Lord Krishna is the Supreme Lord

[ranganatha]

Lord Krishna is the Supreme Lord. He looks as follows:

My guru is Srila Narayana Maharaja

Regards

[email protected]

 

[Ardhanariswar]

g'day rangunathan

thats great!

of course, any form of God can be worshipped as the Supreme Lord.

im glad krishna floats your boat.

 

[JivanaKrishnaDasa]

Jaya Sri Sri Radha Krishna!!! Please accept my dandavats Prabhu! Hare Krsna!

 

[Ardhanariswar]

vaishnava is an actual religion? i cant believe it.

 

[JivanaKrishnaDasa]

Well Vaisnavism is. A follower of that philosophy would be considered a Vaisnava. Are you familiar with this philosophy?

 

[Ardhanariswar]

not really. im familiar with hindu philosophy. but im shaivite.

 

[JivanaKrishnaDasa]

Oh thats wonderful. Vaisnavism is pretty ancient but has resurfaced within the last 500 years. It was an old forgotten philosophy coming from the Vedas but thanks to the Golden Avatar of this age of Kali Yuga, Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in Nabadwip 500 years ago and revived the philosophy of devine service to Sri Radha and Krishna and Bhakti Yoga. Modern day followers would be called "Hare Krishnas"! We are following similar lifestyles but may see things a little differently. However, I do believe in Lord Shiva and have the utmost respect to him and all the Demi-Gods. In fact I make sure and attend Shiva Ratri every year at the local Temple here.

 

[Ardhanariswar]

thats cool. i always thought the hare krishna's were sum sort of cult, doing drugs and stuff. but i think im wrong..lol.

 

[JivanaKrishnaDasa]

Yah its quite the opposite. We follow 4 basic principles, We dont eat meat,fish or eggs. We dont gamble. We dont take any form of intoxications (drugs, hehe). And we dont ingage in illicit sex out of wedlock. Do you regularly attend a Shiva temple?

 

[Ardhanariswar]

nah, im not into the whole shaivite vaishnavite thing. its basically confroming your own ideal form of God into something that is either beloging to family and/or belonging to your caste.

to answer ur question, i attend a sri lakshmi temple. i like ganesha, my childhood deity, and now my favorite is saraswati because im into the arts and i play the veena. (ironic).

 

[JivanaKrishnaDasa]

Oh I misunderstood what you meant. I thought you said you were a Shaivite. I thought Shaivites focused thier worship and puja to Lord Shiva? Am I mistaken?

 

[Ardhanariswar]

i am a shaivite by birth. i dont think you can just chose to become a shavite or vaishnavite by choice, i think you are born into it, am i wrong?

 

[JivanaKrishnaDasa]

NO, that is not accurate. Although our Karma from past lives may determine where we are born and which faith we may be born it to, it doesnt mean you have no choice in the matter. I am a westerner and was born into a Christian family, but that doesnt mean I cant convert to Vaishnavism or some other faith. Now you have my curiousity though, are you Indian, or your parents from India?

 

[Ardhanariswar]

lol, i was told differetly. though you may have choice, you were born into it. i was born into my caste, i cannot switch. but religion is different. but in yourcase, i guess you can be a vaishnavite. im not devoted to vishnu or shiva any more than im devoted to the navagraha or ayyapa. I love God equal in all his forms. doesnt stop me from posting pics of Ganesh and saraswati in my bedroom lol. Im happy being an all around hindu.

ya, im indian.

how come you converted to vaishnavism, rather than brahmanim, or shaivaism?

 

[JivanaKrishnaDasa]

Well I sortof fell into Krishna Consciousness by accident when I was a teenager in highschool. There was a kid I went to school with that was a total loner but interesting. He called himself a "Hare Krishna" and that intrigued me. He later took me to a Sunday program at a Radha-Krishna temple here and I fell in Love instantly. I was raised a Christian but never really took it to heart. It just didnt seem to fit. As part of being a Vaishnava, my humble respects and obeisances are given regularly to Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva, as well as all other Demi-Gods, however according to Vedas, Lord Krishna is the root from which all other forms come from. After studying extensively I came again to the conclusion that this conception of God was the perfect philosophy to devote my life to. I have a Guru in India now that my wife and I follow and we raise our chidren the same way. My Gurudeva gave me the name "Jivana Krishna Dasa"! which means, one whose life and soul is in service of Krishna. As Vaishnavas we dedicate our every action in our lives to somehow serve the Lord. The philosophy is full of Love and dedication to the Lord. I guess it feels more real than anything else I have encountered. Not to mention, the Vedas predate ALL other philosophys out there, it seems much more concrete than anything else.

 

[Ardhanariswar]

but you are aware of the two types of gods, a physical form wich you can worship, whom you call Krishna and the universal Brahman. just making sure. lol.

 

[JivanaKrishnaDasa]

Of course. We think of "Brahman" as the beautiful effulgence surrounding the Lord. As Vaisnavas we understand the differences and similarities of this, however as far as Vaisnavism goes, its considered higher to worship the physical form. I guess in other words, I feel like its settling for less, to worship Brahman, than Krishna himself. Does that make sense? Worshipping the Brahman effulgence or wanting to merge with it, is in a sense, Jiva suicide. Jiva souls are independent and free thinking, merging into the divine void is what I would consider spiritual suicide. Of course that option is there, and is real, but Vaisnavas prefer to worship the physical source of that Brahman effulgence. Its not like a good or bad thing, its just a matter of preference. Some people water the root of a tree understanding that when the root is nourished, then everything else is taken care of, then some would prefer to water each individual leaf.

 

[Ardhanariswar]

hmm. i like the way you think. there are several paths to attain salvation. vaishnavaism suits you, and im glad for you.

 

[(Q)]

there are several paths to attain salvation

I've noticed in your posts that you pay close attention to 'attaining salvation' and that this concept appears to be very important to you.

Correct me if I'm wrong here but isn't 'salavation' a Christion concept only?

 

[Ardhanariswar]

christianity came after hinduism, christianity has no original concepts of its own. good example, ash wednesday, you put ash on ur forehead, what we will all be when we die, a sign of Jesus' sacrifice. well the hindu shaivites do it, the ash on the forehead with in a horizontal position which means the former, we will all become ash, return to the earth.
a coincidence?

buddhism has the concept of salvation. of course in my mind, salvation is the same as enlightement. why? because when you know the truth, you shall be set free and saved. the truth shall save you. thats why knowing the truth is important, the truth is different for everyone, but everyone seeks it. identifying God as krishna, or jesus, or brahman is irrelevent. i mean, they are valid pathes, but in reality, what are we seeking? spiritual happiness, the truth.