Having seen many false things in my life as a Catholic and as a priest, I wanted to be sure that what I saw was genuine. I came to the temple not so much for curiosity as for the purpose of learning something of the secret of the joy and peace I saw in the eyes of those devoted to Krsna.
What about those born before the advent of the Krsna avatara [incarnation] who never heard and never had the haziest notion of Sri Krsna or His Pastimes, etc.?
I’m interested to hear from you what benefit you think my family will derive from Michael’s being a devotee that we could not know or have if he lived as a clean, helpful, religious and good person outside of the temple of devotees.
I noticed that you have Hare Krsna centers in Chile and El Salvador. Does your movement in these countries support or empathize with the struggle of the commonfolk against the murderous oppression they face?
Religions are much the same, it appears. The same claims seem to run through all of them: “Believe and obey, and good things will come to you. Don’t ask for proof, but accept religion on faith, for this is the only requirement of God.”
There is no real contradiction between the message of Christianity and that of Krsna consciousness. Lord Jesus Christ preached love of God, and in the Bhagavad-gita Lord Sri Krsna preached the same thing.
I have just gone through BACK TO GODHEAD Vol. 19, No. 9, and as I went through the magazine—beginning with Srila Prabhupada’s lecture, which was No. 9. and feel compelled to congratulate you on what a fine issue it is.
We want to teach from the vantage point that we are not our bodies, we are spirit souls, there is a God, He has a personality, a form, and we have a relationship with Him. All this is taught along with academics. This is the foundation of a gurukula education.
I have become very much interested in the spiritual philosophy of the Bhagavad-gita. But my main problem is the existence of the soul: I still think that after I die there will be a complete end to all my consciousness.
Devotees seem to be antiscientific. Two articles in the July issue (“Srila Prabhupada Speaks Out” and “Science or Skullduggery?”) are critical of the theory of evolution.
While reading your recent article dealing with cows, I was shocked and hurt to learn that ISKCON castrates their bulls. I feel that this is a horrible thing to do and also unnecessary. Somehow it is hard for me to see how Krsna could sanction this, since He loves cows.
If both plants and animals have souls, then why is it that we cannot offer meat to Krsna? Why is one sinful and the other not?
After becoming friends with the devotees, my whole outlook on life has changed for the better. If people would just try to become friends with the devotees there would be a drastic change for the good of society.
I was raised an orthodox Jew. Throughout my life, I have searched to find the truth. I have a master’s degree in theology. I’ve tried Judaism and Born-Again Christianity. But the only thing I found that was true was Krsna consciousness.
Hare Krishna’s not practicing what you preach. You print magazines, use building materials for temples all over the world, use cars, trucks and other means of transportation to spread your gospel.
In the face of perhaps a global nuclear holocaust, is there any scope within Krsna consciousness for practical action—say as in the realm of politics?
I was born and brought up in a Vaisnava family. From my early childhood, I had the privilege to learn about Krsna and worship Him. So when I came to this country, I was very much disturbed and disgusted with the Western concept of God as a bush of fire.
In “The Vedic Observer” section of your October issue you say that since everything belongs to the Supreme Person, we’re thieves if we claim anything belongs to us. Does that mean that the house I’ve lived in for the past twenty-five years isn’t mine?
Do I have to be initiated and live at a temple in order to become a pure devotee, in order to see Krsna face to face and become His eternal servant? Or do I just keep chanting?
I was advised to have my daughter deprogrammed. I read up on deprogramming and its ramifications. I also felt my daughter had and has freedom of choice, freedom of religious beliefs. I decided to do nothing. My philosophy is “live and let live.”