Please help me find God and Hinduism(Krishna, Swaminarayan) - Very urgent and scared!

Hi everyone,

I have a lot to say, so I figured I'd give a brief summary and people could choose to read on if they want, and otherwise they could answer based on this. I grew up in a Hindu household in America, but I never learned that much about Hinduism. Today, I am very scared because I’ve started thinking about God and don’t know what the truth is. It’s tough because there are so many religions today, and they all tell different stories of how the world was created, how we have to live our lives and worship, and where we go when we die. On top of that, i work in a science/engineering atmosphere where it is believed that there is an answer for why everything happens. It's hard to find a belief in God and where he fits in our world with science that has some disagreements with what he has said or done. I want to believe in God and build a relationship with God, but I’m afraid of making the wrong decision on religions since I don’t know what the truth is. Furthermore, it’s hard because I’ve been hearing that a lot of religions are based on culture or heavily influenced by man, and it’s not about God’s will or necessarily the truth. I’ve heard about a lot of people convince themselves to believe just because they’re afraid of dying, and they like what the religion promises. Also, I hear they might only have heard of one religion, and they convince themselves so strongly over time that it’s real that they aren’t able to see the truth. To make it even scarier, I hear about a lot of false prophets and cult leaders who gain followers simply for the gain of money and self promotion, but people blindly believe in what they’re being told. For example, Sadhguru seems to say all this stuff about Krishna/God are just stories, but he seems to promote himself and has a lot of money gained and temple to promote himself. I also hear about the new Sai Baba guy(not the original) and how he does fake tricks like making ash appear, or making rings and other things show up out of handkerchiefs, but everyone has strong belief that he is God or under God. I would HATE to fall into one of those and live my entire life the wrong way, not have a real relationship with God, and not have the afterlife I expected. I’ve slowly been learning about Swaminarayan, and he seems to be very real and genuine form of God. I am interested in him because he is so recent, so i was hoping people would have more input on him. He also seems to validate Krishna and Ram from what I've heard. I’m just very scared of it being some scam in the interest of gaining money or fame/etc. I read a little about Swaminarayan being a scam started to gain an amount of money. Can someone give me some insight? I’m really scared of everything being a scam. I hate the idea of there being no God, and I hate the idea of dying and never seeing my parents again.

I'll post some extra stuff that is on my mind for further reading in my post following this. I didn't want to overburden the reader, but i'd be happy if people could address what i write there as well. again, please respond...I'm very scared and not at peace with the idea of if God exists, how i know he does exist and what he truly wants, how to avoid any scams and have the truth, and what will happen to us, etc.

Here's what Wikipedia said on Swaminarayan and this is one of my concerns.

Several decades after formation of the movement, Swami Dayananda (1824–1883) questioned the acceptance of Swaminarayan as the Supreme Being and was disapproving towards the idea that visions of Swaminarayan could form a path to attaining perfection. Accused of deviating from the Vedas, his followers were criticised for the illegal collection of wealth and the "practice of frauds and tricks."[82] In the views of Swami Dayananda, published as early as 1875, it was a "historical fact" that Swaminarayan decorated himself as Narayana in order to gain followers.[83]
The Swaminarayan faith has been linked to patriarchal class structures that subjugate women.[84] Members of the faith are defensive of the fact that some practices seem to restrict women and make gender equality in leadership impossible.[85] However, while "many would assert that Swaminarayan Hinduism serves a patriarchal agenda, which attempts to keep women in certain roles", Swaminarayan himself, despite considerable criticism from those in his own contemporary society who "loathed the uplift of lower caste women," insisted that education was the inherent right of all people.[86] In case of widows, he directed those who could not follow the path of chastity to remarry. For those who could, he lay down strict rules which included them being under the control of male members of the family. This may seem regressive, however it gave them "a respected and secure place in the social order" of the time.[87] He also directed male devotees not to listen to religious discourses given by women. Swaminarayan restricted widows "to live always under the control of male members of their family and prohibited them from receiving instruction in any science from any man excepting their nearest relations."

A quick description of my other issues

2. there are so many different religions, and some say if you don't believe in theirs you go to hell. although, i've heard some hindus acknowledge christ and he is acknowledged as shiva. I've heard ram, krishna, and swaminarayan are all one. I've heard hindus acknowledge one god and are ok with christ. my question is what is the explanation for the disagreeances of all the religions. Does God have some plan for all of this? why would he tell different information about the world to different people? Through his power, could just all these things be real beyond our understanding? I want to be Hindu, but I don't even know if it's real or ok. I don't know what is the truth.

3. I'm coming from an engineering background where there is always a reason for everything. I have to test seemingly absurd cases, and an explanation always arises. I recently tried with the case of the ganpati dada murti which drank milk worldwide for a day, but it seems to defy physics unless i'm missing something. I couldn't scientifically explain why that would happen, but again the problem is the nature i've gained from the world: I just end up thinking that there is a reason but I just didn't find it. At the same time though, I haven't had much equipment to study it, and my immediate thought is there may be something that I'm missing. This is a problem to me because it can never put my mind at ease, and I know there are a lot of believers who can just accept it. At the same time, I know there are a lot of people like people doing diagnostic work as doctors, and other scientists and engineers that have come to accept many of the things with God. I want to be one of those people. I'm curious if they just don't question everything, or do they
keep in mind the other possibilities but have come to an understanding of where God works. My worry is, I can believe there is a God, and I can believe in miracles, but Sometimes I'm afraid a lot of people chalk EVERYTHING up to a miracle though without thinking there could be ANY solution otherwise. I feel I need to find some balance between accepting there couldn't be an explanation, and not accepting everything as a miracle of God's work.

4. I only have two examples that I have in my life that I couldn't explain. The Ganpati dada murti is one, but I'm still plagued with doubt and a possible other explanation. The other thing is my aunt being possessed. My aunt once went into a coma, and the doctors didn't know what was wrong. My relatives called in someone (i dont know all the details), but the person they called in said she was possessed. She awoke from her coma and I guess she was not herself. She was talking as someone else, she hit her nurse in the hospital, and they all had to hold her down while she screamed and whatnot. The person they called recided a mantra for hanuman dada, and they did some other things, and whatever was in her left with a lot of loud noise and it went out the window. The thing is, I KNOW I'm not being lied to. This all happened
to my aunt, and there WERE relatives that witnessed it. My question is what else it could be.... The problem arises in the many beliefs there are. There are some people (i think they're buddhist...I'm not quite so sure what they are but i've heard this a lot), where they claim everything is just energy and faith. They claim there is energy everywhere and it gets concentrated in different ways. The energy and faith in the mantra removed whatever energy was inside my aunt. They also claim energy somehow explains ganpadi dada. This would wipe away the beliefs in Hindu Gods/etc I think. The problem is I feel if i think on it enough i can be shifted to this belief. Then, there is the belief in hanuman dada. I can think on that and believe in that too. It's annoying how we create a lot of our own perceptions. Sometimes we can even convince ourselves that we see things. A lot of people take every coincidence in their life to be God giving them a sign. I’m not saying there aren’t signs from God, but I feel like some people are making everything out to be a sign. On the flip side, there are people who just choose to write off everything and say God doesn't exist and nothing is anything from him.
I'm hoping I can get reasonable people to respond to this and help me find God. Some people claim it's all psychological. I can find ways to believe that too. That actually is a question I have for you. Why is it that there is
so much commonness of possession in India more than other parts of the world? Is is partially psychological and mass hysteria, and people buy into it and start creating the thoughts that they're possessed? Also, could my aunt have heard this stuff of her being possessed while she was in a coma, and that caused her to wake up believing she was possessed? My only argument against that is apperantly i'm told there were sounds, and something went out the window in the end. At the same time, maybe possession is more common than I think in other parts of the world too. I also doubt it always being psychological based on what I hear from some christian accounts where people are speaking in other languages that they never knew before. BUT, how do we know they never heard the language before and had studied it or picked it up somewhere? (This is again the skeptic in me that I don't know if i'm being rational, or swayed what i've grown up being told). Just like
I feel I'm easily being swayed by whatever I'm told into believing it, i wonder if that could be what causes people to believe in their religion. I know there are a lot of people that have never heard about what other religions constitute, and they are raised their whole life surrounded by one thing. One claim is that people become so grounded in one side that they can no longer see the truth. I'm interested in if anyone can give insight with this.

5. My biggest concern/factor that could give me faith if it can be made into not a concern. I see online about things like this Sadhguru guy who is trying to claim Krishna was no god, and all this religion is bogus, but this is a guy that seems to be trying to promote himself as the end all leader, and he's trying to make money for himself it seems. At the same time, there are so many people who are following him. I've also seen online about problems with the new Sai Baba guy doing false magic tricks to entice people. I've heard the original Sai Baba was a real man who was close to God and performed many real miracles through God, but these string of people now aren't so real,
and this last guy was especially not real while coughing up Linga, making holy ash out of nowhere, and doing a lot of making rings appear from handkerchiefs. A lot of this seems to be a scam where people make money. I've seen online where people also claim to remove possessions and putting the spirits into coconuts etc while being a big scam. What scares me is there is a lot of following in all of this.

Despite all that, I've been reading into Swaminarayan, and this is giving me faith in God. He was recent, and he seemed to not have done all the things that I had just mentioned for money. He was so recent, that I'm sure some people have even been told about him from their grandparents who could have heard more about him from their grandparents. Also, it seems he validated krishna, and did many other things that prove him to be really God. I also heard about how muktanand Swami originally didn't agree with him but slowly came around to him. I like this because it seems to authenticate that Swaminarayan wasn't a scam to make money. But what if that was all a planned act? I fear though that people could stretch their imaginations to believe in him easily the way i've read about the sai baba, possession scams, and sadhguru. I tried looking online for scams on swaminarayan, but I didn't come up with much of anything, though. I'm not sure if this is showing it's legitimacy, or if it's hard to argue against things that took place when there was no cameras or technology to track and record everything. I know swaminarayan put gopalanand swami in charge when he died because
gopalanand answered whatever swaminarayan wants when asked if he wanted to go with swaminarayan. And from there, I heard he was going to make hanuman dada's murti talk forever but stopped because someone touched him because they didn't want to take away from all the other mandirs. I've also heard that they said the murti of swaminarayan talked to swaminarayan's two appointed relatives, but didn't talk to anyone else. I'm wondering how people know this all isn't a claim of many miracles and powers that can't be proven simply for the sake of a system to create believers. Did other people SEE the statues talking?

Remember, I'm not trying to attack anyone's beliefs, I'm just genuinely trying to get things cleared up for me in hopes that I can be at ease and accept God into my life.

I'm hoping people could clear up a lot of these things I've mentioned for me and help me find God. I'm really feeling positive/hoping i'll get some good responses!

I guess this is the hardships of being a confused person in America. You have nonbelievers strongly tell you there's a reason for everything, and you meet believersin other things that are sure it's another way, and then you have believers that swear another way.

[peteyzen]

pick which ever aspect of god that appeals to you, and start praying and meditating on it, and see what happens.If your afraid of cults groups etc, do it on your own, see how it goes, then trust god to lead you to what ever teacher/ system will help you best.

Lord Krishna may have been fact or fiction, but you can read the Bhagavad Gita yourself to find out whether it is a God-inspired text or not. Lao Tzu may have written the Tao Te Ching or his followers, but you can judge for yourself whether the Tao still exists in today's world. A Course in Miracles may have been written by Christ's voice or it may have been the invention of a very creative psychologist. You judge for yourself. I am not surprised that every modern day guru has a little dirt on his path, that gives you freedom of choice to decide for yourself who you are. But one thing you can count on, if this Authority you are looking for exist, She will be communicating with you.

Originally Posted by vulcanraven188

I grew up in a Hindu household in America, but I never learned that much about Hinduism. Today, I am very scared because I’ve started thinking about God and don’t know what the truth is. It’s tough because there are so many religions today, and they all tell different stories of how the world was created, how we have to live our lives and worship, and where we go when we die. On top of that, i work in a science/engineering atmosphere where it is believed that there is an answer for why everything happens. It's hard to find a belief in God and where he fits in our world with science that has some disagreements with what he has said or done. I want to believe in God and build a relationship with God, but I’m afraid of making the wrong decision on religions since I don’t know what the truth is. Furthermore, it’s hard because I’ve been hearing that a lot of religions are based on culture or heavily influenced by man, and it’s not about God’s will or necessarily the truth.

Hello,
It may serve you to try and clarify for yourself what you are actually after.
There are few possibilities, each and every one of them is viable.
One possibility is wanting to know more about your own heritage.
Another one is wanting to start practicing a religion, or to adhere to certain faith.
Another one is wanting to know for a fact the truth of the matter, pertaining to religion and God(s).
Another one is wanting to actually connect with God, or with a God.

Please let me share with you.
I'm a retired electronics technician and practical engineer. I'm also close to Yoga for more than 40 years. There is neither a necessary connection, nor a necessary conflict, between scientific thinking and religious beliefs and practices. Both can abide at the same time in one person, though it isn't necessarily so.

Also,
If what you are after is actually knowing God, you will know God, eventually.
All it takes is really wanting it, though it takes time, maybe many years, maybe a lifetime, maybe more than one lifetime. Apart from really wanting to know God, whatever practices and beliefs you'll adhere to are of minor relevance and importance.

The same goes for if what you are after is actually knowing the truth of the matter, pertaining to reality, religion and God(s).

There is a possible hint about the non-conflict between scientific thinking and a spiritual, or religious one. In quantum physics, there is a different phenomenon when there is an observer and a different phenomenon when there isn't an observer. The question is who, or what, that observer is. There is at least one known physicist who claims that the observer is consciousness. Yoga also claims that all is consciousness, there is nothing but consciousness. Indeed, this is only a vague hint, though it may explored further.

[Xan]

vulcanraven... Rather than looking for a true god outside yourself, the direct way is to look into yourself... into the quiet open space within you that is your soul.

This is how to get past the fear and into what you can know and trust... your inner divine being.


Xan

Hare Krishna!

Dear Xan,

That's very nice and beautiful. Hope, vulcanraven188 understands the point.

Love and best wishes,

SM

Hare Krishna!

Originally posted by vulcanraven188..............

"Hi everyone,

I have a lot to say, so I figured I'd give a brief summary and people could choose to read on if they want, and otherwise they could answer based on this. I grew up in a Hindu household in America, but I never learned that much about Hinduism. Today, I am very scared because I’ve started thinking about God and don’t know what the truth is. It’s tough because there are so many religions today, and they all tell different stories of how the world was created, how we have to live our lives and worship, and where we go when we die. On top of that, i work in a science/engineering atmosphere where it is believed that there is an answer for why everything happens. It's hard to find a belief in God and where he fits in our world with science that has some disagreements with what he has said or done. I want to believe in God and build a relationship with God, but I’m afraid of making the wrong decision on religions since I don’t know what the truth is. Furthermore, it’s hard because I’ve been hearing that a lot of religions are based on culture or heavily influenced by man, and it’s not about God’s will or necessarily the truth. I’ve heard about a lot of people convince themselves to believe just because they’re afraid of dying, and they like what the religion promises. Also, I hear they might only have heard of one religion, and they convince themselves so strongly over time that it’s real that they aren’t able to see the truth. To make it even scarier, I hear about a lot of false prophets and cult leaders who gain followers simply for the gain of money and self promotion, but people blindly believe in what they’re being told. For example, Sadhguru seems to say all this stuff about Krishna/God are just stories, but he seems to promote himself and has a lot of money gained and temple to promote himself. I also hear about the new Sai Baba guy(not the original) and how he does fake tricks like making ash appear, or making rings and other things show up out of handkerchiefs, but everyone has strong belief that he is God or under God. I would HATE to fall into one of those and live my entire life the wrong way, not have a real relationship with God, and not have the afterlife I expected. I’ve slowly been learning about Swaminarayan, and he seems to be very real and genuine form of God. I am interested in him because he is so recent, so i was hoping people would have more input on him. He also seems to validate Krishna and Ram from what I've heard. I’m just very scared of it being some scam in the interest of gaining money or fame/etc. I read a little about Swaminarayan being a scam started to gain an amount of money. Can someone give me some insight? I’m really scared of everything being a scam. I hate the idea of there being no God, and I hate the idea of dying and never seeing my parents again.

I'll post some extra stuff that is on my mind for further reading in my post following this. I didn't want to overburden the reader, but i'd be happy if people could address what i write there as well. again, please respond...I'm very scared and not at peace with the idea of if God exists, how i know he does exist and what he truly wants, how to avoid any scams and have the truth, and what will happen to us, etc.
.................................................. .................................................. ....

Dear vulcanraven188,

No doubt that you are in utter confusion. It is silly that you got scared after you started thinking about God.

Dear brother, if you are sincere and you bother only about knowing God forget all about religions, fake and sadguru, good and bad, beautiful and ugly...everything. As God envelops every conceivable object, animate and inanimate..............please do not go into any criticism. Good and bad are all here to perform the Divine Game of Maya (Illusion). Try to go above this Maya. Unless you become aware of this Leela and stand clear of it you cannot see or come near God. Even Laxman cannot see Lord Rama unless Sita moves away from in between.

Honestly, you do not need any religion, book knowledge, guru or anything to know God. A baby does not need books, religions or hear-says to know its mother. So, please do not waste your time and energy in finding out the better religion, Krishna, Swaminarayana, sad and fake gurus. A guru can be fake but the name or mantra (God's name) that he gives cannot be. So, what you do with that mantra is more important than the Guru himself whether he is a sad or fake guru.

Simplicity, sincerity, love and faith can fetch anything including God. Please have no doubts and try to develop these qualities. God Himself will be your Guru and guide you to the eternal ocean of bliss.

Love and best wishes,

SM

[peteyzen]

I love what storymaker has said, and it is true, every word.
But not for beginners, not for those first finding their way,I know many many advanced souls in religions and in disciplined structures of spirituality. What they get from those adventures is structure and a back up system, a bit like alcoholics who try to give up alcohol alone, they fail. yet when they get in an Alcoholics anonymous group they get back up, support and mutual love as well as divine help. WE need this, because we are trying to leave the human condition behind and we are addicted to it like the alcoholics. For most on this planet they do not have the self discipline to go it alone. This is the truth, although many will tell you its not, none of them will be realised.
Also by focusing on an avatar or aspect of god we get divine help, I know and I know many others who do to. You go to the aspect of the divine that seems the one for you and god will work thru it to help you my friend.
Howevre if going direct as Storymaker has suggested seems right for you, then do pursue that path.
The most important thing is a genuine desire to know

Hare Krishna!

Originally posted by Peteyzen............

"I love what storymaker has said, and it is true, every word.
But not for beginners, not for those first finding their way,I know many many advanced souls in religions and in disciplined structures of spirituality. What they get from those adventures is structure and a back up system, a bit like alcoholics who try to give up alcohol alone, they fail. yet when they get in an Alcoholics anonymous group they get back up, support and mutual love as well as divine help. WE need this, because we are trying to leave the human condition behind and we are addicted to it like the alcoholics. For most on this planet they do not have the self discipline to go it alone. This is the truth, although many will tell you its not, none of them will be realised.
Also by focusing on an avatar or aspect of god we get divine help, I know and I know many others who do to. You go to the aspect of the divine that seems the one for you and god will work thru it to help you my friend.
Howevre if going direct as Storymaker has suggested seems right for you, then do pursue that path.
The most important thing is a genuine desire to know"
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>

Dear Peteyzen,

Many thanks for your beautiful post. I agree cent per cent. It was my big mistake that I went one sided and gave the impression of only Nirakar (Formless) God . Very truly you have mentioned about the beginners and that it is extremely difficult for a fresh aspirant to have love and faith for a formless being. A beginner should first of all have immense respect and love for God in the form of Avatars, Guru or Deity (Sakar- with form). There is absolutely no doubt, as you have mentioned, that by focusing on an avatar or aspect of God we get divine help. Vulcanraven188 should take a note of this and forgive me.

Thanks again.

Love and best wishes,

SM