Websites from the ISKCON Universe
The interior of Mexico, Guadalajara, is one of my last stops, before a 4-month journey around the world ends. Of course, the life of a traveling swami means that the finish of one journey soon fades into the fresh start of another. Will ever there be "home sweet home" for me? Well, frankly not in this lifetime, not in this world.
Don't worry, the reality is not as cold and heartless as it may sound. As the years in bhakti roll by, the more I seek to surround myself with glorification of Krishna, the more at home I feel. Basking in the association of bhakti-yogis eager to share talks and songs of Krishna, for me, means lying on the genuine lap of luxury. Just to be in the midst of Krishna talks and Krishna kirtan "sends me."
Maybe when you were a little, you would tell another kid, "Do this for me—for example, give me one of your candies—and I promise, you'll be my best friend." So if you want to grant me mercy, then indulge me in hearing, reading, and singing of Govinda, the enlivener of the cows and sense. Do it, and you can be my friend.
And remember, actually every living entity is homeless in this world, having strayed from our original home with Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Pleasure, who says:
"I am not in Vaikuntha nor in the hearts of the yogis. I remain where devotees engage in glorifying My activities."
Science is great! Science helps us understand the world, cure diseases, build great things like computers, mobile devices, skyscrapers, and jet airplanes. It is useful, fascinating and magical. Indeed, sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, as the physicist and science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke famously said.
Moreover, additional benefits of science include wonderful inventions like coal-fired power plants, automobiles, and industrial farming, all allowing humans to do great things like destroy the rainforest, raise the temperature of the entire planet, and cause mass extinctions, clearly undesirable side effects of science. However, science will surely be able to solve the problem it has created. Take the Toyota Prius, for example, a wonder of technology, a hybrid car that is extremely fuel efficient. While it still uses fuel like any other car, it is much better than the gas-guzzlers of yesteryear. So good that its fuel efficiency is close to that of a horse. With a few more years of scientific advances, we will surely be able to make cars that run on nearly nothing, re-grow the rainforest and clone extinct species back into existence. So, science is great. Right?
Have you heard of the Four Horsemen? The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Conquest, War, Famine and Death, are described in the last chapter of the Bible as harbingers of final judgement of God over all people. However, Im not speaking of these horsemen. Rather, Im referring to the self-styled Four Horsemen known as the torch-bearers of the New Atheists movement: Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens. These four scientists claim to represent critical thinking, knowledge and reason. Disagree with their thinking and you must be an irrational, delusional religious fanatic. After all, they represent science.
The most famous of the Four Horseman is Professor Richard Dawkins of Oxford University. A prolific author, Dawkins is best known for his book The God Delusion. He also occasionally gives public lectures. I remember hearing of one of his lectures a few years ago.
I was sitting in my office in the School of Computer Science at the University of Manchester, an office with narrow slits of windows letting in a little daylight, a building that is perpetually either too hot or too cold, having been designed with a monstrously over-powered air-conditioning system for the vacuum tube computers of years gone by. This building, the hallowed halls of learning, the zenith of Western Civilization, is not named after Alan Turing, the famous scientist from Manchester who came up with a universal theory of computation. Instead, it is named after Tom Kilburn, the engineer who built the first stored program computer, highlighting the difference between science and engineering. Scientists come up with ideas, but it is the engineers that make them actually work and create technology. Engineering is applied science.
While sitting at my desk, Mikel, a friend and fellow PhD student, came in wearing a large backpack. I waited until he sat down and caught his breath, then asked him where he just came from. He explained he was at Oxford University for a public lecture by Richard Dawkins. I then asked what he thought of the lecture, expecting a rant about how Dawkins was brilliantly condemning religion, especially the Catholic Church. Mikel was a staunch atheists with a special axe to grind against the Catholic Church, an organization quite prominent in his home country of Spain. I enjoyed these rants, as they were quite entertaining and often led to interesting friendly arguments between the two of us.
Much to my surprise, however, Mikel said he was disappointed by Dawkins talk. Mikel explained that he was expecting Dawkins to make some good arguments for atheism, but instead the Professor was using emotional language and preaching like a Bible-basher. According to Mikel, Dawkins sounded as much as a religious fanatic, as the religious leaders he was speaking against with such religious fever.
I remember this incident because it taught me of the insidiousness the Western materialistic scientific worldview. Matter is imbued with extraordinary secret powers. The material universe can come from nothing by magic, life can arise from matter by accident, and consciousness can arise from the brain by biochemical reaction. These claims are true, because, well, they just are.
Let us examine a few of the ideas of materialistic science. I was quite astounded when I first learnt of each of these, reacting with a wow, I would never have thought!
It is common knowledge that the Earth orbits around the Sun. The Earth as the center of the Universe is an archaic idea, an outdated concept, one that no one believes in anymore. Western scientists as far back as Copernicus have discovered that actually the Sun is in the center and the Earth orbits around that.
But not so fast. If we dig a bit deeper we learn that accepted wisdom is false. The Earth actually orbits around the gravitational center of the solar system. Large planets such as Jupiter and Saturn, pull on the Earth with their enormous gravitational force. This causes the central point of orbit to vary greatly. Indeed, it is almost never being centered directly on the Sun. We can go further still. Let us take into account that our entire solar system is orbiting around the galactic core, and our galaxy, in turn, is probably moving and orbiting in some undiscovered pattern around other galaxies. So, why do we believe one childish simplification of the structure of the universe (Sun is the center) in favor of another (Earth is the center)?
To quote Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi:
"Luke, youre going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."
There is more scientific truth that falls into this hazy realm, a realm of generally accepted scientific wisdom, a place of theories that no one has ever verified by observation and theories which are impossible to verify by observation.
One such hypothesis is the big bang theory. It proclaims to explain the origin of matter, time and space, but it seems highly unlikely that anyone will be able to stage an experiment to verify what actually happened at the beginning of the universe.
Then there is macro-evolution. A species is defined as a group of life-forms that can interbreed producing fertile offspring. Evolution claims that species evolve into other species, yet scientists have never observed any animal evolving into a new creature that no longer can interbreed with members of its previous species).
The last question we will tackle is the origin of life, and the origin of consciousness. How best to get to the bottom of these mysteries and know for sure? Could such a thing even be possible? Believe it or not, I see very good reasons to be optimistic about solving these conundrums.
Why do I see reasons to be optimistic? Two reasons, each converging on the other, as if seeking to merge in a wonderful fusion of spiritual and material knowledge.
On the spiritual side: we are rediscovering ancient spiritual knowledge that gives a detailed scientific account of life, the universe and consciousness. More on this a bit later on.
On the material side: some scientists are beginning to remove the blinders of materialism, considering that perhaps there might be more to the universe than just matter. Chinks are beginning to appear in the armor of the Western materialist worldview. People are beginning to realize that money does not buy happiness, unlimited economic growth is unsustainable, and something as subtle as consciousness plays a significant role in the laws of physics. Scientists are realizing there is a great need for scientific research to answer fundamental questions such as: What is consciousness? How can we become more conscious? What is happiness? How can we become more happy?
In short, science is realizing that true science can and should be open to the study of everything and scientific spiritual knowledge is eagerly waiting to be rediscovered by open-minded scientists. Wonderful!
I first came across the Vedic wisdom ancient India in the year 2000 while studying at the University of Southampton. I stumbled upon a university club dedicated to studying and applying the knowledge contained in the Vedas. Veda literally means knowledge, and the many books that encompass the Vedic literature indeed contain a great deal of knowledge.
One of the many pearls of timeless Vedic wisdom is that real spiritual knowledge should be scientific. The Vedas teach how to use scientific methods to study and understand spirituality. This was an intriguing proposition. I had always admired the rigor of scientific knowledge, and here was a way to apply that methodology to the big questions of life (who am I, why are we here, etc.)
The Vedic wisdom explains the mystery of conscious as follows.
O son of Bharata, as the sun alone illuminates all this universe, so does the living entity, one within the body, illuminate the entire body by consciousness.
That is the basis of scientific spiritual teachings. The body only functions when there is consciousness, without consciousness there can be no life. At the same time, the conscious entity is a separate thing from the material body. Some interpretations of quantum mechanics lead to similar conclusions.
Everyone wants to be happy. The United States of America was founded on the promises of the right to the pursuit of happiness. Yet it offers no clue on how someone might go about finding happiness. Indeed, that is one of the great mysterious of life. What will make me happy?
It turns out that happiness is one of the key factors in the scientific approach to spiritual knowledge. The Vedic knowledge explains a step-by-step process for finding happiness, happiness with a very distinct flavor, happiness unlike any previously experienced, happiness that is, quite literally, out of this world.
Here is a quote from a Vedic scripture on the topic of happiness.
Some say that people will be happy by performing pious religious activities. Others say that happiness is attained through fame, sense gratification, truthfulness, self-control, peace, self-interest, political influence, opulence, renunciation, consumption, sacrifice, penance, charity, vows, regulated duties or strict disciplinary regulation. Each process has its proponents."
All the persons I have just mentioned obtain temporary fruits from their material work. Indeed, the meager and miserable situations they achieve bring future unhappiness and are based on ignorance. Even while enjoying the fruits of their work, such persons are filled with lamentation.
O learned Uddhava, those who fix their consciousness on Me [Krishna], giving up all material desires, share with Me a happiness that cannot possibly be experienced by those engaged in sense gratification.
This quote acknowledges various approaches to attaining happiness, ultimately recommending the approach of fixing ones consciousness upon Krishna, Krishna being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, universally revered throughout the Vedic literature. The happiness experienced during this practice of Krishna Consciousness is markedly different from the happiness experienced through so many other activities. Here we have a scientific hypothesis: happiness in Krishna Consciousness is distinct from the happiness experienced when pleasing the senses.
Hold on! you might say, happiness is a subjective experience, not something that can be objectively measured. Science only deals with things that are objectively measurable. True enough, but consciousness is an entirely subjective experience, and that is exactly what we are trying to study here. We have to cast off the shackles of materialistic science to make progress is this exciting new field of spiritual science. Just because something is not objectively measurable does not mean it does not exist, and certainly does not mean we should not endeavor to study it. Otherwise, if we neglected to study anything new and unknown, how could we make any progress?
So how does one make process in this exciting realm where science and spirituality coalesce? The Vedic wisdom suggests an approach.
Now hear, O son of Pr?th?, how by practicing yoga in full consciousness of Me, with mind attached to Me, you can know Me in full, free from doubt.
Here Krishna is speaking in the seventh chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita. He is explaining a scientific yoga process for understanding His nature. This process is more than just physical exercise. Yoga is a complete system for self-realization where the physical yoga postures are only one small part of the routine, there to make the practitioner fit to dive deeper into the complete system, culminating in complete absorption in the spiritual energy, resulting in full consciousness of Krishna beyond any doubt. So, at the end of a systematic process we have scientific proof.
The process Krishna mentions involves integrating Krishna consciousness into everyday activities, aligning them with Krishnas desires. Krishna recommends, reading about him, chanting of special Vedic mantras, contemplating the spiritual science and ultimately dedicating all ones actions for a spiritual purpose. At the end of the process, the result should speak for itself.
As the Nobel Prize winning quantum physicists Werner Heisenberg has famously said:
The first gulp from the glass of the natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.
Science is great! Science helps us understand the world, cure diseases, build great things like computers, mobile devices, skyscrapers, and jet airplanes. It is useful, fascinating and magical. Indeed, sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, as the physicist and science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke famously said.
Moreover, additional benefits of science include wonderful inventions like coal-fired power plants, automobiles, and industrial farming, all allowing humans to do great things like destroy the rainforest, raise the temperature of the entire planet, and cause mass extinctions, clearly undesirable side effects of science. However, science will surely be able to solve the problem it has created. Take the Toyota Prius, for example, a wonder of technology, a hybrid car that is extremely fuel efficient. While it still uses fuel like any other car, it is much better than the gas-guzzlers of yesteryear. So good that its fuel efficiency is close to that of a horse. With a few more years of scientific advances, we will surely be able to make cars that run on nearly nothing, re-grow the rainforest and clone extinct species back into existence. So, science is great. Right?
Have you heard of the Four Horsemen? The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Conquest, War, Famine and Death, are described in the last chapter of the Bible as harbingers of final judgement of God over all people. However, Im not speaking of these horsemen. Rather, Im referring to the self-styled Four Horsemen known as the torch-bearers of the New Atheists movement: Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens. These four scientists claim to represent critical thinking, knowledge and reason. Disagree with their thinking and you must be an irrational, delusional religious fanatic. After all, they represent science.
The most famous of the Four Horseman is Professor Richard Dawkins of Oxford University. A prolific author, Dawkins is best known for his book The God Delusion. He also occasionally gives public lectures. I remember hearing of one of his lectures a few years ago.
I was sitting in my office in the School of Computer Science at the University of Manchester, an office with narrow slits of windows letting in a little daylight, a building that is perpetually either too hot or too cold, having been designed with a monstrously over-powered air-conditioning system for the vacuum tube computers of years gone by. This building, the hallowed halls of learning, the zenith of Western Civilization, is not named after Alan Turing, the famous scientist from Manchester who came up with a universal theory of computation. Instead, it is named after Tom Kilburn, the engineer who built the first stored program computer, highlighting the difference between science and engineering. Scientists come up with ideas, but it is the engineers that make them actually work and create technology. Engineering is applied science.
While sitting at my desk, Mikel, a friend and fellow PhD student, came in wearing a large backpack. I waited until he sat down and caught his breath, then asked him where he just came from. He explained he was at Oxford University for a public lecture by Richard Dawkins. I then asked what he thought of the lecture, expecting a rant about how Dawkins was brilliantly condemning religion, especially the Catholic Church. Mikel was a staunch atheists with a special axe to grind against the Catholic Church, an organization quite prominent in his home country of Spain. I enjoyed these rants, as they were quite entertaining and often led to interesting friendly arguments between the two of us.
Much to my surprise, however, Mikel said he was disappointed by Dawkins talk. Mikel explained that he was expecting Dawkins to make some good arguments for atheism, but instead the Professor was using emotional language and preaching like a Bible-basher. According to Mikel, Dawkins sounded as much as a religious fanatic, as the religious leaders he was speaking against with such religious fever.
I remember this incident because it taught me of the insidiousness the Western materialistic scientific worldview. Matter is imbued with extraordinary secret powers. The material universe can come from nothing by magic, life can arise from matter by accident, and consciousness can arise from the brain by biochemical reaction. These claims are true, because, well, they just are.
Let us examine a few of the ideas of materialistic science. I was quite astounded when I first learnt of each of these, reacting with a wow, I would never have thought!
It is common knowledge that the Earth orbits around the Sun. The Earth as the center of the Universe is an archaic idea, an outdated concept, one that no one believes in anymore. Western scientists as far back as Copernicus have discovered that actually the Sun is in the center and the Earth orbits around that.
But not so fast. If we dig a bit deeper we learn that accepted wisdom is false. The Earth actually orbits around the gravitational center of the solar system. Large planets such as Jupiter and Saturn, pull on the Earth with their enormous gravitational force. This causes the central point of orbit to vary greatly. Indeed, it is almost never being centered directly on the Sun. We can go further still. Let us take into account that our entire solar system is orbiting around the galactic core, and our galaxy, in turn, is probably moving and orbiting in some undiscovered pattern around other galaxies. So, why do we believe one childish simplification of the structure of the universe (Sun is the center) in favor of another (Earth is the center)?
To quote Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi:
"Luke, youre going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."
There is more scientific truth that falls into this hazy realm, a realm of generally accepted scientific wisdom, a place of theories that no one has ever verified by observation and theories which are impossible to verify by observation.
One such hypothesis is the big bang theory. It proclaims to explain the origin of matter, time and space, but it seems highly unlikely that anyone will be able to stage an experiment to verify what actually happened at the beginning of the universe.
Then there is macro-evolution. A species is defined as a group of life-forms that can interbreed producing fertile offspring. Evolution claims that species evolve into other species, yet scientists have never observed any animal evolving into a new creature that no longer can interbreed with members of its previous species).
The last question we will tackle is the origin of life, and the origin of consciousness. How best to get to the bottom of these mysteries and know for sure? Could such a thing even be possible? Believe it or not, I see very good reasons to be optimistic about solving these conundrums.
Why do I see reasons to be optimistic? Two reasons, each converging on the other, as if seeking to merge in a wonderful fusion of spiritual and material knowledge.
On the spiritual side: we are rediscovering ancient spiritual knowledge that gives a detailed scientific account of life, the universe and consciousness. More on this a bit later on.
On the material side: some scientists are beginning to remove the blinders of materialism, considering that perhaps there might be more to the universe than just matter. Chinks are beginning to appear in the armor of the Western materialist worldview. People are beginning to realize that money does not buy happiness, unlimited economic growth is unsustainable, and something as subtle as consciousness plays a significant role in the laws of physics. Scientists are realizing there is a great need for scientific research to answer fundamental questions such as: What is consciousness? How can we become more conscious? What is happiness? How can we become more happy?
In short, science is realizing that true science can and should be open to the study of everything and scientific spiritual knowledge is eagerly waiting to be rediscovered by open-minded scientists. Wonderful!
I first came across the Vedic wisdom ancient India in the year 2000 while studying at the University of Southampton. I stumbled upon a university club dedicated to studying and applying the knowledge contained in the Vedas. Veda literally means knowledge, and the many books that encompass the Vedic literature indeed contain a great deal of knowledge.
One of the many pearls of timeless Vedic wisdom is that real spiritual knowledge should be scientific. The Vedas teach how to use scientific methods to study and understand spirituality. This was an intriguing proposition. I had always admired the rigor of scientific knowledge, and here was a way to apply that methodology to the big questions of life (who am I, why are we here, etc.)
The Vedic wisdom explains the mystery of conscious as follows.
O son of Bharata, as the sun alone illuminates all this universe, so does the living entity, one within the body, illuminate the entire body by consciousness.
That is the basis of scientific spiritual teachings. The body only functions when there is consciousness, without consciousness there can be no life. At the same time, the conscious entity is a separate thing from the material body. Some interpretations of quantum mechanics lead to similar conclusions.
Everyone wants to be happy. The United States of America was founded on the promises of the right to the pursuit of happiness. Yet it offers no clue on how someone might go about finding happiness. Indeed, that is one of the great mysterious of life. What will make me happy?
It turns out that happiness is one of the key factors in the scientific approach to spiritual knowledge. The Vedic knowledge explains a step-by-step process for finding happiness, happiness with a very distinct flavor, happiness unlike any previously experienced, happiness that is, quite literally, out of this world.
Here is a quote from a Vedic scripture on the topic of happiness.
Some say that people will be happy by performing pious religious activities. Others say that happiness is attained through fame, sense gratification, truthfulness, self-control, peace, self-interest, political influence, opulence, renunciation, consumption, sacrifice, penance, charity, vows, regulated duties or strict disciplinary regulation. Each process has its proponents."
All the persons I have just mentioned obtain temporary fruits from their material work. Indeed, the meager and miserable situations they achieve bring future unhappiness and are based on ignorance. Even while enjoying the fruits of their work, such persons are filled with lamentation.
O learned Uddhava, those who fix their consciousness on Me [Krishna], giving up all material desires, share with Me a happiness that cannot possibly be experienced by those engaged in sense gratification.
This quote acknowledges various approaches to attaining happiness, ultimately recommending the approach of fixing ones consciousness upon Krishna, Krishna being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, universally revered throughout the Vedic literature. The happiness experienced during this practice of Krishna Consciousness is markedly different from the happiness experienced through so many other activities. Here we have a scientific hypothesis: happiness in Krishna Consciousness is distinct from the happiness experienced when pleasing the senses.
Hold on! you might say, happiness is a subjective experience, not something that can be objectively measured. Science only deals with things that are objectively measurable. True enough, but consciousness is an entirely subjective experience, and that is exactly what we are trying to study here. We have to cast off the shackles of materialistic science to make progress is this exciting new field of spiritual science. Just because something is not objectively measurable does not mean it does not exist, and certainly does not mean we should not endeavor to study it. Otherwise, if we neglected to study anything new and unknown, how could we make any progress?
So how does one make process in this exciting realm where science and spirituality coalesce? The Vedic wisdom suggests an approach.
Now hear, O son of Pr?th?, how by practicing yoga in full consciousness of Me, with mind attached to Me, you can know Me in full, free from doubt.
Here Krishna is speaking in the seventh chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita. He is explaining a scientific yoga process for understanding His nature. This process is more than just physical exercise. Yoga is a complete system for self-realization where the physical yoga postures are only one small part of the routine, there to make the practitioner fit to dive deeper into the complete system, culminating in complete absorption in the spiritual energy, resulting in full consciousness of Krishna beyond any doubt. So, at the end of a systematic process we have scientific proof.
The process Krishna mentions involves integrating Krishna consciousness into everyday activities, aligning them with Krishnas desires. Krishna recommends, reading about him, chanting of special Vedic mantras, contemplating the spiritual science and ultimately dedicating all ones actions for a spiritual purpose. At the end of the process, the result should speak for itself.
As the Nobel Prize winning quantum physicists Werner Heisenberg has famously said:
The first gulp from the glass of the natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.
I have been a bit surprised at the level of media interest in the Duchess of Cambridge’s pregnancy. From all over the world reporters have descended on London, crowding the streets outside the private Edward VII hospital where Kate was admitted two days ago with acute morning sickness. Congratulations are certainly in order, although traditionally not offered until after the safe period of three months has elapsed.
The child - now known to be a girl – will be third in line to the throne, although why this fact should be of interest to the world is a mystery to me. The longevity of our current monarch means that those in the royal line may never be monarchs themselves, no matter their legitimate claim to the throne. Whatever the reason for the intense interest, this royal baby must be already the most famous embryo in the world. Its a superlative level of real fame when everyone’s talking about you – and your physical body is not yet formed.
One of the most famous embryos in the history of the world was the child of Uttara and Abhimanyu, Pariksit by name. He was the grandson of the celebrated Arjuna – another royal – and even in the womb he was attacked. When Krishna gave him mystical protection, his life was spared and he lived to become famous as the great hearer of the Bhagavata Purana. His name means ‘the examiner’ as he was always looking at people’s faces to see whether he could recognise the Person who saved him in the womb.
While Kate’s foetus, barely 12 weeks in existence is already being personified as ‘a girl,’ and ‘royalty,’ just streets away from the Edward VII Hospital another foetus – another little girl – of 24 weeks will tonight be cut from her mother’s womb, de-personified as ’tissue’ and thrown away.
Only when all little girls, inside or outside the womb, are venerated as princesses will we be able to call ourselves a civilized society.
The human spirit craves mastery over its carnal shell. There is an intoxicating feeling of control derived from flesh altering practices. But we must ask ourselves, “Why are we not satisfied with the body given to us? ” We have tattooing, body piercing, plastic surgery, body building, and transgendering. Also people resort to bulimia and anorexia to satisfy the need for the perfect body. When people want to change their bodies or their minds, they join the gym, go to the beauty salon, visit a medium or psychic, or psychotherapists. All these things will change the shell but not the person within who remains at a constant equilibrium despite the changes wrought upon its frame.
“I can tell you what you need to be perfect.” How many industries make their profit on making you feel good and look good? Business is based on supply and demand. When there is a demand for something, be sure that a business will spring up to make money meeting it! Our desire for self-improvement has sprung up industries that would shock generations going back even 100 years ago. As human perfection has taken on a new meaning, ideals and virtues that reflect the character of a person are becoming less and less important.
A bird in a cage is a good metaphor to use.The cage is the material body, the carnal shell and the bird is us. Today’s society focuses on the cage and not the bird within. We have to take responsibility to release the bird from it’s cage, and desist on
trying to make a masterpiece by altering our bodies in the myriads of fashions available. Create a masterpiece by changing our consciousness, escaping the cage of this body.
Here’s the news today, as relayed by the Theos website:
The Scout Association has launched a consultation to gauge support among members for an alternate atheist Scout promise, removing the invocation of a deity. At the same time, the Guide Association, the parallel movement which began two years later, is to launch a consultation about its very similar promise, with views sought on all parts of the wording from early January.
The current version of the Scout promise reads: “On my honour, I promise that I will do my best to do my duty to God and to the Queen, to help other people and to keep the Scout law.”
My thoughts about this, should my dear readers be interested, is that yes, on the one hand the consultation simply reflects the reality that boys can be atheists at a young age, and why shouldn’t they be allowed to be Scouts if they’re atheists? Does faith in God really help in putting up that tent, after all? Will their compasses no longer point to the true north if they don’t believe in a deity?
On the other hand, the Scouts were founded by someone who obviously believed that faith was important in the building of a young man’s character. Its not all about rubbing sticks together to make a fire, tying knots and singing ging-gang-gooly; its about the many-layers of development that go into formation of character and making us fully-rounded human beings. Spirituality being one of them.
Lord Baden-Powell had just come through the Boer War when he formed the Boy Scouts in 1908. He took the existence of God as a truth, felt the recognition of God and duty to Him to be a prerequisite of character formation, and that’s why the Scouts promise was written as it is. Perhaps – as ‘BP’ and my own grandfather did – you have to be pinned down by an opposing army and pray to God for help before you realise you’re not alone in the universe.
The sinking feeling I had when reading this news is that it was yet another indication of Britain’s swing away from the very legitimacy of having ‘deity’ as a useful part of life, and towards an unofficial adoption of atheism as a standard, and more logical, disposition. Once we start that, full de-legitimisation of religion per se – as in North Korea – comes very quickly. Within 100 years we could see religion done away with completely.
Long before that, of course, the Scouts will also have dropped pledging their allegiance to the monarchy, (a remnant of Biblical notions) and the salute of the Union flag (since it is based upon three Christian symbols and therefore highly suspect) will have been also dismissed.
Every day all over the world people dedicate some of their time to rid the environment of one of the most abundant substances of the universe – dust. Companies have formed with soldiers brimming with intense enthusiasm to change the world by eradicating dust daily; armed with sprays and wipes saturated with electrostatic formulae designed to decimate dust from even the most modest domicile. But is it possible to get rid of dust? Is there a campaign or scientific expedition that will eliminate dust entirely? There is an awakened understanding that the very same dust that we dedicate millions of hours in manpower to eradicate can be a sacred gift that can display the entire universe; nay, the whole of existence.
“Glory to the Sri Krsna Sankirtana which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional of repeated birth and death.”
This prelude to the Sri Siksatakam is also about eradicating dust; the dust which covers our path, from illusion to illumination. The dust that is the by-product of searching for pleasure in this material world.
“Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet”
This atom, or dust is a much sought after position. To attain one particle of dust at the lotus feet of the Lord, or one particle from the Holy Place of pilgrimage. Is this dust from the pilgrimage site metaphorical, allegorical, holographical?
Can one particle of dust give you the entire benefit of the Holy Place of Pilgrimage? Is it a memento reminding us “We’ve been there!!“, either spiritually or physically?
One DNA strand contains the blueprint of the whole human body. One speck of dust from the Holy Land of Vrndavan contains the entire Vraja bhumi – land of the Supreme Absolute Truth and His associates. This speck of dust expands to a triquandrantal, holographic plane of existence which is infinite spiritual manifestation and infinite accommodating space for insentient gross things.
While admiring my newly sprouted potato plants this morning (the photo is above) I had an extraordinary flashback.
It's 1970, my last year of high school at Vaucluse Boys High. The year 12 students (called sixth form back then) are putting on a play called The Kitchen, by Arnold Wesker, written in 1957.
Looking back, that is sort of remarkable as it is, since The Kitchen is pretty much a two-word prediction about the rest of my life.
Talking about two words...
The play is set in the basement kitchen of a large restaurant, as thirty chefs, waitresses, and kitchen porters slowly begin the day preparing to serve lunch. The central story tells of a frustrated love affair between a high-spirited, young, German chef, Peter, and a married English waitress, Monique.
Anyway, I really wanted to be in the play but my auditions were less than impressive. I think the drama teacher felt sorry for me and gave me a part where I had to memorise two words. That's it - a two-word part.
It's opening night. As the stage lights start to rise a dark figure (me) enters the stage dragging a sack of potatoes. I am a female kitchen porter. I always got caste as women - don't ask me why - I don't know the answer. Oh, it was a boys' school - that could explain it. And I was in touch with my feminine side even back then.
Anyway, I heave the sack to centre stage and open my mouth to say my memorable two words; but I fluff my lines! Lines you say? Two words?!! Yep. I say 'spuds' instead of 'the spuds'.
I'm so nervous and ashamed I slink off the stage, past the incredulous drama teacher and end my theatre career as unceremoniously as it has began.
So there we have it. Spuds.
“Fake it ’til you make it.” The feeling of faking it forces upon us a recognition of a split between something that we flatter ourselves is our “true” self and the role we are playing. More modestly, it is the feeling of our incomplete immersion in the role, with impious thoughts intruding about the role. Sometimes, it is merely a vague sense of dislocation that takes the form of worrying where we are amidst all the roles we must play: I worry about who I am; therefore, I guess, I am.
Until we know who we are, we will have anxiety about faking a lofty ideal of ourselves and the moral failure, psychological discomfort and social disorientation can lead us to a life split in two. Does a life split in two mean that we are hypocrites? We can be hypocrites and know that we are. This “self-aware hypocrite” is a conscious deceiver. Or we can be a “naive hypocrite,” who thinks himself a paragon of virtue. The naive hypocrite does not feel themselves to be faking anything; they are delighted with the role they have assumed, experiencing themselves as sincerely what they are purporting to be, but be culpably deluded as to the sincerity of his sincerity. The naive hypocrite a seamless self-deceiver.
Hypocrisy is a parasite, operating by mimicking the attractiveness of virtue, appropriating its rewards. The rewards, fame, adoration and distinction are a delectable entree for the main course – wealth, followers, admirers. Split in two we become unsure of our position and the ultimate reality becomes obscure and fades into a distant, meaningless hum that sings its tune when our conscience comes forth intermittently.
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“Carefully consider before you act. You may not be able to retract. Understand well all that you do. And you will have no cause to rue.” The Golden Verses of Pythagoras spring forth from a brilliant philosopher, mathematican, statesman and mystic who offered a system of learning for enlightenment 2500 years ago in Greece. The Pythagorean Ideal is a system of balance whereby 10 stages of learning are progressively graduated in which personal development must be a process of natural unfoldment. The time factor in this education system held little relevance. Learning had to unfold like the opening of a rosebud, allowed to take place naturally; forced opening would only damage the rosebud, resulting in premature wilting.
Everyone must be prepared to accept total responsibility for their actions. If this golden rule of action is implanted within our lives we will see a distant potential within ourselves and a promise for a New Age where truth will supplant falseness, and wisdom replace rashness. How exciting and rewarding life can be if every individual accepts a level of perfection and idealism for a path towards enlightenment instead of an emphasis on materialism and the striving for luxury and power.
Unlocking the secrets of the inner self is a lofty goal rarely achieved in modern times. Pythagoras exhibits the traits of an ideal reformer establishing a 10 fold system of organised self-mastery:
What was propounded 2500 years ago has such dynamic potential now. Not only because it is intensely practical but also because it has no restrictions through race, age, culture, religion, philosophy…everyone can benefit.
Two weeks of winter in the Northeast USA and Canada, and my mind tells my body I've had more than my fill. But bhakti-yogis are in the business of controlling the pushy mind with the gravity of spiritual intelligence.
Nevertheless, even swamis have their human side, to say the least. Therefore, I'll give you a glimpse, just to share with you. Let me explain that besides this bodily machine having long acclimated to comparatively nonexistent winters down under, in Australia and New Zealand, also—truth be told—immediately preceding the past two icy weeks, the body was one month heating in India, as the soul luxuriated in eternal spiritual sustenance.
Since leaving Vrindavan November 14, devotional life, for the most part, has been fast forward 4X.
November 14: Departed Govardhana Hill the evening of Govardhana Puja, to catch a flight the next early morning from Delhi to London.
Nov. 15: Late evening arrival in London.
Nov. 16: Evening program at the London School of Business followed by a night program at the Mantra Lounge, a kirtan undertaking by the London Soho temple, arranged by the industrious Jai Murari dasi.
Nov. 17: Prabhupada's Disappearance Day. Midday flight to the USA, to the Gita-Nagari farm.
Nov. 18: Govardhana-puja celebration in the presence of Sri Sri Radha-Damodara.
Nov. 18 to 21: Meet with the farm staff and supporters, while adjusting to time-zone changes (9.5 hours different than India and 5 than the UK.)
Nov. 21: Morning flight to Toronto, where Mangal-Arti dasi was ready to roll, maximally, literally, as soon as I walked off the delayed flight. Evening program at Ryerson University.
Nov. 22: Met with Candramauli Swami for lunch. Evening program at Ontario College of Art and Design
Nov. 23: Met with Bhakti Marga Swami for lunch. Evening program at Bhakti Lounge.
Nov. 24 to 25: Weekend retreat hosted by the Bhakti Lounge at a venue two hours outside of Toronto, followed by a quick visit on Sunday night to the Toronto temple for singing the Damodarastaka.
Nov. 26: Program at George Brown College.
Nov. 27: Trying to arrive in New York for the weekly Tuesday night program at the Bhakti Center.
No go flying out of Toronto, due to snowy airports in New York. One flight cancelled, next flight cancelled, third flight delayed. The long wait at the airport did give me time to catch my breath. In the so-called Information Age that means catch up on email—piled up while in India.
Since the devastating Hurricane Sandy, the Bhakti Center in New York had electricity again, the subways below it rumbled again, drained of floodwaters. Hardened New Yorkers resumed their habitual frenzied pace, in "the city that never sleeps."
After several days of programs in the city of my birth, it's now time to see the sun again. I'm not flying almost six hours to Sin City, Las Vegas, though, to indulge my senses. My core desire is to please Krishna's senses by satisfying His devotee, my eternal spiritual father. Otherwise all this traveling has no meaning and certainly no attraction.
“A mission statement is a key tool that can be as important as your business plan. It captures, in a few succinct sentences, the essence of your business’s goals and the philosophies underlying them. Equally important, the mission statement signals what your business is all about to your customers, employees, suppliers and the community.”
But what about making our own individual mission statements? Key issues in life are often solved when our goals are clearly enunciated and our philosophy is emphatically observed. If we don’t know where we are going, how do we know how to get there. Making your own personal mission statement will clarify your life goals and it will also make day to day life much easier because your true essence has been understood by yourself and by others around you.
It will take time to come up with language that simultaneously describes your heart and soul and serves as an inspirational beacon guiding your life through its meandering of successes and obstacles. Use this rule, “Every word counts”, and every word should be dynamic and inspirational. It may also take time, maybe even a full day to come up with something reflective of you.
Research is needed before you begin to prepare your own mission statement. Answering the following questions will help you to come up with a succinct verbal picture of your mission:
Who am I? What is my understanding of my “self”.
What do I understand to be my highest capabilities and goals? The supreme occupation for all ……..
How do I view myself and the world around me? Equality amongst humans and other living beings.
Is there a higher cause other than myself?
Who do I want to please?
What are my underlying philosophies and values?
Make your mission statement public by posting it. That way you will announce to everyone that you know who you are, where you are going and why you are doing what you do.
On of the primary needs for Vedic culture right now, especially in places like India, is the following formula of preservation, protection, promotion and perpetuation of its existence. I call these “the four pers”.
I have traveled all over India and have seen many situations where this formula is most needed. I have already written some reports on this, but let me explain a little more clearly the basics of this formula.
PRESERVATION: is the first step. You have to work in ways to preserve the culture to make sure it will also be around over the long term so others can learn about it, take advantage of its wisdom, and even follow it for their own spiritual progress. This may include, but not limited to, such things as:
1. Preserve the great and ancient Vedic texts,
2. Preserve the main yoga systems, the dharmas that lead to God,
3. Preserve the temples and let them be freely maintained by those Hindus and devotees who are most sincere and qualified,
4. Distribute this literature for colleges, schools, personal homes, so it can spread,
5. Educate people in this knowledge, especially the youth so they are aware of it and know it,
6. Practice the traditions, such as the holidays and spiritual paths in everyday life.
PROTECTION: is the next step. Even if you do what you can to preserve the tradition, it may also come under attack in many ways. So you have to help protect it by:
1. Overcoming negative impressions that people may try to use to unnecessarily criticize or demean it,
2. Be on guard for negative press in newspapers or television, and work to correct it,
3. Watch for the use of devious ways and false statements that are said to convert people from the Vedic path to some other religion,
4. Be careful even of politicians who have a disdain for God, or for the Vedic culture and who try to work against it or promote some other ideology or religion at the cost of the Vedic institutions.
PROMOTION: this is important whether we like it or not. Many times Hindus or devotees feel there is no proselytizing in Vedic culture, so you have to be born into it or something like that, but there should be no process to convert others. However, in this day and age this is but a prescription for a slow extinction. Everyone and everything promotes what they have. Just like an author, he may have written the best book ever, but if no one knows about it, no one will buy it. Promotion of some form is a must. And the Vedic tradition is one of the most profound and dynamic cultures the world has ever seen. Therefore, there is a great need to let others know about it. This does not mean that you have to be in a conversion campaign, but you can certainly share what you know of it. Many people are looking for deeper levels of spirituality, but they do not know where to look, or they do not know the depth of what the Vedic path or its knowledge has to offer. Someone has to be willing to tell them. In fact, we all should be willing. Therefore:
1. Everyone can be a Vedic Ambassador to simply share with other seekers the ways the Vedic culture has helped them and what they have gotten out of it, the difference it has made in their life,
2. Promote it as a spiritual path that can help solve many of the world’s problems,
3. Distribute the simpler portions of the Vedic texts, such as Bhagavad-gita, or various forms of introductory literature that can introduce and easily explain what the Vedic path is so others can benefit from it,
4. Open the temple doors to all who want to come and investigate it or be a part of it so others can see what it is and how to get started,
5. Offer classes on yoga and Vedic philosophy for the same reason,
6. And hold programs wherein the youth can also be a part of it and practice it,
7. Arrange for radio or even cable TV programs so everyone can learn from it or stay connected.
PERPETUATION: is why we do all of the above. How can we keep Vedic culture a flourishing and dynamic path? By doing all of the above, and providing the means to show people how to practice it. Without the preservation, protection, and promotion of Vedic culture, it cannot be perpetuated. This is where such things as the following can be helpful:
1. Establish and maintain temples that help uphold and show how to practice the Vedic traditions (I have written a whole book on what can be done through temples),
2. Hold classes and study groups, either at temples or at homes, wherein people get together to comfortably converse on various topics of the Vedic texts to help everyone understand it and how deep or practical it is, and then invite friends to join,
3. As mentioned above, spread this knowledge through book distribution, radio, and various other programs, so people can learn about it and utilize it in their lives,
4. Set yourself as an example for those who know you, but at least for your family and children so they begin to understand it, recognize its potential and practice it as well. If you take it seriously, it will leave positive impressions on others.
There are many other points that can be listed. I have already written detailed action plans that can be used to carry these ideas much further. But the main issue is that we have to work to keep the Vedic culture very much alive and available for everyone. It is what I call the “last bastion of deep spiritual truth.” If this should ever disappear, the world will never know what it has lost.
Some people may say that it is an eternal religion, Sanatana-dharma, so it will never fade away. But have they really read the Bhagavad-gita, wherein Lord Krishna explains that one of the reasons why He appeared was to re-establish the Vedic Dharma, which had become lost?
Lord Krishna says, “I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku. This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost. That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend; therefore you can understand the transcendental mystery of this science.” (Bg.4.1-3)
So, yes, it is eternal but can disappear from the face of the earth, and does at times. It is up to those of us who are serious and sincere to make sure that it can continue being a practical spiritual culture far into the future by applying the above mentioned “four pers.”
Sound is a penetrating force that can interrupt even the deepest of rest and it is internally captured by the listener on the degree it bears importance. We often think that, “I am hearing out there”or that, “sound is outside of me”. Sound is an internal process whereby the vibration is filtered through our auditory organ, the ear, and then filtered to our known parameters of speech, language etc., and then filtered further through our subtle layers, the mind, intelligence and then our consciousness. Of course the ear, whether it is an ear of an animal, human, bird, all living beings, wants to hear pleasing sounds. Sounds of great adulation, sounds of poetic resonance, sounds with melody and tone. The quality of the sound bears great importance and it effects are monumental……
What were the first words you heard this morning? These first words can set the tone for the rest of your day. Upon rising, with determination, one must choose the combination of syllables which will uplift and motivate you for the rest of the day. Aphorisms such as “I am that I am”, “I will be successful today”, “Today is the beginning of the rest of my life”, etc., etc. What you hear first is what is important to you. Be selective and hear sacred syllables upon rising. Have these sacred syllables spring forth from your voice so that they can resonant in your consciousness both internally and externally. This is a great way to begin the day.
Stories and realizations on Radhastami as told by Giridhari Swami, Rtadhvaja Swami, Giriraj Swami.
Dallas, TX
2012-09-22
A 24-page illustrated report on the work of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust in Africa.
People, programs, and publications. Vision, challenges, and accomplishments. Books published in Zulu, Xhosa, Swahili, and more.
You can download the report (2.7 MB) and find out what has been going on.
A 24-page illustrated report on the work of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust in Africa.
People, programs, and publications. Vision, challenges, and accomplishments. Books published in Zulu, Xhosa, Swahili, and more.
You can download the report (2.7 MB) and find out what has been going on.
