There's a Way out of Here!
Are you sick and tired of the miseries of material existence? Has birth, death, old age, and disease gotten you down? If so, I've got the ultimate good news for you. There's a way out of here. My spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, showed me the way out, and told me to turn the entire world onto this topmost of all secrets. You can enter into the spiritual world right now, even while you maintain your material body in this world. You simply have to see everything in relationship with the Lord and engage everything in His service. If you do so, as you enter deeper and deeper into this mood of devotion you will see the entire world become transformed right before your very eyes. It's as simple as that. Take it or leave it.
It seems that your spiritual teachings on the surface are non-sectarian, but on closer examination they appear or seem very sectarian and full of 'particulars'.
Also I cannot find anywhere in the Bhagavad-Gita or Srimad Bhagavatam where it specifically mentions the Hare-Krishna mantra or the regulations regarding how it should be chanted, or the regulations regarding food etc.
I believe you are correct when you talk of the need to sort out the current mess of world religions. Also I believe you are correct when you say that Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita presents religion in it's pure form. But, it seems to me that all the 'particulars' that you present just limit the character and scope of the Gita. All these 'particulars' and rules and regulations seem so mechanical, bizarre and love-less.
What happened to good old Jesus saying "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as you love yourself."?
You advise me to read Prabhupada's books as he has made Krishna so easy to understand, but when I read them I am just baffled by things like "internal potencies", "plenary portions", and "simultaneous oneness and difference".
Sorry for such a negative email. But I cannot silence my mind on this matter. Please help.
Apologies,
Your sincere servant
It's a fact that any process that brings one to love of God is first class. It doesn't matter whether it is Krishna consciousness, Christ consciousness, or Allah consciousness. But at the same time we must remember that to be jack of all trades and a master of none will not be effective in bringing us to the perfectional stage. Therefore whichever approach we choose, we must intensely absorb ourselves under expert, qualified guidance to come the same perfectional stage through that pathway. No matter which face of Mr. Everest you choose to scale, you must do it expertly under competent guidance or you will fail.
We never say that it is only by Krishna consciousness that one can achieve spiritual perfection. But at the same time we are teaching the techniques of spiritual perfection for those who have chosen the pathway of Krishna consciousness. If one thinks our presentation as something sectarian, he may apply the same principles we are teaching to Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. We have no objection, because if the practitioner is sincere and takes proper guidance, he will undoubtedly attain the perfectional stage of pure love of Godhead.
As a spiritual seeker in 1971 studying the Bible trying to understand Christ and God's desire for me, Jesus Christ revealed to me that I should take to the pathway of Krishna bhakti as a disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. So that makes me simultaneously a Christian and a Krishnite. I did not at the time see any teachers of any tradition who were giving a training program for attaining the perfectional stage that was even remotely as advanced as what was being taught by Srila Prabhupada. And even now I still do not know of any teachers who are giving as perfect of a system of spiritual awakening as what Srila Prabhupada is giving.
This of course, does not mean that there are not other systems of spiritual advancement out there. We recognize anyone who has achieved pure love of God, no matter how they got there. Of course, it's not that someone can be accepted as a pure lover of God while at the same time they are addicted to material sense gratification. If they have actually become spiritually perfect, they will have no attraction for anything of this world.
The specific techniques that we teach our students for awakening the dormant love of God within their hearts are not concocted. They are coming straight from the Vedic wisdom. For example, even though the Vedic wisdom prescribes than any name of God can be chanted for achieving spiritual perfection, the Kali-santarana Upanishad recommends that the most sublime method is the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra:
hare krishna hare krishna
krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama
rama rama hare hare
iti sodasakam namnam
kali-kalmasa-nasanam
natah parataropayah
sarva-vedesu drsyate
"After searching through all the Vedic literature, one cannot find a method of religion more sublime for this age than the chanting of Hare Krishna." --Kali Santarana Upanisad
Krishna instructs us in the Bhagavad-gita that we should always be chanting His names. So even if we cannot do it constantly due to practical constraints like working a job or sleeping at night, we should always try to chant as much as possible, the more the better. However, this instruction of the Lord does not mean that chanting Hare Krishna is the only way. There are hundreds and millions of names of God. Any of these names are sufficient for delivering us from the cycle of birth and death. When God Himself, Krishna Himself appeared in the form of His devotee (Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu) and taught that any name of God was powerful, He personally preferred and chanted the Hare Krishna mantra for the same reason as given in the Kali Santarana Upanisad. The name Krishna is most powerful because it contains all of the other names of God within it.
The diet that we recommend for our students is according to the instructions of Lord Krishna given in the Bhagavad-gita. In the Gita Krishna instructs that we should partake of the foodstuffs that have been first offered to Him, and when He lists what items are acceptable offerings He only includes vegetarian items in the list.
If we don't realize that Krishna is a person, then the rules do feel mechanical and loveless. But if we understand that Krishna is a person, the instructions He gives us are wonderful tools by which we can express our love for Him. Just imagine if you had a very kind friend living with you who paid all of your bills. He constantly supplied you with all varieties of wonderful foods. Your kitchen was never lacking in anything. So on your friend's birthday you became very inspired to honor him by cooking for him a special dinner just according to his tastes. You carefully noted what he likes to eat and what he doesn't like to eat. And then you carefully prepared a dinner just according to his liking. This careful attention of cooking according to his pleasure was not be loveless or mechanical. It was instead exactly the way you were able to show your love and appreciation for all the kindness your friend was giving you.
So Krishna is that friend. He is the one who is supplying us with all of our food. So our love for Him is to carefully note what He likes and does not like and then cook for Him precisely according to His tastes.
I love Christ's words, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as you love yourself." These words of Christ are the very motto of my life. If I truly love Krishna, then I will obey His instructions. I cannot claim to be a lover of God, if I disobey His instructions. Obedience is a sign of love. And just as in love of myself I make sure to live my life in such as a way that I will quickly regain my eternal identity in the spiritual world, I show the same love to others by teaching them how to do the same thing. This is why I have started the Ultimate Self Realization Course. This is my love for all of my beautiful and wonderful brothers and sisters throughout the world. I have discovered the key to unlimited peace and happiness. If I truly love my neighbor as myself, I must then share this great treasure of love of God with the entire world.
Insofar as individual concepts such as "internal potencies", "plenary portions", and "simultaneous oneness and difference", I am ready to answer all of your questions to your full satisfaction, through emails, telephone, or personal meetings. My only duty is to make sure that my students fully comprehend the science of self realization. Kindly note that it is a science. It is not a religion. H2O equals water is not a religious belief. It is a scientific fact. There is nothing that I am teaching that is a religious belief. Everything that I am teaching is a scientific fact.
In the regard to the above three concepts that are unclear to you I shall try to make them understandable:
The Lord has two potencies. The external potency is this material existence and the internal potency is the spiritual existence.
Plenary portion means that the Lord has expanded from Himself such incarnations of God such as Lord Rama who are also fully potent as God Himself. Plenary means with full potency just a plenary session of a legislative body includes all its members. And portion means a part of something. So a plenary portion means God has expanded from Himself a portion, an incarnation, who is fully invested with all the powers and potencies of God.
Simultaneous oneness and difference can be easily understood by this example. You and I are both human beings. So we are one. But at the same time I am American and you are British. So we are different. So with the exception of God Himself, everything that exists is His expanded form. So in that sense everything is God and everything is One. But because there is the expander God and the expanded God, there is a difference also. A mundane example...I can record one of my lectures onto an MP3 file. That file can be copied hundreds and millions of times without losing any of its quality. Each copy is a plenary or full copy. So all copies are one. But there is also a difference. There is one copy in my MP3 recorder from which all over copies have come. That is the original copy. So Krishna is the original and everything that exists is His expanded energy.
Does this make the concept of simultaneous oneness and difference more clear now? Please email me all of your doubts and questions and I will try my best to answer them to your full satisfaction.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Answers According to the Vedic Version
Question: Sectarian or Non-Sectarian?...
I am confused. Sometimes in your Thoughts for the Day and lectures you are very non-sectarian. You tell people that it is for their benefit to turn away from material life and towards God (especially by chanting His names). You say that it doesn't matter what particular names of God you chant. You say it doesn't matter whether you are a Hindu, Jew, Christian, Muslim etc... just chant the name of God that He is known to you. But then other times you say that one MUST chant these particular names in this particular order in this particular way, this many times, at this particular time of day.It seems that your spiritual teachings on the surface are non-sectarian, but on closer examination they appear or seem very sectarian and full of 'particulars'.
Also I cannot find anywhere in the Bhagavad-Gita or Srimad Bhagavatam where it specifically mentions the Hare-Krishna mantra or the regulations regarding how it should be chanted, or the regulations regarding food etc.
I believe you are correct when you talk of the need to sort out the current mess of world religions. Also I believe you are correct when you say that Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita presents religion in it's pure form. But, it seems to me that all the 'particulars' that you present just limit the character and scope of the Gita. All these 'particulars' and rules and regulations seem so mechanical, bizarre and love-less.
What happened to good old Jesus saying "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as you love yourself."?
You advise me to read Prabhupada's books as he has made Krishna so easy to understand, but when I read them I am just baffled by things like "internal potencies", "plenary portions", and "simultaneous oneness and difference".
Sorry for such a negative email. But I cannot silence my mind on this matter. Please help.
Apologies,
Your sincere servant
Answer: Don't Be a Jack of All Trades, and a Master of None...
I am very pleased that you have honestly presented your doubts to me. This Vedic science must never be accepted blindly, it must understood in the light of full intelligence.It's a fact that any process that brings one to love of God is first class. It doesn't matter whether it is Krishna consciousness, Christ consciousness, or Allah consciousness. But at the same time we must remember that to be jack of all trades and a master of none will not be effective in bringing us to the perfectional stage. Therefore whichever approach we choose, we must intensely absorb ourselves under expert, qualified guidance to come the same perfectional stage through that pathway. No matter which face of Mr. Everest you choose to scale, you must do it expertly under competent guidance or you will fail.
We never say that it is only by Krishna consciousness that one can achieve spiritual perfection. But at the same time we are teaching the techniques of spiritual perfection for those who have chosen the pathway of Krishna consciousness. If one thinks our presentation as something sectarian, he may apply the same principles we are teaching to Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. We have no objection, because if the practitioner is sincere and takes proper guidance, he will undoubtedly attain the perfectional stage of pure love of Godhead.
As a spiritual seeker in 1971 studying the Bible trying to understand Christ and God's desire for me, Jesus Christ revealed to me that I should take to the pathway of Krishna bhakti as a disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. So that makes me simultaneously a Christian and a Krishnite. I did not at the time see any teachers of any tradition who were giving a training program for attaining the perfectional stage that was even remotely as advanced as what was being taught by Srila Prabhupada. And even now I still do not know of any teachers who are giving as perfect of a system of spiritual awakening as what Srila Prabhupada is giving.
This of course, does not mean that there are not other systems of spiritual advancement out there. We recognize anyone who has achieved pure love of God, no matter how they got there. Of course, it's not that someone can be accepted as a pure lover of God while at the same time they are addicted to material sense gratification. If they have actually become spiritually perfect, they will have no attraction for anything of this world.
The specific techniques that we teach our students for awakening the dormant love of God within their hearts are not concocted. They are coming straight from the Vedic wisdom. For example, even though the Vedic wisdom prescribes than any name of God can be chanted for achieving spiritual perfection, the Kali-santarana Upanishad recommends that the most sublime method is the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra:
hare krishna hare krishna
krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama
rama rama hare hare
iti sodasakam namnam
kali-kalmasa-nasanam
natah parataropayah
sarva-vedesu drsyate
"After searching through all the Vedic literature, one cannot find a method of religion more sublime for this age than the chanting of Hare Krishna." --Kali Santarana Upanisad
Krishna instructs us in the Bhagavad-gita that we should always be chanting His names. So even if we cannot do it constantly due to practical constraints like working a job or sleeping at night, we should always try to chant as much as possible, the more the better. However, this instruction of the Lord does not mean that chanting Hare Krishna is the only way. There are hundreds and millions of names of God. Any of these names are sufficient for delivering us from the cycle of birth and death. When God Himself, Krishna Himself appeared in the form of His devotee (Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu) and taught that any name of God was powerful, He personally preferred and chanted the Hare Krishna mantra for the same reason as given in the Kali Santarana Upanisad. The name Krishna is most powerful because it contains all of the other names of God within it.
The diet that we recommend for our students is according to the instructions of Lord Krishna given in the Bhagavad-gita. In the Gita Krishna instructs that we should partake of the foodstuffs that have been first offered to Him, and when He lists what items are acceptable offerings He only includes vegetarian items in the list.
If we don't realize that Krishna is a person, then the rules do feel mechanical and loveless. But if we understand that Krishna is a person, the instructions He gives us are wonderful tools by which we can express our love for Him. Just imagine if you had a very kind friend living with you who paid all of your bills. He constantly supplied you with all varieties of wonderful foods. Your kitchen was never lacking in anything. So on your friend's birthday you became very inspired to honor him by cooking for him a special dinner just according to his tastes. You carefully noted what he likes to eat and what he doesn't like to eat. And then you carefully prepared a dinner just according to his liking. This careful attention of cooking according to his pleasure was not be loveless or mechanical. It was instead exactly the way you were able to show your love and appreciation for all the kindness your friend was giving you.
So Krishna is that friend. He is the one who is supplying us with all of our food. So our love for Him is to carefully note what He likes and does not like and then cook for Him precisely according to His tastes.
I love Christ's words, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as you love yourself." These words of Christ are the very motto of my life. If I truly love Krishna, then I will obey His instructions. I cannot claim to be a lover of God, if I disobey His instructions. Obedience is a sign of love. And just as in love of myself I make sure to live my life in such as a way that I will quickly regain my eternal identity in the spiritual world, I show the same love to others by teaching them how to do the same thing. This is why I have started the Ultimate Self Realization Course. This is my love for all of my beautiful and wonderful brothers and sisters throughout the world. I have discovered the key to unlimited peace and happiness. If I truly love my neighbor as myself, I must then share this great treasure of love of God with the entire world.
Insofar as individual concepts such as "internal potencies", "plenary portions", and "simultaneous oneness and difference", I am ready to answer all of your questions to your full satisfaction, through emails, telephone, or personal meetings. My only duty is to make sure that my students fully comprehend the science of self realization. Kindly note that it is a science. It is not a religion. H2O equals water is not a religious belief. It is a scientific fact. There is nothing that I am teaching that is a religious belief. Everything that I am teaching is a scientific fact.
In the regard to the above three concepts that are unclear to you I shall try to make them understandable:
The Lord has two potencies. The external potency is this material existence and the internal potency is the spiritual existence.
Plenary portion means that the Lord has expanded from Himself such incarnations of God such as Lord Rama who are also fully potent as God Himself. Plenary means with full potency just a plenary session of a legislative body includes all its members. And portion means a part of something. So a plenary portion means God has expanded from Himself a portion, an incarnation, who is fully invested with all the powers and potencies of God.
Simultaneous oneness and difference can be easily understood by this example. You and I are both human beings. So we are one. But at the same time I am American and you are British. So we are different. So with the exception of God Himself, everything that exists is His expanded form. So in that sense everything is God and everything is One. But because there is the expander God and the expanded God, there is a difference also. A mundane example...I can record one of my lectures onto an MP3 file. That file can be copied hundreds and millions of times without losing any of its quality. Each copy is a plenary or full copy. So all copies are one. But there is also a difference. There is one copy in my MP3 recorder from which all over copies have come. That is the original copy. So Krishna is the original and everything that exists is His expanded energy.
Does this make the concept of simultaneous oneness and difference more clear now? Please email me all of your doubts and questions and I will try my best to answer them to your full satisfaction.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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