Divine Qualities: Compassion

Q. Why does a particular sampradaya not just teach as it is what it believes in, instead of trying to compare and contrast with other sampradayas and constantly try to prove its view point or interpretation as the last word?

Q. If a person is suffering for a long time, 'mercy killing' of that person is practiced in America. Won't that affect the spiritual life of the person being killed? How will it affect? Will the doctors also incur sin by this? Please clarify.

For clarification sake, I am assuming that your use of the term 'mercy killing' is restricted to the category of medically assisted suicide.

Q. People should help people just for the sake of helping them, and without any additional motivation. The propagation of that kind of behavior is the positive part of society in general. Doing everything for God negates the basic human decency of every good act, even though the outcome might be the same. The difference in motivation removes all of the good will from the equation. Essentially, people who do things only for indirect purposes are only automatons.

Q. I was wondering if you could help me understand something. Could you please explain the exchange of karma/bhakti involved when you take someone's remnants? Could you explain the following scenarios if there is a difference...

1) Taking the remnants of a pure devotee - do you get the bhakti of the pure devotee and does the pure devotee get some of your karma?

Q. In the loving association of devotees, I am very slowly developing an "unmotivated" love for the wonderful devotees. But somehow I am also simultaneously realizing, that there is a lot of impersonal attitude towards others who are not devotees of Krishna.

Q. Why do you ask people to get "mukti" (liberation) when it would be better for them to become self-controlled and take repeated births to serve other people by showing them the right path?

Q. In Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 3, page 30 - Srila Prabhupada says, "The killer of the soul is destined to enter the darkest region of ignorance to suffer perpetually." Does perpetual here mean forever or eternally? Do such living entities ever have hope again or are they condemned forever in the lower planetary regions?

Q. Please help me solve one of the mysteries that panic me often. I do wish to be in the service of the Supreme Lord. But I am often disturbed by the sufferings like poverty that exists in the world. Should we just leave all this saying that its the result of karma? And how do you preach a person, who is not getting even a meal a day, about Krishna ?

Q. Is it a sin to kill a living entity like ant, mosquito, cockroach or spider etc? They harm human beings by some means and because of this only one would kill them. It is written in purport of BG 14.16 that one should not kill any living entity. But, microorganisms (bacteria, virus) are always killed by us and plants are also living entities. While I accept that one should not kill animals for eating, but what about plants and bacteria and vermins? Does that incur sin? Please clarify.

Q. Part1: This is with regard to 'disliking other devotees' (referred to in a previous digest). Whilst I understand it is possible to forgive a person who has caused physical pain to another person, I have wondered for sometime about the following.