“Jesus Christ was such a great personality – the son of God, the representative of God.
He had no fault. Still, he was crucified. He wanted to deliver God consciousness, but in return they crucified him-they were so thankless. They could not appreciate his preaching. But we appreciate him and give him all honor as the representative of God.
Of course, the message that Christ preached was just according to his particular time, place, and country, and just suited for a particular group of people. But certainly he is the representative of God. Therefore we adore Lord Jesus Christ and offer our obeisances to him.
Once, in Melbourne, a group of Christian ministers came to visit me. They asked, “What is your idea of Jesus Christ?” I told them, “He is our guru. He is preaching God consciousness, so he is our spiritual master.” The ministers very much appreciated that. ”
Srila Prabhupada’s view on Jesus Christ
Many people often wonder what is the view of Lord Jesus Christ in the Krishna consciousness movement.
In The Path of Perfection , Srila Prabhupada describes the Vaishnava understanding of Christ and Christianity in greater detail:
“Bhakti-yoga means connecting ourselves with Krishna, God, and becoming His eternal associates. Bhakti-yoga cannot be applied to any other objective; therefore in Buddhism, for instance, there is no bhakti-yoga , because they do not recognize the Supreme Lord existing as the supreme objective. Christians, however, practice bhakti-yoga when they worship Jesus Christ, because they are accepting him as the son of God and are therefore accepting God. Unless one accepts God, there is no question of bhakti-yoga . Christianity, therefore, is also a form of Vaishnavaism, because God is recognized… However, where there is no recognition of a personal God…there is no question of bhakti-yoga.”
Srila Prabhupada, the foremost exponent of the Krishna consciousness movement explains that Jesus is Krishna’s representative, son of God, and spiritual master .
Below are excerpts from Srila Prabhupada’s books, lectures, and conversations about Jesus Christ and his relationship with Krsna.
“If one loves Krishna, he must love Lord Jesus also. And if one perfectly loves Jesus he must love Krishna too. If he says, “Why shall I love Krishna? I shall love Jesus,” then he has no knowledge. And if one says, “Why shall I love Jesus? I shall love Krishna”, then he has no knowledge either. If one understands Krishna, then he will understand Jesus. If one understands Jesus, you’ll understand Krishna too” (Srila Prabhupada – Room conversation with Allen Ginsberg, May 12, 1969 / Columbus – Ohio)
As Lord Jesus Christ said, we should hate the sin, not the sinner. That is a very nice statement, because the sinner is under illusion. He is mad. If we hate him, how can we deliver him? Therefore, those who are advanced devotees, who are really servants of God, do not hate anyone. When Lord Jesus Christ was being crucified, he said, “My God, forgive them. They know not what they do.” This is the proper attitude of an advanced devotee. He understands that the conditioned souls cannot be hated, because they have become mad due to their materialistic way of thinking. In this Krsna consciousness movement, there is no question of hating anyone. Everyone is welcomed to come and chant Hare Krsna, take krsna-prasada, listen to the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita, and try to rectify material, conditioned life. This is the essential program of Krsna consciousness. (Path of Perfection Chapter 3: Learning How to See God)
Christian, Muhammadan, Hindu-it doesn’t matter. If he is simply speaking on behalf of God, he is a guru. Lord Jesus Christ, for instance. He canvassed people, saying, “Just try to love God.” Anyone-it doesn’t matter who-be he Hindu, Muslim, or Christian, is a guru if he convinces people to love God. That is the test. The guru never says, “I am God,” or “I will make you God.” The real guru says, “I am a servant of God, and I will make you a servant of God also.” It doesn’t matter how the guru is dressed. As Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, “Whoever can impart knowledge about Krsna is a spiritual master.” A genuine spiritual master simply tries to get people to become devotees of Krsna, or God. He has no other business. (Science of Self Realization Chapter 2: Choosing a Spiritual Master)
So Lord Jesus Christ said, “My Lord, hallowed be Thy name.” He wants to glorify the name of the Lord. And some people says that there is no name of God. How? If Lord Jesus Christ says “Hallowed by Thy name,” there must be name. The name is there, but he did not pronounce it because the people at that time will not be able to understand or maybe some reason, but he says there is name. So we are making this propaganda, Krsna consciousness movement, the “Hallowed by Thy name. My Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, let Your holy name be glorified.” This is our movement. It is not a sectarian…( Lecture: Bhagavad Gita 3.27 Melbourne June 27, 1974)
Sometimes Sri Krsna descends Himself, and sometimes He sends His representative. The major religions of the world-Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Moslem-believe in some supreme authority or personality coming down from the kingdom of God. In the Christian religion, Jesus Christ claimed to be the son of God and to be coming from the kingdom of God to reclaim conditioned souls. As followers of Bhagavad-gita, we admit this claim to be true. So basically there is no difference of opinion. In details there may be differences due to differences in culture, climate and people, but the basic principle remains the same-that is, God or His representatives come to reclaim conditioned souls. ( Raja Vidya Chapter 6 :Knowledge of Krsna’s Appearance and Activities)
Just like Lord Jesus Christ. He was so badly treated and still he was thinking, “Father, they do not know what they are doing. Please excuse.” This is suhrdah. He is praying to God This is sadhu, mahatma. Suhrdah prasanta. Not that… In India there are examples like Haridasa Thakura, Prahlada Maharaja. And the Western countries also, Lord Jesus Christ, he is saktyavesa-avatara, God’s son. And he tolerated so much. These are the examples of mahatma. Don’t misunderstand that we are preaching that mahatmas are only in India. No. By the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead there are mahatmas even amongst the birds, even amongst the beasts, even amongst the lower than animals. Because this Krsna consciousness movement is going on in different places, in different circumstances.( Srimad Bhagavatam 5.5.3 –vrndavana Oct 25, 1976)
Conversation with Father Emmanuel - In 1974, near ISKCON’s center in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany, Srila Prabhupada and several of his disciples took a morning walk with father Emmanuel Jungclaussen, a Benedictine monk from Niederalteich Monastery. Noticing that Srila Prabhupada was carrying meditation beads similar to the rosary, Father Emmanuel explained that he also chanted a constant prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, be merciful unto us.” The following conversation ensued.
Conversation with Cardinal Danielou - “Thou Shalt Not Kill” or “Thou Shalt Not Murder”?
At a monastic retreat near Paris, in July of 1973, Srila Prabhupada talked with Cardinal Jean Danielou: “… the Bible does not simply say, `Do not kill the human being.’ It says broadly, `Thou shalt not kill.’… why do you interpret this to suit your own convenience?”
From Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers - Discussions between Peace Corps Worker Bob Cohen and His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Jesus Christ Was a Guru - The spiritual leader of the Hare Krsna movement here recognizes Lord Jesus Christ as “the son of God, the representative of God… our guru… our spiritual master,” yet he has some sharp words for those who currently claim to be Christ’s followers…
A devotee of Krsna is friendly to everyone. Therefore it is said here that he has no enemy (nirvairah). How is this? A devotee situated in Krsna consciousness knows that only devotional service to Krsna can relieve a person from all the problems of life. He has personal experience of this, and therefore he wants to introduce this system, Krsna consciousness, into human society. There are many examples in history of devotees of the Lord who risked their lives for the spreading of God consciousness. The favorite example is Lord Jesus Christ. He was crucified by the nondevotees, but he sacrificed his life for spreading God consciousness. Of course, it would be superficial to understand that he was killed. Similarly, in India also there are many examples, such as Thakura Haridasa and Prahlada Maharaja. Why such risk? Because they wanted to spread Krsna consciousness, and it is difficult. A Krsna conscious person knows that if a man is suffering it is due to his forgetfulness of his eternal relationship with Krsna. Therefore, the highest benefit one can render to human society is relieving one’s neighbor from all material problems. In such a way, a pure devotee is engaged in the service of the Lord. Now, we can imagine how merciful Krsna is to those engaged in His service, risking everything for Him. Therefore it is certain that such persons must reach the supreme planet after leaving the body. (Chapter 11 Bhagavad gita text 55 purport)
Comments
2010 March 10
tags: Christianity, hallowed, heaven, nameby adminPrabhupada, Lecture at St. Pascal’s Franciscan Seminary, Melbourne, June 28, 1974: [...] So this is our Krishna consciousness movement, and we are chanting the holy name of God, and we are recommending others also to chant the holy name of God. God must be, must have some name. In the Bible also it is said… What is that? “Hallowed be thy name”?
Satsvarupa: “Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.”
Prabhupada: Yes. So there is name. God’s name is there. God’s name is Christ or Kristo or Krishna. So we can chant combinedly. Where is the difficulty? So those who are professing Christianity, never mind. You have got the name of God. Otherwise why Jesus recommended that “You glorify the name of God”? That is chanting. So let us combinedly glorify the name of God. This is common platform.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.
Both of our prophecy filling heroes were born to devotees of the Lord in occupied homelands.
Both received education by interaction with local priests in part, and were known even in their youth for purity and godliness.
For fairness of comparison, we will be looking only at events within the lifetimes of our teachers. Christinaity has has 2000 years to grow since, while Prabhupada's Iskcon is still in its early phases.
Education; - Jesus was well educated in Hebrew scriptures, having spent much time in early years with the priests at the temples, where he astonished them with his insights .He was otherwise trained as a carpenter by his father, as was common practice in those days in both the mid-east and in SP's time also, in India.
- Srila Prabhupada was also exposed to brahmana and priests and devotees regularly in his early years, and additionally displayed a penchant for Rathayatras and preaching, even in his tender years. In addition we have him spending some years at University and finishing his degree program as chemist. He acquired expertise in Sanskrit, music, and all the devotional arts, as well as an astonishing scholarly ability in writing and comprehending the world's scriptures.
Followers; - Jesus had hundreds of followers in his time, and 12-ish apostles.
Srila Prabhupada had millions of followers, and over 5000 direct disciples.
Temples; - Jesus constructed no lasting edifices of his preaching works in his time.
Srila Pabhupada constructed 108 temples, complete with management and devotional service arrangements, worldwide.
Literature; - Jesus left us no books or verses, other than the beauty of his sermons.
Prabhupada wrote and translated, with scholarly purports including an analysis of the purports of the disciplic succession going back hundreds and thousands of years, some 108 books, also magazines, pamphlets, newspapers, record, tapes, dioramas, and placed those books in the world's major universities. etc.
Fluency; - Jesus spoke one, or perhaps as many as three languages, while with us.
Srila Prabhupada spoke several languages and preached in them, as well as had his books translated into every major language on earth,and had his disciples preach similarly to hundreds of millions all over the globe.
Area – Lord Jesus preached locally only in his time.
- Srila Prabhupada circled the globe 13 times and preached in every major country on earth. His disciples chanted the holy names of Krsna vigorously in every country on earth repeatedly and with enthusiasm.
Disciples – Jesus's disciples were all of the mid-east region, in his time.
SP made disciples from every race on earth.
Religious “conversions' - Jeus had success with gentiles and Jews in his time.
SP has disciples from every religion on earth.
Quality of disciples; - Jesus's disciples were predominantly workers, merchants, fisherfolk.
SP's disciples include PH.D scientists, engineers, doctors, politicians, university educated persons from all over the world, as well as hippies, yogis, revolutionaries, environmentalists, streets people, farmers and workers, seekers of all faiths and backgrounds on earth. SP also organized conferences to reconcile religion and science. He formed the Bhativedanta Institute to do so, and funded it.
Farms and Communities; - Jesus was not involved that we know of in these matters.
SP built several farming communities, and shelters for animals such as cows.
Sermonizing; - Jesus gave many lectures, some recored by his apostles.
SP gave a class or spoke before crowds every day for about 12 years, most recorded.
Monetary; - Jesus had little in the way of money or shelter to offer others.
SP handled millions in religious book sales and donations, and used some of the monies to feed and house thousands of devotees worldwide.
Books distributed; - Jesus is not known for books distribution. Many in his lands could not even read.
Srila Prabhupada distributed millions of devotional pure books of all descriptions, and set up an ongoing process to ensure that this continues. This includes tapes, hardbacks, small books, magazines, newspapers, and pamphlets.
Scholasticism; - Jesus was not well known for his scholarly works.
SP translated Sanskrit, plus consulted his disciplic succession's writings to bring us the essence. He is praised by Sanskritists, university professors, devotees, and yogis worldwide, for his scholarly writings and teachings.
Information about God; - Jesus did not describe God except as Father, and to say he is great, merciful, wrathful, etc. He did simplify the older scripture, and brought a fresh revolutionary devotional mood. He fulfilled most aspects of early prophecy of his appearance.
SP describes many the faces of Ksna in elaborate detail, provided God's name and the Names of His associates, pastimes, names, etc in poetic detail, ads well s providing musical directions to sing these Names, and instructions of personally chanting the Holy Names of Godhead as a means to salvation. He also fulfilled prophecies of his appearnce and activities.
Mystic Information; - Jesus did not describe mystic aspects of self realization or devotional service in detail.
SP describes in exact sequential detail all the steps and results of the devotional path, as well as the varieties of rasas, or devotional moods, ecstasies, etc. He provides a spritual science of exacting and complete descriptions of gross, astral and spiritual existences.
Miracles; Both performed miracles.
I could go on, but at this point it seems redundant. There is no comparing Lord Jesus's early activities with those of Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada did so much more in so short a time, that he is clearly the more effective and exalted in any fair comparison.