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e f i L n a m u H & , ty i c i l p m i S , y t i r e p s o Pr

(pg. 12)

Also inside: Technology's Blind Spot (pg. 16) www.16rounds.com

Table of Contents:

Eating, Sleeping, Mating, & Defending

Prosperity, Simplicity & Human Life

Bhagavad-Gita As It Is

Meat the Facts

4 6 7 8

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.

The 16Rounds publication is an independent media compiled, written, and published by a few Hare Krishna devotees. This publication 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. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder and spiritual guide of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). 16Rounds is distributed in the Los Angeles and San Diego areas. WHAT DOES “16ROUNDS” MEAN? 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. 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. “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, thus the name “16 Rounds.”

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Black Suits, Black Dresses

Prehistoric Sea Monsters

Stepping Towards Transcendence

If there is Consciousness, There is a Soul!

Is This Progress?

15 Technology's Blind Spot

16 20

Tale of a Universal Principle

Chant for Change

Genghis Khan and His Hawk

E-mail:

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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. Graphic Design & Layout: Alexander Shenkar Alexander majored in Philosophy at the University of Texas in Austin and is currently living as a monk at the San Diego temple.

Story Editor: Shane Parmely Shane Parmely has degrees in art, film, and education, and currently teaches high school English in San Diego.

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E at i n g, S l e e p ing, M at i n g, An d D e fending

y improving the method of eating, sleeping, mating, and defending one does not come to human life. A person sleeps and a dog sleeps. So because a person sleeps in a very nice apartment, that does not mean he's advanced more than the dog. The business is sleeping. That's all. Because humans have discovered

atomic weapon for defending, and dogs have their nails and teeth, does not make humans categorically better. You cannot say that, “Because I have got this atomic bomb, I can conquer the whole world, and therefore I am better.” You can defend in your own way, and the dog can also defend in his own way. The business is same: defending. So a gor-

geous method of defending, a gorgeous method of eating, a gorgeous method of sleeping, and a gorgeous method of sex life does not make a nation or a person advanced. That is not advancement. That is the same thing - the animal qualities in a polished way. That does not make the human society advanced. That may be called polished animalism.

That's all. One becomes categorically advanced when using one’s time and energy for something different, more sophisticated than eating, sleeping, mating, and defending, something like spiritual development. �

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Meat the Facts Livestock produce

40% more greenhouse gas emissions than global transportation.

The Amazon Forest releases

20 Billion tons of

fresh water into the atmosphere every day. 24 Hours of deforestation

releases as much CO2 as 8 million people flying from London to New York.

Every second, a section of rain forest the size of a football field is destroyed to produce 257 hamburgers. 90% of the Amazon Forest cleared

More than

since 1970 is used for livestock pasture.

If the future of the world depended on

what would I do? 4

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me,

16 pounds of grain is needed to produce

1 pound of beef. Factory-farm cows never die of hunger, yet a child dies of hunger every 2.3 seconds.

1.2 billion people suffer from hunger, and another 1.2 billion are obese. Every year,

760 million tons of grain is fed to livestock. It could solve the global food shortage 14 times over!

Grain fed to livestock loses

90% of its energy by the time it's consumed as meat.

1 hectare of land produces potatoes for 22 people. 1 hectare of land produces rice for 19 people. 1 hectare of land produces lamb for 2 people. 1 hectare of land produces beef for 1 person. 1.1 billion people live without safe clean drinking water - that's 1 in 6 of us. 19,737 liters of water are needed to produce 1 pound of beef. This is enough water to take a 7-minute shower every day for an entire year.

Livestock in the U.S. produces

86,000

pounds of excrement

times more than the entire human population.

per second - that's 130

You have the power to stop this now! It's on your plate.

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Black Suits. Black Dresses. By Dinesh Pulandram

lack suits. Black dresses. Like automatons they march out of the train. Taking the escalator out of the deep dark tunnels, they blink when they hit the warm

sunlight. Coffee time. Tired, you see. Their lives don’t energize them. They need a constant intravenous drip of caffeine into their veins. Elevator music.

Sitting in the silver towers amidst a concrete jungle. Lunch is plastic. They look out the window, dreaming what it would be like — to be out there. Ring, ring. Come to the meeting.

Shallow superficial customer. He’s got a crisp suit and tie, yet the apple

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is maggot-ridden. How can you serve him? What can you do to please him? The futility of squelching maggots. This is why you got the Ivy League education. This is why you went to college. Isn’t it? Night is falling. You’ve died for the last 12 hours in the office. Time to go home to your material things.

Rush, rush. Beep, beep. At home at last! A house (mortgaged), a wife (with a 50% divorce rate), possibly children (Don’t disturb me. I’m hooked up to virtuality.), maybe a car (that guzzles gas).

Dinner. Dinner. Microwave ding.

Sleep? There is no sleep. Squelching Mr. Customer's maggots preoccupies your mind. Toss and turn. Toss and turn.

Ring! Morning time. Groggy mind. Television blaring. No time to shower. Leave home without saying good-by. The kids aren’t interested anyway. Black suits. Black dresses. Like automatons they march out of the train... �

Prehistoric Sea Monsters

By Sara Bock

recently went on a field trip to the IMAX movie theater, which shows educational 3-D movies. I viewed a movie about prehistoric sea monsters. The movie depicted the ocean as a place of constant danger for its inhabitants. The ocean was (or still is) a place where one animal is food for another, and for every large predator fish there is an even larger one for which that very predator becomes prey. The film traces the life of one prehistoric and quite cute fish called the Dolichorhynchopsdali (Dolly for short). Her brother and mother got eaten by larger sea monsters, but she survived, gave birth to offspring, and finally died a natural death of old age. This film made me think about what Srila Prabhupada, the spiritual teacher of the Hare Krishna movement, teaches about animal versus human consciousness. He teaches that the soul has an original consciousness which is blissful, eternal, and full of knowledge. In spiritual consciousness, one joyfully and voluntarily offers oneself in service to God, loves other living beings, is humble and kind, and does not exploit other living beings or natural resources. In materialistic consciousness, however, the soul becomes covered by the dust of unlimited desires, greed, lust, envy, and illusion, forgetting its true identity, and thus suffers. There are different levels of materialistic consciousness, and the type of consciousness each soul has leads it to take birth in an appropriate body. The IMAX movie about Dolly the sea monster depicted the life and consciousness of an animal — most of its life is spent looking for food, reproducing, avoiding being eaten by others, and just trying to survive. Animals live a bodily-centered life without a higher awareness of being a tiny part of a larger universe meant to serve God and unite with others in harmony. A soul in

a human body, however, has great potential to reawaken its original, spiritual consciousness. A human being has the ability to question, analyze, and discuss, whereas the animals have no such ability. We can ask why we are here, why we suffer, why we have to die, and where we will go after death. We can use our talents in the service of God, visit places of worship, and read spiritual texts. Instead of limiting our love to our own family, religious community, city, or country, we can expand our love to reach all living beings — humans, plants, and animals — with God in the center of that love, and thus experience unlimited and lasting love. To reach our human potential and experience a spiritual awakening, however, we require some guidance about how to live a proper lifestyle. Our current society surrounds us with media promptings that awaken more of our animalistic tendencies of living to eat, attract the opposite sex, chase after money, and exploit the earth’s resources rather than to awaken our inner spirituality. We may become convinced that the purpose of our lives is simply to enjoy our senses and experience temporary, flickering happiness. Then we wonder why we sometimes feel confused and frustrated. We are confused because we are not reaching our full human potential, and the soul feels this on a deep level. A young child may be given a valuable computer, but not knowing what it should be used for the child may bang on it, draw on the screen, or misuse it in other ways, to the point that the

computer may break. However, an adult knows that the

computer is meant to be used to perform more advanced tasks, and thus the adult can guide the child as he or she learns to make proper use of this intricate instrument. Similarly, spiritual teachers descend or come to remind us that this human body is meant for spiritual awakening, and they teach us how to properly utilize our human bodies to attain spiritual happiness, inner peace, and eternal benefit. They encourage us to move beyond survival mode, and to instead carve out some time in our busy lives for spiritual practices like prayer, meditation, and selfless service. They also teach us to perform some austerities for a higher cause rather than constantly seek immediate gratification. These spiritual teachings can also be found in holy scriptures such as the Bhagavad-gita As It Is. Krishna (God) does not leave us here on earth without a guidebook. Such guidance, which is found in all religious traditions of the world in the form of saints and scriptures, can help us achieve the happiness we are searching for, and can prevent us

flickr.com/fabiogis50 from misusing our human bodies, as the child, due to lack of proper knowledge, misuses the computer. One type of prayer/meditation practice taught to us by Srila Prabhupada that awakens spiritual consciousness is the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. This mantra is composed of spiritual sound vibrations, and it goes as follows: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Chanting these names, this mantra, repeatedly can awaken our inner spiritual happiness, clear away old karma, and help us utilize the human body for its true purpose. By chanting we can achieve the happiness we are longing for. We will only find this happiness through eternal spirit, not through temporary matter, for we are in essence spiritual beings simply encased temporarily in a material body. �

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Stepping Towards All of these are mater ial designations. Thinking that I am an American, or a student, or a twenty-one-year-old, or even thinking that I am black or white. They are all limitations on my consciousness. You can’t put a square block into a circular hole. It just doesn’t fit.

So if these designations are temporary, why should I identify myself with them in the first place? Why put myself through the troubles and limitations of attachment? This should be meditated upon.

Step 1: Understanding Our Identity

can perceive my existence. I can feel positively that I, as an individual, exist. And I cannot imagine not existing in the future. This should be meditated upon.

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If someone were to ask me who I am, what would I say? Am I a student? Yes. But was I always a student? Will I always be a student? Then that must not be me. Actually, everything that I identify myself with can be changed in one way or another. My name can be changed, my face can be changed through plastic surgery, and even my gender can be changed. If I really want to understand my identity, I have to stop thinking in terms of temporary designations.

“He may not feel it very abruptly, but by using a little intelligence he can feel that he is not the body. He can feel that the hand, the leg, the head, the hair, and the limbs are all his bodily parts and parcels, but as such the hand, the leg, the head, etc., cannot be identified with his self. Therefore just by using intelligence he can distinguish and separate his self from other things that he sees. So the natural conclusion is that the living being, either human or beast, is the seer, and he sees besides himself all other things. So there is a difference between the seer and the seen.” [Srimad-Bhaga vatam 2.2.35] This first step is required to give us a starting point to work on transcending material conditions. We have to realize first our separate identity from the body.

Step 2: Realizing Our Dependence

Everything I have is a gift. A short twenty-some years ago and I was crying, naked and unaware of the world which I was born into. I had nothing. Not even any knowledge or understanding. This is a subject for deep meditation.

The way living entities gather knowledge is through their senses. If someone gives me a glass of milk, I can see that it’s white, I can smell whether it’s sour, taste it, feel if it’s cold, and hear of its origins. These are my five gross senses, and I also have five acting senses (hands, legs, voice, genitals, and anus), and three subtle senses (mind, intelligence, and ego). Everything that I know and perceive is nothing but the products of the inexhaustible permutations and combinations of the forms taken in through these thirteen senses. In this way my situation is carved by my surroundings and my dependence is revealed in the frustration I feel when it all comes to an end. By nature each of us is dependent.

Because we place our dependence in the temporary things of this world, we become attached and bewildered. We should not depend on matter. We should not depend on our money to save us, nor our friends, relatives or countrymen. Because our identity is separate from matter, we should not depend on it to help us.

Step 3: Realizing the Distinctions between Matter and Spirit Now that I have realized my identity as separate from matter as the seer and I have understood my frustration with dependence on matter . . . there must be another nature of which I am made.

In this material world we find that everything is temporary. It comes into being, stays for some time, produces some by-products, dwindles, and then vanishes. That is the law of the material world, whether we use as an example this body or a piece of fruit or anything else. But beyond this temporary world there is another world of which we have information. That world consists of spirit, which is eternal.

Transcendence By Tota Gopinatha Dasa

I should meditate on the existence of spirit. It is unborn, eternal, always existing and ever changing. Spirit is the active principle which manipulates matter.

If I see an airplane far in the distance, flying in the sky, I cannot conclude that this mechanism is flying itself. There cannot be an airplane flying in the sky without a pilot. Without the active spiritual principle, matter cannot be moved or manipulated. Whether it be an airplane or our human body, as soon as the spirit leaves, the matter is useless. We undoubtedly feel our existence being conditioned by nature’s energy, and we conclude that he who sees is spirit and that the senses as well as the objects of perception are material. The spiritual quality of the seer is manifest in our dissatisfaction with the limited state of materially conditioned existence. That is the difference between spirit and matter. This should be meditated upon.

Step 4: Accepting Personal Guidance

Because of my frustration with material dependence, my tendency is to reject all kinds of authority, thinking them to be material. If I sit down to take lunch and the food is spoiled, I should not throw away my plate and utensils, only the food. Otherwise I will lose my opportunity to eat somewhere else. Due to association with material energy, it is dangerous to take guidance in this world, just as it is dangerous to put anything in front of my eyes while I am driving a car. But if the qualification is there — if I put my glasses in front of my eyes while I am driving — it is much safer. This should be meditated upon.

“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.” [Bhagavad-gita 4.34]

I have realized the differences between matter and spirit, but without proper guidance, I cannot understand the identity of spirit. There is spiritual form, spiritual activity, and other spiritual varieties. To approach this realm I must meditate on my spiritual master.

Step 5: Reinstatement in Spiritual Bliss Transcending matter does not only mean going beyond temporary duality, but it entails absorption in spiritual variegation. This kind of meditation involves more than just deep contemplation. It means giving oneself fully to engaging the senses in spiritual activity. The very causes of my entanglement, the material senses, can free me when engaged under the guidance of a realized soul.

Among all our senses, our ears are the most potent for transcendence. Because I don’t use my ears for properly receiving the spiritual message but instead hear and contemplate all kinds of mundane subject matters, I become entangled more and more. It then becomes more and more difficult to gain release from all the attachments. However, if I am able to dovetail that same principle in nicely hearing the transcendental vibration of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, then success is guaranteed. It is our practical experience in the Krishna consciousness movement all over the world that many millions of people are coming to the spiritual stage of life simply by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra regularly, accord-

ing to the prescribed principles.

“One who chants the Hare Krishna mantra develops bhava, ecstasy, which is the point at which revelation begins. It is the preliminary stage in developing one’s original love for God. . . . A sincere student aurally receives the mantra from the spiritual master, and after being initiated he follows the regulative principles given by the spiritual master. When the mantra is properly served in this way, automatically the spiritual nature of the mantra spreads; in other words, the devotee becomes qualified in properly chanting the mantra. . . . Thus the disciple of such a spiritual master increases in attachment for Krishna, and therefore he sometimes cries, sometimes laughs, sometimes dances, and sometimes chants. These symptoms are very prominently manifest in the body of a pure devotee.” [Sri Caitanya Caritamrita Adi 7.33] �

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If there is consciousness, There is a soul! A By Mayapriya Devi Dasi

mericans love their pets. We feed them better than most humans in third world countries are fed. We dote on them with toys at Christmas, and we award them the honorary status of “children.” But do we acknowledge that all creatures are, like us, spirit souls? Do we honor them as living entities working their way slowly toward perfection, or do we just cater to their bodies — treating them like they are toys for our amusement? The spiritual literatures studied by bhakti yogis teach that every living entity is, at its fundamental core, a spirit soul (called the atma). Every living being is a soul — individual and equal — wearing an individual body. In other words, the soul that is presently in your puppy, Fredo, is an individual living entity spending that lifetime inside the body of a dog. But look deep into Fredo’s eyes and you might sense the atma looking back at you. Try this. Think of bodies as light bulbs. Some are 15-watt, some 30-watt, some 1,000-watt. The electric current that runs through the walls, into the lamp and to the bulb is the same. What is

different is each bulb’s capacity to utilize the current. A 15-watt bulb can only funnel so much current into usable light. A 1,000-watt bulb can channel much more. So, in the same way, different bodies are capable of expressing different amounts of consciousness. A dung beetle is concerned only with rolling or burrowing deeper into the cow patty. A dog can express happiness, anger and love. A human birth allows the greatest expression of consciousness. But even within the human birth, there are gradations of consciousness. On the one hand, we treat our pets like they are little humans. But if asked “Is an animal a spirit soul?” most Westerners raised in a JudeoChristian paradigm will say “No, only humans have souls.” Yet the symptom of the soul is consciousness. Even slight consciousness attests to the presence of the soul (atma) in the body. If Fredo stops breathing, you may say your dog “died.” I use quotes because in the Bhagavad-gita we learn, “That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy the imperishable soul.” —BG 2.17 You might say, “Fredo’s gone!” Nevertheless, the

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body looks the same, as if Fredo were sleeping. But what exactly is gone? The answer: the atma (soul). And as a result, there is no more consciousness illuminating the body (like the electricity in the bulb). The atma has left Fredo’s body and is on its way to a new body. “As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from childhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.” —BG 2.13 “Bodies are material productions of different modes of material nature, but the soul and Supersoul within the body are of the same spiritual quality.”—Purport to BG 2.18, by Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami The next time you are on the Internet, visit YouTube and pull up the video entitled “Tara & Bella – the Odd Couple.” When you watch this video about Tara and Bella, remember that at one time in this country (not so very long ago), women and African Americans were considered property

with no rights and were often treated inhumanely. Today, animals and other conscious beings, because they are not humans, suffer horrific cruelties (even with pets we often decide what’s “good” for them based on what’s convenient for us). We thoughtlessly squash a spider or ant. Some hunt animals to kill for “sport.” Yet Tara and Bella show us that we should reconsider our “dominion” over other species. Does dominion over atmas who are perhaps akin to a lower wattage bulb (in the example above) mean we have the right to kill them at will? Or does dominion mean to care for and protect all living beings? We should develop equal vision and see all living beings as spirit souls, fundamentally and qualitatively equal, though presently expressing their consciousness through a vast variety of bodies, large and small, with simple or complex consciousness. Tara and Bella understand that their vastly different bodies should not be an impediment to friendship. Perhaps we could learn something from them. �

Genghis Khan and his Hawk By Sanatana Goswami Dasa

ne morning Genghis Khan, the great king and warrior, rode out into the woods to have a day's sport. Many of his friends were with him. They rode out gayly, carrying their bows and arrows. Behind them came the servants with the hounds. It was a merry hunting party. The woods rang with their shouts and laughter. They expected to carry much game home in the evening. On the king's wrist sat his favorite hawk, for in those days hawks were trained to hunt. At a word from their masters they would fly high up into the air and look around for prey. If they chanced to see a deer or a rabbit, they would swoop down upon it swift as any arrow. All day long Genghis Khan and his huntsmen rode through the woods. But they did not find as much game as they expected.

Toward evening they started for home. The king had often ridden through the woods, and he knew all the paths. So while the rest of the party took the nearest way, he went by a longer road through a valley between two mountains. The day had been warm, and the king was very thirsty. His pet hawk left his wrist and flew away. It would be sure to find its way home. The king rode slowly along. He had once seen a spring of clear water near this pathway. If he could only find it now! But the hot days of summer had dried up all the mountain brooks. At last, to his joy, he saw some water trickling down over the edge of a rock. He knew that there was a spring farther up. In the wet season, a swift stream of water always poured down here, but now it came only one drop at a time. The king leaped from his horse. He took a little silver cup from his hunting bag. He held it so as to catch the slowly falling drops. It took a long time to fill the cup, and the king was so

thirsty that he could hardly wait. At last it was nearly full. He put the cup to his lips and was about to drink. All at once there was a whirring sound in the air, and the cup was knocked from his hands. All of the water was spilled on the ground. The king looked up to see who had done this thing. It was his pet hawk. The hawk flew back and forth a few times and landed among the rocks by the spring. The king picked up the cup and again held it to catch the trickling drops. This time he did not wait so long. When the cup was half full, he lifted it toward his mouth. But before it had touched his lips, the hawk swooped down again and knocked it from his hands. And now the king began to grow angry. He tried again, and for the third time the hawk kept him from drinking. The king was now very angry indeed. “How do you dare to act so?” he cried. “If I had you in my hands, I would wring your neck!” Then he filled his cup again. But before he tried to drink, he drew his sword. “Now, Sir Hawk,” he said, “that is the last time.” He had hardly spoken before the hawk swooped down and knocked the cup from his hand. But the king was looking for this.

With a quick sweep of the sword he struck the bird as it passed. The next moment the poor hawk lay bleeding and dying at its master's feet. “That is what you get for your pains,” said Genghis Khan. But when he looked for his cup, he found that it had fallen between two rocks, where he could not reach it. “At any rate, I will have a drink from that spring,” he said to himself. With that he began to climb the steep bank to the place from which the water trickled. It was hard work, and the higher he climbed, the thirstier he became. At last he reached the place. There indeed was a pool of water; but what was that lying in the pool, and almost filling it? It was a huge, dead snake of the most poisonous kind. The king stopped. He forgot his thirst. He thought only of the poor dead bird lying on the ground below him. “The hawk saved my life!” he cried, “and how did I repay him? He was my best friend, and I have killed him.” He clambered down the bank. He took the bird up gently, and laid it in his hunting bag. Then he mounted his horse and rode swiftly home. He said to himself, “I have learned a sad lesson today, and that is, never to do anything in anger.” �

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Prosperity, Simplicity, & Human Life Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.10.4) describes the history of India and much of the rest of this planet as it was 5,000 ago and older. In the tenth chapter of the first canto of this ancient work, the following statement is found.

uring the reign of King Yudhisthira, the clouds showered all the water that people needed, and the earth produced all the necessities of people in profusion. Due to its fatty milk bag and cheerful attitude, the cow used to moisten the grazing ground with milk. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada wrote the following commentary on this verse:

The basic principle of economic development is centered on land and cows. The necessities of human society His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada are food grains, fruits, milk, minerals, clothing, wood, etc. One requires all these of equality and fraternity by sending government, an autocracy like King items to fulfill the material needs of the millions of people into hellish factories Yudhisthira’s is by far superior to a sobody. Certainly one does not require flesh and the war fields at the whims of a called democracy in which animals are and fish or iron tools and machinery. particular person? killed and people who behave worse During the reign of King Yudhisthira, It is said here that the cows used than animals are allowed to cast votes for all over the world there were regular to moisten the pasturing land with another less-than-animal person. rainfalls. Rainfalls are not in the control of milk because their milk bags were fatty We are all creatures of material the human being. When the king and the and the animals were joyful. Do the nature. In the Bhagavad-gita, the most people under the king’s administration animals not require, therefore, proper famous Indian philosophical text, it is live in harmony with the Supreme – that protection for a joyful life by being fed said that God is the seed-giving father and is, in harmony with the objective truths with a sufficient quantity of grass in the material nature is the mother of all living of the world – there are regulated rains field? Why should people kill animals beings in all shapes. Thus mother material from the horizon, and these rains are for their selfish purposes? Why should nature has enough foodstuffs both for the causes of all varieties of production people not be satisfied with grains, fruits animals and for humans, by the grace of on the land. Not only do regulated rains and milk, which, combined together, the Father. The human being is the elder help ample production of grains and can produce hundreds and thousands brother of all other living beings. He is fruits, but when they combine with of palatable dishes? Why are there endowed with intelligence more powerful astronomical influences there is ample slaughterhouses all over the world to kill than that of the animals for realizing the production of valuable stones and pearls. innocent animals? King Pariksit, grandson course of nature and the indications of Grains and vegetables can sumptuously of King Yudhisthira, while touring his the Father. Human civilizations should feed humans and animals, and fatty cows vast kingdom, saw a dark-looking man depend on the production of material deliver enough milk to supply the humans attempting to kill a cow. The king at once nature without artificially attempting sumptuously with vigor and vitality. If arrested the butcher and chastised him economic development to turn the world there is enough milk, enough grains, severely. Should not a king or executive into a chaos of artificial greed and power enough fruit, enough cotton, enough head protect the lives of the poor animals only for the purpose of artificial luxuries silk, and enough jewels, then why do the who are unable to defend themselves? Is and sensual gratification. This is but a people need bars, houses of prostitution, this humanity? Are not the animals of a bestial life, a life devoid of goodness, slaughterhouses, etc.? What is the need country citizens also? Then why are they devoid of a higher purpose, and devoid of of an artificial, luxurious, superficial life allowed to be butchered in organized understanding of the intrinsic nature of of “Hollywood” entertainment, flesh, slaughterhouses? Are these the signs the world we live in. � and all other sorts of distractions? Has of equality, fraternity and nonviolence? this civilization produced anything but [What’s our democracy based upon?] quarreling individually and nationally? Therefore, in contrast with the Has this civilization enhanced the cause modern, advanced, civilized form of

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The Bhagavad gita as it is

his is an excerpt from the 13th chapter of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Srila Prabhupada’s commentated translation of the most famous spiritual text of India:

spiritual world is pure, but in the material world everyone is struggling hard to acquire different kinds of pleasures for the body. It might be more clear to state that this body is the effect of the senses. The senses are instruments Text 21: Nature is said to be the cause of for gratifying desire. Now, the sum total all material causes and effects, whereas – body and instrument senses – are the living entity is the cause of the offered by material nature, and as will be various sufferings and enjoyments in this clear in the next verse, the living entity is world. blessed or damned with circumstances according to his past desire and activity. Commentary: The different According to one’s desires and activities, manifestations of body and senses material nature places one in various among the living entities are due to residential quarters. The being himself is material nature. There are 8,400,000 the cause of his attaining such residential different species of life, and these quarters and his attendant enjoyment or varieties are creations of the material suffering. Once placed in some nature. They arise from the different particular kind of body, he sensual pleasures of the living entity, comes under the control of who thus desires to live in this body nature because the body, being or that. When he is put into different matter, acts according to the bodies, he enjoys different kinds laws of nature. At that time, of happiness and distress. the living entity has no His material happiness power to change that law. and distress are due Suppose an entity to his body, and not is put into the to himself as he is. In body his original state there is no doubt of enjoyment; therefore that is his real state. Because of the desire to lord it over material nature, he is in the material world. In the spiritual world there is no such thing. The

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of a dog. As soon as he is put into the body of a dog, he must act like a dog. He cannot act otherwise. And if the living entity is put into the body of a hog, then he is forced to eat stool and act like a hog. Similarly, if the living entity is put into the body of a demigod, he must act according to his body. This is the law of nature. But in all circumstances, the Supersoul is with the individual soul. That is explained in the Vedas (Mundaka Upanisad 3.1.1) as follows: “The Supersoul is so kind upon the living entity that He always accompanies the individual soul in all circumstances.” Text 22: The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil among various species.

Commentary: This verse is very important for understanding how living entities transmigrate from one body to another. The Second Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita explains that the soul moves from one body to another just as one changes clothes. This "change of clothes" is due to his attachment to material existence, or life in this world. As long as he is captivated by this false manifestation, he has to continue transmigrating from one

body to another. Due to his desire to lord it over material nature, he is put into the undesirable circumstance of being reborn. Under the influence of material desire, the entity is born sometimes as a demigod, sometimes as a human, sometimes as a beast, as a bird, as a worm, as an aquatic, as a saintly person, or as a bug. This is on-going. And in all cases the living entity thinks himself to be the master of his circumstances, yet he really controls nothing and is himself under the influence of material nature. One is placed into different bodies based on their association with the different modes of nature –ignorance, passion, and goodness. Therefore, in order to transcend the material world, one must rise above the three material modes and free oneself of the material consciousness that is perpetuating one’s rebirth. To become situated in the transcendental position, or to become Krishna conscious, is an impossible task for an individual to undertake on one's own. This advancement in consciousness can be effected only by hearing from authoritative sources. (Although the false ego in many people's minds tells them otherwise!) The best example is here: Arjuna is hearing the science of God from Krishna. The living entity, if he submits to this hearing process, will lose his long-cherished desire to dominate material nature, and gradually and proportionately, as he reduces his long desire to dominate, he comes to enjoy spiritual happiness. In a Vedic mantra it is said that as one becomes learned in association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one proportionately relishes one's eternal and blissful life. �

Is This Progress?

By Krishna Dharma Dasa

y trip to India brought a few surprises. It’s been some twenty years since I was last there, and things are changing fast. The cities are still the same bustling mess of teeming madness, much like anywhere else I suppose, but it’s in the outlying rural areas that I was most shocked. In my many visits to India I’ve always headed straight for a small village called Vrindavan, the most sacred place for Hindus, where Krishna appeared some 5,000 years ago. Last time there, I remember taking pleasant rickshaw rides down a sandy road, being greeted by welcoming cries from friendly locals as they drove their oxcarts or pedaled their pre-war bicycles with their entire families somehow perched aboard. Cows and bulls lay peacefully in the center of the road, and barefoot women strolled by with two or three large pots of milk or yogurt balanced perfectly on their heads. On all sides temple bells rang out along with the prayers and chants of hundreds of holy men. I had naively imagined that this timeless scene would never change. After all, India has withstood many invasions over the centuries, shrugging them off to maintain a lifestyle

unchanged for millennia. But now it seems it faces its greatest challenge. The road I remember is now a wide paved affair, with horn-blaring fourwheelers constantly jostling the rickshaws. Radios blast out rock music, and mobile phone shops and electronic-goods sellers are replacing the tea stands and cloth shops. The holy men have retreated back some distance, and all in all my attempts to soak in the spiritual mood and meditate on Krishna’s ancient activities proved rather tricky. Some might see it as a good thing that countries like India are coming online with the latest scientific advances, but I am not so sure. Going there to get away from all that for a while, I have always been uplifted and inspired by the tranquil atmosphere, the peaceful people, the simple lifestyle, and above all the profound spirituality in evidence everywhere. It doesn’t appear to me that any of this is being at all enhanced by the rapid embrace of technology. No one seems happier, prices have shot skywards, and life has become generally more difficult for all. We have our own experience, of course. Everything is available to us in abundance, but does it really

improve our happiness? John Ruskin said, “Every increased possession loads us with new weariness.” Among the happiest people I saw on my pilgrimage were the simple monks who lived by the Ganges’ banks, possessing nothing but the clothes they wore and a pot for

collecting water. Their days are spent in prayer and meditation, seeking union with God by constantly chanting His names. I don’t think I’m quite ready for that, but I did manage to immerse myself in something like it for a couple of weeks, and it certainly made a pleasant change from the high tech life back home. �

Hare Krishna! I would like to place a delivery order for a large veggie lovers on a hand tossed crust - and please, no garlic and onion. OK?

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TECHNOLOGY’S BLIND SPOT Adapted from a lecture given by His Holiness Devamrita Swami

n this article, I invite you to ponder a controversial question: Is technology helpful or hurtful? The verdict depends on our consciousness. The ancient spiritual texts of India tell us that a person’s internal state translates into external action. How someone uses things, for better or worse, is the outer manifestation of a particular inner reality. For example, according to the type of consciousness, a surgeon’s knife in someone’s hand can either heal a man or murder him. In this way, to understand humanity’s relationship with technology, we should ask: What is the quality of consciousness with which we use technology? Our criterion for judgment is the level of consciousness, rather than the technology in and of itself. Let me invite you, however, to look at the question of good or bad technology in an even more subtle way. You see, by our observing the prevalence of a certain kind of technology, we can deduce the proliferation of a certain type of consciousness. My charge is that the consciousness that predominates throughout the world today is a malignant strain that preoccupies itself with permutations and adaptations of matter rather than with pure consciousness itself. What relation does consciousness have to science, as we know it today? We will deal with this soon. Meanwhile I would like you to bear in mind one verse from the Bhagavad-gita (2.17): “That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul.” Here Lord Krishna speaks about consciousness as the energy of the soul, explains that this energy cannot be destroyed, and that the symptom of the soul’s presence is consciousness. Of course, according to the limited constraints that current science has imposed, you may counter, “Well, the soul is strictly a religious entity. There is no empirical proof for it; no technological device has detected it. The idea of the soul sounds sweet, but the notion doesn’t make it in today’s high-tech world of hard data.” Now we collide head-on with the 16

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main complaint of spiritual scientists. What most disturbs spiritually-based thinkers is not technology itself, but the severe limitations of current technology—in other words, the matter-

a personal God. 2) 40% of the scientists in America say that they believe in a personal God. Has any scientific evidence— as conventionally conceived—ever pointed to a

personal God? But obvibound ously focus many that scienrecogtists idennizes only tify with this a narrow conclusion, spectrum of although their reality. Such a academic discipline flickr.com/killermonkeys crippled attempt at provides no conventechnology ignores the most basic essen- tionally acceptable evidence for such a tial of our existence: our own consciousbelief. From the above statistics we may ness. No doubt, many of you may say, “If understand that a wide gulf now exists you’re talking about religion, well, that between what educated people actually is your own personal affair. Any truly believe and the knowledge they have educated person knows that spirituality accumulated. This gap, unless bridged, relies upon uniquely personal testimowill generate increasing tension, both nies of experience, which can never be individually and socially. tested; whereas scientific research is verifiable by everyone–therefore we call The Missing Link: it universal.” Consciousness Please contemplate some wellknown statistics that reveal a spiritual According to the standard of Western versus material conflict deep within science, the ancient information about science as practiced in the USA. 1) Beconsciousness found in Vedic texts such tween 70-90% of Americans believe in as the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhaga-

vatam cannot be considered “real knowledge.” Why not? Because it is “religious.” Most current scientific views on consciousness rest upon hidden metaphysical principles, which underlie almost all conventional scientific inquiry. You may be surprised to know that in our morning classes at our temples, we discuss these points. As dedicated spiritual researchers, we wrestle with these issues. Through Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, we can clearly see their resolution. Indeed, the mature spiritual practitioner focuses upon the most crucial issues that deeply affect everyone. I ask you, what can be more crucial and profound than your own consciousness? Only by your consciousness are you aware of studies in science, religion, politics, economics, psychology, and so forth. But what evidence does science give you for your own consciousness? Nothing! There is absolutely no technological device that can directly detect either the presence or the absence of consciousness. (Brain activity, yes; consciousness, no.) Even more embarrassing, scientists don’t know what to measure. There is absolutely no scientific evidence for the existence of consciousness. Does this monumental void expose a problem with consciousness? No, it reveals a huge problem with science as known today. How do we know we have consciousness? The only direct evidence, although nonscientific according to today’s empirical standards, is an individual’s first-person account of his or her own consciousness. Each individual can say, “I feel I am conscious.” Moreover, each person can talk with someone else and say, “Yes, I also feel I have the subjective experience of consciousness.” The fact that scientifically we can come up with no other evidence means that there is a huge hole in our knowledge. The International Dictionary of Psychology writes, “Consciousness is a fascinating but illusive phenomenon. It is impossible to specify what it is, what it does or why it evolved. Nothing worth reading has ever been written about it.” Even according to this pre-eminent compendium, nothing scientifically substantiated has ever been written about the most vital and obvious thing about you—your consciousness. Does this

mean that everyone should conclude that there is nothing to be said about consciousness? Of course not.

Techno-Pride and Passion

Technology has enthralled the world with well-publicized progress in explaining and manipulating the external and physical world. This fever to interact analytically with matter has overpowered any sympathy for ancient knowledge that explores the inner reality of consciousness. Owing to the modern lack of knowledge about consciousness, scientists over-endeavor in their pursuit of the quantifiable world of matter. The apparent success produces a hubris which blinds their eyes to the value of ancient research into consciousness. In this way so many people think that the ancient Vedic knowledge is just “Hindu granny wisdom” from the old days. (Ironically, these ancient Vedas also contained precise astronomical information that is now universally recognized and accepted by the scientific community.) Let’s go back to some basic facts: 1) Science does not know how or why consciousness originates. 2) Science cannot detect consciousness in the body at any stage. Sometimes there are debates as to whether the human fetus is conscious. Such debates are as unproductive as debates about consciousness in a fullgrown adult. Since no one can detect consciousness in an adult, why argue if a fetus is consciousness? Many scientists mock any acceptance of an afterlife. No evidence whatsoever, they say, shows that consciousness survives death. Thus they divert you from the fact that no evidence proves consciousness is present at any stage of a living body. So let’s be honest and face the truth: whether the body is alive or dead, fetus or full-grown, there are no

material scientific means for detecting consciousness. If you stop and ask yourself why you are reading this article, you will probably come up with an answer that sounds something like: The topic appealed to me. Really? The prevailing scientific doctrine is that your so-called free choice to read this was the result of an ongoing subjective illusion. This mirage made you feel that you exercised “free will” to pick up this edition of 16 Rounds. While the neurochemistry in your brain interacted with the external physical environment in a particular way, concurrently these chemicals in your brain generated a lie that there is such a thing as free will and free choice and this is the only reason you are reading. Supposedly the brain is just interacting with stimulations from the physical environment, and somehow or other, amidst that purely material interaction, an illusion is generated that you are conscious and have free will. As the French molecular biologist and Nobel laureate Jacques Monod said: “The ancient covenant is in pieces: Man at last knows that he is alone in the unfeeling immensity of the universe, out of which he has emerged only by chance. Neither his destiny nor his duty has been written down.” Although this is the predominant scientific explanation, I am sure that many people reading this article disagree. For icing on the cake, please cherish the

words of the late and great Francis Crick, co-discoverer of DNA structure: “You, your joys and sorrows, your memories and ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are, in fact, no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve-cells.” As Lewis Carroll’s Alice might have phrased it: “You’re nothing but a pack of neurons.” There is no doubt that technology

has made great strides in understanding some things about this world. For example, we know much about many biological processes of the body. But where is the scientific explanation of consciousness? It is the greatest mystery so we decided to ignore it. The fundamental principles of scientific materialism have

What we are suggesting is not that we abandon technology; rather, that we expand technology so we can understand ourselves.

allowed us to grasp only a certain range of natural phenomena. This is the problem. So, once again I propose that the fault rests not so much with the technology but with the consciousness that uses the technology. Practitioners of Krishna consciousness study literature about individual transformation and then apply the principles in their own lives. One can observe how the consciousness changes through this process. We note how our transformation matches up with the classic ancient accounts of consciousness transformation. But because we insist on such a narrow focus for science, we ignore these subjective experiences. This dogmatic adherence to materialistic principles of science and technology has crippled scientific research and impoverished our under-

standing of nature as a living whole. What we are suggesting is not that we abandon technology; rather, that we expand technology so we can understand ourselves. To achieve this necessary development, we should consider systems of scientific inquiry outside of Western culture. Since consciousness has proven to be so inscrutable by Western scientific methods, perhaps we should humbly

admit that Western knowledge-systems would benefit by coupling with ancient Vedic systems of inquiry.

State-Specific Knowledge

The Vedic texts, such as the Bhagavadgita and Srimad-bhagavatam, present studies of consciousness in highly advanced souls. But the Western scientific mindset discards these investigations because the ordinary scientist cannot walk into a laboratory and readily experience such elevated states of consciousness. True, only sensitized spiritual adepts, steeped in Vedic process, can enter within Vedic research. But does that barrier to entry automatically mean Vedic investigations into consciousness cannot stand as verifiable “universal knowledge”? Physicists say it takes eight to ten years just to train a recruit to comprehend fundamental reality according to the chimera of quantum mechanics. Not only does the initiate have to accept that the world buzzes with components that are intrinsically unobservable, but also needs to accept the existence of waves and particles that have no single objective reality until an attempt is made to measure them. The ancient Vedic system of knowledge takes firsthand experience of consciousness seriously. The contemporary bias, however, requires quantifiable data that any certified reductionist or empiricist can verify. We may find that just this very constraint traps our learned folk in a certain kind of cocoon that prevents them from accessing higher knowledge. Contrary to the viewpoint of Western empiricism, the Vedic point of view is that knowledge is state specific. Krishna says, “I am not manifest to everyone—by My own arrangement. According to your state of consciousness, I reveal Myself.” (BG 7:25) Lord Krishna lets us know that perception depends on the person. The qualification of the observer determines what the observer can see. Knowledge is state specific. According to your state of consciousness, you will be able to understand some things, while other things will remain unknown to you. Therefore, the Vedic system

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prescribes that if you want to increase the scope of your understanding, you must first refine and purify your own consciousness. Obviously this principle has not much to do with Western knowledgeprocesses. “Why drag my personal life into the laboratory?” many contemporary scientists would protest. “I may smoke, drink, and indulge in random sexual connections–that is my own personal affair. But have no doubt–when I walk into the laboratory, I’m ready for work. Suddenly from me will emanate objective, dispassionate analysis.” The Vedic scientists know that according to your lifestyle, your research is already molded because different lifestyles produce different levels of consciousness. Anyone studying physics should immediately recognize this Vedic fundamental because they know that in quantum physics the observer plays a crucial role in what is observed. Now you might concede, “Look, it could be true what you are saying. There could be a flickr.com/deepblue66 spiri-

tual reality, the soul, the Supreme Soul, and so forth, but how many of us can access this reality?” Krishna consciousness, bhakti-yoga, does require some preparation. The ingrained thinking processes need an overhaul, if the student wants to perceive spiritual phenomenon. The ancient texts say that if you want to understand Brahman, the supreme spiritual reality, then you have to be Brahman, a brahmana. But what does it mean to be a brahmana? Is one considered a brahmana by birth? Absolutely not! Nowhere in the Bhagavad-gita does Krishna say you become a brahmana by birth. No, you must have the qualities.

Suppose, I informed you, “My father is a surgeon; therefore you don’t have to worry about my own qualifications. Because he is my father, you can trust me to operate on you.” Should you expect that automatically, by heredity, the son is an expert in the father’s field of research? Bhagavad-gita says guna and karma: we must see your qualities and activities. Then we can judge whether you are a brahmana or not. To understand the spiritual reality, we must have a spiritual lifestyle. Then we can adequately participate in scientific discussions of consciousness. As long as you remain trapped in materialistic paradigms, only a narrow band of reality will reveal itself to you. When you are a materialist, it is very easy to focus exclusively on matter, because your tunnel vision acknowledges only material objects, material bodies. When you become purified from material contamination and detached from matter, however, the spiritual reality awaits you. At the beginning of your spiritual studies, that’s all Krishna asks that you do: detach yourself from matter and take up some spiritual processes of purification, so that your spiritual cognition can expand.

Krishna Consciousness and the Material World

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Sometimes it is said that religion should clarify the values of life and

the personal goal of life, whereas science will give genuine knowledge of reality. But this division proves self-deluding, because naturally what you accept as your reality will determine your goals and your values. If you see reality as just matter, naturally you will be inspired to presume only materialist values and materialistic goals. But if your version of reality sees matter and spirit (consciousness being the indicator of a spiritual energy) then your values and goals can become spiritual. What about this escape route: “The sacred world is the domain of religion, while the natural world is the domain of science—especially of technology. Leave religion to sort out the sacred world–whatever that is; meanwhile, science will discover the reality.” The Bhagavad-gita, rejects this ploy. Lord Krishna claims both the material and spiritual domains. Aham sarvasya prabhavo: “I am the origin of everything material and spiritual. Everything emanates from Me.” Iti mattva bhajante mam: “What will happen when you know this? You’ll become buddha, wise, and bhava samanvitah, you’ll radiate with transcendental ecstasy.” (BG 10:8) Therefore, the spiritual scientists, the practitioners of Krishna Consciousness, do not push Krishna out of this material world. True, this material world is very insignificant when compared to the spiritual world; nevertheless, it emanates from Krishna. Let’s connect the material energy to its source. That is real, comprehensive science. Materialistic science, seeking to control nature, depersonalizes so-called objective phenomena as if such phenomena exist in the mind’s eye independent of any significant subjective coloring. Thus, according to this standard belief, in effect the whole world becomes liberated from personhood and the scourge of subjectivity. Based on this illusion, matter-bound scientists feel secure to dismiss transcendentalists and their teachings. After all, unlike science, they believe, such spiritual knowledge bases itself on only subjective experience. We have all heard reports, for example, that hundreds of people

somewhere flickr.com/pgoyette observed a statue of the Virgin Mary with tears in her eyes. Whether the reports were true or false, hard-core physicalists would already have made up their mind in advance: “These sightings are just intense subjective visions conjured up by persons so fervently dedicated to their religion that they actually can see a tear in the statue’s eyes. Just witness the deluding power of devotional subjectivity! Pure science never does anything like that—it is dispassionate, free of both bias and subjectivity.” This is the stereotypical way conventional science approaches spiritual experiences and knowledge. The tragedy is that the conventional scientific elite have rushed to depersonalize the world, because they know little about consciousness. Moreover, they take pride in the now standard matterbound systems for acquiring knowl-

When the passions of consumerism and sensuality invade our mind, we can’t see the indicators of spiritual reality.

edge, when actually they lack complete knowledge about the very medium by which awareness comes to us. If you don’t understand the very thing that permits your awareness of the natural world, then do you really understand the natural world you are experiencing? Krishna-consciousness practitioners do not run from this dilemma. We grapple with it daily, in our bhakti laboratory of personal transformation.

A Drop of Humility, Please

The honest researcher will at least make a comparison between the two metaphysical systems—ancient and contemporary. Wouldn’t you agree that even an attempt by the ancients to research consciousness is at least better than the modern approach of almost no attempt at all? The speakers in the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam experience different levels of consciousness and openly discuss them. Therefore, yes, we should compliment the Krishna-conscious persons, both past and present–at least they’re trying to cope with the foremost riddle, consciousness.

Otherwise, we can worship at the feet of persons like the late Nobel laureate Francis Crick, of DNA fame. Before his recent demise, he switched to the field of consciousness research, seeing it as the unexplored frontier. But before he began his research, he had already declared, a priori: “There is no doubt whatsoever that consciousness is an emergent principle from a physical brain.” Now please note that because he was Francis Crick, his words become almost sacred. But what about Gauranga Dasa? Suppose this leading Krishnaconscious practitioner and teacher publicly announces, “There is no doubt that consciousness is the energy of the soul.” Surely many of his former comrades and professors at I.I.T. will respond, “The poor boy, formerly one of us, did have a future as a great scientist, but lamentably he has now become bewildered by unscientific subjective sentiments.” You see the bias? Francis Crick can expound his religion and be worshipped. But if we say what Krishna says in the Bhagavad-

gita–that consciousness is the symptom of the soul and is indestructible, then: “Oh, spare us from this Hindu village folklore!” I am sorry to say that this arrogance has been an unfortunate by-product of technological advancement. In our greed to proliferate technologically, we have obscured any help that the ancient knowledge of India might give us for illuminating the greatest mystery of human existence. Again, we don’t propose that society throws out science and technology. We simply say that the current processes of research need help from other methods of scientific enquiry, which derive from a different world view.

The Path to Freedom

I would like to urge you to seriously consider the ancient system of spiritual scientific enquiry known as bhakti-yoga. Practitioners of Krishna consciousness daily tackle the deepest questions and illuminate the darkest mysteries. Such spirited investigation and analysis accompanies the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra. “What is the ideal state of knowledge? How do I explain reality? How do I explain myself?” We think about these things. We experience them. With both our intellect and heart, we are dedicated to the maximum pursuit of spiritual experience. I must say it is indeed quite pleasurable dealing with the real world—the bhakti world. According to the current scientific myth, there is nothing but matter; everything is physical. I know that some of you are completely lost in the dream that only matter exists, nothing else. To you, I ask: If everything is matter, then why should anything matter to you? Is it okay to push someone out of the window of a tall building?. After all, that person is just a conglomeration of matter, nothing more—right? The person’s matter would merge with the pavement matter down below—what’s the problem? Of course, you won’t accept this reasoning, because intuitively— although not scientifically–you know something else exists. Now, discovering what this “something else” is takes time to research, understand, and experience. A Krishna-conscious life is an exciting, fascinating pursuit. Refining the consciousness so that we become free of material influence is a wonderful thing. To be able to control the mind and senses, to become immune to the demands of consumerism—this is the

beginning of real freedom. Through bhakti-yoga, you become liberated from lust, anger and greed. Otherwise, as long as passions blind us, we cannot perceive properly. I am sure you’ve all had the experience of misplacing something while worries occupy your mind. Then, when you searched your room thoroughly, because you were still mentally preoccupied with anxiety, you could not see the missing thing—even though it was right before your eyes. Everyone has experienced this waste of valuable time. Similarly, when the passions of consumerism and sensuality invade our mind, we can’t see the indicators of spiritual reality–for example, consciousness– despite their standing under our nose. The sublime state of Krishna consciousness is more than worthy of your effort. Here is a goal that will take the best you have. As stated in Bhagavadgita (6:22): “In the stage of perfection called trance, or samadhi, one’s mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. This perfection is characterized by one’s ability to see the self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the self. In that joyous state, one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness, realized through transcendental senses. Established thus, one never departs from the truth, and upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty. This indeed is actual freedom from all miseries arising from material contact.” Even at the beginning of your ascent to this purified state of existence, you can start to understand what reality is. I know that some of you won’t be able to rest until you delve into the mysteries of spiritual science–we are happy for that. Others of you will say, “Yes, yes, what Swami is saying is probably true; nevertheless, I have to live my life. We live in a practical world, and so my sails are already set on that course.” But I ask you, how practical is a world that does not understand itself, a world that cannot understand the very medium by which it perceives everything? That is very impractical! How can I become qualified to research the spiritual reality? What is the lifestyle of an advanced transcendentalist? Who is qualified to see this world as consisting of matter, spirit, and the controller of both? If you can master this kind of scientific inquiry, then indeed you will have something worthwhile to pass on to your children. �

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Tale of a Universal Principle

by Mayapriya Devi Dasi

creation! He who has created these lofty mountains has also made this tiny bird—and both seem equally wonderful.” Just then Yamaraja, death personified, appeared on the scene for a meeting

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with Shiva. As he passed beneath the archway, his eyes also went to the bird, and he raised his brow in a quizzical expression—if only for a moment—and then he continued on his way. Now, to those familiar with Yamaraja, even a slight glance by him is said to be the harbinger of death. Garuda, who’d observed Yama’s glance toward the bird, said to himself, “Yama’s looking intently at this bird can mean only one thing: the bird’s time is up. Most likely, on his way back, Yama will carry away the living entity who’s presently using the bird’s body, and provide him his next body.” Garuda, also being in a birdlike body, was filled with pity for the helpless creature related to him in form. That the bird was oblivious of its own impending doom further agonized Garuda, and he resolved to save the bird from the clutches of death. And so he swooped it up in his mighty talons, rushed to a forest thousands of miles away, and left the bird on a rock beside a brook. Then, just as quickly, Garuda returned to

Shiva’s retreat and regained his position at the entrance gate to wait for Visnu. Shortly, Yama emerged from inside and nodded to Garuda in recognition. Garuda greeted death personified and said, “May I put a question to you? On your way in you saw a small bird, and for a moment you became pensive. Why?” Yama answered him, “Well, when my eyes fell on the little bird, I saw that the jiva with the birdlike body was to leave his body [die] in just a few minutes. But I was puzzled, as that particular bird was to die by being swallowed by a great python some thousands of miles away from here in a forest, near a brook. And I wondered how this tiny bird would traverse the thousands of miles separating it from its destiny in such a short time. But then I ceased to think about it—but surely it must have already happened somehow.” After saying this, Yama smiled and went on his way. From Bhagavad-gita As It Is (below) (Translation and purports by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada)

“Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that for the nonexistent [the material body] there is no endurance and of the eternal [the soul] there is no change. This is concluded

by studying the nature of both.” —BG 2.16 “For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” —BG 2.20 “One who has taken his birth is sure to die, and after death one is sure to take birth again. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament.” —BG 2.27 �

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ne day high up in the mountain retreat of Shiva, Visnu came to visit and left behind, at the entrance, His eaglelike carrier, Garuda. While Garuda sat alone, marveling at the natural splendor of the place, his eyes fell on a beautiful creature—a small bird seated on the archway crowning the entrance to the retreat. Garuda wondered aloud, “How marvelous is this

CHANT FOR CHANGE T

he transcendental vibration established by the chanting of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare is the sublime method for reviving our transcendental consciousness. As living spiritual souls, we are all originally Krishna conscious entities, but due to our association with matter from time immemorial, our consciousness is now adulterated by the material atmosphere. The material atmosphere, in which we are now living, is called maya, or illusion. Maya means “that which is not.” And what is this illusion? The illusion is that we are all trying to be lords of material nature, while actually we are under the grip of her stringent laws. When a servant artificially tries to imitate the all-powerful master, he is said to be in illusion. We are trying to ex-

ploit the resources of material nature, but actually we are becoming more and more entangled in her complexities. Therefore, although we are engaged in a hard struggle to conquer nature, we are ever more dependent on her. This illusory struggle against material nature can be stopped at once by revival of our eternal Krishna consciousness. The Hare Krishna mantra is the transcendental process for reviving this original, pure consciousness. By chanting this transcendental vibration, we can cleanse away all misgivings within our hearts. The basic principle of all such misgivings is the false consciousness that I am the lord of all I survey. Krishna consciousness is not an artificial imposition on the mind. This consciousness is the original, natural energy of the living entity. When we hear this transcendental vibration, this consciousness is revived. This simplest method of meditation is recommended for this age. By practical experience also, one can perceive that by chanting this maha-mantra, or the Great Chanting for Deliverance, one can at once feel a transcendental ecstasy coming through from the spiritual stratum. In the material concept of life we are busy in the matter of sense gratification, as if we were in the lower, animal stage. When a little elevated from this status of sense gratification, one is engaged in mental speculation for

the purpose of getting out of the material clutches. More elevated is one who tries to find out the supreme cause of all causes—within and without. And when one is factually on the plane of spiritual understanding, surpassing the stages of sense, mind, and intelligence, he is then on the transcendental plane. This chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra is enacted from the spiritual platform, and thus this sound vibration surpasses all lower strata of consciousness—namely sensual, mental, and intellectual. There is no need, therefore, to understand the language of the mantra, nor is there any need for mental speculation, nor any intellectual adjustment for chanting this maha-mantra. It is automatic, from the spiritual platform, and as such, anyone can take part in the chanting without any previous qualification. In the beginning, there may not be the presence of all transcendental ecstasies, which are eight in number. These are: (1) being stopped as though dumb, (2) perspiration, (3) standing up of hairs on the body, (4) dislocation of voice, (5) trembling, (6) fading of the body, (7) crying in ecstasy, and (8) trance. But there is no doubt that chanting for a while takes one immediately to the spiritual platform, and one shows the first symptom of this in the urge to dance along with the chanting of the mantra. We have seen this practically. Even a child can take part in the chanting and dancing. Of course, for one who is too entangled in material life, it takes a little more time to come to the standard point, but even such a materially engrossed person is raised to the spiritual platform very quickly. When the mantra is chanted by a pure devotee in love, it has the greatest efficacy on hearers, and as such this chanting should be heard from the lips of a pure devotee, so that immediate effects can be

achieved. As far as possible, chanting from the lips of non-devotees should be avoided. Milk touched by the lips of a serpent has poisonous effects. The word Hara is the form of addressing God’s energy, and the words Krishna and Rama are forms of addressing God Himself. Both Krishna and Rama mean “the supreme pleasure,” and Hara is the supreme pleasure energy of Krishna, changed to Hare in the vocative. The supreme pleasure energy helps us to reach the Supreme. The material energy, called maya, is also one of God’s multi-potencies, while we, the living entities, are His marginal energy. The living entities are described as superior to material energy. When the superior energy is in contact with the inferior energy, an incompatible situation arises; but when the superior marginal energy is in contact with the superior energy, Hara, it is established in its happy, normal condition. These three words, namely Hare, Krishna, and Rama, are the transcendental seeds of the maha-mantra. The chanting is a spiritual call for God and His energy to give protection to the conditioned soul. This chanting is exactly like the genuine cry of a child for its mother’s presence. Mother Hara helps the devotee achieve the grace of the Father, who reveals Himself to the devotee who chants this mantra sincerely. No other means of spiritual realization is as effective in this age of quarrel and hypocrisy as the chanting of the maha-mantra: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. �

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HOW TO Chant “Maha” means “great” “Mantra” means “sound that frees the mind from ignorance”

ou can chant the mantra anywhere and at any time, but it is best to set a specific time of the day to regularly chant. Early morning hours are ideal. The chanting can be done in two ways: singing the mantra, called kirtana (usually done in a group), and saying or reciting the mantra to oneself, called japa (which literally means “to speak softly”). Concentrate on hearing the sound of the mantra. As you chant, pronounce the mantra clearly and distinctly, in a prayerful mood. When your mind wanders, bring it back to the transcendental sound. It is good to chant on japa beads. This not only helps you fix your attention on the mantra, but it

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also helps you count the number of times you chant the mantra daily. Each strand of japa beads contains 108 small beads and one large bead, the head bead. Begin on a bead next to the head bead and gently roll it between the thumb and middle finger of your right hand as you chant the full Hare Krishna mantra. Then move to the next bead and repeat the process. In this way, chant on each of the 108 beads until you reach the head bead again. This is one round of japa. Then, without chanting on the head bead, reverse the beads and start your second round on the last bead you chanted on. Initiated practitioners chant at least sixteen rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily. But even if you can chant only one round a day, a good principle is that once you commit yourself to chanting that round, try to

complete it every day. When you feel you can chant more, then increase the minimum number of rounds you chant each day-but try not to fall below that number. You can chant more than your fixed number, but do your best to maintain a set minimum each day. The japa beads are considered sacred and it is therefore recommended to keep them in a clean place. To keep your beads clean, it’s best to carry them in a special bead bag. (available from the temple store) �