View source for Simply stamping myself with some rubber stamp that, "I belong to this religion," "I belong to that religion," that will not help. That is cheating. You are cheating yourself

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{{terms|"Simply stamping myself with some rubber stamp that, "I belong to this religion," "I belong to that religion," that will not help. That is cheating. You are cheating yourself"}}
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{{compiler|Soham}}
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[[Category:Simply]]
[[Category:Myself (Prabhupada)]]
[[Category:Some]]
[[Category:Rubber Stamping Religion]]
[[Category:Belong To]]
[[Category:This Or That]]
[[Category:Will Not help You]]
[[Category:Cheating]]
[[Category:Yourself]]
[[Category:Pages Needing Audio - SOHAM]]
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<h2>Lectures</h2>
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<h3>Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures</h3>
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Because they have no idea what is God. Neither in their principles there is service of God, there is dedication to God. Simply official in the so-called religion. Therefore Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura said: "These are all cheating religion." Religion means when one accepts some religion, he must know, "What is God; what I am; what is my relationship with God; what are the laws of God, how I am to act." So many things you have to learn. That is religion. Simply stamping myself with some rubber stamp that, "I belong to this religion," "I belong to that religion," that will not help. That is cheating. You are cheating yourself.
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[[Vanisource:710817 - Lecture SB 01.01.02 - London|710817 - Lecture SB 01.01.02 - London]]
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When one has taken the Vaiṣṇava initiation and properly discharging duties, he should be not be considered belonging to such caste. A spiritual master should not be counted amongst ordinary human beings. Similarly, this Deity, although we know that we have made it from stone, He's not stone. He is stone to the stone-hearted. If one is stone-hearted, then Kṛṣṇa will stand as stone forever. But if one is soften-hearted by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, then he'll talk with Kṛṣṇa. That is the difference. Kṛṣṇa is always present.

Therefore it is said here . . . any religion which does not teach about God, which does not know what is God, that is cheating religion. That's all. Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra ([[Vanisource:SB 1.1.2|SB 1.1.2]]). Cheating religion. And the Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura has said:

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:pṛthivīte yāhā kichu dharma-nāme cale 
:bhagavat prahe tāhāṅ paripūrṇa chale
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"In the all over the world, what is going on . . ." It is a strong criticism. In the name of religion, the Bhāgavata says: "They're all cheating." That's all.

Because they have no idea what is God. Neither in their principles there is service of God, there is dedication to God. Simply official in the so-called religion. Therefore Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura said: "These are all cheating religion." Religion means when one accepts some religion, he must know, "What is God; what I am; what is my relationship with God; what are the laws of God, how I am to act." So many things you have to learn. That is religion. Simply stamping myself with some rubber stamp that, "I belong to this religion," "I belong to that religion," that will not help. That is cheating. You are cheating yourself.

Another point is that it doesn't matter . . . I don't say that your religion is cheating or my religion is bona fide. I don't say that. We have no right to say that. I want to see . . . "I" means we are bhāgavata. We are representative of bhāgavata-dharma. Or bhāgavata wants to see. Any religion you may profess—it doesn't matter—I want to see whether you have got the result of religion. The result of religion is you will love God. That is result of religion. If you have become actually lover of God, then your religion—it doesn't matter whatever religion you profess—that is perfect.

But if instead of developing your love for God, you have developed love for so many nonsense things, then you have simply wasted your time. That is the verdict of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

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:dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsāṁ
:viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ
:notpādayed yadi ratiṁ
:śrama eva hi kevalam 
:([[Vanisource:SB 1.2.8|SB 1.2.8]])
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Dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ. Not that anyone who is not following strictly the religious principles. Even if he is following strictly the religious principle . . . svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsām, dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsām. But the result should be that he should be a lover of God. Viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ. Unless one becomes lover of God, he is not interested to hear about God. Here you are sitting, a few boys and girls. There are millions of people. Because you have little love for Kṛṣṇa, therefore you are sitting. Therefore you are sitting. So without development of love for God, nobody is interested to hear about God.
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