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i

ii SPIRITUALITY FOR THE MODERN YOUTH Series

DISCOVER Your Self AA vFkkr¨ czã ftKklkAA

Readers interested in the subject matter of this book are invited by the Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) to correspond with our Secretary at the following address: Sales Manager: Krishnakishore das A-102, Bharati Vihar, Katraj, Pune – 411 046 Phone: +91-020-24306330 Email: [email protected] Web: www.iskconpune.com Edited by Chaitanya Charan das Cover design by Jaigopal das Layout by Vrajananda das Previous Printing: 15,000 Copies Revised Edition: October 2007 / 2000 Copies

Compiled by :

Radheshyam Das M.Tech., IIT Mumbai

© 2001, Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education, Pune All rights reserved. VOICE Pune expresses its gratitude to the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) for the use of verses, purports and pictures from the books of Srila Prabhupada. All such verses, purports and pictures are © BBT.

COVER: Since time immemorial, eminent scientists have been

Rekindling Wisdom, Reviving Love Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education (VOICE) ISKCON, 4, Tarapore Road Next to Dastur Boys’ School, Pune – 411 001, Phone: (020) 26332328, [email protected]

trying to discover the origin and purpose of life. Similarly antimaterial scientists - the great devotees of God - have discovered their true identity as a servant of God by living according to the Vedic scriptures. Having experienced boundless ecstasy in their relationship with God, they dedicated their entire lives to preaching and inspiring humanity to discover themselves. Published by Radheshyam das for Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE)

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Eminent Personalities Say... “This is a well illustrated, easy to understand book and I know the author to have a genuine care for the well being of the young people of India, making him the true representative of the ‘Best Friend’ of youths today. Using his years of experience in this field Radheshyam Prabhu, has managed to produce a systematic, highly effective study of Srimad Bhagavad-gita. I strongly recommend that a serious study of these books is done to discover India’s ancient heritage and wealth of Vedic wisdom. I am confident this study course will inspire and motivate many to delve more deeply into the fathomless purports of Srila Prabhupad’s books.” His Holiness Lokanath Swami Maharaj, ISKCON Padayatra Minister

“The Spirituality for the Modern Youth series is a lucid explanation of the most profound Truths revealed to mankind through various religions. An all-encompassing presentation written in a very rational and scientific manner.” Hrishikesh Mafatlal, Chairman and Managing Director, Mafatlal Group of Industries. “The Spirituality for the Modern Youth series is an invaluable contribution to the realm of higher dimensional science, which directs the exploring spirit on an adventurous journey in the world within… Every adherent of the scientific spirit of enquiry will relish it.” Dr Sudipto Ghosh, M. Tech. & Ph D, IIT Kanpur Scientist, Tata Research Development and Design Center, Pune – INDIA

iv “The Spirituality for the Modern Youth series comes right down to where the reader is - lost amidst a plethora of philosophies and beliefs and elevates him step-by-step to the highest understanding of the fundamental truths of life.” Dr M. K. Patel, M.D., D.G.O., F.I.C.O.G. Consulting Obstetrician and Gynecologist, Coordinator, Dept. of Bio-Ethics, Bhaktivedanta Hospital, Mumbai. “To present pristine spirituality to the modern scientific mind is no easy task. Coming from a dynamic spiritualist with a distinguished academic background, the Spirituality for the Modern Youth series meets the challenge wonderfully.” Dr Bhaskar Hosangodi, Emeritus Prof and HoD, Chemistry Dept., Bombay University “The Spirituality for the Modern Youth series uses the analytical approach to present the profound philosophy of the Vedas in a way appealing even to the skeptical youth of today. A must-read for every scientifically-minded person with an interest in spirituality.” Ganesh Ramkrishnan, Ph D Student, Comp. Sc., IIT Mumbai.

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Acknowledgements

Introduction

The book has come out successfully by dint of the untiring efforts of many VOICE members. Mr. Shekhar, Jai Gopal das and Shankar Pandit das together conceived and designed the fascinating front cover. Special thanks are due to Sankirtan Anand das, Sundar Var das and Vrajanand das for their unflinching dedication to this project by doing all the taxing computer work – formatting, inserting pictures, taking printouts etc. Thanks to Chaitanya Charan das for his valuable proofreading and editing. All these devotees have toiled day and night to bring out this book.

The Vedic texts are the panacea for all problems for all times; they give a crystal clear understanding of all the fundamental and essential truths of life including who we are, what the true goal of life is and how we can attain permanent happiness.

I also express my heartfelt gratitude to the many other devotees including Vrishabhanu das, Sriman Haresh Daswani, Akinchan Krishna das, Vamshi Vadan das, Sundershyam das, Radha Madhav das, Ram Nitai das, Aniruddha das, Sri Anant das and Sriman Sharma who assisted us in bringing out this book. I also thank all the VOICE sector and core-group members who encouraged me to take up this task of bringing out the lessons in the form of a book. Their encouragement is their practical surrender and dedication to youth preaching and to using these lessons effectively.

Radheshyam Das, Director, Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE), Pune. President, ISKCON, Pune.

Unfortunately however, in the modern times, the Vedas have generally been misunderstood to be books of sentiment and blind faith or a bunch of empty rituals. And due to such preconceived misconceptions, the scientifically minded youth have reservations in even approaching them. Also, these texts being in intricate Sanskrit are not easily accessible to them. With these considerations in mind, a need was felt for a systematic and scientific presentation of the five essential themes of the Bhagavad-gita: ishvara (the Lord), jiva (the living entity), prakriti (nature), kala (time) and karma (activity). A humble attempt towards making such a compilation was first made in 1994. Those notes were based on the teachings of Srila Prabhupada, who is internationally acclaimed as an erudite Vedic scholar and as the greatest exponent of Krishna consciousness in the modern times. References were also taken from Back to Godhead magazine articles and from discourses by senior devotees of ISKCON like His Grace Devamrita Prabhu, His Grace Radha Gopinath Prabhu and His Grace Krishna Smaran Prabhu. Those notes were refined over the years as we came to know more about the nature of doubts and questions that youths generally have. Now we are presenting those refined notes in a handy form as a series of five books, entitled the Spirituality for the Modern Youth series. The books in this series are ‘Discover Your Self’, ‘Your Best Friend’, ‘Your Secret Journey’, ‘Victory over Death’, ‘and ‘Yoga of Love’.

vii We have been using these notes for vigorous youth preaching in Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE), Pune. VOICE, Pune was started and is being run by the divine inspiration and blessings given by H.H. Radhanath Swami Maharaj, H.H. Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaj, H.H. Lokanath Swami Maharaj, H.G. Devamrita Prabhu, devotees of Shri Shri Radha Gopinath Mandir, Chowpatty, Mumbai and Shri Shri Radha Kunjabihari Mandir, Pune. The approach of having a systematic presentation of the Bhagavadgita has produced amazing results in effectively conveying the message to the youth and inspiring them to take to Krishna consciousness seriously. VOICE presently has hundreds of engineering students, who are chanting Hare Krishna and leading a pure life free from all bad habits like meat-eating, intoxication, illicit sex and gambling. We hope that this book will therefore act as a beacon light for every sincere seeker of the truth, especially among the youth and the young at heart. It is our hope that the book will also serve as a useful guide for all preachers throughout the world in their attempts to take Krishna consciousness to the youth in particular and to the masses at large. This book is nothing but a systematic presentation of the remnants of the bold preacher, Srila Prabhupada, and my beloved spiritual master. It is therefore a humble offering at their lotus feet. We will consider our humble efforts successful if this endeavor can assist in fulfilling their pure desire to flood the entire world with Krishna consciousness.

Radheshyam Das Director, Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE), Pune. President, ISKCON, Pune.

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Contents Foreword Chapter 1 Can A Scientist Believe In God?

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1

The Story of Isaac Newton Order and Design Tremendous Energy Organization and Craftsmanship A Giant in a Tiny Package Laws of Nature

3 3 7 8 9 10 Did Everything Start from a ‘Big Bang’ or ‘Big Brain’ 11 A Charge Against Chance 14 Do you know a machine which has no maker and with no 15 purpose The Unseen Is Proven by the Seen 17 The Spiritual Scientist 18

Chapter 2 Getting The Eyes To See God

21

Blind Men and the Elephant Pratyaksha Praman Imperfect Senses Tendency to be Illusioned Tendency to Commit Mistakes Cheating Anumana Praman Shabda Praman See Through the Eyes of Scriptures

22 23 24 25 27 28 29 31 32

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Chapter 3 Vedic Wisdom: The Privilege Of Humanity

35

Human Life vs. Animal life The Special Prerogative of the Human Body The Actual Destination of Life Cause of Suffering Threefold Miseries Shun the Sinful Tendency and Surpass Suffering What is the Purpose of the Vedic Literature? Is Accepting the Vedas not Blind Faith? Why are Vedas Considered the word of God? Two Systems of Knowledge The Vedic Process of Learning

36 38 39 44 45 47 49 49 52 54 55

Chapter 4 Science of the Soul

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The ABC of Bhagavad-gita Scientific Proof of the Soul’s Existence Common Sense Intuitive Understanding Awareness, Thinking, Feeling and Willing Near Death Experience (NDE) Past Life Memories Practical Benefits of the Knowledge about the Soul A Clear Understanding of Life and Death The Gross Body & the Subtle Body The Nature of the Soul The Soul is Indestructible. The Soul is Individual The Soul has Form Matter is Formless - Spirit Gives Form to Matter

58 60 60 61 61 62 64 65 71 71 73 73 73 73 74

The Soul is Eternal The Soul has a Form of Eternity (Sat) – Knowledge (Cit) – Bliss (Ananda) The Soul is Situated in the Region of the Heart The Size of the Soul Are we Gods or God’s ?

74 75

Chapter 5 Substance And Shadow

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75 76 76

Where Does the Soul Come From? 81 Spiritual World vs. Material World 86 The Story of Liquid Beauty 87 All That Glitters Is Not Gold 88 The Goal of Life: Purification of Heart & Glorification of 90 Lord Mantra Meditation Technique 91

Chapter 6 If God Is One, Then Why So Many Religions?

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If God Is One, Then Why Do People Follow Different 94 Religion? Different Religions - Same message 97 Ascending From Fear to Love 102 Serving simply out of love, with no motivation 106 Sanatana Dharma - The Supermarket of Religions 107 Worship According to Propensities 109 Why is Krishna God? 110 The ABCD formula for a happy life 112

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Appendix 1

Appendix 4

117 What is the Theory of Evolution? 118 Dilemmas over Origin of Life 118 Theory of Spontaneous Generation 119 The Primitive Atmosphere 120 Formation of the Organic Soup 121 Formation of Proteins 123 Formation of the Genetic Code 124 Why Not Produce Life? 125 Is it Scientific? 126 Not all Scientists Accept it 127 Dilemmas over Origin of Complex Organs 128 Dilemmas over Fossils 129 What Fossil Record Says about the Origin of Living 129 Things Record of the Rocks Contradicts Darwin’s Theory 130 Fossil Record is the Final Court of Appeal 134 Creation or Evolution? 134 The Vedic Model for Evolution 135

Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) What is VOICE? Objectives of VOICE How Are The Students Trained in the VOICE? Personality Development and Character Build Up Yoga, Meditation and Nutritious Diet Topping in Academics Public Speaking and Discussion (PSD) Team Playing and Synergising Devotional Qualifications Personal Care And Counseling Developing Interpersonal Relationships Leadership Qualities Preaching VOICE Youth Centers managed by ISKCON, Pune Girls VOICE For Social Cause References VOICE Publications

Evolution or Creation: Let the Data Speak

Appendix 2 The Universe: How did it Begin? On the Role of Faith in Science What the Vedas say…

139 142 146

Appendix 3 Srila Prabhupada - The Ambassador of the 149 Kingdom of God

153 154 155 156 156 157 159 159 160 160 161 161 161 162 164 167 168 169 170

Appendix 5 Courses Offered By VOICE

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Foreword The modern times have seen remarkable discoveries in the various sciences. These discoveries have revolutionized the lifestyles of people all over the world, with sophisticated gadgets being used for practically every activity. No wonder then that the present age is said to be the age of technology. Yet a disconcerting undercurrent of emptiness pervades the entire society. Even individuals having the best of all that the modern world can offer – wealth, fame, prestige, the latest technological appliances, the maximum comforts – are prone to depression, stress, hypertension and even suicide, as is evident from statistical surveys in the prosperous Western countries, especially the US. Intelligent thinkers worldwide have concluded that this state of affairs has resulted because man has neglected his inner self. Man has been extremely enthusiastic in trying to discover the world around him, but he has been almost equally averse to trying to discover the world within him. This imbalance has lead to a serious identity crisis; the modern man doesn’t know who he is and what the actual goal of his life is. When the very foundation of life – the individual’s understanding of his own self - is so shaky, the collapse of the individual and the society at large is natural and inevitable. This has given rise to a new brand of self-help teachers, who provide techniques for everything from making friends to earning money, from becoming happy to tapping the subconscious. But nothing works; one of the most popular of such teachers, who has written best selling books on how to win friends, spent his life in utter loneliness and ultimately committed suicide! The condition of the other teachers is not much different. Instead of life being

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‘a continuous discovery of joy’, the only discovery that everyone – with no exception whatsoever - makes everyday is that misery comes in ever new ways in life. Is man condemned to live in the constant company of misery throughout his life? Is there no higher dimension to life – one of true love, real happiness and perfect peace? If there is, why is it not universally accessible? Why do all our efforts to achieve such a life invariably end in frustration? “Try, try, but don’t cry”, the die-hards will tell you. But for how long? Their unspoken reply, “Try, try, try, till you die.” A blind man cannot see the world around him just by repeated trying. He may diligently keep trying lifelong, but failure will crown his efforts with equal diligence. That however does not mean that he is cursed to be blind forever. In order to regain his eyesight, he has to follow a bona fide remedial process – have a surgical operation performed. Similarly introspection, no matter how penetrating it may be, will always fall short, if it is based on one’s own efforts. But if one follows the right process – takes the help of the revealed scriptures, one can get the vision to see both the world within and the world without – in truth. The Vedic scriptures address all living entities as ‘children of immortality’. And they give a clarion call to all human beings: uttisthata jagruta prapya varam nibodhata. “Awake, arise and drink the nectar of immortality that is due to you as a human being.” Only a human being is capable of the metaphysical quest by which he can enquire into the higher truths of life. The Vedic scriptures therefore exhort the human being not to waste his life in the animalistic business of eating, sleeping, mating and defending, but to pursue the ultimate business of self-realization.

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And as soon as the seeker steps onto the threshold of the house of the Vedas, the most fascinating discovery of all awaits him. He understands his identity to be that of an infinitesimal particle of spirit, eternally cognizant and joyful. This atman is the invisible driver and animator of the bodily machine. And as the seeker steps forward on the path delineated by the Vedas, his life becomes an exciting journey of self-discovery as he realizes more and more his identity as a blissful, conscious eternal being, distinct from the miserable, ignorant, perishable body around him. Ultimately his real identity is proved to him by the method beyond all doubts – by direct experience from within. Self-discovery is not an exercise in selfish seclusion, with no concern for anyone else. When the seeker understands his actual identity as a part of the Supreme Spirit, as a son of the Supreme Father, God, he also gets the eyes to see all living beings as his dear brothers. Therefore he sees others suffering as his own suffering and works for helping them in re-establishing their lost relationship with the Supreme, as the well-wishing friend of all. Thus universal brotherhood naturally follows for him as he has accepted the Universal Father. Hence today when ‘the world is divided into numerous fragments by narrow domestic walls’, Discover Your Self will undoubtedly be a invaluable guide for all thoughtful people throughout the world; all the more so for the intelligent youth who are trying to discover life. This first book in the Spirituality for the Modern Youth series will help them extend their horizons to an hitherto unexplored dimension –the discovery of their own selves. His Grace Radheshyam Das has his creditable engineering side, as a M.Tech. graduate from IIT Powai and a spiritual side of being trained by able spiritual professors coming in the line of

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Srila Prabhupada. Thus he is a living example of this spirit of self-discovery. After working in prestigious positions in some of the top multinational companies, his relentless quest for selfdiscovery inspired him to dedicate his entire life to studying, practicing and preaching the message of the Vedic scriptures. As the Director of the Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education (VOICE), in youth wing of VOICE, he has brought substance and direction to the lives of hundreds of youths by inspiring and guiding them to embark on journey to discover their forgotten and forsaken inner selves. As a vigorous preacher and author of several books, he is helping multitudes of people to reach the wealth within their own hearts by taking to Krishna consciousness. His books are unique in that he has adopted the approach of systematic study standard in the academic world in his presentations of the Vedic scriptures. Herein, one finds the most profound philosophy explained in a cogent and lucid manner perfectly suited for the modern mind. Dr R. M. Jalnekar, PhD, Power Electronics, Prof, Dept. of Electronics & Telecom. Engg., Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune

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or thousands of years, people have marvelled at the starry heavens. On a clear night, the beautiful stars hang like shining jewels against the darkness of space. A moonlit night bathes the earth with a beauty all of its own. Those who think, often wonder : "Just what is out there in space? How is it organized? Can we find out how it all got started? Who created all these startling variety of things?" The human mind is staggered by the immensity and complexity of the awesome universe. As ‘National Geographic’ magazine commented what man is now learning about the universe has "left him stunned." Who will not appreciate and realize that all this artistry is the work of an intelligent yet inconceivable designer and creator God?

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Chapter

Can A Scientist Believe In GOD?

1

If you want to see your face in the mirror you need the help of sunlight. Similarly if one is interested in discovering oneself, one needs to know God, the ultimate truth. Self-realization comes automatically by God realization. Group Work : Divide the class into groups of 3 each and ask them to discuss the following question in about 5 minutes : What gives you faith that there must be some God or Supreme Being in this world? Write down as many reasons as possible why you believe in the existence of God. Once the groups are ready ask one representative from each group to present all the points that came out from discussion and put it on a flip chart. The same can be repeated with other groups. Overlapping points can be left out. After this task the teacher can try to relate the points obtained with the ones given below. Then discuss them after the following story. When the points obtained from the students are put on the board and discussed, that gives them more confidence and faith than to ‘feed’ them without making them to think first.

Can A Scientist Believe In God ?

3

The Story of Isaac Newton

T

here is a wonderful incident in the life of Sir Isaac Newton that goes to show how he was a strong believer of God.

Newton had a small-scale model of the solar system, which, on completion, was installed on a large table in his home. The artisan had done a fine job, simulating not only the various sizes of planets and their relative proximity, but also constructing the model in such a manner that everything rotated and orbited when a crank was turned. One day, one of Newton’s atheistic friends came by for a visit and was naturally intrigued by the model. Having expressed his admiration at the workmanship, he enquired about the artisan. Newton replied in all seriousness that there was no artisan. The model had just popped up by chance. Of course, the visitor was not convinced. Finally, Newton explained, “You refuse to believe that this puny contraption came about by chance and yet you are convinced that the great original, the actual solar system, of which this mechanism is only a model, has come into being without either a designer or a maker. Now tell me, by what sort of reasoning do you reach such an absurd conclusion?”

Thus Newton defeated his atheistic friend and made him realize that behind this marvelous universe, there is the hand of God. Order and design

W

hen we think calmly and carefully about this wonderful universe, we can see order and design at every level – in the atoms, the molecules, the solar system and the universe. Scientists continue to find new and astonishing aspects of this order. The very word ‘cosmos’ means ‘an orderly, harmonious systematic universe’.

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At Atomic level : An atom includes a nucleus surrounded by orbiting electrons. All matter is made up of these building blocks. What makes one substance differ from another is the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus and the arrangement of electrons revolving around it. This has an exquisite order. We study about 14 types of crystal structure arrangements like FCC, BCC, HCP, etc., of different elements. Where did all this order come from? At the molecular level, networks of atoms are so fantastically arranged that even a slight change in the positions of a few atoms or a little variation in the geometry of a molecule, can cause the colour of a substance to change from orange to red, a mild pleasing odour to become repellent and pungent, and a flavour to change from sweet to bitter. On one extreme, we find the smallest molecule, the hydrogen molecule, which contains only two hydrogen atoms. On the other extreme, we find giant molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) that contain innumerable atoms made for a definite function. These atoms are arranged in amazingly intricate and definite patterns, like the double helix of the DNA molecule. The molecular networks are so fantastically and delicately arranged that chemists cannot but wonder about the most expert hand and brain who is making all these wonderful artistic arrangements. Science is only unfolding the existing truths about nature. We have not created this order. At best, scientists can only try to imitate the wonderful artistic works of God. They cannot even do this properly, and most of their attempts lead to failure and disappointment. Even when they are partly successful, it is only with the greatest difficulty.


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For example, Prof. R.B. Woodward of Harvard, a Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry (1965) and Prof. A. Eschenmoser of Zurich took eleven years to synthesize the vitamin B12 molecule. Altogether, 99 scientists from 19 different countries were involved just to accomplish this one small task!

GOVERNMENT OF ANY COUNTRY

At the level of Universe : From the infinitely large to the infinitesimally small, from galactic clusters to atoms, the universe is characterized by superb organization. • ‘Discover’ magazine stated: “We perceived the order in surprise, and our cosmologists and physicists continue to find new and astonishing aspects of the order… It is a miracle…”

1

Home Ministry (Law and order)

2

•

4

Supplying medicines for diseases Industrial and domestic water needs supply by Municipality Ministry of Social Welfare (Supply of food grains, vegetable, milk for the physical well being) Ministry of Energy (Electricity and Lighting) Finance Ministry (Currency or wealth) Health Ministry (Hygiene and sanitation)

•

Former astronaut John Glenn noted “the orderliness of the whole universe… galaxies were all traveling in prescribed orbits in relation to one another.” He therefore asked: “Could this have just happened? Was it an accident that a bunch of flotsam and jetsam suddenly started making these orbits of its own accord?” He concluded, “Some Power put all this into orbit and keeps it there.” Indeed, the universe is so precisely organized that man can use the heavenly bodies as the basis for his timekeeping. A well-designed time piece is obviously the work of a intelligent scientist. Then what about the far more complex design and dependability that exists throughout the universe?

Group Quiz: Make a comparison between the Government of your country and our Universe. Find out what are the duties of your government towards people and what you observe is happening in the universe? You will see an amazing similarity. When you begin the task, hide the right side column named `Universal Government’. After the group discussion, verify how many of your answers tally with the answers given under the heading of `universal government’?

3

5 6 7

UNIVERSAL GOVERNMENT Law of Karma : For every action, there is an opposite reaction. Illicit sex – AIDS, Smoking-Cancer Drinking-Liver problem, Tobacco-bronchitis Ayurvedic herbs Rains Air, water, grains, milk – all supplied through mother nature; God is father. Mother cannot produce without father. Sun and moon Gold, silver, nava ratnas, diamonds etc Sun and rain keep cleanliness

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Defense Ministry (Protection from dangers)

Ozonosphere protects living beings on earth, self defense immunity system

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Education Ministry (Education for citizens)

Vedas, Bible, Quran

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Reward for best citizens

Benefits of Yoga, Meditation etc who follow God’s laws and scriptures

Oral Quiz: What do you learn after completing the table?

Brainstorm the ideas from students and tell one of them to write the points on the board.


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1. The universe we are living in is owned and controlled by the Supreme Lord. 2. We are not living in a universe, but in a Universal Government that is well managed, maintained and supervised by superior agents whom we may not see with our eyes. Just as there is a Prime Minister for any government, similarly there is Supreme God, who is the presiding authority of the whole universe.

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While God makes the sun, man can only poorly imitate it by producing a mercury bulb. While God has made the moon, man makes a Dome light. God makes vast oceans; man can only create swimming pools. God puts huge planets in orbit and sets them in motion; man can only put a small sputnik in orbit. Thus God creates and man imitates, that too poorly. Organization and Craftsmanship

3. When we ignore the laws of any government or Prime minister, one invites punishment; similarly by ignoring God and the laws of nature, modern man is inviting sufferings in this world more and more.

There are many simple and graphic examples of the artistry of the Lord’s creation. We see that among the lower forms of living entities, social organization is very smoothly maintained.

4. The sufferings we undergo are a proof that we are going against the will of God and some steps need to be taken to rectify our wrong mentality. The reform is to give up selfish, exploitative, enjoying, grabbing approach and to adopt the selfless, extending, serving, giving nature.

• For example, in a bee colony the drones nicely take care of the queen bee, while the workers collect a great amount of honey from flowers all day long.

5. We should hear from the manual of God – Bhagavad gita – to know how can we again harmonize our lives according to His will.

Tremendous Energy Every day the sun supplies the solar system with a tremendous amount of heat, light and energy. The very tiny fraction of the sun’s energy that falls on the earth – estimated at about five parts in a hundred million million – is about 100,000 times greater than all the energy used in the world’s industries. Put in a different way, the energy the sun emits in one second is greater than the whole amount of energy human species has consumed throughout its entire history! We have to find out whether any of our scientists can try to make one sun for us in their ‘most-advanced’ laboratories.

• Similarly, the loving relationship between a mother and her baby is quite clearly visible even in very small forms of living entities. During monsoon season in tropical countries, when there are torrents of rain, the small ants run to find shelter, carrying their eggs on their heads. • The spider makes its wonderful webs with great architectural skill to serve as a shelter and to catch its prey for survival. • Silkworms spin hundreds of yards of fine threads to form cocoons for their shelter during the pupa stage. • Inside a tiny seed, smaller than the size of a mustard seed, the whole potency of a big banyan tree is present. • Seventy separate chemical reactions are involved in the process of photosynthesis in a plant.


In this way, we can see the wonderful organization and arrangements made by God, who is creating, maintaining and guiding all living entities, small or big. A Giant in a Tiny Package One of the smallest seeds has packaged within it the biggest living thing on earth - the giant sequoia tree. It grows over 300 feet high. Four feet above the ground its diameter may be 36 feet. One tree may contain enough wood to build 50 six-room houses. The twofoot-thick bark is flavored with tannin that repels insects, and its spongy, fibrous texture makes it almost as fireproof as asbestos. Its roots cover three or four acres. It lives over 3000 years. Yet the seeds that a sequoia tree rains down by the millions are not much bigger than a pinhead surrounded by tiny wings. A puny man standing at a sequoia’s base can only gaze upward in silent awe at

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its massive grandeur. Does it make sense to believe that the shaping of the majestic giant and of the tiny seed that packages it was not by design? Nobel-prize-winning physicist Robert A. Millikan, said at a meeting of the American Physical Society: “There’s a Divinity that shapes our ends…A purely materialistic philosophy is to me the height of unintelligence. Wise men in all the ages have always seen enough to at least make them reverent.” Laws of Nature The development that has taken place in all the physical sciences during the past hundred years has resulted chiefly from the application of the ‘Scientific Method’ to the study of matter and energy. In the experimental part of this study every effort is made to eliminate every known possibility that the results obtained are in any way due to mere chance. This study consistently has shown in the past, and still continues to show that the behaviour of even insensible matter is not at all haphazard, but on the contrary obeys definite natural laws. The arrangement of chemical elements by the great Russian chemist, Mendeleef, is called ‘The Periodic Law’ and not ‘The Periodic Chance’. Also, the entire universe, from atoms to galaxies, is governed by definite physical laws. There are laws for governing heat, light, sound and gravity, for example. As physicist Stephen W. Hawking said : “The more we examine the universe, we find it is not arbitrary at all but obeys certain well-defined laws that operate in different areas. It seems very reasonable to suppose that there may be some unifying principle.”


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When we think of laws, we acknowledge that they come from a lawmaker. A traffic sign that says “Stop” certainly has behind it some person or group of persons who originated the law. What, then, about the comprehensive laws that govern the material universe? Such brilliantly conceived laws surely bear witness to a brilliant Lawmaker.

Did everything start from a ‘Big bang’ or a ‘Big brain’? If you ask someone, how this universe began, people simply murmur, ‘big bang’. Whenever there is a big bang due to some atom bomb in your town or city, you can be sure of two things : • •

people would be curious to know who created the explosion-- any terrorists or soldiers? the explosion might have caused only damage and destruction and nothing orderly must have come out of it.

The explosion usually is chaotic, like the explosion of a nuclear bomb. But does this type of explosion result in better organization? Do the bombs that fall on cities in wartime produce superbly designed buildings, streets and signs with traffic laws? On the contrary, such explosions cause wreckage, disorder, chaos, disintegration. And when the explosive device is nuclear the disorganization is total, as experienced by the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. No, a mere “explosion” could not create our awesome universe with its amazing order, design and law. Only a mighty organizer and lawmaker could direct the powerful forces at work so that they would result in superb organization and law.

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The universe we live in, is not some lump of floating material, but a perfect residence (with arrangement for food, water, heat, light, medicine etc) for all living beings to live in harmony. No one would expect a beautiful multi-storeyed housing appartment replete with all facilities for food, water supply, lighting and electricity, hospital facility etc to spring up from a ‘big bang’ or a big explosion. If someone is adament in arguing on ‘big bang’, he might be suggested to start a ‘small bang construction company’ and create housing appartments based on his ‘big bang’ belief. Encyclopedia Britannica admits, “It should be emphasized that no theory of the origin of the solar system has as yet won general acceptance. All involve highly improbable assumptions.” Thus, with such “highly improbable” theories the atheists try to deny God as the origin and controller of the universe. According to big bang theory, everything began from ‘a point of infinite temperature, infinite density, infinitesimal in size that is physically indescribable, mathematically unverifiable, beyond all conceptions of space and time.’ Does it sound like a scientific theory? Now where did that ‘point’ come from? Here the scientists face the same difficulty as the religionists they taunt with the question, “Where did God come from?” And just as the religionists respond with the answer that God is the cause of all causes, the scientists are faced with the prospect of declaring a mathematically indescribable, physically unrealizable point of infinite density and temperature, of infinitesimal size, existing before all conceptions of time and space, as the cause of all causes. The choice is yours! Whether you want to accept God or a ‘point’ as the Supreme cause of all causes.


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Thus, believing in an empirical (or physical) scientific theory requires just as much faith as in believing that a personal God creates and maintains the universe. Scientists generally claim that nothing is accepted in the field of Science without proper experimental evidence. We can challenge, “Where is the proof that such a point existed? It is more wiser to assume that God, a Supreme Truth, endowed with unlimited energies is the cause of all causes, than to assume a ‘point’ as the Supreme Truth.” God is not an assumption, but a tangible reality. Dr.Albert Einstein said,“I believe in God – who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of the Universe. I believe that intelligence is manifested throughout all Nature. The basics of scientific work is the conviction that the world is an ordered and comprehensible entity and not a thing of Chance. When I sit here and watch the mighty ocean, I can imagine the treasures hidden below the bed of the sea, when I see the clear blue sky above, I feel sky is the limit. When I cast my eyes around I see the wonders and beauties of Nature. Science must learn to live in Harmony with all these magnificent gifts of God to Humanity." When we think calmly and carefully about this wonderful universe, we can see that everything is working under the control of a supreme brain. There is a cause behind each action. A machine cannot run without an operator. Modern scientists are very proud of automation, but there is a scientific brain behind automation also.

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A Charge against Chance

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ome scientists are using the concept of chance in a way that misleads the public. Being unable to explain the origin of the universe by physical laws, they assert that it was somehow caused by chance. But such statements are meaningless. To make any statement about a chance event meaningful, • Many repetitions of the event in question are required and • These must be observable. For example, we can flip a coin many times and note the results. We can see that they correspond to a statistical pattern indicating a 50% probability that heads will turn up rather than tails. The word ‘chance’ therefore does not actually refer to a cause it refers only to a certain type of pattern in the results of an operation repeated a sufficient number of times. Now imagine we could toss a given coin only once and it came up heads. If someone asked why that result happened, we might give a causal explanation or say that we don’t know, but it would not be meaningful to say it happened by chance.


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So now what about the universe? It is not possible for us to observe more than one appearance of a universe-- we can only see the one we are in. The origin of the universe is thus a onetime event, and statements about it that involve chance are meaningless according to the rules of quantitative science.

Do you know a machine which has no maker and with no purpose? We have absolutely no experience of any object or system coming about by chance. Why and how then can we assume that the entire universe with all its harmony, order and structured organization came about by itself, by chance? Have you ever seen: • A complicated machine coming by Chance? • A complicated mechanism with no Purpose? Suppose you go to the Strength of Materials laboratory and ask the lab incharge, “Where does the Universal Testing Machine (UTM) come from? And what is its purpose?” If he tells you that the UTM came by chance and that it has no purpose, will you not consider him to be a fool? This is what the so-called scientists of today are saying about the origin and the purpose of the most complicated mechanism - the universe. When a blind man leads many blind men everyone falls into a ditch. That is the condition of today’s society.

Any sane man can appreciate that a superb organization requires a superb organizer. Nothing in our experience indicates that anything organized happens by accident. Rather, our entire experience shows that everything organized must have an organizer. Every machine, computer, building, even a pen and pencil had a maker, an organizer. Logically, the far more complex and awesome organization in the universe must have had an organizer too.


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Those who advocate the ‘chance’ theory must put forward some supportive evidence to back their viewpoint. If they could find one, just one, wristwatch, computer or even a chapati that happened without a maker or designer, that would be something. But there is not a single such piece of evidence ! Not even one !

The Unseen Is Proven by the Seen

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ne may not know God for sometime, but sooner or later, an intelligent person asks – “How is it that the material universe from the submicroscopic realm of the atom to the expanding reaches of the galactic objects is running like an intricate well-oiled clock? If hundreds of scientists have to break their heads to put a single satellite in orbit, how much greater giant brain, capable of careful planning, would be required to put millions of planets in orbit? Modern scientists are proud of automation, but there is a scientific brain behind automation also. What great intelligence has been able to visualize the arrangement of innumerable planets, realize it and put all the planets in motion?” A clear principle is established: “The unseen is proved by the seen. The creation reflects the creator at every point. God can be easily seen in this creation just as an inventor can be easily known by his invention.” The Bhagavad-gita explains that everything rests upon God just as pearls are strung on a thread. Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita (7.7): mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya mayi sarvam idam protam sutre mani gana iva “O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.”

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The analogy is clear. By superficial examination of a pearl necklace, one cannot see what is keeping all the pearls together. But we figure that there must be some binding factor, else the pearls would have scattered. Similarly, God is the underlying thread of Truth binding this entire cosmic manifestation together in an orderly manner. It is He who put all the planets and galaxies into precise orbits and it is He who maintains them.

The Spiritual Scientist

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ord Kelvin, one of the world’s greatest physicists, has made the following significant statement: “If you think strongly enough, you will be forced by science to believe in God.” In other words, Lord Kelvin answers the question, ‘Can a scientist believe in God?’ in unambiguous terms: if a scientist does not believe in God, he is not a scientist at all. After commenting on all the special conditions of order and law that are so obvious in the universe, ‘Science News’ observed: “Contemplation of these things disturbs cosmologists because it seems as if such particular and precise conditions could hardly have arisen at random. One way to deal with the question is to say the whole thing was contrived and lay it on Divine Providence.” Many scientists have begun to acknowledge what the evidence keeps insisting-- intelligence. There are many true scientists who, being in the frontlines of research in their fields, not only are keenly aware of the marvelous powers and achievements of science, but also are equally aware of its limitations – of the questions that science alone can never answer and of the marvels of creation, of wonder, and design in the universe that the atheist or agnostic is


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powerless to account for. After years of research and study this is what Sir Isaac had to say, “I do not know what may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been like a boy playing by the sea shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” Scientists of today have begun to realize that the knowledge and ability they have is extremely limited and in fact quite insignificant. Therefore, instead of denying and challenging the existence of the Supreme Scientist, God, it should be the prime duty of all scientists to appreciate the inconceivable brain of God and His wonderful manifestations everywhere and create a worldwide spiritual awareness among people. Then there can be real peace in society. *

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Blind Men and the Elephant

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Once six blind men came across an elephant for the first time in their lives. After touching different parts of the elephant, every one of them started describing enthusiastically what they thought the elephant was like. One man who had touched the side of the elephant exclaimed,“It is like a wall which appears that it may fall anytime”. The second man who had touched the tusk said, “O! It is so very round, smooth and sharp. The elephant is like a spear”. The third man who had touched the trunk said,“Don’t you understand that the elephant is like a snake?”

Getting The Eyes To See GOD

The fourth man who had grasped one of the legs of the elephant felt that the elephant was like a tree. The fifth man had touched one of the ears of the elephant and stated that it was like a fan. The sixth man who had caught hold of the swinging tail of the elephant commented,“Why don’t you all understand that the elephant is like a rope!” In this way, they went on arguing until they resorted to the help of a learned man with proper eyesight. The learned man felt pity for them and told them the complete description of the elephant and then all the six blind men felt satisfied.

Getting the Eyes to See God

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Pratyaksha Praman

Quiz : What general principles can you draw from this drama? What can we learn from it?

Just as the blind men could not understand the elephant completely just by their endeavor because of their blindness, we cannot understand the material world or the Absolute Truth completely and correctly by any amount of endeavor because our senses are defective and limited. Just as one of the blind men grabbed on to the tail and called the elephant a rope, sometimes we may grab on to a particular part of the truth and our understanding may even be correct; still our limited understanding does not give us the complete truth. We have to approach a spiritual master whose (spiritual) eyes are wide open and only such a person can deliver the truth to us because he is perceiving the truth himself. Hearing from such a bonafide authority with faith and putting what we hear into practice will bring us to the point of perceiving and realizing all the truths. * * * * rom the previous lesson, we understood that there is some super intelligence or super power or God who is the ‘Organizer’, ‘Controller’, ‘Designer’ – all these words indicate a person. So God is the Supreme Person who creates, maintains, enjoys and controls everything. Once we accept that He exists, how can we acquire further knowledge about Him?

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There are three ways for gaining knowledge: 1) Pratyaksha (Empirical Sensual Perception) 2) Anumana (Theories Based on Evidence) 3) Shabda (Hearing From a Bonafide Authority).

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his is the knowledge obtained by direct perception. Majority of scientific experiments and proofs are based on this method. “Seeing is believing” is a popular slogan among people arguing against God’s existence. But consider the following examples to verify whether seeing is believing: • • •

Is the sun just a plate of half-a-meter diameter as we see it with our eyes? A stick appears broken when we insert half of it into water (Refraction). Is it? Even the most beautiful face looks highly distorted in a concave mirror. (Is seeing believing (?!))

We understand that direct perception by our senses is not a very reliable method because the sense organs themselves have only a limited range. We cannot acquire absolute knowledge through the material senses and mind, and any knowledge we derive will be only relative. The very fact that the information and theories in science are changed, updated and modified everyday is a proof that we are attaining higher and higher imperfect relative truths by the pursuit of our scientific research. The Absolute Truth, or God however is fixed; it never changes. We cannot understand the Absolute Truth through our blunt material senses because all of us have four defects: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Imperfect senses Tendency to be illusioned Tendency to commit mistakes Tendency to cheat.


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1) Imperfect Senses

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he first problem we face when trying to get accurate information about the external world is that our senses have physiological limits, or ‘thresholds of perception’. Eyes: We can see only a tiny fraction of the total electromagnetic spectrum. An electromagnetic wave can range from one quadrillionth of a meter up to 100 million metres in length. And of this, we can see only the waves that are 400 to 700 millimicrons long. Anything outside this thin band is invisible to us. Similarly, even if we draw 10000 lines within 0.1 mm, we will be able to see only a single line . Ears: Human hearing extends from 20 Hz upto 20,000 Hz . We are deaf to any vibration above or below this range. That’s why when you blow a dog’s whistle, all the street dogs will come running to you on hearing it, although you cannot hear any sound at all! So our senses are imperfect. But what about scientific instruments? Nobel-Prize-winning physicist Eugene Wigner points out, “Even if we photograph the stars, we must eventually ‘take in’ by our senses what the photograph shows. Furthermore without our senses, we could not handle a photographic camera. Clearly all knowledge comes to us ultimately through our senses." So even if amplified/refined by instruments, any knowledge based on sense perception is no more perfect than our imperfect senses.

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2) Tendency to be illusioned All the senses have many known deceptions. Some examples are given below: Group work: Each picture has at least two ways to see depending on what you choose to discard. Identify 4x2=8 different interpretations, what do you learn from it. Form groups to identify the different interpretations. What do you learn from this exercise?

Four Combined pitures 1. old Women & Young Girl 2. Tringle 3. ABC & 123 4. Glass & Face


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Eyes: Selective vision: We interpret physical reality according to what we discard and at different times we give it different interpretations. See Fig.1. Depending on which image you choose to discard, the drawing is either a black vase or the outline of two white faces looking toward each other. Both images are present, but you can’t see them both at the same time. Consciously or unconsciously, you select one and discard the other. In Fig.2 the picture is either a young woman or an old woman, depending on how you choose to interpret the data before you. Contextual Vision: The middle character in Fig.3 is either a number or a letter depending on the context you choose to see. Imaginative Vision: Our eyes also distort things and supply information not given. In Fig.4 our eye imagines the lines that form a white triangle. So, we talk about reality as objective because of the high degree of agreement we share in our individual realities. From birth, we condition our senses to select and interpret phenomena the same way others around us do. Thus we form a Consensus Reality Illusion, many individuals sharing an agreed-upon way of interpreting their environment. This poses serious questions about the authority of physical sciences as well, because our scientists are as much deluded by their senses as everyone else.

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3) Tendency to commit mistakes Yet another difficulty with sense perception is that we all make mistakes. Science, with all its dramatic successes, has from its beginnings also generated wildly incorrect accounts: electricity and heat as fluids, the brain as an organ to cool the blood, stars as pinpricks in a crystal globe… These are dramatic deviations from what we now see as truth; and when invented they were deviations from what then appeared true. In another instance, three astronomers recently discovered a significant mistake in the Hubble Constant, a value used as a cosmic yardstick to measure enormous distances in the universe. The Hubble Constant – named after astronomer Edwin P. Hubble – has undergone so many corrections since he first formulated it that many astronomers now laughingly call it the ‘Hubble Variable’! Clearly, with our imperfect senses and our illusionprone mind, mistakes are inevitable. So advancement in science means, defeating the old mistaken idea and proposing a new mistake, which may need a revision sooner or later. 4) Cheating To err is human, the saying goes. But unfortunately, humans sometimes go beyond innocent error and deliberately propagate untruths. Scientists are not immune to this shortcoming. For many years, textbooks on evolution routinely cited the Piltdown Man as evidence that human beings have descended from an ape-like ancestor. In 1912, archaeologists excavated a humanlike skull and an apelike jaw from a gravel pit at Piltdown, in the British Isles. The bones were deemed parts of the same creature, which was duly reconstructed in full and placed in the British Museum as an example of a transitional phase between the ancient ape and the modern man. In 1953,


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however, investigators discovered that the jawbone of the Piltdown Man was actually of a very recent origin and had simply been stained to look like a fossil. In addition, someone had filed the teeth down to change their appearance. In other words, the Piltdown Man was a fraud, apparently engineered by one of the original discoverers. William Fix, author of ‘The Bone Peddlers: Selling Evolution’ claims that while making a careful analysis of the more than 120 years of archaeological discoveries, he unearthed a ‘catalogue of fiascos’, findings recorded by researchers more interested in publicity, funding, and reputation than in truth. To protect their reputations, says Fix, researchers have deliberately ignored or dismissed contrary evidence. ‘Forbidden Archaelogy’ by Richard L Thomson and Micheal Cremo gives a comprehensive list of fossil records, which categorically disproves evolution.

Anumana Praman

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his is the process of inference, which is nothing but hypothesizing on the knowledge acquired by direct perception. Charles Darwin’s theories and much of archaeology and anthropology rely upon such inductive conjecture (“It may have been like this, or perhaps it was like this”). Mechanistic science bluntly reduces everything to atoms and molecules and rejects anything that does not fall in its scale of observation. The key medical field of Microbiology was nonexistent till the 16th century when Antony Von Lewenhoek discovered lenses, which could detect microbes. Similarly, the state-of-art of present day science is that we have no instruments to detect anti-matter.

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A practical example of anumana praman or wild speculation is Darwin’s theory that proposes the idea that human beings might have evolved from apes. Darwin tried to find out how life came in this universe. With all his researches, when he could not make out, he admitted that he resorted to wild imaginative speculation. In one of his letters to A.R. Wallace (December 22, 1857), Darwin wrote, "... I am a firm believer that without speculation there is no good and original observation....'. How his theory was developed is given in his own words: "…After five years work I allowed myself to speculate on the subject, and drew up some short notes; these I enlarged in 1844 into a sketch of the conclusions, which seemed to me probable..” (Origin of Species). For instance, he proposed the idea how the sea whale originated. He said how once upon a time, a bear entered into water with wide-open mouth for catching some flies and he stayed long in water and turned into a sea whale! Such speculative theories are propagated by scientists, taught as solemn truths in schools and universities and discarded later like disposable napkins, only to put forward another speculative theory. Thus Anumana praman is misleading and cannot assure one of the actual truths. Anumana praman is just guesswork; something like observing a black box and imagining what could be inside it. If you hear a loud noise coming from a room closed on all sides, it could be caused by anything. You could make say three wild guesses: may be a fight is going on, may be the TV is on, may be the radio is on. When you open the room, you come to know that a group of people is doing a rehearsal for a drama presentation. Thus the actual reality can be totally different from what one may guess. Hence Anumana praman is misleading and cannot assure perfect knowledge.


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Shabda Praman The Vedas assert that objects beyond matter cannot be known experimentally. These objects are therefore called Acintya. That which is Acintya cannot be known by speculation or by argument but only by Shabda, the process of hearing from Vedic literature. This method is considered more reliable than perception or inference because it conveys knowledge free of all defects. The Vedic texts are called Apaurusheya, meaning, ‘of divine origin’. There is no possibility for defects and therefore we are required to accept scripture in toto, as it is, without interpretation and modification. It is only in this way that the deepest truths will be revealed. One should hear perfect knowledge from the all-perfect person God Himself directly (as Arjuna did), or one should hear perfect knowledge from an authority who is coming in an unbroken chain of disciplic succession which originates from God. Just as Electricity comes from electric post, in turn from Electricity board, in turn from Power station, in turn operated by a man who generates electricity and sends it. In the same way the knowledge is given by God Himself to Brahma, to Narada, to Vyasa and today the disciplic succession is continuing and is available for any seeker of Truth about God. Connect yourself to power supply and then you can have light. Connect yourself to parampara – disciplic succession from God and then you can have perfect knowledge. That is the secret of attaining perfect knowledge. Thus, the process of ‘Shabda’ or hearing from a bonafide authority is the most reliable and definite way of obtaining knowledge of the truth. If a child wants to know who his father is, he should ask his mother. He may make a survey of the

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male population, but much more simply, he can ask his mother, the natural authority. In other words, if a person can accept information given by an authority he does not have to take the trouble to research independently. Thus acceptance of genuine spiritual authority is the way to attain true knowledge and bliss.

See Through the Eyes of Scriptures By hearing the spiritual sound vibration of the scriptures, one learns to see things according to the direction given in the scriptures, then one can see the things as they are. This is called ‘Sastra Cakshu’. For example, a beautiful woman may be perceived by a tiger as his lunch box, by a child as a mother who cares and loves him, by a young man as an object of enjoyment and by a self realized sage as display of the illusory energy. But how should we see things of this world? For knowing this, we require the spectacles of wisdom; then we will learn how to see things, what to accept, what to reject, what to do and what to not do. For instance the scriptures state that one should see every woman except one’s wife as one’s own mother and see other people’s property as garbage. If one hears such scriptural instructions and abides by them, one will gradually achieve ultimate happiness in this world and in the next. Only one who hears from authoritative sources can know the science of God. When one knows the science of God, he can understand: Who am I? Why am I born into this world? Who is God? What is the purpose of life? Why am I suffering? How can I get out of all suffering? How is the material world moving? What is the relationship of God with all living beings? etc.


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If one has been an automobile specialist for twenty years and knows the science of automobiles he can judge the condition of a vehicle as soon as he drives it even for a minute. But one who does not know the science of automobiles cannot understand anything about the condition of a vehicle. Similarly one who knows the science of God can immediately see the hand of God in every single aspect of the cosmos – from the microscopic to the macroscopic. But one who has no knowledge of the science of God cannot understand anything about the working of the world. That is why hearing the science of God from great saintly persons is called as ‘darshan’. ‘Darshan’ means ‘sight’ as well as ‘philosophical insight’ or ‘discourse’. Thus by hearing from great saintly persons who are devotees of God, we can come to see and realize the ultimate truth. If Mr. Bill Gates is sitting in a group meeting with you, you will not know his greatness, until you hear from someone who he is. Similarly, God’s greatness has to be heard from His pure unalloyed devotees, who are not only preaching about Him, but practicing a life in accord with His divine instructions. By hearing Vedic knowledge from such great souls, we can get the eyes to see God. *

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Chapter

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Group work: Make a list of the different species that you know of, for their special abilities (e.g. eagle- eye sight). Find out what is the speciality of human species.

Human Life vs. Animal Life

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ave you ever wondered how a human being is superior to an animal? The activities of human beings and animals are similar - eating, sleeping, producing children, defending themselves etc. In what way are humans superior to animals?

Vedic Wisdom: The Privilege of Humanity

Someone may reply ‘Reasoning Power’ or ‘Rational Thinking’. But reasoning power is there even in lower animals like dogs and cats. Suppose a dog comes up to you, and if you say, “Hut!” he will understand that you don’t want him. So, he has some reasoning power. Similarly if a cat wants to steal some milk from your kitchen, she has very nice reasoning power; she is always looking to see when the master is out, so that she can steal and drink the milk. So the four propensities of animal life – eating, sleeping, mating and defending – indicate that there is reasoning power even in the beasts. Then what is the special prerogative of the human being over animals? The special reasoning power that the human being has is the ability to inquire, “Why am I suffering?” The animals are suffering, but they do not know how to remedy their suffering. Generally, people are just like animals. They simply do not know anything beyond the necessities of the body: how to eat, how to sleep, how to mate and how to defend. An animal eats filth and garbage in a street; we may eat in a five-star hotel. An animal may sleep in a corner of a street; we may sleep on a


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Dunlop pillow bed or on a water-bed. An animal may mate without shame in the middle of the street; we may have sex in a skyscraper building. An animal may defend with claws and teeth; we may defend with bombs, scuds and missiles. If human beings use scientific, philosophical, cultural and religious advancement just to perform these four activities better, then such a human civilization is in no way superior to an animal civilization. The Mahabharata therefore says: ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithunam cha, samanyam etad pashubhir naranam dharmo hi tesham adhiko vishesho, dharmena hina pashubhih samanah “The activities of eating, sleeping, mating and defending are common in animals and human beings. The human beings are considered superior only when they inquire about the Absolute Truth, otherwise they are considered as good as animals.” Majority of human beings are wasting their time in useless activities imitating animals. People organize competitions to award one who can eat maximum number of bananas or gulabjamuns. But can we compete with an elephant in eating? Can we compete with an eagle in seeing objects miles away? Can we compete with a dog in smelling and detecting thieves? Can we imitate a pigeon who can have sex a dozen times in one hour? Can we compete with a kangaroo in high jump? Can we compete with a horse in atheletics? If we are proud of producing offspring, a dog can beget dozens of puppies and a mosquito can produce thousands of offspring. Animals are better than humans in the aforementioned activities. In fact, these abilities are in-built in their system by the arrangement of God. If it is so, what is the special ability

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awarded in a human body? If we are proud of social organization, even honey bees have a complex social set up where worker bees go for collecting honey (and they never go on strike like their human counterparts!) while the drones take care of the queen who begets offspring.

The Special Prerogative of the Human Body

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he Bhagavad-gita says that, out of many thousands of people, someone may develop this reasoning power: “Why am I suffering?” We do not want to suffer, but suffering is forced upon us. We do not want too much heat or cold, but too much cold and too much heat are forced upon us. We do not want thirst, hunger, old age, disease and death. The real problems of life are birth, old age, disease and death. But nobody is free from all these sufferings in this world. Everyone is full of anxiety despite increasing material comforts, economic development and scientific advancement. The Western countries have reached the summit of material civilization, but people are still dissatisfied. The government has difficulty controlling crime, drug addiction, adultery etc. When the civilization becomes godless and human beings are geared towards a rat race for money and sex, life becomes hellish. Only in human life are we endowed with the intelligence to inquire, “What happens after death? What is the actual destination of my life?” This is called ‘brahma jijnasa’, enquiring about oneself and God. The first aphorism of the Vedanta sutra says: athato brahma jijnasa “Now that you have achieved a human body, you should inquire about the Absolute Truth.”


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The human body is compared to a solid boat, which can help one cross the ocean of the material world and take one to the kingdom of God. The Vedic scriptures are compared to favourable breezes. The spiritual master is compared to an expert captain who can monitor the boat and take it to the desired destination. A human being who does not take advantage of this opportunity for achieving unending spiritual bliss is cheating himself and is a killer of his own soul. Thus the cause of suffering and the actual destination of life are proper subjects of enquiry.

The actual Destination of Life Drama: Ask a group of students to be prepared in advance to put up a drama on the following story. After the drama, ask students to speak out all the lessons they learnt from it. Once upon a time, there was a very wealthy king. He had a big kingdom, many queens, a lot of wealth and hundreds and thousands of followers and soldiers. He was living a very happy life and he became so attached to his property, position, prestige and status that he completely forgot God, and his duty towards God. One day a sadhu came to his court. Sadhus visit people to enlighten them about God and the goal of life. The sadhu wanted to enlighten the king, but the king was not at all interested. The sadhu contemplated for a while and made a plan. He told the king, “My dear king, you are so eager to wash my feet, and bow down to me, and give me so much donation but you are not interested in hearing about God. So, I have a request for you. If you fulfill that request, then you will satisfy me.” The king immediately agreed and asked, “What can I do for you,

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Sir?” The sadhu told him, “My dear king, send out your men throughout your country and find out the best among mad people (murkha) in your country. Then call him over to your court, hand over a stick to him and ask him to go around the city every single day for the rest of his life. Pay him some salary every month for this service.” The king obeyed the sadhu’s order and got a ‘murkha’ to go around the city carrying a stick in his hand. The ‘murkha’ continued his service. Days, months and years passed by. The king spent all his time in material enjoyment and gradually became old. In his old age, he became afflicted by a fatal disease. When the king was on his deathbed, he called all his relatives, friends and near and dear ones. He met all of them one by one. All of them were weeping as the king was very soon going to leave this world. In this way while the king was meeting all his relatives one by one to satisfy himself, in his mind, he had a feeling, “I have not met somebody whom I know very well.” Then, the thought of the ‘murkha’ came to his mind and he called for the ‘murkha’. When the ‘murkha’ came to see the king, the king told him, “My dear fool, now I have to go to a very far off place. I am taking leave of every one, so I thought I may call you and talk to you.” The ‘murkha’ immediately replied, “O king, you are going to a distant place. Please why don’t you take me along with you?” The king replied, “O fool, you cannot come with me. It is not possible.” The ‘murkha’ replied, “O, now I understand the secret. You want to go with your queens. That is why you don’t want to take me with you.” The king said, ”O ‘murkha’, you are proving to be a fool. I cannot take my queens with me, nor can I take my sons, nor any of my


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relatives – it is not possible”. Then the ‘murkha’ said, “It is alright. Whatever it is I will arrange for a strong horse and a chariot for you so that you can go comfortably.” The king said, “O fool, I can’t take a chariot and horses with me.” Then the ‘murkha’ asked, “O, that means you will walk all the way? Will your legs not pain? How long can you walk? My dear king, if it is your desire to walk, at least carry some eatables and some money, which you can use on the way. I will tell the minister to arrange for a big amount of money from the treasury.” The king replied, “O fool, you cannot understand. I cannot carry a single gold coin with me. Although I have so much wealth amassed within my treasury, I can’t carry anything with me. O fool, why don’t you understand?” The ‘murkha’ asked, “My dear king, you can’t carry your accumulated wealth, you can’t take your wives and your children with you, nor can you take any property from your kingdom. It is a great wonder for me.” Then the king told the ‘murkha’, “Enough of all your talks. Now, I will tell you something. You have done the service of being a fool, going around the city for so many years, faithfully. So I would like to reward you. You should now retire from your job. You will be given pension and you need not work anymore. But before you retire, find another fool just like yourself and hand over this stick to him. Let him too go around the city and he will also be paid a salary every month. Then the ‘murkha’ asked, “O, my dear king, do I have to find a greater ‘murkha’ than me to hand over this stick?” The king said, “Yes, that’s right.” Immediately, the fool took the stick and handed it over to the king, and said, “O ‘maha murkha’! Take this stick and keep it with you.” The king was enraged. He shouted, “You fool, how dare you give this stick to me. Do you mean I am a greater fool than you?” The ‘murkha’ laughed and told the king, “Yes, My dear king, you are

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right. You are certainly the ‘maha murkha’ in this world. Do you know why? You just told me that throughout your life you amassed so much of wealth in your treasury by conquering so many kings all around the world, but you told me that you couldn’t carry a single farthing with you. You married so many beautiful queens and begot so many children and you just now told me that you couldn’t take any of them with you. My dear king, you led such a lavish life full of luxuries and comfort. Did you not know that death would come one day, and at the time of death you would have to give up your wife, children, property and all that you accumulated? And did you not know that even a useless broken needle without a hole would not accompany you after death? Did you not know these things when you were a king? You knew them well; but you were such a big fool that you never inquired about the goal of your life. You never inquired about where you would have to go after death. You didn’t inquire: who is God? Why has He put me in this world? What is my duty towards Him? You never thought of these questions. You were completely infatuated in enjoying all the material comforts and facilities of this world when you were a king, and you were completely blind to the path of selfrealization. This was your greatest mistake and now, at the time of death, you are lamenting and mourning that you have to leave everything behind. So that is why you are considered the greatest fool.” When the king heard all this, he quickly realized that this fool was not actually a fool; he was a great saintly person. The king immediately fell at the feet of the so-called ‘murkha’, cried piteously and begged him to reveal his identity. The king asked him, “My dear great soul, please tell me who are you? How are you so knowledgeable about all these things? We were considering you to be a great fool. That was our foolishness. Please tell me how I can become perfect at this last hour of my life.”


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The ‘murkha’ told him, “Actually I am a disciple of that great sadhu who had visited your court many years ago. At that time you didn’t show any interest in spiritual life. So my guru asked me to play this role so that I could deliver you at the right time. Hear attentively from me.” In this way the sadhu’s disciple started enlightening the king about the knowledge of the soul and the relationship between the soul and God. The king understood how God loves every living being, and how the ultimate goal of life is to purify one’s heart and achieve the kingdom of God, and not just get entangled in worldly affairs. The king became enlightened with this knowledge. He wholeheartedly accepted the instructions of the sadhu’s disciple and started chanting the Holy Names of God. In this way, by the association of the sadhu’s disciple he was able to perfect his life. [T: Brainstorm] Q: So, what all lessons did we learn from this Drama (or Story)? Through the story of the ‘maha murkha’, we understand that we all are living in this world and all of us are busy performing many activities from morning to night. We want to do our studies, we want to take up a good job, we want to earn money, and we want to live a very happy and luxurious life. But in this way, if we keep on spending all our

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time without giving even a moment for God, then we will also be considered like the foolish king, a ‘maha murkha’. This is similar to the foolish lady who spent all her time polishing her golden cage, but neglected the bird within that was starving. Our body is like a cage and the soul within the body is like the bird in the cage. The body is compared to a shirt in Bhagavad-gita. We may wear one shirt today and tomorrow-another one. Similarly the material body gradually grows from childhood to youth, to old age and perishes one day, while the eternal soul passes from one body to another. Foolish people pamper the material body ignoring the needs of the soul. Surely a car needs petrol for functioning, but if one does not feed the driver of the car, then the driver cannot drive the car to the desired destination. In the same way, we need to take care of the body, but not indulge in such luxury that we forget the needs of the soul within the body. The soul or atma is the real driver of the body and the body is like a vehicle for the soul. Everyone knows how to give food to the bodily vehicle, but one should know that studying Bhagavadgita, applying the instructions of the Lord in our lives, and chanting the Lord’s holy names is the actual way of giving food to the soul. This can rekindle the dormant Krishna consciousness in our hearts, which are now covered by impurities like lust, pride, anger etc.

Cause of Suffering

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ll endeavours in the field of Science are to reduce the miseries of man and to increase his comforts. A fan is used to reduce the misery of sweating. A grinder is used to avoid the misery of manual grinding. A motorcycle is used to avoid the misery of pedalling. These are simple examples. In a similar way, all advances in Science, Technology and Medicine are aimed at reducing the miseries and, if possible, ending them altogether.


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Threefold Miseries Despite all this advancement, at every moment everyone is suffering due to at least one of the following threefold miseries. These are: 1) Miseries caused by one’s own mind and body (adhyatmika klesha): The body and the mind give rise to innumerable problems. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics, in the year 2000, in America, 19 million youths were suffering from mental related illness; everyday 1200 youths were attempting to commit suicide and one tenth of them were successful. Thus sometimes people are driven to the point of suicide due to mental frustration. In old age, the deteriorating body gives varieties of problems. For example, once a person grows beyond 80 years, generally he can’t even sit or stand without back-pain. 2) Miseries caused by other living entities (adhibhautika klesha) : Even if you have a healthy body and mind, others will not let you live in peace. Even if everything is nicely arranged in your life, some other living entity, such as your enemy, boss, colleague, relative, family member or friend, terrorists or, if no one else, then a mosquito or a virus, is sure to make our life miserable.

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3) Miseries caused by nature (adhidaivika klesha): Floods, droughts, famines, earthquakes, hurricanes etc are devastating calamities imposed upon us through the agency of nature. A volcanic eruption at Pompeii devoured 20,000 people under a 20 ft high lava layer. The recent tsunami tidal wave disaster swallowed 3,80,000 lives in a few minutes. Even if these come only occasionally, they wreak havoc whenever they come. And moreover, we are being constantly tormented by the changes in the weather such as scorching heat, freezing cold and untimely rains. Who can say that he is not being harassed constantly by one of these problems? The very fact that more than a dozen tranquilizers or painkillers are advertised on TV shows that there must be some suffering. Each person spends every moment preserving their life, belongings, kith and kin, job or post, reputation etc. But the world we live in, takes all these away eventually despite our efforts to hold on to them. Thus a wise person should ponder, “Why should our lives be ridden with the anxiety of facing and tackling one problem after another? Is this all that life is meant for? Or is there a life of eternal joy that is never inhibited by sufferings?” Scientific advancement : ingenuous way of covering reality Have we become successful in counteracting these sufferings or real problems of life -- birth, old age, disease and death? We have only become experts in covering up the reality. In fact, ‘advancement’ means ‘newer and more ingenuous ways of covering up the reality’.


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Once a man became allured by the beauty of a girl; she was tall, had long hair and wore a stylish cooling glass. He followed her all the way to her house in order to get to know more about her. When she entered her house, he peeped in through the window. He found her removing her high heels and her height reduced drastically. She removed her wig and her bald head showed up. She removed her cooling glasses and her sunken eyes within their sockets were exposed. She removed her teeth set and her actual age stood exposed - not 16 but 60.

Similarly modern science has come up with many sophisticated technological gadgets which give a superficial veneer of comfort and advancement to life. But actually when one gets a deeper vision, one understands that below this razzle-dazzle, the problems of life still persist; we still have to suffer due to old age, disease and death.

Shun the Sinful tendency and Surpass Suffering All these technological advancements provide only some temporary stop-gap solutions to man’s problems, but the problems keep surfacing again and again in some other form. Drama: Put up a drama on the following story. Cut a tomato into half to use as boil on the body. Once a man got a boil on his body. A doctor gave him an ointment to apply on it. He applied it and got cured. He was happy. But after some days, he got a similar boil in another part of his body. He again went to the doctor. The doctor told him to keep applying the ointment whenever the boil appeared. But the troubled man asked the doctor, “That’s alright. But every time I get the boil, it lasts for a week and I have to suffer enormous pain. Is there no way to put an end to this problem altogether?” The doctor couldn’t give any permanent solution.

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The man went to another doctor, who could understand the root cause of the problem to be the impurity in the blood. He treated the patient’s blood and the patient was permanently cured. Now he became happy and the boil never appered again.

What do we infer from this story? Originally we are all spirit souls, obedient servants of God in the spiritual world. Now having come to this material world, the soul is identifying with the material body and polluted by enjoying mentality, thinks, “I am Creator, I am enjoyer, I am Controller.” Just as the impure blood caused the man repeated boils, the impure mentality of the soul considering himself the master and enjoyer causes him to take on millions of bodies one after another to fulfill his impure desires. This leads him to suffering. Science is offering some superficial temporary solutions. But the problems keep repeating just as the patient kept getting boils again and again due to impure blood. Unless the soul gives up his impure desires that lead him to commit sin and replaces them by pure spiritual desires that lead him to love of God, he can not be happy. If an intelligent man can turn to the Vedas they can teach him how to shun sin and surpass suffering by realizing his loving relationship with God. Then by performing activities in pure spiritual consciousness, he will become eligible to enter into the kingdom of God, where there is eternal life full of knowledge and bliss.

What is the Purpose of the Vedic Literature?

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he Vedas are compared to a desire tree because they contain all things knowable by man. They deal with mundane necessities as well as spiritual realization. The Vedas contain regulated principles of knowledge covering social, political, religious, economic, military, medicinal, chemical,


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physical, metaphysical subject matter and above all specific directions for spiritual realization.

spoke previously. After sometime, whatever the Astronomy book says you accept (even those things which cannot be proved or perceived through senses). This is due to the credibility of the book. Because the book has gained some credibility in the eyes of the reader, the reader becomes ready to believe everything that the book says even without verifying it.

The real essence of Vedic literatures can be categorized into three headings: • • •

Sambandha: Understanding the answers to the questions, “Who am I? Who is God? What is my relation with God?” Abhideya: The process of reviving our relationship with God Prayojana: The mature result: attainment of love of God.

Thus the three subject matters described in the Vedic literature are: the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the central point of all relationships, acting in devotional service to Him is one’s real occupation and attainment of love of God is the ultimate goal of life.

•

Everyone in the scientific community knows that mathematicians work with an imaginary number called ‘i’, which is the square root of minus one. This number does not figure among the natural numbers (1,2,3 etc.). However, important branches of mathematics – for example, the theory of analytical functions – are based on this imaginary unit. Thus the existence of this number cannot be denied; yet there is no experiment to prove it.

•

Another scientific theory that is beyond the limit of experimental science is Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle. The statement of this principle is that it is impossible to simultaneously determine the position and momentum of any object. No experimental technique can prove this principle. However, scientists all over the world accept this statement as a fact, knowing that the experimental proof is beyond their ability.

•

There is no scientific experiment to prove the Third Law of Thermodynamics. This law, as formulated by Plank, states that the entropy of a perfect crystal at absolute zero degree is equal to zero. Factually, there is no means available for measuring degree Kelvin or for measuring directly the absolute entropies. Therefore the proof of this law is beyond the realm of experimental science.

Is Accepting the Vedas not Blind Faith?

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ometimes people argue, “Who knows whether what the Vedas say is all true or not? Better to depend on Science.” Those who are unaware of the limitations of the senses are often proud of scientific advancement. Many examples show how even in the field of Science many things, which have no experimental proofs are accepted as axiomatic truths. Some of them are: •

When an Astronomy book says, “This is the sun”, you accept. When it talks of cosmic distances based on calculations, you accept because it is ‘scientific’. When it says there are 10 billion stars in the sky, you accept it, although there is no foolproof method to verify it. You agree blindly, because you’ve developed faith in what they

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All these examples show that, in every field of material science – be it Mathematics or Physics, there are axioms, which are impossible to verify experimentally, yet which must be accepted to progress in studying that field. If this is the case with Material Science, what then to speak of Spiritual Science, which deals with subjects entirely beyond sense perception? The Vedas also present the truth as Axiomatic Truth, which if accepted and practised, can gradually bring a faithful practitioner to the platform of realization. So the acceptance of Vedas is not blind faith. In fact, it is the safest method of knowing the truth because the Vedas present the Absolute Truth, which never changes. Accepting the socalled truth based on scientific discovery is risky, because the scientific truths are standing on a tottering platform; they are seen to be revised, updated, and modified moment after moment, day after day and year after year.

Why are Vedas Considered the Word of God ?

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hy should we accept the Shabda Praman (Vedas) to be true? The Vedas are directly the word of God revealed at the time of Creation. When you buy a motorcycle, you get an instruction manual explaining how to use it.

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Similarly, at the time of Creation, God gives us the Vedic scriptures for direction on how to behave in this world, which is like a complex machine. There are many facts which were stated in the Vedas since time immemorial, but which modern science has started discovering only recently. Some of them are: • Using a variety of complicated instruments, gynecologists have gradually come to know how the embryo grows during the period of pregnancy. But the Shrimad Bhagavatam, 3rd Canto, 31st Chapter, gives a vivid description of the growth of the embryo in the mother’s womb. If we compare the information given therein with the information given in a standard textbook such as the embryology section of Gray’s Anatomy, there are striking similarities in the information obtained from the two sources. • The Vedas claim that there are living entities everywhere even in fire. Modern science, however, presumed that no life could exist in fire. This presumption is, in fact, the basis for the process of sterilization. But recent advancements in the field of medicine have shown that microbes called ‘fire bacteria’ survive even in fire. • The Vedas state that cow dung, in spite of being the stool of an animal, is pure. It was only in 1940 that the antiseptic qualities of cow dung were discovered. • The Vedas state that plants have life. But till Jagadish Chandra Bose proved that plants have feelings, scientists believed that they were inanimate.


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The Vedas also make accurate predictions of incarnations or great personalities who will appear in the future. Some of the personalities predicted along with the text in which they are predicted are given below: • • • • •

Buddha (Shrimad Bhagavatam 1.3.24), Chanakya (Shrimad Bhagavatam 12.1.11), Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Mahabharata 127.92.75, Shrimad Bhagavatam 11.5.32) Chandragupta and Emperor Ashoka (Shrimad Bhagavatam 12.1.12) Jesus & Mohammed (Bhavishya Purana, Atharva Veda, Kanda 20, Shukta 127, 1-3)

If the Vedas are of mundane origin, how can they contain advanced scientific knowledge? How can they predict appearance of future personalities? Thus it can be understood that the Vedas are the word of God. They carry Absolute Knowledge. They are a very ancient body of knowledge coming down the ages from the dawn of creation. Unlike modern science, they never change with time.

Two Systems of Knowledge

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ecause Vedic knowledge is pure and authoritative, we accept it. That saves much time. If we accept the right authority or the right source of knowledge, then we save much time. There are two systems of knowledge in the material world - Inductive and Deductive. The Inductive / Ascending method means not accepting any authority and trying to find out truth by one’s own endeavour or speculation. For example:

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How do we know who our father is? By imagination or mental speculation nobody can arrive at an answer. Someone may suggest doing genetic finger printing. But just imagine the sheer effort required. Assuming that only ten percent of the world’s males would be capable of having fathered us, still we have to do massive amount of testing of around 250 million adults. Assuming a ridiculously low average test time of 100 seconds per individual, it would still take us a minimum of 800 years of non-stop testing. Just imagine the enormous expense and the mind-boggling record keeping involved! Even if we somehow managed to do it and assuming that we somehow remained alive, still the people who might have fathered us would be long dead by that time. The actual solution is simple: just ask the mother; she will tell us. Even if 10,000,000 other people were to contradict the words of our mother, still her words have more weight for us than the words of all the others put together. That is the power of proper authority The Deductive / Descending method means to accept an authority and to learn the truth by inquiring from him. For example, If we want to know who our father is, we have to accept our mother’s authority. Similarly, if we want to know something beyond our experience, beyond our experimental knowledge, beyond the activities of our senses, then we have to accept the Vedas. One should intelligently choose to accept Vedic knowledge by Deductive / Descending method. If we want to attain knowledge by any personal endeavour, by exercising our imperfect senses, we will never come to the right conclusions.


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The Vedic Process of Learning

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very field of science has got authoritative books that have earned the credibility of the readers. For example, if two students of Electrical Engineering have a difference of opinion about solving an electrical engineering problem, they can come to a conclusion by quoting or citing from B. L. Theraja’s electrical engineering book. Similarly spiritual science has got authoritative Vedic texts like Bhagavad gita or Srimad Bhagavatam, which have been understood, practiced and proven since time immemorial. In material science, we have professors to teach the subject and these professors have learnt the subject from their teachers. Similarly the knowledge of spiritual science has been coming down in disciplic succession and all the Vedic professors or acharyas have learnt the knowledge from their gurus. In material science, we seek admission in an authorized reputed college where we can be confident of gaining knowledge in the subject. The same holds true for the Vedas. So, if anybody genuinely wants to understand God and practice religion, he should first know that there are Vedic textbooks, teachers to teach these books and authorised schools called as ‘Sampradaya’ or ‘Parampara’ available. Aural reception of transcendental knowledge from authority is the Vedic standard. Whereas material knowledge pertains to

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things within the material universe, transcendental knowledge pertains to things beyond this universe. The Vedas point to a supreme original truth unknowable either by direct perception (Pratyaksha) or by inductive method (Anumana). The Vedic philosophers proclaim that Shabda (hearing from an authority) opens up a realm of knowledge beyond scientific methodology. They hold Shabda to be the only process by which we can know what is unknowable in our present conditioned state. If a person can learn from someone who has received perfect knowledge, he can become free from all misery. “Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master…” the Bhagavad-gita (4.34) enjoins, “Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.” In addition, the Mundaka Upanishad (1.2.12) enjoins that a sincere student has to approach the ideal guru to receive transcendental knowledge and enlightenment. *

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Chapter

4

Science of the soul

The ABC of Bhagavad-gita The first and most fundamental knowledge that a disciple learns from a guru is, “You are not the body; you are a spirit soul.” This knowledge is the ABC of Bhagavad-gita and one of the first instructions that Lord Krishna gave Arjuna, when Arjuna surrendered to Him [BG 2.13]. Let us understand this fundamental knowledge of the scriptures in this lesson. Doctors dissect and study a dead body. What makes a living body possess emotions and feelings like pain, pleasure, happiness, distress, etc? The soul is the spark of life that makes the body appear alive and when the soul leaves the body, we say the person is dead. According to the Vedic knowledge, the body is always dead. For example, a microphone is made of metal. When electric energy passes through the microphone, the sound is broadcast over loudspeakers. But when there is no electricity in the system, nothing happens. Whether the microphone is working

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or not, it remains nothing more than an assembly of metal, plastic, etc. Similarly, the human body works because of the living force within. When this living force leaves the body, it is said that the body is dead. But actually it is always dead. The living force is the important element; its presence alone makes the body appear to be alive. But “alive” or “dead,” the physical body is nothing more than a collection of dead matter. Direct experience, inference, logic, empiric observation and religious faith all concur: some sort of conscious self-energy exists within the body. The body is an instrument; the conscious energy, soul is the user of that instrument. Say, I use a bicycle to travel from one place to another. If my cycle is destroyed, I will have to get another one to ride – or I will have to stop using a bicycle altogether. But I exist apart from the bicycle. Analogically, if my body is destroyed, I, the soul, am not destroyed with it. I continue to exist as much as the bicycle driver continues to exist after the destruction of the bicycle. One bicycle may breakdown, but I can get a new one. One body may grow from childhood to youth to old age and die one day; but I can get another body. If one has a desire to drive a scooter, then one might change from a bicycle to a scooter. If one can pay a higher price and wants to drive a car to save himself from the chasing dogs, then one may give up a scooter and buy a car, etc. The vehicles may change, but the driver is the same. Similarly, the soul, in order to satisfy his unfulfilled desires, leaves the material body at death and acquires a new material body – be it human or animal or demigod/devata – depending on his karma and desires.

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Scientific Proof of the Soul’s Existence When people hear about the soul, the first thing they ask is, “Can you show me the soul?” or “What is the proof of the soul’s existence?” For gaining awareness of any knowledge we need an appropriate instrument. For example, the ears cannot see a picture, nor can the eyes hear the sound of music. The soul is not made up of matter. It is beyond matter. Is it possible to perceive the soul? A Physicist, or an Electronics Engineer, cannot capture an electron with his fingers or hands, nor can he see it with his eyes; but he can see the light reflection coming from an electron on the CRT screen. This is the proof of existence of the electron. You cannot see X-rays with your eyes, but you can understand the presence of X-rays by seeing the effect it produces on a X-ray photograph sheet, when the X-rays are passed through a body. This is called ‘inferential logic’. Using the same logic the presence of the soul in a living body can be easily proved. The following points may help us better understand the presence of the soul empirically. Common Sense Prof. Durckheim: Why does it appear to be so difficult to understand that one is different from the body?

Srila Prabhupada: It is not difficult. You can experience it. It is only because of foolishness that people think differently; but everyone really knows, “I am not this body.” This is very easy to experience. I am existing. I understand that I have existed in a baby’s body, I have existed in a child’s body, and also in a boy’s body. I have existed in so many bodies, and now I am in an old man’s body. Or, for example, say you have now put on a black coat. The next moment you may put on a white coat. But you are not that black or white coat; you have simply changed coats. If I call you “Mr. Black Coat,” that is my foolishness. Similarly, in my lifetime I have changed bodies many times, but I am not any of these bodies. This is real knowledge.

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When a person dies we say, “He has passed away.” Now who has passed away? The body of the person still lies there. The fact is that the source of life, the soul, has passed away from the body and therefore the person is now called dead. Intuitive Understanding Prof. Durckheim: Consider this. One of your students might say, “I am spirit,” but he might not be able to experience it.

Srila Prabhupada: How can he not experience it? He knows that he is the

active principle. Everyone ultimately knows that they are not the body. Even a child knows it. We can observe this by examining the way we speak. We say, “This is my finger.” We never say, “I finger.” So what is that “I”? This is self-realization—“I am not this body.”

We have an intuitive understanding that the real self, the ‘I’, is distinct from the body, mind and intelligence. We speak in terms of ‘my hand’, ‘my head’, ‘my suitcase’, etc. This indicates that these things – hand, head, suitcase – belong to somebody, an owner. The eyes, ears and brain are merely organs, through which we see, hear or think. These organs in themselves cannot do any activity. There are eyes, ears and brain even in a dead body. The activities have stopped because the driver, the soul, has left the body.

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There is consciousness in a living body. Just like the sun spreads heat and light all around, the soul spreads consciousness all around the body, from the tip of the toes and fingers to the top of the head. It is this consciousness that enables us to think, feel, move and so on. Thus, consciousness is the symptom of the soul. Consciousness is what distinguishes a dead body from a living one. By a combination of servomotors and microprocessor, you can easily make a robotic machine perform aratik ceremony for Lord Vishnu using incense sticks and a ghee lamp. You also perform aratik for the Lord everyday. What is the difference? You have loving feelings for the Lord in the heart, while a robot has no consciousness or awareness of itself or the Lord. When you appreciate a tape recorder for broadcasting a sweet music, it feels no emotions; but when you appreciate your friend who sings sweetly, you will find a smile on his/her face. This is consciousness – the ability to be aware of one’s existence, to think, to feel and to will. As Thomas Huxley rightly said, “There is a third thing in the universe, to wit, consciousness, which I cannot see to be matter or force.” Consciousness gives the proof of the soul. Near Death Experience (NDE)

Awareness, Thinking, Feeling and Willing Someone may argue, “But the soul can’t be perceived in any way or measured with any instrument. Why should we believe in a hypothetical entity for which there is no evidence?” Actually, you can see the soul; it is just a matter of training, just as you must study in the university for many years to see how an atom exists. The soul is like a spiritual atom. The symptom of its presence is consciousness.

NDEs, as the name suggests, involve people who have a close call with death. Many people having NDEs also have Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs) in which they report observing their physical body and events relating to it from a perspective outside the body during severe illness or physical trauma

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resulting in unconsciousness. A typical case might involve a person who is resuscitated from a heart attack and reports that he observed, from a point outside his body, the medical personnel endeavoring to revive him. At such times, according to standard medical opinion, the normal functioning of the brain, as indicated by certain brain waves, is impaired, and the patient should be unconscious, if indeed consciousness is a manifestation of the brain. A real life NDE of a boy who had a brush with death can be presented as an example. Once a boy sitting in a rickshaw was relaxing carefree while a bullock cart carrying reinforced steel bars was ahead of the rickshaw. Owing to the dark night, the rickshaw driver did not notice one of the bars that was protruding. As he drove ahead, the rod entered right into the abdomen of the boy in the rickshaw who screamed and gasped for life as the rod pierced his stomach and came out from his back. He was rushed to the emergency ward and to the operation theatre. He was almost dead, while the nurses operated on his abdomen. When he recovered, he could recollect each and every instrument used by the nurses for operating on him, as well as the talks that went on between the doctor and the nurses. The greatly surprised hospital officials inquired from him as to how an unconscious person, whose brain waves were flat, could remember everything that had happened during the operation. In response the boy said that he was out of his body, at a point four feet above the body observing everything happening to his own material body. This is a classical example of an NDE case.

The book ‘Into the Unknown’ published by ‘The Readers Digest’ even gives evidences of people who had OBEs or Out-of-Body Experiences. Such people who could perform OBE, were made to lie on a bed closing their eyes, go out of the body,

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observe the different types of objects like triangular prism, rectangular, circular plates, etc., kept on a loft, again return into the body and draw the objects that they saw on the loft on a sheet of paper. Such drawings perfectly matched with the objects kept high up on the loft that no one could observe from the ground level. This is called OBE or Out-of-Body Experience. There is enough research work in NDE and OBE presented by individuals with impeccable scientific credentials. For example, Dr. Michael B.Sabom, a cardiologist and professor at the Emory University Medical School, was openly skeptical of NDEs but changed his mind after investigating them. Past Life Memories Rigorous, unbiased studies have been carried out by serious researchers on pastlife memories. Ian Stevenson, Carlson Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia, has extensively investigated spontaneous reincarnation memories recounted by children. In such cases he has been able to positively corroborate what the child has claimed by thoroughly investigating details of the place and people they describe, including the dead person they claim to have been. Stevenson has assembled numerous accounts of over 3000 cases of reincarnation and verified them, always taking great care to screen out fabrications. His studies give convincing evidence that the conscious self can travel from one physical body to the next.

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Clearly, when one body dies, the contents of its brain are destroyed, and there is no physical process by which they can influence the contents of another brain. The logical interpretation is that the conscious self must be an entity distinct from the brain.

Practical Benefits of the knowledge about the soul The knowledge and realization of the soul, as explained in Bhagavad-gita by Lord Shri Krishna to Arjuna has several practical benefits for one even in the modern age as outlined below: Acquiring Divine Assets and Freedom from Demoniac nature: To live a life with the consciousness, ‘I am not this material body; I am pure spirit soul’ directs one to cultivate divine qualities as humility, contentment, tolerance, patience, sweetness, equipoise, universal love, honesty, sincerity, etc. Cultivation of such qualities brings peace and happiness now, and at the same time leads one to the world of eternal joy. On the other hand the qualities normally found in those leading a life of bodily consciousness are selfishness, intolerance, craving for flickering pleasures, arrogance, false pride, anger, etc., which take one away from harmony with nature and God. People who think that everything is finished at death try to selfishly accumulate as much as they can without caring for others, like Duryodhana. Ignoring God, considering themselves to be the ultimate controller and center of everything, they consider everything as objects of their enjoyment. If you draw millions of circles with a common center, there will be no clash; similarly when one understands God to be the center of the universe, then all living beings can live without quarrel. When everyone considers, ‘I am the

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center’ then it is like drawing multiple circles with different centers all clashing with one another. Freedom from Lamentation, Fear and Illusion: Everyone in this world laments when some near and dear ones pass away. We have seen once when the wife of a big government officer died, he lamented like a child flapping his hands and legs on the ground. When one knows the knowledge of the soul, one can understand that the soul has passed away to the next body, and that death is nothing but the transfer of the soul from one body to another. When old age sets in, people fear that death may come at anytime. But one who knows that he is different from the body, does not fear death, rather prepares his consciousness to achieve the blessings of God’s remembrance at the time of leaving the body. When bombs were being dropped during the second world war, Srila Prabhupada was making kachoris singing Hare Krishna happily. A devotee has no fear, because he chants God’s names when he is alive and returns with his spiritual body to God’s kingdom when he dies. One who thinks, ‘I am the body’ spends all the time in illusory enjoyment like smoking, drinking and activities that degrade the body, mind and soul. In modern times there are hundreds of varieties of shoes, coats, suits, hairstyles, cosmetics, soaps, hair oils, etc. – all meant for pampering the dying material body. Such an attempt is compared to the efforts of the lady who polished the cage, but forgot to feed the parrot within the cage. Modern man is pampering the material body due to illusion, forgetting the soul within. But one who knows that the actual self is the soul, and that the body is like a mere dress, acts on the spiritual platform according to the good instructions of the scriptures. This leads to the benefit of body, mind and soul.

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Universal Brotherhood: The above qualities bring about universal brotherhood under the Fatherhood of one Supreme God. A spiritualist endeavors to stabilize his awareness of the soul and strengthen his loving relationship with God and all other living beings. This leads to peace, happiness, purity, knowledge for the welfare of everyone. In other words the ‘Vaikuntha’ (place of no anxiety) atmosphere can be created even in this world when God is kept in the center of everyone’s life, and the knowledge of the soul in relation to God is understood and practiced by all. Hitler killed millions of innocent Jews in gas chambers, considering them his enemy. The quarrel between whites and blacks is simply based on superficial skin identity. All these quarrels can be stopped at once as soon as one understands the soul. Man against man, family against family, country against country have quarrels simply on the basis of self-imposed, demarcated, false superficial identities. When one understands the real identity as the soul, then not only other humans, but even animals, birds, trees all become our brothers under the protective shelter of God. This can put an end to mass scale slaughter of innocent cows and abortion of millions of children in the womb. Positive Outlook and Attitude to life: Understanding the knowledge of the soul changes man’s outlook and attitudes, and helps one act correctly while facing different situations in life. The attitude transformation and spiritual upliftment that one gains by the knowledge of the soul proves that there is potentiality of goodness in man, and it can be awakened by loving service to God and by removing the negativity of the enjoying mentality. The transformation of heart leads to the attitudes of goodwill, co-operation, sympathy, love and serving others with humility.

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When one understands the knowledge of the self, then one gains self-awareness that can lead to self-management. We can observe ourselves, our chemistry or nature, our right and wrong behavior, our strengths and weaknesses and where we need to improve. Just as we have the courage to direct others as to what they should be doing, why they should be doing it and how they should be doing it, similarly, we are able to direct our sense organs with proper understanding of these aspects. For example, the tongue has no bones, but it can break bones if not managed properly. On most occasions, the information slips through the tongue in the wrong place, at the wrong time, in front of the wrong person, and one cannot avoid the consequences that arise. This is the difficulty in managing oneself. If I am not able to take the responsibility of managing my own sense organs, how can I take up the responsibility of managing my life, my family or my workplace, and maintain a balance in all the different areas of my life ? In short, therefore, we need the courage to manage our own selves. This is so helpful in our practical life situations – both in the family and in the office. If I really want to improve my situation or relationship with a partner, I can work on the one thing over which I have control – myself. I can stop trying to shape up my wife/subordinate/friend and work on my own weaknesses. I can focus on being a great partner, and a source of unconditional love and support. Hopefully, that person will feel the power of my example and respond in kind. But whether that person does or doesn’t, the most positive way I can influence my situation is to work on myself, on my BEING. There are so may ways to improve our life – to BE a better listener, to BE a more loving marriage partner, to BE a better student, to BE a more co-operative employee.

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Such a positive attitude is possible only with one who has a high Spiritual Quotient (SQ). The knowledge of the soul can help one conquer the problems of negative thinking that arise from previous experiences stored in the mind, and help one live a life happily as a detached witness or observer. This is a very essential quality for the common people as well as for those in high responsible positions. A lack of this attitude can lead to stress, depression, revenge, grudge, boredom, defensiveness, etc. Art and Science of Mantra Meditation: One who studies the soul also studies about the mind. The mind is a storehouse of varieties of plans and desires for enjoyment. The mind constantly keeps accepting and rejecting various desires and this causes the individual to suffer from stress, tension, depression, inferiority complex, etc. But the knowledge of the soul as a non-material spiritual being combined with Mantra Meditation, ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare'’(see Appendix for more information), can offer one freedom from all mental problems to begin with and eventually pure love of God. Mantra Meditation is done with the understanding that as tiny souls we are helpless; God being the Supreme father of the living being is eager to help us. Chanting is a loud call from the core of the heart to the Supreme Lord to kindly elevate us from this suffering situation and to be placed in His loving company. Thus the understanding of the soul offers one complete protection from all dangers and worries of this world. One can simply hand over the charge of one’s life to God by such focused meditation on the Holy names of God. On the other hand, there are those who consider themselves to be their own body and avoid meditation, thinking of it as a waste of

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time. They are made to run from pillar to post by their minds that hanker for practically everything in the world from a hamburger to the most costly independent bungalow. Furthermore, they suffer from loneliness and boredom, with no knowledge of the soul and its loving relationship with God. Right use of resources: When people are conscious of the soul, they are aware that the material body is temporary, and that the material world is a temporary place of suffering designed by God to reform and purify us and prepare us to return to the eternal Kingdom of God. Thus they live a life socially, politically, culturally and economically centered around God. This brings purity, peace, and prosperity, health, wealth and happiness, all aimed at pleasing the Supreme Lord. Modern man absorbed in bodily consciousness believes in ‘survival of the fittest’, and thus does not worry how he harms others in his rat race to ‘eat, drink and be merry’. Claiming his forefathers to be apes, the origin of the universe to be a big bang, modern man imagines himself to be no more than a bunch of chemicals or atoms colliding with one another. Such a blunt, blind, superficial material outlook to life renders life meaningless, making the world purposeless, and is neither useful to the individual nor beneficial to others in the world. The Vedic life that centers around the awareness of the soul and its loving relation with God and all fellow beings, teaches one to consider another man’s wife as a mother, other people’s wealth as garbage, and to warmly treat others in the same way as one would want to be treated by others. Thus spiritual life is based on the firm foundation of co-operation of all, welfare for all, proper utilization of God-given resources, and freedom from greed and selfishness.

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A Clear Understanding of Life and Death

represents all liquids, fire represents heat, air represents all gases and ether represents space and sound in our body.

The empirical evidences confirm that a conscious self is present in the material body. But if one has to wait for science to provide complete understanding of the nature of the soul, and its qualities, one may probably have to wait a million years. The attempt to understand reality by science, with its inherent limitations, is like a child’s exploration of the vast expansive universe around him. Vedic knowledge on the other hand is the timeless mature voice of the Supreme Father, God, coming since time immemorial. We can get clear information about what is life and what is death from the scriptures directly without any mental speculation.

The Mind, Intelligence and False Ego constitute the subtle body. The subtle body is also called as the ‘sukshma sharira’. ‘True Ego’ is to understand that ‘I am spirit soul, eternal servant of God’. ‘False Ego’ is to think in illusion that, ‘I am this body’. The subtle body and the gross body are coverings upon the soul. Such a soul entrapped in these subtle and gross bodies is called a ‘Conditioned Soul’. One who becomes free from these coverings and attains spiritual consciousness is called a ‘Liberated Soul’.

The Gross Body and the Subtle Body Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita (2.17): avinasi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idam tatam vinasam avyayasyasya na kascit kartum arhati “That which pervades the entire body is indestructible. No one can destroy the imperishable soul.”

The Lord also says in the Bhagavad-gita (7.4) : bhumir apo nalo vayuh kham mano buddhir eva ca ahankara itiyam me bhinna prakrtir ashtadha “Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego are My eight separated inferior energies”. These eight energies are always subject to change. The gross body, also known as the ‘sthula sharira’ is made up of five elements - earth, water, fire, air and ether – often known as ‘pancha maha bhuta’. Earth represents all solids, water

In the next verse, the Lord says: apareyam itas tv anyam prakritim viddhi me param jiva bhutam maha baho yayedam dharyate jagat “Besides this inferior nature, there is a superior energy of Mine, that are all living entities who are struggling with material nature and are sustaining the universe” (Bhagavad-gita 7.5). Both inferior energy (matter: gross and subtle) and superior energy (spirit soul: sat-cit-ananda) are subordinate to the Supreme Lord. The soul is life and the body is always dead. Just as when you wear gloves on the hand and move the fingers, the gloves may appear to have life, similarly the soul moves the body. The body is always dead even when the spirit soul is present in it, because the body is after all made up of dead matter – earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego; which have no life in themselves.

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The Nature of the Soul The Soul is Indestructible As soon as scientists come to know of any substance they want to study its physical and chemical properties. Thus Lord Shri Krishna explains to Arjuna that the soul is not made up of matter like solids, liquids, or gases. “The soul cannot be cut to pieces by any weapons; it cannot be burned by fire; it cannot be dried by wind; nor can it be moistened by water.” [BG 2.23] The Soul is an Individual Each soul is a separate individual with separate consciousness. You are aware of your body, mind, intelligence and false ego. I cannot perceive your headache and you cannot know what I am thinking. But God is aware of every particle of this creation. [Read purport to BG2.12, BG15.7] The Soul has form The spirit soul is not some ‘impersonal light’ or ‘void’ as some people wrongly think. The soul is a beautiful personality whose body is made up of sat-cit-ananda (eternity-bliss-knowledge).

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Matter is formless – Spirit soul gives form to Matter Matter in itself has no form. Matter acquires a form only when a spirit soul enters it. For example, if you take a plain cloth it may be formless, but if you put your finger inside then it assumes a form. When you remove your finger then it loses its form. Similarly, matter (the eight elements that constitute the body) assumes a form when the soul enters it. At death, when the soul leaves the body, the body decomposes, disintegrates and loses its form. So matter is formless, only the spirit gives form to matter. A table or chair may have a form, although it is dead matter. Matter can assume form only when a soul manipulates it. For example, a table has been given a form by a soul (carpenter). The Soul Is Eternal “For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, everexisting, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” [BG 2.20]

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The Soul has a form of Eternity (sat)- Knowledge (cit)Bliss (ananda) The soul comes from the Kingdom of God and he has a spiritual body of eternity, knowledge and bliss to relate with the Lord. But when the soul desires to become an independent enjoyer, he is dispatched to the material world, where he is entrapped in a material body. Why do we suffer? Because the ‘sat-cit-ananda’ soul is entrapped in an ‘asat-acit-nirananda’ (temporary-ignorant-miserable) body, there is a great amount of incompatibility that causes suffering. We all can easily see that we are seeking knowledge by going to schools and colleges. We want to live forever, and in order to do that we go to a doctor to set right the bodily problems, and also we always try to protect the body from all possible dangers. We want to increase happiness unlimitedly and put a full stop to all pains. Our advancement in the use of modern comforts shows that we want to make life always enjoyable and without any sufferings or worries. These three aspirations can be fulfilled when one realizes, “I am not the body, I am the soul.” The Soul is situated in the region of the Heart The soul pervades the body with consciousness as a lamp fills a room with light. The lamp that gives light to the entire room may be in one corner of the room. Similarly the soul is situated in the region of our heart. The soul is not removed during heart transplantation, as he is spiritual. For example, when the stepney / radiator of a car is changed, nothing happens to the driver. Similarly one heart (which is just like a radiator pumping blood) may be replaced by another, but that does not affect the soul. If somebody undergoes a heart transplant, do you see his intrinsic behavior or nature change after the operation? No.

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Thus the soul, the owner of the body does not change when any transplant is done. The Size of the Soul The Upanishads and the Shrimad Bhagavatam describe the size of the soul (seed form): “If you divide the tip of the hair into 100 parts, and if you further divide one of those parts into 100 parts - that 1/10,000 part of the tip of the hair is the size of the soul.” (Svetasvatara Upanishad 5.9) This is the size of the soul in the seed form, in which he wanders in the material universe. But the soul has an original, beautiful, spiritual sat-cit-ananda form in the spiritual world, which is known as svarupa (spiritual constitutional position). The soul has an eternal sweet relationship with God in this svarupa.

Are we Gods or God’s? God, by definition, is supremely independent and is never controlled; He is the supreme controller. In the Isopanisad, the word ‘isha’ is used to describe the Supreme Personality of Godhead. ‘isha’ means ‘controller’. Is there any person anywhere within this universe who is not controlled? Can anyone say, “I am not controlled”? Nobody can say that. None of us wants to grow old, get diseased and die; yet it is happening to us all the time and we

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have no control over it whatsoever. No one wants to suffer, but sufferings are constantly coming in our lives and we have no control to stop them. Thus we are thoroughly controlled by the stringent laws of nature. Mayavadi impersonalists claim, “I am God, you are God, everyone is God.” But when they get a toothache it controls them so much that they can do nothing about it except moan in pain. So if they are controlled, how can they be God? Does this make any sense? God is never controlled; He is the supreme controller. So if somebody is controlled, immediately we should know that he is not God. Now, this is not to say that the living entities are not controllers to some extent. In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna says that the living entities are His superior energy. The living entities are superior because they are conscious, whereas material energy is not conscious. Therefore the living entities can control the material energy to some extent. For example, a scientist may produce and pilot a plane to fly great heights, but when the fuel is finished the aeroplane must come down. Thus living entities have limited freedom to manipulate matter. But when they manipulate matter for their own selfish enjoyment, then the material energy dominates them and makes them suffer. The following examples illustrate the relationship between matter and spirit and the difference between the infinitesimal living entity and the infinite Supersoul: • A big airplane can fly nicely in the sky, but if the spiritual energy – the pilot – is not there, it is useless. The jet plane may be in the airport for thousands of years; it cannot budge an inch, unless the small particle of spiritual energy, the pilot, comes and operates it. Thus an ordinary living entity can control an airplane, but God being the supreme controller can control this gigantic manifestation of material energy, the entire cosmic manifestation.

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• A scientist, a tiny living entity, can put a satellite in orbit after years of research; but God can float millions of huge planets in orbit effortlessly. • A human being, a tiny living entity, can create at best a 200 storied skyscraper building, but God can create millions of universes (ananta koti brahmanda nayak). • A human being can make a small swimming pool, but God can make gigantic swimming pools, the vast oceans. Thus the superior spiritual energy can have some control over the inferior material energy. But we have forgotten that, although we are superior to matter, we are still subordinate to God. And so that superiority is being misused to exploit matter for sense gratification. This is the cause of our suffering.

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5

Substance And Shadow

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he Absolute Truth or God is so beautiful that many sages, saints and devotees have left everything for the sake of attaining that Truth. Every one of us in this world is attracted to someone very beautiful, e.g a cinema actor; or we are attracted to someone who is very strong, e.g boxer Mike Tyson; or someone who is very wealthy, e.g Bill Gates. Why are we attracted? We are attracted because originally these opulences are present in God, who is supremely attractive. The great sage Parasara defines ‘Bhagavan’ as one who is full in six opulences – Beauty, Wealth, Knowledge, Fame, Strength and Renunciation. This makes God all attractive to everyone. The word ‘Krishna’ means ‘all attractive’. Since Krishna possesses all opulences in full, when He plays on His flute He is attractive not only to humans but also to animals like deers, monkeys, cows and birds like peacocks and rivers like Yamuna. All the living beings of this world possess a tiny fraction of God’s opulences and thus if God’s potencies are compared to sun, the living beings’ potencies are like that of tiny rays of sun, namely the sunlight. When the soul leaves the spiritual world and comes to material world, He forgets his true identity as soul and foolishly thinks himself to be the material body made up of flesh and bones. Thus he becomes attracted to the glittering illusion of false beauty of the objects of the material world which is simply a poor imitation of the spiritual beauty. The bodies of beauty queens, who in their youth make men go crazy, become dried up in old age like grapes turned into raisins. Why can’t the beauty of this world remain permanent? Why cannot the beauty of this world give us happiness? Why does the happiness obtained from the objects of this world vanish so quickly? The answer is that we should know what is substance

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and what is shadow or imitation of the real substance. The real substance (spirit soul) is forgotten – the shadow (material body) is given all importance. This is the root cause of all the problems in the world today.

Where Does the Soul Come from?

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he Vedic scriptures explain that the soul is constitutionally a resident of an eternal realm, the spiritual world. It is explained in the Upanishads, nityo nityanam, cetanas cetananam, eko bahunam, yo vidadati kaman “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is one amongst many many souls who are all subordinate to Him.” Every soul is endowed with a minute independence either to choose to love and serve God or to be independent of God and struggle for so-called illusory enjoyment in this material world. The souls in this world, that is, all of us, have chosen to be independent of God to enjoy separate from Him. Suppose a child adamently demands his mother who is cooking in the kitchen, “Mom, you leave the kitchen; I will cook today.” She may persuade the child to understand that he cannot deal with fire carefully and he will not be able to manage the kitchen himself. But if the child is adament, then the mother may purchase a Leo Toyset of baby kitchen items to play and may give it to her child to play. Now the boy may play with all the toys till noon doing so-called cooking with sand and water. Once it is noon and he becomes hungry, he will return to mother, “Mom, I am hungry.” Mother may ask, “What about all the cooking that you did?” The child may laugh and say, “That was all a foolish game. Now I am really hungry. So you give me food.”

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In the same manner, the spirit souls in the spiritual world derive great joy in the love and service of the Lord as we see in the pastimes of Hanuman serving Lord Rama or the residents of Vrindavan serving Sri Krishna. But when the soul wants to leave the spiritual world and become an independent Lord and master, then Lord creates this material world to satisfy the whims of the foolish living entity. When the living entity is frustrated here, then he turns to Lord and becomes His devotee again. When he is completely purified of the wrong mentality, he can again ascend to the spiritual world, his original home to rejoin the eternal service to the Lord. Till the living being is purified of all his independent desires for enjoyment he has to wander in the cycle of birth and death taking on different types of bodies as per his desire and karma. We are constitutionally part-and-parcel servants of God and we can become happy only by serving Him. This can be likened to supplying food to the stomach. When the part serves the whole, the part also becomes nourished. Panca tantra Story :

‘When senses go on a strike’

Once all the senses of the body of a man came together for a meeting. There was a big quarrel about which part of the body is the most valuable. The eye said, “It is me who sees the food first. So I am the most important.” The nose said, “O foolish eye! Don’t you realize that its me who smells the food even before you see it?” The teeth said, “What is the use of you people seeing and smelling. Without me doing the job of crushing, no food can go to the stomach.” But the tongue said, “You may crush the food, but if the taste is bad, I will reject what is passed by you. So I am the most important.” The hands said, “It seems all of you people have forgotten me. Am I not the one who picks up the food and puts it in the mouth?” The leg spoke lastly, “I carry the whole trunk of the body from place to place where food is kept. Without me all of you are useless.” The arguments went on for


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a long time. At the end they all arrived at a consensus: “All of us are important. But there is one useless person who does not do any work; but we are all working so hard to please him – the stomach! Come let us all go on a strike. Why should we please this person by feeding him when he is just in one place sitting and enjoying?”

true happiness, not by trying to compete with God or act independent of God. In the above example, if wife ignores her services at home arguing with the husband, she only becomes frustrated.

The stomach did not say anything. When they all went on strike and did not supply food to the stomach, gradually the legs became weak; it started trembling. The hand lost all power and potency to do any work. The eyes were reeling. They all came together for a meeting and decided, “If we don’t serve the stomach, then we only suffer. It is better that we serve him and become nourished ourselves.” When all the parts of the body co-operated in supplying food to stomach, then the whole body became nourished.

Those who are willing to surrender to God by following the instructions of God mentioned in the revealed scriptures through a bonafide spiritual master coming in parampara, are called devotees and God personally takes charge of their protection and maintenance. And for the other living entities who want to try enjoying separate from God, Maya Devi – God’s external energy – takes charge of punishing them for breaking the laws of God.

In the above Panchatantra story, the stomach is compared to God; all the different senses are compared to the living entities, which are parts and parcels of God. Constitutionally we are servants of God and serving Him only can nourish us and keep us happy; but if we try to selfishly serve ourselves with money, resources and things of this world, we will only be led to frustration. The central figure of creation and of enjoyment is the Supreme Lord, and the living entities are cooperators. By cooperation they enjoy. The relation is also like that of master and servant or like husband and wife. If the master is fully satisfied, then the servant is satisfied.

When the husband goes to office, the wife stays at home to do the household chores. She keeps the house clean, washes his clothes, dries them and keeps them pressed, cooks for him, keeps the things in order etc. When the husband returns home, he feels very happy to see his wife’s services and appreciates her. Who becomes happy? Both the husband and wife become happy. Similarly, when the soul renders service to God, he becomes happy also. This is the only way the soul can attain

The situation is like what we see in the state: good citizens are taken care of by the government directly, while criminals are taken care of by the government through the prison department. In the prison house, the government takes care that the prisoners get sufficient food, clothing, shelter and that they get even hospital treatment if they become diseased. The government provides everything required by the prisoners – but under punishment. Similarly, in this material world, God has arranged for our care, but also for our punishment. If you commit this sin you get a slap. If you commit that sin then a kick. This is going on in the form of the threefold miseries – (i) those caused by our body & mind, (ii) those caused by other living entities and (iii) those caused by natural calamities. Individual Exercise: Fill up the blank with appropriate word

1. Jail = _________________ 2. Jailkeeper = Mayadevi (sample answer) 3. Food = ______________ 4. Medicine = ________________ 5. Checked shirt = ______________ 6. Whips = _____________ 7. Release = ____________


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8. Stay in state = ___________________ 9. Laws of state = __________________ 10. Prime minister of state = ______________ The soul being part and parcel of God can be happy only when he is serving God with love and devotion and not otherwise. The living being who desires to enjoy independent of God will never get satisfaction exactly like a fish out of water can never be satisfied with any amount of comforts. Only when the fish is put back in its original position in the water will it become completely happy. Similarly, the spirit soul can be happy only in the spiritual world which is the original home of the living being. The material realm of activities can never satisfy the pure soul who is in search of eternal bliss. We are all like the lost son of a millionaire. Having lost touch with our eternal father, God, we are wandering in this material world exactly like a helpless beggar, unaware of our true glory. The Upanishads call the living beings as ‘Children of Immortality’, who are now shackled in this material body. We have to now revive our eternal relationship with our Supreme Father to become truly happy. Group work: Make two tables with one heading each ‘No God, No Peace’, and another ‘Know God, Know Peace’. Now in the first table fill up names of personalities who tried to enjoy independently by denying God, but achieved no peace. In the second table give examples of those who were great devotees of God, who always achieved peace and happiness. Give examples both from sastra and from your practical experience. Be prepared to give explaination for each name that you have written.

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Spiritual World vs. Material World

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n the Bhagavad-gita (15.1), Krishna says that the material world is a perverted reflection of the spiritual world. In the material world we seek pleasure from friendly relationships, parental affection and conjugal loving relationships. But such relationships are terminated by time appearing as death as well as by circumstances and situations brought about by destiny. But in the spiritual world one can strike a relationship with God as a friend, parent or a lover. These relationships are never terminated, because neither the God nor the soul will ever die. Their relationship is also eternal. Now that we have come to the material world, we have temporarily forgotten that eternal connection to God and are falsely seeking it in the temporary relationships of this material world. This cannot give us true satisfaction. It is like a mirage in the desert. In a desert there is no water, there is only mirage. But that does not mean there is no water anywhere in the creation. There is surely fresh, cooling, crystal clear waters in reservoirs where pure swans live. Similarly happiness is not to be found in the material world, but real happiness is available unlimitedly in the spiritual world. The spiritual world is like a mango tree on the bank of a river. The material world is like the perverted reflection of the mango tree (upside down) in the river waters. If a fool dives into the river in search of mangoes, can he obtain any mangoes? He can only damage his head. In the same way, this material world is a perverted reflection of the spiritual world. One should not try to enjoy life through material sense gratification. One can derive the best enjoyment by serving the master of the senses, God. This spiritual pleasure is the real pleasure, which is everlasting and worthy of seeking. One, who can get out of


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bodily consciousness and be situated in the platform and activity of the soul, is free from the disease of material existence and can experience this spiritual pleasure. Drama: Ask student to put up the following drama, please note they should have made prior preparation.

The Story of Liquid Beauty Once a man who was very powerful and strongly built but whose character was very doubtful fell in love with a beautiful girl. The girl was not only beautiful in appearance but also saintly in character, and as such she did not like the man’s advances. The man, however, was insistent because of his lustful desires, and therefore the girl requested him to wait only seven days, and she set a time after that when he could meet her. The man agreed and with high expectations he began waiting for the appointed time. The saintly girl, however, in order to manifest the real beauty of absolute truth, adopted a very instructive method. She took very strong doses of laxatives and purgatives, and for seven days she continually passed loose stool and vomited all that she ate. Moreover, she stored all the loose stool and vomit in suitable pots. As a result of the purgatives, the so-called beautiful girl became lean and thin like a skeleton, her complexion turned blackish, and her beautiful eyes sank into the sockets of her skull. Thus at the appointed hour she waited anxiously to receive the eager man. The man appeared on the scene well dressed and well behaved and asked the ugly girl he found waiting there about the beautiful girl he was to meet. The man could not recognize the girl he saw as the same beautiful girl whom he wish to meet; indeed, although she repeatedly asserted her identity, because of her pitiable condition he was unable to recognize her. At last the girl told the powerful man that she had separated the ingredients of her beauty and stored them in pots. She also told him that he could enjoy those juices of beauty.

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When the mundane poetic man asked to see these juices of beauty, he was directed to the store of loose stool and liquid vomit, which were emanating an unbearably bad smell. Thus the whole story of the beauty-liquid was disclosed to him. Finally, by the grace of the saintly girl, this man of low character was able to distinguish between the shadow and the substance, and thus he came to his senses.

This man’s position was similar to the position of every one of us who is attracted by false, material beauty. The girl mentioned above had a beautifully developed material body in accordance with the desires of her mind, but in fact she was apart from that temporary material body and mind. She was in fact a spiritual spark, and so also was the lover who was attracted by her false skin.

All that glitters is not gold Once Srila Prabhupada showed a doll of a woman kept in a cloth shop to some of his disciples and asked them, “Can you enjoy that woman?” The disciples replied that it was after all a doll with no life and thus cannot offer any happiness. Srila Prabhupada said what makes a living body special is the spiritual beauty or spiritual spark residing in the body. When that spark of soul leaves the body, the body is no better than the doll in the shop. Thus beauty is not in the material body which is just a bag of bones and flesh, but in the spirit soul, a part and parcel of Supremely attractive Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. Because God, the Supreme whole is supremely beautiful, His part and parcel, the spirit soul who is a minute spark of God is also beautiful. Mundane intellectuals and atheists are deluded by the outward beauty and attraction of the relative truth, as seen in the material world and are unaware of the spiritual spark, which is


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both truth and beauty at the same time. The spiritual spark is so beautiful that when it leaves the so-called beautiful body, which in fact is full of stool and vomit, no one wants to touch that body, even if it is decorated with a costly costume, even if it happens to be the body of a most beautiful cinema star, or a dear relative like husband or wife. The beauty of the outer skin can be destroyed in only a few hours merely by the dose of a strong purgative, but the beauty of soul or God is indestructible and always the same. Unfortunately, mundane artists and intellectuals are ignorant of the Supreme Lord who is the source of all the spiritual sparks, and they are ignorant of the relationships between the souls and the Lord, which take the form of transcendental pastimes. When those pastimes are displayed here by the grace of the Almighty, foolish people who cannot see beyond their senses confuse those pastimes of truth and beauty with the activites of common man. For eg they think Krishna’s rasa dance to be like activity between boys and girls. When Lord Krishna or Lord Rama appear in this world and perform pastimes with Their devotees, they are supremely divine and enacted on a spiritual platform. The love exchanged between the Lord and His devotees is pure and eternal because the Lord and devotee will never die. But all our display of affection and sorrow for our relatives and friends is a poor imitation of Lord’s pastimes, because we are artificially imagining ourselves to be the center of all relationships in this world. Thus our divine relationship with Lord is like real gold and our relationship with other people, namely, our family, relatives, friends etc in material world is like imitation gold. By awakening our love for God, we can put a fullstop to cycle of birth and death and return back home back to Godhead.

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The Goal of Life: Purification of Heart & Glorification of Lord

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f you approach some one and ask him, “What is the goal of your life? What do you want to achieve by all your endeavors?” Generally people have plenty of materialistic plans to fulfill with no idea of the soul. It may even take one’s entire life to fulfill all those plans. But even if one achieves those goal successfully, they all will have to be left aside at the time of death. The scriptures explain that one’s main goal in life must be purification of one’s heart of all contaminating desires against the will of the Lord. No one can become desireless. One should only change the quality of desires from material to spiritual. We must essentially purify ourselves of the six primary misgivings (anarthas) in the heart – lust, anger, greed, pride, envy and illusion. How to do this? One should always act ONLY in relation to the Lord. One should transform the lust into love for the Lord’s service. One should be angry towards those who blaspheme the Lord or His devotees as Hanuman burnt Sri Lanka. One should be greedy for chanting the Lord’s names more and more. In this way one should change the quality of his desires, by converting the material desires into spiritual desires. This is made possible by hearing Krishna-upadesh (instructions of Lord Krishna, viz, the Bhagavad-gita) and Krishna-katha (pastimes of Lord Krishna, viz, the Shrimad Bhagavatam). By regular hearing one can become purified of all misgivings. We also should glorify God with all our hearts, by chanting His Holy Names. One becomes freed from all impurities of heart by chanting the holy names and awakens love for God that is dormant in his heart.


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Mantra Meditation Technique

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hen human society forgets its prime duty of serving God, it fails in its endeavour of happiness and peace. When we do not serve God, we are forced to serve the misgivings in our heart such as lust, anger etc. Presently, we have forgotten our relation with God and hence we should learn the process of ‘yoga’ as described in the Vedic texts by which we can revive our loving relation with the Supreme Lord. There are various yogic processes for attaining the Supreme, but in this day and age of Kali, which is described as the age of quarrel and hypocrisy, there is only one way – the chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord. This is confirmed in the Brhad-naradiya Purana: harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha “In this age of Kali Yuga the only process of self-realization is the chanting of the name of Lord Hari, the chanting of the name of Lord Hari, the chanting of the name of Lord Hari. There is no other way, there is no other way, there is no other way.” There are hundreds and thousands of names of God and all of them are very powerful. But the Kali Santarana Upanishad specifically mentions a maha-mantra or the great chanting for deliverance, which is called the Hare Krishna maha-mantra:

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

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The Kali Santarana Upanishad assures that by chanting this maha mantra regularly, one can destroy all that is undesirable within one’s heart. The Upanishad further declares that there is no other way of self-realization from the point of view of all the revealed scriptures. The effect of such spiritual sound vibration (as the Holy Name of the Lord) is a universal principle. Anybody - young or old, Indian or foreign, educated or uneducated, male or female - can chant this mantra and achieve benefit. In fact, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of ISKCON, practically showed how this mahamantra brought about a transformation of heart in thousands of Americans, Russians and Europeans, and in fact people from all parts of the world. If you keep a sheet of white paper in sunlight on your terrace, the diffused sunrays can at best make the paper dull after a few hours. But when you collect the diffused sunrays into a lens and put the paper at the focal point, it can create a devastating fire, even in a few seconds. This is the power of concentration. When one chants Hare Krishna, by focussing the mind on the mantra by hearing attentively. This purges all the impurities in the heart of the sincere chanter and offers many side benefits like peace of mind, concentration, satisfaction, lowering of greed, calm behaviour, reduction of anger, not losing temper etc. But the actual benefit that one gets by chanting Hare Krishna mantra is love of God.

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Chapter

6

If God is one, then why so many religions?

Discover Your Self

If God Is One, Why do people follow different Religions? There are people who are not atheistic, but accept that there is some Supreme God who is the Supreme Controller and Proprietor. But they still have a difficulty as to which path to follow? They wonder why God has created so many religions, if He is only one? Which could be the right path? Are all paths right? Do they all lead to the same destination? Do they lead to different destinations? Why are there different names of God, forms of God, worship of God, rituals and rites, customs and etiquettes? Is there any path that is the synthesis of all these religions? Is there one ultimate goal behind all these religions? These questions are genuine and have answers that will be discussed here. Religions presented according to the ability of audience the to digest the Truth God gives His message, directly or through His messenger, according to the capacity of the individuals who receive it. If the message is for the spiritually advanced, then it may be given in an undiluted pure form. If the message is for the morally and spiritually degraded it is suitably modified to preclude rejection and yet help them to make limited spiritual progress. Unawareness of this fundamental principle, which underlies and unifies the diverse religions of the world, has resulted in religious conflicts, confrontations, wars and so on throughout history. An example will help in understanding this better. In elementary school Mathematics, a child is taught basic addition and subtraction such as 5 - 2 = 3. But if he is asked, “What is 2 - 5 ?”, he will say that it is not possible to subtract a bigger number from a smaller

If God Is One, Then Why So Many Religions?

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“Do not have sex with your mother and sister.” If Mohammed had been speaking to civilized people, such an injunction would have been unnecessary. Mohammed himself was a God realized soul and had been selected by God to be a prophet. But since he was speaking to perverted tribesmen of that desert land, who were engaging in such sexual practices, he had to give such instructions. Jesus was preaching to fishermen whom he addressed as, “O ye of little faith”. One of his intimate twelve apostles, Judas, sold his master for thirty pieces of silver, and Peter denied that he had ever seen him. Also, most religions first try to teach people to go to God for bread and butter, or material assets, thereby teaching obedience to the authority of God. Thus they use God more or less as an order-supplier or problem-solver.

number. But when he goes to high school, he learns 2 - 5 = -3. That is also Mathematics. When he goes to college, he learns differential calculus, integral calculus etc. which is also Mathematics. Although the knowledge he has acquired at each level comes under the subject of Mathematics, still there is a difference of standard between elementary school Maths and M.Sc. Maths. The teacher may himself be a Ph.D. in Maths, but he teaches according to the level of understanding of the student, depending on whether he is in an elementary school, high school or college.

The prophets and messiahs have always given their message after assessing the ability of their audience to digest and follow the teachings. We can understand that when Prophet Mohammed preached the message of the Koran as revealed to him, his audience consisted of degraded people. This is apparent from the nature of the instructions given in the Koran. For example, in the 4th Surah, verse 23-24, the Koran says,

Real religion has nothing to do with making material demands upon God in order to fulfill one’s own selfish desires. For example, Lord Krishna spoke Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna, an individual of spotless character and a product of Vedic civilization when it was at its zenith. Bhagavad-gita teaches absolute surrender to the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Shri Krishna, without any reservations. The audience for the narration of Shrimad Bhagavatam consisted of the greatly liberated sages of Naimisharanya, who sought the welfare of all living beings in the world. Shrimad Bhagavatam teaches the path of unmotivated, uninterrupted, pure love of God, where a devotee rejoices remembering and reciting about God twenty-four hours a day out of love for Him, without expecting anything in return.


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Depth of verifiable and inconceivable information in Vedas Besides the loftiness of the quality of devotion to God, the Vedic literatures also give vivid descriptions of all types of information, whether it be material or spiritual. For example, while the Bible teaches, “God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light. God said, ‘Let there be earth’, and the earth was created. Although this fact is true, such scriptures do not give a detailed account of the Creation of the universe. Srimad Bhagavatam on the other hand, gives step-by-step information of how the Creation of the universe, as well as all living beings, takes place. The sankhya (or ‘count’) philosophy of twentyfour elements of the universe given in Vedic scriptures is scientifically explainable and provable. Also many religions say, “God is great” “God is love” “God is Almighty”, but they hardly have information about HOW God is the strongest? How He is the most knowledgeable? Etc. Vedic literatures explain how by lifting Govardhan hill Lord Krishna displayed His unlimited strength; by playing on His flute and attracting all animals, birds, gopis and gopas God displays His unlimited attractive feature. This is just a sample. The Vedas contain information about Sociology, Politics, Psychology, Metallurgy, History, Geography, Chemistry, Astrology, Astronomy and tens of other fields. The Vedic literatures stand out from all world religions when it comes to the depth of information in hundreds of areas, as well as the loftiness of intimacy in approaching God.

Different Religions, Same Message Veda Vyasa, Jesus Christ and Mohammed were all divinely empowered and inspired. Yet with divine discretion they revealed only as much as their audience could digest. The

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essence of all the major religious scriptures is the same as listed below. Compare the following statements : 1. All scriptures recommend the chanting of the holy names of God. • The Bible states: O Lord, Thou art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. • Islam teaches the regular chanting of the 99 names of Allah. • The Mahabharata recommends the chanting of 1000 names of Vishnu (Vishnu-sahasra-nama). 2. All religions teach that love of God is the ultimate perfection. • • •

The Bible states: Love Thy God with all Thy soul and all Thy heart. The very word ‘Islam’ means ‘complete surrender’. The Bhagavad-gita (18.66) states: sarva dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja- “Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me.”

3. One can easily observe the amazing similarity of descriptions given in different scriptures about various subjects, for instance, regarding ‘Returning to the Kingdom of God’, as shown below : Christianity And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light; and they shall reign forever and ever. [Rev.:22.5] Hinduism (as known to people) or Sanatana Dharma That abode of mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. One who reaches it never returns to this material world. [BG15.6] There the sun does not shine, neither do the moon and the stars; nor do these flashes of lightning shine. What to speak of fire? He (Lord) shining, all these shine; through His luster all these are variously illumined. [Svetasvatara Upanishad 6:14]


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I worship that transcendental seat, known as Svetadvipa where, as loving consorts, the Laksmis in their unalloyed spiritual essence practice the service of the All-Attractive Lord Krishna as their only lover - where the soil is the purpose gem, all water is nectar, every word is a song, every gait is a dance, the flute is the favorite attendant, effulgence is full of transcendental bliss and the supreme spiritual entities are all enjoyable and tasty, where numberless milk cows always emit transcendental oceans of milk; where there is eternal existence of transcendental time, who is ever present and without past or future and hence is not subject to the quality of passing away even for the space of half a moment. That realm is known as Goloka only to a very few self-realized souls in this world. [Brahma Samhita 5.56]

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An analysis of the various religious scriptures reveals the following common essential principles: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

There is only one God and He is the supreme object of our love. Obedience to God is the ultimate religious principle. Service to God is the nature of all living entities. The Kingdom of God is the ultimate shelter for everyone. To approach God, sinful activities must be given up. Chanting the Holy Names of God is the easiest way of reviving God consciousness. 7. One should renounce flickering material pleasure to experience everlasting spiritual happiness. 8. One needs the guidance and the mercy of a bona fide spiritual master to achieve God.

Islam Every soul will have taste of death. The life of this world is but comfort of illusion. But those who keep their duty to their Lord, for them are Gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will be safe forever.

It is very interesting to note the commanality in all religions. This gives us assurance that all religions are certainly aiming at the Supreme Truth.

Zoroastrianism

Let us now try to understand the seeming differences in the various religious scriptures. For example, consider what different religions say about meat-eating. In every religion there are restrictions against meat eating. In Islam, all animals may be eaten after ritual sacrifice except the pig and the dog. The Roman Catholics used to take meat every day except Friday. Today, because people are unwilling to follow even this minimal restriction, it no longer exists. In Shrimad Bhagavatam, on the other hand, it is clearly stated that meateating is a pillar of sinful life, and that true spiritual life cannot begin until we show mercy towards all the children of God.

Vohuman says to that soul, “From the mortal world (you have come). You are welcome here in this blissful eternal world”. Vohuman tells the soul, “Oh Holy one! You are welcome in this world full of happiness having come from the world of misery”. [A.G.Z.R., Ch.2 p.85]

How does one explain these differences? It is very simple. Although all empowered messengers of God have the same message, they restrict their teachings to what their audience can digest. For the little that Mohammed taught, he had to flee

Sikhism By one-pointed love and devotion to God, one attains to that place which is eternal, changeless and where there is pure happiness. There one enjoys the qualities and pastimes of the Lord. There exists an eternal kingdom of the Lord. In that place there is no fear, no illusion nor bewilderment, no miseries. And there, there is no birth and death. There is only pure eternal spiritual bliss in that abode. The devotees of the Lord in that abode subsist on the glories of the Supreme Soul, God. [GGS RagGaud Guarerei Mahala 5 Asatapadiaa 4]


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from Mecca due to threat to his life. For the three years that Jesus preached, he was crucified. Little wonder therefore that in the Bible, He says: "There is much that I have to tell you but you cannot bear it now." But on the other hand, Lord Shri Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gita that He is giving him complete knowledge: "I shall now declare unto you in full this knowledge both phenomenal and numinous. This being known, nothing further shall remain for you to know.” (BG 7.2) Thus all religions are ultimately meant to gradually elevate the follower to the highest platform of love of God. This higher understanding of the common purpose of all religions – love of God – resolves the superficial contradictions among them. Consider two dictionaries – a small pocket dictionary and a big bulky Chamber’s dictionary. Just as small words like ‘come’, ‘go’, ‘eat’, etc. can be found in both the pocket and the Chamber’s dictionaries, similarly basic instructions in the mode of goodness like ‘Do not steal’, ‘Love everyone’, ‘Forgive your enemy’, ‘Always do good to others’, may be found in all religious scriptures. And just as big words like ‘cataclysm’, ‘corroborate’ will not be found in the pocket dictionary, but can be found only in the Chamber’s dictionary, similarly instructions in the mode of pure goodness, like ‘Surrender to the will of the Lord out of unmotivated, uninterrupted love’, ‘Think of God and serve Him twenty-four hours a day’, and ‘Renounce all worldly pleasures and have a desire to serve God birth after birth without desiring even liberation’ can be found only in the most advanced scriptures. Therefore authorized religions like Christianity, Islam, etc. are like pocket dictionaries (where there is a partial revelation of the Truth according to the level of the audience), and the scriptures like Bhagavad-gita and the Shrimad Bhagavatam are like the Chamber’s dictionary (which give complete knowledge after knowing which nothing further remains to be known).

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Ascending from Fear to Love Although we understand that God is one Supreme, still different religions approach Him at different levels of intimacy and depth of understanding. Understanding these levels will help us to become more focused in our approach to God and will reveal the highest goal that one should aspire for. At the same time one will develop a respectful attitude and appreciation towards the other religions that may take their followers to a certain level of relationship with God. Consider the example of the Prime Minister of a country. A police constable works under the police department that is one of the energies of the Prime Minister. That is the way he is related to the Prime Minister. A Member of Parliament can see the Prime Minister face to face, but has a relation in the mood of awe and veneration. But a son, or wife, or mother of the Prime Minister has the most intimate relation with the Prime Minister. They are so intimately related to him, that they do not even see him as a Prime Minister but as a very near and dear lovable object. They know his likes and dislikes, interests and concerns, moods and mission, etc. In the same way, different religions take us to different levels of intimacy with God. As long as the relationship is out of fear, desire, or duty it cannot be considered intimate. When love for the Lord awakens in one’s heart, one can experience the real sweetness of the Lord’s reciprocation. 1) Bhaya (out of fear): The majority of religions teach worship on the platform of fear. They portray God as the all powerful, grave chastiser of wrongdoers, the one who casts the atheists in the blazing fire of hell for eternal damnation. God sits on a highly elevated chair and on the ‘Day of Judgement’,


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often called by people as ‘Doomsday’, He hears the activities of every living being and sends them to heaven or casts them in eternal hell. In other religions there are very strict rules regarding covering the body of women, and severe punishments for those who act mischievously with women. These rules are certainly to be appreciated as they help people to give up sinful or prohibited behavior. But they are not enough in themselves. In some countries, people who face such restrictions, go to the neighboring country to enjoy whatever they want and come back. Thus fear is not a great motivator for practicing religion. Persons who worship the Lord out of stimulation of fear, ‘bhaya’, include those who are afraid of hell, poverty, pain, and death. This understanding of God as a frightening person is not a very advanced level of understanding because it focuses on only one small aspect of God; but God is much more than that. Still, we do not criticize such religions, as there is some kind of subordination to the Supreme God. While respecting every religion that teaches accepting the authority of God, we have to also objectively view the methods of practice, the goal of the practitioner, the depth of relationship and intimacy with God, its practicability, the quality of realizations that it brings to the practitioner, etc. By doing this, we can appreciate the finer aspects of the ultimate religion on one hand, while treating all people as children of God with different levels of understanding and realization of the same Supreme God. 2) Asha (for satisfying material aspirations): At a higher stage, a person begins to realize that all of his desires can be fulfilled only by pleading from a higher authority. When he understands that the sanction of the Lord is required to achieve his desired end, he begins to follow the injunctions of the scriptures by performing sacrifice, giving charity, taking to

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strict vows and austerities for the fulfillment of one’s desires. One may thus aspire for material benefits like bountiful harvest, abundant wealth, progeny, or elevation to heavenly planets to enjoy for a long duration. For example, Dhruva aspired for a kingdom greater than his great-grandfather, Brahma, and thus performed severe austerities at Madhuvan. After he achieved the darshan of Lord Vishnu all his material desires were vanquished. He lamented about himself, how foolish he had been in going to the Lord with such petty material desires. 3) Kartavya buddhi (out of a sense of duty): There are those who worship the Lord with feelings of gratitude arising from conceiving of Him as God, the creator and supplier of everything. The sense of duty makes them acknowledge the authority of God and be grateful to Him for providing all the necessities of life – food, grains, fruits, air, water, sunlight, minerals, etc., so that we may live happily in this world. This type of worship, out of a sense of duty, is certainly superior to worship out of fear or desire because, on this duty-bound platform, a person understands God to be a loving father who provides him all that he needs for his sustenance and protection. 4) Raga (out of genuine attraction to the Lord): The real platform of religion, however, is love of God where one worships God only out of love for Him. Such a devotee does not consider God to be an order-supplier; rather he offers everything he has to God out of unmotivated and uninterrupted love. It is immaterial whether one is a Hindu, Muslim or a Christian, or belonging to any other religious denomination. The ultimate goal of any true religion is to achieve pure love for God. This love is characterized by selflessness, for we are not speaking of the love one feels toward someone who has


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satisfied one’s senses or needs. It is actually the opposite; this love is an expansion of oneself, an outward flow marked by selflessness in action, speech and thought. It seeks no reward in return; the devotee only desires to satisfy the senses of the Lord. The more one practices this type of love for God, the more one achieves complete freedom from all bondage and develops an intimate relationship with God. The spiritual bliss the devotee feels on this platform of love is not because the Lord has satisfied his senses by offering him the objects of enjoyment that he desired, but because the devotee is given the opportunity for service to the Lord. Such a devotee considers opportunity for service to the Lord as a great privilege. A devotee does not care whether he may get his next birth in heaven or hell. He only desires to go on rendering service to the Lord birth after birth. Given a chance to become Brahma, the greatest living entity in the whole universe, a devotee will not accept it if that post will make him forget the Lord. On the other hand, a devotee will gladly accept even the body of a worm if in that body he could live in the house of a devotee. Because in the house of a devotee he can get the dust of the feet of the Lord’s devotees and eat the remnants of prasadam, the sanctified food offered to the Lord. A devotee has no ambitions in life that will not be pleasing to his guru and Krishna. He never harbors desires or hankerings that will be detrimental to his Krishna consciousness. Thus, making the satisfaction of guru and Krishna to be the ultimate goal of his life, the devotee can go on serving in this way, and be joyfully situated perpetually. We see this type of love exhibited by Bhakta Prahlad, Bhakta Hanuman, the Gopis of Vrindavan, Arjuna and the Pandavas. The love of the Lord for the devotees and the devotees

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eagerness to love and serve the Lord is the ultimate platform of religion. The divine reciprocation of Lord and the devotee in the spiritual world is the ultimate attainment.

Serving simply out of love, with no motivation Selflessness even on the material platform gives us some inner joy, what to speak of selflessness on the spiritual platform! Story : ‘The tender Feelings of Selfless Love’ Once a devotee from Bombay, Sriman Vakreshwar pandit prabhu was traveling by car through a village. Suddenly one of the tyres of the car got punctured. As the sun was about to set, and the repair would take considerable time, the devotee started searching for a place to stay the night. A passing farmer was friendly and kind enough to invite him to his home. The farmer happily accommodated him and gave necessary ingredients for cooking prasadam. The next morning, while taking leave, the devotee, wanting to express his gratitude, took out a hundred-rupee note and offered it to the farmer. The farmer smiled and politely refused to accept it saying, “I should thank you for giving me an opportunity to serve a guest like you. For us guests are like gods. Visit us again.” Saying this, he did not accept the money. The devotee insisted, but the farmer with a beaming smile on his face would not accept at all. At last the devotee asked him, “Do you ever come to Bombay for any work?” The farmer in his rustic language replied, “Yes, sometimes when my motor bearings are worn out, I go to the city to buy new bearings.” The devotee felt some kind of intimacy when he stared at the innocent, simple, child-like face of the farmer. The devotee took out his visiting card and gave it to him saying, “Okay, when you come to Bombay, please visit me. I will take the opportunity to host you”. Then the devotee took leave of him, thanking him once again, and the farmer waved his hands as a sign of a warm send-off, while the car, raising the dust of the village, disappeared in the horizon.

Now ask yourself this simple question: If this devotee had gone to a hotel, had his dinner there and paid the bill at the table, do


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you think he would have offered his visiting card to the hotel owner with such a loving exchange as seen above in the case of the farmer? No. Because that transaction would have been motivated, not by love, but by business. In the same way, a pure devotee of the Lord does not expect anything in return from the Lord for his loving service. This makes him very close to the heart of the Lord. Ask yourself: Is there not a difference between your mother serving you food and a hotel waiter serving you food? Even if the hotel waiter puts on a big smile while serving you, you know the reason behind his smile. In the same way, the Lord has special appreciation for the pure devotees who serve Him simply out of love, without any other motivations.

Sanatana Dharma - The Supermarket of Religions

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he Vedic texts are not sectarian Hindu scriptures, as is commonly misunderstood. The Vedic literature is meant for all mankind since time immemorial, whereas the word ‘Hindu’ has come up only a few centuries ago. When the Muslims invaded Bharata-varsha (as India was known in those days), they started calling the followers of the Vedic culture ‘Sindhus’ because they lived on the banks of the Sindhu river. However due to the difficulty they had in pronouncing the initial ‘s’ in the word ‘Sindhu’, they mispronounced it as ‘Hindu’. And since then the followers of the Vedic religion have been known as ‘Hindus’ and the Vedic religion as ‘Hinduism’, although the people themselves did not use this term. So there is no reference whatsoever to any ‘Hindu’ religion in the Vedic scriptures, nor is the word found in the Vedic dictionary. The proper term for the teachings of the Vedic scriptures, as mentioned in these scriptures themselves, is ‘Sanatana

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Dharma’, the eternal and universal religion, which is not limited by time, place and circumstance. And this Sanatana Dharma stands strong even today, despite all kinds of onslaughts from all quarters. If we look back at the history of the various religions of the world, Islam started about 1300 years ago, Christianity about 2000 years ago and Buddhism about 2500 years ago. The Bhagavad-gita, on the other hand, was spoken about 5000 years ago. And although Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna 5000 years ago, He explains in the Gita itself: “I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikshvaku..... That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend; therefore you can understand the transcendental mystery of this science.” (Bhagavad-gita 4.1-3) Accepting that before the birth of Manu, the Gita was spoken by the Lord to His disciple, Vivasvan, a rough estimate is that the Gita was spoken at least 120,400,000 years ago; and in human society it has been extant for two million years. It was respoken by the Lord again to Arjuna about 5000 years ago. That is the estimate of the history of the Gita, according to the Gita itself and according to the version of the speaker, Lord Sri Krishna. Thus Sanatana Dharma being the oldest religion is the supermarket of religions. This assortment of religions is designed to suit the nature and the inclination of people who range from the morally degraded to the spiritually exalted.


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Worship according to Propensities The Matsya Purana says that there are 18 Puranas (supplementary Vedic literatures). Out of these, there are 6 Puranas each written for: People in the mode of ignorance or tamo guna (These Puranas glorify and recommend worship of Shiva and his consort, Durga). Worshipers in ignorance (like Bhasmasura, Ravana) may perform cruel penances and aspire for boons that harm them and harm others. This variety in the modes of worship is presented by the Vedic literature so that anyone and everyone can worship according to their natural propensities. • For example, the worshipers of Lord Shiva, sadhus smoke charas. They will quote from Shaivite scripture to prove that the devotees of Shiva must take intoxicants to worship Him properly! • According to tantric worship the worshipers of Durga are required to have the five M's: maans (meat) , matsya (fish), madira (liquor), maithuna (sex), and mura (parched rice) to worship her properly. These forms of (regulated) worship are the only means by which degraded minds can be enticed to glorify God. People in the mode of passion or rajo guna (These glorify and recommend worship of Brahma and other demigods). Worshipers in passion (like Hiranayakashipu) perform severe austerities with the desire to become controllers, enjoyer and exploit others. Thus they brings their own destruction. People in the mode of goodness or sattva guna (These recommend the worship of Lord Vishnu or Lord Krishna).

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Worshiper in goodness or above three gunas worship RadhaKrishna, Sita-Ram or Laxmi-Narayan. The basis of worship is only Love. Even if a devotee goes to Lord with material desires (like Dhruva who desired a kingdom), Lord purifies their heart, and awakens the dormant love in their heart.

Why is Krishna God? Lord Brahma says in Brahma Samhita, “Ishwara parama Krishna, sac cid ananda vigraha” “Among all the controllers, Lord Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He has a form made of eternity, knowledge and bliss.” Lord Krishna is called ‘Poorna Purushottam’ which means He is the complete manifestation of Godhead. There is no Truth above Him according to Bhagavad gita. He proved it by showing the Vishwarupa darshan (Universal form) explained in Bhagavad gita 11th chapter. Both the Universal form as well as the four handed form of Lord Vishnu emanate from Krishna’s form. Arjuna also confirms Krishna’s supremacy by quoting from the sages like Asita, Devala and Narada [BG 10.11]. In Bhagavad gita, Krishna is addressed as, ‘Bhagavan’ which means ‘the possessor of all six opulences’. Krishna perform feats like lifting the Govardhan hill, marrying 16,108 gopis, showing the whole cosmos in his mouth to mother Yashoda and many more. These are not possible for any ordinary or extraordinary humans to even comprehend. The Lord descends to this mortal world to show His pastimes in Vrindavana, which are full of happiness. When Lord Sri Krishna was in Vrindavana, His activities with His cowherd boyfriends, with His damsel friends, with the other inhabitants of Vrindavana and with the cows were all full of happiness.


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The residents of Vrindavana knew nothing but Krishna. Even the cows, deers, monkeys, birds, Yamuna, the cowherd boys, cowherd girls, the parents – all were absorbed in constant rememberance of Krishna in all their activities. The living entities, like the Lord, are full of consciousness, and they are after happiness. The Lord is perpetually happy, and if the living entities associate with the Lord, cooperate with Him and take part in His association, they also become happy. For example if someone puts his finger into the socket he will get an electric shock. Anyone who touches that person will also experience a shock. In the same manner, Lord is perpetually happy and anyone who becomes His devotee will also share the Lord’s happiness. The ultimate goal of the living entities is to return back home, back to Godhead, to join the eternal service to the Lord. The Lord resides eternally in His abode, yet He can be approached from this world, and to this end the Lord comes to manifest His real form, sac-cid-ananda-vigraha. When He manifests this form, there is no need for our imagining what He looks like. To discourage such imaginative speculation, He descends and exhibits Himself as He is, as Shyamasundara. Unfortunately, the less intelligent deride Him because He comes as one of us and plays with us as a human being. But because of this we should not consider the Lord one of us. It is by His omnipotency that He presents Himself in His real form before us and displays His pastimes, which are replicas of those pastimes found in His abode. Bhakti rasa, the mellow relished in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, does not finish with the end of life. It continues perpetually and is therefore called ‘amruta’ that which does not die but exists eternally. The Bhagavad-gita

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says that that a little advancement in bhakti-rasa can save the devotee from the greatest danger – that of missing the opportunity for human life. The rasas derived from our feelings in social life, in family life or in the greater family life of altruism, philanthropy, nationalism, socialism, communism, etc., do not guarantee that one’s next life will be as a human being. We prepare our next life by our actual activities in the present life. A human being engaged in Krishna consciousness, even if unable to complete the course of bhakti-yoga, takes birth in the higher divisions of human society so that he can automatically further his advancement in Krishna consciousness. For instance, if one has completed 20% purification of heart through bhaktiyoga, one will continue from 21% in next life. Therefore, all bonafide activities in Krishna consciousness are amruta, or permanent. Such a practice of Krishna consciousness will immediately bring one to an auspicious life free from anxieties and will bless one with transcendental existence.

The ABCD formula for a happy life Association……… “Birds of the same feather flock together” is a common saying. The people whom we associate with will also have an influence on us. By associating with devotees, we get strength and support to maintain sustained interest in our progressive march back to Godhead. There were two parrots brothers, who were sold in the market. A king bought one. A butcher bought another one. Once a sadhu was passing by butcher’s shop and happened to hear the parrot calling vulgar words. Sadhu plugged his fingers into his ears and escaped from there. He went to the king’s court where he heard the another parrot speaking sweet words, “Hare Krishna ! Please come in sir ! would


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you like to have some water ! Please take your seat. King will arrive in a few minutes. Hare Krishna !” Hearing this, the sadhu expressed his surprise : “How is it that your brother is speaking harsh words and you are speaking nectarine words ?” The parrot spoke a verse : gau aashanena vaakyam shrunoti aham ca rajan vacananam muneenam nasty asya dosho na ca mad guno va samsargajaa dosha guna bhavanti

“My brother hears the words of the cow-eating butcher. I am hearing the divine vibration of the sages visiting the king. My brother has no fault, nor am I greater in any way. Its all a result of association that one gets good or bad qualities”. Thus by the association of sincere devotees we can also think, speak and do Krishna conscious things and we can easily control our senses. In ISKCON temples Srila Prabhupada has organized the early morning program of Mangal aratik, Nrsimha arati, Tulasi arati, Shringar darshan, Guru puja, Srimad Bhagavatam class and Bhagavad gita class in the evening. Any one who regularly attends these programs and discusses Krishna katha with devotees and develops loving relationships in the devotional community will never hanker for the false mirage love promised by the material world.

Books Reading…….. Srila Prabhupada mercifully has left behind a rich volume of devotional literature that can keep us completely absorbed in Krishna consciousness twenthyfour hours a day. By reading the scriptures like Bhagavad gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, we learn about an eternal blissful life awaiting us when we become purified. We come to know that there is something much better than the high you can get from drugs, sex or alcohol. This gives us an incentive to control our senses.

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Chanting……… Chanting the mahamantra Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare helps very much. Chanting Hare Krishna is the recommended method in this age for self realisation. If we take to that process on a daily basis, our material urges will subside. In fact the real key to spiritual progress lies in chanting Hare Krishna attentively everyday. As one progresses, one should focus attention on improving the quality of utterence of the holy name. When quality improves, three things happen – one gets taste for more chanting, one feels thoroughly contended and satisfied, one feels powerful and eager to preach the glories of the Lord and His divine name, exactly as a hungry man who has eaten a plate full of mahaprasadam feels a great taste in the tongue, satisfaction and strength to perform services.

Diet : eating Krishna prasadam……. By accepting prasadam, food offered to Krishna, our desire to eat meat and similar things goes away. Prasadam purifies one’s consciousness and helps one to advance quickly. In the Third Chapter, verse thirteen, Sri Krishna explains that only the remains of sacrifice are purified and fit for consumption by those who are seeking advancement in life and release from the clutches of the material entanglement. Those who do not make an offering of their food, He says in the same verse, are eating only sin. In other words, their every mouthful is simply deepening their involvement in the complexities of material nature. But preparing nice, simple vegetable dishes, offering them before the picture or Deity of Lord Krishna and bowing down and praying for Him to accept such a humble offering enables one to advance steadily in life, to purify the body, and to create fine brain tissues which will lead to clear thinking. Above all, the offering should be made with an attitude of love. Krishna has no need of food, since He already possesses everything that be, yet He will accept the offering of one who desires


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to please Him in that way. The important element, in preparation, in serving and in offering, is to act with love for Krishna.

Let us say YES to the ABCD of Krishna consciousness and prepare our consciousness to return back to Godhead. *

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In this book, you learnt about your self. If you liked this book, please contact us for the next book in the same Spirituality for the Modern Youth series, entitled Your Best Friend. Some of the topics covered therein are: • • • • • •

The Definition of God The qualifications of guru and disciple Worship – Divine and Mundane Your heart-to-heart friend and wellwisher Krishna’s rasa dance - Can we imitate? Lord Shiva’s position

And much much more. H a r e

K r i s h n a !

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What is the Theory of Evolution?

Appendix

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he theory of Evolution teaches that the first living organism developed from non-living matter. Then, as it reproduced, it is said to have changed into different kinds of living beings, producing ultimately all forms of life that have ever existed on earth, including humans. And all of this is believed to have been accomplished without intelligent direction. Creation as opposed to evolution is the conclusion that the appearing of living things can only be explained by the existence of an Almighty who designed and made the universe and all the basic kinds of life in it.

Evolution Or Creation: Let the Data Speak

In this chapter, we will study the scientific possibility of life emerging from inert matter. We will also analyze whether simple living beings actually evolved into all the complex variety of species seen today and specifically whether apes evolved into humans.

Dilemmas over Origin of Life

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xplaining how lifeless chemicals suddenly came alive has been a formidable problem for all evolutionists. When Charles Darwin advanced his theory of evolution he conceded that life may have been “originally breathed by the creator into a few forms or into one”. But present-day evolutionary theory generally eliminates any mention of a Creator. Instead, the theory of the spontaneous generation of life, once repudiated, has been revived in a somewhat altered form. Belief in a form of spontaneous generation can be traced back for centuries. In the 17th century even respected men of


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science, including Francis Bacon and William Harvey, accepted the theory. However by the 19th century Louis Pasteur and other scientists had seemingly dealt it a deathblow having proved by experiments that life comes only from previous life. Nevertheless, out of necessity, evolutionary theory assumes that long ago microscopic life must somehow have arisen spontaneously from nonliving matter. Let us see how this is supposed to have happened.

The Theory of Spontaneous Generation In his book, ‘The Selfish Gene’, Richard Dawkins speculates that in the beginning, the Earth had an atmosphere composed of carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia and water. Through energy supplied by sunlight, and perhaps by lightning and exploding volcanoes, these simple compounds were broken apart and then they reformed into amino acids, accumulated in the sea and combined into protein-like compounds. Ultimately, he says, the ocean became the “organic soup,” but still lifeless. Then according to Dawkins’ description, “a particularly remarkable molecule was formed by an accident” – a molecule that had the ability to produce itself. Though admitting that such an accident was exceedingly improbable, he maintains that it must nevertheless have happened. Similar molecules clustered together, and then, again by exceedingly improbable accident, they wrapped a protective barrier of other protein molecules around themselves as membrane. Thus it is claimed, the first living cell generated itself. At this point a reader may begin to understand Dawkins comment in the preface to his book: “This book should be read almost as though it were science fiction.” But readers on the subject will find that his approach is not unique. Most other

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books on evolution also skim over the staggering problem of explaining the emergence of life from nonliving matter. The recent explosive increase of knowledge has only served to magnify the gulf between nonliving and living things. Even the oldest known single-celled organisms have been found to be incomprehensibly complex. Nevertheless let us analyze the possibility of the occurrence of the events as proposed by the spontaneous generation theory. The principal steps involved are: (1) Presence of the right primitive atmosphere (2) Formation of an ‘organic soup’ i.e., concentration in the oceans of ‘simple’ molecules necessary for life (3) Emergence of proteins and nucleotides in the soup (4) Combination of these and acquiring of a membrane to form a cell (5) Development of a genetic code and replication. Are these steps possible?

The Primitive Atmosphere Problem I: Was oxygen present in the earth’s primitive atmosphere? Explanation: With oxygen present, simple compounds (originally present in the primitive atmosphere) wouldn’t combine to form amino acids. Without oxygen, the amino acids formed would be immediately decomposed by the cosmic rays.


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Solution: Oxygen is clearly necessary for amino acids to be preserved for the next stage I spontaneous generation of life, yet the presence of oxygen prevents the formation of amino acids. There is no solution to this problem! Problem II: Was energy (supplied by sunlight or lightning or volcanoes) present or not? Explanation: If energy was not present, simple compounds would not have split and no formation of amino acids would take place. If energy was present, that energy would immediately decompose any amino acids formed into simpler compounds. Solution: Amino acids just can’t be formed without energy and with energy they can’t survive. There is no way spontaneous generation can proceed beyond this stage.

Formation of the Organic Soup Problem III: Did the amino acids stay inside the water or outside it? Explanation: After the amino acids formed in the atmosphere it is assumed that they somehow managed to reach the ocean in the same area so as to form an organic soup. Now if the amino acids stay inside the water they would not combine to form proteins because water favors breaking up of big molecules (depolymerisation) and not their formation (polymerization). But if they are outside the water, they would be immediately decomposed by the cosmic rays.

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Amino acids have to be in water for reaction & further combination to occur. But that very water inhibits further combination. So the organic soup just can’t be formed. “In other words,” evolutionist Francis Hitching says, “the theoretical chances of getting through even this first and relatively easy stage (getting amino acids) in the evolution of life are forbidding.” This means there would be no accumulation of organic soup! Biochemist George Wald believes this to be “the most stubborn problem that confronts us (evolutionists)”. (Scientific American, ‘The Origin of Life’, by George Wald, pp.49, 50). Problem IV: How did specific amino acids form in the organic soup? Explanation: There are over 100 amino acids, but only 20 are needed for life’s proteins. Moreover, they come in two shapes: some of the molecules are “right-handed” and others are “left-handed”. Should they be formed at random, in the theoretical organic soup, it is most likely that they would be half righthanded and half lefthanded. And there is no known reason why either shape should be preferred in living things. Yet, of the


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20 amino acids used in producing life’s proteins, all are left-handed! How is it that at random, only the specifically required kinds would be united in the soup? Solution: Physicist J.D. Bernal acknowledges, “We may never be able to explain it.”

Formation of Proteins Problem V: How did the right proteins form? Explanation: The proteins needed for life have very complex molecules. 20 specific left-handed amino acids need to combine in a specific sequence to form a protein useful for life. What chance is there that the correct amino acids would come together to form a protein molecule? It could be likened to having a big, thoroughly mixed pile containing equal numbers of red beans and white beans. Over 100 different varieties of beans. Now, if you plunged a scoop into this pile, what do you think you would get? To get the beans that represent the basic components of a protein, you would have to scoop up only red ones - no white ones at all! Also, your scoop must contain only 20 varieties of the red beans and each one must be in a specific, pre-assigned place in the scoop. In the world of protein, a simple mistake in any one of these requirements would cause the protein that is produced to fail to function properly. Would any amount of stirring and scooping in our hypothetical bean pile have given the right combination? No. Then how could it have been possible in the hypothetical organic soup? What is the chance of even a simple protein molecule forming at random in an organic soup? Evolutionists

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acknowledge it to be only one in 10^113 (1 followed by 113 zeroes). Some proteins serve as structural materials and others as enzymes. The latter speed up needed chemical reactions in the cell. Without such help the cell would die. Not just a few, but 2,000 proteins serving as enzymes are needed for the cells activity. What are the chances of obtaining all of these at random? One chance in 10^40,000. Solution: Any event that has one chance in just 10^50 is dismissed by mathematicians as never happening. So even the probability of one in 10^113 is a mathematical impossibility. An idea of the odds, or probability involved is seen in the fact that the number 10^113 is larger that the estimated total number of all the atoms in the universe! And one chance in 10^40,000 is “an outrageously small probability,” astronomer Fred Hoyle asserts, “that could not be faced even if the whole universe consisted of organic soup.”

Formation of the Genetic Code Problem VI: Which came first - proteins or DNA? Explanation: The old puzzle of ‘the chicken or the egg’ rears it’s head relative to proteins and DNA. Hitching says: “Proteins depend on DNA for their formation. But DNA cannot form without preexisting protein.” Which came first: the protein or the DNA?


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gene can be synthesized in the chemical laboratory. And those in the forefront of microbiology and biochemistry have made a vigorous effort to put all the necessary chemicals together and prepare the first synthetic life in the test tube. Unfortunately there are no life symptoms visible when all these chemicals are combined. Even without taking so much trouble to synthesize all these chemicals, scientists can actually isolate the necessary chemicals from an already living body and then recombine them. If life were a chemical combination, scientists could actually make life in the test tube by assembling all these important chemicals. They cannot do this, however. Solution: Hitching asserts “The answer must be: they developed in parallel.” In effect, he is saying that ‘the chicken’ and ‘the egg’ must have evolved simultaneously, neither one coming from the other. Does this strike you as reasonable? This is just a sample of the kind of intractable problems involved in the spontaneous generation theory. There are also problems in the formation of the cell membrane, the emergence of nucleotides and the replication mechanism, which are equally, if not more, formidable.

Why Not Produce Life? An easy way to lend some credibility to the theory of evolution is to produce some form of life in the laboratory by chemical reactions. Practically speaking, at this stage of scientific knowledge most of the important chemicals found in the living cell including the

Despite great scientific discoveries and achievements, the bright hope for understanding life in molecular terms seem to be losing ground and many prominent scientists in various fields are beginning to doubt the validity of this concept. In the ‘Biology Today’, Nobel-prize-winning chemist Albert Szent Gyorgyi remarked, “In my search for the secret of life, I ended up with atoms and electrons, which have no life at all. Somewhere along the line, life ran out through my fingers. So, in my old age, I am now retracing my steps…”

Is It Scientific? If a spontaneous beginning for life is to be accepted as scientific fact, it should be established by the scientific method. This has been described as follows: observe what happens; based on those observations, form a theory as to what may be true; test the theory by further observations and by experiments; and watch to see if the predictions based on the theory are fulfilled.


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In an attempt to apply the scientific method, it has not been possible to observe the spontaneous generation of life. There is no evidence that it is happening now, and of course no human observer was around when evolutionists say it was happening. No theory concerning it has been verified by observation. .Laboratory experiments have failed to repeat it. Predictions based on the theory have not been fulfilled. With such an inability to apply the scientific method, is it honest science to elevate such a theory to the level of fact? The well-known evolutionist Loren Eiseley conceded: “After having chided the theologian for his reliance on myth and miracle, science found itself in the unenviable position of having to create a mythology of its own: namely, the assumption that what, after long effort, could not be proved to take place today, had, in truth taken place in the primeval past.” Based on the evidence, the spontaneous generation of life theory appears better to fit the realm of science fiction than scientific fact.

Not all Scientists Accept It Biologist Edwin Conklin said, “The probability of life originating from accident is comparable to the probability of the unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing shop.”

Astronomer Chandra Wickramsinghe said, “From my earliest training as a scientist I was very strongly brainwashed to believe that science cannot be consistent with any kind of deliberate creation…. For life to have been a chemical accident on earth is like looking for a particular grain of sand on all the beaches in all the planets in the universe – and finding it.” In other words, it is just not possible that life could have originated from a chemical accident.

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Hitching says, “To put it at its mildest, one may question an evolutionary theory so beset by doubts among even those who teach it.… It fails to explain some of the most basic questions of all: how lifeless chemicals came alive?”

Dilemmas over Origin of Complex Organs

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he difficulty does not stop with the origin of life. Consider such body organs as the eye, the ear, the brain. All are staggering in their complexity far more than the most intricate man-made device. A problem for evolution has been the fact that all parts of such organs have to work together for sight, hearing or thinking to take place. Such organs would have been useless until all the individual parts were completed. So the question arises: Could chance that is thought to be a driving force of evolution have brought all these parts together at the right time to produce such elaborate mechanisms? Darwin acknowledged this as a problem, “To suppose that the eye could have been formed by evolution, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.” More than a century has passed since then. Has the problem been solved? No. On the contrary, since Darwin’s time what has been learned about the eye shows that it is even more complex than he understood it to be. Thus Jastrow said: “The eye appears to have been designed; no designer of telescopes could have done better.”


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nowhere. They have no yesterday, no fossil record.” – Science Digest From Ape to Man: “No fossil or other physical evidence directly connect man to ape.” – Science Digest “The human family does not consist of a solitary line of descent leading from an ape like form to our species.” – The New Evolutionary Timetable

Record of the Rocks Contradict Darwin’s Theory Dilemmas over Fossils What Fossil Record Says about the Origin of Living Things On Insects: “The fossil record does not give any information on the origin of insects.” – Encyclopaedia Britannica “There are no fossils known that show what the primitive ancestral insects looked like.” – The Insects On Fish: “To our knowledge, no ‘link’ connected this new beast to any previous form of life. The fish just appeared.” – Marvels and Mysteries of Our Animal World On Reptiles Becoming Mammals: “There is no missing link (that connects) mammals and reptiles.” – The Reptiles On Apes: “Modern Apes, for instance, seem to have sprung out of

The date of origin of modern man according to Darwin is 40,000 years. But the record of the rocks show the origin of modern man several million years ago. Anamolous evidence concerning human remains raises major questions about the evolution theory. According to the conventional speculative view, hominids, or manlike creatures, began to evolve from apelike ancestors in Africa about 4 million years ago. The early hominids from this period (4-2 million years ago) are known as ‘australopithecenes’, beings with manlike bodies and apelike heads. There is further development of ‘australopithecenes’ to ‘homo habilis’, which appeared about 2 million years ago. ‘Homo erectus’ evolved from ‘homo habilis’ about 1.5 million years ago and migrated to Europe and Asia. About 2,00,000 to 3,00,000 years ago, the very first representatives of ‘homo sapiens’ appear, but these are not quite like modern human beings. From this species, about 100,000 years ago Neanderthal man develops and spreads throughout Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. About 40,000 years ago fully modern man is thought to have evolved in the Near East or Asia. Called homo sapiens sapiens, the new


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species then enter Europe and replaces Neanderthal man, who disappears from the scene. The rudiments of modern civilisation begin 10,000 years ago.

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According to the standard accounts, this whole development took place in the Old World. The only humans ever to have existed in the New World are fully modern men who migrated there from Asia no earlier than 30,000 years ago. This is the standard scenario, yet much evidence has turned up that challenges it. We shall now review some of this evidence and examine how scientists have responded to it.

The picture of Monkeys & Human Being (The story of rocks)

At Border Cave in South Africa paleontologists have made fossil discoveries. They have concluded, “anatomically modern homo sapiens (homo sapiens sapiens) originated at some as yet uncertain time prior to about 110,000 years before the present” (South African Journal of Science, Vol.74). This differs substantially from the standard version, with its date of 40,000 years ago for the origin of modern man in Asia or the Near East. In 1962, archaeologist Cynthia Irwin-Williams excavated stone artifacts, including spearpoints, representative of a technology usually associated with fully modern (Cro-Magnon) man in Europe at an archaeological site at Valsequillo in Southern Mexico. In 1972 and 1973 a team of dating experts, including geologists from the U.S. Geological Survey, using several independent dating techniques, found that the layers in which the artifacts were found were about 250,000 years old. The Valsequillo artifacts thus present a far greater challenge to the accepted view of human evolution than the Border Cave finds. The date is twice as old.

Language evolved from simple Language contemporaneous with Language contemporaneous with animal sounds into complex man; ancient languages complex man; ancient ones often more modern languages and complete complex than modern

Civilisation appears with man; man; any cave dwellers were contemporary with civilisation

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Origin of civilisation gradual, Civilisation arising out of crude, brutish Contemporaneous with beginnings complex to begin with

No new kinds gradually appearing, although many varieties; no incompletely formed bones or organs No new kinds gradually appearing; no incomplete bones or organs, but all parts completely formed New kinds arising gradually; beginnings of incomplete bones and organs in various transitional stages

Mutations : net result beneficial; Mutations harmful to complex life; Small mutations harmful, large generate new features do not result in anything new ones lethal; never result in anything new

Fossils show : 1) sudden appearance of complex life in great variety; 2) each new kind separate from previous kinds; no linking forms Fossils should show : 1) complex forms suddenly appearing in great variety; 2) gaps separating major kinds; no linking forms Fossils should show : 1) simple life forms originating gradually; 2) transitional forms linking previous ones

by Life comes only from previous 1) Life comes only from previous life; originally created by an life intelligent Creator 2) No way to form complex genetic code by chance Life evolved from nonlife chance chemical evolution

Predictions of Evolution Model

Predictions of Creation Model

Facts as Found in The Real World


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There are numerous other controversial finds of ancient man in the New World that are conspicuous by their absence from standard accounts. Recent examples include the Calico Hills, California, early man site (500,000 years old), the Flagstaff, Arizona find (100,000 – 170,000 years old) and the Mission Valley find in San Diego, California (100,000 years old). (Jeffrey Goodman: American Genesis, p.112).

Fossil Record is the Final Court of Appeal When we let the fossil record speak, its testimony is not evolution-oriented. Instead, the testimony of the fossil record is creation-oriented. While there was great variety within each kind, these had no links to evolutionary ancestors before them. Nor did they have any evolutionary links to different kinds of living beings that came after them. Zoologist Coffin stated: “To secular scientists, the fossils, evidences of the life of the past, constitute the ultimate and final court of appeal, because the fossil record is the only authentic history of life available to science. If this fossil history does not agree with evolutionary theory — and we have seen that it does not — what does it teach? It tells us that plants and animals were created in their basic forms. The basic facts of the fossil record support creation, not evolution.” Astronomer Carl Sagan candidly acknowledged in his book ‘Cosmos’: “The fossil evidence could be consistent with the idea of a Great Designer.”

Creation or Evolution ?

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hen we compare what has been found in the real world to what evolution predicted and to what creation predicted.


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It is apparent which model fits the facts and which one conflicts with them. The evidence from the world of living things around us, and from the fossil record of things that lived long ago, testifies to the same conclusion: Life was created; it did not evolve. Life did not get its start in some unknown primeval “soup”. Humans did not get here by way of apelike ancestors. Instead, living things were created in abundance as distinct family types. Each could multiply in great variety within its own “kind”, but could not cross the boundary separating different kinds. That boundary, as can be clearly observed in living things, is enforced by sterility. And the distinction between kinds is protected by each one’s unique genetic machinery. However, there is much more that testifies to a Creator than just the facts fitting the predictions of the creation model. Our evidence is not just the bunch of bones dug from earth but the marvels of the whole awesome Universe down to the intricate designs in the microscopic world.

The Vedic Model for Evolution

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arwin speculated some type of evolution which involves one type of body changing into another. In fact, there is evolution, not of the body, but of the soul, the driver of the body. The scriptures explain that the external body that we see is just like a vehicle for the soul. Just as a man according to his purchasing ability may purchase a cycle, scooter, car or plane, in the same way the soul occupies a body according to his good or bad deeds. Thus the soul goes from one body to another life after life until he achieves complete purification.

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The soul is an irreducible quantum of consciousness, which cannot be cut into pieces by weapons, burned by fire, moistened by water or dried by air. Thus the soul is a nonmaterial entity who belongs to a different world, the spiritual world. In fact, the soul is not like dead unconscious matter, rather the soul is a personality endowed with consciousness and the qualities of sac-cid-ananda (meaning full of eternity, knowledge and bliss). A deeper understanding of the soul can be found in the fourth chapter of this book. It is said in the Padma Purana: asitim caturas caiva laksam tan jiva-jatisu bhramadbhih purusaih prapyam manusyam janma-paryayat tad apy aphalatam jatah tesam atmabhimaninam varakanam anasritya govinda-caran-dvayam “One attains the human form of life after transmigrating through 8, 400, 000 species of life by the process of gradual evolution. The human form of life is spoiled for those conceited fools who do not take shelter of the lotus feet of Govinda (Krishna).” It is said in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana: jala-ja nava-laksani sthavara laksa-vimsati krmaya rudra-sankhyakah paksinam dasa-laksani pasavas trimsa-laksani manusya catur-laksani “There are 900, 000 species of aquatic life, 2, 000, 000 species of plants and trees, 1, 100, 000 species of insects, 1, 000, 000 species of bird life, 3, 000, 000 species of beasts and 400, 000 species of human life.”


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The word ‘species’ is used in the Vedas in a sense different from biology. A species is not categorized according to its superficial morphological appearance. A cat and a tiger may look alike and be treated as belonging to the same family; but the Vedas categorize species according to their guna or qualities. There are three qualities: sattva guna (mode of goodness), rajo guna (mode of passion) and tamo guna (mode of ignorance). These three are mixed together in various permutations and combinations to arrive at 8.4 million species with varied consciousness. The Genesis account in Bible gives a basic and simple understanding of how the creation has sprung up from God. However, Shrimad Bhagavatam gives a detailed account of the origin of the universe (3rd canto), the geometry of the universe (5th canto), the creation of the various species like serpents, aquatics, ferocious animals, mosquitoes, creepers, trees, rakshasas, evil spirits etc. (6th canto). From the Vedas, one can understand not only how life started, but also the more important fact that the body is always dead and soul gives life to the body. The soul can never die; he is eternal, unchangeable, full of knowledge and bliss. The soul comes from the spiritual sky, from another dimension, into this material world due to misuse of his free will. And here he wanders in various species of life. The soul undergoes varieties of sufferings in different bodies until he comes to his senses by reviving his God consciousness or Krishna consciousness. Similar to the soul, God is also a soul, but He is the supreme soul, who is the master of all souls. In fact, the spiritual world – the kingdom of God - is the real world where there are innumerable loving exchanges between infinite souls and one supreme God. That is our original home.

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Although the faithless have been rejecting these sublime truths to be too fantastic to accept, those, who have faithfully heard the scriptures given by God and lived by His instructions, have swiftly achieved deeper insight into this wisdom and have achieved practical realization and love for God. That is why when the founder acharya of ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada, went to the West and presented the profound Vedic wisdom to the intelligent community there, hundreds of graduates and doctarates from leading universities like Cornell, Massachusettes, Illinois etc., embraced this knowledge wholeheartedly and surrendered their lives to practising and preaching it. Today ISKCON has millions of followers all over the world. Majority of them coming from educated background and are able to appreciate the presence of soul, God and their divine relationship. They are leading a pure and happy life in knowledge. This knowledge is thus a science and can be practically understood and realised. We invite all open-minded individuals to pursue it further and thus achieve the highest meaning and happiness in their lives.

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The Universe: How did it

Begin?

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ook up at the night sky, full of stars and planets. Where did it all come from? These days most scientists will answer that question with some version of the big bang theory. In the beginning (or before the beginning, if you will), you will hear, all matter in the universe was concentrated into a single point at an extremely high temperature, and then it exploded with tremendous force. From an expanding superheated cloud of sub-atomic particles, atoms gradually formed, then stars, galaxies, planets and finally life. This litany, having assumed the status of revealed truth, is elaborated in countless textbooks, paperbacks, slick science magazines, television serials complete with computer-generated effects. As an exciting, mind grabbing story it certainly works. And the big bang theory does seem to be based on factual observation, and the scientific method. It seems to so many people more reasonable than alternative anti-material accounts of creation. This big bang theory is, however, only the latest of a series of attempts to explain the universe in a mechanistic way, a way that sees the world - and man - solely as the products of matter working according to materialistic laws. One of the greatest problems faced by the big bang theorists is that although they are attempting to explain the origin of the universe, the origin they propose is mathematically indescribable, and physically inadmissible. According to the standard big bang theories, the initial condition of the universe is a point of infinite density and temperature. Nothing can be said about it. All calculations go haywire. It is like trying to divide a number by zero. As of yet, the barrier of the dreaded singularity has not been surmounted even by the greatest exponents of the big bang theory. “Unfortunately,” Steven Weinberg laments, “I cannot start the film at zero time and

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infinite temperature.” So we find that the big bang theory does not predict the origin of the universe at all, because the initial singularity is by definition indescribable. Quite literally, therefore, the big bang theory is in trouble from the very start. Thus Steven Hawking, Lucian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, and G.F.R. Ellis, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cape Town, aptly write in their book, The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time, “It seems to be a good principle that the prediction of a singularity by a physical theory indicates that the theory has broken down.” The actual point of creation, the singularity, is outside the scope of presently known laws of physics. Encyclopedia Britannica admits, “It should be emphasized that no theory of the origin of the solar system has as yet won general acceptance. All involve highly improbable assumptions. But the difficulty is in trying to find a theory with any degree of probability at all.” Thus, with such “highly improbable” theories the atheists try to deny God as the origin and controller of the universe. Any explanation of the origins of the universe that begins with something physically indescribable is critically open to question. And further there is a gnawing question: where did

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the singularity come from? Here the scientists face the same difficulty as the religionists they taunt with the question, “Where did God come from?” And just as the religionists respond with the answer that God is the cause of all causes, the scientists are faced with the prospect of declaring a mathematically indescribable, physically unrealizable point of infinite density and temperature, of infinitesimal size, existing before all conceptions of time and space, as the cause of all causes. At this point, the hapless scientists stand convicted of the same unforgivable intellectual crime that they have accused the saints and mystics of committing - making physically unverifiable supernatural claims. If the scientist is to know anything at all about the origin of the universe, it would seem he would now have to consider the possibility of accepting methods of inquiry and experiment transcending the physical.

On the Role of Faith in Science

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e often hear, “In science, everything is empirically verified; so there is no dogmatic faith in scientific methodology.” Contrary to popular belief, we will consider some salient examples of the “scientific” approach to show that faith is an integral part of any strategy for acquiring knowledge. The scientists’ attempt to understand the origin and functioning of the universe (and life) in purely physical terms is based on three assumptions: (1) All phenomena can be completely explained by natural laws expressed in the language of mathematics, (2) These physical laws apply everywhere and at all times, (3) The fundamental natural laws are simple.


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Most people have taken these assumptions as facts, but they have not been proven to be facts - nor is it easily possible to prove them. Being axiomatic principles, they are simply part of one strategy for approaching reality, and the scientists have implicit faith that these principles are correct. In essence this approach consists of trying to reduce everything to measurements and trying to explain them by simple, universal physical laws. Indeed, there is no logical reason for ruling out, in advance alternative strategies that might involve laws and principles of irreducible complexity. Yet, many scientists insist that their chosen strategy to explain the universe is the actual nature of the universe! One reason why the scientists feel compelled to adopt their strategy of simplification is that, if the underlying reality of the universe can be described by simple quantitative laws, then they can understand the universe and (possibly) manipulate it, even considering the limitations of the human mind. So they assume it is so, and invent myriad theories to do this. If the universe were infinitely complex, however, then their reductionist method is doomed to fail at the outset. The scientists’ belief that the physical laws discovered in the laboratory experiments on earth apply at all time and space is certainly open to question. Yet such assumptions are crucial to the scientists’ attempts to explain such things as the origin of the universe, and the nature of faraway objects such as quasars. After all, we can’t really go back billions of years in time to the origin of the universe, and we have practically no first hand evidence, even cosmologists say, of anything beyond a limited part of our own solar system.

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Thus, believing in an empirical (or physical) scientific theory requires just as much faith as in believing that a personal God creates and maintains the universe. But when this point is vocalized, many adherents of modern science raise loud objections that in the scientific method, nothing is accepted without proper experimental evidence. But has any experiment been performed to prove that physical laws are valid at all time and space? In the absence of this proof, we must deem that the element of faith has only been given a new garb, not eliminated. In any scientific methodology, the scientist must make suitable hypothesis, conduct experiments, and then conclude whether the hypothesis is correct or wrong. In conducting experiments, the experimenter must muster enough faith that his chosen method of experimentation will be able to capture the essence of his theory or hypothesis. Quite apart from the scientists’ implicit faith in their chosen methodology, there is another avenue where the principle of faith asserts itself. How do we know what the scientists are saying is true, or even that they truly portray what they find? After all, we do not, in general, understand the complex experimental or analytical procedures used to verify hypotheses. In fact, most common people neither understand the hypotheses, nor the chosen experimental method to verify them. But they have implicit faith in scientists. The question then is what is the basis of such faith? Our faith is nurtured by the authorities in the particular field of concern. For instance, even though we might never experience any of the conclusions of relativity theory in our day-to-day life, because a highly recognized physicist, Albert Einstein, is the chief


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proponent of such a theory, we tend to accept it. Our faith is strengthened by the acceptance of such a theory by other eminent personalities in the field. Furthermore, our faith is strengthened by our factual experience of related events proposed by our respectable authorities. For instance, our faith in the modern scientists is enhanced by their many technological innovations, which seemingly provide us a greater degree of comfort in life. Once again, we are caught in the predicament of having to adopt double standards. We choose to accept the so-called scientific method based on faith in our intelligentsia. However, we reject callously the faithful teachings of some of the greatest anti-material scientists like Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The followers of such scientists have indeed experienced the truth of their “theories” by proper experimentation. The element of faith is the same, whether you accept the standard of the anti-material scientist or the material scientists. There is one big difference, however. The methods advocated by the anti-material scientists like Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu can be followed by even a child, and the appropriate results can be realized by him. But in order to understand the universe in the line of the modern scientific thought, one has to pretty much pursue high-level degrees, and understand so much jargon and terminology. This makes the process accessible only to a very few chosen “elite” members of the society. The rest of the society? Well, they just have to have faith that these elite (but, nonetheless, fallible) members are not only perceiving but also portraying the truth as it is.

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Indeed, there is one other big difference: the empirical method of realizing the truth as advocated by the material scientists precludes any possibility of perceiving the ultimate truth, in case it is anti-material. Because, we cannot perceive anything non-material with material senses or extensions of the material senses. Therefore, by accepting exclusively the authority of the material scientist, we can never have access to the absolute truth as perceived by the anti-material scientists. The choice of faith is ours. We can have faith in the fallible elite with their limited minds and senses, or the infallible proponents of the absolute truth, who have actually seen the truth, who are not merely speculating about it in so many contrived ways.

What the Vedas Say…

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he Vedic literatures give a vivid description of God who is the source of all creation. The Vedas also give details about how the world has been created by God. Material Science has tried to find the ultimate source of creation very insufficiently, but it is a fact that there is one ultimate source of everything that is. This ultimate source is explained rationally and authoritatively in the Shrimad Bhagavatam as follows: “The Lord, who is the controller of all energies, thus creates, by His own potency, eternal time, the fate of all living entities, and their particular nature, for which they were created, and He again merges them independently. After the incarnation of the first purusha


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(Karanarnavashayi Vishnu), the mahat-tattva, of the principles of material creation, take place, and then time is manifested, and in course of time the three qualities appear. Nature means the three qualitative appearances. They transform into activities. Material activities are caused by the mahat-tattva’s being agitated. At first there is transformation of the modes of goodness and passion, and later – due to the mode of ignorance – matter, its knowledge, and different activities of material knowledge come into play. (Shrimad Bhagavatam 2.5.21-23) “The self-centered materialistic ego, thus being transformed into three features, becomes known as the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance in three divisions, namely the powers that evolve matter, knowledge of material creations, and the intelligence that guides such materialistic activities. Narada, you are quite competent to understand this. From the darkness of false ego, the first of the five elements, namely the sky, is generated. Its subtle form is the quality of sound, exactly as the seer is in relationship with the seen.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam 2.5.24-25) “Because the sky is transformed, the air is generated with the quality of touch, and by previous succession the air is also full of sound and the basic principles of duration of life: sense perception, mental power and bodily strength. When the air is transformed in course of time and nature’s course, fire is generated, taking shape with the sense of touch and sound. Since fire is also transformed, there is a manifestation of water, full of juice and taste. As previously, it also has form and touch and is also full of sound. And water, being transformed from all variegatedness on earth, appears odorous and, as previously, becomes qualitatively full of juice, touch, sound and form respectively.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam 2.5.26-29)

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“From the mode of goodness the mind is generated and becomes manifest, as also the ten demigods controlling the bodily movements. Such demigods are known as the controller of directions, the controller of air, the sun-god, the father of Daksha Prajapati, the Ashwini-kumaras, the fire-god, the King of heaven, the worshipable deity in heaven, the chief of the Adityas, and Brahmaji, the Prajapati. All come into existence. By the further transformation of the mode of passion, the sense organs like ear, skin, nose, eyes, tongue, mouth, hands, genitals, legs, and the outlet for evacuating, together with intelligence and living energy, are all generated.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam 2.5.30-31) “O Narada, best of the transcendentalists, the forms of the body cannot take place as long as these created parts, namely the elements, senses, mind and modes of nature, are not assembled. Thus when all these became assembled by force of the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this universe certainly came into being by accepting both the primary and secondary causes of creation. Thus all the universes remained thousands of aeons within the water (the Causal Ocean), and the Lord of living beings, entering in each of them, caused them to be fully animated.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam 2.5.32-34) What is given above is only a small section from the Maha Purana, Shrimad Bhagavatam. There are detailed descriptions in the Vedic literatures about the creation of the universe, its maintenance and its destruction. In this manner the scriptures give minutest details about things we see and even things which we cannot see.

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Srila Prabhupada The Ambassador of The Kingdom of GOD

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His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acharya of ISKCON, appeared in this world in Calcutta in 1896 on Nandotsav day, the day following Janmastami. In his youth in 1922, he met his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, who convinced him to dedicate his life to teaching Vedic knowledge, especially in the English language. In 1944, he single-handedly started Back to Godhead, an English fortnightly magazine. Though practically penniless, his faith in the order of his spiritual master took him to New York in 1965 at the advanced age of 70. After a year of intense struggle, in July 1966, he established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) with its first centre in New York. During the next eleven years, before his passing away on November 14, 1977, he undertook vigorous preaching tours that took him round the globe fourteen times. Under his guidance, he saw the society grow to over 108 centres. ISKCON continues to expand even now with over 600 centres all over the world. He taught the individual and the congregational chanting of the Holy Names of Lord Krishna as the topmost form of yoga and meditation and millions of people all over the world have adopted this mantra meditation as an integral part of their lives.

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In 1968, Srila Prabhupada created New Vrindavana, an experimental Vedic community in the hills of West Virginia. In 1972 His Divine Grace introduced the Vedic system of education in the West by founding a gurukula in Dallas, Texas. Srila Prabhupada inspired the establishment of a forum of leading God-conscious scientists named, the Bhaktivedanta Institute (BI). He established international cultural centres in Sridhama Mayapur, Vrindavana, Mumbai and other places. He also took India’s festivals, especially Rath-Yatra, to the West. Srila Prabhupada’s most significant contribution is his books 70 authoritative renditions of ancient Indian classics, including Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, the most widely read edition of the Bhagavad-Gita in English and a multi-volume commentated translation of the eighteen thousand verse Srimad Bhagavatam. Even the Encyclopaedia Britannica noted, “A C Bhaktivedanta Swami astonished scholars by his prolific writing “ “Poverty means poverty of knowledge,” Srila Prabhupada would often say. His conviction was that humanity was lacking in spiritual knowledge, which was essential for achieving real happiness in life. He vision therefore was that of a global EastWest synthesis, based on the proverbial blind man-lame man story. India has the divine vision of spiritual wisdom, but is financially crippled due to centuries of foreign exploitation and so is like the lame man. USA has financial and technological resources but is lacking in spiritual knowledge and so is like the blind man. If the blind man and the lame man join forces, both of them can reach the destination. Similarly, Srila Prabhupada brought together Indian spiritual wisdom and American technology to revive God consciousness all over the world through ISKCON. With this in mind, he trained thousands of disciples to live a life of pure spiritual principles in the modern world.

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Srila Prabhupada preached that the chanting of the holy names of God, especially the Hare Krishna maha mantra, is a practical and powerful way to raise spiritual consciousness – individually and globally. He demonstrated the liberating potency of mantra meditation by freeing hundreds of hippies from self-destructive drug addictions during the period of the counter-culture in USA in the 1960s and 1970s, a feat that was recognized even by Western scholars and sociologists. Srila Prabhupada would stress, “Without the awakening of divine consciousness, there is no use of crying for world peace.” Srila Prabhupada will always be remembered for the selfless saintly compassion with which he gave the light of genuine spiritualism in the darkness of materialism. Thus he built a house in which the whole world can live.

Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE)

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4


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What is VOICE? VOICE, the Vedic Oasis for the stressed mind of modern age Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture & Education (VOICE) touches the hearts and lives of children, teenagers, adolescent youth, corporates, families. Its motto is rekindling wisdom and reviving love. VOICE represents 'Spiritual Sound of Vedas' 'Shabda brahma' or 'Voicing concern'. Modern world is facing great degradation of character, culture and values. For a sincere human being to live a life of pure principles is a great challenge. The 'Vedic Oasis' conveys the idea that it is 'life-giving' centre in a 'stress-ridden fast-paced rat race society' that is like a desert. Thus VOICE will provide a facility like an Oasis in the middle of desert to keep oneself surcharged in remembrance of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna always. The inspiration is spiritual inspiration to practice devotion to God with full enthusiasm. We have different wings of VOICE catering to the needs of different sections of society : Children VOICE (for children between 5 yrs to 12 years), Teenage Boys VOICE (for teenage boys, Age group 13 to 19), Teenage Girls VOICE (for teenage girls, Age group 13 to 19), Boys VOICE (for the college students, Age group 19 and above ), Girls VOICE (for the college girls, Age group 19 and above), Corporate VOICE (for the company-going men and women), Senior Citizens VOICE (for members above 50 years of age)


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Our Motto

Objectives

The motto of VOICE is ‘Rekindling Wisdom, Reviving Love’. Intellectual education influences the head and value-based education influences the heart. In fact, education that does not train the heart can be dangerous. If we want to build character in our offices, homes and society, we must have the wisdom to live a principle-centered life based on honesty, compassion, courage, responsibility etc. Steven Muller, President, Johns Hopkins University said : “Universities are turning out highly skilled barbarians because we don’t provide a framework of values to young people, who more and more are searching for it.” Winston Churchill said, “The first duty of a university is to teach wisdom, not trade; character, not technicalities.” Educated persons are those who can choose wisely and courageously under any circumstances between good and bad, between virtuousness and vulgarities regardless of the academic degrees they have. The goal of VOICE is to rekindle the innate wisdom about meaning and purpose of life. Peter R.Schemm in his book entitled, ‘Love: Impact on Physical and Mental Health’ explains that people who live in relationships in which they do not feel loved, protected, happy or secure are ten times more susceptible to chronic disease and five time more susceptible to mental illness. Also studies prove that love heals diseases. Community, security, protection, sharing, care and concern for one another – all these are possible only when people learn to lead a selfless God-centered life. Such a life awakens the dormant love in our hearts that manifests as respect for elders, compassion for the youngers, friendliness towards equals, surrender to the laws of God that matures as love for God and towards all.

1. Creating a class of people of high character and competence. 2. Saving teenagers from self-destructive habits. 3. Creating communities for counseling and growth in selfexcellence skills as well as spirituality. 4. Use Arts, Culture, Music and Media to propagate the message of Wisdom literatures. 5. Creating a class of people who respect, trust and love each other, living as vehicles of wisdom. 6. Use talents for propagating love of God and love for all, through the divine Voice of God. 7. Distributing spiritual literature at subsidized prices. 8. Training in Science of God, etiquettes and behaviour, prayer and practices, practical services to God.

Specialised training for children, teenagers, youths and corporates

Children VOICE Advisors

: Radheshyam das, Radhika devi dasi,

Hemangigopi devi dasi Co-ordinators : Rasasundari devi dasi, Krishnakishore das, Assistant Co-ordinators : Ramananda das, Parthahari das, Yashodarani devi dasi,


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Children are trained in story telling, creative exercises, singing, dancing, dramas, painting, sloka recitation, fancy dress competition, etc. There are books exclusively published for these children like ‘Getting to know Krishna’ ‘Wonderful Krishna’ etc that are taught by expertly trained teachers to imbibe good samskars -- character and values in children. There are quarterly ‘Balotsav’ programs where these children get opportunity to display their talents through drama, art, singing, dancing, performances, display booths – that is open for thousands of visitors. During summer vacations, special children camps are organized for fun and learning experience of the children. There are over ten children VOICEs all over Pune that operate once a week for a couple of hours, generally in the week end. Generally about 25 children attend each of these programs. The course registration generally starts from June.

Teenage Boys VOICE Advisors

: Govinda prabhu (Chowpatty), Radheshyam das, Caitanya Charan das Co-ordinators : Tulsi das, Varadaraj das

Modern teenagers are attacked by the money thirsty media programs that impel them to buy costly mobiles, bikes, sports shoes, pants and wears etc. The movies present perverted themes and cause teenagers to indulge in drugs and drinks, smoking and sex-partners – considering themselves ‘free birds’. But all this

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craze ends in selfdestructive addictions, depression, failure in academics or social responsibilities, psychological traumatic experiences often ending in suicide. Our programs are oriented to train them in patience, maturity, self control, clean habits, tolerance, respect for elders, meditation to calm the raging mind etc. The teenagers perform skits, sing, play instruments, join the spiritual dance, meditate and go for spiritual picnics. They also learn public speaking, studying effectively, developing concentration and avoid bad habits.

Boys VOICE Director : Radheshyam das, M.Tech. IIT, Powai Board of Co-ordinators : AcharyaRatna das,B.E.Comp, 9434047299 Bal Govind das, B.E. Mech., 9325502474 Shyamrupa das, B.E. Mech. 9422079881 Ram Priya das, MBBS, (MD), 9373322501 Publications and Sales Manager : Krishnakishore das, M.E. Comp., Asst Prof, VIT college. 09822451260

Boys VOICE has been preaching to youth community since 1996 and over 10,000 students have participated in different courses. Boys VOICE


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also has over a dozen youth hostels across the country close to the colleges like IITKGP, NITWarrangal, NITSuratkal, NITJamshedpur, BVPCOE, Pune, SIT, Pune etc for offering the following training program to empower the modern youth. Personality Development and Character Build Up • Training the students in the application of philosophy, values and principles in their personal life. • Rising early, sleeping early, morning mantra meditation, GD and interactions • Training in etiquettes, manners and proper behavior to be followed while living in society. • Training in dealing with equals, juniors, seniors, elders in the family, parents, teachers. • Training in integrity, truthfulness, simplicity, trustworthiness, non-envy, maturity, humility etc • Training in self-excellence skills like giving presentations, conflict resolution, empathic listening etc Yoga, Meditation and Nutritious Diet • Vibrant health, peaceful mind, and satisfying loving relationships are essential for a life of quality. • People poison their digestive tract with meat, alcohol,drugs, sleeping pills and junk-food. • The purpose of food is to increase the duration of life, purify the mind and aid bodily strength. • At VOICE, the students get Prasadam, sanctified lactovegetarian sanctified diet. It is wholesome, nutritious, satisfying and nourishing to body and soul.

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Mantra Meditation • Modern man filled with fear, tension, anger, defensive attitude etc leading to stress. • The adrenaline hormone secretion leads to disorders like indigestion, back pain, blood pressure rise etc. • Mantra Meditation is a powerful tool to alleviate stress and attain peace of mind. • It provides one inner strength, patience, tolerance, vigor, confidence, power to make decisions etc. • VOICE Students regularly perform mantra meditation and lead cheerful stress-free lives. Topping in Academics • Spirituality and Academics are given equal importance for VOICE students. • During JAN/FEB/MAR and APR/MAY/JUN, the students study 10-13-16 hours per week. • They fill Study cards and report to their Counselors for perusal and subsequent instruction. • The alumni student or professor devotees help the younger students by coaching. • For a devotee student, his college studies are not material. It is Krishna’s service. Public Speaking and Discussion (PSD) • Students are trained how to deliver lecture presentations. • They are taught to face challenges from the audience without losing temper. • They are assessed on the basis of ten criteria and room for improvements are offered to them. • A seasoned preacher gives clarifies all the lingering misconceptions.


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Team Playing and Synergising • Group Discussion Camps (GDC) teaches the students to work cooperatively in a team. • They learn to value others opinions, to pool up the talents of many, to be confident etc. • They prepare one of their team members to give a presentation, make a display, put up a skit etc. Devotional Qualifications • They are trained in cooking, cleaning, washing, worshiping, performing arati, • singing, playing instruments like mridanga, kartals, harmonium, • purchasing things from market, handling accounts, managing different departments like kitchen, etc. • This foundational training is greatly helpful now and in the future. Personal Care and Counseling • Every VOICE student has a Counselor who acts in his life as a Philosopher, Friend and Guide. • He answers the student’s questions and shares his experiences. • He helps him tackle physical, mental, and spiritual problems and trains him to face future challenges. • The counselees fill up a sadhana card that acts as a report card filled up by the candidate. • The Counselor-counselee meetings are held fortnightly or monthly to bring about a family atmosphere.. • There are committees that extend their help — marriage bureau, placement committee, etc.

Preaching Activities One-time slide show seminars like ‘Stress Management’ ‘Time Management’ for awareness.

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Bring out THE LEADER in you’ Course trains the youth in Character and Competence skills. It is meant to be a credit course prescribed by any college for grooming their students in values and ethics. Six-session slide show course called ‘Discover Your Self’ for learning basics of spirituality. Weekly Study Circles Three courses each lasting for 4 months are offered for the Boys VOICE, Girls VOICE and Corporate VOICE members -- ‘Spiritual scientist’, ‘Positive Thinker’, ‘Self Manager’ Advanced courses : Those who complete the above can join ‘Proactive leader’ and ‘Personality Development’ courses. Beyond this one is eligible to join the ‘Bhakti Sastri’ course. Weekend meeting on Saturday evening is open for all boys between 17 to 30 years of age. It is a gathering addressed by special speakers on themes relating to modern world and solution from Vedas. Cultural Activities: Dramas, Nam rock, Debates, Music, Dance and Spiritual Camps and picnics. Prerana Youth Festival : The Boys VOICE organizes a monthly special youth festival for girls called ‘PRERANA’ where over a thousand boys participate in program consisting of a seminar, kirtans, dancing and Prasadam. Special eminent speakers are invited for this program.

(Teenage) Girls VOICE Advisors

: Radhika devi dasi, Vishaka devi dasi, Kishori devi dasi (Mumbai), Radheshyam das, Jaigopal prabhu Co-ordinators : Anangamohini devi dasi, Vidya patham, Brajavallabhi devi dasi Yugalapriya devi dasi.


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The teenage boys and girls are trained separately by male and female teachers respectively. As the psychology of boys and girls are different their training programs are also made suitable to their needs. Woman has a vital role to play in any family, in the life of her husband, children, and in laws and others. It is said that the hand that moves the cradle can make or mar the world. Great leaders have had great mothers. Keeping this in view, the girls are trained in various activities to become a ideal wife, a loving mother and a chaste and exemplary housemaker to benefit home, nation and all humanity.

Objectives of Girls VOICE

Objectives of Teenage Girls VOICE

• • • •

• • • • • • • •

Training girls to Learn Values like politeness, truthfulness, being prayerful, love in action, positive attitude etc Learn Self-Excellence skills like Power of Habits etc Understand the importance of Dos and Don’ts Learn the basic philosophy of KC and develop a taste for chanting, hearing and seva Learn the danger of free mixing, glamour, romance, blue film watching, internet and media etc. Developing Good habits, behaviour, friendships with fellow devotees etc. Sloka recitation from BG chapters 7, 9 and 12 Assisting in Children VOICE teaching

• • •

•

•

Training girls to Learn the basic philosophy of KC and develop a taste for chanting, hearing and seva Values like Overcoming Greed, Anger, Depression, Fear, Inferiority complex Perform devotional activities like offering puja, maintaining deity, making garland, pure habits etc Cultural activities like singing, playing instruments, cooking, put rangoli etc. Live a life of chastity, character, modesty, simplicity and similar values Learn to be a ideal wife, mother, daughter-in-law, -in-law etc Dealing with guests, elders, family members and others Learn to celebrate festivals at home Teaching Children VOICE students

The Girls VOICE organizes a quarterly special youth festival for girls called ‘CHETANA’ where hundreds of girls participate in program consisting of a seminar, kirtans, dancing and Prasadam. Special eminent speakers are invited for this program. Their special activities are : • • • •

Seminars like ‘Role of woman in Vedic society’ by senior ladies Group presentations on topic of “Six anarthas”, Doing Arati to the Lord, Candle making and Pots decoration,


• • • • •

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Garland making Singing Bhajans and Kirtans, Cooking recipes, Slide show presentations Outdoor spiritual picnics and camps

One of the satellite centers of Pune Girls VOICE is at NIT Warrangal run by a devotee professor’s wife.

Corporate VOICE Corporate Preaching Board members Chairman - Radheshyam das Executive Chairman - Vamshi Vadan das Executive Vice-Chairman (CFP) - Anantashesh das (mobile: 9850 881105) Executive Vice-Chairman (CYP) - Gopal Champu das (mobile: 9325 070111) Executive Secretary (CFP) - Amit Relkar Executive Secretary (CYP) - Revati Pati das Lead Trainer - Bala Govinda das

In today’s fast paced and competitive corporate world, the executives, managers and team leaders usually have more mental work than physical which gives rise to many stress born diseases like hypertension, etc and thus cause a great loss

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to their health in personal life and leads to loss of efficiency, cleavage in relationships, etc in professional life. Corporate VOICE offers seminars and courses to help them learn : • • • • • • • •

To bring balance between personal and professional life. How to achieve peace of mind to focus on their duties properly. Unique techniques to eliminate stress and negativity. Simple tips to resolve inner conflicts and improve physical and mental health. Changing attitude and outlook to life for converting distress to eustress. Meditation techniques to go beyond depression and avoid hypertension Developing calm, clear and creative thinking. Secret of Happiness and improving performance.

We have three types of programs to cater to the needs of corporate people : 1. Corporate Family Programs (CFP) - Age group: after marriage 2. Corporate Youth Programs (CYP) - Age group 22 to 30 3. Company Seminars and Workshops (CSW) organised by the company 1. CFP (Corporate Family Program) – These weekly programs are conducted in the following areas: Range hills ( Atharva ), Prabhat Road, Wanowrie, Wanowrie ( Sacred Heart Town ), Camp, Kalyani Nagar, Koregaon Park, Wakad, Lullanagar, Salisbury Park, Kothrud, Aundh, Magarpatta city, Viman Nagar, Pashan


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2. CYP (Corporate Youth Program) – These programs are intended for unmarried corporate youths. Over 20 such programs are held in the weekends, mostly at the temple. 3. YOGA (Youth Of Gods Abode) are Corporate VOICE youth hostels where working youths live together in software park areas and practice Krishna consciousness. Contact Gopal Champu prabhu (9325 070111) for more details.

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11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

Fate and Free will Karma – the Law of Infallible justice Key to Real Happiness Conflict Resolution Eight Qualities of an Effective Leader Managing our Anger Self Development (flowing of consciousness) Personality development and Character buildup Proactive Leadership Art of Living and Leaving

4. Company Seminars and Workshops – Seminars such as ‘Stress Management’ ‘Time Management’ involving presentations and activities lasting for about three hours are held in various companies in and around Pune. We have already conducted programs in Finolex (170 delegates), Tech Mahindra (Formerly know as MBT for 140 delegates), Concentric (top 12 managers attended), Hotel Sagar Plaza (40 delegates) and Zensar (20 delegates).

# All the seminars are designed for a duration of approx 3 hrs session, making it concise & convenient for corporates to squeeze in their working hours or to make it after office hrs also. ## These modules also offer great flexibility & could be “tailor-made” to suit an organization’s particular needs.

‘Bring out the LEADER in you’ Seminars on Leadership For Corporates -- Overview

For more details you may contact our Executive Vice Chairman, Mr.Anant (mobile: 9881401814).

VOICE offers seminars on topics given below. The pocket books on all these topics is in pipe line and likely to be completed before the end of this year. Seminars : 1. Stress Management 2. Time Management 3. Art of Self Management 4. Power of Habits 5. Secret of Concentration 6. Mind your Mind 7. Positive mental attitude 8. Team playing and winning trust of others 9. Overcoming Inferiority complex 10. Constructive criticism – How to give it or take it?


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References 1. Bhagavad-gita, Shrimad Bhagavatam, Ishopanishad and other books by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivadanta Swami Prabhupada. 2. Scientific Basis of Krishna Consciousness, H. H. Bhaktisvarupa Damodar Maharaj. 3. Elements of Vedic Thought, H.H. Satsvarupa Das Goswami. 4. Consciousness the Missing Link, Bhaktivedanta Institute. 5. Enlightenment by the Natural Path, H.H. Hridayanand Goswami. 6. Science and Nescience, Vol.1 No.1 February 1993, Dr. P.V. Krishnan (Prof, Dept of Applied Mechanics, IIT, Delhi). 7. Life – How did it get here?, International Bible Students Association. 8. Forbidden Archeology, Michael Cremo & Richard L Thompson . 9. Origins – Higher Dimensions in Science, Bhaktivedanta Institute, ISKCON, Hare Krishna Land, Juhu, Bombay 10. Darwin’s Secret Identity, David Webb. 11. The Spiritual Scientist, No. 2 Vol. 3, Scientific Evidences for the Existence of the Soul, ISKCON Youth Forum, Pune. 12. Scientific Evidence for the Existence of Soul, Benitto Rees.

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VOICE Publications Spirituality for the Modern Youth This series explains systematically and scientifically how spiritual life is for the truly intelligent - those who want the best in life. An eye opener for those who think that spirituality is the resort of sentimentalists, escapists and oldies. Discover Your Self: Make the one discovery that can fill your life with happiness forever: Who am I? 57 pictures, soft bound, 192 pages (For preachers who want to use Discover Your Self as a course book for youth, we also have: 84 attractive colour slides - both hard & soft copies Audio tapes for all sessions) Your Best Friend: Can you understand and develop a relation with the one Supreme Truth that stands eternally beyond all barriers of caste, creed, colour, nationality and religion? Your Best Friend is the key to a scientific understanding of God. 62 pictures, soft bound, 336 pages Your Secret Journey: Modern scientists, humbled in their attempts to create a humanoid robot, are wondering how a human being is different from a robot. Is there a spiritual paradigm to explain the mystery of life? Scientific proof of past life memories shows that we survive after death. In fact, we go through a journey from one body to another until we attain perfection. Your Secret


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Journey explains the secret of action that can free us from all problems. 86 pictures, soft bound, 322 pages Victory Over Death: Everyone has to face death one day. Although you cannot avoid death, you can conquer it. Victory Over Death explains how to cultivate life so that you can die triumphantly. 97 pictures, Soft bound, 532 pages Yoga of Love: The highest form of yoga is simultaneously simple, sublime and safe. Moreover it is full of love and joy. Empower yourself with the Yoga of Love (Coming soon) Pocket Books Stress Management : Stress is neither a germ nor a bacteria to be treated by antibiotics. It is your outlook to life, a problem of the mind that needs a holistic solution at the level of body, mind, intellect and soul. Read this book for practical tips to tackle the stress problem.

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Practical Tips to Mind Control: What should you do when the whole world appears to have come to an end - everyone appears an enemy, providence appears cruel, the future appears bleak and life appears not worth living? Open the doors to a new life full of joy by applying the Practical Tips to Mind Control. 10 pictures, 88 pages Can I Live Forever? A concise pocket book that gives a scientific understanding of life and death. It also explains an easy and effective way to end all suffering and attain an eternal, happy life. Read and empower yourself to control your present and determine your future. 12 pictures, 54 pages Misdirected Love: One out of every three love marriages in the West ends in divorce within three years of marriage. Why? Love - What exactly is it? Love is an emotion that promises to bring the highest happiness but often brings the greatest pain. Read Misdirected Love and find new direction to your love and life. 9 pictures, 48 pages Other Books

How to Harness Mind Power?: What is the mind? How does it operate? Can I use it to my advantage to do positive things in life? Find out in the Art of Mind Control. 19 pictures, 48 pages Audio tape and colour slides (hard and soft copies) also available

Horizon: A compilation of selected Spiritual Scientist articles. Contains scientific findings about spirituality & health, systematic answers to the fundamental questions of life and spiritual solutions to contemporary problems. 100 pages, soft bound


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The Spiritual Scientist - Selected Newspaper Articles: Make your daily breaks spiritually refreshing! During Tea break, Lunch break, Travel … Browse these brief and Power-packed Articles Published in • Times of India, The Speaking Tree • Maharashtra Herald, The Soul Curry • Deccan Chronicle, Festival Message And rediscover the missing spiritual dimension of life. The memorable examples, the soothing language, the eloquent words, the convincing logic, all add spice to the refresher. Essence of Bhagavad-gita: A condensed version of the Spirituality for the Modern Youth series. Now the same book is going to appear in a easy-tohandle course book format in 5 Courses with the following titles : 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Spiritual Scientist (Discover Your Self) Positive Thinker (Spirit of Bhagavad-gita) Self Manager (Basics of Bhagavad-gita) Proactive Leader (Secret of Bhagavad-gita) Personality development (Essence of Bhagavad-gita)

Bhagavad-gita 7-Day Course: Brief point-wise notes for conducting 7 day course on the Bhagavad-gita. Spiral bound, 100 pages Youth Preaching Manual: A practical and detailed guidebook on how to present the wisdom of the Bhagavad-gita to the youth. 13 colour photos, spiral bound, 127 pages

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Value Education: Vital values for teenagers and children explained lucidly through Vedic stories, modern anecdotes and everyday examples. Smiling Faces Crying Hearts: Concise Spiritual Scientist articles exposing superficial modern civilization & glorifying timeless Vedic wisdom.

Children’s Books These books were conceived to help children understand and appreciate the timeless wisdom and culture of Vedas. You will find stories, songs, scripts for dramas and puppet shows, and art and craft activities that thrill the children. The books offer thought-provoking quizzes that relate to their practical day-to-day life. My first Krishna Book: The child's first introduction to Krishna. Read-aloud rhymes and attractive pictures to colour. 24 pictures, 22 pages Getting to know Krishna: Children are naturally curious. Their little minds want to explore the world around them. Who is God? Why do we go to the temple? Nurture your child's interest and help him take his first steps in discovering Krishna Consciousness. 124 pictures, 47 pages


More about Krishna: Lead the child into the amazing world of Krishna 's pastimes. Enjoyable activities and thought provoking discussions enliven the children and help them to inculcate good values. 187 pictures, 85 pages

Devotees of Krishna: Packed with stories, dramas and poems, this book will appeal to older children. Many basic concepts are made clear through games, discussions and activities. 86 pictures, 76 pages

Wonderful Krishna: Exciting adventures of Krishna, the protector of His devotees. Group projects and comprehension exercises suitable for the growing child. Many fun filled activities add to their enjoyment. 82 pictures, 76 pages. Krishna's Childhood Pastimes: Sweet and simple description of Krishna's childhood pastimes. Plus exciting activity sheets important Bhagavad-gita verses, prayers, Vaishnava songs and Vaishnava etiquette.

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Course Offered by VOICE

Appendix

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Courses offered by VOICE common to Boys VOICE, Girls VOICE & Corporate VOICE Essence of Bhagavad gita Five short-term Certificate courses Through Weekly Study Circle Course books: 1. ‘Essence of Bhagavad-gita’ five courses series, for ‘Siddhanta’ or philosophy

Courses offered by VOICE

2. Vaishnava Etiquette Manual published by ISKCON, Shri Shri Radha Gopinath mandir, Near Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 7, K.M.Munshi marg, Chowpatty, Mumbai-400 007 Phone: (022) 2369 7228, [email protected] 3. ‘Devotional Practice’ and ‘Vaishnava Culture’, Introductory Course Student Handbook, Contact: Sita Rama prabhu, Bhaktivedanta Manor, Hilfield Lane, Aldenham, Watford WD25 8EZ, U.K.

I. Spiritual scientist (Discover Your Self) Duration: 3 weeks, weekly twice

Rekindling Wisdom, Reviving Love

The course helps one to scientifically discover one’s real identity and one’s relationship with the Supreme. A material scientist knows only the atom; a spiritual scientist knows the soul, which is spiritual. This knowledge helps him find goal, mission and vision of life. .


1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

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Introduction to Bhagavad gita Material problems, Spiritual solutions Getting the eyes of Knowledge Vedas – the privelege of Humanity Science of Soul Different platforms of Worship Sadhana and Sadachar topics

Sadhana and Sadachar topics 1. Practical Devotional Service 2. Etiquette within the Temple 3. Habits and Behavior 4. Four Regulative Principles 5. The Four Don’ts to Freedom

III. Self Manager (Basics of Bhagavad gita) Duration: 6 months, weekly once

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II. Positive Thinker (Spirit of Bhagavad gita) Duration: 4 months, weekly once This course helps one with the Positive spirit needed to tap the powerful message of Gita. It helps one to identify a divine guide in your life and to obtain the necessary qualifications to become a cheerful positive thinker in life by knowing the sublime truths. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Identifying my divine guide Spirit of Bhagavad gita Qualifications of an ideal Disciple Reincarnation – fact or fiction? Evolving towards Perfection

This course teaches not the art of managing men, machine, material, market and money, but managing ones own life by a holistic approach that combines knowledge of God’s position and practical application of mantra meditation. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Peace Formula Who should be the object of my worship? God and gods Is God Personal or impersonal ? The Art of Self Management 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Sadhana and Sadachar topics Hearing and Chanting Deity Worship Tulasi Worship Learning Meaning of Morning program Songs Holy Days Serving and Honoring Prasadam Dress and Appearance Missionary Activities Dealing with Parents, Relatives and Friends


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IV. Proactive Leader (Secret of Bhagavad gita) Duration: 6 months, weekly once

V. Personality Development (Essence of Bhagavad gita) Duration: 6 months, weekly once

This course prepares one to become a Proactive Leader. All of us at some moments or the other, become victims to anger, lust and pride and feel sorry for our un-exemplary behaviour. The Proactive Leader is a thoughtful person who gives a positive spiritual response, by knowing what is illusion opposed to reality and the resultant effects of all types of action.

Personality development is not a superficial change. We are generally covered over superficially by our acquired qualities like Experiences, Abilities, Memories, Learning, Habits and Beliefs etc. But the innate qualities of the soul like Peace, Love, Truth, Happiness, Humility, Tolerance are hidden. When we awaken the innate qualities of the soul, they come out in the 4 R’s of our life-- in the various Roles that we have to play, the different Routines that we go through, the Responsibilities we have to shoulder, and the various Relationships that we care for. The innate qualities are brought out when one’s personality is truly developed.

1. 2. 3. 4.

The three ropes that bind us Surpassing Maya Our lost home – Kingdom of God Karma – the law of infallible justice Sadhana and Sadachar topics : 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

ISKCON’s Cultural Identity and its connection to the Vedas Varnasrama Dharma Ethics and Morality Sadhana Position of women in Vedic culture Relating to Devotees with Due Respect

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Essence of Bhagavad gita Creation and Universal Time Different types of Yoga system Practical Application of Bhagavad gita Passing the Final Exam Sadhana and Sadachar topics : 1. Relating to Seniors, Juniors and Peers 2. Three levels of Devotees 3. Dealings with Guests 4. Offenses to the Vaishnava 5. Twenty-six Qualities of a Devotee


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Method of Evaluation and Reward 1) The marking will be done as follows : • • •

50% weightage for the marks obtained from EBG Course Quiz, BG As It Is Quiz, Story Quiz, etc. 30% weightage for the Final Exam 20% for Practical lifestyle and behavior, Attendance, Punctuality and Participation in the weekly classes

2) Certificates could be issued based on the following criteria: Passing marks Distinction : Honors : High Honors

: 60%, 80% and above 90% and above, : 95% and above

Candidates who get 60% and above receive a Certificate of Recognition.

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