Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Rteacher]

...I "resemble" that remark - Actually no religion has a monopoly on God, and there are good and bad "followers" and "leaders" in every religion. (I might now be - justifiably - classified as one of the "bad" Hare Krishnas ...)

Although we all face death, the experience is qualitatively different for devotees of the Lord than it is for atheists. For a devotee, death is analogous to a kitten being picked up lovingly by the teeth of the mother cat, but for an atheist envious of - or intentionally ignoring and disobeying - God, death is like a rat trapped in the teeth of a big cat... For a devotee advanced on the path of spiritual perfection death comes like lightning followed by illumination. Whatever we do for perfection will be tested at the time of death... (And don't think spiritual inquiry and practice can wait till we reach old age - the way things are going we could all go at any time...)

[Mr. Pink]

That quiz is quite ambiguous.

[red dog]

I don't think you're all bad, Rteacher. But I'm still waiting for the free food -- how about starting up one of these Food for Life programs and offering a decent selection of dairy-free and honey-free dishes that are clearly identified as such?

Seriously, though ... I looked into the Hare Krishna thing years ago and came away with a somewhat negative feeling about the religion in spite of the nice food and chanting. For one thing I have trouble understanding the concept of god you've described here in some of your posts, and I also can't believe innocent animals who endure so much torture at the hands of humans really must have done something in past lives to deserve it (to give just one example of a religious belief I can't accept).

Apart from that, it just seemed like such a patriarchal way of thinking, and wouldn't the story you referred to earlier (about gods on a battlefield, I think) tend to glorify war? I was really kind of tempted to get involved with the religion mainly for the food, but I didn't honestly feel I could accept the belief system. Sorry if it's offensive to say these things, I'm just trying to explain why it didn't appeal to me. (Christianity appeals to me a lot less, I have to add, but maybe that's a topic for another day.)

Edit: This is not the best-written post in the world and I realize that. Maybe "negative" is too strong -- what I mean is that I was disappointed when the religion didn't meet my expectations after offering such nice packaging -- nice food, singing, clothes, art ... I hope that makes sense to some people.

[Rteacher]

Frankly, I didn't care much for the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness at first - especially the prohibition against intoxication. (I used to think that marijuana and hashish were essential to the creative process...) I was attracted to the vegetarian food and the intense chanting, and eventually I'd feel a little guilty when see smoking by Krishna devotees. After two-and-a half years of attending their free vegetarian feasts in Coconut Grove's Peacock Park I realized that devotees were on a higher level of consciousness than me, that the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita was far superior to my rambling speculations, and that there really did seem to be a strong sense of God's presence. I was also very fortunate that I got spiritual initiation while the founder of the Krishna Consciousness movement, Bhaktivedanta Swami, was still present on this planet. After he passed away in 1977, there was a leadership crisis and all kinds of corruption and weird stuff occured that didn't become evident till the mid to late 80's. By 1990, I became basically independent of the organization (though still on good terms - and helping with "Food for Life" off-and-on) Now, it's been fragmented into many different groups - some very inimical - and it can be confusing to aspirants. Prabhupada lives forever through his books, though, and sincere souls can still get perfect spiritual guidance from them (and from some exemplary followers) ... www.krishna.com

[desultude]

[red dog]

[desultude]

Voudoo practioners also have a great sense of irony and humor.

[seoulunitarian]

Hi blunder1983,

I just saw your post; otherwise, I would have posted sooner. First, I should state it is certainly not my goal to convert you since I do not believe that's necessary. And, yes, I am a Christian. I think the first thing you should realize is that there are, and always will be, variations of Christians. There are variations of every religion, from Buddhists to Hindu, Muslim to Christian. There are liberal Christians and conservative Christians and every thing in between and on the edge. I think I would represent a liberal Christian, whereas magicwolfman would represent a fundamentalist Christian (I'm not using the term negatively). Kermo would probably fall somewhere in the middle (also, not a negativity). Variation makes life beautiful which is why I'm thankful for even the magicwolfman:)

Now, to your issue of original sin. It doesn't really have to be an issue. I know that seems like an easy way out, but it all depends on how you view Scripture. For me, being a Christian is not dependent on the Bible (a man-made book). It is dependent on a person - God in Christ. By experience, I know God loves me and every other person He/She created. A literal view of Scripture keeps a lot of people from being Christian, because the Bible presents God as being schizophrenic. In one verse He's a warrior, and in the next He's a compassionate lover. Without trying to offend anyone, I really think it's necessary for a literalist to become schizophrenic in order to accept Christianity as they preceive it. The good news is that's not necessary. Christianity is about worshiping a person, not a book of a set of doctrines.

So I guess what you need to do first is try to separate a set of doctrines from equaling Christianity. Sure, most Christians will tell you a set of doctrines is what it's all about. I think what separates the men from the boys (or the women from the girls) is being able to establish meaning for yourself, not just taking someone else's word for it. Si, I encourage you not to take my word or anyone else's word as absolute truth, and discover Christianity for yourself. Discover it as a living, evolving religion; otherwise, it's useless.

Peace,
Daniel

[JeJuJitsu]

Recently read the Bible, what a crap piece of literature. What dunderhead could possibly think that that collection of short stories is "divinely inspired?" It's at best, a C-, probably worse given that every single dictum is contradicted in another verse somewhere else in the text.

How do you Christians possibly reconcile these:

Jeffery Dahlmer - Heaven (apparently gave life to lord a few days before dying).

Dahli Lama - hell.

Also, everyone that ever died in the history of humankind before Jesus died, would go to hell too, right?

And also, why not worship this dude? http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_sd/med_apollonius.html

[TheMrCul]

seoulunitarian:

[TheMrCul]

[desultude]

[seoulunitarian]

[cionanian-cro]

[hypnotist]