Why I am a Theist

Religion is grossly misunderstood both by its adherents and its detractors. The word "religion" comes from the Latin word "religio", which means to re-link or to reconnect. So the real meaning of religion is to re-link or to bring ourselves back into harmony with the complete whole, the source of our existence.

Atheism means to deny that we have a source or an origin. But you can't show me anything that comes out of nothing. Everything comes out of something. Therefore we must come out of something. There is a complete whole of which we a part. The part of a thing is always meant to harmonize with the whole thing of which it is a part. That is its natural healthy state. Therefore in my natural, healthy state I must be in harmony with the complete whole, the origin of my existence. Therefore, I am a theist, a person who wants to be in harmony with the source of his existence. To not want to be religious or in harmony with the very ground of your being is sheer madness.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: What Does "Bona Fide" Mean?

I read your "Thought for the Day" everyday. It has helped me a lot. I see that you are regularly using the word "bona fide." What does it mean?

Your servant,
Om

Answer: He's Not a Quack or a Charlatan

Bona fide means genuine, not counterfeit, without fraud or deceit. We regularly use this term in reference to the spiritual master to teach people how to distinguish between the genuine, authorized guru and the bogus gurus who have become so prevalent and all-pervading these days. Bona fide guru means that he is not a cheater. Krishna or God is the original guru, and anyone who purely represents Him is a bona fide guru. Those who present the highest truth as something other than Krishna, such as the unborn, unmanifested that is within everything are not bona fide spiritual masters. They are cheaters and bluffers of the worst description who teach their disciples that everyone is God. The bona fide spiritual master is not such a quack or a charlatan. He is the pure representative of Lord Sri Krishna because he never presents his own ideas. He simply purely presents the teachings of Krishna exactly as he has heard them from his spiritual master. This is why he is bona fide.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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