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WORLD  WVA-IC Coordinator Seeking Volunteers BY TRIDANDISWAMI BHAKTI ANANDA GOSWAMI USA, Apr 8 (VNN) — WVA-IC Coordinator Seeking Volunteers for Vaishnava-Catholic Relations Working Group WVA-IC COORDINATOR SEEKING TO FORM LOCAL, REGIONAL AND GLOBAL COUNCILS TO IMPROVE VAISHNAVA AND CATHOLIC RELATIONS Working Groups Needed to Improve Vaishnava and Catholic Relations in Poland, India and Elsewhere Hare Krishna ! Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga Ki Jaya ! Dear Vaishnavas, Catholics and Other Persons of Goodwill, Please accept my humble obeisances. It is with deep grief that I consider the deteriorating situation between Vaishnavas and some Catholics in Poland. Catholic Christianity is more compatible with Gaudiya Vaishnavism than with any other religious group. There are profound historical and theological, ritual, aesthetic, ascetic / moral and social-order connections between these two great Bhakti Traditions. Without any scholarly understanding of this, anyone may observe how humble open-minded Catholics are attracted to Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Such Catholics, in fact, have often realized that there are elements of Vaishnavism in their Catholicism. I have, for instance, in the last 30 + years met a number of practicing Catholics, who like myself also consider themselves to be Vaishnavas. Generally the historical reasons for Vaishnava-Catholic commonalities are not important to non-scholar devotees, who are more concerned with the present practice of their faith. So, while scholars should be discussing these historical connections and related theological and ritual etc. commonalities, at the 'grass roots' level, the devotees of both traditions can simply appreciate those spiritual and moral goods their Traditions hold in common, eventually coming to a relationship of mutual appreciation and even cooperation for their common benefit. The Catholic teaching on preserving and promoting the spiritual and moral etc. good in other religious traditions officially encourages Catholics to enter into a spiritually and socially fruitful dialogue with other people of God. Such a friendly dialogue between believers is the work of the Holy Spirit / Paramatma, Whose Transcendent Love can bring peace to our own hearts, families and troubled multi-religious communities. What is the foundation for a Vaishnava and Catholic dialogue between believers ? First, it should be understood that there has long been an acknowledgement in Vaishnavism that the God of Jesus Christ is also the God of Vaishnavism. Even as far back as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Biblical Deity was acknowledged by Vaishnavas and Muslims both as the God of Vaishnavism. During the time of Sri Chaitanya's original Sankirtan Mission 500 years ago, many Muslims participated in the non sectarian Sankirtan Movement. And in fact, since then, numerous Vaishnava-Muslim hybrid religious groups, including the Sikhs, various Sufi orders and the Bahais, all have evidenced the historical tendency for Vaishnavas and Biblical religionists (Muslims in this case) to form alliances and then synthesize their two systems into a single devotional path. In the case of Catholicism, no one is suggesting that the future holds a similar development of Vaishnava-Catholic sects, like the Vaishnava-Muslim related Sufi sects. However these two related Great Bhakti Traditions will no doubt eventually overcome disinformation, fear and prejudice to 'discover' eachother, their profound commonalities, and to grow in friendship and mutual appreciation. This will in-turn lead to cooperation for the common good of all humanity. In the mean time, there will continue to be tragic situations like that developing between some Catholics and Vaishnavas in Poland. These situations will no-doubt cause great suffering and sorrow and set-back the non sectarian cause of peace with justice and mercy in our world. How can we Catholics and Vaishnavas of good-will help to reduce the developing 'communal' stress, fear and hostility in Poland or other locations where Catholic and Vaishnava relations are unfriendly or deteriorating ? First we must identify eachother....who are we, the people of goodwill, the peaceworkers on both 'sides' ? Who are the lay and leading Catholics and Vaishnavas desiring understanding, reconciliaton and friendship ? Who is willing to work for peace between the estranged communities ? Who has skills in mediation ? Who speaks with authority for the Church or the Vaishnava Lineage (s) involved in the misunderstanding or offences and conflicts ? Are there trouble makers in the communities or from outside agitating one or both 'sides' to polarlize the situation and inflame hostilities ? Are those promoting hostilities acting with the knowledge and authority from the Magisterium or Sampradaya, or are they just 'loose cannons' or possibly mentally or morally ill persons acting on their own in the name of their God and Religion ? Estrangement and growing communal hostility is something which should be addressed by the proper religious authorities as well as the local and national civil authorities. Basic human freedoms, rights and securities must be insured by the proper civil authorities and called-for by all religious leaders. Like fire, disease and debt, growing distrust, fear and communal hostility must be dealt with quickly and effectively, before it becomes uncontrollable and all-consuming / fatal. Every spiritual and material resourse must be identified and brought to bear against subtle and gross forms of degradation, oppression and violence. We must pray without ceasing, but work for peace with justice with our collective heads and hands as well. If moral authority resides in the sangas or the churches, and peoples have also invested their civil governments with it, giving them legal powers, then these authorities must collectively do everything that they can to insure the common good of ALL the people (majority and minority). This means that in India, the Philippines, Poland etc. the legitimate religious authorities and civil authorities must be pro-active in working to avoid, reduce and end 'communal' hostilities. If so-called 'authorities' are not interested in the common good, but only in the temporal power to oppress others, then what is their moral authority ? Moral authority ultimately comes from God, and it is God Who has COMMANDED US TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Can any 'religious leader' fomenting libelous dis information, blind prejudice and hatred have real moral authority from God ? Does God want rioting and murderous hatred and lies promulgated in His Holy Name ? Of course not. Thus the process of peacemaking requires careful discernment regarding the empowerment of 'religious' leaders who are not sincerely interested in the non sectarian common good of humanity. We need to identify those REAL LEADERS who are more willing to die for peace than they are willing to kill for power. Real spiritual authority from God is not the same as material name fame and adoration with all of its temporal mundane power. Real spiritual authority is evidenced in the power of Divine Love. It is the power to transform lives, families and communities, raising them up out of beastliness into benevolence. We need to find and follow those leaders who can teach us how to become benevolent instead of beastly / predatory, and who can show us the peaceful path to reconciliation with truth, justice and mercy for all. Untruth, injustice, and tyrrany / oppression are the enemies of all humankind, and all persons of goodwill must stand together against these common enemies. Where ever innocent people are being slandered and persecuted for their faith, others should come to their defence. Such solidarity among persons of good will is absolutely necessary if we are to pull the human race back from the brink of self-destruction that is threatening it. God has given us free will and the full responsibility that goes with it. We can either appreciate, inspire and uplift eachother, or we can chose to depreciate, degrade and ultimately debase ourselves and each other. The choice is ours, and the responsibility for the result is ours. Do we want to be part of the solution, or part of the problem ? Do we want to make peace or make war ? Do we choose life for ourselves, our children and our planet ? Or are we bent, in our desire for absolute sectarian, racial or political power, on species and global self-destruction ? The microcosm of hostilities in Poland reflects the macrocosm of deteriorating 'communal' relations world-wide. The time has come for us persons of goodwill to exert ourselves fully and effectively in the cause of peace. We must now learn to maximize our efforts through humble non sectarian council and cooperation with eachother. We need to end communal violence in the untruth / disinformation stage, before it begets physical violence. We need to address real offences and injustices in an effective and timely, spiritual, moral and legal way. We need to foster justice with mercy for all, and to draw-back from the insane brink of self-destruction in the name of Guru, God and Government. So, humbly I am inviting all Catholics and Vaishnavas interested in forming a permanent council to improve global and local Catholic and Vaishnava relations, to contact me at the below addresses. The World Vaishnava Association has recently chosen to establish an Interfaith Committee. As the Interim Coordinator of this Committee, it is one of my goals to foster the development of independant but networked / cooperative permanent local, regional and global working groups to improve relations between Vaishnava and other religious communities. As Interim WVA-IC Coordinator, I want my office to serve in this cause of promoting the development permanent interfaith working groups / councils. We should have Vaishnava-Muslim, Vaishnava-Jewish, Vaishnava-Shaivite, Vaishnava-Pure Land Buddhist and other councils to improve relations between these and other Bhakti Yoga Communities of Faith. As a Catholic and a Vaishnava, I am particularly concerned about problems between these two ancient and enormous devotional communities. There are probably over 3/4 of a billion Vaishnavas, and over a billion Catholics. This makes improving relations between these two Great Religions a global imperative for peace. Are you a Vaishnava, Catholic or both (like myself) interested in bettering Vaishnava-Catholic relations ? Do you know of others who are ? If so, please contact me, and put us in touch. Tell me how the WVA-IC (Interfaith Committee) can serve you or your community in helping to foster better relations. Volunteer for our Vaishnava-Catholic working group. 'The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step'. Organized, cooperative efforts to solve social problems are always much more effective than dis-connected individual efforts. Let us work together to heal the dysfunctional and adversarial problems in our pluralistic communities, through a loving and non sectarian promotion of our common spiritual and moral-social good. Hoping to hear from you, your aspiring servant, Tridandiswami Bhakti Ananda Goswami Interim Coordinator for the World Vaishnava Association Interfaith Committee (WVA-IC) email bhakti.eohn@verizon.net or please write WVA-IC COUNCIL FOR CATHOLIC-VAISHNAVA RELATIONS POST OFFICE BOX 213 MYRTLE POINT OREGON, 97458 USA Contact VNN about this story  Send this story to a friend
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