I had something of an epiphany about a week ago. Long story short, I went from disillusionment with Christianity, to a determination to construct my own path (from scratch), to what I can only describe as falling in love with Krishna.
I had been researching the concept of God having a wife, and Googled "Divine Couple" to see what I could find on the subject. Again and again Radhe and Krishna came up. The imagery and what I read about it touched on an aspect of my personal relationship with God that had been missing in my life, that of Lover and Beloved (I even learned the term.... madhurya bhava). Christianity touches upon this aspect in the Bible's Song of Solomon, but this kind of relationship with God seems more pronounced in the context of Krishna. Whatever the case, it was just what I needed, as otherwise I was well on the way to becoming a cynical, somewhat agnostic old lady! Or something.
However, there is one thing that I have come to appreciate in my former (nondenominational) Christian path, and that is freedom from ceremonial religious rituals. So, my question is: Is it acceptable to love Lord Krishna without the various rituals found in Hinduism? I get mixed signals from what I read on it. Some say that just doing your everyday thing but with the motivation of pleasing the Lord (a.k.a. "practicing the presence of God" / "bhakti yoga") is enough, others seem to suggest that one must have gurus, temples, rules, regulations, rituals, etc., on top of that. :help:
I realize that Krishna even advises to set religious rituals aside (Bhagavad Gita 18.66), and that could easily settle this issue for me, but I guess I just want to be sure that by telling someone that I love Krishna, sans rituals, I'm not offending the spirit of Hinduism overall.
(If it were offensive, another way I could put this is that I have a deeper appreciation for God due to how He is represented through Krishna)
Thanks to anyone for any insights!
I had been researching the concept of God having a wife, and Googled "Divine Couple" to see what I could find on the subject. Again and again Radhe and Krishna came up. The imagery and what I read about it touched on an aspect of my personal relationship with God that had been missing in my life, that of Lover and Beloved (I even learned the term.... madhurya bhava). Christianity touches upon this aspect in the Bible's Song of Solomon, but this kind of relationship with God seems more pronounced in the context of Krishna. Whatever the case, it was just what I needed, as otherwise I was well on the way to becoming a cynical, somewhat agnostic old lady! Or something.
However, there is one thing that I have come to appreciate in my former (nondenominational) Christian path, and that is freedom from ceremonial religious rituals. So, my question is: Is it acceptable to love Lord Krishna without the various rituals found in Hinduism? I get mixed signals from what I read on it. Some say that just doing your everyday thing but with the motivation of pleasing the Lord (a.k.a. "practicing the presence of God" / "bhakti yoga") is enough, others seem to suggest that one must have gurus, temples, rules, regulations, rituals, etc., on top of that. :help:
I realize that Krishna even advises to set religious rituals aside (Bhagavad Gita 18.66), and that could easily settle this issue for me, but I guess I just want to be sure that by telling someone that I love Krishna, sans rituals, I'm not offending the spirit of Hinduism overall.
(If it were offensive, another way I could put this is that I have a deeper appreciation for God due to how He is represented through Krishna)
Thanks to anyone for any insights!