I am a Vaishnava

[Jack_ripper]

Hello everyone, I ll like to introduce about my self. I am a vaisnava and my hometown is in Tamil Nadu and i am settled in Delhi. I don't know much as to what i should be doing at this age. Can anyone guide as to what are my duties at this age ,please? I am a little way lost in my religion so please help.

[srikanthdk71]

Hello everyone, I ll like to introduce about my self. I am a vaisnava and my hometown is in Tamil Nadu and i am settled in Delhi. I don't know much as to what i should be doing at this age. Can anyone guide as to what are my duties at this age ,please? I am a little way lost in my religion so please help.

Hi, hope you know me. I think i have seen you on Audarya forum. Anyway, its left to you to choose to be spiritual or a Vaishnava. To be spiritual needs no tags and needs just broad thinking and the will to appreciate all schools of taughts and choosing the best which suits your mentality. After all everything leads to the same truth.

Now assuming that you choose to live a life of a Shaivaite or a Vaishnavaite, you need to believe things and able to quantify with your beliefs blindly. A shaivaite will not believe a vaishnavite eventhough he is telling the truth because he is affiliated not to do so. The same holds good vice-versa. But I am sure you will learn more even in these schools of taughts unless you learn to extract the truth and essence from all forms of literature.

All the best.

[paarsurrey]

Hi

I don't know any Sansikrit or Hindi; so I don't know what is a Vaishnava? Kindly tell me so that I can understand and follow the discussion.

Thanks

[devotee]

Hi, hope you know me. I think i have seen you on Audarya forum. Anyway, its left to you to choose to be spiritual or a Vaishnava. To be spiritual needs no tags and needs just broad thinking and the will to appreciate all schools of taughts and choosing the best which suits your mentality. After all everything leads to the same truth.

Namaste Srikanth,

Can you elaborate how do you come to this conclusion that being a Vaisnava is equivalent to being non-spiritual ? And how just having broad
thinking makes you spiritual ? If you appreciate all school of thoughts, you are spiritual otherwise not, right ? If everything leads to the same Truth, how a Vaisnva reaches some other destination to be branded as non-spiritual ??

OM

[devotee]

Hi

I don't know any Sansikrit or Hindi; so I don't know what is a Vaishnava? Kindly tell me so that I can understand and follow the discussion.

Namaste paarsurrey,

A Vaishnava is a devotee of Lord Vishnu. Vaishnavites consider Lord Vishnu the supreme personality of Godhead. They are normally strict vegetarians.

Hindus believe that Lord Brahma is the creator, Lord Vishnu, the nourisher & Lord Shiva the destroyer. However, these are just different personalities of the same Supreme all powerful God.

OM

[yajvan]

Hari Om
~~~~~

Hello everyone, I ll like to introduce about my self. I am a vaisnava and my hometown is in Tamil Nadu and i am settled in Delhi. I don't know much as to what i should be doing at this age. Can anyone guide as to what are my duties at this age ,please? I am a little way lost in my religion so please help.

Namaste Jack,
If I found myself asking these questions I would do a couple of things:

• Go to the local mandir ( from mandira or house, dwelling i.e. temple) and talk with the the pundit's there. Be open with them on your intent.
• Associate with other Vaishnavas locally that know the customs.
• Continue your posts and questions here on HDF
• Read Vaishnava literature. Come to know the 4 types of schools i.e. four sampradayas
• Practice this approach (faith) both in knowledge and action.

pranams

[Atman]

Vaishnavas also do not have illicit sex or masturbate- they are meant to gradually reach the stage of Urdhaverata.

[Dharmaboy_Vishal]

Namaste,

Not to attack anyone, but I don't believe that one cant make assumptions about what all Vaishnavas do (sexually, dietary, etc.), although there are customs and traditions (which come from the cultural areas which certain devotees grew up within), it is about finding your own path in life. Not about following dogmatic rules. However, i agree with Yajvan-ji in his post about getting in contact with other Vaishnavas in your area that way, you will be exposed to the customs and traditions that they follow and can find what helps you to grow spiritually!

Om Namo Narayana

[Arjun The Vaishnava]

Namaste,

Not to attack anyone, but I don't believe that one cant make assumptions about what all Vaishnavas do (sexually, dietary, etc.), although there are customs and traditions (which come from the cultural areas which certain devotees grew up within), it is about finding your own path in life. Not about following dogmatic rules. However, i agree with Yajvan-ji in his post about getting in contact with other Vaishnavas in your area that way, you will be exposed to the customs and traditions that they follow and can find what helps you to grow spiritually!

Om Namo Narayana

Well said, my friend! I could not agree more!

[anadi]

Now assuming that you choose to live a life of a Shaivaite or a Vaishnavaite, you need to believe things and able to quantify with your beliefs blindly. A shaivaite will not believe a vaishnavite eventhough he is telling the truth because he is affiliated not to do so. The same holds good vice-versa.

Historically �families of belief� develop. Sometimes they come together and sometimes they separate. Krishna, Narayan, Vishnu, Vasudeva Siva... all these personalities were originally the gods of different cults, tribes or peoples, which through similarity or analogy were identified with one another, their myths intertwined and their ethics merged.
It is so interesting that so much of the shastra is about identifying one with the other, and then Rupa Goswami comes along and announces--

siddhāntatas tv abhede'pi

śrīśa-kṛṣṇa-svarūpayoḥ
rasenotkṛṣyate kṛṣṇa-
rūpa eṣa rasa-sthitiḥ

This is one of the most important mahavakyas (great messages) in Rupa Goswami's philosophy. It is basically saying that shastra is useless for higher faith. Everyone is quoting shastra about this one and that one being better, "because it says so." krishnas tu bhagavan svayaM (but Krişna is the original Supreme Lord) is a statement on this order. You can believe it or not believe it. What can be done if someone does not? You say, "to each his own."

But Rupa Goswami says that we are going to "judge" God's various forms on the basis of their effects. He says that if God is sat-chit-ananda, by axiomatic definition, then we must judge Him especially on the basis of His ananda - ecstatic joy. Where is there the most ecstacy?

This is a huge first step to raganuga bhakti � the meditational bhakti, about Vrindavan-Krişna, taught by Sri Krişna Caitanya. Because if you are still discussing life after life time God's powers, you will never really experience His ecstatic love (premA-ananda).

(inspiration from Jagad-ananda's writings)