What do you think?

[Believer]

Namaste,

When somebody talks like a broken record and would not even consider another POV supported by long explanations, it is fruitless to carry on the conversation. 'All paths lead to the same divine', or 'we are all on the same path' is the new age mumbo jumbo that has been discussed to death before. Same attitudes, new people. First it was only God, today it is God and guru. Tomorrow there may be a third element in the equation. It is a meaningless open ended back and forth with no convergence.

Pranam.

[Aum namah Śivāya]

Vannakkam: You may believe this, but many here would beg to differ ... like me for instance.

What is your goal in life, for example?

Most definitely your concept of 'guru' differs with most as well. Generally, just because you read a swami's book doesn't mean he has taken you on as a sishya, which by definition in most cases indicates a guru-sishya relationship. Forgive me if you have met your guru and he has taken you on as a student.

Aum Namasivaya

Namaste EM,

Your first question is easy. I took what is called the Pilgrim Vow in Swami Kriyananda's Nayaswami order. Every day I repeat that vow, and the first sentence reads thus:

I understand, and intend from now on to live by my understanding, that life is a pilgrimage, of which the final goal is to find and merge back into God.

It can't be said better than that.

As for my guru, that is between he and I alone, so I will not say anymore on that matter. However, I think that you have some very incorrect assumptions about me.

OM

[wundermonk]

After having throught through the question in the OP of this thread, I think IF all Shastras, etc. were destroyed, Hindus are wiped out, etc. Hinduism IN ITS CURRENT FORM [couched in Indian cultural mores, based of Sanskrit, etc.] will not reemerge.

But, for a theist, the philosophy of Hinduism can be established purely on rational grounds by answering the following questions:

(1)What was God doing before creation?
(2)What is the material cause of the universe?
(3)Why does God create if she is all blissful?
(4)Can Hitler go to heaven?
(5)Why is the world evil/partial?
(6)Why did God not create the universe 5 minutes before when she actually did?
(7)How many souls did God create?
(8)What algorithm does God use to allocate souls to newborns?

Of course, an atheist will not even admit the existence of an afterlife/soul. So, these questions are useless in debates with an atheist.

But if a theist thinks about these questions rationally [without already conceding his heart and mind to his religious scripture of choice], it will lead to the philosophy of Hinduism whether the theist is Chinese, African or Indian.

[MahaHrada]

Swami Kriyananda's Nayaswami order.
OM

This explains a lot, this man (James Donald Walters) is a convicted criminal former disciple of Yogananda expelled from self realisation fellowship for reasons wikipedia: desire for personal power, ulterior motives in his service, and setting himself up as the new guru.[14] SRF gave as a reason "specific actions of his–his basic pattern of behavior."[15] and later also brought to court:
wikipedia:
Self-Realization Fellowship brought charges against Kriyananda and Ananda over various copyright and trademark issues. The litigation lasted for around twelve years (1990-2002).
furthermore:
In 1997–98, Anne-Marie Bertolucci, a former resident of Ananda filed suit against Ananda, Ananda minister Danny Levin, and Swami Kriyananda. In the course of the trial, eight women testified under oath that Kriyananda had used his power as the leader of Ananda to obtain sexual gratification from them when they were in their 20s.[28] Kriyananda admitted sexual contacts with most of the women but with full consent[29] but denied it constituted sexual abuse.

The jury found the church (Ananda), and Kriyananda liable for "constructive fraud", with a finding of "malice and fraudulent conduct". The church, Kriyananda and Levin were found liable for "intentional infliction of emotional distress" with a finding of "malice" and a finding of "despicable conduct" against the church. The church was found liable for "negligent supervision" of Kriyananda, with a finding of "malice and fraud" on the part of the church.

[n March, 2004, Italian authorities raided the Ananda colony in Assisi, responding to allegations of a disgruntled former resident who accused Ananda Assisi of fraud, usury and labor law violations. Nine Ananda residents were detained for questioning. They also had a warrant for Kriyananda's detention, but Kriyananda was in India. A seven-year long investigation followed.[32] In March 2009 the judge ruled that the case was "non luogo a procedere perché il fatto non sussiste" (not to be continued as the matter is without substance).

More info
http://www.anandauncovered.com/IndexENG.htm seems to be done by srf
http://www.anandainfo.com/services/index.htm former disciples
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Kriyananda wikipedia

I think there is no need of any further debates or replys, obviously in a mind control cult, one´s own reasoning, Viveka or Tarka is discouraged. What is going on here is obvious. Same old sad story.

[Aum namah Śivāya]

This explains a lot, this man (James Donald Walters) is a convicted criminal former disciple of Yogananda expelled from self realisation fellowship for reasons wikipedia: desire for personal power, ulterior motives in his service, and setting himself up as the new guru.[14] SRF gave as a reason "specific actions of his–his basic pattern of behavior."[15] and later also brought to court:
wikipedia:
Self-Realization Fellowship brought charges against Kriyananda and Ananda over various copyright and trademark issues. The litigation lasted for around twelve years (1990-2002).
furthermore:
In 1997–98, Anne-Marie Bertolucci, a former resident of Ananda filed suit against Ananda, Ananda minister Danny Levin, and Swami Kriyananda. In the course of the trial, eight women testified under oath that Kriyananda had used his power as the leader of Ananda to obtain sexual gratification from them when they were in their 20s.[28] Kriyananda admitted sexual contacts with most of the women but with full consent[29] but denied it constituted sexual abuse.

The jury found the church (Ananda), and Kriyananda liable for "constructive fraud", with a finding of "malice and fraudulent conduct". The church, Kriyananda and Levin were found liable for "intentional infliction of emotional distress" with a finding of "malice" and a finding of "despicable conduct" against the church. The church was found liable for "negligent supervision" of Kriyananda, with a finding of "malice and fraud" on the part of the church.

[n March, 2004, Italian authorities raided the Ananda colony in Assisi, responding to allegations of a disgruntled former resident who accused Ananda Assisi of fraud, usury and labor law violations. Nine Ananda residents were detained for questioning. They also had a warrant for Kriyananda's detention, but Kriyananda was in India. A seven-year long investigation followed.[32] In March 2009 the judge ruled that the case was "non luogo a procedere perché il fatto non sussiste" (not to be continued as the matter is without substance).

More info
http://www.anandauncovered.com/IndexENG.htm seems to be done by srf
http://www.anandainfo.com/services/index.htm former disciples
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Kriyananda wikipedia

I think there is no need of any further debates or replys, obviously in a mind control cult, one own reasoning, viveka or tarka is discouraged. What is going on here is obvious. Same old sad story.

Namaste MH,

You cannot believe everything you read. The allegations were made up by SRF in order to ruin Kriyananda's reputation and bankrupt Ananda. In reality, Ananda won 95% of the charges brought against them, and the court has agreed with its right to spread Yogananda's teachings, which would not have been possible if SRF had its way.

Please get both sides of the story before spreading such misinformation.

OM