Is Eckhart Tolle Right? Can Life Flow With Ease?
Can you really create the life that you want? Furthermore, can you create it in an easy and relaxed way, unfolding gracefully? Is it possible to offer no resistance to life, to be in a state of elegance, effortlessness, and buoyancy while still getting what you really want? Can you move beyond being dependent on things being a certain way, good or ill, and gently move toward the life that makes you feel content, safe, and successful?
I think the best answer to this question can come from someone who has done it.
Here is what Eckhart Tolle, in The Power Of Now, says about experiencing a life that is worth living, where there is enough joy and freedom in each day to express your unique and authentic self:
“It seems almost paradoxical, yet when your inner dependency on form is gone, the general conditions of your life, the outer forms, tend to improve greatly. Things, people, or conditions that you thought you needed for happiness now come to you with no effort or struggle on your part, and you are free to enjoy and appreciate them–while they last.
All those things, of course, will still pass away, cycles will come and go, but with dependency gone there is no fear of loss anymore. Life flows with ease. The happiness that is derived from some secondary source is never very deep. It is only a pale reflection of the joy of Being, the vibrant peace that you find within as you enter the state of nonresistance.”
Yes, life can be wonderful, if you let it. And that is the trick: letting it be the way it is. In that space of allowing, new opportunities that you had not dreamed of come your way, and a new and splendid life comes to you of its own accord.
How does this happen? When you stop pushing, forcing, and trying to make things go a certain way; when you stop beating yourself up; when you stop berating the world for its obvious shortcomings; and when you stop using other people to be part of your internal script, then life itself begins to unfold the way that is best for you.
Your resistance to life is the cause of all your suffering. This resistance is expressed though struggle. This struggle, in turn, becomes increasingly more complex, exhausting you, and the harder you try to figure things out, the more confused you get.
We aren’t talking about becoming a sluggard, or not thinking, or not acting. We’re talking about creating sufficient inner mental quiet to observe what is actually happening so that you can effortlessly act intelligently in any situation. Our tension creates confusion, which then creates unintelligent living.
Allowing your life to flow with ease, then, is not about abandoning your goals and drifting or hoping something better shows up soon. Instead, it is about deciding what is best for you and allowing it to unfold in a very natural way, without coercion, second-guessing, or getting in your own way.
Once you lower your resistance to events, your mind becomes sharper and your energy is more expansive. All sorts of wonderful things then happen. Some of them are quite logical and make perfect sense. Others border on the mystical. Serendipidity and synchronicity start to show up more often.
Another way of describing this entire process is learning how to dance. Instead of grimly marching from one event to another, believing you are making some small progress and feeling unbelievably frustrated in the process, dance with life as it unfolds for you. Set your intention, release it, do what comes to mind as the best course of action, but stay mindful, stay open, and allow grace, ease, and lightness to inform your experiences.
Saleem Rana would love to share his inspiring ideas with you. Hunting everywhere for a life worth living? Discover the life of your dreams. His book, Never Ever Give Up is offered at no cost to stimulate your success. http://www.theempoweredsoul.com/enter.html
Grihasta Ashrama - A Platform for Renunciation?
Grihasta, or householder life is the second spiritual stage in the Varnasrama parampara. In this phase the grihasta lives along with his wife and children in their house and leads a religious (dharma) and productive (artha) life, which allows some resources of enjoyment (kama). This asrama is the only economically productive asrama and therefore the householders have to support other asramas by giving charity in exchange for spiritual knowledge. Srimad Bhagwatam (11.18.43) states “A householder may approach his wife for sex at the time prescribed for begetting children. Otherwise, the householder should practice celibacy, austerity, satisfaction in his natural position, and friendship toward all living entities. Worship of Me (Krsna) is to be practiced by all human beings, regardless of social or occupational divisions.”
Although householders and renunciates have different occupations, there are some they have in common. By leading life in one’s natural occupation, one can attain devotional service free from the modes of nature. Otherwise one will fall into irreligion and be unable to make gradual advancement. If one acts in his profession according to his position in the modes of nature and gradually gives up these activities, he attains the transcendental position. Therefore people can become free from the modes of nature if they pass their lives dovetailing everything- sattvika objects, activities, time and place with the devotional service of the Lord.
It should be understood that performing devotional service to Sri Hari is the only purpose of human life, there is no other purpose. For such a goal, grihasta ashrama can also lead one to the pure love of lord Hari. In fact for most people in this age, it is the recommended process. Unless one makes the gross and subtle bodies favourable for devotional service, one cannot engaged in such. Due to fruitive activities, the nature and desires of a living entity are a mixture of goodness, passion, and ignorance. Initially one must enrich the mode of goodness and rein over passion and ignorance to cause the mode of goodness to be the prominent one. Then gradually, as the mode of goodness comes completely under the control of devotional service, one comes to the transendental platform devoid of all material modes.
By following such a gradual process one’s body, mind and environment become fit for devotional service. The occupational activities a man performs according to his own position are useless labour unless they gradually provoke attraction for the personality of Godhead (SB 1.2.8). This does not mean that one should discard varnashrama dharma. As long as one has material body the system of varnashrama dharma must be followed, but it should remain under the complete control of Bhakti.
To create an ambience favorable for his devotional service, a householder should find a suitable wife. In the Caitanya Caritamrita Adi 15.26.27 the Lord says: Since I am remaining at home it is my duty to act as a grihastha; without a wife there is no meaning to householder life. A householder should take the principles of renunciation to heart; but he should not simply dress as a renunciate. A householder, within his heart, keeps himself faithful to the instructions of guru and Krsna, but externally he may behave like an ordinary man. Krishna soon becomes pleased with such a grihasta and delivers him form the clutches of material illusion.
For a devotee, to remain a householder or to become a renunciate is the same thing. The difference between a householder and a renunciate is due to their different means of livelihood. If the home is favourable for a devotee’s devotional service, then he should not leave. It is his duty to remain a grihastha with detachment. But when the home becomes unfavourable for his service, he then becomes eligible to leave home. All genuine devotees remain either at home or in the forest due to this consideration. Whoever leaves home with this consideration is a genuine renunciate.
Victor Epand is an expert consultant at http://www.4IndiaGifts.info/ . 4IndiaGifts.info offers religious gifts and puja supplies with delivery from India to anywhere in the world. Browse through our selection of handcrafted incense here: http://www.4IndiaGifts.info/category/natural-incense.html
Srila Prabhupada’s Presentation of Sastras
Srila Prabhupada did not present Shastra as a dry academic subject to be theorized and armchair-philosophized about. Instead of giving abstruse explanations, he spoke and more importantly lived the essense of shastra. He repeatedly emphasized the point of all sastra: “You are not this body. Surrender to Krsna.”
Srila Prabhupada repeatedly said that by reading his books we get in touch with the previous acaryas. Indeed, his purports to the sastra draw on the realization of the previous acaryas whose commentaries Prabhupada consulted before composing his own. A special feature of Srila Prabhupada’s purports, however, is that he was the first to show how the Srimad Bhagvatam’s principles can be applied in practical circumstances in the human society. Also for the first time ever, he comprehensively presented Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy, replete with all subtleties and complexities, in a non-Indian language.
Prabhupada’s explanation of Vedic philosophy is simple, clear, and uncomplicated English is an unprecedented achievement in literary history. English is a mleccha-bhasa (language of meat eaters), but Srila Prabhupada purified it. Quoting Srila Prabhupada’s purports is as authorized as quoting from the Original Sanskrit shastras. Infact, the words of the acharya are even more potent because without the acharya’s explanations, ordinary people would not be able to understand the meaning of shastra.
Srila prabhupada’s lectures were simple, straightforward bhagavad philosophy. Prabhupada’s songs are preferable to any of the dozens of styles of melodius kirtans because there is a different level of potency altogether. Srila prabhupada’s presentations whether it is the songs he sung or the purports he wrote, everything was always Krishna centric and at no point were for material sensual pleasure. His intense purity and compassion for the fallen conditions souls manifest in all his work. Being a pure devotee of the lord, his words are infallible, totally correct and spoken for upliftment of all concerned.
His words enter the heart of a living entity and purify it. The potency in his works is so strong that even though he has written for everyone, it seems to the reader that he is speaking personally to the individual reader and whatever he has written makes complete sense to the honest inquisitive.
Srila Prabhupada’s works reflected his inadvertent strong-mind and principles. There were no contradictions or interpretations. He presented the message as it is. Srila Prabhupada make Krsna and the Hare Krsna mahamantra famous all over the world even though non-devotees don’t know much about him. This is due to his presentation of Shastra as a messenger. He never took credit for this great benediction that he was giving and continues to give to fallen conditioned souls through his books.
The philosophy he preached through his books was sound in theory and practically applicable under all circumstances. Srila Prabhupada saw nothing as different from Krsna. He saw Krsna everywhere and in everything, and everything in Krsna. Whatever he wrote is a living example or rather an extention of this premise that he lived by. He wanted to engage everything and everybody in Krsna’s service. His works and method of presentation of shastras are still inspiring thousands of people to take up the sublime method of Krsna consciousness practically in their lives. His objective of developing a Krsna conscious movement, which is not limited to study of literature, however is built on how he presented the message of Krsna and Lord Chaitanya throughout the world.
Victor Epand is an expert consultant at http://www.VedicBooks.info/ . VedicBooks.info offers Vedic books and Vaisnava literatures from many authorized sources. Please browse through our selection of Latest Additions here: http://www.VedicBooks.info/category/latest-additions.html
Sex Life is Abominable
Sex is the driving mechanism of modern society. Godless life induces people into lustiness long after the high of youth has subsided, causing them to stay emotionally immature throughout their lives. Forgetting the eternal relationship with the supreme personality of godhead, lord Sri Krsna, they absorb media propaganda and remain perpetually indulgent in lust, having no knowledge of the necessity to resist the itch of this basal sexual urge.
Rampant sensual titillation however, increasingly dulls the spirit and causes deprivation of the real happiness. In adolescence, when the senses appear to have unlimited power to invoke delights, happiness through sense enjoyment seems not only to be a distinct possibility, but also the very purpose of life. Attempts for sexual enjoyment increasingly result in emptiness and frustration. Still, most people fail to recognize the limits and temporary nature of sexual enjoyment. Due to their misdirected education, they think that their lack of satisfaction with sex is only due to something wrong in their approach to it. They thereby end up on a psychologist’s couch or read several hundred books on ‘improved’ sex life. However, the harder they hanker for pleasure, the more certainly it eludes them. In this furious attempt to force their bodies into giving them the happiness, which they regard as a natural birthright, they methodically indulge into pornography, varieties of perversity, and ultimately violence.
There is really nothing special about sex. It is not wonderful, it is not noble, it is not romantic - it is just a bodily function, a response to raw gut feeling. If you think about it soberly, the whole prospect of sex seems rather silly. Still, everybody is doing it. The president of America is doing it, the bums on the street are doing it, the cats and dogs are doing it. Only a few great souls are attempting to conquer over it. Intelligently restraining from animal propensity and redirecting one’s energy towards God consciousnesses is the very purpose of the human form of life.
Actual civilization teaches its members to subjugate their sexual desires for higher, spiritual purposes. Modern civilization exploits people’s sexual cravings, makes a business out of it, and sends people to hellish planets by the millions life after life. Sex should be indulged in only for procreation. There is no fun in sex. It is painful and disgraceful process of so called enjoyment.
Aware of the challenges involved in providing this knowledge to the fallen conditioned souls, the Vaisnavas are begging the supreme lord to provide some intelligence to these people. If only people could understand this simple fact: We are all eternal servants of Krishna. Our sexual desire is simply a perverted reflection of our heart’s deepest desire to love Krishna. If we just knew this we could all be eternally happy. But in the darkness of the modern age it is very difficult to convince anyone that there is anything wrong with sex at all. The followers of Srila Prabhupada have a great responsibility to somehow or other deliver this ultimate knowledge to the people of the world.
Victor Epand is an expert consultant at http://www.4IndiaGifts.info/ . 4IndiaGifts.info offers religious gifts and puja supplies with delivery from India to anywhere in the world. Browse through our selection of handcrafted incense here: http://www.4IndiaGifts.info/category/natural-incense.html
How To Dance With The Universe
The universe is a dance of possibilities. You dance with it when you fall into a flow, a rhythm, where more of the possibilities that you desire start to show up.
Carl Jung called this state of “meaningful coincidences” synchronicity.
The classical true story of the golden scarab beetle best illustrates it.
In an article called, “Synchronicity, An Acausal Connecting Principle,” Carl G. Jung shares a true story that has now become a classic example:
“A young woman I was treating had, at a critical moment, a dream in which she was given a golden scarab. While she was telling me this dream I sat with my back to the closed window. Suddenly I heard a noise behind me, like a gentle tapping. I turned round and saw a flying insect knocking against the window-pane from outside. I opened the window and caught the creature in the air as it flew in. It was the nearest analogy to a golden scarab that one finds in our latitudes, a scarabaeid beetle, the common rose-chafer (Cetonia aurata), which contrary to its usual habits had evidently felt an urge to get into a dark room at this particular moment.” [Coll. Works, vol. 8, 843]
Jung explains “The meaningful connection is obvious enough … in view of the approximate identity of the chief objects (the scarab and the beetle).” [CW, vol. 8, 845]
The scarab beetle showed up because the patient was stuck in a thoroughly rationalistic point-of-view, which prevented her from experiencing insight into her problems.
The timely appearance of the scarab beetle, something that stood outside the realm of rationality, caused her to experience the paradigm shift that she needed to experience psychic healing.
This transformation in her psyche was a symbol of rebirth.
As Jung wrote: “The scarab is a classic example of a rebirth symbol. The ancient Egyptian Book of What Is in the Netherworld describes how the dead sun-god changes himself at the tenth station into Khepri, the scarab, and then, at the twelfth station, mounts the barge which carries the rejuvenated sun-god into the morning sky.” [CW, vol. 8, 845]
Here is another example, told by Jung.
A man named Monsieur Deschamps had a neighbor, Monsieur de Fontgibu, who gave him his first plum pudding when he was a young boy. In Paris ten years later, Deschamps orders plum pudding in a restaurant but discovers that the last serving was sold to de Fontgibu, who is unexpectedly in town and at that same restaurant. Years later, Deschamps is once again offered plum pudding at a social gathering. As Deschamps tells the gathering about the earlier coincidences, he is shocked to see de Fontgibu, now a senile old man, barge in through the door, having mistaken the room for another place that he had been seeking.
Rationalists like to oppose the idea of synchronicity as apophenia, a tendency of the mind to seek and perceive connections between unrelated phenomena.
However, apart from the obvious fact that synchronicity appears to have a strong meaning to those who experience it, sometimes transforming them in a way that they could not have imagined, like Jung’s ultra-rational patient who needed a nudge by the universe to have her psychological breakthrough, an even stronger argument to support the Jungian “discovery” of synchronicity, I believe can be found in viewing the situation from the perspective of quantum physics and the idea of an intelligent universe.
Everything is energy and this energy is organized by intelligence. This intelligence is not individual but cosmic; it is an impersonal, non-linear, infinite organizing awareness.
Thus, we live in three domains.
There is the domain of the “world of appearance.” This is the every day world where an oak tree is a solid mass of wood that can hurt your foot if you kick it.
There is the domain of “the quantum world.” This is where the oak tree is not at all solid but a constellation of atoms, which at the subatomic level is not a collection of solid things, but only patterns of probability that dance in and out of existence.
Then there is the domain of “pure intelligence.” This is the infinite organizing intelligence that organizes the life-form of the tree so that it grows from an acorn into an oak tree.
Since at the quantum level, every particle appears to be in instant communication with every other particle, at the level of the world of appearance, a thought is an attractive force that brings more of what you think about into your experience. Thus, through the agency of pure intelligence acting on the quantum field, thoughts, which are wavelengths, affect other wavelengths to bring you the subject of your thoughts.
In order to tap into the flow of synchronicity, a connection with pure consciousness and with the quantum world is necessary. This connection is established through a specific pattern of thought, which we call an intention.
Carlos Castaneda’s definition of intention best explains how it is the connecting force between the three domains. He says, “In the universe, there is an immeasurable, indescribable force which shamans call intent, and absolutely everything that exists in the entire cosmos is attached to intent by a connecting link.”
The dance of the universe is the flow of synchronicity, and this synchronicity is something that you can invite into your life by holding the intention of consciously creating your reality.
Saleem Rana would love to share his inspiring ideas with you. Hunting everywhere for a life worth living? Discover the life of your dreams. His book, Never Ever Give Up is offered at no cost to stimulate your success. http://www.theempoweredsoul.com/enter.html
Peeling Off the Layers of Our Multi-Dimensional Reality
Mainstream science is thought to be complete, only giving credence to data that can be physically measured with the available five senses: by this way of thinking, anything that cannot be tasted, smelled, touched, heard or seen through physical means is not scientific, and can only be speculated through philosophy. Complex machines measure elements which cannot be seen or experienced by the human eye, such as microscopic particles like atoms, electrons, neutrons, protons and vibrations.
However, therein lies a huge problem.
According to mainstream science, our bodies are made up of physical elements, tissue and organs that operate via electrical impulses sent to and from the brain. The brain can be thought of as the “CPU” of the physical body. This concept is widely accepted, however if it were 100% accurate, then why doesn’t your personal computer have consciousness?
We cannot dismiss this simple but powerful fact of life and existence. The physical body operates according to physical laws, but the mind is not a physical organ. The mind is not the brain and no matter how hard scientists and physicists have tried to locate consciousness inside the body, they have never been remotely successful.
How could this be?
The mind is non-physical, existing and operating outside of the physical dimension. Shape, height, width, mass, space and time are all measurements of physical reality. The mind cannot be measured in this way, and therefore it is nonphysical and non-spacial. Where does your mind begin and end? How large or small is it? How much does it weigh? What is its shape?
Have you ever asked yourself these questions?
If you have, you could have only come to two possible conclusions:
1) Mind and consciousness are located within the physical body
2) Mind is nonphysical, existing both inside and outside the physical body
But if the latter is true, how much space does the mind take up? How far outside the body does it go?… If the mind is nonphysical and non-spacial, then it is “everywhere and no-where” all at once. It exists outside this physical dimension of perceptual reality, and therefore must exist on another frequency, or dimension.
But again, how large is this “other” dimension?… Does it penetrate our Universe?
Even the Universe itself as our greatest scientists have confirmed, while seemingly unbound and eternal - is in fact, not. There is a limit to space and the Universe, as it is constantly expanding. “Something” exists outside of that expansion to make it possible for the Universe to expand. Scientists don’t really know what that is, and call it “dark matter.”
However, even the entirety of the Universe as we’ve been able to measure it, is only in the physical dimension.
The closest mainstream scientists have come to measuring consciousness, is via changes in the vibrations and brainwaves affected by altered states of Mind. They can measure the effect, but not the cause or origin of consciousness itself.
So we’ve concluded that human-kind operates on at least two dimensions. Physical, and Mind. In our physical dimension, we can only concieve of a linear timeline (i.e. past, then present, then future) however… in the mind, time clearly does not exist. In the mind, we can move through the past, present and future with a simple intent. When you remember something, your mind is travelling into the past. When you’re in the moment of experience, your mind is in the present, and when you’re imagining or daydreaming, your mind is in the probable future.
So physically we are bound by space and linear time (to a degree) - yet, in the realm of Mind we can travel at the speed of thought to any time we desire. This is because time does not exist outside this physical dimension and is an illusion of physical reality. And if time must exist for shape, height, width, mass and space to be measured, it can only be concluded that since the Mind is nonphysical and non-spacial, there is no beginning and no end. There is no seperation from mind-to-mind. They are all one Mind. In the physical, we experience the great illusion that we are seperate.
But in truth, we are having an experience of being seperate through individual aspects of the same source.
And if there are at least two dimensions in which our being operates at once, can there be more?
The Realm of Emotion
If we can physically measure the effects of consciousness but not consciousness itself, then what affects consciousness?
Our emotions. And we know how various emotions create different chemicals within the body, but we have never located the “seat” of the emotions themselves. Emotion is different from thought, even though they are connected. This means there is yet another dimension of our Being… the Realm of Emotion.
Emotion influences thought. When you’re mad, you influence the consciousness to attract “angry” thoughts. Which, by the Law of Attraction gives you more of that same energy. When you’re in a state of gratitude, you get more of those things you are thankful for. Emotion charges Mind with energy, which then manifests into physical experience.
But what charges Emotion?
The Realm of Intent
Intent comes not from Mind, nor from Emotion. Intent originates before thought. When you intend to run, you set the energy into motion. Then your mind attracts thoughts of running, which are powered by your emotions of how it feels to run. This is translated into the physical experience of running.
There are many more layers of our reality than we previously imagined. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that through deep self-reflection and serious contemplation on the nature of the Self and consciousness, it can be determined that we live and operate in a multi-dimensional reality which we experience through individual aspects of one Mind.
What we call consciousness is the movement of Mind, causing vibration and creating reality.
Discover real techniques for improving the quality of your life through mind power, manifestation and metaphysics. Email jasonmangrum@aweber.com or visit http://www.JasonMangrum.com
Bringing Krsna to Work
Recently, after hearing during a recent class from the LA Temple, that one shouldn’t think he could bring Krsna Consciousness to the work place and expect people there not to influence the devotee, it got me thinking so I am writing this today. I understand the speakers’ intention was to not fool oneself into thinking one can expect oneself to remain strong in one’s sadhana while associating with people outside the temple. For those who feel strongly in this regard, your point can not truly be disputed. As devotees we all know there’s no place like Vaikuntha here on earth, in other words, the temple. We would all love to be in the most fortunate of circumstances, yet for some of us that can not always be possible.
However, there are those who bring the glorious mercy of the Lord everyday to work. I happen to be one of those fortunate few. Below are just a few of the ways I stay Krsna Conscious at work.
Firstly, I am not ashamed to let people know I am a devotee. I sort of revel in the uniqueness and take every opportunity to introduce in private, as much philosophy as I feel is appropriate for the person and/or particular situation. For me it is never easy working in the first place, so generally I make a friend or two for support. I try to pick work associates carefully and select only those who are pious and kind-hearted as a base for any work friendship. They get the most mercy in forms of enlightening discussions and stories, books, chanting, kirtan, prasadam, offered flowers and holy water. They know why I don’t eat meat and even understand how I can’t kill the ants that may crawl on my desk from time to time. They know we can’t go to lunch on Ekadasi and that on some days I fast.
Secondly, I know since most people ensnared in the material existence are almost madmen, for them my compassion is never far away. As a devotee I understand that “there by the grace of God do go I”. My job as a receiver of knowledge is to become the deliverer of such. When able to do so, I’ve noticed that in almost every conversation there is some way to bring in mention of our philosophy. I see that it is my duty to give them the Holy Name somehow or another. If someone is especially kind to me on the phone I almost always end with a softly spoken “Hari Bol” or “Hare Krsna”. I have yet to have anyone ask what I am saying. Maybe they are thinking I am saying, “I have to go”. It’s a great trick and always feel so good after sneaking it in at the end. Sometimes, they may even thank me or give me a “ditto” as I give them credit.
Thirdly, as a devotee I can’t be without my Lord. My desktop background/screen saver is a beautiful array of my favorite Krsna pictures. Krsna pictures and quotes are interspersed amongst the calendars and plants. My ear pod is connected to my computer’s media player and I hear kirtans and lectures as much as possible while I am working. My car has Krsna music playing that others can hear while we drive, as well as my japa beads for chanting are out in the open.
As a devotee let us not forget that we are able to dovetail anything, as we find appropriate, in the service of the Lord. In closing, I thank you for reading my story and hope it may be of help to others and to any who “work outside the temple”.
I know I am not alone and have heard other similar stories such as mine. You may try some of these methods yourself and be pleasantly surprised. I have the best time “treating” conditioned souls to KC.
In closing, I must say I love my job because my days are blissful and although I am working in what appears to be the material realm, I am still in my Spiritual Master’s and beloved Lord’s presence always.
http://Chakra.org is a Vaisnava website designed to encourage the growth of devotion, foster critical thinking, and promote communication among Vaisnavas world-wide. Although differences of opinion will occur, we aim to provide a forum for mutual respect among the multiple strands of our community.
What On Earth Is Going On Here?
It’s all a miracle, when you come to think of it.
All of it.
Billions of years ago, out of nothing, a universe evolved from a sound. The vibration of this “big bang” still continues to expand.
A planet evolved out of the masses of dead planets that would support life. As far as we currently know, no other planet in our galaxy supports life. There are rumors of space visitors but few of us have ever seen them, or their magnificent ships. It’s all hearsay, and since pictures can be doctored and governments tend to suppress things in a reflexive way, the more we think about it, the more confused we get.
Millions of creatures on this planet; some of them in the deepest recesses of the ocean; some alive in the depths of the soil; some flying in the air; some leaping across the tree tops; some slithering down the rocks; and then, of course, there’s us, living in concrete jungles, a species so intelligent that our closest biological parallel, the monkey, has the intelligence similar to that of a three-year-old human being.
We not only have an awareness of what is going on in our neighborhood but we have some pretty good ideas of what the rest of the galaxy looks like, as well as the universe as a whole. We have also developed enough mathematics and instruments to show us the smallest of things, a subatomic particle. To our surprise, we have found that it isn’t a thing at all, but a cloud of energy, a probability pattern that appears to dance in and out of existence and may even travel back and forth in time.
Where did all these creatures, so many, so spectacular, and so astonishing at times, come from, and why are they here anyway? What, for example, is the destiny of a rat? an earthworm? a culture of bacteria? Do they have a higher purpose, too, or are they just here to breed, consume, excrete, and die?
But it gets stranger still.
Biologically, you had a high probability of not being here in the first place.
Out of millions of sperms that completely happened to miss the egg, you happened to be the one who made that biochemical “handshake.” This, in turn, created a massive replication of very specialized cells that formed itself into a completely organized biological system of some trillions of cells. For the most part these trillions of cells appear to get along together and effortlessly run on autopilot for decades, maybe even three-quarters of a century.
And while all of this has happened and is still happening, you aren’t, as far as you can tell, taking an active role in running the show. Your liver, without a thought from you, seems to know exactly what to do to keep you around despite that extra shot of Vodka you took to cheer yourself up yesterday.
Again, out of billions of people, it only took the probability of two to meet to bring you here. In fact, those two people may not even have gotten along very well with each other; but still, you’re here, despite all the arguments they’ve had and may still be having with each other. Somehow you snuck in when they were in a good mood.
Spiritually, too, there was not much of a chance that you would show up here, either.
Assuming there is a spiritual dimension, there is probably a long waiting list to get a human body. The odds of getting one must be as astonishing as winning the lottery. After all, if there are billions here already, and all souls never die, then there must be an astronomical number in the other dimension. Since space-time is infinite, assuming they even have space-time there, the number of souls may rival the number of stars in the universe.
Out of all possible experiences, you had a select number that have shaped your personality to be the way it is. And out of the 60,000 or more thoughts you have had every day of your life, there are only a select few that you acted on to make your day the way it is today.
It’s all so strange and mysterious that there is a group of us, called scientists, dedicated to looking into it, and this group has become so specialized because there is so much information that now very few of us even know what they are talking about.
Another group has formed as well, called philosophers, who try to piece all the disciplines together to create a big picture, but even this group has become overwhelmed and broken up into splinter units, and we will never ever again have the grand schemes of a Plato, a Kant, or a Spencer. The idea of a grand unified theory of life has all but been abandoned. Of course, there are still a few renegades, like Ken Wilber, who still like to write a brief history of everything, but even these attempts are more about creating huge sweeping classifications, then really explaining anything. It’s not anybody’s fault really,
there is just too much to consider and still too much to discover to allow a neat, overall pattern to be envisioned.
Then there are other groups, called politicians, who work hard on writing the rule books based on the prevailing ideas of world domination. And, they are followed quite closely, by people whom we will politely call industrialists, who are trying to do the same thing, except that they use a different kind of paper to determine the rules on how the rest of the species should live.
But, of course, the quest for power, does not stop there. There are also the armed forces, the environmentalists, the activists, the musicians, the theologians, and every other imaginable social cluster that is trying to weave a coherent pattern out of their own particular world-view.
The main difficulty everyone is having is not getting a clear idea of what is going on.
In the days of ancient Greece, a sapient homo sapient, like Aristotle, could embrace a complete world view. He impressed everyone for centuries as appearing to know something about everything.
But today, we know, for sure, that he didn’t really know that much. Ironically, the awe that centuries of scholars had held him in was mainly due to the fact that very few people were willing to look into anything deeply at all. In fact, those who did ended up getting crucified or burned at the stake or some other gruesome finish.
Fortunately, along came epochs like the Renaissance and the Age of Reason where human curiosity finally broke the bonds of collective stupidity and original inquiry became acceptable again.
This, in itself, took on a massive momentum. After centuries of intellectual suppression, in this century, we ended up figuring out and inventing more than in the entire history of the human race. Today, the rate of knowledge is expanding at such a rapid rate each day that no one can keep up with it anymore.
A multi-talented individual, a “universal man” like Leonardo Da Vinci or Isaac Newton will never be known again. Unfortunately, this has happened not only because of the rate of expansion of knowledge but because toleration for genius has also faded. For example, someone like William Sidis, who in 1910, at age 11, lectured Harvard Mathematical club on “Four-Dimensional Bodies,” spent most of his adult life hiding from the vituperation of the popular press.
Albert Einstein did not have a great start either. However, after being scorned by the university system and being forced to take the menial job of a patent office clerk, he managed to break free of the prejudice against intelligence by coming up with such startling ideas that the dozen or so people who understood what he was talking about embraced it and he became the first really smart celebrity.
But even Albert Einstein, after his few shocking revelations, spent most of his life in bewilderment. He constantly argued with Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, and the ever growing army of the exponents of Quantum Physics. In this battle of wits, he never really gained any ground because the mathematical and experimental evidence kept on showing the world of the very small to be constantly more bizarre than anyone had ever previously imagined.
Albert Einstein argued that “God does not play dice.” He believed that a grand, logical, aesthetic design should explain everything, but the evidence kept on piling up to show that God was indeed playing dice all day long.
Speaking of dice, even your own life, when you come to think of it, has been filled with many improbable interventions that rescued you from certain disasters, gave you insight when you needed it most, and created an entire pattern when you look back at it. No doubt, at the current moment, you’re witnessing another role of the dice, and despite how rational and sensible you’re trying to be things are working out in a most unusual way.
The probability of anything happening the way it has happened is so unlikely that about the only statement one can make about living on earth is that it is all a miracle.
At best, we only have a vague idea of what is really going on, and we have a way of muddling up our facts and inventing our own versions to explain the gaps, which only adds to the confusion. And we are not alone in this quest to keep things as befuddled as possible. Despite the astonishing discoveries of neuroscience, all educational systems throughout the world still operate on roughly the same educational paradigms invented a century or two earlier. And some even fail to rival that of the 17th Century.
Ironically, despite the beauty of this entire scheme of life on Earth, our internal agitation, both as individuals and as a culture, appear to have taken over for the most part. It appears that we are all simultaneously wrecking as much havoc as possible while crying for help. This is not a cynical comment. Evidence for it is as close as the nearest newspaper or Television or Radio News Channel.
Perhaps the greatest miracle is yet to come. At the current rate of overpopulation, pollution, nuclear arms escalation, genocidal outbreaks, archaic educational systems, rampant militarism, the machinations of multinational corporations, religious dogma, social unrest, economic spirals, environmental disasters, and the disappearance of entire species of flora and fauna, it’s going to take another miracle to keep the Earth itself from total collapse. Again, there are rumors of this as having happened before, and there are talks of civilizations like Atlantis and Lemuria which appear to have disappeared without much of a trace, apart from archeological artifacts, which could also be explained in any other number of ways. Like the notion of life on other planets, we have, at present, no clear idea if a flourishing civilization once existed before we showed up. (And, if we assume the idea of reincarnation, we may be the very same rascals who messed things up in the first place.)
In conclusion, then, whatever we make of the prevailing ideas of the earth, its confused inhabitants, and its possible future, one thing is rather clear: everything that exists has happened out of a huge improbability of it ever occurring in the first place.
What will it take for us, then, as a species, to appreciate the miracle of life and have more of it, not only for ourselves and other life-forms, but for generations of sentient life yet to come?
Saleem Rana would love to share his inspiring ideas with you. Hunting everywhere for a life worth living? Discover the life of your dreams. His book, Never Ever Give Up is offered at no cost to stimulate your success. http://www.theempoweredsoul.com/enter.html
A Spiritual Perspective Against Euthanizing of Animals
A half-feral cat showed up at our door 8-1/2 years ago, apparently abandoned, and we began feeding him. Now that he is older and has mellowed out a bit through the aging process and the hearing of Harinam in our house, he wants to stay inside more and more, especially in winter, but he refuses to use the cat box, so we put him out to go to toilet. He also gets some food and occasional shelter from at least one other householder in the neighborhood. I strive to keep him as a pet without getting overly attached. Cats in general set the example of a miser perfectly, and he is no exception, but he is gradually responding to our overtures of kindness.
I certainly do not agree with the euthanizing of “unwanted” animals. Even if we may no longer be interested in them, they are certainly interested in their own lives. In the case of an unwanted pet, better to set them loose if you do not want them. Although many will perish, some will survive. This is a better chance for them because all will perish if euthanized. Lethal injection (the most common form of euthanasia) sets in motion a series of negative karmic events for its proponents and practictioners, thereby making the world an increasingly cruel place for us all. In the case of pets going feral and having progeny, as Ananda das rightly stated it, nature will have its course and many will perish under natural circumstances, so we need have no fear of feral cats or dogs taking over the planet.
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad repeatedly stated that Krishna could maintain innumerable beings on earth provided we are willing to follow His laws and not take more than our allotted quota (Sri Isopanisad). Therefore I wholly disagree with the premise that householder men undergo vasectomies. The household ashram (grhastha, not grhamedi) is given for those sincere jivas who, because of immaturity, cannot wholly control their senses. Pregnancy is the result of their union, and in fact, repeated pregnancies are more often than not the result. Progeny raised as Krishna-conscious devotees becomes service, and thereby the grhastha ashram becomes sanctified.
Unfortunately, in modern times, the general public and even some devotees are swayed by the mammonistic propaganda that to have numerous progency will result in them becoming deprived of a “high standard of care and a chance for advanced education. “Advanced education, according to Srila Prabhupad, means practicing Krishna consciousness, not necessarily attaining advanced material degrees for improving our livelihoods.This is certainly an illusion, as we frequentlly see people with advanced degrees in relatively humble occupations for which they are overly qualified.
As for the issue of care, the same standard of care would be there in a larger population because approximately the same percentage of the population would go into the medical field.Additionally, each jiva being born into the material nature brings with him the requisite karma sufficient for his maintenance. So a householder with a larger family would still find sufficient wealth to maintain his wife and progeny because the children would essentially be attracting wealth to the family sufficient to cover their own maintenance. In other words, the system is designed that all our needs can be readily met provided (1) we are not sinful, which will produce lack, and (2) we do not take more than our quota of goods and services.
http://Chakra.org is a Vaisnava website designed to encourage the growth of devotion, foster critical thinking, and promote communication among Vaisnavas world-wide. Although differences of opinion will occur, we aim to provide a forum for mutual respect among the multiple strands of our community.
Surviving And Preaching in a Post-Oil World
The recent events in Kazakhstan are a wake up call for devotees everywhere. I live in the US, which has a history of religious tolerance and respect for human rights, but in recent years, since 9/11/01 to be specific, there has been a systematic attempt by this federal government to dismantle basic civil rights even here. When you examine the contents of the Patriot Acts, the Military Commissions Act and several other similar laws that have been passed since 9/11/01, it becomes evident that the complete legal framework now exists to support a state of martial law.
The discretion to declare martial law rests entirely in the hands of one man, the president. The Supreme Court or Congress cannot intervene or review the situation for at least 6 months. Needless to say, the civil rights we now take for granted including free speech, religious freedom, and all the rest could not be guaranteed during such a situation. When the president declares martial law such as in the event of a “terrorist” attack, a natural disaster.
Even unrest in the form of government protests or civil disobedience, FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) would have the authority to commandeer farms, businesses and all local and state government facilities and personnel. It is interesting to note that 9/11/01 is the first day of a very long and difficult Rahu dasa in the new United States jyotish chart. Rahu is conjunct Mars in the 12th house. July 7, 1920, 16:39 Philadelphia PA.
Even without a military or natural disaster, economic crisis and a possible collapse as a result of oil shortages is close at hand. Peak oil, the state when oil extraction reaches it’s zenith, occurred in the US in the early 70’s. Global peak oil, by most expert accounts, is likely to occur on or around 2010. This means that by the end of this decade we will begin to see declines in oil production even in the Middle East and the world’s other major producers.
The result will be sharp increases in fuel prices as well as price increases in almost every category. When you closely examine the economy, you discover that practically every good and service we consume is somehow directly or indirectly dependent on oil either for production or distribution. As the plateau of oil extraction tails off to begin the down slope, we will begin seeing the collapse of all oil dependent economies and increased conflicts over the remaining oil reserves in Venezuela, North Africa, the Middle East, Mexico, Russia etc.
In fact, in most of the world the US invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq is seen as nothing more than a power grab for some of the largest oil fields on the planet. In the US we’re told these wars are to fight “terrorism”. In any case, the immense amount of energy being expended in these wars will only exacerbate the problem.
In the time we have left before the crisis state, it is extremely important that devotees individually and collectively plan and act to achieve a high degree of self-sufficiency. If the preaching of Krsna consciousness is to continue post-collapse, devotees need to be in a position of strength and relative comfort. This means we should be planning and installing renewable energy systems, growing food, having the means to obtain potable water when the grid goes down, and dozens of other important considerations.
Obviously, the rural properties will be the best refuges and this is exactly the reason Srila Prabhupada urged us to purchase and develop them. The rural ashrams provide the best opportunities to grow food, develop sustainable energy systems, eg, solar, wind, biomass, etc, and also allow devotees a safe haven from the certain chaos and likely violence in the cities.
But as the events in Kazakhstan illustrate, it behooves us to carefully consider exactly which areas will be the best survival outposts. In one sense, every Vaisnava outside of India could be viewed suspiciously and therefore a possible threat. Areas predominated by religious extremists will most likely be some of the worst places for devotees to seek refuge. In addition, areas that have a history of racial or ethnic tensions could be unsafe also. Devotees in some rural districts have cultivated very good relationships with the local people and authorities and in my view, this can be very important in a crisis situation.
If the locals are already hostile to the devotee community, it is very likely that a time of scarcity and tension will only exacerbate the hostility. Therefore, good community relationships should also be a high priority on the list of necessary preparations for the coming crises.
I believe that it’s important to seriously begin the preparations needed to survive and spread Krsna consciousness in the post-oil world now. Our GBC, temple presidents, and senior devotees need to understand where world events are headed and lead the devotee communities in this effort. Without this important action our communities, preaching efforts and the lives of many devotees will be put in jeopardy. I would appreciate any and all feedback and correspondence on this subject. Dandavat pranams to all the Vaisnavas.
http://Chakra.org is a Vaisnava website designed to encourage the growth of devotion, foster critical thinking, and promote communication among Vaisnavas world-wide. Although differences of opinion will occur, we aim to provide a forum for mutual respect among the multiple strands of our community.