Why do you believe in God?

[Guest guest]

If you have had a mystical experience, what makes you so sure it's authentic?

 

If you haven't had any, what makes you believe in God anyway?

 

Do you believe in reincarnation? If so, why? How are you so convinced it is true?

[Guest guest]

If you have had a mystical experience, what makes you so sure it's authentic?

••no mystical experiences for me

 

If you haven't had any, what makes you believe in God anyway?

 

••i exist, the world exists, i am not the one who controls me and the world.. so the controller is someone else. If he exists he is the source of all the love and bliss existing in this world.. so i want to know him and i want to be loved by him

 

Do you believe in reincarnation? If so, why?

 

••i am part of god.. so, as god, i am eternal

[Guest guest]

After all, I watch television and movies, and I have to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy them. So why not suspend disbelief and believe there is a God, so that I can inject some meaning into my otherwise meaningless life?

 

 

[Kulapavana]

it is all very mystical and real. can't you see that? be very, very quiet for a while... can you hear your own body? can you hear the light wind in the sand dunes?

 

it takes an honest and conscious effort to see, hear and feel the presence of God.

[Pankaja_Dasa]

 

 

If I am hungry and eat food, I don't need to prove to anybody that I am full. Same way spiritual life you feel more happy. [still long way to go]. I mean Drugs have thier sysmptoms. So in the same way Scientists should look for this, I don't understand what proof they require.

[Guest guest]

Q. Why do you believe in God?

 

>>>>>>Answer: Because He is beautiful

 

Q. If you have had a mystical experience, what makes you so sure it's authentic?

 

>>>>>>Answer:

 

<blockquote><font color="#0000ff">

Our guru maharaja (Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati) gave the example that if one is born in the

darkness of a dungeon, and someone proposes "Let us go see the sun,"

then the prisoner will carry a lantern in his hand saying "Oh, you will

show me the sun?"

"Yes. Come with me. Leave your lantern behind. No light is necessary

to see the sun."

"Are you trying to fool me? Nothing can be seen without the help of a

light."

His friend will catch him and forcibly take the prisoner into the

sunlight. "Do you see the sun?" And the prisoner will say, "Oh, this is

the sun! By sunlight alone we can see the sun." One will have that sort

of experience when he comes in connection with the truth. Neither

calculation, nor evidence, nor witness, but only direct experience is

proof that Krsna is there, like the sun.

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said, atma parijnanamayo: what to

speak of Krsna, even the conscious unit is self-effulgent. A certain

section says, "There is God. Surely He exists." Others say, "No, there

is no God, He never existed." This quarrel is useless; still it will

continue. In a particular section this argument will have no end. Those

who have no eyes will be unable to see the sun. They will say there is

no sun (mattah para-nistat amsa-lokam). This misconception will

continue for those who deny the existence of both the soul and the

Supreme soul. For those who have direct experience, however, there is

no question: it exists! But for the owl section who cannot admit the

existence of the sun, the sun does not exist. It is something like that.

Our own realization of a thing will be the greatest proof of its

existence: vastu-tattva-jnana haya krpate.

One may be born blind, but if somehow or other his eyes are opened,

he will be astonished to see the particular aspects of the environment.

But if one has no vision, he can see no color or figure. Those who

have vision will feel, "How can I deny the fact? I have seen it. I am

feeling it, it is so magnanimous, so great and so benevolent, I can't

deny all these things. You are unfortunate; you cannot see." Some see,

some cannot see. In the same place, one can see, another cannot.

Those to whom Krsna wishes to reveal himself can see him; others

cannot.</font>

-- Srila Sridhar Maharaj

</blockquote>

 

Q. If you haven't had any, what makes you believe in God anyway?

 

>>>>>>Answer: Open your ears and hear the word "Krishna".

 

Q. Do you believe in reincarnation? If so, why? How are you so convinced it is true?

 

>>>>>>Answer: We see grubs turning into butterflies, and embryos turning into babies. Our spirit is evolving to a higher stage of existence.

 

Also, we see men who have died and who have been revived by doctors, and those men who were dead tell us "I came out of my body and went up into the light, but when I was entering the light I was told my time to die had not come so I must re-enter my body".

 

- m.

[gHari]

 

I love it.

 

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna!

 

All glories to Srila Prabhupada! I offer my humble obeisance unto him!

 

If you have had a mystical experience, what makes you so sure it's authentic?

No Mystical experience for me!

 

 

If you haven't had any, what makes you believe in God anyway?

why do i believe in God? To answer that, i guess i have to step back one step and answer this. This is a good question because, to believe in something or in someone, we as human beings either have to taste it or smell it or see it. In other words, we have to realise that object of contention through our senses. If any one of our sense can realise the something or someone, we believe that something or someone exists. Correct? This is how we human beings validate things through the scientific process and that is why gadgets like the microscpe, telescope, radar, sonar etc are invented to prove the existence of something or somone. Unfortunately these material objects cannot help prove the existance or Supremacy of God. How then can we know of HIM. Now, we may have material obejects to test nature and prove its existance in one form or the other, however, the question remains, have you personally conducted all the expirements to understand for yourself the existence of different branches of science ranging from physics to chemistry to medical science. It is not humanly possible to conduct allr esearch first hand and then believe in the existance of a particular thing or a particular entity. For example, you believe in single celled bacteria or theory relativity or Laws of Newton or any proven scientific thoery. Now, eventhough, you have not conducted these theories yourself, yet, you believe in them, why? Different people have different thresholds of belief. For some, physics books are enough for them to believe Laws of Newton but for someone they have to see proof in real world and they test by their idiosyncratic ways to rest the theory. One can float a toy boat on water to test the theory of buoyancy or one can throw an object from top of a building to test the thoery of gravity. So, by doing so we believe these theories. Some people go further by actually following the experiments in the lab and testing them. The bottom line, people with different thresholds test the theory some how or the other. But fundamentally, it all starts by listening to your teacher about the theory of Physics and reading it in a book. At this jucture, i would like to depart by saying that this is how I believe in God. Just like a 5th grade student understands the thoery of physics through his teacher and books, I believe in the existance of God through my Spiritual Master. A spiritual master or teacher is like the physics teacher except here he talk about spiritual science and so he is called the spiritual master or teacher or as we call in Sanskrit- GURU.

 

Now, just like how my physics teacher learned his physics from his teacher and so forth, my Guru learned the scienec of God through his Guru and so forth. Just like how the physics teacher is an expert in physics at some level, my Guru is an expert in science of God or in other words, my Guru can be a Guru only if he has realised God himself in some capacity. So, seeing my Guru's realisation and how do i see it, it is through his daily life. How he has lived his life in accordance to the scriptures and how he is practically pracitcing what he says and shows to all how he is liberated. So going back to test the theory of God, I believe in God because i see and believe my Guru because I believe he has followed the book of physics and is an expert at it. In other words, I have NO DIRECT realization of GOD but through humble obedience and service to my teacher (Guru), I am learning the theory of how to realize God (just like how my Guru has said and he says based on scriptures and based on what his Guru taught him).

 

So, you see just like a student learns and believes in physics laws by going to school and learning from his teacher, i learn through my Guru and believe in God. Just like how the student listens and performs his scientific exercises to realise the laws himself, i follow and perform spiritual exercises to realise God. So the more i spend time in the physics lab/spiritual practice, the more i will become expert in the physics theory/ the science of God.

 

This is how my friend I believe in God and also in the Laws of Newton.

 

Do you believe in reincarnation? If so, why? How are you so convinced it is true?

This answer can be induced from my previous one. Just like how you have faith in God and physics through your teacher and books, I have faith in reincarnation through my Guru and Scriptures.

 

Your questions you have asked are important and intelligent because this is the first step to learn about the science of the Soul and the Supresoul.

 

Haribol!

 

anand

 

 

[Guest guest]

"For those who have direct experience, however, there is

no question: it exists"

 

However, I have read of a few people who have had such mystical experiences, and yet they deny the authenticity of such experiences. So, how do we measure the authenticity of such experiences so that we make sure we are not delusional or succumbing to the power of suggestion?

 

Is there any way to truly know God exists, or that you have had a genuine experience in relation to Him?

[Guest guest]

So, how do we measure the authenticity of such experiences so that we make sure we are not delusional or succumbing to the power of suggestion?

••an experience of seeing god is followed by a life of seeing god forever, 24/24. If i see god, then god disappears, i have not seen god...

 

Is there any way to truly know God exists..?

••everything we know about god has been said by illuminated beings who have seen god directly or who are god: for example jesus, vyasadeva, mohamed, prabhupada, buddha and so on...

 

so the only way to see god is to find someone who has seen him, like them, and to take his shelter and advices.

 

that's why bhagavad gita (4.34)says:

 

tad viddhi pranipatena

pariprasnena sevaya

upadeksyanti te jnanam

jnaninas tattva-darsinah

 

Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.

 

"tattva darshinah"... who have direct and complete experience of the truth.. the absolute truth.. god..

 

only who see, hear, touch, embrass god, relationate 24/24 wih god is a real spiritual master... only through his personal guidance we can find our own path to see god..

 

no other possibility..

[gHari]

The lantern of the mind is not required to know that He is God. The wise keep their realizations to themselves, lest the envious call them crazy. And surely some are crazy. But the honest man has no doubt. Sometimes devotees will receive special causeless mercy from Krsna somehow. Krsna sticks the mercy in the devotee's pocket (as Prabhupada mentions at the end of the following Bhagavatam quote), SB 1.6.16-27:<blockquote>[NArada speaks] As soon as I began to meditate upon the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead with my mind transformed in transcendental love, tears rolled down my eyes, and without delay the Personality of Godhead SrI KRSNa appeared on the lotus of my heart.

 

O VyAsadeva, at that time, being exceedingly overpowered by feelings of happiness, every part of my body became separately enlivened. Being absorbed in an ocean of ecstasy, I could not see both myself and the Lord.

 

The transcendental form of the Lord, as it is, satisfies the mind's desire and at once erases all mental incongruities. Upon losing that form, I suddenly got up, being perturbed, as is usual when one loses that which is desirable.

 

I desired to see again that transcendental form of the Lord, but despite my attempts to concentrate upon the heart with eagerness to view the form again, I could not see Him any more, and thus dissatisfied, I was very much aggrieved.

 

Seeing my attempts in that lonely place, the Personality of Godhead, who is transcendental to all mundane description, spoke to me with gravity and pleasing words, just to mitigate my grief.

 

O NArada [the Lord spoke], I regret that during this lifetime you will not be able to see Me anymore. Those who are incomplete in service and who are not completely free from all material taints can hardly see Me.

 

O virtuous one, you have only once seen My person, and this is just to increase your desire for Me, because the more you hanker for Me, the more you will be freed from all material desires.

 

By service of the Absolute Truth, even for a few days, a devotee attains firm and fixed intelligence in Me. Consequently he goes on to become My associate in the transcendental world after giving up the present deplorable material worlds.

 

Intelligence engaged in My devotion cannot be thwarted at any time. Even at the time of creation, as well as at the time of annihilation, your remembrance will continue by My mercy.

 

Then that supreme authority, personified by sound and unseen by eyes, but most wonderful, stopped speaking. Feeling a sense of gratitude, I offered my obeisances unto Him, bowing my head.

 

Thus I began chanting the holy name and fame of the Lord by repeated recitation, ignoring all the formalities of the material world. Such chanting and remembering of the transcendental pastimes of the Lord are benedictory. So doing, I traveled all over the earth, fully satisfied, humble and unenvious.

 

And so, O BrAhmaNa VyAsadeva, in due course of time I, who was fully absorbed in thinking of KRSNa and who therefore had no attachments, being completely freed from all material taints, met with death, as lightning and illumination occur simultaneously.

</blockquote>

 

KRpA-siddhi [special causeless mercy]

PuSTa KRSNa: So even a person merged in the mode of ignorance can by some good fortune surrender to KRSNa.

PrabhupAda: No good fortune. God, KRSNa, says, "You do it"; you do it. Here immediately you become fortunate. There is no question of waiting for becoming fortunate. You become fortunate immediately. Suppose if I say, "Take this bag, 100,000 dollars." You can take it. Immediately you become rich man. Why don't you take it?

Guru dAsa: How does kRpA-siddhi work, SrIla PrabhupAda?

PrabhupAda: Hm?

Guru dAsa: KRpA-siddhi. How does that work?

PrabhupAda: KRpA-siddhi means that you are not willing take this bag. I say, "Take it, take it, take it." (laughter) "No." That is kRpA-siddhi. Even you are unwilling, I give you in your pocket, push it. That is kRpA-siddhi. (laughter)

 

[Guest guest]

Which one is correct?

 

Both of you quote scripture, though through different lenses it seems.

 

One says if you see God once, to truly know you've seen God, you have to see him 24/7. The other says, if God comes once, and he doesn't come again, yet he speaks to say do your job and increase your desire to see me, then you have truly seen God.

 

I don't know which one is correct, if any.

 

As for following self-realized masters, well, how do people know they weren't deluded, or at least that their brain chemistry isn't the source of all this, and they are speaking of genuine spirituality?

 

I've read that Buddhism is atheistic and not really a religion. In fact, according to a website's forum, and some of the posters who claim to be Buddhist or Hindu, I read, there really is no spiritual reincarnation and what the original Vedic rishis and Buddha said was meant in materialistic terms only, that when the body dies, it becomes other forms of matter, and finally becomes flesh once again, but no soul resides in the body, and no soul truly survives death.

 

They claimed that the whole soul aspect was introduced as something for the illiterate to aspire to and just to go on living their lives. In other words, Eastern religions aren't religions, and don't deal with spirituality, but are really essentially psychology, and nothing more.

[Guest guest]

Hinduism and Buddhism and other religions are essentially psychological and have no real truth to them other than materialist truths, but I can't help question whether it is the truth.

[Pankaja_Dasa]

 

 

/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Hinduism and Buddhism and other religions are essentially psychological and have no real truth to them other than materialist truths, but I can't help question whether it is the truth.

 

 

Scientists proof' is ever changing. We on the other hand already have it. Why are we going to waste our time? We are more highly evolvled in consciousness due to pious acitivities/mercy. But the search is your's to begin with don't get lost in other peoples consciousness. Find a starting point. Good start:

 

www.asitis.com

[bhagavad-gita as it is]

``Song of God`` spoken by Lord Sri Krishna

NOT Hindu, but a Transcendental Book.

 

[gHari]

 

It is not that we must ask if the transcendental reality is real. Afterwards we must seriously try to see this earthly hollow realm as real. When you are asleep then you awake, do you ever doubt whether you are indeed awake? That dream did seem quite real while asleep, but now awake it seems so shallow and without credibility.

 

The lantern of the mind is not required to see the sun. The experience dwarfs the mind, so much more light than any number of lanterns. There is no doubt. To the depth of the being, all that we are, knows without any doubt - not even the slightest inclination to doubt. We are awake and the rules and limitations of the dream world simply no longer apply.

 

These dream words to guide the lantern mind may not help. Sleep can be very addictive, as can the mind. We just don't want to wake up, for the dream lantern has no idea what wakefulness might bring. The little world, the dream world is seen as safe, familiar, manageable in the light of the lantern.

 

If we are clever enough we can philosophically doubt whether our hand is in front of our face ... for years and years.

 

Then we die.

 

[shvu]

 

As for following self-realized masters, well, how do people know they weren't deluded, or at least that their brain chemistry isn't the source of all this, and they are speaking of genuine spirituality

 

 

People do not know if the master is genuine or not. There is no way of testing as Gurus cannot walk on water or fly like birds to prove their "divinity". They are regular humans like us who have to shave, bathe, eat, drink and breathe regularly to function normally. With these limitations, the validity of the Guru becomes a matter of faith and sentiment. X thinks his Guru is the best thing that ever happened to mankind and Y thinks the same about his own Guru. That is how it goes. It is purely a matter of personal preference and nothing more.

 

 

I've read that Buddhism is atheistic and not really a religion. In fact, according to a website's forum, and some of the posters who claim to be Buddhist or Hindu, I read, there really is no spiritual reincarnation and what the original Vedic rishis and Buddha said was meant in materialistic terms only, that when the body dies, it becomes other forms of matter, and finally becomes flesh once again, but no soul resides in the body, and no soul truly survives death.

 

 

Interesting, but not correct. if religion has one mandatory, basic requirement, that is the concept of a soul/spirit that will live after the body. Without this basic premise there is no heaven or hell or reincarnation or liberation, thus invalidating all religions. This is the same for the Buddhist with his concept of Nirvana.

 

The "no soul" view is Materialism/Atheism, which has been around always, but has never become a mainstream view ( will never become one) as it is not appealing to the general public due to it's insipid, objective nature. The majority would be happier to go with a view of permanence (life after death) and a controller who can watch & protect over them in return for their offerings of coconuts or candles or hair (as in Tirupathi). The people around me do not think of an afterlife. They are religious and thus superstitious as they think God controls the activities of their lives and they do whatever they have been told to do in order to appease their Gods - so that they may lead a smooth life.

 

Fear rules. A family I know traveled from Bangalore to Tirupathi a few months ago and on their way back they had a major accident where the woman lost her husband and her 8-year old son. Instead of getting religious and traveling to distant temples, they may have been still alive today if they had just stayed home watching TV. Was there a lesson learnt by other people from this incident? No. They see that Tirupathi Venkatesh is incapable of protecting the people who come to see him or magically increase their test scores and yet fear prevents them from taking that bold step and bidding goodbye to this whole affair of religion. Fear is the key for most people.

 

Cheers

[gHari]

 

<img src=http://canoeparts.ca/KINGDOM/duck.gif>

[Guest guest]

believe in your particular viewpoint shvu. However, what makes you call what seems to be your own viewpoint, atheism, "insipid"?

 

I don't know what makes you so certain that religion is based solely on fear, or whatever.

 

Have you never had an experience that could be categorized as mystical, or perhaps somewhat phenomenal?

 

Just because people suffer even when they pursue God, does not mean God is not there. There could be a multitude of reasons for such an event, have you ever actually tried to understand why?

 

You honestly think that those who visit Thirupati, despite hearing some unfortunate incident, are doing so because of fear?

 

If so, then yours is a viewpoint that is easily dismissed, because that is undoubtedly not the case. While some may fear God, there are those that love God, no matter what, and they believe God loves them. Even when bad things happen to them. There may be no objectivity in this, but it is still the case that their faith in God, and their aspirations to reach him are unwavering. The Hinduism I know does not

inspire fear of God, though there may be some fearsome aspects of God that are portrayed.

 

And just because some people do not get what they want, doesn't mean God doesn't answer other people's requests. There is no APPARENT rhyme or reason for this, however.

 

As for religion, it does not require belief in life after death to be a religion. As far as I know, any philosophy you live by can be classified as a religion, because religion is the application of a philosophy in your everyay life. You do not have to worship, you do not have to believe in a superior being, or any such thing. But if you have a belief system of some sort, and you live by it everyday, that's pretty much religion from my perspective. While it may not necessarily be the definition commonly held by others, I believe that is the true definition of religion.

 

 

Now, God's existence is questionable. I believe he exists, but my question is how do we KNOW whether he does or doesn't? Or how do we KNOW this is all there is to life? Perhaps we'll never find out, or it is necessary to sincerely follow a spiritual/mystical path in order to reach the truth. Or at least to interpret the truth for yourself.

 

However, this is actually what I'm trying to get at: If by following a spiritual path, your "awareness" expands, and you see other planes of reality, how do you know those planes of reality or what you are experiencing is real, and not simply a product of brain chemistry?

 

Then I guess the question becomes how do we define reality?