What is real religion?

Gauracandra · May 3, 2003

This week’s Srila Siddhaswarupananda television program is concerned with the question of “What is real religion?”

Tonight we’d like to discuss religion. I am often asked “Are you Hindu? Christian?” Sometimes I quote the Gita, and sometimes the Bible. These people want a label for the Science of Identity foundation.

Most people, when they hear the word religion, think of a particular faith, method, or process. They believe religion is something you can join or quit. Some people will say “I used to be X, but now I’m Y.” How many of you have heard this? Some of you coming to this lecture probably though “I’m Catholic, or Protestant, will this conflict with my religion?”

There is a quote from my spiritual master in connection to the word Sanatan Dharma.

[reads quote].

Your religion is your fundamental essence. Your religion is what cannot be taken away from you. Just as wetness cannot be separated from water, nor heat from fire, neither can the eternal function of the soul be separated from the soul.

The Science of Identity seeks to help people understand their eternal nature and true religion. You can change your faith from Christian to Buddhist. Thus this is not eternal. The Gita points out two things in this regard: 1) the soul is eternal and 2) the soul’s nature is one of service.

The actual religion of everyone is service to God. Everyone must serve someone. Even politicians serve the whims of the voting public, or their campaign contributors. The communist serves the state, and the laborer serves the capitalist. No one can get away from rendering service.

The eternal religion is serving the Supreme Lord. Who am I? I am an eternal servant of the Lord. What is my position? I am not all powerful. I am controlled by time, traffic lights, disease, government laws, social laws. So my true religion is understanding this fact that I am not all powerful. I am a servant of God.

Even if you deny this, still you are a servant of God. In the material world we all serve God indirectly. Material nature works under the direction of God. Thus, even those who try to get away from God, end up serving His servant. We are the servants of the laws of material nature.

The difference is by indirectly serving God (being dominated by material nature) we don’t experience a loving relationship with Him. No one can not serve God. Either directly or indirectly you will serve God.

So we should understand that we don’t begin at conception nor end when the body dies. Religion means I am acting on this fact of my eternal nature in relation to God. This is everyone’s religion. In this sense religion does not entail faith. Whether you believe it or deny it, it doesn’t matter. You can’t join it nor quit it.

This is a completely different way of looking at this question of religion. A particular faith or process is not religion since you can change from Catholic to Mohammedan. True religion is absolute truth which cannot change. The process is simply meant to help you come to this conclusion to realize your true position. If people knew real religion there wouldn’t be so much fighting. But people think it is about joining a team. A real religious person is fixed in the truth that they are eternal servants of God.

May 4, 2003

"The process is simply meant to help you come to this conclusion to realize your true position. If people knew real religion there wouldn’t be so much fighting."

The vedic process, not christion or islam, etc. process.

prabhupada produced millions of hare krishnas.

now hare krishnas need to make millions more hare krishnas each year.

jai sri prabhupada!