On one of his visits to India, Fr. George met with the Bengali saint Ananda Mai Ma. She instructed him to remain in the Christian religion and continue with his Christian practices. This is not unusual advice from a Hindu guru. In spite of their enlightenment, most of them are grossly ignorant -----

This kind of advice is insincere and irresponsible, ----

Every popular religious teacher in India today espouses some form or other of Advaitic philosophy. ----

Most modern Indian religious teachers do take Advaita Vedanta out of its original Vedic religious context, ------.”
Is the atma of a person the core, true identity which comes before a guru? Or is the religious identity or the nationality the core? Or is there something besides the nationality and creed?

22. Persons who, meditating on Me as non-separate, worship Me in all beings, to them thus ever jealously engaged, I carry what they lack and preserve what they already have. 22

p. 211
23. Even those devotees, who endued with Shraddhâ, worship other gods, they too worship Me alone, O son of Kunti, (but) by the wrong method. 23

24. For I alone am the Enjoyer, and Lord of all Yajnas; but because they do not know Me in reality, they return, (to the mortal world). 24

p. 212
25. Votaries of the Devas go to the Devas; to the Pitris, go their votaries; to the Bhutas, go the Bhuta worshippers; My votaries too come unto Me. 25

p. 213
26. Whoever with devotion offers Me a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, that I accept—the devout gift of the pure-minded. 26

27. Whatever thou doest, whatever thou eatest, whatever thou offerest in sacrifice, whatever thou givest away, whatever austerity thou practisest, O son of Kunti, do that as an offering unto Me.
p. 214
28. Thus shalt thou be freed from the bondages of actions, bearing good and evil results: with the heart steadfast in the Yoga of renunciation, and liberated, thou shalt come unto Me. 28

29. I am the same to all beings: to Me there is none hateful or dear. But those who worship Me with devotion, are in Me, and I too am in them. 29
Why would it not be wisdom to accept that people have religious faiths according to their temperament and karam and not require missionary conversion from one thing to another? If Srimad Bhagavatum says a Bhuta worshipper worships the Parabrahm but by wrong method, then Bhagavan is accepting every religious offering of ours, however mistaken, however tiny, and leading us closer to mukti.

Seldom have I seen such viper-like mischievousness as in the most recent strategies of the Christian mission in India. It is a viper with two teeth. On the one side, there is the gentle penetration through social and educational services, now compounded with a rhetoric of "inculturation": glib talk of "dialogue", "sharing", "common ground", fraudulent donning of Hindu robes by Christian monks, all calculated to fool Hindus about the continuity of the Christian striving to destroy Hinduism and replace it with the cult of Jesus.

There is no doubt. But I don't think western Christians have to convert either. I simply think conversion as a requirement is an abhorrent disrespect of the culture and validity of a person's own beliefs.

Beliefs can be wrong. Certainly the human mind itself is very small. If you stand on the moon and look down at the Earth with a microscope, the human brain is smaller than a bacterium. Yet we try to comprehend the immensity. Of course we are wrong. We are limited. So beliefs are not the most important thing. We are not the brain. We are something more refined than this. Everyone of us is made of the same soul-stuff.

Politically, nationalism is important. But spiritually, nationalism is something that fades away. Even the earth will fade away. None of these labels, or these languages we use to describe will last. From a spiritual point of view, demolishing a religious figure or faith of someone else is a bad thing. People cling to religion in times of distress or need. And we have no right to take that away from them. Let their guru guide them.

On the other hand, criminal mischief should be exposed. But that is not the same thing as demolishing a person or a belief. For one thing, the tribals wouldn't be converting if the government of India would pay attention to the needs. So there has to be an outreach back to the people, to the poor, the under-educated, to meet the needs as a Hindu society. It's definitely the fault of evil-doers but also the fault of negligence behind these problems.

You are one of the very few Hindu writers working today who has understood the truth about Christianity and the insidious influence it has had on our educated and governing classes. I particularly appreciate your criticism of Yogananda Paramahansa of California. For the last hundred years our mahatmas (including Mahaatma Gandhi) and god men have misled the people --------


Swami Chidananda of Shivananda Aashram at Rishikesh is a prime example of this kind of Christianized Hindu sadhu who has gained a world following by undermining the very integrity of Hindu Dharma.
I never heard anything bad about Paramahansa Yogananda or any of his group. He came to America, a predominantly Christian country and was a fine teacher. He spoke to people where they were at. What is the evil thing? Because he tried to point out the parallel teachings in Bible and Bhagavad-Gita? What about bhuta worshippers? A teacher should not come to them and bring message of peace and unity? Do you think immigrants to America would have an easier time if Hindu gurus and swamis did not first come here to broaden some degree of tolerance and understanding?

You realize Paramahansa Yogananda was in America when the KKK was at it's peak. Imagine how different America would be today without all these people who came to teach the general "Christian" public a thing or two about the beauty of Dharmic faiths. I know a few people who are members of SRF, both Indian and White and they all all very sweet people. And not one of them in the years I've known them has ever been interested in converting others, proselytizing, or advancing Christian missionary agendas. I also know Radha Soamis and they are also very sincere. What is this guys problem? You should not make a friend into an enemy.

Unlike Christian priests who study Hindu scriptures and doctrines in depth for years, they have never read the Bible or studied the imperialist Christian ideologies that have be formulated out of the Bible story. They are helpless, and they are made even more helpless by their own superficially understood and secularised doctrines of an abstract, impersonal, and all-pervasive Brahman godhead.
You know, there's a lot more to the Bible than you think. There is a lot of suppression historically, and in the mainstream Christian Churches which explains all this. To avoid big blocks of text I will cont.

(Cont.)