June 2011 by Mate Radovcic

www.16ROUNDS.com | June 2011

COVER STORY:

THE WORLD POLICEMAN pg. 11 www.16rounds.com

Review by Nug Magazine (nubmag.com)

Traditionally

from South India, dosas are a sourdoughlike pancakes made from rice and bean dough, stuffed with flavored potatoes, and served with handcrafted chutneys to use as a dip. At Bova Dosa, they add their own Southern California twist by adding avocado and soy-free, dairy-free cheese in some of their dosas. They also have sweet ones with natural peanut butter and agave. Their food is spiritualized because they are practicing a form of Bhakti Yoga when creating it. They offer up their food to the highest source and give the food with love and devotion. They believe that when they distribute food that has been offered in this manner, both the food and the activity of giving and receiving money are spiritualized. People receive great benefits from eating it. People that are really sensitive have expressed their experience of eating their food as that of feeling a vibration. Coral, one of the owners, says, “The greatest thing is when you can do what you are doing for the highest purpose and the betterment for anyone who comes into contact with it, spreading the love that is already there. It’s as if you’re being nourished by the love of God.” So when they say it is vegan soul food, they really mean it!

www.16rounds.com

“You’re eating of this is a form of yoga and a form of union; that is the form of meditation you are practicing right now, so just open yourself up to receive what it is giving you. The whole time I’m making it I’m deep in prayer thinking, ‘If you could feed God, what would you feed him?’ As I’m making this food, I’m thinking of the Beloved, and it’s like making it for the Supreme. When other people receive this food, the sensation is indescribable, but people feel it.”

“We put our love, heart, and hopes for everybody into all the food we make.” The food is also said to be medicinal; for example, their chutneys are medicinal because every ingredient in it is powerful. They crack open coconuts by hand and use over two pounds of ginger in one chutney along with whole seed spices such as fenugreek, mustard seeds, Dahl, and fresh curry leaves. “We want to heal people and help them find the highest truth, and help them refocus on watering the roots instead of running around watering the leaves. Go to the source; there’s not enough money or whatever to fulfill them, so it’s important to get centered.” You can find Coral and Sage running Bova Dosa at the Imperial Beach Farmers Market every Friday, and more markets will be coming soon. Go and treat yourself to a Dosa Love. �

<(previous issue's cover)>

INTRO

DON'T CRY By Sacinandana Swami

When typing my 16Rounds to Samadhi 16Rounds is published: ● To propagate spiritual knowledge and to educate all people in the techniques of spiritual life in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in the world. ● To bring people closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler and more natural way of life. ● To expose the faults of materialism. ● To bring about the well-being of all living entities.

seminar "There is No Death," Sadanandi Dasi, my secretary, suddenly stopped and asked me in her innocent way, "Will you write a poem for me when I have gone and send it to everyone who is dear to me?" Well, with a lot of pain in my heart, I sat down today, only three days after her departure, and wrote this poem for her. In it I try to see things from Sadanandi Dasi's perspective and say to you what she would say. I pray that she is pleased by it and so are you. If you see me on the day of my death laying with a pale face in the cold coffin, don't cry.

This is only one of the evenings of my life. The sun has set in the west but somewhere it will rise again announcing the dawn of a new birthday. Maybe I have even joined the dance divine on the sandy banks of the Yamuna River in the deathless world. �

Do you cry when the shell of an oyster breaks and the pearl rolls free?

Do you lament when the struggle is finally over and the butterfly leaves the dead cocoon?

16Rounds is an independent magazine compiled, written, and published by a few Hare Krishna monks. It is produced in an attempt to benefit its readers, for our own purification, and for the pleasure of our spiritual grandfather, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhakti vedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder and spiritual guide of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). The first copy is free; additional copies of the same issue are $10 each. © 2011 16Rounds to Samadhi. All rights reserved.

16Rounds Staff: Editor: Mahat Tattva Dasa Mahat has been a monk since 1995 and is currently serving as the president of the Hare Krishna temple in San Diego. Assistant Editor & Layout: Giriraj Gopal Dasa Giriraj Gopal Dasa is a working artist and a bhakti-yoga teacher and practitioner.

Layout: Benjamin Derrick Ben has been a monk since 2008 and is currently living in the ashram at the Hare Krishna temple in San Diego.

CONTACT: 16rounds@gmail.com www.16ROUNDS.com 1030 Grand Ave. San Diego, CA 92109 We love to be in touch with our readers. Want to talk about stuff, discuss things, or even hang out? Let us know. FaceBook facebook.com/16rounds facebook.com/16roundstosamadhi ADVERTISE Call/text Mahat at #858.405.5465. See media/advertising kit at www.16rounds.com/advertise

MEANING OF “16ROUNDS” Yoga is a Sanskrit word that means “union” or “linking.” Meditation is a process of yoga by which the spiritual practitioner achieves union with the Divine. The recommended process of meditation for the age we are currently living in is mantra meditation. This process involves chanting of mantras. The Upanishads, the classical spiritual texts of ancient India, say that the best mantra is the Hare Krishna mantra: hare krishna, hare krishna, krishna krishna, hare hare, hare rama, hare rama, rama rama, hare hare. A “Mala” is a set of 108 beads strung on a thread, sort of like a rosary. The spiritual practitioner prayerfully and with great concentration recites/chants the whole mantra once for each bead of the mala. The mala or the string of beads is held in the fist of the right hand and is meant to help us count how many times we chanted the mantra. It also helps engage the sense of touch in the process of meditation. Once we have chanted the mantra 108 times, or once for each bead, we have completed “one round.” Serious practitioners of this spiritual discipline take a vow to chant at least sixteen times round the mala every day; thus the name “16 Rounds.”

Photo Credits © 1 flickr.com/ddebold © 2 flickr.com/garrette © 3 flickr.com/david-trattnig © 4 flickr.com/pushbuttonart © 5 flickr.com/cayusa © 6 flickr.com/cdm © 7 addictedtowar.com © 8 addictedtowar.com © 9 addictedtowar.com © 10 addictedtowar.com © 11 addictedtowar.com © 12 flickr.com/acornchief © 13 addictedtowar.com © 14 flickr.com/58782395@N03 © 15 flickr.com/24905220@N00 © 16 flickr.com/paddymurphy © 17 flickr.com/yourdon

www.16rounds.com

SELF REALIZATION

BHAKTI-YOGA In Search of a Lost Love If the love one offers is met with hate, it doesn't die, rather it manifests in the form of compassion.That is universal love. It is not just a sentiment. It cannot be manifested merely by a shift in mental disposition. It can only come from inner cleaning, an inner awakening. This inner cleansing is the goal of all spiritual practice. By Radhanath Swami

Mother

Nature is always speaking. She speaks in a language understood within the peaceful mind of the sincere observer. Leopards, cobras, monkeys, rivers, and trees; they all served as my teachers when I lived as a wanderer in the Himalayan foothills. They shared with me the kind of lessons that elevate the spirit.

One particularly illuminating lesson from the forest comes in the form of the Himalayan musk deer. The musk deer is referenced

in Sanskrit poetry and philosophy owing to its peculiar behavior. Prized by the perfume industry for its exceptional aroma, musk is one of the world's most expensive natural products, fetching more than three times its weight in gold. The aroma of musk is so alluring that when the stag's sensitive nose catches wind of it, he roams the forest day and night in pursuit of its source. He exhausts himself in a fruitless quest, never realizing the bitter irony: the sweet fragrance he was chasing resided nowhere but within himself. Musk, you see, is produced by a gland in

the stag's very own navel: it was searching without for what was all along lying within.

The sages of India found in the musk deer an apt description of the human condition. We are all pleasure-seeking creatures wandering a forest of some sort -- replete with pleasures and perils alike. Moreover, we are prone to the same type of folly as the deer: we seek our happiness externally. Misconceiving our true needs, we wrongly equate our fulfillment and self-worth with possessions, positions, and mental and sensual

thrills. We are often drawn into superficial relationships which hold the promise of lasting satisfaction, yet leave us feeling empty.

The true treasure lies within. It is the underlying theme of the songs we sing, the shows we watch and the books we read. It is woven into the Psalms of the Bible, the ballads of the Beatles, and practically every Bollywood film ever made. What is that treasure? Love. Love is the nature of the Divine. Beneath the covering of the false ego it lies hidden. The purpose of human life is to uncover that divine love. The fulfillment that we're all seeking is found in the sharing of this love.

The power of love is most profound. It has various levels. In its crudest sense, the word love refers to acts of physical intimacy, and its influence over society is obvious. But on a deeper, more emotional level, not simply of the body but of the heart, there is no greater power than love. For the sake of money and prestige, one may be willing to work long hours, weekends, even holidays. A mother's love, on the other hand, is selfless and unconditional. There's nothing she won't do for the well-being of her child, and she asks for nothing in return. When love is pure it has the power to conquer. Lover and beloved conquer each other by their affection. The source, the essence,

www.16rounds.com

Radhanath Swami the fullest manifestation of love's conquering power is the love of the soul for the supreme soul, or God. The sages who authored India's sacred texts found that the most astonishing of all of God's wonders was His willingness and eagerness to not only be touched by our love, but to be conquered by it. The cultivation of that dormant love is called the path of bhakti (devotion). This love is within all of us. It is the greatest of all powers because it is the only power that can grant realization of the highest truths and the only power that can reveal the deepest inner fulfillment in our lives. On the strength of this love we can overcome envy, pride, lust, anger, and greed. There is no other means of conquering these diseases within us.

One who loves God sees everything in relation to God. Therefore their love flows spontaneously

Cont'd on pg. 5 ›››

The aroma of musk is so alluring that when the stag's sensitive nose catches wind of it he roams the forest day and night in pursuit of its source. He exhausts himself in a fruitless quest, never realizing the bitter irony: the sweet fragrance he was chasing resided nowhere but within himself.

SOCIETY

MAD MILK FOR A MAD WORLD Now They Are Inserting Human Genes In Cows' DNA By Devamrita Swami

You already

know that the processed milk sold in shops remarkably differs from the cow's original gift of love. Now, clever scientists want to distort the miracle food even more. They do this by cloning cows—altering them by inserting human genes into their DNA. The process entails implanting genetically modified embryos of dairy cows into surrogate mother cows. Since not every woman nurses her children, and formula milk for babies is known to be an inferior substitute, biotech investment money senses a market. The scheme? By scrambling the DNA of cow embryos with human genes, a "supermilk" will flow—concocted to have all the goodness the cow's udder gives plus the high quantities of key nutrients a woman's breast provides. The research leader says, "For the 'human-like milk', 10 years or maybe more time will be required to finally pour this enhanced milk into the consumer’s cup." The lab reveals they have built up a herd of around 300 cows that are able to turn out "humanized cow's milk." Described in the scientific peer-reviewed journal “Pub-

lic Library of Science One,” these transgenic animals, as they are called, physically resemble normal cows.

Tucked away in China, where the biotech laws are lax and the controversy zero, the experiments continue, while the rest of the GM food world waits. The scientists involved have, so far, managed to produce three generations of altered cows, but commercial production of the cow-human milk would require much larger herds. In two particular trials, of 42 modified cows birthed, 26 died—10 immediately after birth and another 6 a few months later.

Key Laboratories for AgroBiotechnology certifies its flavor: "The [concocted] milk tastes stronger than normal milk." The medium and long range affect on the cows, humans, and nature? Unknown. Trust them.

The invisible hand of the market economy and its ethics, monitored by the virtuous politicians we've elected, will see us through. �

FACEBOOK.COM/ 16ROUNDSTOSAMADHI

Biotech scientists throughout the world readily accept that the cloning technology used in genetic modification can affect the development and survival of cloned animals. The admitted scientific mystery, though, is why. Insisting that the "human-like milk" is as safe as that from ordinary cows, the director of State

YOUTUBE.COM/ 16ROUNDSTOSAMADHI

"BHAKTI-YOGA" ››› Cont'd from pg. 4

toward everyone, at all times, everywhere. They even love those who wish them harm. If you love God, you can't hate anything or anyone. If the love one offers is met with hate, it doesn't die, rather it manifests in the form of compassion. That is universal love. It is not just a sentiment. It cannot be manifested merely by a shift in mental disposition. It can only come from inner cleaning, an inner awakening. Then that love becomes the reality of life.

This inner cleansing is the goal of all spiritual practice. Every prayer offered, mantra chanted, or ritual performed should be for the purpose of removing the impurities which impede the full blossoming of unconditional love and compassion. This is the only way to peace, both individually and collectively. When our intrinsic love is awakened and our divine qualities shine through, we will not only find the pleasure we've been seeking but also become pow-

erful agents of change in the world.

We are all searching, roaming the forest like the musk deer, seeking the pleasures without. When we recognize what we are really looking for and begin searching for the lost love within, at that point, the real journey of human life begins. �

TWITTER.COM/ 16ROUNDSMAG

www.16rounds.com

SOCIETY

THE ISM SCHISM GAME

The Squabble for Religious Affiliation Earth Day, San Diego, CA, 2011.Walking around Balboa Park, my eyes look upon a myriad of signs, leaflets, and banners, all proclaiming first hand all-exclusive truth. I walk around the bend to see a gruesome display of real-life abortion photographs with shouting Pro-lifers fending themselves off from the Pro-choicers who warn people of the extremists that lie beyond. As I continue to walk through the park, I see familiar big-bellied ex-prisoner looking, militant, Born-Agains... By Giriraj Gopal Dasa

They wear big

dark “Terminator” shades, sleeveless T’s, long scruffy beards, and hold signs which inform others of a place called “HELL”, pointing their fingers at anyone who seemed not to surrender to their prophetic order and make the cut of “redemption”. Meanwhile, upset, justice-seeking liberals spew their bleeding-heart rhetoric with the strong conviction of having the one and only ultimate solution; propagating that all religions, beliefs, and lifestyle become “right” simply for the sake of incurring peace, inferring that liberality and tolerance is itself the higher truth of life. They plead with us that objective truths must be ignored if it doesn’t lead to mutual co-gratification of each other’s ideals, if we ever hope to achieve a living utopia under Democratic rule.

CHOOSE YOUR FAITH

It seems like every group wants you to become a member and support their cause, doesn’t it? “Become a feminist, become prolifer, become a Christian, become Green, become a democrat, become this, become that, and most importantly become like us…” But why should we? And more importantly what happens to our life after when we do?

I mean you gotta pick ONE right? You gotta check all the little boxes next to your correct race, your political views, your stance on certain pressing issues and then ultimately you gotta choose only ONE of the boxes for your chosen “faith”, which is basically just one of many different “belief systems” out there, right? This is how religion works in today’s world, doesn’t it? Isn’t that what religion today is about; Just a name-tag on your list of hobbies, another “ism” to throw up on your Facebook page? Put up your cosmetic spiritual affiliation and once the obsequious adulation is

www.16rounds.com

done and over, you are able to move on to all of your empirically real needs, interests, and hobbies. This way we avoid feeling guilt by securing ourselves a spiritual insurance policy. You never know, there could always be a slight chance that there is some kind of God who is going to stand before us and judge all of our actions after death. Right?

if we have completely forgotten what place spirituality is supposed to have in the life of a human being. We have taken it out of its proper place to guide us in making important decisions, choosing life values, and more importantly allowing it to serve as an anchor for grounding our everyday lifestyle into a sane, objective reality. Rather, it has become more a one-day-weekend-retreat to an eccentric six-day-a-week Hollywood lifestyle. Out of such frustration due to a lack of clarity, authenticity, and consistency in the presentation of religion today, most of us have become so frazzled that the liberal view of accepting all paths at once seems quite palatable.

That is precisely the problem here. ...

Maybe the crux of the confusion regarding religion today is too much concern with religious affiliation and not our actually understanding of the philosophies of the religions themselves. It is neither religion nor the diversity thereof that is the source of most conflict; it likely is our denigrated approach to it.

In America today, it is as

Some guy at a concert shouting, "Satan's music" at Kenny Chesney fans.

On second hand, personally as much as I like to have a cake, spaghetti, and salad dinner topped-off with a milkshake, I wouldn’t dare to mix them together in one pot and pretend to feel the same satisfaction as seeing them in their original forms as compliments to each other, which is a similar analogous attempt of the New-agers who try to end the perpetual conflict of the fundamentalist orthodoxical religious confusion. This personally doesn’t appeal to me as a viable solution, because there are obvious objec-

SOCIETY "People are encouraged by TV, media, and magazines to be that shallow. They are encouraged to accept religion for name’s sake and spend the rest of our time concentrating on politics, economy, and the American dollar. " tive truths that an intelligent person cannot ignore. Therefore, we should be more concerned with developing a conscious awareness of objective truths, and not overly concerned with relative religious affiliations. Ironically, the development of true spiritual understanding could actually make it possible.

THE CAUSE OF ALL CAUSES

“Krishna” refers to the original cause of all causes. Krishna is the supreme intelligent underlying principle of life that exists within and without everything in this manifested universe. As pearls on a necklace are held together by an unseen thread, all energies in nature are acting and operating according to the direction of a supremely intelligent director. That is the most rudimentary understanding of Krishna Consciousness. To paint a picture of a rose flower, we have to take a brush, mix the colors on the palate, and exhaust our brain to make the picture look beautiful. But in a garden, you see not only one rose, but thousands of roses blooming and it is like they have been very artistically "painted" by nature. We should go deeper into this daily phenomenon and ask what is nature? Nature is a working instrument. Without some sophisticated energy working, how could the rose bloom so beautifully? There must be energies at work, but it acts so effortlessly and imperceptibly that we cannot see or understand how it is happening. The energies of life seem to be working alone, but actually there is a cosmic intelligence behind them. When you see a paint-

ing, everyone can understand that there was an intelligent living being that was the cause of it. Similarly, the "painting" of a real rose is also worked out by several energies. Don't think that the rose has been created automatically. Nothing is created automatically. The rose is created out of the energies of Krishna, but these energies are so subtle and perfectly composed that a nice flower can bloom overnight. So, Krishna is that brain behind nature’s modus operandi. Therefore, when we talk of Krishna Consciousness we are talking about an actual educated vision of reality. And speaking of religion and roses, does not a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Does it matter what you call it, as long as the subject under discussion is the same?

actually are, not a body made of flesh and blood. As long as we reside in this body, it appears to move and is animated, but when the two energies, material and spiritual, become separated it becomes observable as death of the body. The body ceases to subsist in the absence of that superior spiritual energy - the soul.

So, when we say the body is dead, does that mean the actual living entity inside has died? No, it is not possible, the body dies because it is made of matter and all matter goes through the three stages of creation, maintenance, and destruction, but the living spiritual energy is not material and therefore has no beginning and no end, it is eternal in nature. We are eternal. We are not this body. The essential universal truth that all religions of the world have come to teach us is that our

true identity is spiritual. Due to ignorance we have based our identity on our bodily designations. It gets worse when we bring that into the religious arena, which is the very knowledge that is supposed to free us from the materially biased conception of life altogether. So, the problem is not diversity. The problem is our not being fully able to understand these universal conclusions of about the existence of spirit.

One soul is thinking, “I am a human”, another is thinking, “I am a mouse”, another is thinking, “I am a cat”, another living being is thinking, “I am a ferocious dog”. Amongst humans, someone is thinking, “I am American, I am Russian, I am gay, I am a conservative, I am a liberal”, etc. But pinch the body of the cat, pinch the body of the gay Russian, or cut the body of the old American Cont'd on pg. 15 ›››

SPIRITUALITY DEFINED

We must understand the fact of how life is spiritual in nature and not simply chance chemical interactions. Spirit by definition means the animating principle of existence. Now-a-days people use the word to indicate a feeling or belief, as in “I feel spiritual today” or “This belief of mine is a spiritual one”, but spirit by definition refers to that living energy which is responsible for animating the physical body with the symptoms of life. When the living spirit soul, which is the actual personality and observer, is residing inside a body, the body is called alive. When the living spirit soul leaves the body, which is nothing more than a combination of material elements, the body is called dead. That is the difference between a living body and a dead body. The living force is what we

Relignorant: Being completely clueless, or ignorant, about the religion you practice. And, a large percentage who claim to be atheist are... Sure she says he's an atheist, but that's only because she's relignorant. I'm pretty sure she doesn't even know what the word means. -from urbandictionary.com www.16rounds.com

PHILOSOPHY

LET’S GET REAL FOR A MINUTE

The Role Of Sincerity And Courage "Isn’t it annoying when we have something important to do, but we just can’t seem to get off the couch, so we procrastinate, then run around in anxiety, trying to get the chore done before it’s too late? "

By Ryan Hazlett

What if

someone told us that today we will have to face all our shortcomings and character defects, and start doing something to improve ourselves? It seems that most people would become a little (or a lot) worried or outright scared to face them so abruptly. For those who do accept the challenge, courage is required. But before one even gets to the point of mustering up the courage for a genuine self-appraisal, one has to be sincere about wanting to become a better person. Without sincerity and courage we will not be able to improve our lives significantly.

Do any of you reading this article know anyone with perfect character? Has anyone ever met a person who always acts with class and dignity in public? Has anybody ever met someone who never lies, cheats, steals, gambles, is never lazy, always thinks carefully before they act, never becomes unnecessarily angry or violent when provoked, never gets jealous, always wishes others well, even enemies, always keeps their body, home, vehicle, and possessions clean and well organized, and is always ready to help others and do their part to make the world a better place? Unless you have met some enlightened master or a great saint, you have probably not encountered a person who has all these characteristics. So I would make the guess that hardly anyone reading this article has perfect character. And if we agree that we are not of perfect character, then logically shouldn’t we all be actively trying to better ourselves? Does it feel good when we lose our temper at someone we love, and then feel terrible about what we said later? Isn’t it annoying when we have something important to do, but we just cannot seem to get off the couch, so we procrastinate, then run around in anxiety, trying to get the chore done before it is too late? Is it a problem when we, out of fear, do not face a challenge, and therefore miss a good opportunity in life? So if we could all benefit by bettering our character, making our lives easier, happier, and our relationships with others better, then why aren’t most people in the world

www.16rounds.com

making it a priority to everyday consciously try to live better lives? The short answer is insincerity and lack of courage. If we are too mentally lazy and comfortable in our niches, then we will not likely be sincere about making a tangible change in our character. If one becomes fearful upon seeing glimpses of the skeletons they keep in their closet, perhaps they do not have the required about of bravery necessary to conduct and honest self-appraisal. So at this point one might ask “Assuming one has the sincerity and courage to change, how do we go about actually changing”? Well, I would say that if we are truly

ready to change, then we will already have a general idea about how to go about it. For example, it seems that most people in the world know that drinking, having promiscuous sex, gambling, lying, cheating, stealing, fighting, murdering, not being forgiving (we have all offended others in our lives, and if we would like it if others forgive us, then we should be forgiving), etc., are low class, undesirable things to do. If you added up all the Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Christians, and Buddhists in the world, it would be almost the whole population of the Earth. And all of these religions clearly agree that one shouldn’t indulge in the bad Cont'd on pg. 14 ›››

“ Human beings are the only animals of which I am thoroughly and cravenly afraid.” — George Bernard Shaw

ÂŠ6

"Bravery is necessary to conduct an honest self-appraisal." www.16rounds.com

COVER STORY

www.16rounds.com

COVER STORY

THE WORLD POLICEMAN The Biggest Dog On The Block By Mahat Tattva Dasa As the news was broadcasted, some Americans cheered at the killing of Osama. Sure, let the rat rot. But please have no illusions about who is the world's largest terrorist. All the world terrorists together have not brought about as much harm and destruction of property and lives, as the biggest dog on the block.

Let us have a

quick look into the history of the U.S. and its growing to be the biggest dog on the block. In the U.S., a huge part of the money the IRS takes out of our paychecks goes to support the military. Military spending adds up to more than 50% of the Federal Government’s annual discretionary spending.

The U.S. maintains the largest and most powerful military in history. U.S. warships dominate the oceans, its missiles and bombers can strike targets on every continent, and hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops are stationed overseas. Every few years the U.S. sends soldiers, warships, and warplanes to fight in distant countries. Three centuries ago, the U.S. was a collection of thirteen small colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Today it dominates the globe in a way that even the most powerful of past empires could not have imagined.

ruthlessly seized their land, driving them west and slaughtering those who resisted. The ones that were left to live were confined to reservations. By 1848 the U.S. had seized nearly half of Mexico’s territory. In Congress, the war was justified with speeches about the glory of expanding “Anglo-Saxon democracy,” but in truth it was the Southern slave owners’ thirst for land and the lure of Western gold that inspired these speeches.

General Zachary Taylor ordered scores of U.S. soldiers executed for refusing to fight in Mexico. With their domain now stretching from coast to coast the “Manifest Destiny” crowd began to dream of an overseas empire. Col. Charles Denby, a railroad magnate and an ardent expansionist, argued: “Our condition at home is forcing us to commercial

expansion. Day by day, production is exceeding home consumption. We are after markets, the greatest markets in the world.” Senator Orville Platt said: “I firmly believe that when any territory outside the present territorial limits of the U.S. becomes necessary for our defense or essential for our commercial development, we ought to lose no time in acquiring it.” The next year, taking a fancy to several Spanish colonies, including Cuba and the Philippines, the U.S. declared war on Spain. Rebel armies were already fighting for independence in both countries and Spain was on the verge of defeat. Washington declared that it was on the rebels’ side and Spain quickly capitulated. But the U.S. soon made it clear that it had no intention of leaving. Senator Albert Beveridge said: “The Philippines are ours forever...and just beyond the Philippines are China’s illimitable markets...the Pacific is our ocean.”

Elaborate racist theories were invented to justify colonialism. "We are the ruling race of the world .... We will not renounce our part in the mission of our race, trustee, under God of the civilization of the world ... He has marked us as his chosen people ... He has made us adept in government that we may administer government among savage and senile peoples." (Senator Albert

The path to world power has, however, not been peaceful.

The American revolutionaries who rose up against King George in 1776 spoke eloquently about the right of every nation to determine its own destiny. Unfortunately, after they won the right to determine their own destiny they thought they should determine everyone else’s too. The leaders of the newly independent colonies believed that they were preordained to rule all of North America. This was so obvious to them that they called it “Manifest Destiny.” Representative Giles of Maryland said, “We must march from ocean to ocean. It is the destiny of the white race.” This soon led to genocidal wars against the Native American peoples. The U.S. army

www.16rounds.com

COVER STORY Beveridge)

But the Filipinos didn not share the views of Senator Beveridge and his buddies. They fought the new invaders just as they had fought the Spanish. The U.S. subjugated the Filipinos with brute force. U.S. soldiers were ordered to burn all and kill all. By the time the Filipinos were defeated, 600,000 had died. The Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam were made into U.S. colonies in 1898. Cuba was formally given its independence, but along with it, the Cubans were given the Platt Amendment, which stipulated that the U.S. Navy would operate a base in Cuba forever, that the U.S. Marines would intervene at will, and that Washington would determine Cuba's foreign and financial policies. During the same period, the U.S. overthrew Hawaii's Queen Lilivokalani and transformed these unspoiled Pacific islands into a U.S. Navy base surrounded by Dole and Del Monte plantations. In 1903, after Theodore Roosevelt became president, he sent gunboats to secure Panama's separation from Columbia because the Columbian government had refused Roosevelt's terms for building the Panama canal.

Then Uncle Sam began sending his Marines everywhere. The Marines went to China, Russia, North Africa, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Between 1898 and 1934, the Marines invaded Cuba 4 times, Nicaragua 5 times, Honduras 7 times, the Dominican Republic 4 times, Haiti twice, Guatemala once, Panama twice, Mexico 3 times, and Columbia 4 times! In many countries, the Marines stayed on as an occupying army, sometimes for decades. When the Marines finally went home, they typically left the countries they had occupied in the hands of a friendly dictator, armed to the teeth to suppress his own people. Behind the Marines came legions of U.S. business executives ready not only to sell

their goods but also to set up plantations, drill oil wells, and stake out mining claims. The Marines returned when called upon to enforce slave-like working conditions and put down strikes, protests, and rebellions. A reporter described what took place after U.S. troops landed in Haiti in 1915 to put down a peasant rebellion: "American marines opened fire with machine guns from airplanes on defenseless Haitian villages, killing men, women, and children in the open market places for sport." 50,000 Haitians were killed.

General Smedley Butler, after retiring, described his career as follows: "I spent 33 years and 4 months in active military service ... And during that period I spent most of my time as a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. Thus, I helped make Mexico, and especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927, I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested.

WORLD WAR I

World War I was a horrific battle among the European colonial powers over how to divide up the world. When President Woodrow Wilson decided to enter the fray, he told the American people that he was sending troops to Europe to "make the world safe for democracy." But what Wilson was really after was what he considered to be the United States' fair share of of the spoils. Wilson's ambassador to Eng-

land said rather forthrightly that the U.S. would declare war on Germany because it was "... the only way of maintaining our present pre-eminent trade status." (Ambassador W.H.) For this, 130,274 U.S. soldiers were sent to their deaths. "Our boys were sent off to die with beautiful ideals painted in front of them. No one told them that dollars and cents were the real reason they were marching off to kill and die." (General Smedley Butler, 1934)

WORLD WAR II

200,000 people were killed instantaneously when the U.S. dropped nuclear bombs first on Hiroshima and then on Nagasaki. Tens of thousands more died later from radiation poisoning. "We pray that

ÂŠ11

www.16rounds.com

ÂŠ12

COVER STORY God might guide us to use [the Bomb] in his ways and for His purposes." said President Harry Truman. The defeat of Japan had already been assured before the bombs were dropped. Their main purpose was to demonstrate to the world the deadly power of America's new weapon of mass destruction. World War II left the U.S. in a position of political, economic and military superiority. "We must set the pace and assume the responsibility of the majority stockholder in this corporation known as the world." (Leo Welch, former Chairman of the Board, Standard Oil of New Jersey (now Exxon) 1946)

The U.S. eagerly assumed responsibility for determining the economic policies and selecting the management of what it considered to be the subsidiary companies that made up the "corporation known as the world." But this didn't go over too well in many nations that considered themselves to be sovereign countries. I think you can guess what happened to them.

COLD WAR

The United States, however, had to contend with the Soviet Union, which had also emerged from the Second World War as a world power. For the next 45 years, the world was caught up in a global turf battle between the "two superpowers." The U.S. was always much stronger than its Soviet adversary, but both countries maintained huge military forces to defend and expand their own "spheres of influence." The contention between the two powers was called the "Cold War" because they never directly engaged each other in battle. The "Cold War" was marked by plenty of violence in other countries though. Typically, the two superpowers lined up on opposite sides of every conflict.

KOREA, 1950-1953 After World War II, the ambitious plans of the U.S. State Department for Asia and the Pacific were upset by revolutions and anticolonial wars from China to Malaysia. U.S. warships, bombers, and artillery reduced much of Korea to rubble. Over 4,500,000 Koreans died; three out of four were civilians. 54,000 U.S. soldiers returned home in coffins. But the U.S. military, for all of its technological superiority, did not prevail. After 3 years of intense warfare, a ceasefire was negotiated. Korea was left divided and some 40,000 U.S. troops remained in Southern Korea.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, 1965

diers were killed and 300,000 wounded.

LEBANON, 1982-1983

After the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the U.S. Marines intervened directly in the Lebanese Civil War, taking the side of Israel and the right-wing Falange militia which had just massacred 2,000 Palestinian civilians.

GRENADA, 1983

According to Ronald Reagan, Grenada, population of about 110,000, represented a threat to U.S. security. So he ordered the Pentagon to

seize the island and install a new government more to his liking. "A lovely piece of real estate." said Secretary of State George Schultz. He also said, “I'm a Bechtel man and a Pentagon fan.”

LIBYA, 1986

Washington loved King Idris, the Libyan monarch who happily turned over his country's oil reserves to Standard Oil for next to nothing. It hates Col. Qadhafi, who threw the King out. In 1986, Reagan ordered U.S. warplanes to bomb the Libyan capital, Cont'd on pg. 15 ›››

After a U.S. backed military coup, Dominicans rose up to demand the reinstatement of the overthrown president (who they had elected in a popular vote). Washington, however, was determined to keep its men in power, no matter who the Dominicans voted for. 22,000 U.S. troops were sent to suppress the uprising. 3,000 people were gunned down in the streets of Santo Domingo.

VIETNAM, 1964-1973

400,000 tons of napalm were rained down on the tiny country. Agent Orange and other toxic herbicides were used to destroy millions of acres of farmland and forests. Villages were burned to the ground and their residents massacred. Altogether, two million people died in the Indochina War, most of them civilians killed by U.S. bombs and bullets. Almost 60,000 U.S. sol-

www.16rounds.com

LIFESTYLE

CHYAWANPRASH Ayurvedic herbal wonder-supplement By Sara Bock

Many people

want good health, a youthful looking and feeling body, and a sharp mind. We exercise, eat healthy foods, and in some cases undergo plastic surgery to achieve these goals. Following an Ayurvedic lifestyle and diet is another means to attain optimal health. An Ayurvedic routine often includes taking natural, herbal supplements that increase health, youthfulness, and longevity. Herbs come from the earth, and were given by God to keep us healthy. One such herbal formula is called Chyawanprash. It can be purchased at most Indian grocery and spice stores, as well as ordered online from Ayruvedic websites such as banyanbotanicals. com. A 500 gram bottle that has approximately thirty servings (lasting a month) costs about $8.00, making it very affordable. One popular and reputable brand is called Dabur.

Chyawanprash is said to have been created by the sage Chyawan. His intention was to regain his own youth and longevity after marrying a young and beautiful princess. The first written formula was recorded in the Charak Samhita, one of the ancient Ayurvedic texts written in the 4th century BC.

Chyawanprash looks and tastes like a sweet and spicy jam, and is known to be quite tasty. It contains a mix of anywhere from 30 – 80 powerful ayurvedic herbs

www.16rounds.com

with Indian Gooseberry as the base. Other main ingredients include ashwaganda, pippali, bala, cardamom, nutmeg and cinnamon in a base of clarified butter (ghee) and honey. It can be taken alone by the tablespoon, spread onto bread or crackers like a jam, or mixed into warm milk. Onetwo tablespoons can be taken per day, with or after a meal in the morning or evening. If possible, drink a glass of warm milk after taking it to improve its absorption into the body. This formula is healthy for men, women and children of all ages, and even for dogs, and creates harmony in the body. Some specific health benefits of this “wonder-jam” are stated below.

DIGESTIVE AND IMMUNE SYSTEM

Indian Gooseberry has 30 times more vitamin C than oranges, and helps to strengthen the immune system and speed up healing. Regular intake of Chyawanprash makes one’s digestive system stronger.

HEART AND BRAIN

Chyawanprash also helps the heart to function smoothly. It supports the nervous system and enhances memory power. It is very good for students since it increases memory and mental focus.

LUNG, LIVER AND KIDNEYS

Regular intake of Chyawanprash gives energy to the respiratory system. It also

helps eliminate toxins, and ease constipation.

OTHER BENEFITS

Chyawanprash improves skin complexion, hair growth, and increases calcium absorption which leads to stronger bones and teeth. It is an anti-oxidant, so it keeps one

looking and feeling youthful. This supplement enhances fertility, and helps keep menstruation regular.

Taking Chyawanprash daily is like taking a daily multi-vitamin or vitamin C. It is natural, affordable and delicious, and all around good for health. If you have any concerns before taking it, you can ask your local Ayurvedic clinic to make sure it is right for you, and if you are diabetic, please take with caution. Enjoy! �

"LET'S GET REAL FOR A MINUTE" ››› Cont'd from pg. 8 habits I just listed.

So therefore almost every human being on this planet already knows what the standard of personal character is, but many choose to ignore it, or try to justify their bad habits. Why? Primarily, lack of courage and insincerity.

In the olden days the purpose of formal education was to produce adults of high character and learning. So if we start teaching our children that having good character makes one’s life successful, and not that becoming rich makes one’s life successful, then one day we might have politicians who actually change things for the better. A politician with good character will not take bribes, because it’s a despicable thing to do. They will not support some oppressive, evil dictator just because he sucks up to America, while he simultaneously tortures and murders his own citizens. A politician with impeccable character will decrease support for oil and logging companies, while increasing support for sustainable energy sources. He or she will not sneak lovers in the back door of the White House, or engage in sexual acts while sitting at their desk in the Oval Office, because it’s really low class and unethical. Such a leader would have to be sincere about leading their constituents, neighbors, and friends to the best of their ability. And they would need to have the courage to resist the temptations of lust, greed, and fear. Such a person could honestly and effectively lead the world to true happiness and prosperity.

The philosophy of a modern capitalistic society, getting your share even if you have to step on other living beings to get it, is morally reprehensible. But, it’s not that we should completely throw out capitalism and try communism again (O God), but we should simply make doing the right thing the highest goal, not gathering objects. Of course doing the right thing takes the sincerity to resist our lower urges and the courage to not back down in the face of threats from envious people. This is really what it means to “keep it real”. �

"THE ISM SCHISM GAME"

"THE WORLD POLICEMAN"

conservative man and no matter who we think we are, we are all going to have something very big in common, we are all going to say “OWW that smarts! “ (Bow-wow respectively)

wonder why people become atheists in this country. The absurdities in the name of spirituality, culture, and education today are mind-numbing.

The religious books of mankind are like road maps meant to bring our mind and intelligence to the universal conclusions about spirit and the source of the spirit. Today the problem is that people are standing around with the road maps in their hands not actually going anywhere. People are so much lazy today, isn’t it? The fact that most Americans prefer to eat fast food, and keep a library of magazines in their bathroom really starts to tell you something about the American mentality. We want things fast and easy, so we can use our extra time to sit around and space out on trivia. So, does it surprise me that when it comes to religion we are going to buckle down and take the time to get serious and deep about the most important ontological questions about life?

If it doesn’t help you gain knowledge of the difference of spirit and matter, and detachment from the modern materialistic modus vivendi, (a.k.a the materialistic dance for dollars), then, frankly, all this so-called born-again status of any religion is useless.

Tripoli, claiming that Qadhafi was responsible for a bomb attack at a German disco that killed two U.S. soldiers. It's unlikely that very many of the hundreds of Libyans killed or injured in the U.S. bombing raid knew anything about the German bombing.

››› Cont'd from pg. 7

MODERN SPIRITUAL LAZINESS

Modern humans being so spiritually lazy think that simply by holding the road map (the religious book) in their hands that they have the audacity to claim and preach to others that they have arrived at its destination. But, you can know when you have arrived at its destination when you can see the living spiritual force in all things. There are no cat-souls, dog -souls, and human-soul. No, the different bodies are vehicles for the same spiritual living entity that is operating those particular bodies. So such people read the passage in the bible about “do unto others” and then proceed to cut a leg off of a chicken, fry it up, and sit down to watch the “holy” Super Bowl. People are encouraged by TV, media, and magazines to be that shallow. They are encouraged to accept religion for name’s sake and spend the rest of our time concentrating on politics, economy, and the American dollar. Do you really think that these people running the media parade have our best interest in mind? No

In others words, what does simply calling yourself a Christian, Hindu, or Muslim really do for you?

It is simply some keen people adding some sprinkles on top of their real philosophy called Epicureanism in the name of religion. I guess it makes their psychological hedonism more digestible to the ego after adding their religious “Alcheseltzer” to the bar tab. But real spirituality is learning to live and breathe it daily. It means reading the road map and having the guts to go on the journey by following the path. This is what makes you feel truly alive, because you are embarking on the ultimate adventure of human life; the quest for truth of our origin.

Whether you are Christian, Hindu, or Muslim, or whatever, those are great starting points but you have to use the road map that those religious affiliations give you and make it a real journey, and only after going on this journey can we truly see that the essence of these different paths is to bring us back to our original spiritual nature in union with all other living beings in service to the Supreme. OM TAT SAT �

ME? I AM JUST WATCHING YOU.

››› Cont'd from pg. 13

BEHIND THE SCENES

So far we've recounted wars that have involved U.S. troops. But there are many other wars in which Washington was involved behind the scenes.

After World War II, Britain was compelled to dispose of its colonial empire in the Middle East. It decided to give a big chunk of the land known as Palestine to European Jews displaced by the Holocaust. The problem was that there were already people living there. The result has been five decades of violence and war. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were driven from their homes in what became Israel. The center of the conflict has been the West Bank and Gaza, where Palestinians have lived for decades under Israeli occupation. The U.S. provides crucial political support and billions of dollars a year in aid to Israel, including the most advanced weaponry. More than three decades of occupation of the West Bank and Gaza have produced bitter anger not only at Israel but also at the United States. As Palestinian teenagers continue to die in confrontations with the Israeli Army, this anger only grows.

The bloody, U.S.-backed, counter-insurgency wars continue in Columbia, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines and other countries. In Colombia, for example, a corrupt U.S.-backed army fights alongside paramilitary forces that have slaughtered whole villages and hundreds of opposition union leaders and politicians. The U.S. has been getting more deeply involved, under the cover of the "War on Drugs," providing billions of dollars of arms used to continue the killing.

The CIA and the Pentagon have also organized proxy armies to overthrow governments that are not well liked in Washington. In 1961, for instance, U.S. warships

ferried a small army of mercenaries to Cuba, hoping to reverse the Cuban Revolution. They landed at the Bay of Pigs. It was the fifth U.S. invasion of Cuba this century. But this time the U.S. was defeated. In the 1970s and '80s, the CIA was particularly busy financing, training and arming guerilla armies around the world.

For years the U.S. backed Portugal's efforts to hang on to its colonies in southern Africa, helping it stave off independence wars in Angola and Mozambique. In 1975, after a democratic revolution in Portugal, the Portuguese called it quits. But Washington didn't! Instead, it teamed up with the apartheid regime in South Africa to supply a mercenary army to fight the new government in independent Angola. And in Mozambique, top U.S. and South African politicians and ex-military officers sponsored a particularly brutal bunch of mercenaries who massacred tens of thousands of peasants. And then, of course, there are the "contras." After the Nicaraguan people overthrew the U.S.-backed dictatorship of the Somoza family in 1979, the CIA gathered together the remnants of Somoza's hated National Guard and sent them back to Nicaragua with all the weapons they could carry--to loot, burn, and kill.

LET’S FINISH

This article is now getting a bit too long, but be sure that the same government is still today running a business rather than a country inhabited by people, people that need to be educated, people who for the most part do not know that their material prosperity, which is

by the way now dwindling fast, is largely resting on exploitation, murder, crime, immorality, torture, etc, etc, etc. Having lived in a number of countries on several continents, it seems that the U.S. is not an exceptional country - they all appear to be doing the same thing: brainwashing the common folks, covering up the ugly reality with fairy tales about standing up for democracy, freedom, and human rights. The funniest of all cover-ups is the one of war on terror. After reading everything above, terrorist groups, such as Osama’s Al-Qaeda, seem puny. And they are so good at misleading people who by watching the oil companies-owned television stations are totally convinced that these wars are fought for good causes. They are so convinced of this that they are ready to defend the concept even by brute force. Watch out! If something happens to me, it will simply go to support what I have just stated. “USA, USA!!!” they shouted when Osama was proclaimed dead. What is USA?

The brief history of the U.S.’s ascension to power presented in this article was taken from Ph.D. Joel Andreas’s Addicted To War. At the end of the book, which I highly recommend everyone to read, references are given for all the historical events so that you can see their authenticity and accuracy. �

� � �

www.16rounds.com

OPEN MIC

HINDUS AND DEMONS IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY? An interview with Steven Rosen regarding Star Wars and Hinduism By John B. Morgan

No films

have had as huge an impact on global popular culture as the Star Wars film series. The Jedi in the Lotus: Star Wars and the Hindu Tradition is the latest book by the well-known scholar of Hinduism, Steven J. Rosen. Steven has previously published over twenty books, primarily on the school of Hindu, or Vedic, philosophy known as Vaishnavism. His latest book analyzes the influence of the Vedic tradition on the Star Wars films and discusses the many themes that they share. With the upcoming re-release of the entire series of films in 3D, it is a timely study which will help to bring to light many aspects of the saga which may have previously gone unnoticed by viewers. Steven was kind enough to answer a few questions about his intentions in writing it. John B. Morgan: How did you first develop the idea of studying the influence of the Vedic tradition on Star Wars? What inspired you?

Steven Rosen, author of "The Jedi In The Lotus"

Steven Rosen: I was approached by a Hindu foundation, who wanted such a book to be written. Somehow, my reputation as a writer and scholar preceded me, and they contacted me to do it. Well, I must say that I was initially cautious: I hadn't really looked

into it. Did the Star Wars series represent what is today referred to as Hindu culture? Was there really overlap? Was George Lucas influenced by the sacred texts of India?

I told the Hindu foundation that I would have to look into it. So I rented all the Star Wars movies. I watched carefully. In the end, I was certain of the Hindu influence. That is to say, it became clear to me that Lucas, at least through Joseph Campbell, was led to many East-Indian ideas about good and evil, divinity, karma, reincarnation, and so on. It's really very clear. There are parts of the epic series that seem too close to the Indian epics to be coincidental. When you see Star Wars and then go back to the Ramayana or the Mahabharata, you see what the prototype was. You see where it all comes from. John B. Morgan: Most previous studies have looked for Buddhist or Christian influences in Star Wars, and yours is the first to examine it from a Vedic perspective. In the book you make the case that Star Wars owes more to the Vedic tradition than to any of the others. Can you give a few examples that demonstrate this?

Steven Rosen: First of all, I wouldn't use the word "Vedic" – Star Wars does not draw on the Vedic samhitas or its appended

texts. No. Rather, I would say that there is much in India's epics and Puranic literature that made its way into Lucas's films. Well, you need look no further than the Ramayana – the first Star Wars film is almost an exact replica of this story, down to the half-human/ half animal Chewbacca, who is very clearly a Hanuman-type figure. I explain all of this in my book. The parallels are uncanny. And many.

Yoda's teachings are right out of the Bhagavad-gita. Anyone who knows the Bhagavad-gita can see it. No doubt, there are Buddhist and Christian resonances in the Star Wars universe as well. I think Lucas drew on everything he knew. But, clearly, by his own admission, his main influence was Joseph Campbell, and it is no secret that Campbell was partial to Indian stories, myths, and its ancient culture as well. His inclination toward the land of the Ganges, its mysticism and exotica, is laid out in his posthumous book, Baksheesh and Brahman: Asian Journals – India. I quote from that book quite a bit. In the end, Lucas used much that he gleaned from Campbell, who was influenced by India's sacred literature. John B. Morgan: Before reading The Jedi in the Lotus, I would have said that the philosophy of the Jedi Knights in the Star Wars films is more similar to the Advaita, or

www.16rounds.com

OPEN MIC impersonalist, monistic school of philosophy than it is to Vaishnavism, but you claim in the book that this is a misreading which is a result of the prejudices that we Westerners have about “Eastern” philosophies. Can you elaborate?

Steven Rosen: Yes, most people think that the East teaches only impersonalism, or that God is some abstract void, Brahman, the oneness of the universe. This is only one part of what is taught in the East. There is a strong monotheistic thread in Indian thought, too -- worship of a personal Divinity. You have both forms of theism in India, as you do in the West. It seems clear to me that Lucas, being influenced by the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, brought a personal theism into his conception of the Force. Oh, don't get me wrong: there is plenty of impersonalism there too. It's all mixed up, as it is in most religious traditions. In fact, when the Vedic tradition – or even later Hindu tradition – is not studied under a bona fide spiritual master, impersonal conceptions of the Supreme rise to the fore. It's only the legitimate Vaishnava lineages that teach otherwise. One must study these texts under a teacher. That's the point. Only then will one "get" what the scriptures are really trying to say. Ultimately, the teaching of these texts are achintya-bheda abheda tattva, which means simultaneous oneness and difference between God and the living entity.

We're doomed!

A portion of this understanding tells us that God is both personal and impersonal. Of course, Lucas is not a theologian – really, Joseph Campbell isn't either! – so, naturally, the end product will be a little confused. But one can see a personal divinity in the Force for sure. I am quite pleased with the way my chapter on that subject came out.

John B. Morgan: A concern you discuss in the book, which you say both Star Wars and Vaishnavism share, is a skepticism of science and technology – not an outright rejection, but rather a belief that science itself is not inherently good or bad, but only the uses to which it is put can be one or the other. However, in the book you seem quite pessimistic about what humanity is doing with science at the present time. Can you discuss your views on this?

Steven Rosen: Science is naturally based on the body. So it is limited to that sphere – the body and mind. The spiritual element is beyond its purview. So that's one thing. The other is this: scientists depend on funding and grants to do their work. To survive, they often have to manipulate facts and truth to fit their theories. And people eat it up. They love it. The Vaishnava master Prabhupada called it "the cheaters and the cheated." People want to believe convenient truths, and there are others who make a living supplying or nurturing these "truths." But in fact both lose out in the end: the cheaters and the cheated. Now, science, when used by perceptive, insightful people – people with a spiritual dimension – will yield a different result. Such people are honest. You see, as humans we tend to indulge four defects: we make mistakes, we are prone to illusion, we have imperfect senses and, yes, we have the propensity to cheat. With this as a backdrop, our chances of uncovering truth – which is arguably the goal of science – become slim. It requires people of great integrity to break through these barriers. But beyond that, they must take guidance from those who see beyond the veil, who are free from illusion. I am talking about lovers of God, pure devotees, and the sacred texts given by God. This is our only chance. One can easily doubt if such a thing is possible, but the sages say it is. The pure souls rec-

ommend this method.

John B. Morgan: Another aspect of this problem that you mention is the startling fact that several of the Nazi leaders were very interested in Vedic philosophy, and that the Nazis conducted research into Vedic texts. Considering that the Nazis could hardly be described as spiritually realized people, what are we to make of this?

Steven Rosen: They only were able to get technical knowledge and clinical information. They couldn't get at the essence of those texts or penetrate the inner wisdom. Why? Well, firstly, because they were rife with the lesser characteristics I just mentioned. They were totally engrossed in the bodily concept of life, as is well known. But also – they had no guru. The whole process of Vedic revelation means getting it at the feet of a master. Otherwise, it remains quite concealed. It's like going to a foreign country without any guidance or without the virtues of seeing the terrain through the eyes of a native, of one who knows. You miss so much. In regard to the Vedic literature, you really miss everything.

more subjects than anyone can imagine. Just consider: flying machines. Who would have thought, but it's there. Sanskrit scholars – who are divorced from the tradition, certainly not practitioners – have seen it and admit that it's there. So what do you do with that? You have to accept it. If you don't know, you don't know. But if you're a Sanskritist, you're between a rock and a hard place: you can see for yourself that these ancient texts describe knowledge and technology that they couldn't possibly know. It's a great mystery. Of course, the greater mysteries are spiritual, and these exist in abundance in Vedic texts.

John B. Morgan: The Jedi in the Lotus can be seen in part as an introduction to Vedic philosophy for Star Wars fans. What do you think

the Star Wars films have to teach someone who is trying to learn more about spirituality?

Steven Rosen: If they read The Jedi in the Lotus, they can learn much from the Star Wars films. This will make the connections for them. If not, it would be difficult to get any real spiritual knowledge from the film series. That's just the sad truth of it. But, hey – read the book! John B. Morgan: Thank you for taking the time to talk with us, Steven. �

� � �

Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you at will. -Yoda

The Nazis were after information about flying machines and technical know-how, so they could have an edge in the war, in conquering others. This is obtainable by acquiring even a rudimentary knowledge of Sanskrit – you can get the external meaning of the texts, which were very advanced, even from a material point of view, and find all kinds of information that will allow one an advantage... John B. Morgan: One of the more interesting parallels you draw is the possibility that there was something like Star Wars technology in ancient India, such as the flying vimanas (machines) described in the ancient epics. This is certainly at odds with what mainstream scholars are saying about the development of civilization. Do you believe that ancient India had such devices, and if so, what is the evidence for this?

Steven Rosen: Yes, I discuss all this in the book. Indian texts describe a culture and civilization that was well ahead of its time. These ancient Sanskrit texts are like blueprints for the planet, with more knowledge on

www.16rounds.com

OPEN MIC

THE WHOLE & A PART By Jessica Robbins

There is a beliefthat liberation from material bondage is merging our individuality to become one entity—to essentially become God. The belief states that because we are spirit souls—qualitatively the same with the Supreme, we are God ourselves. However, the validity of such thought is questioned. How can God be under the influence of illusory material energy? If God were ever entrapped

by His own illusory energy, than that energy would be more powerful than God. And how can this be the case if by very definition God is All-powerful? As we can see from the scene above, the part clearly is unequal to the whole, and put into context of our own precarious situation—we (living entities) are spirit souls, the same in quality with God, but not in quantity; mere spiritual sparks of the Supreme cosmic fire. Equating the individual self with God, who is the complete whole, is to be confused. We would not equate a thread from a blanket to the blanket itself. �

WHEN I WAS OF YOUR AGE, I TOO DID NOT BELIEVE IN REINCARNATION.

?!?!!?

www.16rounds.com

COVER STORY

THE NIGHT OF KIRTAN IS FREE GENEROUS DONATIONS ARE WELCOME Please bring warm vibes. Make yourself comfortable. Dance, sit, or meditate to the music and chanting. Let us free our spirit and unite our consciousness through the sacred sound vibrations of timeless sanskrit mantras. Dress comfortably. Shoes are not worn in the studio. Drinking water is provided. www.16rounds.com