In my last blog I talked about
responses being conditioned or genuine and over the last couple of weeks I’ve
been doing my best to be conscious of all of my opinions and responses to
people, situations and circumstances. I’ll share one with you: I had a friend
who made a joke on Facebook about the Maha Mantra reminding him of another
song, I found it funny but the response he invoked in others was overwhelming,
some people were upset, others made derogatory comments about the ISKCON devotees
who have made this mantra into a type of anthem and some like me just laughed.
My friend in his own defence said he enjoyed the mantra as a spiritual practice
and meant no disrespect he was just being silly which is part of what makes him
so wonderful (in my humble opinion anyway). The reason I am bringing all of
this up is because as my friend continued the thread on his page and he
repeatedly referred to the devotees as “The Krishna’s” and each time it struck
something inside of me that made me choke a little. I discussed it with him and
began to understand it was because I live in Vrindavan which is the playground
of Lord Krishna. His teachings and pastimes are synonymous with life there and I
witness so many people who worship Krishna as their path to God yet are no way
connected to ISKCON (the Hare Krishna movement) which has such a stigma
attached to it here in the west and I find if anyone hears me recite the maha
mantra or mention Krishna’s name they instantly think of the tambourine shaking
bald headed ISKCON members dancing around and mistake me for one. Not that I
have a problem with ISKCON I have friends who are part of the movement what
bothers me is the judgement that is attached to being a Hare Krishna and people
here in the west not realizing just because someone worships Krishna (or in my
case mentions Krishna) does not mean they are part of that world. Just like is
someone who worships Jesus is not necessarily Catholic, there are many branches
on the tree of Christianity as well as Hinduism. For me it’s a love of studying
the religions of the world, playing with their teachings, digging away and
delving into the truth each one initiates in me.
Faith is faith and worship is worship,
I feel everyone has to do what appeals to them or they can’t do it from a place
of pure love (or Bhakti as it is known in Sanskrit). In the Hindu faith which I
am surrounded by I had truth chills when I discovered that there is a belief
that our creative source, God if you will allow the word, has had to take on
many different forms to appeal to the many different mind sets of humankind,
from Krishna to Jesus to Mohammad, it is all one, we are all one, the important
thing is to find a path, whatever that may be, something that leads you closer
to your divine self.
Just one example of how I was able
to take my reaction to a place of truth within myself and you may be asking what
did I learn? Well, I really need to stop caring about other people’s judgment of
me! I sooooo thought I was past all of
that “caring what other people think” but this experiment has helped me to
understand on some level I’m still seeking approval and ultimately just want to
be loved and accepted by everyone, which in itself is an impossible task. So instead
I am working on improving the quality of love and acceptance I have for myself
which is also a task but not an impossible one…
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