Response to Shambhu's post 244 in the '(Un)historicity of jesus' tread.
Putting response here, since it does not belong there.
<!--QuoteBegin-Shambhu+Dec 15 2007, 10:28 AM-->QUOTE(Shambhu @ Dec 15 2007, 10:28 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Re ISKON:
1. I too don't like their "demigod" business. I go to ISKON gatherings weekly, but I am a Shaiva, always will be. I like Veera rasa more than bhakti rasa or shringaar rasa. <b>I like Krisna too, but as non-different from Shiva. The difference is only at our end (the devotee's).</b>
[right][snapback]76178[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Though I know that <i>ultimately</i> Shiva and Krishna (and the rest of our Gods) are indeed the same, I happen to be such that I like to think of them in their separate manifested forms as Shiva and Krishna - with their own unique characters. I have equally deep feelings for all of them. (I have been hard at work making them all my Ishtadevam, so to speak... though I started off with a goodly number at a young age itself)
Though their characters are similar in fundamentals (great goodness, great guides, great inspiration), I <i>very</i> much like their individual trademark characteristics. I like thinking of them just as I have heard tell of them from our stories <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> I find different stories and different Gods profoundly moving at various times of my life and even at different hours of some days. I can't explain it. (The best analogy I can think of - and it's a poor one - is that feeling of "Collect them all - each form can manifest separately".) Similarly, I find them all immensely inspiring for my drawings.
I just like thinking of them all, period.
Thought you might like this -
This is an (apparently famous) shlokam called "Vairagyashtaka" which a Shiva bhakta had written about his own feelings:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->I make no difference in substance between Shiva, the supreme Lord of the universe, and Vishnu, its inmost Self.
But still may my devotion continue to be directed to the Lord as Shiva.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->And this one is a similar prayer - by a Ramar devotee this time (my book here of the RK Math doesn't give this shloka's name):
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->I look upon Vishnu and Rama as one and the same, but still may I hold the beautiful Rama to be my all-in-all.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->These are Hindus who chose their Ishtadevams - the manifestation of the divine that most suited/appealed to them, though they knew these are all the same in the very end. The first shlokam kinda seems to fit you, I thought.
<b>ADDED</b>: another Hindu shloka compiled into the same RK Math book, this one explicitly states more of the Dharmic view -
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Whether the highest Being is called Vishnu or Shiva, Brahma or Indra, Sun or Moon, Buddha - the Enlightened, or Mahavir - the Perfect, I always offer my salutations to Him alone who is free from attachment and hatred, worldliness and ignorance, who is endowed with compassion towards all creatures, and is possessed of all noble attributes.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Putting response here, since it does not belong there.
<!--QuoteBegin-Shambhu+Dec 15 2007, 10:28 AM-->QUOTE(Shambhu @ Dec 15 2007, 10:28 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Re ISKON:
1. I too don't like their "demigod" business. I go to ISKON gatherings weekly, but I am a Shaiva, always will be. I like Veera rasa more than bhakti rasa or shringaar rasa. <b>I like Krisna too, but as non-different from Shiva. The difference is only at our end (the devotee's).</b>
[right][snapback]76178[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Though I know that <i>ultimately</i> Shiva and Krishna (and the rest of our Gods) are indeed the same, I happen to be such that I like to think of them in their separate manifested forms as Shiva and Krishna - with their own unique characters. I have equally deep feelings for all of them. (I have been hard at work making them all my Ishtadevam, so to speak... though I started off with a goodly number at a young age itself)
Though their characters are similar in fundamentals (great goodness, great guides, great inspiration), I <i>very</i> much like their individual trademark characteristics. I like thinking of them just as I have heard tell of them from our stories <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> I find different stories and different Gods profoundly moving at various times of my life and even at different hours of some days. I can't explain it. (The best analogy I can think of - and it's a poor one - is that feeling of "Collect them all - each form can manifest separately".) Similarly, I find them all immensely inspiring for my drawings.I just like thinking of them all, period.
Thought you might like this -
This is an (apparently famous) shlokam called "Vairagyashtaka" which a Shiva bhakta had written about his own feelings:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->I make no difference in substance between Shiva, the supreme Lord of the universe, and Vishnu, its inmost Self.
But still may my devotion continue to be directed to the Lord as Shiva.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->And this one is a similar prayer - by a Ramar devotee this time (my book here of the RK Math doesn't give this shloka's name):
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->I look upon Vishnu and Rama as one and the same, but still may I hold the beautiful Rama to be my all-in-all.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->These are Hindus who chose their Ishtadevams - the manifestation of the divine that most suited/appealed to them, though they knew these are all the same in the very end. The first shlokam kinda seems to fit you, I thought.
<b>ADDED</b>: another Hindu shloka compiled into the same RK Math book, this one explicitly states more of the Dharmic view -
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Whether the highest Being is called Vishnu or Shiva, Brahma or Indra, Sun or Moon, Buddha - the Enlightened, or Mahavir - the Perfect, I always offer my salutations to Him alone who is free from attachment and hatred, worldliness and ignorance, who is endowed with compassion towards all creatures, and is possessed of all noble attributes.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->