DECEMBER 2012 by 16Rounds

www.16rounds.com

<(previous issue's cover)>

INTRO

ALTERNATIVE FORM OF GOVERNMENT

By Srila Prabhupada

Puranas are histories that focus on saintly individuals and nations. This is an excerpt from Srila Prabhupada’s commentary on a paragraph from the Bhagavata Purana, 1.16.1.

King

Pariksit, a transcendentalist of the highest stature, used to consult sages and learned brahmanas, who could advise him how to execute the state administration. Such great kings were more responsible than modern elected executive heads because they obliged the great authorities by following their instructions left in Vedic literatures. There was no need for impractical fools to enact daily a new legislative bill and to conveniently alter it again and again to serve some ulterior purpose. The rules and regulations were already set forth by great sages and the enactments were suitable for all ages in all places. Therefore the rules and regulations were standard and without flaw or defect.

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. 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. © 2012/13 16Rounds to Samadhi. All rights reserved.

16Rounds Staff:

Editor: Mahat Tattva Dasa Mahat is a monk and the president of the ISKCON monastic community in San Diego. Layout: Bhismadeva Dasa Bhismadeva has been a monk since 2008 and is currently living in the ashram at the Hare Krishna temple in San Diego.

English editor: Matthew McManus Born and grew up in Los Angeles. Graduated from San Diego State University in 2011. Currently a monk at the ISKCON ashram in San Diego.

CONTACT: 16rounds@gmail.com www.16ROUNDS.com 1030 Grand Ave. San Diego, CA 92109 Call/text 858-405-5465 facebook.com/16roundstosamadhi ADVERTISE www.16rounds.com/advertise Call/text Mahat at 858-405-5465. SUBSCRIPTIONS 10 issues = $25 www.16rounds.com/subscribe DISCLAIMER: Views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors.

Kings like Pariksit had their council of advisers, and all the members of that council were either sages or brahmanas of the first order. They did not accept any salary, nor had they any necessity for such salaries. The state would get the best advice

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.”

without expenditure. They were themselves equal to everyone, both humans and animals. They would not advise the king to give protection to humans while also instructing him to kill the poor animals. Such council members were not fools or representatives seeking to create a fool's paradise. They were all self-realized souls, and they knew perfectly well how all living beings would be happy, both in this life and in the next. They were not concerned with the hedonistic philosophy of eat, drink, be merry, and enjoy. They were philosophers in the real sense, and they knew well what the mission of human life is. Under all these obligations, the advisory council of the king would give correct directions, and the king or executive head would scrutinizingly follow them for the welfare of the state. The state in the days of King Pariksit was a welfare state in the real sense of the term because the king made sure no one was unhappy, be they humans or animals. That is an ideal political administrator. �

Photo Credits ©1 flickr.com/paullew ©2 flickr.com/sylvain_masson ©3 flickr.com/ashleyrosex ©4 flickr.com/duke_raoul ©5 flickr.com/elhamalawy ©6 flickr.com/forcedrhubarb ©7 flickr.com/elhamalawy ©8 flickr.com/jdhancock ©9 flickr.com/donotlick ©10 flickr.com/oter ©11 flickr.com/thelotuscarroll ©12 flickr.com/splat ©13 flickr.com/stawarz ©14 flickr.com/flahertyb ©15 flickr.com/sandcastlematt ©16 flickr.com/proimos ©17 flickr.com/wwworks

www.16rounds.com

SOCIETY

ARIUS VS. ATHANASIUS The Son or the Man?

By Devin James O’Rourke monly advocated by many modern Christians.

This thesis statement wasn't written over night, yet it is taken for granted that such a philosophy has always defined Christianity. Actually, there was a great struggle to characterize Jesus for the sake of propagating his teachings. The controversy came to a climax in modern day Turkey, hundreds of years after Christ’s time here on Earth. The conclusion was ratified as the Nicene Creed as follows:

understand who Jesus Christ is, let's take a look at this simple sentence: “Lisa went to the store to buy a loaf of bread, but instead she came back with some milk,” whispered one 5 year old to another. As it travels from the mouth of one babe into the ear of another, the message changes to: “Liza went to the store with a loaf of bread, and then she drank some milk.” Now version 2.0 of the story is assimilated by child number 3, and the game of 'telephone' continues until we find Lori, at the end of the relay, on the floor milking some cows with her head! Vindicating the maxim that everything we need to know really was taught in kindergarten, Karen Armstrong divulges an account

of Jesus Christ in her iconic book, A History of God: “After his death, his followers decided that Jesus had been divine. This did not happen immediately; as we shall see, the doctrine that Jesus had been God in human form was not finalized until the fourth century. The development of Christian belief in the Incarnation was a gradual, complex process. Jesus himself certainly never claimed to be God.” In the same way that Lisa would never think to milk a cow on the floor, much less with her own head; similarly, Jesus would never dare claim himself to be God, at least according to Armstrong. She notes the following:

“Jesus himself used to call himself 'the Son of Man'. There has been much controversy about this title but it seems that the original

www.16rounds.com

Aramaic phrase (bar nasha) simply stressed the weakness and mortality of the human condition. If this is so, Jesus seems to have gone out of his way to emphasize that he was a frail human being who would one day suffer and die.” These are bold statements by Armstrong when compared with the Christian precepts offered today. Who is she to make such claims?

Armstrong is a former Catholic nun turned Jewish scholar who is recognized by the Muslim community as an authority on Muhammad. From Canterbury to Caledonia, Karen Armstrong's work is accepted as both scholastically and spiritually sound. A winner of the 'TED Prize,' and an ambassador for the UN Alliance of Civilizations, she has written multiple best-sellers, the foremost of which, A History

of God, follows the 4,000 year old Judeo-Christian doctrine and its synthesis of a personal God.

Many Christians today understand heaven and hell in very black and white terms. Jesus is God Himself, non-different in quality or quantity. Jesus died to atone for the inherently sinful nature of man’s soul, and those souls may have their place in heaven restored. Anyone accepting this version will be rewarded with a return to God’s kingdom; those who do not accept Jesus as their 'Lord and Savior' in this life are eternally damned. Chocolate or vanilla? Pepsi or coke? Eternal life or perpetual suffering? Appreciating and allowing for those individuals who follow Christ and yet do not espouse a ‘do or dead doctrine;’ this all-or-nothing spiritual proposition is com-

“We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things, visible and invisible, and in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of the Father, that is, of the substance (ousia) of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one substance (homoousion) with the Father, through whom all things were made, those things that are in heaven and those things that are on earth, who for us men and for our salvation came down and was made man, suffered, rose again on the third day, ascended into the heavens and will come to judge the living and the dead. And we believe in the Holy Spirit.”

THE DEBATE

Armstrong pivots this original Christ convention around two personalities, Arius and Athanasius. Both were charismatic, young presbyters; each posited a fundamentally different understanding of the nature of Jesus. Arius, whose name Armstrong notes is now synonymous with heresy amongst Christians, had an attractively soft nature, and his visage is described as contempla-

tive and melancholy. For Arius and his sympathizers, it was blasphemous for Jesus to be called God. Remember, Armstrong points out that “Jesus himself used to call himself 'the Son of Man'... If this is so, Jesus seems to have gone out of his way to emphasize that he was a frail human being who would one day suffer and die.” Arius asserted that Jesus was non-different from God. In fact, it is God Himself Who is to nullify the wonder of His activities. In essence, Arius asserted that if it’s God who died on the cross, so what? He's God, the all-powerful. However, if it was one of 'us' that accepted nails being driven through our appendages, one of 'us' who accepted the burden of man's transgressions against God, one of 'us' who forsook everything for the sake of others, that would be a mighty sacrifice indeed. This gives hope that reconciliation is possible even for the lowest of men. Though the rest of society is wayward and wanton, Arius posited that Jesus and the rest of humanity were created in the same capacity.

If such a portrayal of Christ sounds unfamiliar, that is because Athanasius won the battle for the story of Jesus. ‘Original Sin,’ another term now synonymous with Christianity, came into Christian theology as a maxim when St. Augustine extrapolated the conclusions of the Athanasius. Athanasius purported that man was too wretched to save himself. He was inherently incapable and completely dependent on God, devoid of the virtue and determination necessary for uplifting ourselves from this degraded position. Christ, fulfilling the need of saving hapless humanity, was God incarnate. The battle between the two sides engrossed the public’s attention. Armstrong quips that “People were discussing these abstruse questions with the same enthusiasm as they

SOCIETY

THE VEDIC VERSION OF SPIRITUAL LIFE, HAVING ITS ORIGINS IN INDIA, OFFERS AN UNDERSTANDING OF SPIRITUAL REALITY THAT NOT ONLY ACCOMMODATES A CHRIST FIGURE, BUT IN FACT, NECESSITATES ONE. discuss football today.” Emperor Constantine, indifferent to the theological implications of this conference on Christ, was simply happy to see a consensus had been reached when informed of the Nicene Creed. One can imagine what distress this nation’s 'leaders' might be in if there was a resurgence in spiritual life that distracted fans from the NFL's 32 teams, each worth $1.04 billion on average. Such was the anxiety of Constantine, whose citizens had, at least for a time, given up business for the sake of addressing these economically less productive questions.

Constantine's situation was such that he cared little for the substance of the convention’s conclusion and instead only insisted there be one. Armstrong notes that by no means did signing of the creed end the debate, just as election results don't stop the political discussion. It is readily apparent; though, that the theology of Athanasius was also po-

litically advantageous long term. Armstrong writes,

“Jesus had never claimed that these divine 'powers' were confined to him alone. Again and again, Jesus had promised his disciples that if they had 'faith' they would enjoy these 'powers' too. By faith, of course, he did not mean adopting the correct theology but cultivating an inner attitude of surrender and openness to God.”

Jesus Christ Superstar, or Superman, God Himself, as Athanasius's side claimed Him to be, is a much more palatable version of Christ for government leaders to support than the 'average Joe' picture of Arius and his supporters. What’s the need for government and all its girth if you have a bunch of saints for citizens? Arius wanted an accessible, approachable, even replicable Jesus. Knowing the end of Jesus’ story well, we know what governments naturally do to even one such person. These considerations, however, deserve their own ar-

ticle, and furthermore, focus on whom Jesus has become, which is not necessarily whom he is.

UNDERSTANDING THE SPIRITUAL TEACHER

To answer the question of whom Jesus is, it’s necessary to step away from the Christian paradigm. Though the Church of today would have the public believe otherwise, the reality of the situation 1700 years ago was, by Armstrong's well accepted account, that “nobody could possibly prove anything definitively, one way or the other.” regarding the true nature of Christ. The debate was going on hundreds of years after his death, and only the anecdotal writings of his followers, which themselves were written no sooner than 40 years after his death, remained. In either case, Divine by ordination or origination, Jesus was understood as an anomaly by all Western

THESE ARE BOLD STATEMENTS BY ARMSTRONG WHEN COMPARED WITH THE CHRISTIAN PRECEPTS OFFERED TODAY. WHO IS SHE TO MAKE SUCH CLAIMS? thinkers, Christian or otherwise, a virtuous one of truth and love in the sea of otherwise listless, loathsome humans. Imagine if Steve Jobs, rather than introducing 'The Macintosh 128K' as his first retail computer, offered the world an iPhone. Systemically, we can make sense of the iPhone because there was 'The Macintosh 128K' and everything in between. If an iPhone was the fist thing Jobs put out, we might have thought the 2nd coming was here. So, is there a systemic way to understand a personality such as Christ? Or is it the case that in the many thousands of years before Christ, and the 2000+ after him, that an all merciful, all powerful, all loving God has not sent forth any other such messenger?

The Vedic version of spiritual life, having its origins in India, offers an understanding of spiritual reality that not only accommodates a Christ figure, but in fact, necessitates one. One of the essential verses in the Bhagavad-gita, which for purposes

of expediency can be called the Vedic 'Bible,’ is found in chapter 4. The 34th text of that chapter reads, “Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual teacher. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.” We may be familiar with Jesus’ claim of being the Way, the Truth, and the Light, and that no one can come to the Father except through him?

Here in the Bhagavadgita, Krishna is speaking the same truth, though the Bhagavd-gita is a text that predates the Bible by several thousand years. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the translator of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, explains the necessity of a spiritual teacher through the example of a drowning man. A man drowning can only be saved by one who knows how to swim. So a man searching for spiritual perfection can only be brought out of his material condition by someone who

is fully spiritually cognizant.

Similar to the Judeo-Christian idea that the plight of a person here in this material world is due to sinful activity stemming from a misapplication of free-will, the Vedas explain that the living entity or soul, which is an eternally spiritual being, is experiencing repeated suffering in this temporary material world due to improper desires. We want wine, women, cars, clothes, and the rest. Yet these things can only bring us temporary pleasure, and when obtained, often implicate us in the gross suffering and subjugation of others. The concept of the inescapable suffering associated with this material world, and the attempt to understand a reality beyond the temporary place, is the common thread shared among spiritual traditions. The Vedas also speak about a transcendent reality, or 'heaven,' where the scourges of old age, disease, and death, which are associated with the temporary

www.16rounds.com

Cont'd on pg. 7 ›››

SOCIETY

AGE OF REASON Imperialism and Vedic Wisdom By Shyam Nityanand Das

There

is no age of reason. It is an imperialist construct. The so-called ‘age of reason’ actually is the age of imperialism. Imperialism is a highly discriminatory and exploitative system. It can be distinguished, in the scale of human suffering, from the earlier distorted systems like slave-owning citystates, followed by classical empires (Mediterranean), imperial Confucianism and neo Confucianism (Far East), mysticism-ritualismcasteism (Indian sub-continent), church-feudal diarchy (Medieval Europe), Islamic theocracies and autocracies (Middle East), and many forms of tribalism, animism, and paganism. It is the most in-egalitarian, unjust and illiberal, and also the bloodiest age in human history. The irony is that the unimagined scale of discrimination, exploitation, and suffering has been achieved, not only

through coercion, but also blind participation of the victims.

Imperialism was born when mercantile capitalism of the white race, from the 16th to 18th century, armed with scientific inventions, borrowed from the Orient like compass (for navigation or looting), gunpowder (for warfare or killing), printing (for proselytization or religious enslavement), and decimal numbers (for calculating the scale of looting, killing, and enslavement), subjugated the other races, exterminating the red, enslaving the black, impoverishing the brown, and harassing the yellow. The three centuries of banditry enriched the new Occidental elite, the merchants and lawyers.

Technology, organization, and mass hysteria became the weapons of the new elite in the 19th century, as they refined and systematized the methods of exploitation, de-

veloping industrial capitalism. Industries were fed by the indigenous white labor and the raw-materials produced in white settlements or non-white colonies. The wealth began to flow from the periphery (colonies) to the core (industrial centers), impoverishing the once developed Oriental and preAmerican civilizations. This evident form of barbarism was self-labeled as the only civilization through cultural hegemony. At the end of the 19th century (Victorian age), the imperialist project encompassed the entire earth. The scale and intensity of exploitation necessitated the emergence of banks, stock markets, and paper currency. Speculation became the most lucrative avenue to amass wealth. Finance capitalism was led by large corporations and international bankers. Industries used assembly lines for mass production and advertisement was used to encourage consumerism. It was a period of great human mis-

eries involving two world wars, the Great Depression, Holocaust, genocides, ethnic and racial riots, xenophobic violence, atomic warfare, famines, et cetera. Communism took advantage of the horrible effects produced by capitalist greed, lust, and competition, promising a utopian dream based on the same principle of materialism. It created further imperialism (Soviet empire), wars, genocides, famines and exploitation.

The devastation of the first half of the 20th century exposed the weaknesses of imperialism. The colonized elite turned against its colonial masters. Third World nationalism adopted the modernization principle, whether in the form of capitalist democracy, socialist authoritarianism, or mixed economic-political system. What followed was a new type of imperialism: indirect, consensual, gradual, subtle, cultural, and spiritual. Capitalism entered the phase of interdependency (among the imperialist pow-

www.16rounds.com

WE LIVE IN A HIERARCHICAL, HEGEMONIC, AND NEO-IMPERIALIST GLOBAL ORDER. GLOBALIZATION, PRIVATIZATION, AND INFORMATIZATION PROCESSES HAVE LED TO THE CREATION OF A NEW GLOBALIST ELITE, TOTALLY SEPARATED FROM ITS CULTURAL ROOTS.

SOCIETY oil imports). Individuals, corporations, and nations became so entangled in consumerism that they carried debts to maintain a modern lifestyle. This was an unstable period in history for the masses, with financial crises occurring every few years.

ers) and dependency (of the subjugated nations). The imperial powers (the white West) remained the core, the Third World industrial and commercial centers became the semi-periphery and the vast hinterland (where the overwhelming majority of the population, say 90% resided) was the periphery, totally deprived of its self-sufficient, traditional economic, social, and political structures. On the other hand, the communist elite, cut off from the imperialist metropolis, preferred autarky and mutual cooperation, but squeezed to the last drop the sweat and blood of the peasants and unorganized working class to maintain their bureaucratic hegemony and utopian five-year plans. The Cold War created a new militaryindustrial complex, which led to vertical and horizontal proliferation of lethal weapons, profiting the imperialists and causing numerous wars and genocides in the Third World. Modernization destroyed the cultural fabric of all nations, leading to commoditization of women and destruction of stable families (in the name of feminism), ruination of social harmony, increasing

prostitution, drug abuse, intoxication, criminalization and corruption, loss of support for the orphaned, aged and disabled, et cetera. Finally, the ecological balance was irreversibly damaged, the natural resources were depleted, the entire living space was polluted (through fertilizers, pesticides, industrial waste, carbon emissions), and numerous species of flora and fauna were exterminated.

The 1970s was a period of great turmoil due to unsustainability of state-centric neo-imperialism, which lost support even in the imperialist countries where the traditional society was totally uprooted. An age of extremes set in. On the one hand, radical values like teenage sex, abortion rights, homosexuality, nudity, pornography, et cetera, became more acceptable; on the other hand, religious fundamentalism re-emerged to salvage the remaining traces of human civilization. Governments issued currencies, no longer backed by any hard assets, and maintained huge budget deficits simply by printing notes (in developed and emerging economies reliant on crude-

We live in a hierarchical, hegemonic, and neo-imperialist global order. Globalization, privatization, and informatization processes have led to the creation of a new globalist elite, totally separated from its cultural roots. The Western elite are at the top, with control over the information and communication industries, global financial corporations, high-tech production, and popular brands. Among the emerging economies, China is the factory of the world and India the international BPO, while others, like Russia and Saudi Arabia, are suppliers of precious energy resources. Australia is an exporter of agricultural goods. Most countries are subsistence economies, relying on whatever incentives they have for earning a living, like agriculture, animal-rearing, mining, or tourism. Disparities of culture and affluence are quite strong. A management professional lives an extravagant lifestyle, while a farmer is forced to commit suicide due to perpetual debt. The globalist elite of bankers, industrialists, and media barons are assisted by organic intellectuals and professionals to maintain this repressive system. Meanwhile, the middle class struggles day and night to save some money, so that their children may get modern education to join the organic class. The vast majority lives with almost no opportunity to rise on the economic ladder. Contemporary Homo sapiens have become dependent on their senses, carried away by consumption, which is far beyond any rational calculation, and is devastating the biosphere and exploiting their fellow species. The system

of exploitation has become very sophisticated, with the exploiters always claiming high moral ground. Let us discuss some examples: 1. The elite and their organic servants murder billions of animals everyday for satisfying their palate.

2. They maintain large philanthropic foundations to help the hapless, whose needs are created by them. Without them, the villages would be self-sustaining units and there would be no urban slums and impoverished migrant workers. They have even forced the governments to stop funding schools and hospitals and subsidizing agriculture. As a result, people have become needy and they offer some token gift to earn a name as a philanthropist. 3. The tobacco and alcohol companies package and advertise their products as health hazards, yet sell it to the public for huge profits. 4. People are allured to consume junk like beer, energy drinks, fast food, etc.

5. China maintains a firewall that stops unwanted cyber intrusion into its society, while other governments feign helplessness as children are fed on pornography, violence, and unsocial values. 6. People are victimizing themselves by becoming attached to modern gadgets and edibles that ruin their immune system and make them dependent, when they could easily do without them.

7. Women are enticed to abandon the family and home commitments, so that the elite and the organic class can satisfy their unholy desires. Although promised the moon, many women end up in positions which exploit their sexuality for corporate gains. Given the plethora of deleterious events in history, as of late and old, which stem from the elitist attitude, we

Cont'd on pg. 13 ›››

ARIUS VS. ATHANASIUS

Cont'd from pg. 5 body, no longer trouble the eternal soul.

In a conversation with his own disciples, Swami Prabhupada mentions an interaction he had with seniors in the Roman Catholic Church of Australia. “They asked, 'What is your idea of Christ.' I told them, 'He is our Guru. He is teaching God consciousness, so he is our spiritual teacher.' The ministers very much appreciated that.”

It is understood through Vedic literature that God, as the supreme parent, always wants his wayward children to return to him. Therefore, he is constantly asking his children who are situated properly, to return to this place of temporary pleasure and perpetual pain in order to awaken the dormant God consciousness of their siblings. Swami Prabhupada affirms the exalted position of Jesus, who used his life purely in the service of God. “We should not think of him as an ordinary human being. If Jesus Christ were an ordinary man, then he could not have delivered God consciousness.”

In the commentary of Visvanath Cakravati Thakur, a renowned Vedic scholar, it is explained that the spiritual teacher is 'haritvena' or non-different from Hari, a Sanskrit name for God. Swami Prabhupada further expounds the spiritual teacher as the representative of God, which means the spiritual teacher should be treated as good as God, just as the president of a nation is honored as an emissary for the entirety of its people. Furthermore, affirming the Arius version of Christ’s position, Swami Prabhupada says the spiritual teacher is a specially empowered living entity who is Godlike in quality, though not in quantity.

Understanding, through the Vedic concept, the essential need for a spiritual teacher and his divine essence, one can get a contextual grasp of Jesus that will easily satisfy any sincere inquirer. Yet the idea of Jesus being an exclusive personality, a one of a kind deal from the Divine, has not been sufficiently addressed, at least not in proportion to its propagation.

Confidently it is presumed any reader who has read this far has also completed the 4th grade. And with equal confidence it’s assumed that at least two such readers had different 4th grade teachers. And yet could it then be rationally said that one person’s promotion to the 5th grade was legitimate, while the other’s was a farce?

TIME, PLACE, CIRCUMSTANCE

Bhaktivedanta Swami stresses that spiritual teachers teach according to time, place, and circumstance. Herein we can understand the exclusivity that Jesus, and all authentic spiritual teachers demand. Were anyone to do the work of a teacher and not their own work as a student, it would be unreasonable to think that they would be promoted to the next grade. Not that the work offered by any other teacher is unimportant or invalid, but the individual has been placed under the tutelage of a certain person according to time, place and circumstance, and their responsibility lies in completing that work. God also sends his teachers to different parts of the material world to speak to the people there and elevate consciousness for the purpose of restoring each individual’s personal place in God’s Kingdom. Through this example of school, it can also be understood how a book like

www.16rounds.com

Cont'd on pg. 13 ›››

SOCIETY

MACHINE TAKEOVER No Jobs for the Living LIVE BY ELECTRONICS, DIE BY ELECTRONICS

In the novel, Player Piano, Kurt Vonnegut portrays a post-third world war America, in which machines have virtually taken over. Only a few who have been let into the upper echelon of society have jobs as engineers of machines, while the rest are thrown into the “reeks and wrecks” of manual construction labor.

By Jessica Robbins

Now,

more than ever, American’s are concerned about jobs. Why? Because there are none! The economy is shambled and a majority of the American public live in fear from paycheck to paycheck. There is debate regarding how to restore jobs, a scrutinized subject during the recent presidential debates. Yet, a more pertinent question to ask is: how are jobs being lost in the first place? Let’s examine this.

A few engineers created a new machine named Checker Charlie. Unsurprisingly, Charlie is a checker champion robot, able to algorithmically defeat anyone at checkers. The protagonist, Paul Proteus, the prominent engineer in the society, was matched up against Charlie. Charlie’s engineers affectionately looked on as the match sauntered forward. They felt this was a perfect opportunity to show off their technological prowess. As Paul proceeded with his beginning moves, he found he was actually ahead

www.16rounds.com

of Charlie in the match. He even managed to make one of his pieces a king. However, Paul was skeptical he would actually win—he felt Charlie just had a much more far-seeing plan he just wasn’t able to detect.

Suddenly, Charlie started to make some rather unusual noise. Sweat beaded down the face of the engineers as they tried to conceal their building anxiety. “Fire, Fire!” an assistant came running out of the back door screaming. Checker Charlie was on fire—the heat felt by all. The lights on Charlie’s metallic figure began flickering on and off, a dazzling lightshow finale. Then silence. Poor Charlie was pronounced dead. His connection to life had been unplugged for good.

Paul’s friend who had bet that man would triumph over machine told the frantic engineers, “If Checker Charlie was made to make chumps out of men; he could damn well fix his own connections. Paul looks after his own circuits, let Charlie do

the same. Those who live by electronics, die by electronics!”

FIRE IN THE HOUSE

This small story illustrates a technological backlash, which American and much of the world today are experiencing on a much grander, macrocosmic level. The fire of technology has changed dramatically in recent years. At first, it was much like a quaint fire place meant to make daily affairs run more smoothly, more conveniently, but now technology has developed into a wild and destructive forest fire. The world is becoming more and more enmeshed within a complex industrialized civilization and we see more and more people fearing for their livelihood. How can we even begin to extinguish this fire?

much as is necessary to maintain the body and nothing more, gives one the freedom to cultivate higher conscious activities, rather than living just to make ends meet or maintain one’s possessions. High thinking enables one to discriminate what are one’s true needs versus what has been imposed on oneself by a foreign entity, which itself is the beneficiary of your consumption.

doesn’t depend on industry.

Industry is driven by artificial needs. Some person engineers an idea of a product, finds a way to mass produce it, then gets a team to advertise it as a necessity for the public. Such artificial living standards cause people to live beyond what they Cont'd on pg. 13 ›››

It is industrialism, which is the cause of unemployment. Leading a more spirituallyinclined lifestyle by living simply within one’s own means, one can actually begin to cultivate inner fulfillment and true happiness, which

THE RAIN OF SIMPLICITY

We should strive to find inner fulfillment, which will naturally extinguish the blazing need to derive happiness from externals. Living simply, taking only as

"IF CHECKER CHARLIE WAS MADE TO MAKE CHUMPS OUT OF MEN; HE COULD DAMN WELL FIX HIS OWN CONNECTIONS."

SOCIETY

BLOOD DEEP Failing Fidelity

David H. Petraeus, the director of the CIA and one of America’s most decorated four-star generals, resigned on November 9th after an F.B.I. investigation uncovered evidence that he had been involved in an extramarital affair. By Matthew McManus

NOW EX-CIA DIRECTOR, GENERAL PETRAUS

In the

recent aftermath of General Petraus’ resignation, this writer finds a seriocomic theme among the psychology of today’s society. The mawkish proclivities selfevident among different factions of the contemporary social patchwork are yet another bemusing element in the Machiavellian political sphere; for one

who perceives behind the gorgonizing, the situation appears risible to whatever degree one takes ignorance to be as such.

For any happen-

stance, there are questions which are apparent and there are others that are occluded by a lack of knowledge, and concomitantly, the realization of knowledge. Intelligent questions are undoubtedly valuable, but the consciousness of knowing what one does not know is the necessary catalyst. Several questions come to my mind in regards to the scandal of General Petraus, which centers on the immorality of infidelity in the most classical sense: adultery with a mistress.

The first and most quintessential of these questions is, what is fidelity based on? In other words, how is fidelity created, by what method is it maintained, and when is it dissolved? In terms of the modern marriage paradigm, fidelity’s creation, maintenance, and destruction manifest to the degree that one’s senses are appeased and to the degree his/her partner’s senses are also gratified. To the modern materialist, there is a positive correla-

tion between fidelity and sense gratification. Fidelity is increased when the sense gratification is increased and vice versa. At that time when the sense gratification is not to the level of one’s liking, then the relationship is easily dissolved. Furthermore, the type of relationship is also based on this principle. One who pleases the senses the most will most likely be a lover, et cetera. Therefore, the place by which fidelity resides for the sense gratifier goes no further than the flesh and mind; the ‘sanctity’ of one’s marriage is another concern of bodily maintenance like having to release stool.

Secondly, where does fidelity exist? Why is it accepted to be very important? As fidelity is oftentimes seen to be present in marriage through bodily ties; similarly, the same principle is there in filialness, friends, business partners, and innumerable other circumstantial relations. Indeed, any time there is a mutual exchange between two or more parties, fidelity is present. Fidelity can be as inclusive and intimate as two paramours or as overarching as the United Nations, and it is the crux of every relationship. Indeed, whether explicit or implicit, a contract of interexchange, containing explicit rules unique to the relationship, has been made; this is the premise by which Cont'd on pg. 13 ›››

www.16rounds.com

COVER STORY

www.16rounds.com

COVER STORY

BLACK BUY Quality Family Time?

By Mahat Tattva Dasa

After

a truly awesome Thanksgiving lunch, all vegetarian, I should mention, I hung out at the Krishna Lounge for dinner-socializing with a few lounge buddies. At about 10pm I decided to write this article so I, accompanied by two friends, headed out to a nearby Best Buy store to interview Black Friday shoppers.

At about 10:30pm we pulled into the parking lot of the Best Buy in La Jolla. The line of bargain hunters was stretching all around the parking lot. We started to interview people at the back of the line. A guy and a girl in their mid 20s were friendly enough to talk with us. They had just barely gotten into the line. Unlike some, these two prefer to take it easy, not

stress too much about the hunt for the best discounts. Their waiting time in line will be up to two hours before they reach the Best Buy shelves. DVDs, BlueRays, and video games are what this couple set their minds on. Most shoppers, like this couple, look up deals online and then decide what stores to shop at. Thus the shopping frenzy begins days before Black Friday. “What’s it like when the store’s door opens?” I asked.

“It is crowded and hectic. Things are scattered all over the floor,” they answered.

Next we talked to the people at the front of the line. We were surprised to find a whole family there. Father, mother, children, and a few of their neighbor’s kids were the group who led the line. In order to be the first in the

line, they had to get there on Monday morning. Yeap, that’s right - they had been waiting in the line since Monday morning, the whole family. Their son, who was probably about ten years old, wanted to get there on Saturday, but the mom thought it was too extreme, so they settled for Monday. They had set up a camp there. Tents, seats, blankets, beds, food, books, electronics - what seemed to be half of their house was relocated onto the sidewalk, just in front of Best Buy. They were all very jolly. The mom was happy to talk to us, while the kids were bouncing all over the place. The father, however, felt somewhat ashamed to be there. He kept commenting about their expedition: “Materialism at its best!” “Consumerism!” Perhaps it had something to do with us monks being pres-

"AT ABOUT 10:30PM WE PULLED INTO THE PARKING LOT OF THE BEST BUY IN LA JOLLA."

www.16rounds.com

COVER STORY LONG LINE OF SHOPPERS, WAITING FOR THE BEST BUY STORE TO OPEN AT MIDNIGHT.

ent there. I guess the contrast was obvious.

I asked them whether they had done anything like that before. Mom said it was her first time to camp out. Her children had done it before. “What made you do it?” I asked the mother.

“TV!” was her short answer, followed by loud laughter.

Last year her family missed getting one so this year she joined the troops, giving a helping hand with something that mattered a lot to them - a TV. These guys were not the only ones who had set up a

camp on the sidewalk. There were quite a few such camps. Tents, beds, and chairs stretched all over the sidewalk, several hundred yards in length. I couldn’t help but think what it would be like if homeless people set up a camp there. They would have probably been harshly treated and forced to move. What would have happened if the Occupy Wall Street movement set up a camp there? The police would have probably beaten them up, put them behind bars, and confiscated their property. Charges would have been raised against them. But wait! What is the difference between both groups of Americans? Let me think.

Thinking, thinking, thinking. I got it! The first group, the shoppers, are good Americans! They are so good that they are allowed to camp on the sidewalk while the other guys are bad and so they are not allowed camping.

In 1999, when I first came to the States, I was told that a good American is one who does not fix broken things, but rather buys new ones. Such a person, God bless his soul, is the building block of the American economy. When I spoke against this philosophy, thinking it to be insanity, I was considered anti-American. Now, thirteen years later, I think a few more Americans share my opinion that an economy

SHE IS IN A SLEEPING BAG, LAYING ON THE SIDEWALK WITH HER SHOES AND FAST-FOOD LEFTOVERS NEXT TO HER.

SHOPPERS ARE LIVING IN TENTS DAYS BEFORE BLACK FRIDAY.

CHECKING OUT COUPONS WHILE WAITING IN THE LINE.

THE POLICE OFFICER I INTERVIEWED IS IN THE CAR.

www.16rounds.com

COVER STORY based on ever-increasing consumption of unnecessary products is unsustainable and inhuman. I think anyone who has not had their heads stuck up their asses (Ooops! Did I just say that? It won’t happen again. I promise.) for the past decade or so, should know the dangers of the modern, unsustainable economic system which is bumping against finite natural resources. The current materialistic system is inhuman because it erodes human qualities. On the Thanksgiving night, I visited three different shopping malls and I found it peculiar that nearly everyone I met felt somewhat embarrassed. People were looking away, almost like wanting to hide themselves. The father,

whose wife we interviewed, kept making comments, disapproving of them being out there. And certainly there is lots to be embarrassed about. Blinded by the love of matter, people are swallowing their pride and dignity, some basic human qualities, for the sake of possessing a few new items, things which are not going to make any one of them a better person. It is a form of prostitution. I have to say that the people I met that night were all warm, friendly, and very human. I don’t intend to offend them; but, I do think they have been victimized by the corporate, materialistic America. Every system of education is based on the reward and punishment mechanism. If you want to promote a behavior, you

need to reward it. If you want to curb a behavior, you need to punish it. Even dogs are taught by this system. When groups like Occupy Wall Street camp out in urban settings, they get punished while their shopper friends’ culture is encouraged and allowed. Usually people don’t sell their soul at once. It tends to be a gradual process. One is first enticed to make one step into the bizarre and when one gets acclimatized to the weirdness, one is enticed to make another step in the same direction. Thus, after a while, even the most odd can become a norm. Think of the mom who was enticed by a TV. When I told a friend of mine about a fam-

Cont'd on pg. 15 ›››

ARIUS VS. ATHANASIUS

Cont'd from pg. 7 the Bhagavad-gita, which speaks of karma, reincarnation, and multiple material universes, can simultaneously affirm the essential teachings of the Bible and Jesus. The same principle applies to the reader, who upon reaching high school, was still using the arithmetic they learned in elementary school to solve math problems that suddenly had more letters than numbers.

The Vedic culture, which Lord Krishna came to speak in the form of the Bhagavad-gita, is the same culture that gave the world its first airplane designs, the root language of all modern tongues (Sanskrit), and the concept of zero, without which no computer could exist. The people Jesus spoke to were living simple lives, seeking only their 'daily bread' through basic agriculture and trade. “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.” – John 16:12. Amen. �

A BEST BUY EMPLOYEE MAKES SURE THE DOOR IS SECURELY LOCKED.

BLOOD DEEP

Cont'd from pg. 9 modern society functions.

What is the perfection of fidelity? Anything situated on the material platform cannot last, and is prone to multitudinous flaws that spawn from its tenability. For one inured in perceiving oneself to be the body, he is forced to accept bodily relations as kinship, and at the time of death, such a staunch materialist is also forced to give them up. In its pristine form, fidelity is not based on the body or gratification of the body’s senses, but on the contrary. That relationship which is composed of service to the desired object, without any desire for remuneration, is a relationship of genuine fidelity, not dependent on anything except one’s volition to serve. Such a state of selflessness is only attain-

AGE OF REASON Cont'd from pg. 7

can undoubtedly conclude that a change in paradigm is necessary. Greed and lust, the impetus for wanting to exploit nature and people, cannot engender solace at any level. A more compassionate approach must be taken that accounts for the invaluable intricacies of the world around us, then a genuine ‘age of reason‘ might ensue. �

able by transcendence of material desires.

It is facile to vituperate another, but harder to see the pitfalls of others in the same spotlight as one’s own identification with the self. We cannot be so blinded as to think those things which we find so odious in life are not to some degree also present within our very selves. Who is properly following the codes of propriety, philosophically consistent, and living to the highest degree of truth, devoid of any tinge of hypocrisy? Even if one admits his shortcomings; still, whom can we find that is even sincerely striving towards a goal of saintliness? To find truth, first the right questions must be asked, beginning with questioning oneself. “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” �

MACHINE TAKEOVER

Cont'd from pg. 8 actually need; thus, there are imbalances like loss of jobs. One may think that industry creates jobs, but with the advent of machines that can do the work for a 100 or more people, this machine culture actually results in more unemployment. �

www.16rounds.com

PHILOSOPHY

RELIGION WITHOUT SOUL Primary and Secondary Considerations of Religion ing, ran an Opinion article by Lionel Tiger entitled, “Is the Supernatural Only Natural? Religion tastes sweet to the brain – especially the remarkable idea of an afterlife.” While I appreciate the distinction Tiger makes between atheistic writers and the “relatively friendly challenges to religious supernaturality from research on the links between the brain and religious experience,” Tiger discusses only secondary considerations of religious experience, neglecting the spirit soul.

"BUT WHERE ARE YOU?" THE BOY STOOD PERPLEXED, UNABLE TO ANSWER THE SIMPLE QUESTION.

By Seth W. Spellman, Ph.D.

When

we get the basics wrong, more advanced points are sure to elude us. I am utterly fascinated by how frequently major

mainstream media cover God, religion, and spirituality. I am even more amazed at how consistently they get it wrong. Not wrong in the sense that only atheistic views are presented. Rather, wrong in the sense that they

www.16rounds.com

fail to get to the real essence of these topics.

A case in point: On March 27, 2010 (I know - super old. But still very relevant.) the Wall Street Journal, a newspaper whose stock and trade is business report-

He frames his argument about religious identity by posing this question, “What if it is discovered that the source and essence of this identity results not from theological commitment and texts but from operations of the brain?” But looking at religion as a social phenomenon or measuring the psychological and physiological effects of religious practices misses the point. The essence of religious identity is not the body or mind, but the spirit soul. The spirit soul is de-

scribed in the Bhagavad-gita as transcendental to both the gross and subtle physical bodies. Essential considerations of God, religion, and spiritually must start from this transcendental position of the spirit soul, not peripheral considerations of “the moist meat in our skull,” as Tiger describes the brain.

Swami Prabhupada said it best with his repetition, “You are not the body.” He also gave a simple, yet surprisingly profound way that anyone can understand the essential nature of the spirit soul. Sometime, way back in the 1960s, Swami Prabhupada spoke at a local YMCA. The audience turned out to be entirely made up of children between nine and fourteen years old: "Is there a student here who is intelligent?" Prabhupada began. No one responded. After a moment a twelve-year-old boy, urged by his teachers and fellow students, raised his hand. Prabhupada motioned for him to come forward. The boy wore thick glasses, short pants, and a blazer, and his hair was

combed back very neatly. Pointing to the boy's head, Prabhupada asked, "What is that?" The boy almost scoffed at the simpleness of the question: "My head!" Prabhupada then pointed to the boy's arm and said quietly, "What is that?" "My arm!" the boy said. Prabhupada then pointed to the boy's foot: "What is that?" "My foot," the boy answered, still looking incredulous. "Yes," Prabhupada said. "You say this is my head, my arm, my foot-my body. But where are you?" The boy stood perplexed, unable to answer the simple question. "We say my hand," Prabhupada continued, "but who is the owner of my hand? We say my hand, so that means someone owns my hand. But where does the owner live? I do not say "I hand,' I say "my hand.' So my hand and I are different. I am within my body, and you are within your body. But I am not my body,

PHILOSOPHY BLACK BUY

Cont'd from pg. 13 ily camping out four full days just to lay their hands on a few physical products, she commented, “Maybe that was their quality family-bonding time.”

IN MATHEMATICS, IF YOU MAKE A PRIMARY ERROR IN ADDING 2 + 2, THE MOST COMPLEX SUBSEQUENT CALCULATIONS CANNOT HELP YOU ANSWER A PROBLEM CORRECTLY. and you are not your body. We are different from the body. Real intelligence means to know who I am." (From Srila Prabhupadalilamrta by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami)

The lesson of this simple story applies to all people, all places, and all of the “4200 religious organizations” throughout the world that Tiger refers to in his article. People get spirituality wrong because they miss this simple point which Swami Prabhupada taught with such genius. In mathematics, if you make a primary error in adding 2 + 2, the most complex subsequent calculations cannot help you answer a problem correctly. Similarly, once you get it wrong about the spirit soul as the essence of religious/spiritual identity, no matter how you frame the question, your answer will be wrong. When Tiger pauses and then attempts to answer the question, “What if it is discovered that the source and essence of this identity results not from theological commitment and texts but from operations of the brain?” he makes such a fundamental error. Tiger actually encourages those who would attempt to disprove the reality of God, by his focus on secondary considerations. On the level

of spirit soul there is commonality amongst all being. When this commonality is neglected, the secondary considerations of bodily and doctrinal differences become more prominent. These differences in Tiger’s words can result in “terrorist attacks, internecine wars, and even genocide.” Tiger has no response, and the human history of religious strife tends to disprove the efficacy of God. But, there is a response to this quandary.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura, a 19th century sage, gives a response from the perspective of the spirit soul in his work, Sri Caitanya-siksamrta. “People in various countries on various continents have a wide variety of natures. Although their principal nature is only one, their secondary characteristics are many – you will not find any two people in the world who have identical secondary qualities. Different countries have different water, air, mountains, forests, and different eatables and clothing. Because of this, the people of these places have naturally developed different physiques, complexions, customs, clothing, and food. Similarly, people’s mentalities differ. Thus various people’s idea of God, though being basically similar, will differ in secondary details. This gives rise to differences

in the mode of worship of God. Considered objectively, there is no harm in secondary differences. If there is agreement concerning the essential nature of God and his admiration, there should be no obstacle in attaining the same result.” If our focus remains only on the secondary considerations, in ignorance of the primary spirit soul, then yes, our commonality will be overlooked and our differences will bring out the worst in us. Everyone knows it’s wrong to put the cart before the horse, but when speaking about God, religion, and spirituality people put social phenomenon and the psychological and physiological effects of religious practices ahead of the spirit soul all the time. It's time to get our priorities straight. �

BHAKTIVINODA THAKURA

My spiritual teacher told us that illusion has two potencies by which it operates: covering and throwing down. The covering aspect makes one come up with a variety of excuses to justify incongruous acts. Once one engages in such acts, one continues to fall down - throwing down potency in action. Think of a thief who knows that stealing is immoral, but to get himself over the guilt trip he first rationalizes the immorality, coming up with a list of explanations why he needs to steal. Once he gets himself into the stealing business, he is likely not going to be able to stop and will continue to degrade himself.

That night, at the Best Buy store in Mira Mesa, I had a chat with a cop who was there on duty. He told me there is plenty of subhuman behavior, Black Friday shopping related, which was the reason he was deployed there. He was deployed not by Best Buy but by the city of San Diego. Otherwise warm and friendly human beings, en-

ticed by physical products, tend to lose their humanity and thus behave like beasts who pose a threat to each other. The cops have to be there, to prevent them from hurting each other. According to this police officer, while people commonly fight over items in the store, what concerns him is when fights brake out in the line, outside of the store. As midnight approaches, the time when stores open, the shoppers’ meditation on things thickens and they start to lose patience. Some of the shoppers, fixed on

their goal, become unconscious and inconsiderate of other people’s needs and concerns. Offending others, cutting the line, etc. starts to take place. Shouting, retaliation, and fights ensue - behavior not befitting civilized human beings. And how did the degradation begin? With a simple contemplation of things. First, when he saw the ad, our American citizen did not think he was going to behave like a beast. But

Cont'd on pg. 19 ›››

DIFFERENT PLACES OF WORSHIP.

AS THE SHOPPERS WAIT IN LINE, THIS PILE OF GARBAGE SHOWS THE FUTURE OF ALL THINGS.

www.16rounds.com

LIFESTYLE

CONTRACTING MAD MEN The Epidemic of Agribusiness By Chand Prasad, Ph.D.

Meat

diets are irrational, in that they are a wasteful use of the earth’s resources. For example, approximately sixteen pounds of grain are required to produce one pound of beef. Organic farming systems are at least as productive as “modern” practices that rely on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, genetically modified commercial seeds, and mechanization. In comparison to industrialized agriculture, organic farms can achieve superior farm yields, are relatively drought resistant, and do not rely on petroleum-based inputs such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides or diesel-fueled farm machinery. Moreover, the consequences of the meat culture include diseases such as bird flu and mad cow, which are costly to contain and may also pose a threat to human life.

www.16rounds.com

The underlying principle of cow protection is to engage and employ bulls to work the land, implying that cows are bred only to the point where the bovine population meets the demand for draft power, rather than the demand for the byproducts, e.g., milk. In sharp contrast, raising cows for the purpose of producing milk is an egregious error - the cow will not produce milk (at least not significant quantities) unless it has calves, and since half will be male, the result is an excess bovine population that is costly to support. Farming practices that do not engage the bulls will essentially condemn them to the slaughterhouse, since they will have no economic value other than their meat.

After calibrating the growth of the bovine herd to the demand for draft power, the byproducts such as manure, urine, and milk can be put to good use. In India, cow dung, for instance, is widely burned as a costeffective fuel in rural areas. It would be very costly to replace manure with natural gas or coal, and moreover, it is completely irrational to intensify dependence on these nonrenewable energy sources that are likely to continue experiencing sharp price increases. The value of cow urine-based pesticides provides further evidence of the utility of cow protection. For example, in Tamil Nadu, India, a group at the Vazhviyal Multiversity has produced an herbal pest repellent from knowledge derived from Ayurveda. The repellent is prepared from the leaves of five plant species not eaten by cattle. These can vary from place to place, but ideally the repellent contains neem, tulsi, and datura. The leaves are collected, cut into pieces and pounded. This is then placed in an earthen pot filled with cow urine and allowed to ferment in a compost pit for 10 days. The fermented solution is filtered with a cotton cloth, and water is added. This solution can be used as an herbal spray, but it should be used before the insects appear [1]. The demand for food and fiber can be met through organic farming systems in which bovine animals are bred to obtain bulls that are used to provide draft power. Slaughter of cows falls far short of a holistic solution. Agribusiness conglomerates, such as Monsanto, Du Pont, Dow, and Novartis, incorrectly argue that organic

yields are low. Based on an ongoing long-term comparison study at UC Davis, organic yields were at least as high as conventional farming for all crops tested: tomato, safflower, corn, and bean [2]. Additionally, a study comparing organic and conventional apple production in California’s Central Coast showed higher yields as well as higher returns under the organic systems [3]. Another recent study compared organic, conventional, and integrated apple production systems in Washington state over a 6 year period, and found that the organic system was more profitable, had similar yields, better tasting fruit, and was more environmentally sustainable and energy efficient than the other systems [4].

Organic agriculture can play an important role in averting future crop failures both in the US and in the rest of the world. The Rodale Institute compared conventional and organic systems for corn and soybeans in a study know as the Farm Systems Trial. Although yields were comparable during years of normal rainfall, the key result is that organic practices markedly improved the quality of the soil, thereby allowing soybean yields to remain relatively high even in the face of a drought. Unlike conventional farming, organic practices allow the soil to retain moisture more efficiently, while the higher content of organic matter also makes organic soil less compact so that root systems can penetrate more deeply to find moisture [5]. Not only is organic farming better able to withstand droughts, but it is also

LIFESTYLE relatively immune to the inevitable shortages of petroleum supplies. Therein lies an important competitive advantage of organic. Industrialized agriculture, in which vast amounts of land are plowed, planted, and harvested using diesel or gasoline powered farm machinery in place of human and animal labor, is not a sustainable substitute for cow protection. Commercial agriculture is particularly vulnerable to rising costs of petroleum, including natural gas, which will be depleted at approximately the same time as oil. The International Energy Agency [6] estimated that conventional oil production could be peaking anytime between now and 2020, while Campbell & Laherrere [7] had put the year before 2010. It is important to note that even before we reach this maximum, the costs of extracting petroleum would continue to rise sharply, as oil companies are compelled to tap into oil deposits that are less accessible.

Intensive animal agriculture, a production model that is being steadily adopted throughout the world, is a vast user of fossil fuel, mainly for the production of feed. For example, in the U.S., one ton of oil (2000 pounds or 6.75 barrels) is required to produce one steer weighing 1250 pounds [8]. One acre of corn production in the U.S. requires approximately 140 gallons of oil [9], and if the corn goes to livestock, only about one-fifth of the protein is returned as food, and four-fifths of it is lost [10]. The adoption of new seed varieties has intensified the dependence on petroleum-based chemical inputs. Natural gas is an ingredient for manufacturing the chemical fertilizers that support high crop yields in modern agriculture, while oil is a raw material for producing pesticides. The high yielding seed varieties (products of biotechnology) are more productive because they respond strongly

to petroleum-based chemical fertilizer. However, corn yields would fall dramatically from 130 bushels per acre to approximately 30 bushels, in the absence of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and petroleum powered irrigation [11].

Industrial livestock farming systems are in fact incubation centers for disease outbreaks. Seventy five percent of emerging diseases in humans are of animal origin [12], and humans are at risk of being killed in large numbers by cross-species transmission of illnesses between, pigs, humans, birds, and other animals. Over the past 25 years, 38 illnesses have jumped to humans, as disease-causing pathogens have mutated and moved up the food chain [13]. Various countries are attempting to develop a coordinated response to these diseases, as they tend to spread from one part of the world to another. However, these containment strategies are exceedingly difficult to implement in part because they depend critically on international collaboration. Detection, containment, and eradication mechanisms require cooperation from countries that possess neither the administrative structures nor the political will to enforce these measures. Government planning commissions and task forces fail to recognize the value of following basic regulations that include vegetarianism, choosing instead to prop up destructive and impractical systems of animal agriculture. Animals tend to be housed in extremely crowded sheds, surrounded by their own fecal matter. High concentrations of ammonia in the air destroy the animals' lungs and weaken their immune systems. The result is that they are highly vulnerable to deadly disease outbreaks such as hoof-and-mouth disease, mad cow disease, Mycobacterium paratuberculosis (which is thought by most scientists to cause

Crohn’s disease in humans), and bird flu. Moreover, because of the crowded conditions, when one animal contracts an illness it spreads rapidly to others. Farmers attempt to prevent and control disease outbreaks through heavy doses of antibiotics, which are only temporarily effective against bacteria and completely ineffective against viruses such as bird flu. Avian influenza is prevalent on Chinese poultry farms, and the widespread use of the drug amantadine to control viral outbreaks in animals has made the bird flu resistant, rendering the drug useless to protect people [14]. Avian influenza poses a grave threat, with the potential to kill one in eight human beings, including 40 million Americans, and cause a collapse of the world economy [15]. This assessment cannot be dismissed as simply the view of uninformed extremists, particularly since the senior UN System Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza, Dr. David Nabarro, described bird flu as a threat to “the survival of the world as we know it.” [16]. Intensive animal agriculture is the functional equivalent of a time bomb, as these viruses are constantly changing, and weaker forms in birds are known to mutate in just months into highly pathogenic forms for which there exists no effective treatment or vaccine [17]. Millions of farmers and business people have been drawn into the darkness of the meat industry, and they have experienced substantial financial losses due to outbreaks of animal diseases. In many instances, poultry farmers refuse to kill their birds despite government issued directives aimed at the destruction of potentially infected chickens. Poultry owners obviously lose money when their flocks are eradicated, and although the government attempts to provide financial compensation for the farmers, some local officials

have been known to take a big cut of the compensation. Culling teams have also protested against pressure from local officials to sign false cull certificates to boost their compensation claims. Consequently, the meat culture breeds corruption as well as animal diseases [19]. Financial losses due to bird flu have obligated small poultry farmers to give up their independence in order to receive a predetermined price for their output; i.e., to minimize price risk, small farmers have entered into contract agreements with large poultry integrators. In this case, small farmers are held captive in contracting relationships, effectively becoming a cog in the wheel of large agribusiness companies. In conclusion, commercial agriculture and meatcentered diets incur risks that are completely unnecessary while failing to provide a sustainable substitute for cow protection. A key principle of cow protection involves breeding bovine animals to obtain bulls that are engaged in working the land, as opposed to excessively expanding the herd to obtain byproducts such as milk. Organic yields are at least as high as those of the genetically modified crops used in conventional farming. Organic farming is better able to withstand droughts, and is also relatively immune to the upcoming and inevitable shortages of petroleum supplies. In contrast, commercial agriculture depends heavily on petroleum-based chemical inputs, in the absence of which conventional crop yields would fall sharply. It is interesting to consider the remarkable length people will go through just to satisfy their taste for meat, even to the point of risking pandemics and millions of human deaths that originate from livestock diseases. � References 1. Devinder Sharma, "Is modern science the real pest?" Wednesday, May 14, 2003, Business Line. 2. Clark S., Klonsky, K., Livingston, P. and Temple, S., 1999. "Crop-yield and economic comparisons of organic, low-input, and conventional farming systems

"AGRIBUSINESS CONGLOMERATES, SUCH AS MONSANTO, DU PONT, DOW, AND NOVARTIS, INCORRECTLY ARGUE THAT ORGANIC YIELDS ARE LOW. BASED ON AN ONGOING LONG-TERM COMPARISON STUDY AT UC DAVIS, ORGANIC YIELDS WERE AT LEAST AS HIGH AS CONVENTIONAL FARMING FOR ALL CROPS TESTED: TOMATO, SAFFLOWER, CORN, AND BEAN." in California’s Sacramento Valley." American Journal of Alternative Agriculture v. 14 (3) p. 109-121). 3. Swezey, Sean, Jim Rider, Matthew Werner, Marc Buchanan, Jan Allison, and Stephen Gliessman, 1994. “Granny Smith conversions to organic show early success,” California Agriculture, Vol. 48, 1994. 4. Reganold, J.P., J.D. Glover, P.K. Anrews, H.R. Hinman, 2001. “Sustainability of three apple production systems, Nature, 410: 926-930. ). 5. Rodale Institute, 1999. "100-Year Drought Is No Match for Organic Soybeans", (http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/global/arch_home.html).). 6. International Energy Agency, 1998. "World energy prospects to 2020". Paper prepared for the G8 energy ministers' meeting Moscow, 31 March-April 1. 7. Campbell, Colin J. & Jean H. Laherrere, 1998. "The End of Cheap Oil", Scientific American, March 1998, pp. 78-83. 8. Pollan, Michael, “Power Steer”, New York Times Magazine, March 31, 2002, issue. 9. Pimentel, David, 2001. Encyclopedia of Physical Sciences and Technology, September 2001. 10. McLaren D., Bullock S. and Yousuf N., 1998. "Tomorrow's World, A report from Friends of the Earth". London, Earthscan Publications Ltd, chapter 6, 1998. 11. Youngquist, Walter, 1999. “The Post-Petroleum

Paradigm -- and Population”, Population and Environment: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies. Volume 20, Number 4, March 1999. 12. Vallat, Bernard, 2006. "Addressing Avian Influenza: The Challenges of Partnership", International Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Pandemic Influenza, January 17-18, 2006. 13. "Scientists warn of growing animal-disease risk," Associated Press, February 20, 2006. 14. Sipress, Alan, “Bird Flu Drug Rendered Useless,” Washington Post, June 18, 2005: A01. 15. Milbank, Dana, "Capitol Hill Flu Briefing Was No Trick, and No Treat," Washington Post October 13, 2005: A02. 16. Branswell, Helen, "World As We Know It' May Be at Stake: UN Pandemic Czar", Cnews, October 2, 2005. 17. World Health Organization, 2005. “Avian Influenza Frequently Asked Questions: Which Viruses Cause Highly Pathogenic Disease?” World Health Organization, November 3, 2005. 18. United States Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service, 2006. "India Poultry and Products Annual 2006", GAIN Report Number: IN6083, September 14, 2006. 19. GRAIN, 2008. "Bird flu in eastern India: another senseless slaughter", February 13, 2008.

www.16rounds.com

LIFESTYLE

TONGUE SCRAPING An Ancient Ayurvedic Practice for Improved Health By Sara Bock

are taught from a young age onward the importance of brushing our teeth to maintain good oral hygiene. Scraping the tongue however, is a practice not as well adhered to in western cultures, although with the surge of yoga, Ayurveda, and other Eastern traditions entering into the West, tongue scraping is becoming well known. Tongue scraping , an ancient Ayurvedic practice, not only benefits oral hygiene,

www.16rounds.com

but positively affects digestion and the health of some internal organs. According to Ayurveda, different areas of the tongue are correlated with different organs of the body. The center front of the tongue is associated with the neck, chest, and heart, the right front with the right lung, and left front with the left lung. The mid-center of the tongue relates to the stomach and pancreas, the left center the spleen, and right center the liver. The back of the tongue is connected to the intestines and colon (center); and the left and right kidney (left and right respectively).

Ayurvedic practitioners utilize tongue diagnosis as part of the health check up. By noting coating, bumps, cracks, or discoloration in a certain part of the tongue, an Ayurvedic practitioner can understand aspects of the health of correlating organs. A coating on the center of the tongue for example, could indicate accumulation of toxins in the stomach. By scraping the tongue, we stimulate areas of the tongue which gently massage and stimulate the cor-

responding organs.

Ayurvedic philosophy considers digestion to be an essential aspect of good health. Properly digested and assimilated food gives our bodies and tissues the

energy needed for optimal functioning. Improperly digested food can turn toxic, and an overflow of toxins in the body can produce negative symptoms such as bad breath, mental confusion, weakness, lethargy, bloating, body aches, a n d

foods we eat, and the brain may send the wrong signal to the digestive system about what we are eating.

You might notice the heaviest coating on your tongue in the morning. While you sleep, your digestive system works to detoxify itself. Some of the toxins released end up on the surface of the tongue, which you see as a coating. Scraping helps prevent these toxins from being reabsorbed in the body. This is important, because some digestive and respiratory problems can be caused by reabsorption of these toxins. On a side note, it is best not to eat a heavy meal right before bed, because doing so interferes with the nightly detoxification and resting processes of the digestive system. Additional benefits of tongue scraping include reducing bad breath, and increasing awareness of one’s state of health. If you scrape your tongue every day, you will get familiar with your tongue’s “norm” and may be able to notice any changes that may indicate a health warning or imbalance (such as red bumps, heavy coating, cracks, etc). The daily morning routine is an essential aspect of living an Ayurvedic lifestyle, prompting one to begin the day with a focus on health and wellness. Using a tongue scraper as a part of the morning routine is an easy way to help you maintain good health and strong digestion.

constipation. Scraping the tongue removes coating that blocks and covers the taste buds which are needed for healthy digestion. When the taste buds are covered, we cannot properly taste the

To scrape your tongue, do it before breakfast, before brushing teeth, on an empty stomach, in the morning. Hold the two ends of the tongue scraper (stainless steel is recommended) in both hands. Stick out the tongue and place the tongue scraper towards the back of the tongue. Gently pull the scraper forward so that it removes the unwanted coating. Rinse the tongue scraper and repeat about 7-10 times. Scrape gently so that you don’t accidentally

damage the underlying tissue by scraping too harshly. Do not use a toothbrush to scrape your tongue as that will push bacteria and toxins back into the tongue, which would defeat the purpose. In sum, daily tongue scraping is very simple, quick, and affordable. Many tongue scrapers cost under $10.00. Search the internet for Ayurvedic stainless steel tongue scraper. Tongue scraping can, over time, help improve digestion, oral hygiene, reduce toxins in the body, and help you increase in overall good health. �

BLACK BUY

Cont'd from pg. 15 gradually, a step at a time, he eventually found himself shouting and yelling, fistfighting in the line, crawling all over the store’s floor, slapping other hands, pulling, pushing, crying, growling, etc., whatever it took to lay his hands on a discounted item. Like it says in the Bhagavad-gita, the process goes from contemplation to attachment, to desire, to anger, bewilderment, and loss of intelligence.

Blessed are those who are self-satisfied, who store their riches internally. A friend of mine, one of the first friends I made in the States, Anastasia, said, “Yesterday I realized how much I am thankful for what I actually don’t have.” A saying states that happiness is not in getting what you want, but in wanting what you have. Krishna taught: “One should be satisfied with whatever he achieves by his previous destiny, for discontent can never bring happiness. A person who is not self-controlled will not be happy even with possessing the whole world.” �