Congregational Blogs

Jyoti Marie writes:

Where I work I am particularly disturbed about all this boasting of people becoming "yoga teachers" and still eating animals.

What do you think about the idea of co-writing an article on what I am calling "Faux-ga Teachers"... the blasphemy of all these American-westerners supposedly studying yoga and becoming adorned with the title of "yoga teacher" whilst still consuming animal flesh galore.

The only person I know of who will address this hypocrisy in public is Dr Gabriel Cousens who goes so far as to say—not only is it an insult to the original Sutras to eat meat and study or teach yoga --- if you eat animals, better NOT to take yoga, because you are putting the death energy further into the :"nadis".

In such an article I would also add the example of meeting a "Green Path Yoga Teacher" who: ate animal flesh, smoked pot, attended group sex parties, and never even heard of eco-scientist Rachel Carson. And he was a very successful yoga teacher with a DVD etc. etc. !!

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Krishna Consciousness and Christianity

"The Hare Krishna religion is a bona fide religion with roots in India that go back thousands of years."

—New York Supreme Court Justice John S. Leahy,
People v. Murphy

1. Anglican Priest Reverend Norman Moorhouse:

"The rosary is chiefly associated with Roman Catholics, but many members of the Church of England also use it. And there are many Russian orthodox Christians who chant the name of Jesus several hundred or thousand times every day...

"In the Book of Psalms there are biddings to praise the name of the Lord and to sing...I remember that during the Second World War, I was in Greece for Easter, and it was a wonderful thing to hear all the people chanting and singing 'Christos anesethe'—Christ is risen."

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A letter writer to my local newspaper claims that because “intellectually enlightened Western European Christians came to America 400 years ago,” America does not “resemble Laos, India, Ethiopia or Iran,” but instead possesses “the cities and the institutions that are the envy of the world.” This statement appears to be based more on prejudice than on fact.

There have been numerous civilizations throughout history; many were learned in the arts, sciences, humanities and metaphysics. Athens, for example, was a democracy devoted to human excellence in mind and body, to philosophy, and to the cultivation of the art of living. While Christianity kept the West in the Dark Ages for over a millennium, the civilizations in Asia were flourishing.

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Why are devotees suddenly afraid to preach to people of other faiths?  My own observations have shown a reluctance on the part of Vaishnavas in the West to engage in interfaith preaching.

Back in the late '90s, my friend Anantarupa dasa, an Irish Catholic devotee, once pointed out that we (Vaishnavas) really have no quarrel with Christianity.  Srila Prabhupada merely said the Christians should properly follow the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Kill" (i.e.,extend their precepts of nonviolence to animals) and chant the names of God or Christ.  Muslims, too, can follow a vegetarian diet and chant the names of Allah.

Perhaps by chanting the holy names found in their own respective traditions and refraining from violence against animals, then at the time of death, instead of being punished in hell by the Yamadutas and taking birth in lower species, they'll take birth as Vaishnavas, and have the opportunity to progress further in spiritual life.

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by Vasu Murti

In an ISKCON newsletter, back in 1989, when the Robin George case was taking place, ISKCON San Diego, CA temple president Badri Narayan dasa endorsed Krishnafest. Krishnafest was a preaching program led by Danavir dasa and Gunagrahi Maharaja. Badri endorsed it saying that Krishnafest makes devotees, and (referring to the George case), offense is usually the best defense.

It was under these circumstances that my friend and godbrother in the San Diego FOLK program, Rankin Fisher, and I wrote a paper on temple congregations, and we were hoping to make my roommate Greg a FOLK member. "Anti-cult" accusations can hardly apply if the majority of worshippers in a religious institution serve in its laity and are no different from secular people.

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by Vijaya Venugopal dasa and Prema Padmini dd

My husband explained that Bhakti-vriksha groups were the base units of the Vaisnava community we are trying to create according to Srila Prabhupada's vision. This is Lord Caitanya's "Golden Age," and the creation of such communities all over the world has to take place as predicted. All activities of a yatra are part of the Bhakti-vriksha program—not just the weekly sessions, but also study classes, Bhakti Sastri courses, Sunday programs, deity worship, outreach programs, festivals, book distribution, and temple construction. Only if there is a complete set of activities to engage all devotees will the Vaishnava community really be alive. Srila Prabhupada said everything was already there, and only time was separating us from this perfect situation.

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We then went up to the second floor for a siksa ceremony. Guru-maharaja spoke, but had to leave early to catch a flight to Dubai. We were given the honor of handing out the siksa certificates to the participants who confirmed their commitments according to their siksa levels. This was the first siksa ceremony taking place here since a long time, and we hope there will be many more, once Bhakti-vriksha preaching has been properly revived.

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In a letter to Upendra dasa in Fiji, dated October 26, 1970, from Amritsar, India, Srila Prabhupada wrote:

"Regarding worship of demigods, the whole Hindu society is absorbed in this business, so unless our preaching work is very vigorous it is very difficult to stop them."

When I speak of Hindu "polytheism", I refer not to demigod worship, but to our doctrine of vishnu-tattva expansions.

A friend in college, Victor, once said he thought God was "lonely," because He is a solitary and omnipresent Being who has no equal—because there's only one God, right? Victor said God may create humans for companionship, but this is similar to an old lady with cats as pets. 

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Back in 1985, my friend Victor, who is Jewish, invited me to a Shabbat (Sabbath) observance with a group of Jewish students on our college campus. They were singing songs in Hebrew, and clapping hands—almost like a "Jewish kirtana"!

I met a Jewish student who said she was interested in things like yoga and meditation, but was put off by the idea of worshipping images (idols). She was also skeptical of my assertion that according to Vedic cosmology, human civilization goes back millions of years: she told me she had taken a college course in Anthropology.

At one point, she equated the worshipping of images (idols) with the pagan religions of ancient Greece and Rome, asking: "How can you (Hindus) worship images (idols)—that's so Grecian!" I tried to shift the conversation towards deeper theological questions: "Does God have form?" "What does God look like?" Even Genesis 1:26-31 says man is made in the image of God!

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Vedic cosmology views time in vast cycles lasting hundreds of thousands of years, with phases of light and darkness corresponding to the level of spiritual awareness on the planet. According to the scriptures, men and women in previous ages were endowed with heroic and godly qualities. The supernatural was commonplace, and miraculous events were ordinary.

In his lucid translation and commentary of the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.17.6–8), His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada writes that people in ancient times were godly. they enjoyed thousand-year lifespans, and the earth was ruled by saintly kings (rajarsis) annointed by God. These noble rulers cared for both their human and nonhuman subjects: “Men and animals were equally protected as far as life was concerned. That is the way in God’s kingdom.” According to Srila Prabhupada, such moral concern is required of today’s leaders: “The protection of the lives of both the human beings and the animals is the first and foremost duty of a government. A government must not discriminate in such principles.”

The Vedic scriptures warn against atheism, licentiousness, and unnecessary violence. The sages teach that gradual forgetfulness of God and religious principles will only lead to moral degeneration and greater human suffering.

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