By Jeevanmukta Das
When push comes to shove, some of us tend to align with science and scientists rather than shastras and guru. Indeed, when presented with what seems like irrefutable scientific data, most will abandon ship and the captain and swim over to the science barge and waltz with the scientists!
The moon landing is one such an issue. So what if the acharya had taken a determined and clear-cut stance against this particular issue? Can he outshine the magic of science? Can he compete with gizmos and gadgets with their captivating capacitive touch screens? Can he outsmart bounced off lasers on the surface of the moon to measure its distance from the earth with an accuracy of an inch? Apparently not.
Those who rather have scientists oversee and ratify their religious beliefs, support their dual stance with various arguments. The bolder ones are now openly stating, āsometimes the shartras and guru areā¦ plain wrong!ā The not so bold ones try to hurl the blame way back in the distant past, on to some obscure sage for having misinterpreted or miscalculated something. Still others think that perhaps we are comparing a two-dimensional astrological model with a three-dimensional astrophysical model and coming up with naught. And a rare few, the clairvoyant types, with a direct feed to the Akashic Records, think that perhaps we need to factor in a fourth dimension, or open a third eye or something to decipher the Vedic version. None of the above groups are willing to concede that perhaps it is science that has got it wrong.
Then there are the die-hard āmaximalistsā who believe in the Vedas from cover to cover. These unwavering men and women have scant regard for scientists and their bag of tricks. Their belief in guru and shastras is total, so much so that the scientific minded amongst us gets affronted by their stony stance and accuse them of having āblindā faith.
But āblindā faith in guru and shastras is not really blind, rather, it is a conscious position taken after a thorough examination of all the available options. See, here is the thing. There are many Schools of Thought (SoT) out there with different opinions, ideas and interpretations. We pick one up (after due diligence of course) and generally stick with it because we believe in its teachings, have made the choice after due diligence, have the intellectual integrity to stand by our belief and so on.
Now, SoTs strongly discourage us from borrowing bits from other SoTs. This is largely done by laying extraordinary emphasis on sampradaya and parampara. Unlike most people think, disciplic succession is merely a system by which to protect the set teachings of a bona fide SoT from getting contaminated by external influence. Even Krishna supports this arrangement for he says, āevam parampara praptam…. go to a SoT that is careful about delivery, where the teachings are not whimsically spoiled by meddlersāand learn the truth.ā
Now science, for all practical purposes, is a SoT. What is more, it is a school that is inimical towards religious ideologies. Thus, borrowing bits from science to shore up our SoTās conclusion, with the naĆÆve and whimsical hope that maybe we can make it, āseem more secular, scientific, user-friendly and what not, is contrary to the idea of sampradayic or paramparic teachings.
Take the moon landing issue for instance. Our religious texts do not support the idea. Based on that, in a rare show of inexplicable defiance, the acharya has gone out on a limb to explicitly state that the moon landing is a hoax. In short, as per our SoTās ideology, the moon landing cannot have happened.
The modern-day science SoT however insists that they did go to the moon.
Now, upon seeing the vast array of glitzy gizmos and gadgetry around us and hearing everybody and his uncle waxing eloquently on the glories of science, we decideā¦ maybe they did go to the moon after all.
What happens next?
Well, itās like when Eve sank her teeth into that forbidden apple. Like she did, āwe too will suddenly see our nakedness.ā Basically, we will be forced to reexamine our faith from out-of-the-box perspectiveāand maybe have second thoughts. This is not unusual. Often we forget exactly what led us up to believe in something and when forced to reexamining it afreshāwe may have second thoughts. On rare occasions, it might even precipitate an existential crisis sort of a moment. It happens to the best of us. We cross forty, and suddenly we think OMG, what have we been doing with our lives!
In the religious context, this later-date reexamination made without the benefit of myriads of tiny toeholds of realization that originally helped us understand the ideology in the first place, may precipitate that āexistential crisis sort of a moment.ā It could then snowball into an unstoppable unraveling of our Krishna Consciousness. We might think it is just one issue (referring to the moon landing) and that the damage can be containedā¦ that our love for Krishna will endure and see us through.
It might. But the chances are equally great that our mind will not allow us this luxury. Indeed, once it has ātasted blood,ā it will fatalistically continue to ferret out other seemingly dubious religious ideologies to be similarly crosschecked with the science yardstick. Very soon, all the seemingly unscientific bits in the Vedas will be ājumping up like fish in the hot waters of your feverish mind,ā all similarly begging to be crosschecked. That bit about water of the Ganges being transported in a fleet of airplanes down the celestial corridor all the way to the moonā¦ I seriously doubt if it will make the cut. Multiple-headed godsā¦I do not think so. Blue God with Kandarpa-koti-kamaniya being the Supremeā¦ you decide.
In short, there is a strong likelihood that everything from Indra to Indragopa will come crashing down like a pack of cards. Why? Because, like I said before, this is a philosophical understanding; it is indeed a delicate and precariously balanced structure. It is all very real of course, and was originally built on tiny toeholds or glimpses of realizations. But there is no way it can stand up to a later-date rigorous reexamination, especially at a time when your convictions are old and your faith has somewhat faded.
So ideally, we should NOT borrow bits from here and there and wholly believe in our particular SoTās ideology. Ideally, we should build a fence around it to protect it from external influence. Ideally we should have āblindā faith in our SoTās ideology and ignore ideologies from other SoTs including that from the science camp. Here āblindā means locked and bolted down for protection. Not open for whimsical reexamination for the simple reason that we may be able to reinvest the energy, the conviction and faith we had invested in it earlier to get it right. Locked and bolted down because we are happy with the decision and now fear losing it.
But the problem with the science SoT is that most consider it to be Godās voice booming across the ether! There is far too much reverence for it.
Really is science as infallible as we think? Let us test its track record for intellectual integrity and see how sincere it is about faithfully presenting the truth.
We believe in God and in the soul. But does science believe in God, in the soul? The answer is āno.ā Science has an axe to grind with religion and is therefore consciously and deliberately lying to us on matters concerning the spirit. In short, while they may have intellectual integrity coming out of their ears in most other fields of study, when it comes to anything that is remotely spiritual, science immediately goes into a denial mode and begins to lie through its teeth. Since spirit is everywhere and intrinsically connected to matter, the level of scienceās denial and deception is on a fairly large scale. To quantify this, let us assume that every fifth statement made by science is a deliberate lie.
There is more! Now, science has convinced us that everything in this world goes tick-tock tick-tock by some mechanical or chemical or physiological process. They have detailed explanations on how things work and happily ram all this down our throats in classrooms. They will tell us, āoh it is just silly oxygen mixing with hydrogen that gives us water, or, oh it is just silly gravity that is keeping the planets in their positionā¦ā and so on. Even we, for heavenās sake, are reduced to a bunch of chemical reactions doing their thing! Indeed, the whole spiel is delivered in such a patronizing manner that most kids think that scientists created the world!!
But is this the true picture? Heavens no! Far, far from it! The reality is, although at a superficial level everything does seem to work in the mechanistic fashion, after a certain depth, mechanistic reality gives way to mystical reality! The minute we dig in a little deep, we see spirit in effervescent action! In short, there is a diabolic amount of Matrix-like deception engineered by the Supreme Lord in the material world! It exists because Krishna wants us to think that we are the doersāand he goes to great lengths to hide his hand!
Now we cannot discern Krishnaās hand, but scientists regularly uncover the God-made deception. They are flummoxed and cannot explain why such and such a thing works in such and such manner and most of all are utterly bewildered by the runaway complexity of everything! In short, scientists stare at the face of God on a daily basis, and know him more intimately than the best of god-men!
But are they ever going to tell us about all these close encounters? Are they ever going to introduces us to our maker with whom they consort on a daily basis? Nooo! On the contrary, they are happy to extend it and blithely take credit for a lot of things! Thus, science is so adept at keeping a lid on God that if one were to audit science for sincerity and quantify it, one could very well say that every second statement they make is a deliberate lie.
Now, when deception is indeed their first, middle and last name, who is to say that the rest of what they say or do is true? Given that every second statement that science makes is a lie, how can we be sure of what they are saying about the moon? How can we be sure that they have not deliberately obscured a crucial fact?
Why then are we using this SoTās ideology to weigh the Vedas? Why then are we using this SoTās ideology to malign the acharya? What is the rationale in using a science that practices deception on such a large scale to measure anything? When Scientology or for that matter Christianity can accept the oddities in their respective religions without batting an eye lid, why are we feeling so compelled to iron out the kinks in ours?
Frankly, measuring everything with the scientific yardstick indicates that we have not yet fully given up our previous āway of lifeā or dharma. It indicates that we have not yet fully surrendered to the dharma or way of life that Krishna supports and upholds. Indeed, if Krishnaās call to give up all religions required Arjuna to give up his dharma as a Kshatriya, one that is just marginally different from Krishnaās way, then surely Krishna is asking us to abandon our scientific mindset that is patently contrary and inimical to religious ideologies as well.
One last point. After many years of studying scienceās myopic perspective and seeing its wholesale deception at close quarters, one begins to develop a healthy disrespect for it. And, if you were a guru with a vision, and intent on spreading God consciousness, you would soon have realized that the game that science plays is diabolic and demoniac. In short, pretty soon you gain the firm conviction and identify science as your enemy number one. Previous acharyas had similarly identified number one enemies such as the impersonalists, the sahajiyas, caste Brahmins and so on and had declared war on them. Srila Prabhupadaās enemy number one was science and scientists. In fact, he had explicitly stated, āI have come to this world with a two-pronged mission: One, to establish Krishna as the Supreme Lord and two, to defeat the rascal scientists.ā The dictionary meaning of rascal is an unscrupulous, dishonest person; a scoundrel. He relentlessly attacked them so much so that there are some even amongst us who are upset by it!
So yes, if we want to be known as true followers Srila Prabhupada, then like it or not, we have to be willingāeager evenāto be suspicious of science and its designs, with the heightened sensibilities of a conspiracy buff! Like the thief crucified by the right of Jesus had sympathized with the master and gained eternal life, we too should be taking this opportunity to declare our unconditional support and solidarity with the masterāand win, win and win. Where is the sense in jeopardizing an eternity of happiness by whimsically, immaturely, aligning ourselves with something that the materialists salivate over?
To my mind, the only reason Srila Prabhupada took a conscious and defiant stance against the moon landing issue was because he could see that when push comes to shoveāwhen science tantalizes us with what seems like irrefutable proofāmost of us will swim away like mice from a sinking ship. By taking a deliberate and resolute stance on the moon landing issueāone that would separate the men from the miceāmy beleaguered captain tried to teach us to be men of substance, willing even, to go down with the ship.
Jeevenmukta Prabhu,
In your lasr last paragraph you made it appear as if Srila Prabhupada was motivated to deny the moon landing merely to separate the mice from the men. Or was it that the Vedic revelations were inseparable from his being – it was in his blood so to speak, that nothing, not even a “moon” landing, or any other empirical observation could even slightly alter his conviction?
Which of these two scenarios seem more realistic? This unshakable faith actually becomes a part of his being, for mature faith that develops through different levels culminating in Krishna Prema becomes a wholesome experience. Such faith solidifies into spiritual reality.
For someone like Srila Prabhupada who was steeped in reality, and to tell illusion from reality, would require no other motive than to give his verdict according to conviction and sastra.
But there are many reasons why different devotees either accept or reject such controversies, and the level of faith has a role to play. If faith matures, so does the intelligence or intellect. A purer intellect can penetrate through the unknowns that bother doubt ridden minds. Simple as that.
You also outlined your reasons why science as a whole is deficient. For me, the simple fact that scientists are unable to confront, or explain what preceded the “Bang of all Bangs” that ignited before dynamite was invented, is enough to convince me of their liabilities.
They call it a Singularity. Because they try circumventing this Singularity with theories like Inflatory Models, which means an ever expanding and subtracting universe, says they are dishonestly indoctrinating the public of a grand Singularity Causeless Cause of all Causes. That is what this has become.
I’d much rather have Isvara Parama Krsnah as my worshipable Lord.
Ys, Kesava Krsna Dasa.
The literalists in our camp are eager to insist that the Sun is closer to the Earth in the linear sense than the Moon, because for them it is not something that can be directly measured. They do not accept laser measurements for example, because that would be – horror of horrors – trusting science. Still, they have no problem trusting science when flying to India, or using their computer to broadcast their ideas. Yet these literalists always shy from taking a literal meaning of this verse (SB 5.16.9):
“Similarly, south of IlÄvį¹ta-varį¹£a and extending from east to west are three great mountains named (from north to south) Niį¹£adha, HemakÅ«į¹a and HimÄlaya. Each of them is 10,000 yojanas [80,000 miles] high. They mark the boundaries of the three varį¹£as named Hari-varį¹£a, Kimpuruį¹£a-varį¹£a and BhÄrata-varį¹£a [India].”
According to the literal meaning of this verse, the Himalayas are supposedly 80,000 miles high.
So I ask you, Jeevanmukta Das, do you claim that this is the actual height of the Himalayas? And of course even an eight-grader knows that that is impossible. Himalayas are less than 5 miles high which then beggs a question: What is REALLY Bhagavatam telling us in this verse? If that is beyond the scope of your interestst, I can understand, but please do not turn this movement into a place where rational thinking is somehow an act of treason to guru and shastra.
Dear Jeevanmukta Prabhu
At the outset, I would like to thank you for taking the time to express, with such eloquence, your strong faith and support of Vedic evidenceā¦
Yes, there are many things that are beyond our understandingā¦ In that regard, you may refer to the recent article of His Grace Kesava Krishna Prabhu on āintellectual simplicityāā¦
The material world is made of the five gross elements, earth, fire, water, air and ether and beyond is covered by three subtle elements, mind, intelligence and false ego (ahankara). Each of these three layers is way smaller than the next oneā¦
So, ultimately, we are trapped in this material world by our conditioned mind, and there is no way that our material intelligence will be able to fathom the whole creation of God within this material universe, what to speak of what is beyond and belongs to the spiritual sphereā¦
The last layer is ahankara, the false ego, far bigger than any previous layer, which prevents many a conditioned soul to become liberated, so strong is the concept of āI and mineāā¦
prakrteh kriyamanani
gunaih karmani sarvasah
ahankara-vimudhatma
kartaham iti manyate
[Bg. 3.27]
The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.
Hence, not only should we beware this ahankara which makes us think that we are the doers, that we can understand everything with our limited material intelligence and our materially conditioned mind, but we should also beware of its ramifications in the form of Pratistha, desire for name, fame and adorationā¦
Therefore, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu after having highlighted the importance of humility in the famous ātrinad api sunicenaā verse, prayed āna dhanam, na janam, na sundarimā¦ā, meaning “I do not want to be become the enjoyer of this material world, nor do I want my false ego to be nourishedā¦”
Rather, I wish to become ayi Nanda tanuja kinkaram, nothing but a speck of dust (dhuli) at Your lotus feet, my Lordā¦
Hence, the Vedas are said to be apaurusheya, they are revealedā¦ They come from a higher sphereā¦ beyond the material sphereā¦
So, how much can we grasp with our material intelligenceā¦ ?
The ways of God are inscrutable!
“‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts'” (Isaiah 55:9)
Science, as the main topic addressed here in this article, is an attempt to understand the mechanisms behind this material world, from the human body to the material universeā¦
Nevertheless, one should resist the temptation to throw the baby with the bath water, and consider that all science is evil and that all scientists are demonsā¦
In the philosophy class, students are invited to discuss about this famous statement by a 16th century French doctor and writer named Rabelais: āScience without conscience is the soul’s perditionā.
Therefore, it is not necessarily science which is bad, it is the intention and the motivation behind each individual scientist and scientific attempt which may be good or badā¦
As quoted, “I have come to this world with a two-pronged mission: One, to establish Krishna as the Supreme Lord and two, to defeat the rascal scientists”, Srila Prabhupada didnāt say he came to defeat the scientists, but the ārascalā scientists !
As stated, āthe dictionary meaning of rascal is an unscrupulous, dishonest person; a scoundrelā. But it is not that every scientifically minded person is an unscrupulous and dishonest personā¦!
In this regard, I invite one to become more familiar with the āGnosis of Princetonā by Raymond Ruyer, establishing the existence of God behind the material creationā¦
Similarly, Albert Einstein in a 1926 letter to Max Born, wrote: “I, at any rate, am convinced that God does not throw dice.” He didnāt share either the arogance of the rascal scientists: āI do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own beingā. On some other occasion, when asked who had made the universe with its different planets, which was reproduced in his lab, he denied having done it himself, in order to lead his scientist friend to realize that a Superior Being with a Superior Intelligence had done it, and that neither a mere mortal human being, nor plain hazard, could have done so, as such an order could not have occured just by throwing diceā¦
Hence, we should beware intellectual shortcuts and not throw all scientists in the same bag, so to speak, which may prompt us to launch into an unnecessary new religious war!
Neither, does our preaching need to be impeded by some fundamentalist approach which may turn people away from our sublime philosophy, if we induce them to think we are fanaticsā¦
Science may be either detrimental (ex: weapons of mass destruction, etc) or beneficial (medicine, renewable energies, etc), according to the way target it and use itā¦ So, it is not science in itself or scientists as an un-distinctive group, which is good or bad, but its means and goals which are to be properly channeled, with higher consciousness, God consciousness, Krishna consciousness…
If Srila Prabhupada had thought all scientists were rascals, why would he have created the Bhaktivedanta Institute to engage some fruitful dialogue with themā¦?
I personally had the great good fortune to tour with Srila Bhakti Svarupa Damodara Maharaja and translate his conferences and interviews in a number of occasionsā¦
He had a very mild and mellow approach which made many a scientist (as well as representative of some other faith) consider him as their friendā¦ Thanks to him and to other like-minded devotees, God consciousness grew amongst scientific circles and Krishna Consciousness was not rebuked as some form of archaismā¦
Now, dear Jeevanmukta Prabhu, while saluting your faith and congratulating you for your staunch and un-diverted ekeha approach, I would recommend, both on our personal level, as well as in our preaching, that we may draw some inspiration from the example taught by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhuā¦
In Varanasi (Benares), when he met the Mayavadi sannyasis led by Prakasananda Sarasvati, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu didnāt call them ārascalsā or simply āoffendersā, even when Mayavadi Krishna aparadhi, Mayavadis are known to be the greatest offenders of Lord Krishnaā¦ Rather, he humbly sat by the place where they washed their feetā¦ When, attracted by His effulgence, they questioned Him to find out about His philosophy, He prevented them from committing further offenses, and simply stated that His spiritual master had said He was a fool and just instructed Him to chant Hare Krishnaā¦
On some other occasion he patiently listened during several days at Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya commentary of the atamarama verse:
atmaramas ca munayo
nirgrantha apy urukrame
kurvanty ahaitukim bhaktim
ittham-bhuta-guno harih
” ‘Those who are self-satisfied and unattracted by external material desires are also attracted to the loving service of Sri Krsna, whose qualities are transcendental and whose activities are wonderful. Hari, the Personality of Godhead, is called Krsna because He has such transcendentally attractive features! ”
suni’ bhattacarya kahe,ā’suna, mahasaya
ei slokera artha sunite vancha haya’
After hearing the atmarama verse, Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya addressed Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, “My dear Sir, please explain this verse. I have a great desire to hear Your explanation of it.”
prabhu kahe,ā’tumi ki artha kara, taha age suni’
pache ami kariba artha, yeba kichu jani’
The Lord replied, “First let Me hear your explanation. After that, I shall try to explain what little I know.”
Again, the exemplary humility displayed by Mahaprabhu conquered the heart of this learned scholar. Yet, he didnāt offend this reputed teacher and addressed him as follow:
‘bhattacarya’, janiātumi saksat brhaspati
sastra-vyakhya karite aiche karo nahi sakti
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “My dear Bhattacarya, you are exactly like Brhaspati, the priest of the heavenly kingdom. Indeed, no one within this world has the power to explain the scriptures in such a way.
kintu tumi artha kaile panditya-pratibhaya
iha va-i slokera ache aro abhipraya
“My dear Bhattacarya, you have certainly explained this verse by the prowess of your vast learning, but you should know that, besides this scholarly explanation, there is another purport to this verse.”
Therefore, I would conclude by saying that we may try to walk in the footsteps of Srila Prabhupada, but we should not imitate, as we certainly do not have either his purity or his shaktiā¦!
Similarly, to those who justified their smoking ganja by following the example of Lord Shiva, Srila Prabhupada would ask them āCan you drink the ocean of poison like Lord Shivaā¦?ā
Hence, rather than calling somebody or even more so, a whole class of men, ārascalā, I would rather state that since I am a fool, so many things are beyond my understandingā¦
Did the scientists go to Rahu, instead of the Moon, since the Moon is an heavenly planet which cannot be attained by mere machines, or did they simulate a Moon landing in some desert in Arizona or somewhere elseā¦?
Prabhupada may know, since he is a liberated soul, a jivan mukta. God also knowsā¦!
But how can I knowā¦?
I am such a fool, still subject to the four imperfection of the condition soulā¦ I have imperfect senses, I am subject to illusion and to committing mistakesā¦ Beyond, I am prompt to cheating others, thinking I am serving my immediate benefitā¦
I don’t even know what is happening in the next room… So, how would I know about what is going on, on the moon…? I have faith in the words of Guru, Sastras and Saddhus…
But I am personally unqualified… “If you study me carefully, you will not find anything of value”… I am such a fool…
Srila Prabhupada may call someone a rascalā¦ He is so pureā¦! He is jagat Guru…!
But I am jeevan mukta das, I am aspiring to become the servant of such a liberated soulā¦
You may be such a great panditā¦! But I am so fallenā¦
“Donāt even utter my name, otherwise all auspiciousness will go away from you”, wrote Srila Krishna das Kaviraja Goswamiā¦
Mahajana yena gata sa panthaā¦
Das dasanudasa
Puskaraksa das
Puskaraksa Prabhu says:
Prabhupada may know, since he is a liberated soul, a jivan mukta. But how can I knowā¦? I donāt even know what is happening in the next roomā¦ So, how would I know about what is going on, on the moonā¦?
He also intermittingly declares, āI have faith in the words of Guru, Sastras and Saddhusā¦ā
I say:
āPutting the master on an unreachable pedestal and declaring we canāt follow suitā (SP was pure devotee, we can be!) is the oldest scam in the book. āOh the guru was pure devotee, God, avatarā¦! We are fools, we canāt followā¦ so, letās lower the barā¦ letās make new populist rulesā¦ letās take control!
If that was how it was intended to be, why did they bother teaching us in the first place?
Also kindly be informed that three of our previous spiritual masters have had extensive exposure to western ideologies and sciences. Thakur bhakti Vinod, Sidhanta Saraswati, and Srila Prabhupada were all well-read and had had extensive exposure to western ideologies and sciences. In fact, SP was so astute and well-read that even when the whole world was gawking in awe at the moon-landing video clip, he alone was able to discern it to be a farce. Now that wasnāt just his Vedic wisdom talking. No, it was more of his native Kolkata intelligence and general knowledge in high gear!
Bottom line is, men of greater, demonstrably superior intelligence and learning than any current leader of today have examined the Vedic literatures, definitely seen the so-called anomalies as well, and yet recommended that not a word of it be changed.
Even Mahaprabhu for that matter, did not allow Sarvabhauma to change a single one word āmukti to bhaktiā in the shastras.
So I ask, what special intelligence is now available that we should now make a course correction and pass the Vedic literatures through a CAT scan? What has changed in the last 34 years that we should submit the Vedic literatures to a scientific assessment?
By the way Prabhu, either you have faith in Guru, Sadhu, Sastraā¦ or you go by āhe may know, he is liberatedā¦ but I donāt know what is happening!ā Choose one stance. They are contradictory, and therefore faulty logic to say that you do both. Either you use your intelligence and declare, ‘I don’t know what is going on,’ or you implicitly follow the master (SP) who clearly knows.
Dear Jeevan Mukta Prabhu
Thank you for your answer and comment…
The point is that everyone speaks according to his own level of realization…
Sastras say, sat Guru says…
“You are an intelligent man, so kindly examine their statement and assessments…”.
Personally, I am still a conditioned soul! Therefore, it is not in my power to say what is going on, on the moon… I can’t even say what is going on, in the room next door…!
Because of my realizations about other aspects of Sastras and my understanding of siddantha, as well as the fact that I have been blessed by the association of Saddhus and Saddhu Guru, I have developed some faith in even things and aspects that are beyond my understanding and beyond the reach of my material mind and intelligence…
However, I do not beat the drum about what is beyond my understanding and realizations, so as not to cheat and abuse people by becoming intolerant and fanatical and make a poor presentation of our sublime philosophyā¦
Moreover, I am being cautious of not using Sastras, Guru and Saddhusā statements to promote my own limited ahankara and conditioned ego…
Otherwise, I would render some disservice to the cause I pretend to serveā¦
Srila Prabhupada stated:
āGood preaching is service, bad preaching is disserviceā¦ā
Therefore, I kindly invite you to pay attention to the different aspects of my presentation, as per the example taught by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada in their preaching and kindly do some introspectionā¦
Otherwise, the risk is that one may let out some aggressiveness and unfortunately become a fault-finder, rather than a lover of truth and a well-wisher of the jivasā¦
Rather, we aspire to take shelter in the trinad api sunicena taror eve sahisnuna verse, which is the only way to reach the stage of ahaituki apratihata seva, as well as constant and pure chanting of the Holy Nameā¦
Only then may we become empowered to touch and change the hearts of the conditioned souls and take them to Sri Guru & Krishnaās lotus feetā¦
Yours in service
Puskaraksa das
Hare Krisha
I think we have to be careful not to fall into to the “either or” fallacy. I think any reasonable devotee would agree that we should not introduce people to our philosophy by telling them we believe the moon is further than the sun
Krishna Consciousness is a rational based philosophy. The first rational point is that we cannot obtain perfect knowledge through the senses. This is actually accepted by any thoughtful person. The next point is, one has to be intelligent enough to have a clue that about the difference between their real self and the body. Then one will see that the Veda’s are describing truth and as Srila Prabhupada say’s in the introduction to the Bhagavada Gita if one theoretically accepts that the Scripture give perfect knowledge they will directly experience self realization.The point is, for us to present the basics with conviction, WE have to be convinced that the knowledge found in the scripture is perfect. Therefore, for us it is a us it is a useful practice to speak of Vedic teachings that differ from what we experience through the senses.
Of course if something is beyond our understanding we should not feel compelled to describe it because we may be getting it wrong. But the bottom line is, there are statements in the Veda’s that, clearly, can only be understood in a way that directly apposes empirical data, in such cases we should be able to comfortable accept that the Veda’s are by far a more valid source of truth.
This is similar to the Vedic scriptures sharp criticism of material consciousness. Some devotees say we should not talk too much about this because it causes devotees to become elitists, and we thus develop an insulting attitude when we preach. But WE need to accept sharp criticism of material consciousness so we can clearly distinguish between material and spiritual consciousness. Then we can see others as spirit souls. Then we can have an egalitarian spirit, and receptive people will perceive this. But if we are not willing to accept that our material qualities are merit-less we will never be able to come to the level of seeing people as equal;our, mental adjustment will not fool people who are actually intelligent. However when we understand the lack of goodness in this world we will naturally see any spark of spiritual interest,(because of its rarity) and we will naturally focus on that and try to fan the it to a flame.