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Re: REQUEST : RISHIS
First, let me thank Mr. Joseph Emmanuel for his continued interest in my
comments.
On Wed, 18 Sep 1996, Maitreya@worldnet.att.com (Joseph Emmanuel) wrote:
> On Mon, 16 Sep 1996 17:24:21 GMT, Narender
> <npreddy@brain.biomed.uakron.edu> wrote:
> >> >Rishis meditate and gain control of the senses. However, false ego is
> >> >hard to conquer. Only through devotional surrender (through Sharanagathi
> >> >or prapathi) one is able to overcome the false ego.
> >
> >> Surrendering to Whom/What?
> >
> >All the Satvik Puranas declare that Sharanagathi or devotional surrender
> >to Vishnu (Lord Sriman Narayana or Krishna) can releive us from the cycle
> >of birth and death.
>
> But some say you have to surrender to Yahweh, Christ, Allah, etc. How can
> there be One God and all these claim to be Him?
Here we are discussing the Satvik Puranas. All the satvik puranas declare
that Sharanagathi to Vishnu alone can releive one from the cycle of birth
and death. Depending one's KARMA the person gets attracted to a
a prticular philosophy. Do these other religions lead anone out of the
cycle of birth and death? Depending on wants and past Karmas one takes up
a particular religion.
Yes, there is only One God and there are several demigods like one king
and several ministers. Moreover, these demigods and even the athmas are
part of him just like hair is part of our body. The original nature of
the jivas or the athmas is to serve him. The jivathma is "parathanthra"
(dependent) on Lord Sriman Narayana, and Lord Narayana isthe only
"Swathanthra" or independent. However, we athmas wanted to "feel"
independence and therefore are provided with this false ego, the body, and
the cycle of birth and death.
>
> >> Can one Surrender to Vishnu, Shiva, etc. instead of Krishna? What is the
> >> difference?
> >
> >Yes! There is a big difference. Surrendering to Shiva will get you
> >significant material benefits but can not releive you from the cycle of
> >birth and death.
>
> So you are saying Shiva is not God. So there are more than One God. Some
> lead you to Solvation (from cycle death and rebirth) and others do not.
I am not saying that he is not a demi god. Just like there is one king
and several ministers with powers given by the king, there is One God and
several demigods discharging several duties. Because he is all pervading
he is called VISHNU, because he a reservioir of pleasure he is reffered
to as Krishna, because he is the support of everything material and
spiritual he is called Narayana, because he has all the oppuilences he is
called Sriman Narayana.
He has form and is also beyond the material form. Some times he might be
refered to formless as his form does not have the same constraints as we
do humans have.
> >> Sounds like a Haree Krishna devote!!???
> >
> > No! I am not a Hare Krishna devotee. Why do you brand me as a Hare
> >Krishna devotee when I revealed the truth propogated by all the satvik
> >puranas including Srimad Bhagavatham, Padma Puranam, etc.
>
> Because Hare Krishna devotees, and also Hinduism talk about One God and
> then go on to brake Him to pieces and create separation among man. They
> talk much, Reveal much Truth, but also follow much False (like all
> religions). They discard this world and this philosophy create much
> suffering and misery for human.
The Vaishnavas do not discard this world. They recognize that this world
is real but transient or temperory. In fact, all Vaishnavas beleive that
this body has been given to us to just serve God. They recognize that
Karma is the cause of all the misery and try to relieve the beings of all
misery. The only way the misery will be removed is by teaching them about
the knowledge of the Supreme Being such that he may not go on
accumulating sinful deeds such as killing animals etc. Do you know how
much suffering the poor animal goes through just because you want to eat
meat. What right do you have to cause suffering to all those helpless beings?
Instead of being happy that we have bean given a human life, we human
beings are creating unhappyness first by killing animals, second by
behaving like animals (thinking that the only goal is eating, mating,
sleeping and defending), and finally behaving worst than animals. Even
the Lion does not kill its pray unless it is hungry. We humans, are
tending to be worst than animals.
Who is creating the misery? Vaishnavas can never create misery or cause
any harm to any being. I suggest you reffer to some of the Satvik puranas.
That they should include other Religion to
> Perfect what they have!
How can Vaishnavas include other religions when some of these religions
suggest "conversion at sword" or don't condemn meat eating and animal
killing. How can we accept a religion which does not condemn killing of
the mother. Everyone from new born baby to old adult drinks cow milk and
some times survive only on this milk and milk products. These so called
religions do not discourage killing of the Mother like cow whch gave them
a chance to survive by providing the essential food. Indirectly these so
called religions encourage such a betreyal. My only comment is "Oh Lord,
please so some mercy on these individuals who preach and
practice such religions, for they donot know what they are doing. However, I
firmly beleive that everyone should have their religious freedom and
choose according to their understanding. That is the reason there are
several religions and there should be several religions to provide step
by step understanding. You can not group children of all ages and levels
of understanding in a single class or grade. There should be systematic
knowledge provided from kindergarden to the first grade. If you teach
twelth grade stuff to a KG student, he will dropout of school
immediately. Different religions and different philosophies exist to
provide a step by step understanding of God, and after several births one
may come to a closer understanding of Supreme Being and one's relationship
with Him. Meanwhile develop tolerance for other religions. This is the
very reason Hindus do not beleive in conversion.
Since the human is not perfect any religion created by human
is going to be imperfect. But the Vedic religion is based on Vedas which
are directly revelaed by God and have been in exeistence from time
immemorial. The Vedic (Vaishnava) religion has no begining, no middle,
and no ending. It is expected that in this Kali Youga many religions will be
born and dead. The fundamental principles should be "Respect ALL BEINGS."
> > >> -Joseph (maitreya@worldnet.att.net)
> >> One God, One World, One Humanity
> >> Unity Of All Under One God
> >
> >Yes! There is only one god and several demigods. "
>
> If there is One Omnipotent God, there can not be any demigods! That
> Omnipotent God is Formless, Invisible, Nameless and Eternal (FINE)
Because He does not have form like you why do you want the God to be
formless? Because he can not be seen by you (at present) why do you make
him invisible? Because has he has devine qualities (Kalyan Gunas) why do
you call him nameless? Yes He is eternal. Try reading the higher
(satvik) puranas, and I am sure you will change your view.
We call Him Hari because He is the stealer of sins (Harirharhathi
papani), We call Him Narayana because He is the supporter of everything
(Nara + Ayana). We call him Venkateswara because He removes sins and
controls those who claim to remove sins [Ven (sin) + Kata (burn) + Iswara
(controler)]. We call Him Iswara because he is the controller, We call
Him Rama because He makes us happyness (Ramanthe Ramaha), and so on.. Do you
say that we can not praise Him in this way? What misery or harm these
Vaishnavas have inflicted when they praise Him? They simply chanting the
holy names of Vishnu (Sanskrit meaning of Vishnu is all pervading).
Loka Smastha Sukino Bhavanthu (May all creation be happy).
With all glories to Lord Sriman Narayana, I remain,
Sincerely
Narender Reddy
npreddy@brain.biomed.uakron.edu
