When we talk to people about Krishna Consciousness, immediately, they label it and put it in a box called religion and immediately people think this is just another religion or belief system!
I don’t have anything against the word religion except according to today’s standard of religion; it is just another avenue for sense gratification. Like we use our wife, husband, children, work, everything and everyone around us for our own gross and subtle sensual gratification, similarly, today people use God and religion for the same purpose – gross and subtle sensual gratification.
Therefore, this is a big stumbling block in our efforts to preach this knowledge of the soul, matter and Supersoul. On the other hand, when people talk about physics, chemistry or biology or architecture, then it becomes a discussion on science and technology which is secular, based on hard facts and hence forthcoming.
Science is very popular today because anybody from any background can test any theory and any hypothesis and verify the results for themselves. It is beyond race, color, religion and nationality and is completely based on observable and measureable facts. On the other hand, religion is promoted as sectarian and “my God is better than your God” attitude.
Last weekend I was trying to distribute some books and came across a practicing Christian woman who was surprisingly very forthcoming about other prayer techniques. Anyways, in the course of the conversation, she mentioned how Christians are taught in Church to not accept or believe anything beyond the Bible. Therefore, practicing Christians are conditioned from a very young age to just not question other pathways. I asked her why this is so and she replied that it is because their faith will become weakened. So actually, this is the test of our faith, if what we study in church does not answer all phenomenon of life, then obviously something is missing somewhere along the line. This method of learning is true in all organized religion.
Therefore, science views this mentality as dogmatic or sectarian and beyond verifiable parameters. In other words, religion is a belief system and nothing more.
Sadly this attitude today is the cause why we have so many “Holy” wars simply because people do not take the time off to actually study and intellectually analyze the higher dimensions and if they actually did that….ultimately they have to come to the rationale presented by Srila Prabhupada in his books.
May be…to accept Krishna as the Supreme God takes leap of faith, however, to accept there is a God or Supreme authority beyond this mundane creation is not very difficult to understand. To understand that we are not this material body but spiritual entities (soul) independent from our body is also not difficult to understand.
In other words, anyone studying Srila Prabhupada books openly, honestly and sincerely has to accept the logic presented in his books. Yes, his books are based on science and logic and not just blind faith.
Like I mentioned in the beginning, any scientific study starts with a hypothesis (a belief/faith on reality) and a verifiable method to test the belief/faith (hypothesis). Our hypothesis is that we are not this body and that we are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord Krishna. Krishna is non-different from His names simply because Krishna is Absolute. The verifiable method to prove this is by chanting
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
daily sincerely loud enough so one can hear distinctly each word. As we chant Krishna’s names, we will purify our heart and eventually see Krishna face to face. This is not a matter of belief but a matter of fact as teachers of this knowledge before (more than 5000 years of practice) have experienced it. Therefore following in their footsteps properly, it is just a matter of time we will experience it too.
For example, when I was in High school, I was taught by my physics teacher that light is a spectrum with different wavelengths. Now, as far as I was concerned, I had to believe what the book says and what the teacher said till I did the experiment in the lab myself and from belief it became a fact. This is how we gain knowledge. Just like my physics teacher learnt from his physics teacher and verified it by experiment, similarly I believed my teacher and verified it by experimenting.
Similarly, I believe my spiritual teacher on God and chanting God’s names just as he believed his spiritual teacher. This tradition of knowledge has been transmitted for so many generations dating as back as 3000 BC. Just as my spiritual teacher has realized a higher truth...similarly following in his footsteps, just a matter of time i will too.
So..folks…Krishna Consciousness is just not another religion where it professes something or someone as God and that people have to accept it completely on blind faith. No…Krishna Consciousness is based on deep philosophy written by great saints and has been practiced for more than 5000 years. It is based on sound theory and practice. It is purely based on the scientific principles of the mind and body. It is based on the impact of sound has on mind and body. While modern science has just scratched the surface of impact of sound on creation, Vedic science upon which Krishna Consciousness is based has explained very nicely the impact of sound on creation, mind and body.
So this transcendental sound vibration of
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
is not sectarian and is free and anyone and everyone from all walks of life can study, read, and chant this mantra to see if this great science of Krishna is verifiable or not! The proof is indeed in the pudding!
Please read the philosophy contained in the books of Srila Prabhupada to understand the theory better and please chant regularly and see the difference for yourself.
You can access free online books - http://www.krishna.com/en/taxonomy/term/58
or buy books from the following site - http://www.thekrishnastore.com/Page.bok?template=Shops_BBT
Hare Krishna
1 comment:
The underlying principles are not religious.
The particular manifestations of tools to help realize those principles like Deity worship, style of dress, language and style of liturgy, etc. those things are religious.
Religion is like a cup that holds the liquid of spirituality.
There is spirituality, religion, and culture. It behooves one to know the difference.
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