Talk with two Mormon missionaries

Aug 6, 2010, Govinda's Prague, evening, about 45 min
prasadam: halva and juice
contact: temple info leaflets, my business card

Pariksit das KKS met two missionaries last week in a street of Prague 
and when they learned that he's a devotee they were interested. He 
invited them to our Govinda's restaurant and asked me to help with 
English and philosophy. They sent two elders speaking better Czech but 
they were still glad when I offered to speak in English. It was 
basically my monologue, with Pariksit's short overview of ISKCON's 
spreading around the world and their questions. One of them seemed 
quite interested.

Topics:

mutual introduction

both were from California, one with Czech ancestry

my admission of a lack of knowledge of Mormon tradition

good relationship of devotees and Mormons in Utah, Mormons giving 
$25,000 donation and many young ones helping to build our temple in 
Spanish Fork (www.utahkrishnas.org), under the current 
President/Prophet quite open to other traditions

'religion' (re-ligare) analogical to 'yoga', every living being has an 
individual relationship with God

types of yoga - external and internal

bhakti yoga as the most advanced internal yoga of devotion to God

religions - monistic, polytheistic, monotheistic; monotheism in 
various traditions - close connections, this suggests one God as the 
source of one ancient advanced global civilization, best preserved and 
still alive in India, elsewhere destroyed by European invaders

scriptures over 5,000 years old - oldest ones surviving in the world

gods/devas
- analogical to government administrators, a cosmic hierarchy of devas 
with God on top
- in the Bible, e.g. Deuteronomy 32:43 seen in ESV and CEV (based on 
Dead Sea Scrolls text), translated as 'angels' in NLT (based on 
Septuagint), in most of other versions edited out (!), already in 
Masoretic text http://www.scripturecatholic.com/septuagint.html
and elsewhere http://www.peshitta.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=247
Compare:
gods
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deut32%3A43&version=ESV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deut32%3A43&version=CEV 
angels
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deut32%3A43&version=NLT
nothing
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deut32%3A43&version=KJV

guru as living scripture, acarya

guru-disciple relationship - traditional education, both material and 
spiritual, vs. modern institutionalized education

religious institutions of church type not found previously in India, 
only in modern times


Question: Any connection between Mormons and Vaishnavas?

Answer: somehow roundabout and indirect - Joseph Smith > Freemasons > 
Gnostics > Indian influence (possibly through Buddhist missionaries in 
Near East)

Question: What material were the scriptures written on?

Answer: mainly palm leaves and tree bark, current oldest about 1,000 
years old, preserved in libraries and museums mostly in India, a need 
of copying

Question: Egypt and India connections? (one of the elders studied 
about Egypt)

Answer: 1. Vedic kingdom of Mitanni, Pharaoh Thutmose IV. marrying 
Mitanni princess, daughter of King Artatama after being six times 
refused (!), her son Pharaoh Akhnanton (father of well-known 
Tutankhamen) introduced strict Aton monotheism - worship of God in His 
aspect as Sun - analogy of Surya Narayana worship, Brahma Gayatri 
mantra

2. Rathayatra in southern Egypt

3. Egyptian devas largely analogical to Vedic ones

There're more but these I can think of from the top of my head.

Question: How one joins Hare Krishnas?

Answer: coming in contact with devotees, books, prasadam, media, 
public events > growing interest, reading, devotee sangha > following 
rules, dedication > diksa

Question: How does the life of a Hare Krishna devotee looks like?

Answer: morning spiritual time for worship and japa; then it depends 
on one's varna (work class) and asrama (spiritual status - monk/lay),
explained as universal divisions, not artificially imposed

Question: What is the status of ISKCON in CZ?

Answer: official church since 2002, yet of 2nd class status - 300 
signatures vs. 10,000 for 1st class status; ISKCON founded as 
decentralized; varied status in India and other countries