Hare Krishna, my intention and attitude in sending you this message, is that Srila Prabhupada wanted us to transmit his teachings to everyone, without wanting anything in return.
THE FAITH, by Haripada dasa
We all understand and accept that the constitutional nature of all living entities is that we are eternal seekers of pleasure. Faith means the confidence or conviction that by performing certain activities, I will be happy, or I will get pleasure. Faith also means having complete conviction that by chanting the Holy Name of God or Krishna will automatically fulfill all spiritual duties and complete all pious activities. Those who do not have that faith are inept to chant the Holy Name. The question that Arjuna asks of Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita is very interesting. Arjuna asks: "Oh Krishna! What is the situation of those who do not follow the principles of the scriptures, but who worship according to what their own imagination dictates? Are they in the plane of goodness, passion or ignorance? "Krishna responds very philosophically:" According to the modes of material nature that the incarnated soul has acquired, his faith can be of three kinds: in the plane of the mode of goodness, in the plane of passion or in the plane of ignorance. "Then, Lord Krishna, for our good and so that we can discern in the activities, explains the characteristics of the food, the sacrifices, austerities and charity, according to the three modes of material nature.
In Europe and North America, there are some people who are called deprogrammers, they are people who work for hire and their mission is to destroy the religious faith of people who believe in God. I have a great friend in Spain, that his father paid a lot of money to these deprogrammers, to kidnap his son and deprogram him. They took him to a cabin in the Swiss Alps and tried to destroy his religious faith, but they were not successful, my friend escaped! Three years ago I was in South India at a religious festival. The festival lasted twenty days; every day they took the sacred deities in procession in a palanquin, all very beautiful, with lots of color, music, etc., thousands and thousands of pilgrims came every day to the festival. On the last day of the festival, which was the main day, three million people entered the temple. I thought it was funny that the deprogrammers came here, to destroy the religious faith of these people. They would make a fool of themselves; wanting to remove the religious faith of these people is like wanting to take away the sweetness of sugar, the liquidity of water, or the light and heat of the fire, is this possible? No. There is a story in India that faith is based on experience, very interesting and instructive: "the great sage Narada Muni was going to see God or Narayana in the spiritual world. On the way there was a ritualist priest who said: please when you meet God or Narayana, ask how many lives I have left to be here in the material world. Then he met a humble shoemaker who asked him the same thing. Narada Muni asked God or Narayana: how many lives does the priest have left and how many times does the shoemaker have to be in the material world? Narayana, God replied: the priest has many lives left, but the shoemaker, this is his last life in the material world. Narada Muni was very surprised and asked: And how is this, that the priest has many lives and the shoemaker only one? Lord Narayana replied: You will understand when you are asked: what was God or Narayana doing in the spiritual world? You will answer: an elephant was passing through the hole of a needle. When Narada Muni returned to earth and met the ritualistic priest, he asked him: how many lives has God or Narayana told you that I have left in this material world? Narada replied: he told me you have many lives left. Upon hearing this the priest became angry and began to break the pots of sacrifice, the offerings, the altar, etc. When he calmed down a little, he asked Narada Muni: and what was Narayana or God doing when you saw him? Narada replied: an elephant was passing through the hole of a needle. The priest replied: But, what nonsense is this! How is it possible for an elephant to go through the hole of a needle? That is not possible. Then, Narada went to see the humble shoemaker. The shoemaker asked him: what has my Lord Narayana or God told you about how many lives do I have left here? Narada replied: He said that this is your last life here, and that you are going to return with Him. Upon hearing this, the shoemaker he was excited. Tears fell from his eyes, his hair stood on end and he had tremors all over his body; between sobs he asked Narada: and what was my Lord Narayana or God doing when you visited him? Narada replied: An elephant was passing through the hole of a needle. Upon hearing this, the shoemaker increased his spiritual ecstasy. Narada was surprised to see all this and asked the cobbler: and do you really believe that God or Lord Narayana can pass an elephant through the hole of a needle? The shoemaker answered: I live here in this banyan tree (the banyan tree is a giant tree, so giant that nobody knows where it begins or where it ends), and my Lord Narayana or God, has put in a small seed this gigantic tree, why? What should I not believe that He can pass an elephant through the hole of a needle? Narada Muni thought: this is faith based on experience.
THE FAITH, by Haripada dasa
We all understand and accept that the constitutional nature of all living entities is that we are eternal seekers of pleasure. Faith means the confidence or conviction that by performing certain activities, I will be happy, or I will get pleasure. Faith also means having complete conviction that by chanting the Holy Name of God or Krishna will automatically fulfill all spiritual duties and complete all pious activities. Those who do not have that faith are inept to chant the Holy Name. The question that Arjuna asks of Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita is very interesting. Arjuna asks: "Oh Krishna! What is the situation of those who do not follow the principles of the scriptures, but who worship according to what their own imagination dictates? Are they in the plane of goodness, passion or ignorance? "Krishna responds very philosophically:" According to the modes of material nature that the incarnated soul has acquired, his faith can be of three kinds: in the plane of the mode of goodness, in the plane of passion or in the plane of ignorance. "Then, Lord Krishna, for our good and so that we can discern in the activities, explains the characteristics of the food, the sacrifices, austerities and charity, according to the three modes of material nature.
In Europe and North America, there are some people who are called deprogrammers, they are people who work for hire and their mission is to destroy the religious faith of people who believe in God. I have a great friend in Spain, that his father paid a lot of money to these deprogrammers, to kidnap his son and deprogram him. They took him to a cabin in the Swiss Alps and tried to destroy his religious faith, but they were not successful, my friend escaped! Three years ago I was in South India at a religious festival. The festival lasted twenty days; every day they took the sacred deities in procession in a palanquin, all very beautiful, with lots of color, music, etc., thousands and thousands of pilgrims came every day to the festival. On the last day of the festival, which was the main day, three million people entered the temple. I thought it was funny that the deprogrammers came here, to destroy the religious faith of these people. They would make a fool of themselves; wanting to remove the religious faith of these people is like wanting to take away the sweetness of sugar, the liquidity of water, or the light and heat of the fire, is this possible? No. There is a story in India that faith is based on experience, very interesting and instructive: "the great sage Narada Muni was going to see God or Narayana in the spiritual world. On the way there was a ritualist priest who said: please when you meet God or Narayana, ask how many lives I have left to be here in the material world. Then he met a humble shoemaker who asked him the same thing. Narada Muni asked God or Narayana: how many lives does the priest have left and how many times does the shoemaker have to be in the material world? Narayana, God replied: the priest has many lives left, but the shoemaker, this is his last life in the material world. Narada Muni was very surprised and asked: And how is this, that the priest has many lives and the shoemaker only one? Lord Narayana replied: You will understand when you are asked: what was God or Narayana doing in the spiritual world? You will answer: an elephant was passing through the hole of a needle. When Narada Muni returned to earth and met the ritualistic priest, he asked him: how many lives has God or Narayana told you that I have left in this material world? Narada replied: he told me you have many lives left. Upon hearing this the priest became angry and began to break the pots of sacrifice, the offerings, the altar, etc. When he calmed down a little, he asked Narada Muni: and what was Narayana or God doing when you saw him? Narada replied: an elephant was passing through the hole of a needle. The priest replied: But, what nonsense is this! How is it possible for an elephant to go through the hole of a needle? That is not possible. Then, Narada went to see the humble shoemaker. The shoemaker asked him: what has my Lord Narayana or God told you about how many lives do I have left here? Narada replied: He said that this is your last life here, and that you are going to return with Him. Upon hearing this, the shoemaker he was excited. Tears fell from his eyes, his hair stood on end and he had tremors all over his body; between sobs he asked Narada: and what was my Lord Narayana or God doing when you visited him? Narada replied: An elephant was passing through the hole of a needle. Upon hearing this, the shoemaker increased his spiritual ecstasy. Narada was surprised to see all this and asked the cobbler: and do you really believe that God or Lord Narayana can pass an elephant through the hole of a needle? The shoemaker answered: I live here in this banyan tree (the banyan tree is a giant tree, so giant that nobody knows where it begins or where it ends), and my Lord Narayana or God, has put in a small seed this gigantic tree, why? What should I not believe that He can pass an elephant through the hole of a needle? Narada Muni thought: this is faith based on experience.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario