acceptance in the family of god

[kekiut]

Dear Prabhu, haribol and hare krsna, greetings to all the members and fellowship of devotees worldwide.

after reading your letters regarding homosexuality i felt it relevant to respond and perhaps address misconceptions about homosexual devotees in general.

as a gay male and devotee of 15 years and a sincere follower of prabhupada, i know in my heart that i am following the principles set down by shrila prabhupada for a god centered lifstyle.

i myself speaking soley for myself, do not regard special status in the community as unimportant, simply because every member of gods family be they black white female, gay or hetrosexual were and still are regarded by shrila prabhupada as important and useful to the movment. like a tree we have many branches that extend outward and reach many nondevotees to preach, share, and relate religious life as we believe important to those in this age of kali. i myself seek no special status and require no special place within the hallowed halls of prabhupada's movment, we are diverse and ever changing and that applies to everyone, be they whomever. i do not seek permission for sexual life, as it is strictly taught by prabhupada that we must obtain salvation only by following a chaste and celibite lifstyle, which i am doing and have maintained for the better part of my devotee life. but that does not change the fact i am a gay male and will always be because simply put that is who i am. i never asked for status beyond what i deserve and feel it relevant to point out that all, if not most of the gay and lesbian devotees are following prabhupada's teaching to the letter.

in the early days prabhupada was surrounded by gay and lesbian followers,he was aware of this fact and never reacted with hatred or fear or predijuice of any kind, he never admonished us not to take part in worship or in spiritual life, in fact he supported all members of his extended family as equal and important. sex is sex, no matter what you deem it to be, that point cant be ignored.. it is still sex, and there is no diffrence in homosexual sex and hetrosexual sex the only diffrence is gender,as i said sex is still sex.. simply put it isnt a choice its a fact of life. there are thousands upon thousands of us in the movement and our numbers grow. so at some point the movment must accept that we are here, and not going anywhere, and are a vital part of its foundation. i myself am accepting of anyone and feel prabhupada requires this of me, because thats what he would have done and still does. love is the key i believe to heal all the wounds we carry as a family, it is in fact the only thing that can save us, while our children rage and cry because of abuse and neglect, and our sisters and brothers fall, why is it so relevant to lash out in anger and misunderstanding, when acceptance is so much eaiser, and loving. our sexual prefrence is not a choice it is who we are, and vedic civilization clearly supported us as whole and complete beings, within religious life. if you follow the complete teaching of our philosophy then this also is a part of it,go to any temple in india and there you will find us carved upon it walls and in its teaching.. is it correct to support one part while simply ignoring the other,because it makes us feel uncomfortable, or casting aside that which makes one feel challenged and challenges the idea's we think of as spiritualy correct. i think not,,, so as prabhupada has done so should we, examples of prabhupada's love acceptance and support are clearly there for all to see, if they simply open their eyes and try harder to understand every vital member is important to god plan. without the arm the body doesnt work as well or the foot or the leg, i refuse to allow hate to drive me away from the family i have found and love, i myself am out in my community and have the support and love of many strong followers of prabhupada that were with him in the early days, make no mistake they are fully aware of who i am and the sexual life i left behind, not once have i been admonished to stay away from the temple or to quietly submit to hate or predijuice in any respect. so i appluade the devotees who have stood up and said there is no room for hate and predijuice among the family of god, we will walk together into the light of a new day with prabhupada's love and understanding and also krsna's blessing this much i have seen with my own eyes. i offer this letter not as a challange but as a friend who simply wants to share that my godbrothers and godsisters, gay lesbian and trangendered are everywhere and we stand together as one with you. may krsna bless you your humble servant kekiut.

 

 

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

But that does not change the fact i am a gay male and will always be because simply put that is who i am.

Spiritual life begins when we remove the false designations created within the mind and identify ourselves as a pure spirit soul. The Vedanta teaches us to inquire into who we are. The first question to be raised is "Who am I?" When we direct this question to our contaminated consciousness, we receive a variety of false answers based on the coverings, or koshas. These coverings create various false identity states, which we accept as the reality.

 

Sri Chaitanya taught us to go beyond the states of conditioned consciousness and false identity states. According to Him, our true identity is as an eternal servant of the Lord, free from all material designations. As long as we give importance to the false identity states, we will never be situated in knowledge of our true self, atma-vidya.

 

Those who are serious about their advancement in devotional life should focus their consciousness on understanding what is the self. We must all ask ourselves the question, "Who am I?" If the resultant answer is in reference to the material body, then we can understand our vision is covered by illusion.