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A little Hare Krishna FAQ!

Hare Krishna!

Thanks for sending the questions...

>What does Hare Krishna mean?

The words are all names of Krishna, God. Hare refers to Krishna's pleasure
potency, Srimati Radharani, Krishna is of course Krishna -- it means "the all-
attractive person". So Krishna is a perfect name for God. It is not a sectarian
name or a Hindu name. No religious person will disagree with the definition of God
as "the all-attractive person". We are attracted by different things. If we see a
beautiful person, a strong person, a wealthy person, a very famous person, a very
intelligent person or a very renounced person we are attracted. So Krishna is the
person who has all these attractive qualities in full: all wealth, all strength,
all beauty, all knowledge and all renunciation. Rama refers to Krishna's brother
Lord Balarama. Balarama is an expansion of Krishna so He is not different from
Krishna.


>Is your entire life devoted to studying 'it'? (for lack of proper term)

Yes. Not just this life, but our eternal occupation, our real business is to serve
Krishna, God. When we come to this material world we become bewildered. We
identify with the material bodies we are currently in. I think I am an Australian
man and you think you are an American woman [I don't know for sure of course]. But
that is our bodies only. The body is born, it gets old, it gets sick and
ultimately it will die also. But I, the person, the spirit-soul don't die, I don't
get sick or get old. I am sat-cit-ananda, eternally youthful, full of knowledge
and full of bliss. But I am covered by this Australian man's body...

So Krishna consciousness means to reestablish our original, spiritual identity as
servants of God, Krishna. The best and most effective way to do it in this age is
by chanting:

            Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
                 Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare


>I've read that the Hare Krishna sect doesn't believe in the use of drugs, is
>that true? (If            so, how does George Harrison fit in?)

We have four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling
and no intoxication. So we don't take drugs, smoke, etc, we don't even drink tea
or coffee. In the beginning this sounds rather difficult, but it is not really
difficult at all. Krishna consciousness is a positive thing. The pleasure you get
from serving Krishna, from chanting Hare Krishna is so great that we are not
interested in the so-called pleasures of the body any more.

As far as George, I do not know, he may not strictly follow all the principles. It
can be very difficult to remain Krishna conscious if you are always associating
with materialistic people. Sometimes devotees fall away, but they can never forget
Krishna. They will all come back to Krishna in the end.

>What would be some good reading material? (as in the Christian Bible)

There are many small introductory books by our spiritual master, His Divine Grace,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, you will like them. Some of my favorites are,
"Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers", "The Science of Self Realization", "Beyond
Birth and Death", and many others.

The main book is the Bhagavad-gita, but be careful to get Srila Prabhupada's
"Bhagavad-gita As It Is", there are many translations, but the special quality of
Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad-gita is he has presented it "As It Is". He has not
added anything new or changed the meaning of the verses as almost all the other
translators have done. 

You can also look around my home page at:

        /~balarama

There's lots of things there also.

>What are your major beliefs? I know it's a broad question, but a broad answer
>is just            fine.

We know there is a God, a supreme person. He has many names, the principal one
being Krishna -- the all-attractive person. He has many names and He is the same
person the Christians call "God", the Muslims call "Allah".

We are all eternal servants of Krishna, but here in the material world, we have
forgoten that. Instead of serving Krishna, trying to please Krishna, we are trying
to please ourselves. But this is not our natural position so it will always end in
frustration. So this world is not our real home, we belong in the spiritual world,
the kingdom of God, it is our real home.

To reestablish our original relationship with Krishna in this age the chanting of
the holy names of God, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra is the recommended method.

>What do you mean by studying under or following a certain person?

We accept a guru, or spiritual master. That's the way to get spiritual knowledge.
In fact if you want to learn anything you have to find a qualified teacher. If you
want to become an expert carpenter you have to find a qualified carpenter and
learn from him.. It is the same with spiritual life. If you want to find out about
Krishna you have to find someone who knows Krishna and can teach you.

>What is your (collective) opinion on violence?

Violence really means any act which obstructs a persons spiritual advancement.
That is real violence. Anything that makes one more forgetful of his relationship
with God [Krishna].

Physical violence is sometimes required. If the country is being invaded by some
enemy country then the government has to do something... Non-violence is not a
very practical political platform. It may be popular with the general public, but
it is not practical.


>What did George Harrison mean, in the quote at the top of the Supreme Godhead
>page,           when he said something about having been shown there was a
>God?

"If there's a God, I want to see Him. It's pointless to believe in something
without proof, and Krishna consciousness and meditation are methods where you can
actually obtain GOD perception. You can actually see God, and hear Him, play with
Him. It might sound crazy, but He is actually there, actually with you." (George
Harrison)

George realized there was a God [Krishna] and he could also see Krishna through
reading Srila Prabhupada's books. And you can see Him, hear Him and play with Him
if you want to. This quote is from the forward to Srila Prabhupada's "Krsna Book",
George paid for the printing of it and Srila Prabhupada asked him to write the
forward. Krishna sometimes comes here to this world personally to give us a chance
to see Him, hear Him, and play with Him. He appeared in a place called Mathura in
India 5,000 years ago and just after His birth he was transferred to Vrndavana, a
village where the main business was keeping cows and bulls, milking the cows and
growing grains and vegetables. Krishna spent His childhood there and "Krsna Book"
describes how He spent His time... I would very strongly recommend you read it and
then you will know what George meant in the forward.

>What kind of afterlife do you believe in?

We are eternal, the soul never dies. At the time of death we are placed in the
womb of our next mother according to our consciousness. There are 8,400,000
species of life all designed in such a way so we can enjoy something or suffer in
some way. So it depends on what you are thinking of at the time of death, what
your consciousness is at the time of death. If you are in human consciousness you
get another human body, if you are in animal consciousness you get an animals
body, if you have lived a sinful life you go to hell, if you have been very good
you go to heaven, but if you are Krishna conscious then you go back home, back to
Godhead, the you can see Krishna, hear Krishna and play with Krishna... That is
the highest perfection.

>Do you have a caste system, with something similar to dharma <sp?> or anything
>like          that?

Krishna describes there are different types of people suited to different types of
occupation, it is a fact also. Even in America, some people are intellectuals,
some are business minded, some farmers, some just workers. But the system Krishna
describes is not by birth. The current Indian system is not right because they
say, "Because my father is a Brahmin [intellectual, priest], I am also a
Brahmin..." But it is a nonsense idea. You have to be qualified. Krishna says to
be accepted in a particular caste one has to have the qualities (guna) and work in
that way (karma). For example, my father may be a Supreme Court judge, but that
doesn't make me a Supreme Court judge. I can only be accepted as a Supreme Court
judge if I get the qualifications (guna) and if I actually get appointed and work
as a judge (karma)... So it is a natural system.

>Were you born into your religion, or did you chose it?

I was born a Catholic but when I started reading Srila Prabhupada's books I could
see he was describing the Absolute Truth, something beyond all the different
designations of religion I had experienced before. So I became a devotee of Lord
Krishna, but that doesn't mean I don't still accept Lord Jesus Christ. He is
presenting the same thing, the science of God, Krishna consciousness. Jesus is
just preaching to a different audience, the message is the same.

>Do you believe in one all-powerful being?

Yes. Krishna -- The Supreme Personality of Godhead

>
>Well, that's all I can put together at the moment : )
>Thanks for your time!
>
>Sarah (anne is my middle name)

>
>

Thanks. Feel free to write with more questions and I suggest you get some of Srila
Prabhupada's books and read them...

Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

Madhudvisa dasa
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Chant Hare Krishna and be happy! All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada!