An Authentic Life 1.1 for pdf - Universalist Radha-Krishnaism

In the mornings, I walked around a park with a
pond where there were swans. The weather was
much milder than in Holland or Germany.
I went to the London temple next. It was in a
row house near the British Museum where devotees
found writings of Bhaktisiddhanta and his father,
Bhaktivinode Thakur, who introduced Gaudiya
Vaishnavism or Krishna consciousness to the West in
the late nineteenth century.
One of his early
works, The Bhagavata,
greatly influenced me. In it,
Bhaktivinode described his
spiritual search, which included
a study of great
Western philosophers and
Jesus. He was Unitarian in
his outlook, but then he discovered
the eastern savior,
Krishna Chaitanya and the
writings of his followers.
He embraced these teachings
and became their pro-
Bhaktivinode Thakur
ponent.
Bhaktivinode said, "Don't believe everything
you read in old books." He wrote that many descriptions
of hell are interpolated at later dates to please
kings and keep people in line through fear. I believe
that’s true of many religions as the establishment coopted
them.
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