Vasu Murti's blog

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."

Follow up:

2. Dr. A.L. Basham:

In 1989, an Appeals Court Justice in San Diego, California favorably compared Krishna Consciousness with the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic religious order. Dr. A.L. Basham, author of The Wonder That was India and The Cultural History of India, sees many similarities between Krishna consciousness and the Christian monastic traditions:

"Well, I think you have quite a lot in common. You take a vow of poverty. You live very simply—without superfluous material comforts and possessions. As for chastity, your monks...live strict celibate lives. Even...the married members abstain from sex unless they wish to conceive children.

"As far as obedience is concerned, reverence for the teachings and guidelines laid down by the scripture and by the guru are certainly quite important in your order. To live in your ashrams, one must follow certain strict rules concerning diet and conduct and so on. So, you have much in common with the Christian monastic orders. Certainly you dress much more gaily, though...

"In monastic life the whole world over, there are many things in common, if not in theology and dogma, then at least in moral and spiritual practice.

"Especially in olden times, the monasteries used to feed travelers, the beggars, and the poor, and you do the same. They were religious centers of prayer and song, music, literature, and story telling, and you're doing pretty much the same thing. There is quite a lot in common between you...

"Usually the monastics have a good grounding in theology and they approach their theological dogmas in a rather different spirit from that of the lay person. Their involvement is obviously more experientially oriented, as is yours. Yes, I'm sure you can find quite a lot in common with Benedictine and Cistercian monks."

(St. Benedict, who founded the Benedictine Order in AD 529, permitted meat only in times of sickness, and made vegetarian foods the staple for his monks, teaching, "Nothing is more contrary to the Christian spirit than gluttony." The Rule of St. Benedict itself is a composite of ascetic teachings from previous traditions, such as St. Anthony's monasticism in Egypt, which called for abstinence from meat and wine.

Boniface [672–754] wrote to Pope Zacharias that he had begun a monastery which followed the rules of strict abstinence, whose monks do not eat meat nor enjoy wine or other intoxicating drinks. The Trappist monks of the Catholic Church practiced vegetarianism from the founding of their Order until the Second Vatican Council in the late 1960s.)

"The bhakti tradition is very close to Christianity," concludes Dr. Basham, "Christianity of the devotional type—in its psychological attitudes. It comes particularly close to some aspects of mystic Catholicism. If you read the poems of mystics such as St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa, you find attitudes rather close to those of the bhakti poets of medieval India.

"I would say, for this reason, among others, that one shouldn't look on Krishna Consciousness as a rival of Christianity...there's really no need for the Christians to look on you as their rivals...They ought to recognize you for what you are: a movement with doctrines and ideas very close to their own, with much the same aims and rather an ally than a foe."

3. Dr. Diana Eck:

"The Krishna Consciousness movement is part of an important and distinctive tradition of devotional faith, the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, which began in the 16th century with the great saint Sri Chaitanya, but which participates in a much older movement of devotion dating back to at least the 2nd century B.C.

"This devotional faith is called bhakti, which means devotion to God or love of God. Bhakti expresses the relationship between human beings and the Lord. It is a relationship of shared being and of mutual love."

4. Dr. Harvey Cox:

"...there aren't many examples around of people who choose a path of religious asceticism, and devotion...The people who understand the Hare Krishna movement better than many others are people who have a relative who's become a Benedictine monk or a nun. They know somebody who has chosen to do something which appears to be crazy: giving up television, giving up family life, leaving professional careers and going off to live in a monastery. But that's legitimated in the Catholic system. I've talked with people about the Hare Krishna movement in this way and they can easily make the connection.

"I've heard Catholics say how comforting it is to walk into a Mass anywhere in the world and see the same gestures and hear the same words, especially during the old days of the Latin Mass. You can walk into any temple in Vrindavana, or in ISKCON, and pretty much the same thing is going on.

"You can see the obvious similarities. Here you have the idea of a personal God who becomes incarnate...revealing what God is about and eliciting a form of participation in the life of God.

"I think a Christian will have some natural sensitivity to Krishna devotion...devotion of the heart, that is, pietistic Christianity...We noted several surprising similarities between what you might call Appalachian folk religion and Krishna consciousness. Both religions put a big emphasis on joy, the spiritual joy of praising God...

"...both traditions emphasize puritanical values and practice certain forms of asceticism such as no drinking, no smoking, no non-marital sex and no gambling...Both seem to put more emphasis on a future life or another world.

"You have to remember that if you had been there at the early Methodist frontier revivals here in America...you would have seen some very ecstatic behavior...jumping up and down and singing. This sort of ecstatic religious behavior is, of course, associated with religious devotion from time immemorial in virtually every culture. We happen to be living in a culture which is very restricted, unimaginative, and narrow in this regard.

"I find Vaishnavaism, and ISKCON itself, a fascinating and challenging spiritual and theological movement. My interest in it probably stems, in part, from the fact that it touches certain aspects of my own spiritual tradition, my own spiritual trajectory, in a way that other movements do not."

5. Dr. Klaus Klostermaier:

"In Christianity, too, you have highly personalistic ideas, like those of the medieval Beghines—female devotees of medieval Germany. They envisioned the playfulness of God in highly personalistic terms, according to private revelations, and there were other, similar schools of thought. The Puranas—like the Bible—deal with creation, history of dynasties, biographies of saints, moral laws, human wisdom, the first created being, a Noah-type personality, the birth of the saviour, miracles of all sorts. These things are there and they can be elaborated upon with volumes of commentary.

"The inner, divine relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost is fundamentally a relationship of love—profound, unending spiritual communication...The Western theological context in which the love of Radha and Krishna could perhaps be best understood is precisely that of Trinitarian theology.

"For the Christian, the Trinity represents the deepest mystery of faith...Similarly, the Radha-Krishna relationship cannot be fathomed by paralleling it with romantic love poetry or late medieval Marian devotion, as some writers have tried to do. The mystery of these things goes very deep, and there is no earthly symbolism that can accurately convey its truth."

6. Dr. Houston Smith:

"All the basic principles of bhakti yoga are richly exemplified in Christianity," writes Dr. Houston Smith in The Religions of Man. Dr. Smith is a Professor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His 1958 book is used as a standard text in universities.

7. The Afterlife:

In his monumental work, The Story of Christian Origins, secular historian Dr. Martin A. Larson notes that according to Hindu, Buddhist, and Pythagorean doctrine, "hell itself was actually a kind of purgatory, since it was a place in which perhaps a majority of all people underwent repeated refinement and punishment," before being reborn as a plant, animal, or human being.

Archbishop Passavalli (1820–1897), a learned Roman Catholic archbishop accepted the teaching of reincarnation from two disciples of the Polish seer Towianski. Archbishop Passavalli admitted that reincarnation is not condemned by the Church, and that it is not in conflict with any Catholic dogma.

Another Catholic priest who came to believe in reincarnation was Edward Dunski, whose Letters were published in 1915. Many other priests in Poland and Italy have believed in reincarnation, influenced by the great mystic Andrzej Towianski (1799–1878).

In her autobiography, A Servant of the Queen, Maude Gonne wrote that when a priest asked her why she was not a Catholic, and she replied, "Because I believe in reincarnation," she was told: "The soul comes from God and returns to God when purified, when all things will become clear; and who can tell the stages of its purification? It may be possible that some souls work out their purification on this earth."

8. Dr. Larry Shinn:

"...there is a similarity in the Krishna and the Catholic traditions in their stress on formal rituals, the abundant use of iconography, their hierarchical institutional/authority structure, their strong emphasis on the private prayerlife, and their ideals of the monastic life of full time religious service and personal piety."

9. Srila Prabhupada on the Fall from Grace:

"When a living entity disobeys the orders of God, he is put into this material world, and that is his punishment...The real fact is that the living entity is eternal, and the material world is created to satisfy his false existence...The individual is thinking that he is independent and can act independent of God. That is the beginning of paradise lost, of Adam's fall.

"When Adam and Eve thought that they could do something independently, they were condemned. Every living entity is the eternal servant of God, and he must act according to the desire or will of the Supreme Lord. When he deviates from this principle, he is lost. Losing paradise, he comes into the material world...That is the process of transmigration, the rotation of the cycle of birth and death. This is all due to disobeying God...Having rebelled against the principles of God consciousness, we are cut off from our original position. We have fallen."

10. Srila Prabhupada Opposes Birth Control and Divorce:

According to the Vedic Village Review, Mahavishnu Swami recalls Srila Prabhupada at one time recommending devotees to investigate the structure and principles of the Roman Catholic Church as far as its applicability in ISKCON.

However, Yasodanandana dasa relates an exchange between Srila Prabhupada and Tamal Krishna Goswami in Vrindavana, 1977. "Don't turn my ISKCON into another Gaudiya Math or the Catholic Church," instructed Srila Prabhupada. "Don't worry, Srila Prabhupada, we won't," replied Tamal Krishna Goswami. (Vedic Village Review, #14, Sept. 1990, p. 17,20)

Srila Prabhupada would not have made either of these statements if he were not aware of the already existing similarities between these two great religious traditions.

11. Meister Eckhart wrote:

"When we say God is 'eternal,' we mean God is eternally young." This is Krishna Consciousness. God is an eternal youth.

12. Matthew Fox's Statement:

"God and God's Son are ultimately attractive and alluring because of their beauty," is also consistent with Vaishnavaism. The name "Krishna" means "the all attractive one."

13. Father Bede Griffiths says of Bhagavad-gita:

"For a Christian, this is a wonderful confirmation of God's love contained in the Gospel."

14. In Bhagavad-gita:

Lord Krishna reveals Himself as an incarnation of God to His disciple Arjuna. According to the Gita (11.48), one cannot come to know God personally by study of the scriptures, nor by performing sacrifices, nor by charity, nor by good deeds, nor by penances.

The Gita (11.54–55) teaches that God can only be known through love and devotion. The Brahma-Samhita (5.34) says the ascetics and deep thinkers who try to understand God through their own abilities merely touch the outskirts of His lotus feet, and do not know Him intimately. The Gita (Ch. 12) explains one must lead a life of devotion to a personal God. Those completely devoted to God are not affected by worldly conflicts, concerns, and entanglements, and are very, very dear to Him.

The Lord's devotees are lifted by the Lord into a state of spiritual grace; free from the entanglements of the world and the flesh, because—by His mercy—they are able to serve Him personally. (Gita 14.26–27) One can understand God only by devotion. (Gita 18.55) Only through devotion can one enter into the kingdom of God. One must surrender oneself completely to God. By His grace ("tat-prasadat") one receives everlasting peace and the spiritual Kingdom. (Gita 18.58–66)

15. Protestant theologian Rudolf Otto called Vaishnvaism a "Religion of Grace":

Rudolf Otto wrote of "India's religion of grace," or "bhakti-religion," as the principal competitor to Christianity. He discussed this at length in his book India's Religion of Grace and Christianity Compared and Contrasted. He wrote: "In this Indian bhakti-religion there is presented, without doubt, a real, saving God, believed, received, and—can we doubt it?—experienced. And this is just why this religion appears to me to have been, and to be today, the most astonishing 'competitor' to be taken most seriously.

"Here we are dealing with a genuine religion and religion of experience," Otto explained. "Religion here is no mere fringe sentiment furnishing a border to the rest of our life, but is conceived as the true meaning of life itself." Otto devoted a good portion of this book to demonstrating and appreciating the numerous similarities between Vaishnavaism and Christianity.

According to Otto, "The similarities present here are so important that it is tempting to consider this religion, viewed from the outside, as a sort of duplicate on Indian soil of that religion which emerged from Palestine and which we call Christianity."

16. Nathan Soderblom Smilarly Observes:

In his book, The Living God: Basal Forms of Personal Religion, Nathan Soderblom similarly observes: "Warren Hastings was right in writing that of all known religions this comes nearest to Christianity."

17. The Spiritual Master Suffers for the Sins of His or Her Disciples:

Dr. Larry Shinn explains: "The notion of a guru is a very Asian concept...However, the notion that one can achieve knowledge or experience of the divine through another human being is an age-old notion...(Christians) assert that they can come to know God's will by listening to the words of Jesus and by observing Jesus in action and by observing his life. So he serves as a mediator between a divine...and human beings."

In his commentary on the Srimad Bhagavatam (9.9.5), Srila Prabhupada explains: "...the spiritual master, after accepting a disciple, must take charge of that disciple's past sinful activities and...suffer—if not fully, then partially—for the sinful acts of the disciple."

In a letter to his disciples Satsvarupa dasa and Uddhava dasa dated July 27, 1970, Srila Prabhupada wrote, "the spiritual master...has got the responsibility of absorbing the sinful reaction of his disciple's life. This is a great responsibility of the spiritual master...To accept disciples means to take up the responsibility of absorbing the sinful reaction of life of the disciple."

Srila Prabhupada similarly wrote to another disciple, "Regarding your question about sufferings of master, you can simply ponder over Lord Christ's crucification." (Letter to Rebatinandan dasa, 12/31/72)

18. Feudal Classes Versus an Oppressive "Caste System":

The earliest moral and legal codes (Dharma-sastras and Niti-sastras) originated in India, as did the earliest representative institutions (Sabha and Parishad). A Western text, India: Yesterday and Today, also reports that "the four orders...of Hindu society...were classes in the Western sense rather than castes in the Indian manner."

19. Prana Krishna dasa (Frank Morales) wrote in June 1993:

"I am currently majoring in philosophy and minoring in theology at Loyola University of Chicago, a Catholic university...I've had many opportunities to have friendly discussions with Christian clergy and laymen about Vaishnava philosophy—usually with the result that we are all surprised at how many similarities there are between Vaishnava and Christian (pre-Thomist) theologies."

20. In an October 1993 Letter, Prana Krishna dasa Explained Further:

"...in my fifteen years of studying religion...I, in concert with many other scholars and devotees, have found the similarities between Vaishnavaism and Christianity to be quite striking. Indeed, Vaishnavas seem to have more in common (theologically, as opposed to culturally or historically) with Christianity than with any other world religion.

"This is most especially true of early, Pre-Thomist Christianity. Most early Christian theologians and philosophers, before Thomas Aquinas, were influenced by the Platonic school of philosophy. Plato's teachings were, in turn, very Hindu-like.

"He believed, for example, in reincarnation, the separateness, qualitative superiority and ontologically antecedent nature of the soul in comparison with the body/matter; and the primacy of a transcendent reality, of which this world is but a secondary (and inferior) reflection. Pre-Thomist Christians were all greatly influenced by these (and many other) Platonic ideas.

"With the triumph of Thomism as the predominant Christian paradigm in the Fourteenth century, and the consequential decline of the Platonist world-view, Christianity took a radical turn for the worse. Aquinas based his theology on the philosophical works of Aristotle, who was a materialistic, empirical philosopher.

"By stressing Aristotelianism, Aquinas grounded his theology (later to become the official theology of the Catholic Church!) upon the philosophy of a materialistic world-view; and, as you and I know well...one cannot build a theology upon the ideas of an atheist. From that point on, Christianity has plummeted downward."

21. The Reverend Alvin Hart (an Episcopalian Priest) Confirms These Statements:

"Christian doctrine was essentially Platonic—all the way up to the time of Aquinas, when Aristotelian philosophy started to influence Church teaching."

The Greek influence upon Western civilization and especially upon Christianity cannot be ignored or denied.

22. In his 1983 Essay, "A Jewish Encounter with the Bhagavad-gita":

Harold Kasimow discusses ideas "which seem totally incompatible with the Jewish tradition. The most striking example is the doctrine of incarnation, a concept which is as central to the Gita as it is to Christianity. According to the Gita, Krishna is an incarnation (avatara), or appearance of God in human form. A study of the Jewish response to the Christian doctrine of incarnation shows that Jews, and I may add, Muslims have not been able to reconcile this idea with their own scriptural notion of God."

23. Jews Don't Worship Statues:

Madhavendra Puri dasa (Steve Bernath) of the Bhaktivedanta Institute reports that at a Jewish-Vaishnava interfaith conference in 1986, none of the rabbis would take prasadam, because it was food offered to idols. Catholic clergy, on the other hand, have defended Krishna devotees against charges of "idolatry" from Christian fundamentalists, and have favorably compared prasadam with the Eucharist. Reverend Alvin Hart says, "It's like the Mass, where the Host is considered nondifferent from the body of Christ."

24. Jews Don't Worship other Human Beings, e.g., Saints or Spiritual Masters:

In his anticult book, Where is Joey? Lost Among the Hare Krishnas, author Morris Yanoff, a retired (secular) Jewish schoolteacher, is disturbed at the thought of his grandson Joey worshipping another human being (Srila Prabhupada). A friend tells him, "If Jesus Christ were to return, don't you think a lot of people would be bowing down?"

Some Christians see Jesus as the only way to God. However, the Reverend Alvin Hart says that John 14:6 is often mistranslated. The original Greek—ego emi ha hodos kai ha alatheia kai ha zoa; oudeis erkatai pros ton patera ei ma di emou—should read "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and none of you are coming to the Father except through me."

According to Reverend Hart, "...the key word here is erketai. This is an extremely present-tense form of the verb...You see? In Palestine, two thousand years ago, Jesus was the guru. If he wanted to say that he would be the teacher for all time, he would have used a word other than erkatai, but he didn't."

Dr. Boyd Daniels of the American Bible Society concurs: "Oh, yes. The word erketai is definitely the present tense form of the verb. Jesus was speaking to his contemporaries."

25. Until 1990, Catholic and Vaishnava Comparisons were Commonplace:

In a spring 1990 publication, The ISKCON Journal, for example, Satyaraja dasa (Steven Rosen) discusses the ritvik theological controversy by comparing ISKCON to the Catholic Church and its gurus to Popes:

"Isn't this the main problem with Christianity today? Although they say that they accept Christ as their savior, they do not have a practical guide, a 'living' teacher in disciplic succession. Protestant Christianity especially has fallen victim to a sort of ritvik system. They teach that faith in Christ (as their only guru?!) and personal interpretation of the scriptures is enough for salvation.

"Ultimately, as a result of this thinking, they totally reject the Pope and consequently there are literally thousands of Protestant sects, with differing interpretations (from subtle to gross variations). Initially, it seemed like a good idea. The Pope was corrupt. What were they to do?

Martin Luther reacted by protesting (is Rupa Vilas the Martin Luther of ISKCON?); St. Francis reacted by going inward. Inner meditation. Seeing God within. Of the two, I would probably side with Francis. But perhaps there's a better solution. Before this schism, the Church of Rome had remained unified for some 1500 years—but then the Popes (the gurus) became corrupt and were abandoned..."

Ironically, Satyaraja dasa (Steven Rosen) came to Krishna Consciousness from a Jewish background! Similarly, in a 1979 Back to Godhead article entitled "Celibacy: Exquisite Torture or a Yes to God?", Ravindra Svarupa dasa (Dr. William Deadwyler) compares Catholic and Vaishnava spirituality in discussing his encounter with Catholic seminarians bitter at their lifelong vows and lack of a married priesthood.

26. Brother Aelred (Chaitanya dasa), a Catholic Monk and Krishna Disciple, writes:

When Father Bereza, a Benedictine monk in Lubin, was asked why Buddhism was more easily accepted in Poland, Fr. Bereza replied that Buddhism—when compared with Roman Catholicism—was different. The Vaishnava tradition, on the other hand, is "uncomfortably close" to Christianity...and "brothers will fight each other."

27. Srila Prabhupada Acknowledges Christ's Divinity:

"Jesus Christ was born without contact of any material father. He was divinely placed in the womb of Mary."

—Morning Walk, Los Angeles June 8, 1976

"Fools thought that Lord Jesus Christ was dead by crucifixion, but he resurrected..."

—Letter to Mr. Dambergs April 12, 1967

"Lord Jesus Christ, he is shaktyavesha-avatara, God's son..."

—Srimad Bhagavatam lecture, 1976

"...A Vaishnava, a devotee of the Lord, he always thinks of the fallen condition of general people. Just like in Christian philosophy they believe that Lord Jesus Christ suffered to be crucified by assimilating all the sinful activities of the people. Yes. A devotee of the Lord thinks like that...Lord Jesus Christ, that he agreed to suffer himself for the sins of all the people..."

—Srimad Bhagavatam lecture, 1971

"...He (the guru or spiritual master) takes responsibility for all the fallen souls. That idea is also in the Bible. Jesus Christ took all the sinful reactions of the people and sacrificed his life..."

—Perfect Questions Perfect Answers

"Now the principle religions of the world—Hindu religion, Muslim religion, Christian religion, and Buddha religion—most of them believe some supreme authority or personality coming down from the kingdom of God. Just like in your Christian religion Lord Jesus Christ, he claimed to be the son of God and coming from the kingdom of God to reclaim you. So this claim of Lord Jesus Christ, we admit."

—Bhagavad-gita

"...In the Christian religion, Jesus Christ claimed to be the son of God and to be coming from the kingdom of God to reclaim conditioned souls. As followers of Bhagavad-gita, we admit this claim to be true. So basically there is no difference of opinion. In details there may be differences due to differences in culture..."

—Raja Vidya

"...and you can develop so simply. You just hallow the name of the Lord. Jesus says, 'hallowed be Thy name, my Father.' And we are also hallowing the name of the Lord. We don't even demand you say 'Krishna.' You can say 'Jehovah.' You can say 'Yahweh.' You can chant the names of God..."

—Srimad Bhagavatam lecture, 1972

"...They know that Christ is son of God. They have heard it. Now convince them that 'Yes, there is no fighting between Christian or Krishnaite. One is worshipping the Father; one is worshipping the son. So there is no difference..."

—Srimad Bhagavatam

"Lord Jesus Christ preaches love of God, we are also preaching the same thing, love of God. But our process is little different.

—Lecture, 1969

"...The process is very simple and easy because you can remain in your occupation, in whatever position you are. Simply you chant the holy name of God. Not only Hare Krishna. You can chant the holy name of God, Christ. Christ is also the same as Krishna. So do it. There is no expenditure, but the profit is very, very, great..."

—Bhagavad-gita

"If you love your neighbor as yourself, then why this 'civilization' which claims to be Christian, is slaughtering so many animals, and why they are constantly slaughtering each other in wars, in the streets? Jesus says you will not kill...and my spiritual master is giving love of God, he is giving love of God to the world."

—Srimad Bhagavatam

"Actually, one who is guided by Jesus Christ will certainly get liberation. But it is very hard to find a man who is actually being guided by Jesus Christ...violence is against the Bible's injunctions. How can they kill if they are following the Bible?"

"But Jesus Christ never said that he is God. He said 'son of God.' We have no objection to chanting the holy name of Jesus Christ. We are preaching, 'Chant the holy name of God.' If you haven't got any name of God, then you can chant our conception of the name of God, Krishna. But we don't say only Krishna...

"And it is such a simple thing. They don't have to go to a church or temple. It doesn't matter if they are in hell or heaven. In any condition they can chant the holy name of God...There is no charge, there is no fee, there is no loss. If there is some gain, why not try for it?...

"So what more do you want? Therefore let us cooperate. Don't think that it is against Christianity or that it is sectarian. Let us cooperate fully. Jointly let us preach all over the world, 'Chant the holy names of God.' Let us join together. That should be the real purpose of devotees of God. My students are preaching love of God. Why should others be envious of them? We don't say that you must chant Hare Krishna. If you have a name of God, chant it."

—Room conversation, London
August 14, 1971

28. Christianity is a Bonafide Path to God:

"Bhakti-yoga means connecting ourselves with Krishna, God, and becoming His eternal associates. Bhakti-yoga cannot be applied to any other objective; therefore in Buddhism, for instance, there is no bhakti-yoga, because they do not recognize the Supreme Lord existing as the supreme objective.

Christians, however, practice bhakti-yoga when they worship Jesus Christ, because they are accepting him as the son of God and are therefore accepting God. Unless one accepts God, there is no question of bhakti-yoga. Christianity, therefore, is also a form of Vaishnavaism, because God is recognized...However, where there is no recognition of a personal God...there is no question of bhakti-yoga."

29. Krishna Consciousness is Open to All:

Ravindra Svarupa dasa (Dr. William Deadwyler), recognized as one of the leaders of reform in ISKCON, says in the Nov./Dec. 1991 issue of Back to Godhead:

"In commenting on the twelfth chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, Srila Prabhupada makes it really clear that the Hare Krishna movement is in principle made up of three groups of people. Krishna says, 'Surrender to Me.' So first are those who are spontaneously attracted to surrender to Krishna.

"Then Krishna says, 'If you can't do that, follow the regulative principles of devotional service.' And in the purport Srila Prabhupada makes it clear what this means: rising early, taking a shower, going to the morning program, and so on, under the supervision of the spiritual master. So those who do this are in the second group.

"Then Krishna says, 'If you can't do that, then work for Me.' And Srila Prabhupada says that this means that at least one should be sympathetic to the propagation of Krishna Consciousness. Every organization requires land, capital, labor, and organization, so you can contribute one of these things. Those who do this are in the third group.

"These three groups make up the Hare Krishna movement. So there's absolutely nothing wrong with the movement's having all kinds of people who aren't following the strict regulative principles. Where we have a problem is with people who have at one time or another taken formal vows to follow the principles of the second group and then found themselves unable to keep them."

30. Father Raymundo Pannikar says:

"It is within the heart that I embrace both religions (Hinduism and Christianity) in a personal synthesis, which intellectually may be more or less perfect...Religions meet in the heart rather than in the mind."