Association with conspiracy.

[Vinayaka]

I too find the puranas pretty much just stories, and not very good ones at that. There may be a lesson gleaned here or there, but not so much that they're worth studying. Gods really aren't in any kind of form resembling human, and many of them just propose wrong ideas like fights. An example is Murugan's story of fighting off asuras with his Vel, as if in some kind of real war. When I mention I worship Murugan to most Indians, that's what I get: marriages, fights, that sort of stuff. My version of the Vel is symbolic of piercing the ego, or maya, so one can see clearly from an advaitic perspective. It has nothing at all to do with some historical battle. So I do think they (the puranas) distract from the real purpose of our religion; to realise the Self.

 

[Riverwolf]

No, because they do exist, rather I want them to be put into proper context and not regarded as our scripture and this is turn means the various religions that they have given birth to should be rejected. We should should return back to the Upanishads and what they teach. And indeed what they teach is Advaita.
I have not yet seen single interpretation from non-Advaita traditions of the Upanishads that is actually supported in the text.

So...you're not against the Puranas, just against their use as religious texts.

 

[Vrindavana Das]

The Sad part is that Ancient Indian astronomers and scientists already knew that the world revolved and also rotated around the sun(like other planets).

They would have died of shame to hear such stupid statements from some of their descendants 2000 years later.

The Vedic cosmology tells us that Earth is stationary and Sun revolves around it. This is what the ancient astronomers believed. The Vedas.

This has been researched by many PhDs in cosmology and they have found that it explains all the phenomenons that heliocentric model explains and also the phenomenons that science cannot explain.

You can find it here: Vedic Cosmology

And yes, moon is farther from the sun according to scriptures. Therefore the astronauts never went to the moon.

If you see the documentary on moon-landing hoax, there are many questions that cannot be answered.

A few are:

1. The flag of US is waving on the moon! :areyoucra
2. At times, there are four shadows being cast, when there is only one source of light - the Sun.
3. Many (I think, 9 out of 11...too lazy to check) members of the original team for moon-landing died in a bizarre sequence of accidents, before they could take-off!
4. Even when Sun is at the back, portions that are in the shadows are as clearly visible.

 

[Riverwolf]

The Vedic cosmology tells us that Earth is stationary and Sun revolves around it. This is what the ancient astronomers believed. The Vedas.

This has been researched by many PhDs in cosmology and they have found that it explains all the phenomenons that heliocentric model explains and also the phenomenons that science cannot explain.

You can find it here: Vedic Cosmology

And yes, moon is farther from the sun according to scriptures. Therefore the astronauts never went to the moon.

If you see the documentary on moon-landing hoax, there are many questions that cannot be answered.

A few are:

1. The flag of US is waving on the moon! :areyoucra
2. At times, there are four shadows being cast, when there is only one source of light - the Sun.
3. Many (I think, 9 out of 11...too lazy to check) members of the original team for moon-landing died in a bizarre sequence of accidents, before they could take-off!
4. Even when Sun is at the back, portions that are in the shadows are as clearly visible.

To avoid debating here, my response is this thread:

http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/general-debates/139242-moon-landing-hoax.html#post3094596

I ask, as a member and as a moderator, that any further posts regarding the moon landing hoax theories be made there.

 

[Gaura Priya]

Well the Hare Krishnas are a fundamentalist cult, and like with all fundamentalist cults, you can expect some extremist woo-woo stuff. One of the reasons the HK group is associated with conspiracy theories is because Prabhupada denied the moon-landing because they did not find on the moon what the Puranas state, he claimed there was vegetation on the moon and civilizations living on the moon(some HK's mitigate this by saying that in a higher dimension there is a civilization living on the moon invisible to humans) Another reason why is the account modern science has given of space is a heliocentric solar system conflicts with HK's literal puranic accounts of geocentric Earth where the sun, moon and stars are all rotating around the Earth like a chandelier pivoted around the pole star. Hence in order to account for this they entertain conspiracy theories that some evil sinister scientific-industralized clandestine organization is suppressing all of this "Vedic science" Hence, we can see why HK entertain NWO/Illuminati conspiracy theories.

That's alot of hoo ha. I consider myself an active practitioner of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, and come from a background from the association of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. I did leave the Math to be part of ISKCON for a while, but I have left organisations altogether.

Not all Gaudiya Vaishnavas entertain these theories. Not all Gaudiya Vaishnavas are staunch literalists who literally believe in the Puranas. My shiksha-guru, Srila Sridhar Maharaj, who was a godbrother to Srila Prabhupada since they shared the same guru, acknowledged ideas that contradict literalism.

For example, he taught us that the devatas, or demigods, are personifications of nature and natural effects of the material world. These natural phenomena became personified by the Vedic sages to reiterate to us that every aspect of the universal cosmos is brimming with consciousness. Thus, Vayu, Agni, Soma, are all consciousness personified in the natural elements of this universe.

What Srila Prabhupada did say regarding these things, it would be better that an ISKCON member give explanation. However, it is extremely silly and downright hurtful to say that HK`s are cult members, when many of us do not adhere always to stereotypes.

 

[Gaura Priya]

This is why I just ignore those HK guys...One can take a horse to the water; but cant make it drink. I only post to refute some really outlandish claims by them(lest they confuse people interested in Dharmic philosophies), other than that I have realized that anything else is an exercise in futility

Btw, The founder of ISCON believed in the moon landing conspiracy theories...dont know why people still defend him though

I am a Hare Krishna, although not from ISKCON.

What I will tell you, is that one reason why adherents of ISKCON defend Srila Prabhupada, is that he is one of the gurus who brought a form of Orthodox Vaishnavism in the Western hemisphere. He brought them a culture in which practised the teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and translated a few of these Gaudiya works into English. He established temples, books, and introduced then hippies to the world of Vaishnava Dharma, even if slightly towards his biases.

The smaller things, such as moon landing hoaxes, women having smaller brains, and other things that Srila Prabhupada has said are minor and his personal beliefs. But what he DID bring to many of these people is a sense of Vaishnava culture, whereas they would have otherwise not known about such Dharma.

 

[Gaura Priya]

Why has the Hare Krishna's for some reason got themselves involves with the beliefs in many conspiracies? I understand saying the prabhupada was possibly poisoned, that is within the movement, but what about "chemtrails", "illuminati", NWO, etc. I see alot of them saying that what prabhupada called "demons" are really illuminati. When prabhupada himself simply said that the "demons" were really just materialistic individuals. Pretty clear cut in my book. The reason why I bring it up? If you are a Hare Krishna, do you believe in this stuff? Even if your not a Hare Krishna, your opinion of why this movement would seemingly hurt it's image (more) believing in this kind of stuff. I have always had an interest in this philosophy, and movement, but I'm a afraid that every tine I search for "Hare Krishna" the third thing that comes up is illuminati and NWO, which seems a little crazy.

Some Gaudiya Vaishnavas have nothing else to do.

No, literally.

When Srila Prabhupada brought about his ISKCON movement into the West, he was the only representative of Vaishnavism in the United States for his time. These were young adults and teenagers who had no concept of religiosity and moderate practice.

When Srila Prabhupada left his body, many of the disciples did not know what to do. They were sannyasis and brahmacharis who had no idea of how to lead ISKCON, and many who were part of that generation now have difficulty in 2012 functioning with the outside world.

The strictures and authoritative sound that Srila Prabhupada gave to his followers became a secondary shastra for these disciples, and they desired to follow his instructions to the letter. Thus, argumentation on interpreting these instructions inevitably ensued, and that`s where you have those conspiracists.

THANK KRISHNA that such sectarians are a minority. Many of us are just too busy holding jobs, loving our partners, and hoping to have Krishna-conscious families to even care.

I hope that helps!