1028 India Unique Legacy
-
Upload
krishnaram -
Category
Documents
-
view
217 -
download
2
description
Transcript of 1028 India Unique Legacy
-
Published by VOICE (Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture and Education) Page 1 of 1 ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Pune, India
The Spiritual ScientistThe Spiritual ScientistThe Spiritual ScientistThe Spiritual Scientist An ezine for those who think!
Indias Unique LegacyIndias Unique LegacyIndias Unique LegacyIndias Unique Legacy
Question: Does the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra do any practical good for the world?
Certainly. As most of us know, the fundamental problem in economics is to
reconcile the unlimited desires of people with the limited resources of the world.
All of us perpetually seek happiness by fulfilling our desires. Two conflicting forces
within our hearts determine our desires: the centrifugal force that allures us to external objects
and the centripetal force that draws us inwards to the Lord within. The centrifugal force is
multiplied manifold by the western culture in which the ads, the billboards, the music, the movies
all seduce us toward external pleasure. So, the centrifugal force often becomes the driving force of
our lives. Consequently, the haves exploit the resources of the world disproportionately, leaving
little, if any, resources for the have-nots. For example, the US has 5% of the worlds population,
but consumes 30% of the worlds resources and
produces 30% of the worlds waste. If the whole world
started consuming the way the US did, we humans
would need three to five planets. Needless to say, we
have only one planet. Can political changes like, say,
displacing the US from its present unilateral superpower
status solve this problem? No. Because the US has
already exported its consumer culture all over the
world, so that whoever gains financial and political
power will end up doing what the US is doing now. We
see this in India already to some extent. Those who have
made it big over the past two decades of globalization
have increased their consumption dramatically (perhaps
disastrously would be a more appropriate word)
The only real solution to the current economical and ecological mess is to recognize and address
its cause: the aggravated centrifugal force. Throughout the world, India is famed as the
motherland of deep spiritual wisdom and profound mystical experience. Why? Because the Vedic
wisdom-tradition of India has developed time-tested spiritual technologies like meditation, prayer
and yoga for activating the centripetal force and thus gaining access to inner happiness. The Vedic
wisdom-tradition declares that the chanting of the Hare Krishna mahamantra is the most practical
and potent way to connect us with the Lord within, who is an inexhaustible source of ever-
increasing happiness. So today when humanity critically needs to equip itself with non-material
forms of enrichment, if it is to avoid self-destruction, why should India continue to neglect its
unique national legacy and acceding mutely, nay joyfully, to cultural takeover by the
West? Instead, by learning and sharing the spiritual technology of chanting, Indians
can do the greatest practical good for the world.