god

[eshwaar101]

im just curiuse as to what makes u belive in god god, did u have a spirtual revalation, a vision, a miricale happen to u, i just want to know what makes u so sure that god is even out there

[Tirisilex]

I had a vision of Krishna which helped me with my mental illness.. Ever since then I've been a believer..

[thehat]

Well I guess, technically the reason behind me developing an understanding of God and becoming a devotee is really God's mercy/will.

 

However my fancy story is... A couple of years ago I ate some psycilocybin (mushroom) and my consciousness and thought became so elevated I couldn't help but percieve God's prescence everywhere. The experience was so strong I even thought I was some kind of special messenger haha. During the experience I was developing visuals of Shiva etc, but afterwards I just read the bhagavad gita and everything unfolded for me from there.

 

So yeah, now it's no longer a question of belief for me. I don't believe in God. I know he exists.

Just like I don't believe in my mother, I know she exists.

[Dark Warrior]

I was completely materialistic for the major part of my life. Two years ago, I saw a picture of Lord Narayana and was captivated by His beauty.

 

Even so, I was not convinced of the truth, as there are so many religions in the world, each claiming to be the truth. Therfore, I researched various faiths like Buddhism, Jainism, Judaism, Christianity (Gnostic, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, etc.), but none of them were even close to the great truth of Lord Vishnu.

 

I researched more about the Sampradaya I was born in (namely, Sri Vaishnavism) and was touched by the greatness and divinity of Bhagavad Ramanujacharya. By His grace, I learned of my good fortune in being born in such a lineage.

 

I think the following Bhagavad Gitas verse (as translated by Srila Prabhupada, whom I admire very much for spreading bhakti to the West) describes my position:

 

" The unsuccessful Yogi will awaken his divine consciousness next birth by My grace even if he has not studied the sastras."

 

I must have been unsuccessful in my last birth, because I have acquired the truth without any knowledge or endeavour on my part. This is the proof that Lord Krishna exists, because the Bhagavad Gita has been shown to be an eternal truth.

 

Jai Sri Rama!!

 

Adiyen Ramanuja Dasa.

[Beggar]

 

I was completely materialistic for the major part of my life. Two years ago, I saw a picture of Lord Narayana and was captivated by His beauty.

 

 

 

 

 

[xexon]

Belief belongs to the mind. It is blind without the input of the senses.

 

We all know that the senses can be fooled. Therefore, belief is something that is very liquid, very unstable, based upon evidence gleaned from the 5 senses.

 

Its like walking around in the darkness of creation with 5 flashlights. You can only see what they illuminate. Small circles of light in a black abyss.

 

A true saint of the highest order is one with "God". It is the smallest reduction of God that is possible in the human spectrum of perception. What is connected to that saint is a kind of umbilical cord to the godhead.

 

And what is connected to that saint is the same that is connected to you as a human soul. A saint has become aware of this fact, and travels the connection to the totality of God and back with the answers.

 

A person lost in this material world only travels the world.

 

 

 

x

[Beggar]

Jaiva Dharma, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

...there are two types of knowledge: suddha-jnana, pure knowledge, and visaya-jnana, knowledge of material objects. All human beings acquire visaya-jnana through the senses, but that knowledge is impure, so it is useless for discerning transcendental objects. It is only useful in relation to the jiva’s conditioned state of material existence. Knowledge that pertains to spiritual consciousness is known as suddha-jnana. That is eternal, and it is the basis of the Vaisnavas’ devotional service. Spiritual knowledge is the antithesis of material knowledge, and is completely distinct from it. You say that visaya-jnana is vijnana, but it is not vijnana in the true sense of the term. The real reason that your Ayur-veda and other types of material knowledge are called vijnana is that they are in contrast to pure spiritual knowledge. True vijnana is that pure knowledge that is distinct from material knowledge. There is no difference between jnana, which is the knowledge of a truly abiding substance (cid-vastu), and vijnana, which is the knowledge of how such an object is distinct from matter. Jnana is direct perception of a transcendental object, whereas vijnana is the establishment of pure knowledge in contrast to material knowledge. Although these two are actually the same thing, they are known either as jnana or as vijnana according to the methods they employ.

[Beggar]

Srila Sridhar Maharj

The Golden Volcano of Divine Love

The Land of Love

Vrndavana, the highest plane of divinity, is a stage of consciousness. Above the plane of awe and reverence found in Vaikuntha, is Vrndavana, the land of simplicity and divine love. The peculiarity of the inhabitants of that highest plane of consciousness is that they do not feel they are in Vrndavana. It is aprakrta, supramundane.

Knowledge has been classified under five headings. The lowest is knowledge acquired through one's own sense experience: pratyaksa—what we have experienced through our senses. That is the first stage. The next higher stage is knowledge we have not experienced with our own senses, but have gathered from the experience of others (paroksa), just as the scientists have their experience, and we have gathered some knowledge from their inventions and discoveries.

The third stage is above the stage of human experience (aparoksa). It is something like deep sleep. When we awaken, we say, "I slept very happily; I slept a very good, sound sleep." But when in deep, dreamless sleep, we have no consciousness of that state. When we return from a deep dreamless sleep, we express some awareness of that experience, but it is hazy. Aparoksa is a sort of hazy experience which is indistinct, where the subject and material object come together, and the material object vanishes in the subject. Sarikaracarya, the great proponent of impersonalism, explains the gradation of consciousness up to this point.

On the other hand, the great devotee-scholar Ramanujacarya, as well as other Vaisnava acaryas, are of the opinion that there is a fourth stage beyond this. That plane is called adhoksaja, transcendental, or that which exists beyond the scope of the senses, whether gross or subtle. It is a plane that we can experience only when, by its sweet will, it comes down to our gross plane of understanding. If it withdraws, we are helpless; we can't find it. We cannot say that the Absolute Truth is under the control of our knowledge. We can't measure it like that. It is independent. By its sweet will it may come down and we may experience that higher realm, but if it withdraws, we are quite helpless; we can do nothing. We may cry or we may pray, but we can't enter there forcibly by dint of our own power. This is the fourth plane of consciousness, and it is grand, all-powerful, and all-inspiring. Only if it reveals itself to us can we have some experience of that plane known as Vaikuntha, the unlimited spiritual region of awe and power.

That is the adhoksaja plane. So, there is pratyaksa direct experience through sense perception, then paroksa, learning through the experience of others, then aparoksa, the negative plane of indistinct consciousness, and then the fourth dimension: adhoksaja. We are underground. Real knowledge is above, on the surface, beyond our experience. If we can pierce through the thick coverings walling up our experience, we can come in connection with another plane of consciousness: that is adhoksaja. Adhoksajam indriyam jnanam: adhoksaja means the superior knowledge which can force down our knowledge of the experience of this world. That transcendental, supra-mental knowledge is the fourth stage of knowledge. That plane is different in every way. It is not similar to this world. But through Srimad-Bhagavatam and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we come to know that there is a fifth stage of knowledge which is very similar to this mundane world, yet is not mundane. It is called aprakrta. That is Goloka, the full-fledged theistic conception which is only found in Krsna's domain. Central knowledge of the absolute must have a connection with even the lowest level of mundane creation; it must be able to harmonize the worst portion of the illusory world. This is known as aprakrta, supramundane. To enter that highest realm is possible only through divine love.

Everything can be compensated only through love. There is a saying that a loving mother thinks that her blind child has beautiful lotus eyes. She is blinded by affection. So, what is mean and low can only be compensated by love—that shines very beautifully. That is prema, or divine love. Through mercy, through pity, through grace, a king can come to play with a boy on the street. Affection can make it possible. The difference between high and low disappears at such a stage.

 

[Kulapavana]

 

im just curiuse as to what makes u belive in god god, did u have a spirtual revalation, a vision, a miricale happen to u, i just want to know what makes u so sure that god is even out there

 

I never doubted His presence in this world and in my heart. So many direct and indirect signs all around us. My life is mostly about getting closer to Him, and knowing Him better.

[bhaktajan]

 

im just curiuse as to what makes u belive in god god, did u have a spirtual revalation, a vision, a miricale happen to u, i just want to know what makes u so sure that god is even out there

 

 

After studying how japanese martial artists stay calm in fighting situations --through silent meditation,

 

I then studied many Buddhist sutras and thus studied 'eastern metaphysics'.

 

I then learned to do silent sitting meditation, where I experienced the state of "being conscious" while, at the same time, simultaneously "not thinking of anything in particular".

 

Then I sought out sanskrit scriptures--but I was thwarted by non-authoritative translations (ie: Hippy-dippy new-age western pseudo-guru wanna-bees).

 

After reading a English translation of the Bhagavad-gita "as-it-is" by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, I came upon the phrase:

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead".

 

Upon reading this term for the first time I asked the Hare Krishna Book distributor:

"Do you realize what you are saying by way of this term 'The Supreme Personality of Godhead'? Can you back-up this with reason and logic to show that you have any proper authority to brandish and propagate this concept and its nomeclature?

 

Well eshwaar101,

The authoritative position of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami was so definitively the most authentically bonefide Guru-ship and scholarship that I became a aficinado of Bhaktivedanta Swami's translation of Vedic Scriptures instantly, and, ever since, I have been following Brahminical-yogic ettiqutte in my daily life.

 

ys,

Bhaktajan

[tegramon]

Discarding meat, spiritual sadhana, intellect in understanding holy books, I had them since I was a child.

However, I dont necesarly believe in a god who is distant and commands everything. The more I study myself, the more I am amazed at the revelation that I am god. All those blissfull states by meditating near a river, or flowers, or whatever, they are in me, not given by the river and the flowers.

How can I not believe in me? And how can you not believe in you?