Hare Krishna and Jesus Christ

There is a thick illusion which makes us believe that one can transmit and translate teachings that date back 2000 years, without being seriously worried about misappropriation. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati warned us of the difficulty in forwarding the kind of message:

"If the teachings preached by Jesus Christ two thousand years ago are not carried forward through guru-paramparā into the present time, if Jesus Christ’s message is sought only in books and recorded instructions, then there is a possibility that we will mistakenly accept distortions of the truths preached by Him or even accept views that are opposite to his as his own."

First of all Jesus has left no artifact worthy of the name that we call teachings. Such doctrine doesn't exist. All that remains of him is an idea that true people must be renounced and the constraints of austere monks living in communities adopted. Nothing about God, nothing about the soul, nothing about the spiritual world, nothing about organized society; everything was concocted several centuries after his death. The result is an impersonal view which rendered possible the dynamic of missionary activities in different cultures of the world. Only impersonalism allows such expansion and consolidation of faith in God. Impersonalism is a form of God; it is His effulgence; that is Brahman, Prabhupada said. Inferior or external designations are material notions that do not impact God. It is more reasonable if we learn the difference between impersonal Vaishnavism and impersonal Buddhism; they are not of the same nature and understanding (keeping in mind that Adi Buddha was an authentic vaishnava, a Vishnu avatar, according to the Gaudhya perspective.)1

I have two common examples at hand of Prabhupada's disciples -Bhagavat Maharaja and Balarama Prabhu- who have reproduced articles on Jesus-Christ and whose authors are Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaj and our Prabhupada. *

The question I naively asked is how the guru parampara is safe from distortions of the truths since we learned from the Bhagavad-gita that the knowledge Krishna spoke can get lost and we end up with gaps: "Bhagavat Maharaja, what are the teachings of Christ you are alluding to? Please, tell us. Do you know what is the core of the teachings the supposed Christian parampara must have transmitted? Many, many Catholic saints have written on what they believed Jesus wanted the humans to follow. Theresa of Avila and Francis of Assisi for example were amongst them. They did not follow a parampara of mahantas, but they had great and "passionate" love for Jesus... and became founder acharyas. 🙏

His response: "I am not questioning Srila Saraswati Prabhupada's conception of Christian theology. If you want to argue about the context of Christian Theology in SBSST statement above then please ask SBSST about it not me."

How can this be possible? He's obviously making fun of me. The whole world is somehow or other Christian conscious, with faithful followers who never had access to the original teaching. I try to convey to Bhagavat Maharaj my thoughts on this aspect, but such speculations are very repugnant to him. 

On this thread, Balarama Prabhu, a Prabhupada's disciple came up with an other letter of Srila Prabhupada regarding Christianity.** "Srila Prabhupada is absolutely, clearly, both our acarya to follow and our diksha guru, guaranteeing each disciple transfer to Viakuntha if they follow and serve his guidance."

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1. Beyond Nirvana: The Philosophy of Mayavadism: A Life History. The author was Bhakti Prajnan Keshava Maharaja from who our Prabhupada received his sannyasa.

* Published by Bhagavat Maharaja. As you can read from his introduction below, he used this article to criticize the Ritvik doctrine. Why not, even Prabhupada will talk sometimes about Jesus to bring water to the mill of Vaisnava preaching and knowledge transmission, i.e. the parampara and the initiation system.

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* "This article by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada clearly destroys the RITVIK conception please read it." Bhagavat Maharajsystem. 

 Jesus Christ is Jagad-guru, by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda

 Question 1: Jesus Christ is jagad-guru, the spiritual master of the whole world. His instructions alone are sufficient for our spiritual welfare. Is it still necessary, then, to accept a mahānta-guru – a great spiritual ācārya (one who teaches by his example) – who is still living in this world?

 Answer: We accept both – jagad-guru and mahānta-guru. If only the jagad-guru-vāda [jagad-guru-ism] is accepted the result has many undesirable consequences (anarthas). If someone accepts such a great soul from the past – in this case Jesus Christ – as jagad-guru and wishes to follow in his footsteps in the present but considers that there is no need for any mahānta-guru, it is questionable to what extent he will be able to properly follow the views of Jesus. Only the succession of mahānta-gurus mercifully delivers to us the words of the Supreme Lord or of the jagad-guru ācāryas.

 The stream of water that originated in the Himalayas has travelled between Gaṅgā’s banks all the way here, to Navadvīpa. As a result, even though we are sitting at such a distance from her source, we are able to touch water from the Himalayas. In the same manner, mahānta-guru brings the current of the river of śuddha-bhakti – as pure and sacred as the waters of Mandākinī (Gaṅgā). He brings that current, which originates at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, all the way to us and showers it on our heads.

 Had the banks of the Ganges not existed, then a person as ordinary and weak as me, a person without resources, could never have been able to climb the Himalayas and touch the water there. And without those riverbanks, the concentrated flow of that pure source from the Himalayas would be scattered and we would often tend to accept some polluted stream as pure Himalayan water, inviting our own misfortune.

 If the teachings preached by Jesus Christ two thousand years ago are not carried forward through guru-paramparā into the present time, if Jesus Christ’s message is sought only in books and recorded instructions, then there is a possibility that we will mistakenly accept distortions of the truths preached by Him or even accept views that are opposite to his as his own.

 Mahānta-guru is also jagad-guru. He is the manifestation of the previous jagad-guru. He receives the teachings of the jagad-guru through disciplic succession and mercifully delivers them to us. He is not someone who would deceive us by not presenting the real truth or say things just to please us; He does not wish for any worldly thing from us. He is the unbiased deliverer of the truth.

☆☆☆

** "Srila Prabhupada clearly sanctioned the idea of the Christians continuing to follow the departed Jesus Christ as their guru. He taught that anyone who followed Christ's teachings was a disciple, and would achieve the level of liberation that was being offered by Jesus Christ:
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Madhudvisa: "Is there any way for a Christian to, without the help of a spiritual master, to reach the spiritual sky through believing in the words of Jesus Christ and trying to follow his teachings?"
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Srila Prabhupada: "I don't follow."
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Tamal Krsna: "Can a Christian in this age, without a spiritual master, but by reading the Bible and following Jesus's words, reach the..."
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Srila Prabhupada: "When you read Bible, you follow spiritual master. How can you say without? As soon as you read Bible, that means you are following the instruction of Lord Jesus Christ, that means you are following spiritual master. So where is the opportunity of being without spiritual master?"
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Madhudvisa: "I was referring to a living spiritual master."
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Srila Prabhupada: "Spiritual master is not the question of... Spiritual master is eternal. Spiritual master is eternal. So your question is without spiritual master. Without spiritual master you cannot be, at any stage of your life. You may accept this spiritual master or that spiritual master. That is a different thing. But you have to accept. As you say that "by reading Bible," when you read Bible that means you are following the spiritual master represented by some priest or some clergyman in the line of Lord Jesus Christ."
(Morning Walk, 2/10/68, Seattle, emphases added)
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"Regarding the end of devotees of Lord Jesus Christ, they can go to heaven, that is all. That is a planet in the material world. A devotee of Lord Jesus Christ is one who is strictly following the ten commandments. [...] Therefore the conclusion is that the devotees of Lord Jesus Christ are promoted to the heavenly planets which are within this material world." 
(Srila Prabhupada Letter to Bhagavan, 2/3/1970)
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"Actually, one who is guided by Jesus Christ will certainly get liberation."
(Perfect Questions Perfect Answers, Chapter 9)
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"... Or the Christians are following Christ, a great personality. Mahajano yena gatah sa panthah. You follow some mahajana, great personality [...] You follow one acarya, like Christians, they follow Christ, acarya. The Mohammedans, they follow acarya, Mohammed. That is good. You must follow some acarya [...] evam parampara-praptam."
(Srila Prabhupada Room Conversation, 20/5/1975, Melbourne)"