Easy Salvation

Salvation is easy. It is man who complicates it with rules and regulations. Surely rules have their place, but discipline is the mother of all rules; and discipline is born out of necessity. Even the birds of the air have discipline, thus it is no grand thing that a human require disciplines in day to day life. Albeit, we should not write down those disciplines and require others to follow them, if such disciplines do not in fact apply to the particular circumstances of others.

Many vegetarians think that meat eaters are sinners, when in fact, most modern societies make it difficult to afford any other diet than what is being sold. They do not supply nutritional information, other than that of the nutrition of the diet provided. Even if they wanted to become vegetarian, they share a budget perhaps with a loved one who is not yet open to changing their diet. This is why Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 6, Chapter 4 verse 9 clearly states that nature, by the order of Brahman Himself, has ordained that four legged animals become food for humans.

Vegetarianism is for Brahmins or Sannyasins who are able to take it up. The only requirement for devotion to Krishna Vasudeva is The Mahamantra. Singing His Perfect Name and being filled to over-flowing with the power of Samadhi. Yes Samadhi comes simply by chanting the "hare krishna" mantra. Chaitanya was aware of this and rejoiced in sharing it with as many as would come to him and glorify the name of Krishna. Salvation is a gift to all who worship the lord, by whatever name; how much more to those who glorify Krishna Vasudeva.

Krishna leads the soul that sings his name to appropriate scriptures for learning and understanding The Lord Purusha. Also, because Purusha is The Self within, one may view the spiritual master as The Self and be equally blessed. This is a hard teaching; because The Lord is no respecter of persons. All who truly seek peace and bless his name (whatever name); Krishna considers these to be His Very Self. This is because He loves His Creation and is eager to be worshiped in sincerity.

hare krishna hare krishna

krishna krishna hare hare

hare ramah hare ramah

ramah ramah hare hare

Only Chant

Do not worry about books, you are the book. Do not worry about rules, you are the rule. Don't worry about regulative principles, you are The Principle. Only chant to Krishna. This is the way of salvation. HE will show you what to read, HE will show you the rules. HE will help you to regulate your body. Krishna is a real God, who responds to those seeking truth and love. False teachers creep in, preaching disciplic succession and regulative principles, but those who really know Krishna, know that he is "all gods" anyway. Those who sought Krishna, knew him by another name before; and he alone was their salvation.

Krishna is holding all creatures in his hand and he does not drop anyone or anything. Those who finally come to him are already aware of their need to find true balance in their lives; true balance only Krishna can give. Those who come to Krishna were already destined to come to him and to become righteous. There are many religious people who do not really know Krishna. They think that following rules and being "good" is going to save them. This is not true. The righteous fulfill a need in all righteousness being fulfilled. They desire to know the god who truly loves all; the god who truly has reign over reward and punishment.

The true righteous have the desire to be witnesses for the grace of the one who really has the power to forgive and to punish. Krishna does not leave souls in an endless hell, but punishes the wicked like a father punishes his children. He punishes with a means to an end. This is an are where the false religions of the world come up short. They want so badly to be The One Way, that they condemn all others who do not follow their way to an endless hell. Meanwhile Krishna is the merciful father of all ways and he punishes children who are not merciful in their judgment.

Merely chanting the name of Krishna brings salvation and joy. As I have said time and again, to those desiring to be truly saved from sin and ignorance; chant the names of Krishna unto the fullness of salvation and truth. It is the only way. Not all are called to follow all the tenets of Vedic Life, yet The Name is given for the emancipation of all. Sing the sixteen names of The Lord like this:

hare krishna hare krishna

krishna krishna hare hare

hare ramah hare ramah

ramah ramah hare hare

Glorious Krishna

Simple faith in Krishna is all that is necessary to receive salvation. Many Hindus, like Catholics and Jews try to say that there are certain requirements, certain regulations or rituals, necessary for the attainment of true salvation. None of this is true. Rituals are defined by the believer. They are merely acts of faith, carried out by the believer to show faith toward God. Krishna has made it clear, "If you cannot follow renunciation, then simply try to follow the tenets of scripture. If you cannot do this, then simply try to surrender to Me". If I am not a Hindu by culture, then I cannot follow Vedanta. But does this mean I cannot serve Krishna? Of course not. I need merely have faith in Krishna.

I can also practice Kirtan, chanting his name and offering prayers and devotion to him. This is vital. I can offer myself to the lord and my life for his pleasure. I can sing his holy name and honestly seek truth in my day to day life. Sincerity is pleasing unto Lord Yadeva. All believers in Krishna are entreated to practice Kirtan, or the chanting of his name. This is the most true form of devotion to him or any other god. True, sincere worship is the most acceptable for of devotion, because it pleases the lord as well as the believer. The Lord receives honor from the mouth of his servant, while the servant receives the gratification of joy, enlightenment and salvation.

So simple faith in Krishna, with the reasoned and sincere pursuit of His Word, is the way to salvation. His word is found in all Vedanta as well as in true world scriptures. Albeit, The Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharata and Srimad Bhagavatam are the prominent scriptures for finding his word. Krishna Vasudeva is the central theme of these scriptures, whereas Vishnu is the theme of others, such as the Puranas or the Upanishads. Vishnu is among the most ancient of Krishna's incarnations. Thus it is the singing of his names, Hari, Ramah and Krishna which justifies us; Chanting simply thus:

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna

Krsna Krsna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

Krsna Consciousness

There is nothing as great as Krishna Consciousness. Many of my friends and family do not understand, that as believers in Krishna, we are surrendered to One Person Of The Godhead, Krishna. Although Brahma and Shiva are worship-able Godhead, they are devotees of The Lord as well. They say, "Worship The One God". They seek out the glorification of Vishnu as the preserving force in all things. He preserves the means of creation and dissolution. Krishna is The All Seeing Eye, as venerated by the ancients.

All sincere devotion leads to God, but there are many trails around the one path. This is a truth that makes sense to any religious perspective, yet it is unfortunately denied time and again. The religions of the world want to enforce their way as the only way and yet, they cannot even embrace the possibility that all roads lead to the same place. In Krishna consciousness we believe that Brahma-Jesus gave his life for the sins of mankind, yet we worship the father, who sent his perfect son for us.

Although it is one godhead, Jesus trusted Krishna to raise him from the dead; whereas Shiva relied on the name of Krishna to deliver him from all shame and misery. We must trust that The Name is the real power and that Ramah is The One True God! And Ramah is The Incarnation of Vishnu. To rely on any other than The One is error. And yet it is The One who forgives this error and makes all righteousness acceptable to him. This is why Brahma Jesus died; to preserve the name of Ramah!

Jesus preached the name of God to his disciples and they shared it with the world, yet the world took hold of that Word and twisted it to get gain. This is just a simple truth. Jesus preached Krishna Consciousness; and His Name 'Christus' bears witness to this truth. His life, his death and his resurrection bear witness to this truth as well. Thus, Jesus is the most popular of Gods. Although in India there are no temples built for him, he preached that 'the body' is temple of the holy spirit.

Still however, Krishna is The Greatest because He raised Jesus from the dead. To glorify Krishna is the greatest service anyone can do. To sing his name and share His Word is the only duty which never suffers decay. Chanting the name of Krishna relieves the soul of bitterness, fear and loneliness. We should chant and be happy always, like this:

hare krsna hare krsna

krsna krsna hare hare

hare rama hare rama

rama rama hare hare

Path Of A Devotee

The path of a devotee is riddled with trials and tests, but he is unwavering as he continues in the name of the lord. The most important thing is sharing the lord and his holy name with others. But how do we do this? First we must develop a sense of desire for Krishna and to get closer to him. This only comes by chanting his holy name and allowing him to cleanse us of material desires. Singing the name of the lord naturally removes the dirt of material desires and their unending pull at our soul.

As we become aware of Krishna, we automatically become aware of our soul and the need to be immersed in Krishna Consciousness. We also come to know ourselves better. We come to know who we are and just what Krishna wants us to do with ourselves. However there is a pitfall there...material desire! The stubborn material desires still continue to creep in and cover the mirror of the soul, like smoke over a looking glass. This can cause us to stumble into sin and keep us from serving Krishna fully.

Unfortunately this is a staunch reality. Even the greatest of devotees face the pull of material desires and tend to stumble. But with discipline and sincere devotion to Krishna, we can overcome the obstacles of material desire and finally walk in the path of devotion. The Lord is patient with us and can allow us to be reborn into a righteous family if it is necessary. This will allow us to find Bhakti (devotional service) more fully and save us from the endless cycle of birth and death.

However, if we serve the lord with all sincerity in this life, walking with him to the best of our ability and remembering him at the hour of death, we will attain His Abode; going back to him and never returning to material life again. This is the gift given only to those who surrender to Krishna. Albeit many souls who attain to the gods find Krishna in the spiritual sky more often than they do from earth. But if they do not, they are born into a righteous family again. They have the chance in that new life as well.

As devotees, we have the responsibility of sharing Krishna with as many as will hear. We should not seek to upset the knowledge of the less intelligent, but rather by chanting his name and reaching out to the righteous, we find the rare opportunity to please the lord by talking about him with one another and with the unbelieving, who appear receptive. This is the true path of the virtuous devotees. We should surrender to the instruction of the spiritual masters, ever remembering the name of Krishna, singing thus:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna 

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Ramah Hare Ramah

Ramah Ramah Hare Hare

Continuing In The Way

Life holds many trials and tests. It can seem very difficult to follow The Lord and remain true to our faith. But we can't let circumstances control the outcome of our lives. We must be consistent and faithful. Faith does not require effort, it requires letting go, which is the easiest thing to do. We just quit our emotions, our doubts, our calculations and all our estimated plannings. We must chant the name of The Lord and just let go. This always leads to inner peace. Faith is the gift to all peoples and creatures. Little children know how to let go. It is a natural function which we can learn to surrender to as we grow.

This can be one of the most complicated truths to embrace, because it's so simple and so free. Anybody; believer, agnostic and atheist alike can surrender to the nature of life and find inner peace. Even the gentle Hindu is quite often found guilty of condemning the agnostic or atheist. But when we truly learn to let go, we find internal peace and don't give any consideration to the judgment of others. We simply become placid and receive total relaxation. There is nothing more important than this. As believers in Krishna, we are supplied with the means of obtaining this inner peace.

Krishna gives the mantra for our benefit. We utter His Name and are soothed by the repetition of it. This is another natural function we are inclined to seek, which can cause us to find relaxation and clarity. The Lord knows best. We were created to glorify him and sing his name. It brings ultimate joy and serenity. So many things plague our minds and cause us to question life and make us get up in arms. This is not necessary, because the lord wants us to surrender to him and be naturally happy. Sure there are alien visitors, there are government conspiracies, but they are not more important than our spirituality.

Just let go and sing the names of Krishna: "hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare hare ramah hare ramah ramah ramah hare hare". This is true peace! This is how we attain happiness in life. Don't let the questions of life keep you from the answers! When we give in to our true nature as spiritual beings, all life's answers come to us naturally. Our constitutional position becomes clear and we don't worry about things we don't have the answers to. Not that we won't one day know them, because they are important. But our happiness must be first. Our joy is the now.

Modern Mystic

I guess the claims I've made are quite bold. Representing "The One True God", even as a "modern mystic". These are not things which I have conjured up to write a blog or make money. They are things that have been with me all my life. As a young Christian, I felt pulled towards a grace that was all forgiving to all people, without conditions. Something inside was telling me that God forgives everyone already. Although they may need to seek his forgiveness in order to progress spiritually, nonetheless he already forgives them and has made provision for their further development should they fail to seek salvation in this life.

This feeling was so strong that it would bring me to my knees and fill me with ecstasy. One thing I noticed about other believers was that although they were spiritually inclined, they had not surrendered themselves unto the same degree that I had. All I knew was that there was a spirit of pure love inside me, responding to and acting in the name of Jesus. So I continued following this Spirit and became more and more filled with love and spiritual ecstasy. However, people began to think that I was acting or somehow trying to over embellish the experience. Therefore I was excommunicated from my local parish.

After much disappointment with the doctrines of churches, I simply came to the conclusion that God was speaking to me from some other place; and that he wanted me to seek out a new path and a new belief system for myself. At this point it was about Me. I didn't want people filling my head with ideas of a God who couldn't handle the simple idea of forgiving all people. Therefore one day while visiting the local library, I stumbled across an interesting book called Bhagavad Gita. I was intrigued by the binding of it, the glossy pages and the illustrations of an archetypal figure named Krishna.

 At this time I was married to a woman devoted to the churches which I had so recently denounced. So I kept quiet about the book and continued to visit the library regularly. As I studied this book, I noticed a wisdom flowing from it that I had always felt compelled to follow before affirming my Orthodox Christian Faith. Of course I noticed that The Guru translating The Gita had his own hang-ups about spiritual life and had quite assuredly let it influence his translation of the scripture. I therefore proceeded with caution and compared other translations to his. This led me in a direction which caused me to totally surrender to the concept of unconditional love and forgiveness.

As I studied The Gita and the works of various spiritual masters and scholars from all walks of life, I found myself upon a road less traveled; a road which I don't think anyone had ever traveled. It was My Road. Because although I had taken bits and pieces from one teacher or another, one common thread I found among them was either the unbelief in any Personal God or the unbelief in that Gods' ability to have mercy upon all beings, without conditions and without any acknowledgement on their part. I began to know that I was all alone with this belief and that Krishna had chosen Me to tell others about His Unconditional Love.