Flying Above the Storm

There are four different yugas or ages, which rotate like the seasons of the year in a cyclical fashion: Satya yuga, Treta yuga, Dvapara yuga, and Kali yuga, the present age. Satya yuga is like the spring. Treta yuga is like the summer. Dvapara yuga is like the fall. And Kali yuga is like the winter. So out of the four yugas the Kali yuga is the worst. It is in this Kali yuga that we experience the nastiest karmic weather. The religious qualities such as austerity, cleanliness, and mercy are conspicuous by their absence and whatever slight tinge of honesty is left is precariously tottering on the brink of extinction being put to death by the unabashed lies of cheating politicians.

So how are we to experience peace and happiness in the midst of such a nasty karmic storm? Just as an airline pilot whose plane enters into a dangerous storm will take his airplane to a higher altitude to escape it, we simply have to take the airplane of our consciousness to a higher altitude by taking shelter of Guru and Krishna. On that higher spiritual plane we will find a most sublime and wonderful existence where life is eternal, full of knowledge, and full of bliss.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Sri Sri Radha Krishna in the Spiritual Sky

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Is Sanatana Dharma Sectarian?

I have a question regarding the difference between sanatana-dharma and sectarian religions.

Sectarian religion is founded upon faith. Sanatana-dharma is the eternal function of the eternal being in relationship with the Supreme Lord. To say that sanatana-dharma is an eternal religion, doesn't that require faith? Believing that it is an eternal religion, doesn't that require belief? I understand that you could say that regardless of whether someone believes it or not, sanatana-dharma is still their eternal function. A person only accepts something if they believe it though. Could you please elaborate so that I may further understand? The more I think about it, the more complicated it appears.

Craig

Answer: It Is Pure Sectarian-less Religion

Dharma literally means "intrinsic nature." And sanatana means "eternal." So sanatana dharma is the eternal intrinsic nature of something. For example the sanatana dharma of water is liquidity and the sanatana dharma of chili peppers is hotness. So what is the sanatana dharma of the living being? His sanatana dharma is service. Everyone has the propensity to serve. Therefore people serve their nation, their community, their family, etc. And if they can find no one to serve, they will get a dog so that they can serve the dog. The perfection of such serving propensity is to serve the root cause of all existence, i.e. to serve God. Just as by watering the root of a tree all the leaves and branches are nourished, by serving God we are able to perfectly serve everyone. So this serving God is the real sanatana dharma. This can be executed by anyone in any religious tradition. A Hindu can do it. A Muslim, a Christian, a Jew. It does not matter how one may be designated externally. If he is purely serving God without any ulterior motives, he has become perfectly situated in sanatana dharma.

So sanatana dharma is not another sect of religion. It is the pure essence of religion when religion becomes completely free from all material designations and material motives.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari