A Few Questions!

sweetmerkaba · June 25, 2005

Hare Krishna

I have a few questions for the devoties of the lord.

My first one is

How much of my soul, is my personality, i mean, if i ever recirnate into a body, thats like human, will i be the same person, or will i be a different kind of person?

My Second Question is,

If one raises a son, that evnatually becomes a devotie, will this affect, where and what, the father will be born in his next life?

My Third question is,

Has any of you advance devoties, seen krishna, if yes, how does he look like?

thank you for your time

theist · June 25, 2005

My first one is

How much of my soul, is my personality, i mean, if i ever recirnate into a body, thats like human, will i be the same person, or will i be a different kind of person?

You have always been the same person and always will be no matter where or if you incarnate into another form.

It is something like an stage actor. He is one person, the same person but for the particular role he has been hired to play he takes on the mood and characteristics called for by the part.

Later on he may take on a totally different role in another play. One time the good guy the next time the villian. But in both cases he is neither the good guy or the villian. He remains the same person as he was before he got those jobs.

Reincarnation into this world is very much like that.

My Third question is,

Has any of you advance devoties, seen krishna, if yes, how does he look like?

Yes, Srila Prabhupada sees Krsna and has explained in general what His appearance is. The Bhagavatam also contains explainations from those great sages.Of course words can never fully express.

Krsna shows Himself to His devotees and sometimes to encourage souls in the efforts to become purified devotees. It is natural to want to see Krsna but we must put out some effort in purifying ourselves. It is not so easy. Even seeing the president of the United States with a personal appointment is next to impossible so what to speak of Krsna.

Of course if we know someone who knows Him we stand a much better chance for an introduction. "It's not what you know its who you know ," as they say.

Visitor · June 26, 2005

|| Ram ||

good questions, good answers.

However could you go back to the answer of question 1 and incorporate what factor the individual soul plays on the personality. thanks

gHari · June 26, 2005

Dear Bhakta Merkaba,

Such questions require better answers than I can give. However they demand something from me.

How much of my soul, is my personality, i mean, if i ever recirnate into a body, thats like human, will i be the same person, or will i be a different kind of person?

We are all unique even in our eternal true identities. Our love for Krsna is of unimaginable varieties, flavored perfectly to delight Him. To the extent which we allow this natural innate love to manifest through our fallen states, the soul will influence our personality. The more elevated and less mundane we are the more we exhibit the noble qualities of our perfect selves, which have been described in general as the twenty-six qualities adorning a vaishnava.

When the clouds are in the sky, the influence of the sun is limited on the planet, but as the clouds dissipate and the sun finally burns off the final mist, the glowing sun globe spreads its pure illumination everywhere without discrimination. So as the cloud of attachment dissipates, the glory of our eternal self can influence the temporary earthen image.

If one raises a son, that evnatually becomes a devotie, will this affect, where and what, the father will be born in his next life?

Lord Krishna answers this question in Krsna Book 64:<blockquote>"If someone even touches a brahmana’s property, his family is ruined for three generations. However, if a brahmana’s property is forcibly taken away, the taker’s family for ten generations before him and ten generations after will be subject to ruination. On the other hand, if someone becomes a pure Vaisnava, or devotee of the Lord, ten generations of his family before his birth and ten generations after will be liberated.”</blockquote>

Has any of you advance devoties, seen krishna, if yes, how does he look like?

Be assured that there will be no doubt when that happens. Krsna is God and it will be far beyond anything anyone could possibly imagine, filled with Reality that burns all else into vapor forever. While great sages have recommended that we not speak of special mercies which will only be betrayed by words, for your sincerity my impression remains:

gHari

theist · June 26, 2005

The soul, you, has it's own personality in relationship to Krsna. Realizing that is self realization and also Krsna realization.

What is called personality in the material world is simply a perverted reflection of your true peronality and therefore has no permanent existence. In a dream we may exhibit the personality of a king one night and a dog the next night. But neither one is real. these so-called personalitites are like masks people wear at a custom party to cover their true identity.

The true personality is only seen in the light of Krsna consciousness for by it's very essence it is a part of Krsna, an individual part.

stonehearted · June 26, 2005

I'd suggest that He looks a lot like that picture. And I have a story about this one.

In 1970 or '71, I was at downtown Honolulu's Fort Street Mall, pretty much the center of commercial downtown. We went there daily for sankirtan (which in those days meant going out to chant in public and distributing Srila Prabhupada's literatures as well). One afternoon I had a stack of the Krishna, the Reservoir of Pleasure booklets that had this pic on the cover. Four good-sized (I was 5'8" and about 115 pounds) young Hawaiian guys walked up to me, looking a little pugnacious. The lloked at me, then at the booklets, then at me again. The biggest one, smirking, pointed to the picture on the cover and asked, "Dat's God?"

I thought to myself, "Oh, boy--here it comes," worked up my best relaxed smile, and answered, "Yep!"

Suddenly his face broke into a big grin, and he said, "Nice, eh?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Really nice!"

The guy and his friends all got copies of the booklet.