Christianity and Krishna Consciousness

CHRISTIANITY AND KRSNA CONCIOUSNES

1. Are Jesus and Krishna one?

2. Why do you put your faith in Vedic scriptures rather than in the Bible?

3. Blessed are the Peacemakers

4. Are you asking me to reject Jesus?

5. Bhaktivinode Thakur's view of Christian theology

6. scriptures of the meat eaters

7. I heard many times that Jesus ate fish? Is it true?

8. Bhaktivinode Thakur's view of Christian theology

9. What is the difference between the message of Jesus and Krishna?

10. News from St. Odran

11. History of the Bible translation

12. Who do you think Jesus was?

13. Happy Christmas everyone

14. Jesus ate meat

15. The lost years of Jesus

16. Scriptures of the yavanas

17. Halleluja

18. Bhavisya Purana

19. The water and the wine

1. Are Jesus and Krishna one?

A: This idea is based on a statement taken from John:

" I and my Father are one.." (John 10:30)

While it has already been pointed out previously that this latest of Gospels, written around b.c. 125, - short of a few sentences - is now widely discounted by scholars due to it's exaggerated claims and Christological tendencies (see footnote), the idea of Jesus being God incarnate appears even much earlier, namely first in Paul's letter to the Romans (written around b.c. 55): " Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen." (Roman 9:5)

Yes, Amen.

Because from there this idea begins to spread and starts it's journey through the centuries, up into our modern times.

It is remarkable that already Plinius Caecilius Secundus (b.c. 61-114) the Proconsul of the province of Bithynia in 111 A.D. in his now famous letters to the Emperor Trajan on the Christians noticed: " ...it was their habit on a fixed day to assemble before daylight and recite a hymn to Christ as a God

("Carmen Christo qasi deo decere secum invincem").

In time therefore this Pauline concept gained enthusiastic support within

the Christendom of the gentile world (where even the Ceasar was considered a divinity), heavily opposed by Ebionite Christians and other early Christian groups consequently branded heretics.

This God-concept was further greatly elaborated on by Gregory of Nyassa (b. c. 335), who formulated the trinitarian doctrine of Son, Father and Holy Spirit, which emerged then as a clear and cogent answer to Arian questioning.

Finally it found its ultimate dogmatic formulation in the so-called Athanasian Creed (c. 500), una substantia--tres personae ("one substance--three persons") which settled the Arian once and for all.

However if we look into the Gospels themselves - at least to the synoptic Gospels - Mark, Matthew and Luke - we find no such notion of Jesus being God incarnate. Indeed scholars in general maintain that for sure Jesus himself never conceived himself as divine, God incarnate and the second person of the

Trinity.

In fact he would have probably been either surprised if not abhorred, or, - if we were to attribute a sense of humor to him -conceivably be very amused to hear himself addressed as such.

As far as the Synoptics, it says:

"...Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ..."(Matthew 24:35-36)

Or:

"Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone." (Mark 10:18)

Even the Gospel of John for all its Christologal exclamations has: "my Father is greater than I." ( John 14:28)

And when Jesus says: " I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them unto babes..." (Luke 10:21) it is obvious that Babes do not have the Trinity in mind when they read the Bible.

Hence globally it is more and more accepted that the concept Jesus being God evolved gradually.

Burton L. Mack has pointed out that this idea is just reflecting the mind set of the North Syrian Christ cult, an assumed break away movement from the Jesus movement (Paul being it's notable exponent) and who - rather than the people of "Q", the Jesus movement - prevailed, and could as such be considered the actual nucleus of the entire Christian scenario.

From Vedic evidence of course it is clear that Jesus is not Krishna.

One just needs to contemplate Krishna's opulence as described in the Vedic version to come to this conclusion:

Here are some examples:

Nowhere in the New Testament Jesus claims that he is omnipresent, as Krishna does: sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto - "I am in the heart of all beings..."(BG 15.15),

"present in every atom" - andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham (Brahma Samhita 5.35) and that he can be seen as such by one with perfect vision:

yo mam pasyati sarvatra sarvam ca mayi pasyati - "...For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost

to Me...."(Gita 6:30)

Nor does Jesus claim that he is omnipotent -

mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya

mayi sarvam idam protam sutre mani-gana iva

"...there is no truth beyond Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are

strung on a thread." (BG 7.7).

That he is the strenght of the strong - balam balavatam caham (7.11), the intelligence of the intelligent - buddhir buddhimatam asmi (7.10)

and the ability in man - tejas tejasvinam aham (7.10)

Nor does Jesus says he is omnicient - vedaham samatitani vartamanani carjuna

bhavisyani ca bhutani mam tu veda na kascana - "O Arjuna, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities; but Me no one knows..." (BG 7.26)

bahuni me vyatitani janmani tava carjuna

tany aham veda sarvani na tvam vettha parantapa

"Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them,

but you cannot...!" (BG 4.5)

Further Jesus does not proclaim himself as the source of all beings - bijam mam sarva-bhutanam (7.10) - "...the original seed..." and "...the father of all..." - aham bija-pradah pita (14.4)

Nor did Jesus teach that the entire creation is resting on him:

aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate

iti matva bhajante mam budha bhava-samanvitah

"...I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts." (Gita 10.8),

etad-yonini bhutani sarvanity upadharaya

aham krtsnasya jagatah prabhavah pralayas tatha

"...Of all that is material and all that is spiritual in this world, know for certain that I am both the origin and the dissolution..." (7.6)

Jesus does not claim to be the supreme controller - isvarah paramah krsnah

(Brahma Samhita 5.1), the cause of all physical phenomena: tapamy aham

aham varsam nigrhnamy utsrjami ca - " I give heat, and I withhold and send forth the rain" (9.19)

"the cause of all causes, material and spiritual" - sarva karana karanam -

(Brahma Samhita 5.1)

Nor does Jesus claim to be "immortality, death personified.." amrtam caiva mrtyus ca sad asac caham arjuna". Or say: "...both spirit and matter are in Me..." - sad asac caham arjuna -" (9.19)

Jesus does not say that material nature is under his control -

mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram (Gita 9.1), that all innumerable living entities are his parts and parcels - yena bhutany asesani draksyasy atmany atho mayi (Gita 4.35)

That he is he is the cause of all creation :

yad yad vibhutimat sattvam srimad urjitam eva va

tat tad evavagaccha tvam mama tejo-'msa-sambhavam

"...know that all opulent, beautiful and glorious creations spring from but

a spark of My splendor. (10.41)

Nor does Jesus proclaim:

"...what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe ..."

atha va bahunaitena kim jnatena tavarjuna

vistabhyaham idam krtsnam ekamsena sthito jagat (10.42)

However all this does not mean that Jesus is an ordinary being who ascended

to perfection.

As such Jesus's body, though by no means an ordinary material body, nor sac-cit-ananda vigraha, a transcendental body of knowledge and bliss (Brahma-samhita 5.1) was a spiritualized form.

Krishna for example, while being 125 years old, had the appearance of a young man in His early twenties on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. There are no reports that Jesus was looking like a 16 years old boy when being crucified.

Hence it is quite certain that neither Jesus nor his original followers in Galilee or later Jerusalem i.e. the members of the Jesus movement, did conceive Jesus as "...the Word (which) became flesh and lived among us...", God incarnate, the second person of the Trinity, the son of man who will be coming to us in future on the clouds: "... for as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." (Matthew 24:27)

But Jesus is a perfect being, an impowered shaktyavesa avatara, an eternally perfect soul , nitya siddha, who descends, endowed with divine power, to save the fallen souls in this material world.

As such his body is not ordinary but spiritual, as the scene of Jesus being transfigured seems as well to indicate (Matthew 17:2)

Such a body is not subject to material laws, and a person in such a body is endowed with eight mystic opulences, some of them demonstrated in the Gospels are:

Anima siddhi - one can go though closed doors (John 20:19,26)

Laghima siddhi one can walk over water (Matthew 14.25)

Prapti siddhi - one can bring into the three dimensional space and from a higher plane, things, like food - feeding the four or five thousand (Matt.15:38, 16:10; Mark 8:9, 8:20)

Isitva siddhi to appear at will and disappear (Luke 4:29:30) (Luke 24:31): "..then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight..."

The difference between a material, a spiritualized and a transcendental body is explained in Vedic shastra like the difference between iron, iron covered by gold and solid gold.

Jesus' body was spiritualized, he was jivan mukta, a person free from the inebriety of the material laws.

iha yasya harer dasye karmana manasa gira

nikhilasv apy avasthasu jivan-muktah sa ucyate

(BRS 1.2.187)

"A person acting in Krishna consciousness (or, in other words, in the service of Krishna) with his body, mind, intelligence and words is a liberated person even within the material world, even if engaged in so-called material activities."

Srila Prabhupada explains:

(such a devotee )"... has no false ego, for he does not believe that he is this material body, or that he possesses the body. He knows that he is not this body and that this body does not belong to him. He himself belongs to Krishna, and the body too belongs to Krishna. When he applies everything produced of the body, mind, intelligence, words, life, wealth, etc.-whatever he may have within his possession-to Krishna's service, he is at once dovetailed with Krishna. He is one with Krishna and is devoid of the false ego that leads one to believe that he is the body, etc. This is the perfect stage of Krishna consciousness." (BG purport 5.11)

"...Such a devotee of the Lord can withstand all onslaughts of material nature, and therefore he is known as gosvami. Only such gosvamis can penetrate the mysteries of the Lord's transcendental loving relationships...." (SB ppt 3.4.31)

Such a person is on the platform called vasudeva or suddha sattva, beyond material nature, One with Krishna, not in Personality but one in interest, in service and love, "in this world but not of it ".

mam ca yo 'vyabhicarena bhakti-yogena sevate

sa gunan samatityaitan brahma-bhuyaya kalpate

"One who always engages in the spiritual activities of unalloyed devotional service at once transcends the modes of material nature and reaches the platform of Brahman (the transcendental " (BG 17.26)

The inconceivable state of consciousness of a liberated soul, jivan muktah, a person on the vasudeva platform, absorbed in God in his relationship to his body is described as such in Bhagavad Gita:

naiva kincit karomiti yukto manyeta tattva-vit

pasyan srnvan sprsan jighrann asnan gacchan svapan svasan

pralapan visrjan grhnann unmisan nimisann api

indriyanindriyarthesu vartanta iti dharayan

"...A person in the divine consciousness, although engaged in seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving about, sleeping and breathing, always knows within himself that he actually does nothing at all. Because while speaking, evacuating, receiving, or opening or closing his eyes, he always knows that only the material senses are engaged with their objects and that he is aloof from them. (BG 5.8-9)

Such devotees see in ecstatic vision - premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena

santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti - in their heart of hearts, with the eye

of devotion tinged with the salve of love syamasundaram acintya-guna-svarupam the inconceivable transcendental form of Syamasundara, Krishna, at every given time.

Such a person, in completely Krishna conscious, on the platform of prasannatma, ecstasy, he sees God everywhere. yo mam pasyati sarvatra sarvam ca mayi pasyati tasyaham na pranasyami sa ca me na pranasyati "...for one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never

lost, nor is he ever lost to Me. (BG 6.30)

He is on the brahma bhuta platform, vasudeva platform - a liberated soul:

brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati

samah sarvesu bhutesu mad-bhaktim labhate param

He is na socati, free from lamentation, even when facing intense tribulations like crucifixion ("...Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.."(Luke 23:28). He is na kanksati i.e. he has nothing left to desire. He the friend of all beings, samah sarvesu bhutesu. And his absorption in his pure devotional service to God is complete - mad-bhaktim labhate param (BG 18.54)

Being with Krishna (in Krishna Consciousness) they are not afraid under any conditions:

narayana-parah sarve na kutascana bibhyati

svargapavarga-narakesv api tulyartha-darsinah

"Devotees solely engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana, never fear any condition of life. For them the heavenly planets, liberation and the hellish planets are all the same, for such devotees are interested only in the service of the Lord." (SB 6.17.28)

Nor are they subject to the law of karma or the laws of nature:.

mahatmanas tu mam partha daivim prakrtim asritah

bhajanty ananya-manaso jnatva bhutadim avyayam

"...O son of Prtha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible..." (BG 9.13)

Nor can they be even killed, under any circumstances:

kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati

"O son of Kunti, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes." (Gita 9.31)

There is ample evidence from our scriptures that perfect souls like Prahlada Maharaja survived all kinds of tortures and atrocities by his demonic father, being thrown in the dens of lions, into the pits of snakes or from the top of mountains.

Even Bhisma, being pierced by 1000 arrows was beyond the laws of nature could not be killed but left his body out of his own will, only after Sri Krishna arrived.

Similarly in 15th century, neither Mira Bhai was killed when being induced with poison. Nor Haridas Thakur was being killed , who, after beaten over 21 marketplaces was considered dead, his body thrown into the Ganges. He came to back life and walked around as freely as Jesus did.

Even the Old Testament tells the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who preferred to be thrown into the furnace rather than eating the meat of the King Nebuchadnezzar and who had kirtan in the fire and survived. (Daniel 3:19-26)

"Because the king's command was urgent and the furnace was so overheated, the raging flames killed the men who lifted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in to the fire.."

But as far as the three: "...the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men; the hair of their heads was not singed, their tunics were not harmed, and not even the smell of fire came from them..."

- gour premananda, hari haribol !

Hence it is said: mare krsna rakhe ke, rakhe krsna mare ke: if Krishna protects you, no one can kill you, and if Krishna wants to kill you, no one can save you.

Along these lines the of (non-canonical) Gospel o Philippus states:

"Those who claim that the Lord died first and (then) resurrected are in error. Because he resurrected first and (then) he died."

(Gospel of Philippus / 21)

Even if we were to look at the Gosples with new eyes we see that it is indeed documented in the Gospels that Jesus did walk around, even ate with his disciples and declared that he was not a spirit: "..Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have..." 'and when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" (Luke 24: 38-41)

Also it transpires that the followers were totally bewildered about what was going on (was he a ghost, was he resurrected, resuscitated? etc. Similarly as far as the empty grave, there are four confusing reports, not just contradicting but literally excluding each other.

Hence it says in the Bhagavd Gita:

tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya

upadeksyanti te jnanam jnaninas tattva-darsinah

one has to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master, inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. And that only the self-realized souls can impart knowledge because he has seen the truth.

(BG 3.34)

And on the other side:

sa kaleneha yogo nastah parantapa - when knowledge is not passed on in disciplic succession by realised disciples the knowledge is lost. (BG 4.2)Or is rather converted into an ocean of speculations, mundane projections and theological structures.

While the circumstances of Jesus' disappearance are by no means clear, they are indeed less important, even irrelevant.

As Srila Prabhupada pointed out: "Preaching is the essence" - the teachings of Jesus are the most essential part of his mission and incarnation, rather what happened thereafter.

In fact by getting pre-occupied with the so-called death of Jesus, the empty

grave and thereafter - curiously and indeed very telling - called by

Theologians "the after-Easter-perspective", the whole emphasis of Jesus'

teachings, namely to leave things behind turn to God with heart, soul and

mind becomes clouded and ultimately lost.

Consequently as early as 1977 Srila Prabhupada, based on Vedic evidence, discounted the concept of Jesus dying for our sins as an unauthorized shift of paradigm: from the pure and perfect teachings of Jesus to salvation from the cross (Bombay April 2,1977)

The teachings of Jesus are universal, complete in themselves and perfectly salvific: sanatana dharma, the eternal religion of the soul in its loving relationship to the Supreme Being, unadulterated by the falsity of bodily designation, upadhis, i.e. designations as Indian, American, Hindu, Muslim, Christian and so on - sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam hrsikena hrsikesa- sevanam bhaktir ucyate (Narada-pancaratra, quoted in Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 1.1.2.) - the actual purpose of life.

Simply by surrendering to the will of God one lives with Krishna and all karma is destroyed.

sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja

aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah

"Abandon all varieties of dharma and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear." (BG 18.66)

Hence Jesus nor anyone else has to die for our sins.

In this regard it is most appropriate to read the decription of the dialogue between Sri Krishna Chaitanya and Vasudeva Datta who wanted to accept the sinful reactions of the entire universe :

Vasudeva Datta said:

"My Lord my heart breaks to see the sufferings of all conditioned souls; therefore I request You that you transfer the karma of their sinful lives upon my head.

My dear Lord, let me suffer perpetually in a hellish condition, accepting all the sinful reactions of all living entities. Please finish their dieased material life."

"My dear Lord, let me suffer perpetually in a hellish condition, accepting all the sinful reactions of all living entities. Please finish their diseased material life."

Madhya 15.163

When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Vasudeva Datta's statement, His heart became very soft. Tears flowed from His eyes, and He began to tremble. In a faltering voice He spoke as follows:

"My dear Vasudeva Datta, if you desire the deliverance of all living entities within the universe, then all of them can be delivered even without your undergoing the tribulations of sinful activity. Krishna is not incapable, for He has all potencies. Why would He induce you to suffer the sinful reactions of other living entities? Whosever welfare you desire immediately becomes a devotee, and Krishna delivers all devotees from the reactions of their past sinful activities."

(Madhya 15.162 -169)

Jesus was teaching with his personal life how to surrender to God under all conditions:"...Thy will be done (Matthew 26:42) ..."on earth as it is in heaven.." (Matthew 6:10).

He perfectly understood and preached what Sri Krishna Chaitanya expressed as

`svarupa' haya-krsnera `nitya-dasa', namely that we are eternal souls, citizens of the spiritual world (see story of the prodigal son (Luke 11-24) who have gone astray, and that our actual activity is to serve God eternally.

To preach this message of love Jesus was so surrendered that he would tolerate crucifixion.

His Divine Grace A.C. Srila Prabhupada, the Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness therefore declared:

"The Srimad-Bhagavatam states that any bona fide preacher of God consciousness must have the qualities of titiksa (tolerance) and karuna (compassion).

In the character of Lord Jesus Christ we find both these qualities.

He was so tolerant that even while he was being crucified, he didn't condemn anyone.

And he was so compassionate that he prayed to God to forgive the very persons who were trying to kill him. As Christ was being crucified he prayed, 'Father, forgive them. They know not what they are doing.'"

They could not appreciate his preaching.

But we appreciate him and give him all honor as the representative of God."

I adore my spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

He understood the mind of Jesus better than generations of mundane speculators.

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1 John's Gospel partly reflects local disputes, not only between the church

and the Hellenized synagogue but also between orthodox Christianity and

deviant Gnostic groups in Asia Minor

Srila Prabhupada says:

"The people might not understand our message.

But Krishna will be pleased.

And that is our mission.

They thought Jesus Christ`s mission was stopped.

They killed him.

But his mission was attained.

He preached three years only,

but so many followers -

He pleased Krishna.

We must not be disappointed that no one is hearing Krishna Consciousness.

We will say it to the moon and stars and all directions.

We will cry in the wilderness, because Krishna is everywhere.

Not popularity.

If a pack of asses says you are good, what is that ?

We have to please Krishna`s senses with purified senses."

- Srila Prabhupada -

2. Why do you put your faith in Vedic scriptures rather than in the Bible?

Answer:

The Vedic teachings discuss transcendental knowledge scientifically in terms of

a) sambandha, our position, our relationship with God as jivera `svarupa' haya--krsnera `nitya-dasa' transcendental beings and eternal servants of the Supreme Godhead, Sri Krishna.

b) prayojana, the goal, the nature of the Supreme Being and Person, the param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan purusam sasvatam divyam adi-devam ajam vibhum, "…the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth, the eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest…." as Arjuna exclaims in Bhagavad Gita (10.12) who is acintya bhedabheda, simultaneuosly one and different from the allpervading effulgent energy Brahman of which He is the origin (brahmano hi pratisthaham amrtasyavyayasya ca (BG 14.27) and therefore neither to be limited to His personal nor His impersonal feature.

c) abhidheya, the means to attain liberation from material conditioning by

acting according to our relationship with Krishna as souls in pure

devotional service, sanatan dharma, the supreme religion of men: sa vai

pumsam paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhoksaje (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.6)

Thus the knowledge described enables anyone to advance one's understanding of God without being arrested or limited by superficialities in terms of religious, cultural, racial or national affiliations and structures.

As to not be deluded by the teachings of mundane religionists and protagonists on the bodily plane, transcendental knowledge is handed down in a line of self-realized souls, pure devotees who have understood it's purport by

a) hearing from self-realized soul -srotriam brahma nishtam and

b) by applying the teachings practically in their lives so that Krishna would reveal himself:

tesam satata-yuktanam bhajatam priti-purvakam

dadami buddhi-yogam tam yena mam upayanti te

To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me. (BG 10.10)

tesam evanukampartham aham ajnana-jam tamah

nasayamy atma-bhava-stho jnana-dipena bhasvata

To show them special mercy, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance. (BG 10.11)

Spiritual life is therefore a life of practical application and genuine realization of that which has been heard from a soul who teaching by example rather than pretext. As such the genuine spiritual path is

raja-vidya raja-guhyam pavitram idam uttamam

pratyaksavagamam dharmyam su-sukham kartum avyayam "…the king of education, the most secret of all secrets, the purest knowledge, gives direct perception of the self by realization, the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed..."

(BG 9.2)

For pure devotional service to manifest the principle of the dissemination of transcendental knowledge via a disciplic succession (parampara) of realized masters is vital. Hence Sri Krishna himself points out in Bhagavad Gita that in the absence of disciplic succession the knowledge is lost: evam parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo viduh sa kaleneha mahata yogo nastah parantapa, "This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost." (BG 4.2)

When there are no examples of realized masters, souls living pure religion and delivering pure teachings, even the purest of knowledge becomes subject to speculative impositions and superficial theological constructions of kanishta adhikaries, mixed devotees hovering on the bodily (sensual and mental) plane.

The knowledge is lost.

As William Blake puts it:

"Both read the Bible day and night. But thou read'st black where I read white."

(William Blake (1757-1827), The Everlasting Gospel)

Or as Bhaktivinoda Thakur, the great spiritual teacher and predecessor in our line, writes:

" ….Party-spirit - that great enemy of truth - will always baffle the attempt of the inquirer, who tries to gather truth from religious work of his own nation, and will make him believe that absolute truth is nowhere except in his old religious book.

The philosopher, thinking in his own way of thought, can never see the beauty of the Christian faith. The way, in which Christ thought of His own father, was love absolute and so long as the philosopher will not adopt that way of thinking he will ever remain deprived of absolute faith preached by the Western Savior. In a similar manner the Christian needs adopt the way of thought which the Vedantist pursued, before he can love the conclusions of the philosopher. The critic, therefore, should have a comprehensive, good, generous, candid, impartial and sympathetic soul."

However the unsavory truth is that instead of delivering transcendental knowledge, universal truth, sectarian religion entails an unwarranted God-monopoly, a sense of exclusivity of the respective body of followers at the expensive of and under exclusion of salvation for others.

Consequently the pages of History are written in blood by this phenomena of religious imperialism, and countless saints have suffered torture and at times destruction in the hands of spiritual illiterates and mundane ramblers.

Even at this very point of time it can be observed how unrealized mundane religionists are pursuing the followers of sanatana dharma in forms of the sect experts of the churches and anti cult protagonists. Along these lines we are convinced that Jesus of Nazareth himself, walking the streets of modern cities would be equally pursued as he was then by a similar unpalatable alliance of the religious and political establishment, for "There is nothing new under the sun," (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

Actually the pure teachings of Sri Krishna and Sri Chaitanya along with the explanations of the great saintly teachers in the line of disciplic succession, rather than being depreciated as a threat to established religious teachings and trappings would go a long way and be even instrumental for Religionists worldwide to discover their own roots, namely the pure and universal teachings of their Founders.

We would be pleased beyond comprehension if our teachings and endeavors would enable Christians to understand and live Jesus rather than to limit spiritual life blindly adhering to superficial speculative constructions which are often unfortunately only covering the actual path of Jesus, pure religion, the only religion, the religion of the soul: Unalloyed devotional service to the Supreme transcendental Lord.

In the meantime however, as far as ourselves, we have chosen to follow Jesus in the Hare Krishna movement. The reason being that Christianity has not yet begun.

Postscript:

"The people might not understand our message. But Krishna will be pleased.

And that is our mission.

They thought Jesus Christ`s mission was stopped. But his mission was attained.

He preached three years only, but so many followers.

He pleased Krishna.

We must not be disappointed that no one is hearing Krishna Consciousness.

We will say it to the moon and stars and all directions. We will cry in the wilderness, because Krishna is everywhere.

We want to get a certificate from Krishna that "This man has done something

for Me."

Not popularity.

If a pack of asses says you are good, what is that ?

We have to please Krishna with purified senses."

Blessed are the peacemakers

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God"

(Matthew 5:9)

Except for the devotees of the Lord who are surrender to His will, karmis, jnanis and yogis are all lacking peace. They are in a pathetic state of spiritual existence, being always disturbed by lusty desires, subtle or gross. Hence the cherished idea of mundane religionists, that one is able to promote peace without being in control of one's senses, is simply a myth.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu declared all karmis, jnanis and even yogis to be asanta, restless.

krsna-bhakta--niskama, ata eva 'santa'

bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kami, sakali 'asanta'

Those who are after fruitive results for their pious activities, those who desire salvation and identity with the Supreme, and those who desire material perfections of mystic power are all restless because they want something for themselves, but the devotee is completely peaceful because he has no demand for himself and is always ready to serve the desire of the Lord.

(Madhya 19:149)

In a previous age the Lord said in this regard:

apuryamanam acala-pratistham

samudram apah pravisanti yadvat

tadvat kama yam pravisanti sarve

sa santim apnoti na kama-kami

A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires-that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still-can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.

(Bhagavad Gita 2.70)

In this way sense-gratifiers, grounded in the bodily concept rather than Self-realization, are a nuisance to themselves and others, thereby creating chaos in human society. In a society, where the satisfaction of the senses are the prime necessity, there is always strive and competition for sense-gratification, and nations, races or religions rise against each other in the desire to dominate with the aim to enjoy and exploit. At the same time countless animals are daily slaughtered to satisfy the feverish senses of meat-eaters, bare of the understanding, that the soul is in all creatures.

The founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, said in this regard: "Until men were educated to see the soul within the body, the dual frenzy of love and hate would continue, and a humane world would not be possible." As by the law of karma violence breads future violence the history of the world has been written in blood.

Real religion actually means to be situated in the Self, where alone real peace is possible. And only when one is situated on the platform of the soul is one able to completely acknowledge God and to perfectly serve him in love. By such devotion one can actually know God and can achieve perfect peace.

bhoktaram yajna-tapasam

sarva-loka-mahesvaram

suhrdam sarva-bhutanam

jnatva mam santim rcchati

A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries. (Bhagavad Gita 5.29)

Except for the Religion of the Self, all paths and religions are merely

pseudo-spritual exercises, complementing the basic animalistic activities of eating, sleeping, mating and defending. All such superficial endeavors for happiness of the spirit in a world of matter can never bring about genuine peace.

Hence the wonderful words of Jesus, "Blessed are the peacemakers," are not to be cheapened by mundane concepts of peace. Nobody can give peace or make peace unless he found peace in himself an his relationship with the Supreme Lord, living in Harmony with God, other living beings, humans or animals alike and nature in general. There is no peace for meat-eating mundane Religionists bare of self-realisation, always willing to exploit the surrounding greater environment or other living beings for the sake of food and sex.

Yet those who have found peace due to absorbtion in God are truly blessed. Dhira a'dhira jana pryou priyakarau, they are the friends of those who are dhira, undisturbed and those you are adhira, always restless. Sama sarveshu buteshu, they see the soul in all creatures and are therefore full of compassion with the living entities in this world.

Jesus was such a perfect person, practicing what he was preaching. It is unrealistic to conceive that a person on such high level of self realization would preach his message of peace while at the same time condone

animal slaughter.

Being willing to sacrifice his life for the sake of preaching his gospel of peace, he was perfect in compassion. Jesus was a peacemaker, and all those who follow in his footsteps are truly blessed. They will find the peace of God within themselves and will be able to give that peace to others too.

After all Jesus himself says in the Lord's Prayer:

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven etc etc

(Matthew 6 9-10)

So that we do !!!!

Unfortunately the Christinas are not chanting God's name. Thats why I am saying Jesus came again. The people have been waiting fro 2000 years, him coming as the son of man on the clouds as in Micah. It's going on right here.

Because it says:

He reasons ill who think that Vaishnava die whilst he is living still in sound. He dies to live and living spreads the holy name around."

(Bhaktivinida Thakur)

So the message of Jesus is alife in this movement.

In fact Srila Prabhupada told us that it would take many lifetimes to go back to Godhead unless we are very sincere.

And alas, the world is full of mundane religionists, rendering lip service, Christians, Hindus, lax Hare Krishnas or whatever. Even our own service leaves much to be desired.

Jesus, who certainly is very dear to Krishna, says along these lines:

"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I tell you? (Luke 6:46) "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." (Matthew 7:21,23)

He demanded complete surrender:

"Another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead."

(Matthew 8:20-22)

Imagine in an oriental context, a son not coming home to bury his father?

So radical.

Similarly Sri Krishna says:

sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja

aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah

"Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall

deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear." (Bhagvad Gita 18.66

Hence we must free ourselves of all mundane dharma, Hindu Dharma, Muslim Dharma, Christian dharma, mana dharma (the cult of mental speculation) and come to sanatana dharma, eternal religion - rise above all upadhis - mundane concepts - race, nation, religion - to come to the platform of the soul ! sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam hrsikena hrsikesa-sevanam bhaktir ucyate - (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.1.12) -

how glorious is this philosophy!!!

sa vai pumsam paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhoksaje

ahaituky apratihatayayatma suprasidati

"The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self." (Srimad Bhagavata 1.2.6)

And whoever does so, whoever gives his life to God, whether he is a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim or a Jew, he is a soul brother and he will live with Krishna in this life and in the next.

Everyone who does the will of the Father - never mind him calling God Krishna, Allah, Jehovah - namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktih - God has many names - he is a mother, sister brother to Jesus and to all serious pratitioners, of this there is no doubt - "Who is my mother, and who are my

brothers?"

For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, my sister and my mother."(Matthew 12:48-50)

Whether Krishna says in the Gita: sarva-dharman parityajya, "give up everything and surrender unto Me" or Jesus says: "Give up everything and you will have treasure in heaven. Follow Me." (Matthew 19:21) "Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:39), you tell me what IS the difference?

We all have to leave all things behind and turn to Krishna in a radical turn-about:

"Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." (Matthew 8:20)

And:

"…. do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

Consider the birds in the sky: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!

Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?

If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest?

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you--you of little faith!

(Matthew 6:25)

Instead:

Here is what's going on:

At Christmas time I was distributing books in a shopping mall in Lurgan/NI when I heard this Christmas carol sung by children in the mall - it took me some time to trust my ears.

The poor children where singing: "If you haven't got a turkey's leg, a chicken's wing will do, Happy Christmas, merry Christmas, Jesus loves you."

What are these people saying?

And what are they teaching their children?

To kill for food, and don't you worry, Jesus loves you.

But:

aham bija-pradah pita, Krishna is the Father of all creatures (Gita 14.4)

All living beings are sons of God and dear to Him:

samo 'ham sarva-bhutesu na me dvesyo 'sti na priyah

ye bhajanti tu mam bhaktya mayi te tesu capy aham

(Gita 9.29)

"…And whatever you have done unto one of the least of these children, you have done it to me…" (Matthew 25:40)

Never mind being followers of Jesus or Krishna, we cannot compromise the teachings of neither Jesus or Krishna.

If this devotee you met claimed that we will go back to Godhead, just by being a member of ISKCON while all Christians will rot in hell, well this is self-righteous and he has a lot to learn.

First we ourselves have to become sincere and serious to even understand whether somebody is actually a true follower of Jesus or Krishna.

But if you see people eating meat, having sex or smoking pot or shooting Opium up their arms, never mind them claiming to be followers of Jesus or Krishna, it will take them many lifetimes to go back to Godhead.

The teachings of Jesus are very pure and very beautiful. But they are in general much misunderstood.

I myself spent years in Germany to study Comparative religion at Bonn University and even so and after many years in Krishna Consciousness I am only gradually getting an idea what to follow Jesus or Krishna is all about. Ands so I let me walk you through many of the sayings of Jesus and you will gain a renewed and Krishna conscious understanding of Jesus. And if we can we walk together on this path for some time you will find no problems to see that there are just no arguments between father and son and no discrepancy between the teachings of Krishna and Jesus.

Therefore don't be confused or bewildered, when some of our younger devotees are not very expert in expressing themselves. And in all their enthusiasm for their newly found conviction may sometimes exaggerate simply misrepresent.

3. Blessed are the Peacemakers

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God"

(Matthew 5:9)

Except for the devotees of the Lord who are surrendered to His will, karmis, jnanis and yogis are all lacking peace. They are in a pathetic state of spiritual existence, being always disturbed by lusty desires, subtle or gross.

Hence the cherished idea of mundane religionists, that one is able to promote peace without being in control of one's senses, is simply a myth.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu declared karmis, jnanis and even yogis to be asanta, restless.

krsna-bhakta--niskama, ata eva 'santa'

bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kami, sakali 'asanta'

Those who are after fruitive results for their pious activities, those who desire salvation and identity with the Supreme, and those who desire material perfection of mystic power are all restless because they want something for themselves, but the devotee is completely peaceful because he has no demand for himself and is always ready to serve the desire of the Lord.

(Madhya 19:149)

In a previous age the Lord said in this regard:

apuryamanam acala-pratistham

samudram apah pravisanti yadvat

tadvat kama yam pravisanti sarve

sa santim apnoti na kama-kami

(Bhagavad Gita 2.70)