Guest guest Posted January 17, 2004 Report Share Posted January 17, 2004 namaste my dear guru bhaies........... can any one of you tell me about the act of converting people into christianity by chrstian missionaries is spiritually right or wrong?? because during christmas eve,i saw christian missionaries paying poor for getting converted(???) and to be free of sins??? is this the spiritual act?????? if it is yes...........then why????if it is no then again why??? pls be non biastic in your views........... regards KSN Prasad Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends today! Download Messenger Now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 17, 2004 Report Share Posted January 17, 2004 Dear Shastryji, what an appreciable question to raise in this group! it is very relevant to discuss this here because all the Ramakrishna movement followers were always guided without prejudice. it is relevant here to recall what Swami Vivekananda has written namely 'it is indeed very difficult to get rid of prejudice entirely. It is possible only when one practices dhyana'. I forgot the context he was saying this but it is apt at any given time. I believe that even enticing people towards religious conversions is in a sense self-deprecating for the religions which promote such things. That should be enough said about such practices and it applies equally well also to Hindus. Which only goes to prove hindus' greatness throughout the ages. They never had offered gold or conquered thru sword to spread their dharma. religious guidance should be given only under propitious circumstances and there should never be any enforcements. i welcome further thoughts from our friends in this vein. namasthe. ===== Madhu Kommaraju Hotjobs: Enter the " Signing Bonus " Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes./signingbonus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 17, 2004 Report Share Posted January 17, 2004 can any one of you tell me about the act of converting people into christianity by chrstian missionaries is spiritually right or wrong?? > because during christmas eve,i saw christian missionaries paying poor for getting converted(???) and to be free of sins??? > is this the spiritual act?????? ************************************ Dear Friend: Following Jesus is not a political, organizational matter, like the mainstream church preaches. Of course that option is available if you wish, but no one can say that you do not follow Jesus just because you don't join a specific belief system or church system. That is external. Even as a Christian, I myself believe the Bible is extremely complex and full of seeming contradictions. So, there must be tolerance because different groups believe different things. Fundamentalists claim we need the blood of Christ for salvation, while modern Christians see Jesus as a model for our lives, and so even within Christianity there is tremendous disagreement over doctrine. To me, Ghandi was a Christian. Jesus said " let he who will follow me deny himself. " Ghandi did that, he gave up his personal life for India, his people. What more could God want? If Jesus favors Jerry Fallwell over Ghandi, I will indeed become a disappointed and disillusioned Christian. Jesus' message was non sectarian and about bhakti-yoga, or giving one's life to God. Formal religion is only a formality. If one professes faith in Jesus, but lives as a criminal, where is there rebirth into Divinity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2004 Report Share Posted January 18, 2004 dear mr.johnson thank you for the reply........but that really wasnt my question........i asked converting into christianity by people taking money,,,,,,,,and other luctful greeds is spiritially accepted or not..........i am really not against to christ or christians.......... because as you might be unaware about the facts and methods for conversion in india............so is this an spiritual act pls clarify me......... namastubhyam KSN Prasad Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends today! Download Messenger Now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 Hi, I dont understand the significance of conversion either. However, this should not be confused with preaching. Preaching is no wrong and its only because of preaching that we get to know about other religions and the good things in them as no religion is free from failures or evil-doers. Our attitude should like that of an ant separating sugar from sand. Likewise, we should be receptive to everything and try to accept better things. This is easy to say and hard to implement. Conversion is a pretty delicate subject and the opinion varies from individual to another. My individual feeling is that there is no need for conversions.As Mr.johnson said " U need not be a christian to appreciate what Jesus Christ did " . I can still be a hindu and appreciate and may be integrate some of the very ideals that christianity preaches, into my life. This is my opinion and i can be wrong. However, i know that no religion is free of evildoers and i do not criticize a religion because of its short-comings.We should try to separate the system from the religion i.e. conversions may or may not have been supported by christianity and may be some distortion by some selfish people just like untouchability in hindu religion which is inexplicable. Hope someday, we have a single religion in world, which is of love and humanity and nothing else. Pranam ===== We shall find that spheres GOD brings us into are not meant to teach us something but to make us something. Hotjobs: Enter the " Signing Bonus " Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes./signingbonus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 namaste to all of you. there is a story about swami premananda ji regarding this. i do not remember the exact story, so there may be some discrepancies. but the main idea is there. once swami premananda was in puri. outside the temple of jagannath, one christian missionary was denouncing hinduism and trying to convert people to christianity. swami premananda ji was quite vexed to see this. he started chanting hari bol loudly. and slowly the people gathered there joined him. steadily the chants got louder and louder and finally the missionary had to abandon his talk as it could not be heard. that night, swami premananda got a vision of ramakrishna. ramakrishna said to swamiji that what he had done earlier that day was not correct. ramakrishna said that the missionary too takes my name and was asking people to take my name. the next day, swami premananda went to the missionary and asked for his forgiveness. best regards, ashish --- Narendra P Shastry <digital_brahma wrote: > namaste my dear guru bhaies........... > can any one of you tell me about the act of > converting people into christianity by chrstian > missionaries is spiritually right or wrong?? > because during christmas eve,i saw christian > missionaries paying poor for getting converted(???) > and to be free of sins??? > is this the spiritual act?????? > if it is yes...........then why????if it is no then > again why??? > pls be non biastic in your views........... > > > regards > > KSN Prasad > > Hotjobs: Enter the " Signing Bonus " Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes./signingbonus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 20, 2004 Report Share Posted January 20, 2004 Ramakrishna , Ashish Gupta <asar_gupta> wrote: > namaste to all of you. > > there is a story about swami premananda ji regarding > this. i do not remember the exact story, so there may > be some discrepancies. but the main idea is there. Namaste, Great story! Thanks. The incident is recorded in the book 'Swami Premananda - Teachings and Reminiscences' p. 25; transl. by Sw. Prabhavananda - 1957, Vedanta Society of Southern California. It happened in 1906. In the vision, Thakur told Swamiji to seek out the priest and beg for forgiveness! After considerable difficulty he finally found him and asked to be forgiven. Gita 9:23: ye.apyanyadevataabhaktaa yajante shraddhayaanvitaaH . te.api maameva kaunteya yajantyavidhipuurvakam.h .. Regards, Sunder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.