. Chanchalapathi Dasa, vice-chairman of the foundation, is keen to stress the non-Hindu nature of the scheme.

 

"For instance, we serve students at the government urdu higher primary school located in DG Halli and St Alphous higher primary school on Davis Road in Bangalore," he says. "For us, everybody is equal and there is no discrimination based on caste, creed, gender, region or religion."

 

The foundation's model involves a central kitchen with food being sent to various schools participating in its programme. "Our model ensures that teachers are not involved in non academic work," says Dasa. In parts of Rajasthan and Orissa, for instance, the kitchens are run by self-help groups using tribal women.

 

Each meal served by foundation costs, on average, Rs4.91. The government subsidy amounts to Rs2.56 a meal, partly through foodgrain and rest in cash. The remaining Rs2.35 per meal comes from the foundation through private funds. Donors such as T.V. Mohandas Pai, one of the trustees of the foundation and human resources director at Infosys Technologies Ltd, has picked up the tab for two food delivery vehicles and donated Rs9 crore to the foundation.

 

"I have always been concerned with the fact that a large number of children drop out of education because of hunger," says Pai. "I like the work being done by the organization and decided to contribute both my time and money to it."

 

Ramkumar Ramakrishnan, operations head of a multinational bank, contributes 5% of his annual income to the foundation. "I was convinced by their passion to bring radical change at the grass roots level," he says. The foundation's Dasa says their work has been vindicated by research.

 

An ACNielsen baseline study in five locations across India, covering a sample size of 17,500 primary school children, showed that enrolment rose 23.8% during the first year of an Akshaya Patra mid-day meal intervention. The study also concluded that enrolment in class I has recorded a 23.8% growth during the first year of the programme, with the enrolment of girls rising by 34.2%, much higher than the 13.8% increase in enrolment of boys.