From: kalki33!system@lakes.trenton.sc.us
Newsgroups: talk.religion.newage
Subject: Re: Spirit in the light o
Date: Sat, 07 Nov 92 05:11:19 EST
Reply-To: kalki33!system@lakes.trenton.sc.us
Organization: Kalki's Infoline BBS, Aiken, SC, USA

kish@ring8.rutgers.edu (Kish) writes:

> 	I think its a good idea to use care when deploying labels and
> generalizations.  One person's atheism might very well be another's
> theism.  I've seen people use terms like soul and God in ways that I
> didn't have any problem with, despite the fact that I am involved in
> what is obstensibly a non-theistic tradition (Buddhism).

We accept Lord Buddha as an incarnation of God. But Lord buddha had a
specific purpose in descending. If someone worships Lord Buddha
personally, we encourage it. But God is the author of atheism, and Lord
Buddha's teachings were certainly atheistic. When one considers His
mission, which was to stop the wholesale killing of animals in the name
of the Vedas, then one can understand why He decried the Vedas. It was
necessary to get people to stop slaughtering animals. Although the Vedas
do not encourage animal slaughter, they allow it under very strict
regulation for men who are influenced by the mode of ignorance. However,
these allowances were being abused. Lord Buddha came to stop the
nonsense, and to do it He invented the philosophy of ahimsa, or
nonviolence.

The purpose of God's descent is threefold:
1) To protect His devotees. (In the case of Lord Buddha, the animals)
2) To annihilate the demons (The demonic men who abused the Vedas)
3) To establish principles of religion.

To accomplish 1, 2 and 3 together, Lord Buddha invented the philosophy
of the void, which gave atheists, who were inimical to a personal God,
something formless and passive to put their faith in. This, along with
the idea of ahimsa, effectively "annihilated the demons" since it turned
them into Buddhists who no longer gave trouble to "devotees", or
animals. It also "established principles of religion" in the form of
obedience to Lord Buddha's teachings.

This is some indication of the meaning of Lord Buddha's descent.
Although it sounds contradictory that God Himself should deliberately
deny His own scriptures and preach a philosophy of atheism, the
contradiction is resolved by realizing that sometimes God acts to
rectify an emergency by instituting temporary measures in a certain
place at a certain time. Thus although Lord Buddha is undoubtedly God,
His philosophy is not complete, and is not meant to be definitive, since
it does not refer to God. Therefore it is not followed by those who are
inclined toward a personal relationship with the Lord in full knowledge.

> 
> 	I tend to have a problem with what most Christians mean by
> God, but have no problem with what a Jewish mystic means by G-d.  I
> think it comes down to whether someone's experience of G-d is rooted
> firmly in the groundless solidity of sunyata or whether said experience
> has been corrupted by the quicksand of "somethingness". 
> 
> 	You seem to intimate above that you can put forward a "definite
> description of God".  If you meant your words to be taken literally,
> then I really would like to read what you have to say.

A few days ago I posted a list of 64 attributes of Krishna, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. This list contains very specific descriptions of
God, drawn from the Vedic scriptures. If you like I will post it again.
Or, in another letter, I can discuss some of the direct personal
features of God: what He looks like, where He lives, what His pastimes
are,...etc.

Thank you for your ahimsa.

Sincerely,
Kalki Dasa

       -------------------------------------------------------
      |  Don't forget to chant:   Hare Krishna Hare Krishna   |
      |                           Krishna Krishna Hare Hare   |
      |                           Hare Rama Hare Rama         |
      |                           Rama Rama Hare Hare         |
      |                                                       |
      |   Kalki's Infoline BBS Aiken, South Carolina, USA     |
      |        (kalki33!kalki@lakes.trenton.sc.us)            |
       -------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: talk.religion.newage