Planet ISKCON

A German family living in Mayapur, India, visits the holy Jagannath Puri.

Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service with President Joe Biden, hosted by the Washington National Cathedral. ISKCON Communications Minister Anuttama Dasa's prayers start at 37' 25. A video by the Biden Inaugural Committee. Read ISKCON News article about the event: https://iskconnews.org/iskcon-leader-to-offer-prayer-at-official-us-presidential-inauguration,7663/

A compilation of performances of Parividha das and friends at the Durban Rathayatra Festival

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Videoconference by HG Prabhupada Priya Devi Dasi

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We had a lovely interview with Sitala devi today. We asked her everything from what inspired her to write about Narottam das Thakur, to her first experience seeing Srila Prabhupada! It's well worth a listenRead More...

In searching for something in the Srimad Bhagavatam that gives some reference to castrating a bull to make an ox I could not find something that said “you castrate a bull” directly however there is some word use information that might be telling. I am not a sanskrit scholar and may be well off the point here (if you are one please help). Continue reading "Bulls or Oxen. What’s in a Name
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Founder-Acarya Essentials. Your Srila Prabhupada. By HG Sureshvara das Vanacari

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He who knows in truth this glory and power of Mine engages in unalloyed devotional service; of this there is no doubt.

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For the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada this report contains the following North American results of book distribution for the month of December 2020. North American Totals, Monthly Temples, Monthly Weekend Warriors. Monthly Top 100 Individuals, Monthly Top 5, Cumulative Countries, Cumulative Temples, Cumulative Top 100 Individuals, Cumulative Top 5 Continue reading "NASN December 2020 – North American Sankirtan Newsletter
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Like most youth of my generation and many previous on the whole I was brought up to believe in the existence of God. But also like many others, by the time I reached about.

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Today on inauguration day, I thought of Srila Prabhupada’s appreciation of America. Tamal Krishna Goswami came in with Prabhupada’s green card and said, “Prabhupada, America is waiting for you. Customs is ready; immigration is ready. Everything is cleared.” Prabhupada began to cry. “I am so indebted to America,” he said. “America has given me so much. It’s given me men, money. I am so indebted.”

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

Today on inauguration day, I thought of Srila Prabhupada’s appreciation of America. Tamal Krishna Goswami came in with Prabhupada’s green card and said, “Prabhupada, America is waiting for you. Customs is ready; immigration is ready. Everything is cleared.” Prabhupada began to cry. “I am so indebted to America,” he said. “America has given me so much. It’s given me men, money. I am so indebted.”

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 22 November 2020, Simhachalam, Germany, Caitanya Caritamrta Adi-Lila 9.36)

It is said that there are six whips in the material energy – birth, disease, death, hunger, thirst and lamentation. We are always beaten by these six whips here in the material world, yet a vaisnava is always happy. Maybe not free from struggle, but certainly happy within, because a vaisnava has received the ultimate gift of perfection in life. Everyone else is trapped and there is no way out of this cycle of birth and death. There is no way to escape karma. People work to relieve the problems of karma, but karma is interesting. If we are destined to suffer, we cannot by work resolve that suffering. That is not possible. Although the world works very hard to get rid of suffering one way or another and to turn this world into paradise, it does not work. It is simply not possible. So karma is like this. It is like an old-fashioned suitcase. A long time ago, suitcases had no wheels and people had to carry them on their heads. They had to carry these suitcases till they could not stretch their fingers any longer. They would then move it to the other hand until they could no longer stretch those fingers, then onto the shoulder and then onto the head. So, karma is like that, like a suitcase without wheels. We carry it in one place and it comes back from the other side.

The article " Karma – An old-fashioned suitcase " was published on KKSBlog.

Rosedale, Toronto

Grids and Curves

The streets in Rosedale are not necessarily running on a grid. There are some curves that make it interesting for a walker, a driver or a cyclist. The fox in the neighbourhood, with their shared companions such as squirrels, skunks and raccoons, have little appreciation for our trails. Laneways, lines of landscaped shrubs are more like their forte. However, at least some of the urban wildlife enjoy upward mobility with vertical trees. You see the occasional curious head pop out of a hedge or a fairy tail sticking out of the foliage. Anyway, they are our neighbours, like anyone else.

People were out walking their dogs, the more domestic of creatures. One woman was bending over, picking up after her pet, as I was walking by. She remarked, “It’s not the most glorious deed but once you have a dog it goes with the territory.” It was her mild way of saying service must be done.

That is foundational. Her words expressed the essential truth about life. We are here to assist others whether it be humans, pets, plants or the elements. They serve us. It is simply a matter of reciprocation. We receive but we must also give. It’s in giving that the heart lightens. Yes, the weight of the world can be lifted. It is understood that karma-free actions turn everything around. It is the joy of service that makes us joyful. Let us get familiar with the practical application of servitude and enjoy the benefit thereof.

I ended my walk at the liquor store where I sat to chant gayatri mantras. No booze for me. That stuff is horrible, if I do say so myself.

May this source be with you!

3 km

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto

The Boom and Gloom of Zoom

Today, during a Zoom call, I was in the illustrious company of our leaders. I offered them my praises. They were mostly younger than me, the next generation who believe in book marathons, and have just completed one in December into early January. The books are of a revolutionary kind, in terms of altering consciousness.

The focus during that period of time was predominantly on the sponsoring and disbursement of Bhagavad-Gita’s. To accomplish this all involved worked very hard. In addition to expressing gratitude people on the call took turns reporting and conveying various techniques and practices for more effective ways of reaching out to a public that is receptive. Overall, it was meaningful sangha, as we say, a gathering, on a virtual level.

My second Zoom for the day was with family. Yes, I have five siblings and we like each other. Our conversation was less spiritual and yet not mundane. We kept it light enough. It was a sharing of our past as well as dreams of the future. Surely, we captured moments of the present; which is always pertinent.

I’m not a passionate lover of modern technical ways but I can appreciate the efficiency and utility of it at times. Technology is what it is — a vehicle or instrument. It should be used to bring about cohesion and enlightenment amongst us.

We do observe that many people exploit the good of it, which is sad.

May the source be with you!

3 km

Washington, DC -- Ever since the inauguration of President George Washington, the first American President, every four years the inauguration of the new, or re-elected, US President has been accompanied by an interfaith prayer service. This year’s service, recognizing the inauguration of the new US President, Joe Biden, will as always, include a variety of religious leaders. In addition, for the first time it will also include a representative of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

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Books, books, books! (8 min. video)
Hear from HG Vaisesika dasa - an amazing devotee in...Read More...

There are some experiences in life that leave a deep impact on our consciousness. They are the life-changing instances that set an example for others. Here I am going to share the life story of an uncle of mine. Adorned with white turban carrying a medium height my GuruSikh uncle wore a serene though stern look. In all a simple man he was. My childhood memories are filled with beautiful pastimes in a very small town few miles away from the holy city of Amritsar in India. Continue reading "Fortunate Soul: ‘My Uncle’
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Anuttama Dasa, ISKCON’s Minister of Communications, will join with Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Muslims, Native Americans, and representatives of other faith traditions in a Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service that includes prayers, readings, hymns and blessings. 

with His Holiness Kadamba Kanana Swami

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Ramsden Park, Toronto

Esa

It is 3:10 a.m. on the 16^th and I’ve had my sleep and shower. I opened the window to welcome in the air with much prana, then sat down to compose another poem as a tribute to Esa Khalief, now departed, who, in many ways, was like a son to me. Before I wrap up a little about yesterday, I’m sharing my tribute in words to him. Bless you, Esa.

Esa

Esa, you’re gone, but you aren’t really

You’re simply moving on for a healing

It’s service you became acquainted with

The rewards as such are clearly no myth

You spent much time where prasadam was made

For that you’ll jump up to a higher grade

You trekked a holy trail at a very good pace

With conviction and purpose all over your face

Perhaps walking was your actual calling

As natural as found any baby’s crawling

While on that trek you held on to your beads

Knowing that chanting is the most noble of deeds

In your tasks you embraced a sense of duty

Just as in you’re rich, resonant voice that there was beauty

Like all of us you contended with a dark side

For you, Esa, the rays of the sun were so wide

            -Bhaktimarga Swami, The Walking Monk©

In reflection of this young man, I ambled along a row of sycamore trees acknowledging how great they are. Every person who comes to this world appears, stands by, contributes something and moves on. Each soul adds grace like the trees.

May the source be with you!

3 km

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto

A Walker Gone

It appears to be the month of death. Not Covid related, however, another case of someone I know passing, was a young man from Philly who gave up his life — suddenly. I got to know him on my walk across the U.S. He joined me at a few spots on the east coast. It rather choked me up to hear about his ending.

After some time of grievance (it hit hard for a few hours) I thought less about the loss and his challenged upbringing. Rather, I focused more on his positive contribution. A man with a big heart who gave much time in the preparation of prasadam, is to his credit. Then he became, at least for some time, a walker. He did so with incredible conviction. There was an outward solitude to him. He was a real trooper as we sauntered along busy roads through New Jersey. He was tireless in his execution of walking.

His name is Esa and he won my admiration. May Krishna have his merciful glance on him and take Esa with Him. I was happy to know him. After having him with me for some days I had anticipated that we would journey together again at some time in the future. My prayers go to him. Like so many of us, Esa was influenced positively by our guru, Prabhupada. I hope Esa will have the opportunity to walk with a pure soul in the spiritual world.

In reflecting on the various walking partners that accompanied me on marathons, I feel they are all special people; some ventured through life on both smooth and rough trails.

May the source be with you!

0 km

Rosedale, Toronto

Jim

I have been in touch with my sister, Rose Ann, who just lost her husband who was struggling with cancer. Jim Burgess was an amiable person. I don’t know where he stood on spirituality but he did live on a plant-based diet. Below is my poem about Jim:

Jim

Came a man who hailed from Erieau

Just across the lake from state Ohio

He was just a really nice guy

Not a bone in his body you’d call shy

He had this positive gift of gab

With a personality oh so fab

He was generous and into charity

That could make him somewhat a rarity

He perceived animals as real pets

As loving beings who pose no threats

Known to flaunt the colour green

And lacked the aptitude to be mean

An all-around Canadian chappy

Which can be defined as someone happy

He had this shop with a million books

Rare books on shelves and in nooks

He was good to a lady named Rose Ann

For sure he was truly her only man

He was just that people’s guy

Who found a place beyond the great sky

We’ll remember him, won’t forget him

A special soul goes by the name Jim

            -Bhaktimarga Swami, The Walking Monk ©

May the Source be with you!

5 km

Please view our new film, Rolling the Dice:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF3legHdMgI

Ryerson Campus, Toronto

From Shoes to Skates

One of my main inspirations behind the walking daily is our guru, Srila Prabhupada himself. The Jewish doctor, who came to diagnosed him when he had heart palpitations, in New York on Memorial Day weekend, prescribed walking. That’s how the program began. And that’s how I justify my doing it.

As long as there is no complete curfew, and walking to exercise is permitted, during this pandemic, I will take advantage of that. When the sun shines, I catch vitamin D, however, at night fewer people are about. While carefully roaming I encountered three areas where exercise was being taken very seriously, without walking, at night. College Park, Ramsden Park and Ryerson Campus were abuzz with people on skates.

Oh yes!

Skating was something I really had a problem with when young — I just didn’t have the ankle strength — but regular walking helped. So, there I was at the Ryerson rink, keeping a careful distance from skaters, envying the guys and gals who smoothly glided along on sharp blades. Oops! One guy fell after a faulty twirl. He just got back up and continued on.

I was really appreciating how these folks were building up their physicality in the face of Covid times.

I’m not sure if Prabhupada ever saw people moving on skates. In 1965 he saw his first snow in New York, let alone ice. If he did, I’m sure he was fascinated by how people adjust through different climatic conditions. He was born in 1896, so in his time he had lived through pandemics, two world wars, the depression and the partition with Hindu/Muslim riots. He had seen a lot and saw how people had to learn to adjust during dark times.

May the source be with you!

7 km

Video – Bhagavad Gita 18.55 Knowing Lord Krishna In Truth 2021-01-17 Ljubljana

Much has been said about Prabhupada’s visionary leadership and scholarship in bringing India’s authentic culture, civilization, philosophy, and practice to the Western world. But very little is said about his vision for the future of the world as seen through the lens of science. In this post, I will try to capture his three big ideas (as I understand them), in the reverse order of greatness (from my perspective).

Science-Religion Antipathy

Scientific people the world over shy away from religion. They think that religion is based on faith, while science is based on reason and observation, so religion has nothing to say about the natural world.

The most charitable opinion about religion among scientists is that religion pertains to the soul and God, while science pertains to matter, so, religion would have almost nothing to say on scientific matters. The charitable opinions accept that religion is about a world beyond this one, and science is about this world, so religion must largely be irrelevant to the endeavors of the study of the natural world.

Religions too, by and large, conform to this view imputed upon them by science. Most religious people believe that by its difference in goals (the other world, rather than this world), religion should not want to involve with science. By the difference in methodology (faith, as opposed to reason and experience), religion is incapable of involving with science, even if it wanted to. And by a difference in subject matter (soul and God, rather than matter), religion cannot involve itself with science.

The most charitable view of this engagement with science, in the minds of religious people, is that it is a waste of time. That we must be preoccupied with transcendence, and not with the mundane world.

Thus, both science and religion largely agree upon each other’s roles in our lives. Science, it is generally accepted, will determine the public sphere which must be conducted using reason and observation. Religion, on the other hand, can determine the private sphere, such as marriage, property inheritance, and one’s method and style of worship based on their beliefs. This private-public separation was the “peace deal” brokered between Christianity and science, at the rise of European Enlightenment. It led to the separation of the Church from the state, the separation of mind and body in our lives, and the institutional separation of religion and science—science owns the body and religion owns the mind. Thereafter, it is religious heresy if you question the scriptures based on scientific evidence, and it is scientific heresy if you bring matters of soul and God, or other religious ideas, within science.

In the last 50 years, there have been some attempts to revise this “peace deal” between Christianity and science by saying that it did not include the Eastern religions, so we might look East and revise the peace deal. But all revisionist attempts have failed due to two reasons: (1) Christianity had undermined the Eastern religious systems through colonization, and they do not want a revision, and (2) scientists steeped in their conventional thinking are unable to grasp the significance of Eastern ideas. For example, even as the value of meditation and breath control is accepted today, it is not mainstream science. Medical schools don’t teach meditation and breath control; they teach anatomy, surgery, and drugs. Most people take to such alternatives only if the mainstream things are not working for them.

Krishna Consciousness is a Science

The situation was not better at Prabhupada’s time, and although hippies were experimenting with psychedelic drugs, claiming that there was more to this world than what we are taught through modern science and religions, everyone knew that their long-term effects were generally very harmful.

So, to wean away people from these habits, to give them an alternative culture and philosophy, was itself a huge step. Others would not dare to pick up the gloves and prepare for a conflict with science.

And yet, Prabhupada was not afraid to challenge the Moon landings, saying that the Moon was a heavenly planet, so you cannot go there in the present body. He was not afraid to challenge evolution, or the idea that humans have evolved from apes, or that life was comprised of chemicals. None of the yogis dared to challenge mainstream Western culture. They were merely trying to “fit in”, trying to mix whatever they knew with Western psychology, and a more “secular” Westernized practice of yoga. But Prabhupada ridiculed everything that he found to be inconsistent with Krishna consciousness.

To his disciples, he so often would say “Krishna consciousness is a science” meaning that it was amenable to rational inquiry, and that religion without a profound understanding was merely sentiment—hinting at the fact that this wasn’t yet another faith-based religion. That it had to be understood, and those who understood it were superior to those who did not. This idea has a history in the fact that bhakti or devotion to God has been criticized in India as sentimentalism. The impersonal philosophers have argued that they are superior to the devotees because the devotees are engaged in sentimental worship. This criticism is not very different from the one used by science against religion in the West; we just need to substitute “faith” with “sentimentalism”. But for Prabhupada, devotion was “scientific”. Indeed, he would invite intelligent people to study, understand, and analyze religion.

He wasn’t merely saying that we should study science to answer their questions. He was saying that scientists should study our religion. I cannot find a single instance in the entire recorded history after the advent of science where a religious person would invite a scientist to analyze the scriptures. The religious people already know that their books will not stand the scrutiny of a scientific inquiry. But Prabhupada was confident that a sincere and unbiased inquiry would affirm the scriptural truth.

Many people offer platitudes about religion being a science, but never do anything about it. Prabhupada set up a “Bhaktivedanta Institute” to present the “science of Krishna consciousness”. One of its goals was to teach scriptural knowledge in a “scientific manner”. In his own words, “the content would not be different from the temples, but the presentation would be scientific”. One of the educational programs that Prabhupada approved for the Institute was the offering of Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate degrees based on Bhagavad-Gita, Śrīmad Bhagavatam, and Chaitanya Charitamrita, respectively.

The nature of material elements, the transmigration of the soul, the process of transition to heavenly planets, the laws of morality or karma, the structure of the universe, the nature of the soul and God, the different forms of God, and how some love of God is superior to others were all “scientific” topics. Chaitanya Charitamrita—as it describes the highest aspects of God’s person—was not outside scientific education. Rather, it was to be the subject of scientific research during a Ph.D. program. Barring Prabhupada, I don’t know of anyone who thinks that the soul and God are “scientific” topics.

Thus, everything from material elements to God’s personality is a scientific topic. This is such a radical idea, that I don’t know of anyone who is able to ingest, let alone digest, assimilate, circulate, and transform it into an expression. Personally, I think it is a testimony to Prabhupada’s extent of God realization. Only a person who sees something intimately can claim it to be amenable scientifically—i.e. experience and reason.

For example, for a long time prior to the advent of modern medicine, it was thought that the human body cannot be studied scientifically. The human body was a “living force” and it was only a chance detection of Uric Acid synthesis that changed people’s mind—if the urine from the body has the same chemical that we can synthesize in the lab, then life can also be studied scientifically. Similarly, Galileo and Newton were able to formulate theories after they observed planets though a telescope. Before that, the “heavens” were beyond the reach of anybody’s understanding or rational inquiry.

Therefore, intimacy with the object of study is essential to claim that it can be studied scientifically. And the person who makes such claims is necessarily intimate. Others, who are distant from a subject, can only accept it on faith, and say that it cannot be studied scientifically, because they are distant from it. In a sense, one’s ability to perform this scientific study of God requires intimacy with the object of study. It isn’t outside science, but it is outside science for those who don’t know the subject intimately.

Use Science to Prove God

Most religious people are comfortable just seeking peace with the scientist. They don’t want the scientist accusing them of being irrational or sentimental. Some cultures and religions also want to co-opt modern science by either saying that they invented parts of it, or they created the conditions of freedom and choice that culminated in scientific inquiry, or that they had invented things that others used to invent other things, or that many scientists in the past were also highly religious people.

Prabhupada had no such insecurities. He did not seek a scientist’s approval. He did not need to justify what good may or may not have happened in the past. He would nod approvingly if a scientist would appreciate God’s role in the creation, but then he wasn’t content with it. He would turn around and say: If you are intelligent, if you have some knowledge, then use it to prove God using your science. In other words, it wasn’t enough to appreciate God in front of a devotee; it had to be proven, demonstrated, and upheld in the public’s eye, and being able to do that was the proof of that person’s intellect.

The subtext of that exhortation was that if you cannot use science to prove God, then you are not truly a scientist. You are not very bright and intelligent, and you don’t truly understand nature’s working. Unlike most religious people who are uncomfortable with science, and seek peace, approval, and recognition from a scientist, Prabhupada would make his position the standard for approving the scientist. If you can prove God using science, then you are a scientist and your knowledge is valid, otherwise not.

Prabhupada was so confident of his position that one time he quoted a Bengali proverb, which says: “Using your mortar and pestle, I’m going to break your teeth”. In short, we can use science to disprove its materialism, atheism, evolutionism, determinism, etc., those very things that seem to give modern science its “teeth” against religious claims. This is a big idea, because nobody that I know of, has had the audacity to say that science can be overhauled using religious ideas. Also, nobody that I know of, believes that God’s existence can be proven from purely rational and empirical science.

The best current argument in support of this idea is the Fine-Tuning Design Argument, and it claims that the constants of nature (such as the Planck’s constant, Boltzmann’s constant, speed of light, Gravitational constant, etc.) are so finely tuned for life to arise, that they must have been tuned by God. But according to Sañkhya philosophy, all these constants operate on physical properties such as mass, charge, temperature, etc. which aren’t real; the real properties are taste, touch, sound, sight, and smell. Similarly, the idea that the world is governed by mathematical laws is also false because it is governed by demigods. Whatever order we see in nature is because these governors are responsible and rational, rather than freewheeling, whimsical, autocratic, or arbitrary rulers. If we reject the Fine-Tuning Design Argument (which, by the way, is widely accepted to be the best argument for God’s existence in modern science), then the idea that science can be used to prove God’s existence would turn out to be a false claim.

Again, this is where intimacy with a subject is important. Prabhupada had such a deep understanding of matter that he would write things like: (a) forms exist in the ether from which the gross world springs, (b) the planets are hanging off the pole star through “ropes of wind”, (c) with the advancement of science we will one day be able to communicate with Vaikunṭha, (d) space and time are correlative terms (i.e. they cannot be truly separated), and (e) space and time were related to atomism.

I did not understand any of these things when I began studying this subject. But today I understand how everything that Prabhupada wrote about matter is scientifically accurate. There is an ether or absolute space, different from relative space, but it is the space of possibilities, which comprises ‘forms’ from which the observations spring. This is the world that is poorly studied in atomic theory. The world of observations spring from this ether because of interactions between the possibilities due to prana (which Prabhupada also notes in his purport on these forms). The cause of the changes in this ether is time, so prana moves due to time, and the problems of this change are such that space cannot exist without time, and time cannot exist without space, so they are ‘correlative’ terms. If this interaction is properly understood, then the relativistic space and its properties such as length contraction and time dilation are easily explained. Prabhupada had the vision to use terms like “Causal Time” which is different from “parametric time”, because causality is not in matter but in time, as a result of which all the mathematical laws of nature are false, because they are the laws of matter causing change, when the change is caused by time. Prabhupada had sophisticated terms like “modes of nature” for the three guna of prakriti, and this is a radical scientific idea that nature cannot be known completely in a single observation; it must be known alternately through different perspectives, and each perspective is a different mode of knowing. This means that in each situation we will observe some limited facts, and provide a limited interpretation, but ultimately, we will be unable to reconcile these interpretations in a conventional logic. He had sophisticated counterintuitive logics to explain this problem, such as God is everything, but everything is not God—a blatant violation of the principle of identity in logic.

Again, Prabhupada believed that God will emerge out of science, because he knew matter better than any scientist on the planet. He saw things that nobody is seeing and based on what he was seeing, he was writing his purports explaining these complex ideas and telling his followers to present them. Only a person who intimately knows the nature of matter can say that even if you study matter deeply, you will come to the same conclusion. He would say: Go on studying deeper, deeper, and ultimately you will find God. In short, you don’t have to go to the other world to know what God is. You can also go deeper in this world, and by going deeper you will find the same truth as you find in the other world.

This is, of course, a very profound idea in Vedic philosophy, namely, that God is not just transcendent; He is also immanent. The transcendent form of God is called Bhagavan, and His immanent form is called Paramatma. These two forms are related as an idea is related to its symbol or representation. But nobody that I know of, truly believes that we can find God by studying matter. Prabhupada did. He wasn’t teaching anything anomalous. He was just teaching a deep realization about matter.

Engage with Scientists

Prabhupada had a very peculiar idea about engaging with the scientific world. For example, at Harvard University, he asked: Where is the department of the soul? This is surprising because other religions have previously established academic institutions to study subjects other than the soul. For example, there are Pontifical Academies dedicated to natural sciences, social sciences, life sciences, etc. But Prabhupada wasn’t talking about a department of economics, a department of biology, a department of physics, and so on. Just the department of the soul. This is a big idea because everything in Vedic philosophy is a soul. God is a soul, matter is a soul, and the individual living entity is a soul. If we can study the science of the soul, then we can influence every other department of knowledge.

The term ‘soul’ can be used specifically to indicate the living entity, as it is in most cases. But the ‘atma’ is not merely the living entity. God is also an atma, and the material energy and spiritual energies are also atma. All these atma have the same three fundamental qualities of sat, chit, and ananda. Owing to this fact, the Śuddhadvaita interpretation of Vedanta Sutra says that the soul and God are qualitatively identical. In short, if you know yourself, then you also understand God, matter, and vice versa. Therefore, the term atma is also used generically to describe ‘consciousness’ or all living entities.

The soul is a monolith for mostly everyone. Nobody studies the details of this monolith. But the three aspects of the soul are the causes of everything that we see. Again, as I have tried to apply this idea, I have found that all complexities of nature can be explained in terms of these three ideas, which I call relation, cognition, and emotion. It doesn’t matter whether we are studying economics, or sociology, or psychology, or linguistics, or physics, or mathematics. These three aspects are sufficient to study every subject. And none of these aspects can be neglected in any study, therefore, they are also necessary.

Over the years, as I have applied Prabhupada’s ideas to science, I have realized that the best way to describe matter is to describe it as a soul. The material nature, or prakriti, is a conscious person, and every ingredient in material nature—such as the mind, the senses, and their objects—is as much present in the spiritual world, and in God’s person, as they are present in this world. There is nothing called “matter”. Even the material energy is a form of consciousness. Matter and spirit are different only in the types of desires they harbor and not separate as “mind and matter” in Western thinking are.

All problems of modern academic inquiry arise when: (1) one or more of the aspects is neglected, or (2) when these aspects are impersonalized and depersonalized. For example, a soul relates to other souls through its consciousness or sat. But this relation also redefines the soul as a parent, child, brother, sister, employer, employee, etc. Similarly, the relation doesn’t exist universally; it is always invoked selectively both in a space and time sense—we relate to some entities in space, and we interact with these selected entities sometimes. Modern physics studies this relation as “physical force” and thereby universalizes it across space and time. As a result, it cannot explain how physical entities are “entangled” by a relation, how we are defined by our social connections, how our duties change as the contextual relations change, etc. Since the relation is universalized in physics, so it is also universalized in economics, sociology, and psychology. Linguistics cannot understand contextual meanings, and hence computers are Universal Turing Machines rather than Contextual Turing Machines. A simple problem of relationality pervades all of science.

Similar kinds of problems arise when the chit or the cognitive capacity and ananda or the emotive capacity are misunderstood. Modern science, for example assumes that all cognition must be of physical properties like mass and charge, rather than of taste, touch, smell, sound, and sight. Thus, we lose the ability to ascribe meanings to things, and a symbolic world of meanings is transformed into a world of physical objects. Likewise, when the ananda is not understood, then everything becomes purposeless. Then, nature has no goal, therefore, why our senses are attracted to their objects is inexplicable. If we cannot understand how sensual desire arises, then we cannot understand how to control the senses. As a result, we are reduced to animals and automatons who cannot but help enjoy recklessly.

Prabhupada’s idea of engaging with scientists was about explaining the nature of the soul, and how they can study their subjects better by applying the ideas about the soul in their universities and their departments. He wasn’t thinking that his followers would be the only change agents in the world. Rather, if the right ideas were mainstreamed in academia, then the academics can advance the cause of Krishna consciousness, without being directly affiliated with the Krishna consciousness movement. In effect, the knowledge was not limited to some institutions that he had initiated. These institutions were only catalysts for kickstarting the socializing process, but every department of education in the world can also take these ideas for advancing the understanding of economics, sociology, psychology, biology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics. Such pragmatic things must exist in this world. But who is going to do the right type of economics, sociology, psychology, biology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics? Unless people know how to do these subjects, they will only produce misleading theories.

And thus arose the mechanism of going from college to college, university to university, conference to conference, where other people talk their stuff, and the devotees will present the ‘atma paradigm’ of sociology, psychology, biology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics. You cannot obviously go to an academic conference and talk about religion. You will be kicked out of the conference, and never invited again. You must talk about the subject for which the conference is meant. And that entails presenting the same technical subject in a new way, creating new insights, and reformulating the subject.

The Execution Fails the Vision

Ultimately, the ideas are only as good as the execution. But the ideas are better than the current execution because they can be used to improve the execution. Each of Prabhupada’s big ideas about science have never seen the light of the day. In my writing, I have tried to implement each of these three ideas, but with very limited success, partly because the ideas are so big that they are not understood, not popularized, and generally not adopted due to other prevailing ideas which arise only because people are not intimate with God, not intimate with Nature, and not intimate with themselves.

If either of these intimacies were established, one of these three visions will naturally become powerful. If we become intimate with God, then we can say that Krishna consciousness is a science. If we become intimate with Nature, then we can say that science can be used to prove God. And if we become intimate with ourselves, then we can transform the system of education with an ‘atma paradigm’.

There is a profound science that lies ahead of us, but we don’t think it is a science because we are not intimate with God, Nature, or the self. We are wasting our time with superficial trivialities, and thereby wasting our lives. If you happen to read this long post, please consider becoming intimate with God, Nature, or yourself, and understand the subject so deeply that you can say: “this is a science”. It doesn’t matter which one of the three you understand first, because if you understand one of them, then you will understand all of them. It is not possible that you understand one subject and not the others.

A devotee of the Lord therefore knows the Lord, Nature, and the self perfectly. A perfect scientist will also know Nature, himself, and God perfectly. And a meditator who has understood the self perfectly, will also understand the Lord and Nature perfectly. These are non-negotiable standards. And we can also use them to judge the quality of a devotee, a scientist, or a meditator. If they fail any of these three tests, then they fail all the tests. And if they pursue any of these properly, they will find all of them. Hence, each process—whether it is jnana-yoga, karma-yoga, dhyana-yoga, or bhakti-yoga—is perfect. But some process is more suitable for some people, while another process is suitable for others. The result of these processes is the same—a perfect understanding of the Lord, the self, and Nature. If any of these three are not perfectly understood, then the process has failed, or remains incomplete.

Of course, the general recommendation of Vedic scriptures is to practice all of them with bhakti-yoga as the focus because God is the source of both the soul and Nature. God is also the source of the spiritual world. Therefore, extraordinary progress is made when God is understood. The process of bhakti-yoga is also simple because God becomes our guide, mentor, and the inspiration within the heart.

But we must understand that the goal is the perfect understanding of God, Nature, and the self. It is not merely the understanding of the self without God, or God without the self and Nature, or any of these exclusionary pretentious ideas, which are propagated by those who are neither close to God, nor self, nor Nature. If we have clarity on the goal, and the methods to achieve that goal, then we can progress.

If we can understand Prabhupada’s grand vision for science, and how science arises with intimacy, and increases intimacy, then we can see that his is not a sectarian vision. It includes everything and everyone, and it is meant for everything and everyone. I therefore request the readers to make this their priority, and teach this knowledge as a science, and not as a faith or sentimentality.

Despite worldly events, pandemics, political upheavals, etc. the TOVP is still rising by the hands of every devotee. We are scheduled now to open in 2023, and with the Lord’s help this will be successfully accomplished.

This year, 2021, is the 125th Appearance Anniversary Year of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, 1896-2021. And two very special events are planned for October, 2021: the installation of the new Prabhupada murti in the TOVP, and the offering of the Book of Devotion. Both are historic events which will herald the opening of the temple in 2023 and the relocation of Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Sri Pancha Tattva and Sri Nrsimha into Their new home.

To celebrate this grand installation ceremony we encourage every single devotee in ISKCON, young or old, to participate by sponsoring an abhisheka. There are 6 options to choose from according to your means, and our combined Guru Dakshina offering goal to Srila Prabhupada is $1 million.

ABHISHEKA AND SEVA SPONSORSHIP OPTIONS

1. SACRED WATER BATHING – $25 / ₹1,600 / £20 (sponsor for each family member)
2. COPPER COIN BATHING – $300 / ₹21,000 / £250
3. SILVER COIN BATHING – $500 / ₹35,000 / £400
4. GOLD COIN BATHING – $1,000 / ₹71,000 / £800
5. PLATINUM COIN BATHING – $1,600 / ₹1 Lakh / £1,300
6. SAMSTAPAK ACHARYA SEVA – $10,000 / ₹7 Lakh / £8,000

General Donors: www.tovp.org
Canada Donors: www.tovpcanada.org
UK and Europe Donors: Sukanti Radha dasi tovpuk@gmail.com or www.tovp.org
Russia Donors: www.tovp.org/ru/ or narayaniradha.jps@gmail.com
Ukraine Donors: Gopi Nandini dasi hornetf18@mail.ru

Don’t wait, sponsor an abhisheka TODAY!

TOVP NEWS AND UPDATES – STAY IN TOUCH

Visit: www.tovp.org
Support: https://tovp.org/donate/
Email: tovpinfo@gmail.com
Follow: www.facebook.com/tovp.mayapur
Watch: www.youtube.com/c/TOVPinfoTube
View at 360°: www.tovp360.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOVP2022
Instagram: https://m.tovp.org/tovpinstagram
Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/UJXwbO81scT6gwID
App: https://m.tovp.org/app
News & Texts: https://m.tovp.org/newstexts
RSS News Feed: https://tovp.org/rss2/
Store: https://tovp.org/tovp-gift-store/

I am extremely delighted to present to you the very first edition of our monthly Kirtan Ministry Newsletter. In this newsletter, you will find activities that have taken place, upcoming events, inspirational moments, japa affirmation, interesting facts and much more. This introductory edition covers events and activities that took place from December 2020, as well as some events in January 2021 and we sincerely hope you enjoy reading it. The Kirtan Ministry and ISKCON centres around the world ushered in the new year with chanting and kirtan.

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