Solution for Religious Extremism

The solution for religious extremism is the wide scale dissemination of the science of God. Despite so many divergences of opinion, there is only one source of existence. We are all coming from the same place, that original source. When you reconnect with that original source, who must necessarily be a person, in love, you've attained the perfection of consciousness. Whether you call this reconnection Krishna consciousness, Christ consciousness, Buddha consciousness, or Allah consciousness, the aim is one, to become a pure lover of the Supreme Person. This is the real understanding of religion. Real religion unifies everyone. It breaks down all walls. Pseudo religion builds prison-like walls.

Come to the Universal Religion of Pure Love for the Supreme Person


How You Can Help to Save the World

At the present moment our course has over 16,000 subscribers. Although this may seem like a lot, this is a mere pittance compared to the full outreach potential of the internet. Therefore our desire is to expand our subscriber base more and more to reach a much larger portion of the over 3 billion people (more than 40% of the world’s population) who are currently using the internet. If we can at least expand up to 1 billion subscribers, we are confident that this will have a significant impact on the entire global civilization.

So please send us the names and email addresses of anyone you think might be willing to give this course a try, and we will invite them on your behalf to try it.
Send them to sda@backtohome.com

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:

Question: Will I Be Your Disciple or Srila Prabhupada's Disciple?

Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja,

I was recently listening to the lectures of a disciple of another spiritual master. He states that his guru is only his siksha (instructing) guru and that Srila Prabhupada is his diksha (initiating) guru, his main guru. He says that he is a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, although he has never met Srila Prabhupada. He also said that Srila Prabhupada has appointed representatives who initiate on his behalf and that according to the "ritvik" system all the devotees who join ISKCON will be directly the disciples of Srila Prabhupada instead of the disciples of his disciples.

So, if I take initiation from you, will I be your disciple or Srila Prabhupada's disciple.

I am totally confused? What is this ritvik system?

Regards
Vishal P.

Answer: My Disciple and Srila Prabhupada's Grand-Disciple

Srila Prabhupada did not create a so-called ritvik system for initiating disciples after his disappearance, that all the new devotees who join ISKCON would become his direct disciples. This is not the disciple succession system that has gone on since time immemorial, in which the one who is now the disciple becomes the next spiritual master. In keeping with Vaisnava tradition, on 18 October 1977, just days before his departure from this world, Srila Prabhupada informed us that he would not be taking any more disciples and that his disciples should start taking disciples. This they began doing on his order after he departed from this world. He had previously instructed us in May of 1977 that after his disappearance these new devotees would be his grand-disciples, not his immediate disciples. The devotees have simply dutifully carried out Srila Prabhupada's instructions.

Envious persons who are not qualified to be spiritual masters have concocted this so-called ritvik system, which was not instituted by Srila Prabhupada to be the system after his departure. This ritvik philosophy is sour grapes philosophy. Because the fox could not reach the grapes, he concluded that they must be sour. Because these ritvik proponents are envious, they have concluded that because Srila Prabhupada did not instruct them to become gurus he did not instruct anyone to become a guru. This is nothing but pure fabrication.

In conclusion, as per Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, if you take initiation from me, you will my disciple and Srila Prabhupada’s grand-disciple. Just as you have a father and grandfather, after initiation I will be your spiritual father, your spiritual master, and Srila Prabhupada will be your spiritual grandfather, the spiritual master of your spiritual master.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Little Sparrow Who Conquered the Ocean

Image
In his purport to Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 6, Text 24 Srila Prabhupada wonderfully teaches us the power of determinations by telling us the story of the little sparrow who conquered the ocean: "As for determination, one should follow the example of the sparrow who lost her eggs in the waves of the ocean. A sparrow laid her eggs on the shore of the ocean, but the big ocean carried away the eggs on its waves. The sparrow became very upset and asked the ocean to return her eggs. The ocean did not even consider her appeal. So the sparrow decided to dry up the ocean. She began to pick out the water in her small beak, and everyone laughed at her for her impossible determination. The news of her activity spread, and at last Garuda, the gigantic bird carrier of Lord Visnu, heard it. He became compassionate toward his small sister bird, and so he came to see the sparrow. Garuda was very pleased by the determination of the small sparrow, and he promised to help. Thus Garuda at once asked t
Read more

Heart Melting Reunion with Amarendra and Gayatri

Image
On Friday 26 June 2015 I was blessed with the greatest good fortune of meeting with two of the dearest devotees of my entire life, His Grace Amarendra Prabhu and his good wife, Srimati Gayatri devi dasi. I am eternally indebted to these great souls for how much they helped me in my spiritual life when I was a young devotee. When I was young brahmacari monk in 1973 I joined with the two of them in Gainesville, Florida. We were a three person preaching center, and they were just like a mother and father to me. I had so many wonderful Krishna conscious experiences in their association that I can hardly begin to describe them here. But at least may it suffice for me to say for now that Gayatri taught me what it means to be a soft-hearted devotee of the Lord and she gave me my first cooking lesson, teaching me how to make cauliflower pakoras, and Amarendra taught me the art of how to preach strongly, intelligently, and coolly to defeat opposing arguments. Recently Gayatri almost died. But
Read more

Misguided Fools Say that Masturbation is Healthy

Image
Foolish modern day materialists recommend masturbation as follows: "Masturbation is a common activity. It’s a natural and safe way to explore your body, feel pleasure, and release built-up sexual tension. It occurs among people of all backgrounds, genders, and races. Despite the myths, there are actually no physically harmful side effects of masturbation." They are wrong. To get a proper understanding on this this topic read the question and answer section below. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: What are the Ill Effects of Masturbation? Since you answered questions related to understanding the real need of sex in a human being's life, so I also request you to please enlighten us with the knowledge about semen conservation, it's importance, and the consequences of frequently releasing it thorough sex or masturbation. Since today most of the youth are indulged in mansturbation and they think it to be good in comparison to doing sex with some female for
Read more