religion vs relationship with the Supreme Lord

mahak · September 8, 2003

Haribol, folks. Last week, I started out wrong, and my topic was properly ignored because of the title as well as my first post under the topic. My intention was to show that Lord Jesus Christ did not do missionary work that is merely the establishment of eccliastic religion. His Mission is to give the information necessary to the devotees (the needy, the unfortunate, the inquisitive, and the wise) to re-establish their lost relationship with the Supreme Lord, whom Jesus refers to as both Father, and Friend.

Lord Jesus also taught a certain simultaneous oneness and difference in regard to the Supreme Absolute Truth. The verses below deny any type of minimization of both the father and the son by the apostacy of "filioque" psuedo-theology that merges the son and the father into the same being.

Such artificial philosophy created by politicians has basically ruined christianity, for many have been burned by mayavad simply by being subjected to such a hoax. Lord Jesus speaks of yokes, which is yoga. Lord Jesus speaks about a relationship between Him and His Father (or friend, Eloyha), this is what He is giving. This is the yoke he wants us all to have. To merge son with father means that all such relationship disappears, thwarting the entire teachings of Lord Jesus Christ.

Religion is a term steeped with eccliastic principles, whereas the lovers of God require much more, a commitment, and what they can give is a personal relationship with the Supreme Lord, akin to what they have in the depths of their own beings.

Acintya bheda bheda tattwa cannot be studied by religionists, for their very existance depends on artificial deification of their gurus (not unlike the artificial deification, by some, of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada.) In other words, the christian has put all his eggs in Paul's basket. The church has become the impersonal christ, and the son and the father have been merged in direct opposition to the teachings of simultaneous oneness and difference by Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

I cite the following:

(Matt 10:25-30)

Lord Jesus Christ Prayed, "I praise You, Abah (Father), Lord of heaven and earth, because You hide from the learned scholars while revealing Yourself to the poor and needy. You have turned everything over to the Son, and nobody knows the Son except the Father, nor does anybody know the Father except the Son and those with ears to hear from the Son and are pleasing to the Son. All you poor and needy, come to the Son and I will refresh you. Take My Yoke (Yoga) upon you and learn from Me, because I am meek and modest and you may confide in Me. My Yoke is comfortable and My load is light."

mahaksadasa comment: This is a lesson of "gurudeva patita pavana". Guru's yoke is Yoga, His relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His desire is that the poor and needy share in the comfort of this relationship. The connection, yoke, yoga, linkage, is available to all, but only the vanquished can surrender. Those cursed with matter addiction (karmis), self-importance from academic success (jnanis), or mystic imitation of the Supreme Lord (yogis) do not attend the festivities of His calling, by their own foolish choices, thus Lord Jesus Christ is truely patita pavana, dearmost friend of those bereft of material fortune. This citation, also contained in extra-biblical writings, "Q", the "Gospel of the Savior", etc, is a clear description that religion is not offered, rather a special "relationship" can be had with the Supreme Being, just as the speaker (LJC) has such a relationship.

(Mark 11: 27-33)

"The scholars, elders and priests were questioning Lord Jesus Christ thus: "Who gives You the power to do these things?" He responded, "I will answer on the condition you answer whether the baptism of John is heaven-sent or of human origin?"

The church leaders conferred among themselves, deciding both possible answers threatened their positions. Heaven-sent meant they denied the Will of the Supreme, human origin meant that they were to be attacked by the people, so they diplomatically answered, "We cannot tell."

Lord Jesus Christ then said, "Then I won't tell you either."

mahaksadasa comment: The lesson here is that authority of Gurudeva is never discussed among the faithless.

(Matt 8: 5-13)

"As Lord Jesus Christ entered Capernaum, a Roman officer approached and requested His healing mercy. He agreed, and began following him, but the official said, "My Dear Lord, I have folks who are required to follow my orders, but You, Sir, are much beyond this realm. I do not deserve Your mercy, but, if You wish, say only the word and my son will be healed."

The Lord said to His followers, "I have not seen such trust in all of Judea. I predict that folks from East and West will dine with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with My Father, but for those who may think that the Spiritual Realm belongs to a segment of society will be left in darkness. Go, My friend, your son is well and awaiting your arrival."

mahaksadasa comment: Sri Gurudeva comes to give Love of God to all without discrimination, he is never bound by sectarian ideas or imprisoned by the cultural bars of the ignorant. This popular story proves that Lord Jesus Christ does NOT authorize any church to place itself above others.

(Matt 16: 15-19)

"One day, Lord Jesus Christ asked His disciples, "Who do the people say that I am?" Looking to Simon Peter, He asked, "Who do you say I am?" Simon responded, "You are the annointed one, the Son of the Living Lord."

In response, The Lord said, "You are to be congratulated, Simon, son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father. You are the foundation of My mission that no one can overcome, and you possess the keys to both the eternal and temporal kingdoms. But you must not tell others that I am the annointed, for they must come to Me in the same way."

mahaksadasa comment: Empowerment of the disciple by the Supreme Lord Himself to have the ears to hear from His representative is purchased by the sincerity of the disciple alone. This verse contains a simple description of the simultaneous oneness and difference between Lord Jesus Christ and the Supreme Lord who had been delivered via his empowered representative.

(John 5: 60-65)

A certain teaching of Lord Jesus Christ caused some of the followers to question the content. Some grumbled that the teachings were offensive. The Lord knew who the grumblers were, and pointed out this fact: "This is why I told you. People cannot come to Me unless My Father has granted this."

mahaksadasa comment: After this event, many of those who were pretending to follow, attracted by populist notions, left Him for good. He then asked His apostles, "Do you want to leave Me too?" Their response was evidence that their attraction to guru was based on the prerequisite sincerity, that the Supreme Father Himself empowered not only His Son to be Guru, but also empowered the disciples to hear from Him. This verse also separates Son and Father, for without such separation of identity, there cannot be any following of Lord Jesus Christ no the Supreme Lord who has sent Him.

(John 7: 6-18)

"The Judeans, always criticizing Lord Jesus Christ, were quite amazed at His preaching skills. Some said, "Here is a good man", while others scoffed, calling Him a cheater. They were thus fighting among themselves about His position. He then delivered a powerful lecture that stunned them all. They asked Him, "You are uneducated, how can You be so articulate?" The Lord responded, "What I am teaching does not originate from Me but with He Who sent Me. Anyone who does the Will of My Father knows well enough whether this teaching originates with God or whether I am speaking on My own authority. All who speak on their own authority are after praise for themselves. But for he who is only concerned with the praise of the One Who sent Him-He is truthful, there is nothing false about Him."

mahaksadasa comment: This is a clear, truthful description of Lord Jesus Christ. He gives what He has been given, intact. His mastery is proven by His service, His divinity always as a divine servantr of who He wholeheartedly serves.

(John 8: 54)

"If I were to glorify Myself, that glory of Mine would mean nothing. But, in fact, My Father glorifies Me, and all who do His Will will see this relationship."

mahaksadasa comment: Lord Jesus Christ spoke these words to the masses who would do Him harm, those too conditioned to doing their own wills to be eligible for spiritual life. Similarly, if we so choose to remain entangled by our own desires, the relationship with God remains unavailable, the lack of sincerity prevents one from associating with lovers of God, and all "official" gurus such materialists may "honor", by show only, have no empowerment to deliver. A bonafide spiritual master and the bonafide disciple are never separated, any such separation exists only in the imagination of the pretenders.

The sadhu, Lord Jesus Christ, actually teaches us all, as does Srila Prabhupada and His bonafide disciples, that YOGA means relationship, devoid of any ideas of lonliness. There is no possibility of being alone if one sincerely attempts to do the Will of the Supreme Person.

If one denies that Jesus Christ taught yoga, taught that relationship with the Supreme Lord superceded all ideas of religion, such folks are not considered by Lord Jesus in his own words. He does not recognize those who deny the Father and the Sone as separate beings, yet the bond between the TWO (I always call it the "two thrones" theology) is the divinity that they share, that we can also share.

Krsna puts it best to Arjuna, "Give up all your religion and surrender to Me." This is what Krsna wants from us, this is what Lord Jesus and the gurus and sadhus recommend for fulfillment of the human gift.

Hare Krsna, ys, mahaksadasa

theist · September 8, 2003

Very nice Mahaksa prabhu.

Impersonalism and religion have all but killed Christianity. What remains is little more than a piety making teaching at best (with eceptions of course).

They are searching and waiting for the antichrist not knowing he walks and teaches amongst them.

From 1John2

18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.

19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.

21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.

22 Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son.

23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

September 8, 2003

{Excerpts from Sri Caitanya-shikshamrita, chapter one. First published in 1886, by Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakur}

Differences in Spiritual Teachers:

Thus people in some places give respect to the rsis, in other places they respect preachers like Muhammad, etc. In other countries they respect Jesus and other religious souls, and in many other places of the world people give respect to other various wise men.

It is imperative that the people of each country give proper respect to their native saints. Although one may believe that the teachings of a saintly person of one's own country are superior to the teachings of the saints of all other countries, still one should not try to establish and preach such controversy in other countries. No good will come to the world from such preaching.

Differences in Procedures of Worship Which Arise from Differences in Thoughts and Feelings:

Concerning different expressions of reverence, in some places the worshipper sits on an asana, and after performing nyasa and pranayama he begins his worship. Somewhere else, those persons who wear a mukta-kaccha [a lungi, a type of cloth that Muslims generally wear] perform their worship by standing and facing their holy place then falling down and prostrating themselves five times a day.

Elsewhere, others kneel down, fold their hands together and expressing their own humility they sing praises of the Lord in their house or place of worship. According to different places, many varieties of considerations are seen in regards to what is pure and impure in dress, food, behavior, etc. during the time of worship.

If one examines different religions, one will see various procedures of worship. One will also observe different conceptions concerning the object of worship. Some people, overcome with devotion in their hearts, establish the shri-murti, the form of the Lord, in their hearts and also in the external world. Understanding that the form so established is non-different from the Lord within, they worship that form.

Differences in the Forms of Worship Which Arise From Differences in Conceptions and Conventional Actions:

In some religions, because of greater emphasis on logic, the worshipper simply forms a conception of God in the mind and worships it. They do not accept the external form of God. In reality, however, all their conceptions are forms of the Lord.

Differences in Designation of the Lord Due to Differences in Language:

According to language differences, different religions call God by different names. The religions have different names. The languages used during worship are also different.

Non-Criticism and Non-Envy of the Practices of Worship of Other Religions:

Because of these five differences it is only natural that various religions will appear quite different. However, it is improper and detrimental to argue over these differences. If one goes to visit someone else's place of worship, while there one should think, "These people are worshipping my Lord, but in a different way.

Because of my different practices I cannot quite enter into this system of worship. However, through this experience I can deepen my appreciation for my own system of worship. The Lord is only one, not two. I offer respect to the form I see here and pray to the Lord in this new form that He increase my love for the form that I am accustomed to."

Criticism or Envy are Fit to be Abandoned:

Those who do not follow this procedure but instead criticize other systems of worship and show hatred, violence, and envy, are worthless and foolish. In proportion to their lack of interest in the Lord to that degree they have affection for use arguments.

full article

krsna · March 23, 2005

This is all for the easter Sonrise when the glory of the Son is for the One who has sent Him...

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From 1John2

18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.

19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.

21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.

22 Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son.

23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.