Here is what Tulsi Gabbard's guru and her parents' guru learned from Chris Butler, who in turn learned this from Srila Prabhupada, founder of International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
This might give some insights into the long term pitfalls for converts to Krishna bhakti teachings who were acculturated in societies which equate God with moral guidelines, rather than a God who is amoral.
There is this pp 50
"The main philosophical weaknesses of Hare Krishna teachings spring from their inadequate view of God.
On the next page, 51 there is this:
[books.google.com]
"They ascribe definite personality to the supreme God, but deny definite moral character to him. Consequently, the whole system becomes amoral. Then to bring in morality, they have to assume an independant moral law, karma. But it results in various inconsistencies.
"We have noted in their teaching that God is supreme cheater as well. He is not always honest and reliable. He can take incarnation as Buddha and deceive people.
"This also becomes evident from the contention of Prabhupada, "in transcendance, notoriousness has the same absolute connotation as eminence." It is not surprising therefore to know that ISKON holds that "the yogi should be able when the occasion arises to reject even moral behavior to do what is necessary to serve Krishna."
"A devotee in other words, can commit any evil because no action done for Krishna has any bad reaction."
Godmen in Modern India also supplied some background information on Chris Butler's guru, Srila Prabhupada.
The legend about Prabhupada is that he arrived penniless in the USA.
In Modern Godmen in India: A Sociological Appraisal, the authors state that Prabhupada did have a patron in India.
[books.google.com]
The original context of sankirtan and how ISKON changed the interpretation.
[books.google.com]
Swearing an oath on the Bhagavad Gita is not the same as swearing an oath on the Pentateuch, Bible, or Koran.
In old Hinduist India, there was no oath taking ceremony taken by holding one's hand upon a book, for no one book equated with the Hinduisms. Lower caste persons were forbidden to touch anything, including books, that belonged to the upper castes!
Equating one book as exemplifying all of "Hinduism" originated with Westerners, who were eager to find one user friendly book which they could regard as analogous to the Bible.
This might give some insights into the long term pitfalls for converts to Krishna bhakti teachings who were acculturated in societies which equate God with moral guidelines, rather than a God who is amoral.
There is this pp 50
"The main philosophical weaknesses of Hare Krishna teachings spring from their inadequate view of God.
On the next page, 51 there is this:
[books.google.com]
"They ascribe definite personality to the supreme God, but deny definite moral character to him. Consequently, the whole system becomes amoral. Then to bring in morality, they have to assume an independant moral law, karma. But it results in various inconsistencies.
"We have noted in their teaching that God is supreme cheater as well. He is not always honest and reliable. He can take incarnation as Buddha and deceive people.
"This also becomes evident from the contention of Prabhupada, "in transcendance, notoriousness has the same absolute connotation as eminence." It is not surprising therefore to know that ISKON holds that "the yogi should be able when the occasion arises to reject even moral behavior to do what is necessary to serve Krishna."
"A devotee in other words, can commit any evil because no action done for Krishna has any bad reaction."
Godmen in Modern India also supplied some background information on Chris Butler's guru, Srila Prabhupada.
The legend about Prabhupada is that he arrived penniless in the USA.
In Modern Godmen in India: A Sociological Appraisal, the authors state that Prabhupada did have a patron in India.
[books.google.com]
The original context of sankirtan and how ISKON changed the interpretation.
[books.google.com]
Swearing an oath on the Bhagavad Gita is not the same as swearing an oath on the Pentateuch, Bible, or Koran.
In old Hinduist India, there was no oath taking ceremony taken by holding one's hand upon a book, for no one book equated with the Hinduisms. Lower caste persons were forbidden to touch anything, including books, that belonged to the upper castes!
Equating one book as exemplifying all of "Hinduism" originated with Westerners, who were eager to find one user friendly book which they could regard as analogous to the Bible.