Thy Will be Done

Why is there fear, anxiety, depression? These are negative emotions we cultivate to deal with the things, people and circumstances of this world. When our ability to control and enjoy is under threat, when the things we love, the people we love, the circumstances we control, when all of it get out of control or actually uncontrollable, we react with fear, anxiety, depression, anger, self pity etc. This is because fundamentally we are taught, trained and brain washed by our parents, the educational system, the media from early childhood that we have full control and ability to manipulate things to achieve success in our area of interest. We are trained to be the ultimate masters and controllers of our life. Therefore when things go out of control beyond our calculations we do not know how to deal with such a change. The Bhagavad Gita, however, teaches the opposite. We are never in control but instead merely cooperators. Please allow me to belabor a little more. 

In India especially, I have seen people think they can foresee future and prevent bad things from happening. They will go to astrologers (spend lot of money by the way) and somehow find faults in my astrological chart. Then they will diligently go to the temple (appropriate demigods) to perform necessary rituals to ward off evil. They think if somehow I can spend some more money and satisfy that particular deity, then my son, family and ultimately myself will be in peace and harmony. This strategy is employed right from when the child is born, the child goes to school, then after college for job, then for marriage, then for a grandchild, then for house, then for health...like this the list never ends. The attitude that we can solve our problems by ritualistic atonement and that we can indirectly control our lives is a big big illusion.

In the West people do not necessarily go to demigods but they also do the same by obsessing over science and technology. Fifty years back a child can sit in a car without child car seats and now science suggests that children are at risk of danger without child car seats. It is illegal to drive without it. Science can predict future problems and thus find myriads of solutions if anything would go wrong. The mentality, however, is the same both in the East and West. Somehow by using astrology or modern science I can control my assets, family, and friends and live happily ever after. This mentality, unfortunately, is being bred from the day the child is born.

God or Krishna is teaching us totally the opposite. He says this material world is full of miseries (no reprieve). This material world is so miserable and that everything is simply fleeting with time that it is not possible to be happy in this world. He says that the fundamental nature of misery and temporariness cannot be overcome by any material method or strategy. The only way one can be happy, He says, is if we simply surrender to Him (Krishna). Another glaring truth from the Bhagavad Gita is that Krishna says "I am the Supreme controller" and "Supreme enjoyer" and that everything belongs to "Me (Krishna)". So our ideology that we can control and create our own life is an illusion. Then apparently how is it that we feel we do control and create? After all I cannot become a doctor or engineer or anything if I do not desire, work and spend time on it. How many times have we seen people waste their lives because they are high school dropouts...so surely I am the controller of my own destiny?

Krishna says that the individual living being is strictly controlled by higher powers. He is controlled by his own actions (karma) of the past. He is controlled by time, and ultimately he is controlled directly by the Supersoul Krishna. So merely one's desire and free will on its own does not ensure material fruits, it has to be in harmony with Krishna's plan. In that sense the individual living entity is simply a "cooperator" and not the "ultimate" doer of an action. Therefore it is in our best interest to cooperate and surrender to the will of the Lord and not imagine that the individual has unlimited free will. If that is the case every cricketer should have become like Sachin Tendulkar or every physicist should have attained fame such as Einstein or every politician should have become a Prime minister or President. Why is everyone not destined to reach the highest in their field despite the desire, effort and energy? That is because the individual living being is not the full controller but merely a cooperator. He has very small independence to perform action. He is very much bound within the laws of nature. Everything is purely controlled and ordained by the Supremely Independent will of God.

When we actively cooperate with the will of the Lord and even if something goes wrong we will not react with negative emotions as explained in the beginning but rather we will seek peace in Krishna’s plan. Ultimately when our time on this planet comes to an end we will leave in peace humbly awaiting our next destination.

Hare Krishna

Modern science - is it progressing or setting us up for stone age?

Picture above: A rainbow runner fish caught in the Pacific with a gut full of plastic particles. "Our consumption does have a life after our use that we have to take responsibility for," Eriksen says.

In the Upanishads and the Vedas, it is mentioned that human beings are fallible. They make mistakes and their sensory perception is limited. Therefore man made knowledge (modern science) is limited and flawed even. This is the fundamental reason that modern science cannot be accepted as absolute. As followers of Krishna, we accept Krishna's words as perfect because Krishna is infallible. He does not make any mistake at any time and His sensory perception is unlimited. Therefore if Krishna says something and that may sound totally out of whack to us, still we have to accept it as truth.

Below is an example of how human beings with their fallibility think they are advancing but instead putting every other organism in jeopardy.  This has to be taken seriously. The bare fact is that human beings cannot create knowledge that is perfect and complete and at some where along the line will cause more harm than good. So the pertinent question is - are we progressing or regressing?

Below is an example of how plastic was invented to create an affordable solution for mass consumption & easy use but apparently the inventor and manufacturer did not think through this fully. They did not think of how plastic can ruin nature in the long run. If plastic is going to destroy ecosystems, would you call that invention technological advancement or regression? By the way is there one product in the market today that is plastic free? Almost all modern day products have plastic in it.

In my opinion, most of modern day industrial products in some form or the other are harmful to nature either in the creation phase or disposal phase. A few I can think of are automobiles, air conditioning, paper, printers, computer technology, factory farming etc. Can you imagine modern life without one of the said products. Foolish scientists and manufacturers greedy for money do not think of the long term effects of their inventions

Below is an eye opening article about a research on the failure of plastic disposal. If we do not do something about this, we may find ecosystems absolutely ruined. Fauna and flora that had been developing for centuries will be ruined by plastic that was invented some 150 years ago.

If a man made invention of 150 years old can destroy nature's creation of more than million years, then are we truly making scientific progress?  How short sighted is our scientific community?

Please click the link below for the full article.

A marine expedition of environmentalists has confirmed the bad news it feared -- the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" extends even further than previously known. - Full article

Hare Krishna

God's real mercy

Generally when we obtain something good we feel special especially if it is something we want. This is true when we approach God. People who believe in God approach Him for material gain and when that gain is fulfilled they feel God has blessed them and that He is taking care of them. Like this they profess loyalty to God. So generally people think that obtaining material opulence means God is showing His mercy on them and that they are special in the eyes of God.

Real mercy as described by our spiritual preceptors is when God intervenes in our life in such a way that He removes all our unwanted desires and unwanted habits that is a hindrance to our service to Him. He removes our "ahankar" or materialistic ego so that we will not be attached to the fruits of our labor. Because it is this attachment to the fruits is causing us to be bound in this world and be born again and again. Therefore to free us from this greater pain of birth and death, God, to show His real mercy, actually gives us small material pains so that we give up our material ego and consequently give up our attachments to our fruits. This renunciation of fruits actually will pave way for unalloyed devotion towards God. As long as we are attached to our material ego and fruits of our work (gross or subtle) we will have the tendency to enjoy the fruit and be the controller of the fruit which in the big picture will destroy the desire to fully surrender to the Supreme Absolute Truth.

Therefore real mercy is when God helps to cut this hard knot of attachment to the fruit of labor and fully engage our energy in serving Krishna, anything other than this is not mercy but a bane.

Hare Krishna

Krishna against Kamsa - A preview

One way street

Krishna consciousness is like running a marathon race. It is a long race so you have to pace yourself. In a marathon the runner does not sprint at the start or middle but rather the sprint occurs towards the finish of the race. Similarly in Krishna consciousness we have to start and gradually progress one step at a time. It might be slow but surely has to be steady. One thing is for sure if you want to finish the race successfully there is no question of stepping backwards. It is better to practice Krishna consciousness gradually and progress in one direction than going back and forth. We have to determine our mind that Krishna Consciousness is a one way street to Goloka. Once you are on it - no returning back. This should be our conviction.

Hare Krishna 

Facts that are not so fun

The United States of America is a materially opulent country. In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says that material consciousness promotes base qualities such as lust, anger, pride, arrogance, greed, conceit, harshness etc. Because of such base qualities people can cause harm to others and to oneself. It also is an indication that economic development does not lead to a happy ending. Unless one has saintly qualities such as simplicity, truthfulness, freedom from anger, compassion to all beings, humility, forgiveness etc one cannot impart benefit to oneself and the society. Such qualities can be cultivated only if an individual is genuinely God conscious and is a humble caretaker of the creation of God.

Below are some statistics that show how material opulence can lead to social and moral degradation what to speak of spiritual. Any genuine and thoughtful person should take note. If a person sincerely inquires about Krishna consciousness, then such social and moral problems can be checked, in fact averted. There is no other way! Chant Hare Krishna!

1. The United States has the highest rate of illegal drug use in the entire world.
2. The United States has the highest divorce rate in the world by a very wide margin.
3. The United States has the highest child abuse death rate on the entire globe.
4. The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate on the entire globe.
5. According to one study, one out of every four teen girls in the United States has at least one sexually transmitted disease.
6. Every single day, more than 3,000 American babies are killed by abortion that is more than million abortions per year. One study found that 86 percent of all abortions are done for the sake of convenience.
7. The average American family purchases 200 pounds of meat per family member each year.
8. Large numbers of cows that are killed for hamburger meat in America stand ankle-deep in their own manure all day long.
9. Of all the major industrialized nations, America is the most obese (36% of Americans are considered obese). 
10. The United States produces more pornography than any other nation has in the history of the world. One survey found that an astounding 30 percent of all Internet traffic now goes to pornography websites.
11. The average American watches 28 hours of television every week.
12. U.S. corporations sell more fast food and more soda than anyone else in the world by a very wide margin. The average American drinks more than 600 sodas every single year.  That is by far the most in the world.
13. Consumer debt in America has increased by a staggering 1700% since 1971. There is more credit card debt in America than anywhere else in the world.
14. There is more mortgage debt in America than anywhere else in the world.
15. There is more student loan debt in America than anywhere else in the world.
16. Americans take more prescription drugs than anyone else on the planet. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (a Federal Organization), the percentage of Americans that say that they have taken a prescription drug within the last month has risen to almost 50 percent.
17. Research has found that more than 20 percent of all American adults are taking at least one drug for “psychiatric” or “behavioral” disorders.
18. The percentage of women taking antidepressants in America is higher than in any other country in the world.
19. According to the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 36 million Americans have abused prescription drugs at some point in their lives.

Source

Hare Krishna

Jai Jai Radha Ramana Haribol!

Hare Krishna