[Posted
April 1, 2007]
God
Is Not Your Order Supplier
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami |
 Elizabeth Edwards talks about her recurrent cancer, putting her life into perspective, and her take on God's role. |
Newsweek magazine - April 9 2007 issue - JONATHAN ALTER 'I'm Not Praying for God to Save Me'
You've kept God out of the public discussion of your situation. Why?
I had to think about a God who would not save my son. Wade was—and I have lots of evidence; it's not just his mother saying it—a gentle and good boy. He reached out to people who were misfits and outcasts all the time. He could not stand for people to say nasty things about other people; he just didn't want it. For a 16-year-old boy, he was really extraordinary in this regard. I wish I could take credit for it, but I can't. You'd think that if God was going to protect somebody, he'd protect that boy. But not only did he not protect him, the wind blew him from the road. The hand of God blew him from the road. So I had to think, "What kind of God do I have that doesn't intervene—in fact, may even participate—in the death of this good boy?" I talk about it in the book, that I had to accept that my God was a God who promised enlightenment and salvation. And that's all. Didn't promise us protection. I've had to come to grips with a God that fits my own experience, which is, my God could not be offering protection and not have protected my boy.
You didn't lose your faith, you changed your faith? Or did you lose it for a time?
I'm not praying for God to save me from cancer. I'm not. God will enlighten me when the time comes. And if I've done the right thing, I will be enlightened. And if I believe, I'll be saved. And that's all he promises me. go to story
conversation with guests, April 6, 1971, Bombay
|
How
to Pray
|
"Give Me My Daily Bread" Hansadutta das One should pray, "What do you want of me?" not "What can I get from You?" One should pray, "O Krishna, what do you want of me? Please give me some understanding what I should do for You." What will you do for Krishna? God has done everything, yet we're still grumbling, "What can God do for me?" This is the height of arrogance. The conditioned soul thinks not of God, but of himself first and foremost: "Oh God, what can you do for me next?" This is not proper at all. God has done everything. Now you do something. more |
Guest: Here you find Vietnam War, you find
here Bangladesh, you find all suffering and they'll cry all around to
God that "He will come and protect us," and there is no protection
anywhere from this.
Prabhupada: Well, this kind
of protection, crying at the time of danger, this is experienced from
past history also. Just like in the last war in Germany. One German
friend told me that naturally all the women went to the church for
praying, "My Lord, save my husband. Save my brother." Because all men
were in the front, only women were left. So they were praying that "My
husband may come back. My brother may come back," or "My father may
come back," but nobody came back, and they thought, "Oh, there is no
God. Our all prayers are useless." They became atheist.
Guest: Then that God should
come.
Prabhupada: So God is not
your order-supplier.
Guest: They became atheist...
Prabhupada: God is not your
order-supplier. You create war and pray to the church. Why you create
war? Precaution is better than... Unless you are Krishna conscious,
then you will... Tena tyaktena bhunjitha [Ishopanishad
mantra 1]. You will encroach upon other's property. That papa-bija
[sinful desires, the seeds of sinful
activities] has to be killed. Now, after creating war... What is
the use? After creating war by your own fault, if you go to the church
and pray God, "Please save me," so who wanted you to create this war?
They are creating their wars, and they are making God as
order-supplier: "Now I have created war. Please stop it." Why? Did you
do it by the sanction of God? So they must suffer. How can you make God
as your order-supplier? You create something by your own fault and you
ask God to come and save you. What is your answer? That is... That is,
means, sva-karma-phala-bhuk. You have created something:
you must suffer for that. You have created some disease: you must
suffer it. Why you violated the law of nature and created your disease?
Is it not a fact that when you eat, overeat, and you have got so many
troubles in the stomach, then you must suffer for some time. You have
created that disease.
Guest: But women, children,
they are different. After all, they have not done anything.
Prabhupada: Well, when there
is war, that thing happens everywhere. But the persons who create war,
they are responsible for it. Yada yada hi dharmasya.
First of all we have to understand.
yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srijamy aham [Bhagavad-gita 4.7][1]
paritranaya sadhunam
vinashaya cha dushkritam [Bg. 4.8][2]
So
Krishna says, paritranaya sadhunam vinashaya cha duskrtam, yuge
yuge sambhavami. So first of all we have to know who is a sadhu
[saintly person]. He specifically
meant paritranaya sadhunam. Sadhunam. Who is a sadhu?
That sadhu is also described. Bhajate mam ananya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyah: [Bg. 9.30] "Those who are constantly
engaged in my devotional service, they are sadhus." So Krishna
comes to save the sadhus. But Krishna, being Absolute, either
he saves the sadhus or kills the dushkritas [miscreants], it is the same. It is the same
because when Krishna kills somebody, he is also liberated immediately. Paritranaya
sadhunam. Dharma-samsthapanarthaya. And he comes to reestablish the
principles of religion. What is that principle of religion? That is
stated by Krishna in the last paragraph of Bhagavad-gita—not
last, in the last chapter. Sarva-dharman parityajya [Bg.
18.66]. Anything which... Dharma-samsthapanarthaya: "I come to
reestablish the religious principles." But again He says,
sarva-dharman parityajya, parityajya that any religion which does
not teach how to surrender to God, that is not religion. Therefore He
says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja
[Bg. 18.66 : "Abandon all varieties of religion
and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful
reaction. Do not fear. "]. This is only religion. Now tell me if
I am right or wrong?
Guest: What can I say? Then
only when sadhus are attacked, then only God will come...?
Prabhupada: No, no. You
quoted from Bhagavad-gita; I am replying from Bhagavad-gita.
You quoted from Bhagavad-gita, so your answer should be
given from the Bhagavad-gita. You told me that Krishna or
God comes when there is such and such adharma, so what is adharma,
what is dharma, who is sadhu—these things should be
understood.
But generally, this movement is to create sadhus. So you have
to give time. You have to cooperate. This incarnation of Krishna,
Krishna and nama, Krishna's name, is the same. Abhinnatvam
nama-naminoh: "There is no difference between Krishna's name and
Krishna." So you encourage this movement. You will see that there will
be no more fighting. Krishna has come. Welcome Krishna. But if you
noncooperate with Krishna, then how you'll get happiness? Krishna has
already come by this Krishna consciousness movement. You receive Him. Yad
yad acharati shreshtha [Bg. 3.21 :
"Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his
footsteps. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the
world pursues. "]. You are all respectable gentlemen. You accept
it. Then others will follow. Tat tad evetaro janah. And
if leading personalities of the society, they reject it, then how
Krishna is welcome? How can you expect? ... Everyone should welcome
this movement, Krishna consciousness movement. Then actually there will
be dharma-samsthapanarthaya, paritranaya sadhunam. Everything
will be done. Just like when Krishna was personally present, how many
received Him? Only the Pandavas and the gopis and the
Vrindavana-lila is there. Nobody knew Him as Krishna. In the
Battlefield of Kurukshetra, how many knew Him that He was Krishna? But
everyone benefited. Everyone benefited. Everyone who died in the
battlefield of Kurukshetra, they got salvation. That is stated in
Bhishma's teachings. So they got the benefit, but not that everyone
understood Krishna. Avajananti mam mudha manushim tanum
... [Bg. 9.11 : "Fools deride Me when I descend
in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My
supreme dominion over all that be. "]. Many... Even nowadays
there are so many scholars... They want swamis. They do not
accept Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even nowadays,
what to speak of then?
Even at the present moment. They are reading Bhagavad-gita,
and they are trying to kill Bhagavan, Krishna. That's all. That is
their business, killing... Kamsa's business. Kamsa was trying killing
Krishna, always thinking, "how to kill Krishna?" So so many Bhagavad-gita
commentators, scholars, their only business is how to drive away
Krishna from Bhagavad-gita. That is their... They do not
give on the personality of Krishna as the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. I have several times told you. Even scholars like Dr.
Radha-Krishnan, he says like that, "It is not to Krishna, person." Why?
Why this demonic attitude? How you can get help from Krishna? That
is... We are discussing now,
daivi-sampat and asuri-sampat. Asuri-sampat means to kill
Krishna. That's all, to wipe out Krishna from Bhagavad-gita
and bring something else. Six hundred and sixty-four editions of Bhagavad-gita.
This is going on.
1. "Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion-at that time I descend Myself. " (Bhagavad-gita 4.7) back to text
2. SYNONYMS: paritranaya—for the deliverance; sadhunam—of the devotees; vinashaya—for the annihilation; cha —also; dushkritam—of the miscreants; dharma—principles of religion; samsthapana-arthaya—to reestablish; sambhavami—I do appear; yuge—millennium; yuge—after millennium. TRANSLATION: "In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium." (Bhagavad-gita 4.8) back to text
God Is Not Your Order Supplier/ WORLD SANKIRTAN PARTY ©2007 - Hansadutta das
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