Who is the True God?

Question: Who is the True God?

The whole universe and all that is in it is being created by one Supreme Power -God. That would mean all human beings are also created by God. Why do humans have different beliefs? Christians declare the Bible as truth and worship one creator in trinity forms. Hindus declare so many Gods & demigods (all creations of God). Muslims say Allah, Asians Buddha and so on. What do you think is the truth? Who is the true God? And why are human beings running after religion rather than God?

Answer: There is No Question of Which God

Because God is one religion must also be one. It cannot be two, three, four, five, six, seven, etc. as we now see it manifested on the planet. The idea of a multiplicity of religions is bogus. It means that they do not understand religion. Religion is one, to become a pure lover of God. Since God is unlimited He also has unlimited names such as Krishna, Allah, Jehovah, etc.

Anyone that claims that God has only one name is limiting God. In other words they are trying to play God themselves. So it is high time that we stop trying to play God by trying to limit Him to one name.

We must understand that anyone who sincerely approaches God with humble loving devotion is a first-class devotee. It does not matter whether they address the Supreme Person as Krishna, Narayana, Rama, Jehovah, or Allah. What matters it that we must see that they have become saintly in character. A truly religious person would not maintain his body by the slaughter of innocent animals, nor would he condone the murder of babies within the womb. Saintly behavior is the determining factor regarding who is actually religious and who is not, not what sect they belong to. Religion cannot be divided into sects. There are no sects in the spiritual world. Everyone there is simply a lover of God.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Importance of Guru

yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado
yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto 'pi
dhyayan stuvams tasya yacas tri-sandhyam
vande guroh Sri-caranaravindam

"By the mercy of the spiritual master one receives the benediction of Krsna. Without the grace of the spiritual master, one cannot make any advancement. Therefore, I should always remember and praise my spiritual master. At least three times a day I should offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master."- Sri Sri Gurvashtaka (8)

I think there is absolutely no doubt that one should get initiated in the disciplic line and serve one’s own spiritual master as heart and soul. Without the mercy of one’s own spiritual master it is not possible to advance in Krishna Consciousness. Mahajano yena gatah sa panthah, we should follow in the footsteps of Mahajans which means we should get initiated in a bonafide line of guru and disciples. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself set this example and we should only follow in his footsteps. So to think or advice otherwise simply is deviation from the previous acharyas.

Below is a brief transcription of Srila Prabhupada’s answer to a question at the end of a lecture indicating the importance of fulfilling the order of Guru thus implying importance of guru in the life of a spiritual aspirant.

Q. You said that if you are performing some activity, you must…the activity must be tested to see if Krishna is pleased, what is the test?

A. If the spiritual master is pleased then Krishna is pleased…that you are singing daily yasya prasadad bhagavat prasado yasya prasadan na gatih kuto api, if the spiritual master is pleased then Krishna is pleased that is the test. If he is not pleased, then he has no other way. That is very simple to understand suppose when one is working in the office immediate boss head clerk or superintendent of the department so everyone is working if he satisfies the superintendent or the head clerk then it is understood that he has satisfied the management directly…..therefore guidance of spiritual master is required. Krishna comes in the form of the spiritual master to guide that is stated in the Chaitanya Chariamrta- guru Krishna krpa, guru krpa - mercy of guru is mercy of Krishna, so when both of them are satisfied then our path is clear guru Krishna krpai pay bhakti latha bhij then our devotional service is perfect….just like this movement, this movement was started only for the satisfaction of my spiritual master. He wanted, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wanted that this movement should be spread all over the world so he ordered many of my God brothers…he sent some of my god brothers to foreign countries to spread that somehow or other was not very successful he was called back so I thought let me try in this old age so the only desire was to satisfy the desire of the spiritual master so he has helped now it is coming to successful this is yasya prasadad bhagavat prasado…if we actually sincerely work under the direction of the spiritual master that is satisfaction of Krishna and Krishna will help adequately.

SP Lecture in Delhi (BG 4.18) - 3rd Nov 1973

Complete realization of Krishna

In BG 2.2, Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport “Krsna and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are identical. Therefore Lord Krsna is referred to as "Bhagavan" throughout the Gita. Bhagavan is the ultimate in the Absolute Truth. Absolute Truth is realized in three phases of understanding, namely Brahman or the impersonal all-pervasive spirit; Paramatma, or the localized aspect of the Supreme within the heart of all living entities; and Bhagavan, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam this conception of the Absolute Truth is explained thus:

vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jnanam advayam
brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate

The Absolute Truth is realized in three phases of understanding by the knower of the Absolute Truth, and all of them are identical. Such phases of the Absolute Truth are expressed as Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan." (SB 1.2.11)

In BG 7.1, Srila Prabhupada writes “Impersonal brahmajyoti or localized Paramatma realization is not perfect knowledge of the Absolute Truth because it is partial. Full and scientific knowledge is Krsna, and everything is revealed to the person in Krsna consciousness. In complete Krsna consciousness one knows that Krsna is ultimate knowledge beyond any doubts. Different types of yoga are only steppingstones on the path of Krsna consciousness. One who takes directly to Krsna consciousness automatically knows about brahmajyoti and Paramatma in full. By practice of Krsna consciousness yoga, one can know everything in full--namely the Absolute Truth, the living entities, the material nature, and their manifestations with paraphernalia”

Hare Krishna

Gift of human beings

The sign of intelligence is simply one thing – the ability to question?

Let us play with some fundamental questions and assumptions

If there is cold…there has to be heat.
If there is darkness…there has to be light.
If there is poverty…there has to be richness.
If there is an up…there has to be a down

Similarly…

If there is a temporary nature…there has to be a permanent nature.

Therefore, if death is certain, it means my existence is temporary. Based on the above common sense argument, then there should be a permanent existence just as there is temporary existence and how does this reconcile with our daily lives as we experience it.

In this sense, if we search out the truth in earnest, rest assured, we will find it.

So an intelligent person (not necessarily a man with a Phd) with some common sense has to accept Krishna Conscious philosophy simply because it is based on universal principles applicable to all and not on sectarian dogma!

Please question…it is the gift for human beings and not for animals!

Hare Krishna

The Bionic hand

The i-limb hand It came in at 14th place in the Time Magazine poll, beating competition from the likes of the latest Mars Rover, designed to explore the red planet.

The prosthetic hand took more than 20 years to develop and has five separately working fingers, each powered by its own motor.

This makes it more versatile than previous hands, which have often been hook-like and limited to simple opening and closing movements.

The i-limb has a much wider range of capabilities. It has a credit-card grip, for taking hold of narrow objects, and a power hold for larger objects such as mugs.

It is made of high-strength plastics, and the fingers can easily be unscrewed from the hand, making it easy to service.

Other prosthetic hands have to be removed entirely if they break – meaning amputees are sometimes left for weeks without a hand while they wait for a repair. - The Sun

The invention took 20 years and is only minimally versatile. We already have a hand created by Nature (God’s nature) that is flexible and perfect. Why can’t we give God the credit as Srila Prabhupada once said that God should get the Noble prize.

No…we will not, humans are too proud, we will either outright reject His authority or fight in His name like a fool!

Hare Krishna

Miscreants

The Oxford pocket dictionary defines miscreant as one who behaves badly or in a way that breaks the law or rule. From the Absolute spiritual standpoint, unfortunately, almost every person breaks the natural laws or rules and hence falls into the category of a "miscreant".

Lord Sri Krishna declares this to Arjuna

na māḿ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ
prapadyante narādhamāḥ
māyayāpahṛta-jñānā
āsuraḿ bhāvam āśritāḥ

“Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, who are lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons do not surrender unto Me.” BG 7.15

Here, we can get a glimpse of our peers in the current world situation. Maya is very strong, it can actually deceive one by making one seem religious but completely living a life of an atheist or hard core karmi. In other words, being religious is not another label we can slap on ourselves like other labels such as manager, doctor, engineer and now I can call myself a Christian, Muslim or Hindu. So really…from the Absolute standpoint, no matter which category we belong, if we do not submit to the will of God by cultivating saintly qualities then our efforts to improve the quality of life is just another false-ego trip.

Srila Prabhupada clearly enlightens us through his purport on the different classifications

(1) The mūḍhas are those who are grossly foolish, like hardworking beasts of burden. They want to enjoy the fruits of their labor by themselves, and so do not want to part with them for the Supreme. The typical example of the beast of burden is the ass. This humble beast is made to work very hard by his master. The ass does not really know for whom he works so hard day and night. He remains satisfied by filling his stomach with a bundle of grass, sleeping for a while under fear of being beaten by his master, and satisfying his sex appetite at the risk of being repeatedly kicked by the opposite party. The ass sings poetry and philosophy sometimes, but this braying sound only disturbs others. This is the position of the foolish fruitive worker who does not know for whom he should work. He does not know that karma (action) is meant for yajña (sacrifice).

Most often, those who work very hard day and night to clear the burden of self-created duties say that they have no time to hear of the immortality of the living being. To such mūḍhas, material gains, which are destructible, are life's all in all — despite the fact that the mūḍhas enjoy only a very small fraction of the fruit of labor. Sometimes they spend sleepless days and nights for fruitive gain, and although they may have ulcers or indigestion, they are satisfied with practically no food; they are simply absorbed in working hard day and night for the benefit of illusory masters. Ignorant of their real master, the foolish workers waste their valuable time serving mammon. Unfortunately, they never surrender to the supreme master of all masters, nor do they take time to hear of Him from the proper sources. The swine who eat the night soil do not care to accept sweetmeats made of sugar and ghee. Similarly, the foolish worker will untiringly continue to hear of the sense-enjoyable tidings of the flickering mundane world, but will have very little time to hear about the eternal living force that moves the material world.

Mudhas, then typically, fit people who are gross materialists. Those students we see in Universities and colleges who work so hard to become rich. Those career/professional people we see who spend one-third of their lives driving and half their lives in cubicles in front of computers and the remaining in sleeping, eating and sex. When they retire, the same mudhas just do the eating, sleeping and sex in a fulltime manner.

2) Another class of duṣkṛtī, or miscreant, is called the narādhama, or the lowest of mankind. Nara means human being, and adhama means the lowest. Out of the 8,400,000 different species of living beings, there are 400,000 human species. Out of these there are numerous lower forms of human life that are mostly uncivilized. The civilized human beings are those who have regulative principles of social, political and religious life. Those who are socially and politically developed but who have no religious principles must be considered narādhamas. Nor is religion without God religion, because the purpose of following religious principles is to know the Supreme Truth and man's relation with Him. In the Gītā the Personality of Godhead clearly states that there is no authority above Him and that He is the Supreme Truth. The civilized form of human life is meant for man's reviving the lost consciousness of his eternal relation with the Supreme Truth, the Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is all-powerful. Whoever loses this chance is classified as a narādhama. We get information from revealed scriptures that when the baby is in the mother's womb (an extremely uncomfortable situation) he prays to God for deliverance and promises to worship Him alone as soon as he gets out. To pray to God when he is in difficulty is a natural instinct in every living being because he is eternally related with God. But after his deliverance, the child forgets the difficulties of birth and forgets his deliverer also, being influenced by māyā, the illusory energy.

Srila Prabhupada also says “no process is strictly followed now in any part of the world, and therefore 99.9 percent of the population is narādhama.”

Here, everyone save and except devotees of God are considered naradhamas. That means this includes people from all religions, corporate culture, universities, philanthropists, social reformers, government, scientific community, demigod worshippers etc. This is a powerful statement because one may think this is extreme. But actually this is not extreme because when every ounce of our life is conducted by the sanction and will of God, then not recognizing His supremacy is a sure sign of insanity. Therefore only insane people can be naradhamas not the sober sane ones. No matter which religion one comes from, but if one surrenders to the Almighty in a humble and menial way and live a simple saintly life without causing undue pain and anxiety to all living entities, then he or she is not a naradhama but rather a sadhu (saintly person).

(3) The next class of duṣkṛtī is called māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ, or those persons whose erudite knowledge has been nullified by the influence of illusory material energy. They are mostly very learned fellows — great philosophers, poets, literati, scientists, etc. — but the illusory energy misguides them, and therefore they disobey the Supreme Lord.

There is a great number of māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ at the present moment, even amongst the scholars of the Bhagavad-gītā. In the Gītā, in plain and simple language, it is stated that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is none equal to or greater than Him. He is mentioned as the father of Brahmā, the original father of all human beings. In fact, Śrī Kṛṣṇa is said to be not only the father of Brahmā but also the father of all species of life. He is the root of the impersonal Brahman and Paramātmā; the Supersoul in every entity is His plenary portion. He is the fountainhead of everything, and everyone is advised to surrender unto His lotus feet. Despite all these clear statements, the māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ derides the personality of the Supreme Lord and considers Him merely another human being. They do not know that the blessed form of human life is designed after the eternal and transcendental feature of the Supreme Lord.

All the unauthorized interpretations of the Gītā by the class of māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ, outside the purview of the paramparā system, are so many stumbling blocks on the path of spiritual understanding. The deluded interpreters do not surrender unto the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, nor do they teach others to follow this principle.

Here, Srila Prabhupada again brings out the different types of people that fit this category. These categories of people who belong to the erudite; elitist and knowledgeable group are also considered miscreants. These are the people who are generally considered the brain of society from where high administrative officials make decisions on where to spend the tax-payers money. All are fools according to Krishna. In other words, while 99.9% of the world population glorifies people in this group, true devotees of the Lord feel sorry for them as they are deeply in Maya. So true glories are only to the devotees of the Lord and nobody else.

(4) The last class of duṣkṛtī is called āsuraḿ bhāvam āśritāḥ, or those of demonic principles. This class is openly atheistic. Some of them argue that the Supreme Lord can never descend upon this material world, but they are unable to give any tangible reasons as to why not. There are others who make Him subordinate to the impersonal feature, although the opposite is declared in the Gītā. Envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the atheist will present a number of illicit incarnations manufactured in the factory of his brain. Such persons, whose very principle of life is to decry the Personality of Godhead, cannot surrender unto the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

These are outright fools who proudly claim to be an atheist. There are people who claim to be an atheist and live atheistic lives and there is another group much more dangerous. They claim to believe in God but completely live atheistic lives. Both of them are atheists because their consciousness is filled with atheistic thoughts.

It is sad that 99.9% of the world human population does not surrender to God. If we learn anything from this, we should strive harder than ever before to submit our mind, intelligence and ego at the Lotus feet of the Lord and save ourselves and also try to help others. While this is not easy…we have to try hard!

Hare Krishna

A True Vaishnava Spirit

On December 27, 1936, several days prior to the setting of the blazing sun of the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya, Om Vishnupada Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur, he spoke to an gathering of his closest disciples, at which time he said the following words:

"I have disturbed many people because I felt myself obliged to speak the unadulterated truth. I have told everyone to worship Hari without hypocrisy and because of this some people have perhaps considered me to be their enemy. So I have caused many people anxiety by telling them to give up other desires and hypocrisy and to sincerely serve Krishna. Some day they will be able to understand what I was getting at.

All of you please preach the message of Rupa and Raghunath with great enthusiasm. The ultimate object of our desires is to become specks of dust at the lotus feet of the followers of Rupa Goswami. Remain united in following the asraya-vigraha in order to satisfy the transcendental senses of the one, non-dual supreme truth. Make your way through this impermanent, transitory life in whatever way you can, keeping the goal of worshiping the Lord foremost in your minds. Don't abandon this goal, even in the face of hundreds of dangers, insults, or persecutions. Don't lose your spirit if you see that the majority of people cannot accept the principle of selfless service to the Supreme Lord. Never abandon your bhajana, hearing and chanting Krishna-katha, the be-all and end-all of your devotional life. Please always chant the name of the Lord, being humbler than a blade of grass and more tolerant than the tree.

This body is like the aging cow which in ancient times was meant to be offered up in sacrifice. Only we desire to offer the body to Krishna in the sacrifice of the Holy Name established by Sri Krishna Chaitanya and his associates. We do not seek to become heroes performing great works or religious deeds; our true being and our identity is that of a speck of dust at the lotus feet of Sri Rupa Prabhu, life after life. The stream which flows from Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur will never be dammed up. Remember this and vow to double your efforts to fulfill Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur's desires. Amongst you are many capable and worthy individuals. We seek nothing for ourselves; our only motto is:

adadanas trnam dantair idam yace punah punah
srimad rupa-padambhoja-dhulh syam janma-janmani

Taking grass between my teeth, I pray repeatedly that I may become a speck of dust at Sri Rupa Goswami's lotus feet, birth after birth. (Raghunath Das Goswami, Muktacarita.)

While living in the world, we encounter many difficulties; but there is no need for us to be bewildered by these difficulties -- nor need we make any effort to remove them. What is necessary is for us, while we are still here, is to learn what will remain after we have removed all those difficulties -- what will be the nature of our eternal life. There are so many things which we want or don't want, but we have to come to terms with this duality of attractions and repulsions. The more we distance ourselves from Krishna's lotus feet, the more these things will draw us in. We can only begin to comprehend the exquisite taste of service to Krishna's lotus feet after transcending these worldly attractions and repulsions and being attracted by his holy name. The doctrines of Krishna-bhakti seem startling at first, perhaps even perplexing. Knowingly or unknowingly, every human being is struggling to eliminate the adventitious elements in life which interfere with his direct experience of eternal fulfillment. Our only obligation is to go beyond duality and to enter the world of that eternal fulfillment.

We have no attachment for anyone in this world, nor any hostility. Whatever arrangements we make in this world last but a moment, while the need to search out the supreme fulfillment is equally unavoidable for everyone. May all of you work united and in harmony toward the same goal: to earn the right to serve the root asraya-vigraha. May the current of ideas propagated by Rupa Goswami flow throughout the world. May we never under any circumstances become indifferent to the seven-tongued sacrificial flame of the Holy Name. If our attraction to it remains ever-increasing, we will achieve all perfection. Remain faithful to Rupa Goswami's followers and preach Rupa and Raghunath's teachings enthusiastically and fearlessly."

Source: Excerpted from the book "Sri Chaitanya: His Life and Associates" by Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj