Friday, August 31, 2012
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Giving up hope on organized religion?
In general, people are wary about organized religion. They approach institutionalized religion with skepticism and doubt. In my personal experience, most of them have negative emotions towards God because of organized religion. When probed deeper, these people cite religious wars, internal conflicts, politics, bigotry, commercialism etc as reasons to reject organized religion. These are indeed valid reasons but the question that comes to my mind is we have these issues in pretty much all fields from sports, entertainment, politics, educational institutions to professional careers. Perhaps the scale and intensity might not be the same but pretty much every field controlled by man is filled with politics, wars, conflicts, and bigotry.
In sports, we can find mass rigging, illegal doping, corruption, and other scandalous affairs that question the basic ethics of sportsmanship. Yet sports is the biggest crowd pleaser crossing all modern day barriers. We can encounter similar issues in educational settings where one has to deal with student favoritism, partial research or funding based curriculum etc. The very idea of learning has to be open and unbiased but today we have so much political agenda within educational institutions that the idea of unbiased education has to be questioned. I have had many experiences over the years where teachers or professors show favoritism to few students and change the entire academic interests of others. Yet I do not find people not going to school or against educational institutions because of its imperfections. In the political arena, there have been many wars in the past between countries for natural resources or political ideologies where millions of people have been killed, but how many of us give up on organized Government? A significant portion of our tax dollars go to Defense and because of these dollars, countries are able to wage wars with each other and kill millions. I do not find people quitting to pay tax to the Government because the Defense is going to war?
Therefore, there is bigotry, war, fighting, crime, corruption, politics pretty much in every sphere of organized and man made service delivery system be it social service, or military service or religious service etc. Why single out religion? While I agree 99.9% of 21st century religion has become corrupt, still I believe there is a 0.1% chance to still find the essence of the truth - a truth that can change our lives for now and for ever. As long as that very small window of opportunity exists, it is the duty of every intelligent human being to seek the truth beyond mundane causes. Finding fault with an imperfect religious society is scarcely a reason to search for the truth. Who ever finds such faults with the imperfections of mainstream religion are cheating themselves and who ever are following mainstream religion without due process and deliberation are cheating others.
If people can accept other forms of fallible man made institutions, then one should also deliberate on God with the help of religious institutions even though fallible.
Hare Krishna.
In sports, we can find mass rigging, illegal doping, corruption, and other scandalous affairs that question the basic ethics of sportsmanship. Yet sports is the biggest crowd pleaser crossing all modern day barriers. We can encounter similar issues in educational settings where one has to deal with student favoritism, partial research or funding based curriculum etc. The very idea of learning has to be open and unbiased but today we have so much political agenda within educational institutions that the idea of unbiased education has to be questioned. I have had many experiences over the years where teachers or professors show favoritism to few students and change the entire academic interests of others. Yet I do not find people not going to school or against educational institutions because of its imperfections. In the political arena, there have been many wars in the past between countries for natural resources or political ideologies where millions of people have been killed, but how many of us give up on organized Government? A significant portion of our tax dollars go to Defense and because of these dollars, countries are able to wage wars with each other and kill millions. I do not find people quitting to pay tax to the Government because the Defense is going to war?
Therefore, there is bigotry, war, fighting, crime, corruption, politics pretty much in every sphere of organized and man made service delivery system be it social service, or military service or religious service etc. Why single out religion? While I agree 99.9% of 21st century religion has become corrupt, still I believe there is a 0.1% chance to still find the essence of the truth - a truth that can change our lives for now and for ever. As long as that very small window of opportunity exists, it is the duty of every intelligent human being to seek the truth beyond mundane causes. Finding fault with an imperfect religious society is scarcely a reason to search for the truth. Who ever finds such faults with the imperfections of mainstream religion are cheating themselves and who ever are following mainstream religion without due process and deliberation are cheating others.
If people can accept other forms of fallible man made institutions, then one should also deliberate on God with the help of religious institutions even though fallible.
Hare Krishna.
Monday, August 27, 2012
To repeat As It Is
To repeat the message of God as it is is not easy or that straight forward. To repeat what the previous spiritual teachers and Krishna has spoken without taint of false ego requires a pure heart. We can memorize to a certain extent and repeat but if our repetition is based on memory then the message will be as it is only to the limits of our memory. Therefore repetition as it is in its proper sense has to come from realization of self and not memory of mind. To be self realized means to have a pure heart free from gross attachments such as material wealth, followers and family members and free from subtle attachments such as adoration, profit and distinction.
So when Srila Prabhupada says that we simply have to repeat as it is, implied in that is we have to become self realized before repeating otherwise our parrot like repetition will falter with time and eventually our message will be adulterated with our own false ego. Prabhupada stresses that we simply repeat as it is but that sort of unadulterated repetition requires us to be a pure medium of God. To cultivate purity requires desire, discipline and determination and above all the blessings of sadhu and Guru and Krishna.
Hare Krishna
So when Srila Prabhupada says that we simply have to repeat as it is, implied in that is we have to become self realized before repeating otherwise our parrot like repetition will falter with time and eventually our message will be adulterated with our own false ego. Prabhupada stresses that we simply repeat as it is but that sort of unadulterated repetition requires us to be a pure medium of God. To cultivate purity requires desire, discipline and determination and above all the blessings of sadhu and Guru and Krishna.
Hare Krishna
Sunday, August 26, 2012
love that can actually satisfy us
In this world love is a powerful force. Love between husband-wife, boyfriend-girlfriend, parent-child, love for the nation, job etc all are fundamental forces for human beings to function in this world. Without love, human beings can break down and contemplate nefarious acts. So no one can deny the supreme positive effects love can have on people.
However, in this world, that love which is glorified in all forms of media, literature, and philosophy is based on returns. Husband and wife or boy and girl love each other provided the other satisfies the other. If a husband does not satisfy the wife periodically in the name of love then the wife will feel left out and alone - a symptom indicating no love. Similarly if the wife does not satisfy the husband constantly to express love, then the husband will feel separated in mind. So love has to be periodically expressed to satisfy the opposite. This is true in any form of relationship. No matter how much I love something or someone, if there are no returns in some form, gross or subtle, the whole idea of love starts to break down. To simply put love of this world is conditional and intermittent. It is based on conditions of mutual sharing and that to periodically. Therefore this sort of love is incomplete or materially tainted.
Pure love or spiritual love on the other hand is not done or expressed for any selfish motivations. It is purely done to satisfy the object of love without expectations or returns and this is the sort of love we find in the relationships between Krishna and His devotees. It is completely unconditional, unmotivated and unceasing. It is ever expanding and blissful. This sort of love is possible only in the spiritual platform and the sort of love one should aspire for.
It is ok to love the things and people of this world as long as we understand it is materially motivated and temporary. Therefore we have to transfer this material love to Krishna to make it unconditional and unceasing and thus spiritual. By doing so our inherent nature to love and be loved will not be lost but rather expanded a million fold. This million fold expansion can happen only if our love is focused on the Supreme spiritual being - Krishna. By carefully following the instructions of Srila Prabhupada in his books, we can actually revive our innate nature to love Krishna and ultimately that dormant love will blossom fully as an offering for Krishna.
Only this love and loving exchange with Krishna can satisfy us.
Hare Krishna
However, in this world, that love which is glorified in all forms of media, literature, and philosophy is based on returns. Husband and wife or boy and girl love each other provided the other satisfies the other. If a husband does not satisfy the wife periodically in the name of love then the wife will feel left out and alone - a symptom indicating no love. Similarly if the wife does not satisfy the husband constantly to express love, then the husband will feel separated in mind. So love has to be periodically expressed to satisfy the opposite. This is true in any form of relationship. No matter how much I love something or someone, if there are no returns in some form, gross or subtle, the whole idea of love starts to break down. To simply put love of this world is conditional and intermittent. It is based on conditions of mutual sharing and that to periodically. Therefore this sort of love is incomplete or materially tainted.
Pure love or spiritual love on the other hand is not done or expressed for any selfish motivations. It is purely done to satisfy the object of love without expectations or returns and this is the sort of love we find in the relationships between Krishna and His devotees. It is completely unconditional, unmotivated and unceasing. It is ever expanding and blissful. This sort of love is possible only in the spiritual platform and the sort of love one should aspire for.
It is ok to love the things and people of this world as long as we understand it is materially motivated and temporary. Therefore we have to transfer this material love to Krishna to make it unconditional and unceasing and thus spiritual. By doing so our inherent nature to love and be loved will not be lost but rather expanded a million fold. This million fold expansion can happen only if our love is focused on the Supreme spiritual being - Krishna. By carefully following the instructions of Srila Prabhupada in his books, we can actually revive our innate nature to love Krishna and ultimately that dormant love will blossom fully as an offering for Krishna.
Only this love and loving exchange with Krishna can satisfy us.
Hare Krishna
Friday, August 24, 2012
Happiness is an illusion
Not very many people will accept Krishna consciousness philosophy and even if they do will struggle to continue. The reason is they find it difficult to accept that there is no happiness in this material world and that all happiness is simply an illusion. People don't like to hear this rather negative statement. To think there is no happiness in this world leaves us only with the opposite which is misery. People don't like this idea. So they reject this philosophy off the bat or they find intellectual reasons to refute this philosophy.
The whole modern educational, economical and political system is designed to promote this idea of seeking happiness. It is even in the US Declaration of Independence. In the famous Declaration of Independence of USA states that the Creator has given us rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. The statement ends with happiness meaning we have life and liberty to become happy. But then in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna the creator says there is only misery in this material world. Whatever we experience in the name of material prosperity and happiness according to Krishna is only His illusory potency bewildering the conditioned souls.
If misery is true, and happiness is an illusion in this world, how can we test for it and actually intellectually accept such a grave statement. Quality of a product is normally tested through consumer reports and satisfaction surveys after people have used or experienced the product. When I say after, I mean at the end of usage. It can be the end of one time usage or multiple time usages. Still the quality is tested at the end. Using the same idea, if we want to test the quality of life at the end of life in this world then we have to agree the end in this world always ends in separation or deterioration and the ultimate end is death. Separation, deterioration or death is not a happy state. Lets be honest this is the reality and this is what Krishna is indicating that there is deterioration in the form of disease and there is separation ultimately in the form of death.
When I was ten years old, my dad put me in a boarding school and hence had to be separated beyond my control. It was difficult because I was put in an alien environment. Similarly in the USA, children leave home invariably when they reach eighteen years to college or some other destination. There is separation. If temporary separation is painful, then one can only imagine the ultimate separation or death. It is painful and irreversible.
So any sober and intelligent person will acknowledge this idea of temporariness and conclude that the end is not happy. If the end is not happy or rather miserable then per the consumer report, we can say this material life is miserable and that there is no happiness and that that happiness is an illusion.
Why am I saying all this, I am saying this because we should stop spending our valuable time desperately looking for happiness and pleasure in this world and start looking for the alternative. Krishna says that alternative is seeking His shelter. By seeking His shelter we can cross beyond this temporary reality and place ourselves in an eternal environment and this is the goal of a happy life.
By chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra everyday, one can withstand the miseries of this world and find peace under Krishna's protection. Please chant Hare Krishna.
Hare Krishna
The whole modern educational, economical and political system is designed to promote this idea of seeking happiness. It is even in the US Declaration of Independence. In the famous Declaration of Independence of USA states that the Creator has given us rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. The statement ends with happiness meaning we have life and liberty to become happy. But then in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna the creator says there is only misery in this material world. Whatever we experience in the name of material prosperity and happiness according to Krishna is only His illusory potency bewildering the conditioned souls.
If misery is true, and happiness is an illusion in this world, how can we test for it and actually intellectually accept such a grave statement. Quality of a product is normally tested through consumer reports and satisfaction surveys after people have used or experienced the product. When I say after, I mean at the end of usage. It can be the end of one time usage or multiple time usages. Still the quality is tested at the end. Using the same idea, if we want to test the quality of life at the end of life in this world then we have to agree the end in this world always ends in separation or deterioration and the ultimate end is death. Separation, deterioration or death is not a happy state. Lets be honest this is the reality and this is what Krishna is indicating that there is deterioration in the form of disease and there is separation ultimately in the form of death.
When I was ten years old, my dad put me in a boarding school and hence had to be separated beyond my control. It was difficult because I was put in an alien environment. Similarly in the USA, children leave home invariably when they reach eighteen years to college or some other destination. There is separation. If temporary separation is painful, then one can only imagine the ultimate separation or death. It is painful and irreversible.
So any sober and intelligent person will acknowledge this idea of temporariness and conclude that the end is not happy. If the end is not happy or rather miserable then per the consumer report, we can say this material life is miserable and that there is no happiness and that that happiness is an illusion.
Why am I saying all this, I am saying this because we should stop spending our valuable time desperately looking for happiness and pleasure in this world and start looking for the alternative. Krishna says that alternative is seeking His shelter. By seeking His shelter we can cross beyond this temporary reality and place ourselves in an eternal environment and this is the goal of a happy life.
By chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra everyday, one can withstand the miseries of this world and find peace under Krishna's protection. Please chant Hare Krishna.
Hare Krishna
Friday, August 17, 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
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