On Teaching Krishna and the One God: Appreciations by June, Mona, and Dan
"Didn't you like like painting in the sand when you were young. Childhood carvings to be washed up by the sea."
June/Pearlz of Bess teacher journal and Pearlzocreativity (see her blog at its new home and in all its Wordpress glory here) wrote in a comment on Baha'i Views a few weeks ago: I have found that in sharing spiritual stories with children you learn so much from them as well, "wisdom from the mouths of Babes" and on top of that learning stories from many Faiths just enriches the stories you can share with them as well. I have learnt so much about Krishna and Buddha in the last few weeks.
Mona wrote in posting on her blog Inkbot: Interpret As You Will back in March:
Also, people totally misunderstand Hinduism. Hinduism is inclusive monotheism, not polytheism. Says Wikipedia:"This system common in Hinduism is perceived as polytheistic; rather it is a form of inclusive monotheism, where one God is perceived as having many forms. In contrast, a polytheist thinks that two gods are different, i.e., Zeus and Poseidon, for example. An inclusive monotheist such as a Smarta, on the other hand, thinks that Vishnu and Shiva are differents aspects of the one and same God."
Would you call the Trinity a form of polytheism? No...
Krishna says some interesting things:
"Abandoning all duties, come to Me alone for shelter."
"Leave all things behind, and come to Me for thy salvation. I will make thee free from the bondage of sin. Fear no more." -BG 18:36
"When Righteousness
Declines, O Bharata! when Wickedness
Is strong, I rise, from age to age, and take
Visible shape, and move a man with men,
Succouring the good, thrusting the evil back,
And setting Virtue on her seat again."
...
"Who cleave, who seek in Me
Refuge from birth and death, those have the Truth!
Those know Me BRAHMA: know Me Soul of Souls,
The ADHYATMAN: know KARMA, my work;
Know I am ADHIBHUTA, Lord of Life,
And ADHIDAIVA, Lord of all the Gods,
And ADHIYAJNA, Lord of Sacrifice;
Worship Me well, with hearts of love and faith,
And find and hold me in the hour of death."
(Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr))
There is much proclamation by Krishna to be the representative of the one God, calling the people to himself alone as their protector, savior, granter of eternal life and freedom from the bonds of sin. However, he also clarifies that his eternal spirit comes to dwell among men from age to age. Wow!
How very interesting! I love reading the Bhagavad Gita!
To which Dan G commented on Mona's post with another quote:
Then Vidagdha Sakalya questioned him. "How many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?
"He answered in accord with the following Nivid [invocationary formula] : "As many as are mentioned in the Nivid of the 'Hymn to All the Gods,' namely, three hundred and three, and three thousand and three [=3306]."
"Yes," said he, "but just how many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?"
"Thirty three."
"Yes," said he, "but just how many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?"
"Six."
"Yes," said he, "but just how many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?"
"Three."
"Yes," said he, "but just how many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?"
"Two."
"Yes," said he, "but just how many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?"
"One and a half."
"Yes," said he, "but just how many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?"
"One."
......."Which is the one god?"
"Breath," said he. "They call him Brahman, the Yon."
1 comment:
thanks for comment and explanations, and the link to a tough material... :D honestly, i tried to read 3-4 pages of it, but couldn't get much except some referneces and theoterical general thoughts on a very practical issue!
anyhow, i see part of my comment(my memories) as a post! well, i don't like its title, cuz i don't find myself a muslem, i have never been... even back home, and at school, all i did was to pretend(when i had to), rather than that, i have always had problem with many many aspects of islam.
maybe one reason is the various twisted forms presented to us, maybe another is the pressure and the islamis fundametalist regime i lived in...
however, when i grew up and was mature enough to read more and think better, i found myself more and more distant from it.
i don't wanna go into details as to say what basic things of islam i don't buy and why, though.
you answered some of my questions and i have some responses:
i had a few blogs before, which i removed all... they were basically addressing political/social issues in iran; the present blog also started as an extension of one of them and if you have a look at the archive the very first posts are more on political stuff and my concerns...though it reflects very little of it!)
i don't mean to claim that i have done such and such for the problems in my country... but within my capacity i have done some and still am, though differently. i have been told by many that i am a crazy girl, instead of having fun and enjoying myself, i am into this endless headaches of fights b/w this and that political group. they are right, and you are also right when you say iranian blogs on political issues are boring... but that doesn't mean i have been wrong; or people who are fighting now are all wrong.
i believe to take any position for issues like these needs not only energy and time but a little bit of involvment(within your capacity, and by that i mean one can be imprisoned, another can be a good journalist, yet another can be an activist bringing people together, and ...), and this very involvment can be really enlightning. you will know yourself better, and you will have the chance to refine your own thoughts and ideas... plus, you will realize what measures at the time would probably be the best option.
personally, i found out that for the case of my country, awareness is the most important thing now. and i am aware that i have been away from iran for several years and my viewpoint can be partly or even totally wrong; however, as far as i am following the events in and about iran, our people need to have a good conscious rather than get involved for a sudden collapse of the regime.
...
well, i didn't say the above to have wanted to defend myself or bring my efforts to attention... but i didn't like the way you answered my question, so you can take this as my reaction.
i also(like you) beleived that the capitalism with its focus on consuming more, marketing more and producing more(which disgusted me so much when i first came here) is like an accepted and fully-supported religion..., and i'm sure this flow is much heavier in the U.S. than here in Canada. i used to talk to my friends (even back home) that any system can get corrupted and boldly and ruthlessly wash the minds of the people; but to stay alert enough not to get trapped and as i call it " not to get dissolved in the system" is something you should always fight for , which requires you spend energy and time, plus be ready to be seen as a weird, non-conformist member of the society.
now in North America this religion is widely and strongly spread, how do poeple like you, who disagree, fight with it and try to raise awareness among people?
you migth say you are doing it by spreading spirituality, particularly a certain ideology(and you accepted it since spirituality and religion can mobilize people like nothing else!); but what if people consciously are fending themselves against any spritual ideology or extensive exposure to spritualism?! how would you impact them?!
i mean your alternative tunes in a different wavelength, which attracts those who are wandering about in that wavelength; but millions of people are already intoxicated breathing in an airflow that belongs to another wavelength.
plus spirituality is only part of our life as humans, not everything or even the dominating part.
sorry that i always leave long comments,... and maybe you get tired of answering my questions or discussing with me... it's fine for me.
and thanks for those beautiful qualities you found in me, i wish i were endowed with at least one of them. i am nothing but curious about the world, the human race and the way it evolves. it's funny that i try to find links to my thoughts and try to refine them when reading different materials or just observing!
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