{"id":1403,"date":"2006-09-24T22:28:52","date_gmt":"2006-09-24T21:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=1403"},"modified":"2007-02-02T22:58:54","modified_gmt":"2007-02-02T21:58:54","slug":"silly-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=1403","title":{"rendered":"SILLY POINT"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By Caitanya Caran Das<\/strong><\/p>\n

THE SPIRITUAL SCIENTIST <\/p>\n

A Cyber Magazine for Those Who Think <\/p>\n

Vol.4 No.21 <\/p>\n

SILLY POINT<\/p>\n

The promos of a movie showing a popular film star smoking have led to protests: \u201cWhy is smoking being foisted on impressionable young minds?\u201d <\/p>\n

The silly point is that we protest about the star shown as a smoker, but not about the same star being shown as a drug-dealing gangster or an underworld don. When movies blatantly exhibit sex, rape, addictions, crime, violence and murder, and when movie stars are today\u2019s perverse role models, isn\u2019t it silly to be shocked when the same happens in society? Not long ago, Indians were shocked by the news of a Mumbai schoolboy murdering his own mother – just to get money to enjoy like the hero of his favorite movie. Before that, Americans were aghast at a chilling real-life perversion of the violence routine in Hollywood – schoolchildren shooting their teachers and co-students. Movie-makers may rationalize that movies just reflect social trends, but can it be denied that they often initiate, perpetuate and aggravate the vicious circle? <\/p>\n

The sillier point is that we readily believe what movies show and stubbornly disbelieve what life shows. We imagine \u201cand they lived happily ever after\u201d – the utopian ending of most movies – will materialize in our lives, while reality glares at us all around – no one lives ever after and no one lives happily. After all, no man is a hero to his own wife and no woman is a wife to her own hero. We believe that we will one day enter the heaven of enjoyment shown in the movies, while the hell of suffering in the world around threatens to suck us in at every moment. We vicariously enjoy as the movie hero as he miraculously dodges every calamity and exults in his three-hour immortality, while we actually shudder as the daily news of natural and human disasters exposes our helpless mortality. <\/p>\n

The silliest point is that we forget the person who never forgets us – God, and we remember the people who never remember us – movie stars. We enthrone ephemeral heroes as the kings of our heart, while we banish the eternal hero Krishna from our heart. We search in a false cyber world, for love, excitement, enjoyment and protection, while we blind and deafen ourselves to the source of all love, excitement, enjoyment and protection living within our own hearts. When selfish movie-makers invite us to their hi-tech illusory paradise, we squander our hard-earned money to enjoy it for a few moments. But when the supremely selfless Lord invites us to His eternal spiritual paradise, we are not ready to invest even a few thoughts to probe into its reality. When we read about a half-man half-spider performing impossible antics in the comics section of a newspaper, we adore him. When we read about the half-man half-lion incarnation of God performing
\nchivalrous pastimes in the sacred scriptures, we deride Him as mytho-logical. Are we logical? We have time to tune to newer and newer channels while watching TV, but we have no time to tune in to Krishna\u2019s channel of devotion in our own heart. <\/p>\n

Its not just silly, actually. Its tragic. If we don\u2019t give up our silliness, we will have to cry for it. Worse, we will have to continue our silliness – and its attendant suffering – for many more lives. <\/p>\n

Fortunately we have an alternative. Irrespective of how silly we become, Krishna remains our benevolent Lord unconditionally. So He gives us an easy way out – His holy names. Attentive devotional chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra acts like a divine torchlight, which exposes the material silliness around us and reveals the spiritual substance within us. <\/p>\n

Intelligent people embrace chanting as the most intelligent activity and tune into and enter a blissful world far superior to the \u201center\u201d-tainment world, that is the default tuning of the silly. <\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014-
\nSS Views & News:<\/p>\n

This article \u201cGod answers knee-mail\u201d is phenomenal. Appreciate it. <\/p>\n

– Nikhil Joshi, Pune<\/p>\n

Thank you for this excellent article. \u2018Spiritual Scientist\u2019 is truly living up to its reputation.\u2026.The analytical approach, intellectual vigor and the systematic presentation of thought with quotes from the famous personalities is truly impressive <\/p>\n

– Ajit Agrawal, USA comments about \u201cCaste system \u2013 spiritual equality amidst material diversity\u2019.<\/p>\n

Our articles have been published in – <\/p>\n

1. Selected articles in The Times of India in \u201cThe Speaking Tree\u201d column – once a month <\/p>\n

2. Every article since the start of 2006 – in The Maharashtra Herald in its \u201cSoul Curry\u201d column<\/p>\n

3. Selected articles in Back to Godhead, the international magazine of ISKCON \u201d <\/p>\n

The following are some of the issues published in the Times of India – <\/p>\n

1. Are we the makers of our destiny? (Published June 30, 2005 with the title \u201cDirecting your destiny, despite the setbacks\u201d) <\/p>\n

2. Green Earth needs spiritual humans (Published on March 3, 2006 with the title \u201cWe can make ourselves useful as a species\u201d) <\/p>\n

3. Suicide – Why? What to do? (Published on Feb 15, 2006 with the title \u201cAll life is precious, including your own\u201d) <\/p>\n

4. Humility, tolerance, devotion (Published on May 01, 2006 with the title \u201cGetting empowered with humility and tolerance\u201d) <\/p>\n

5. The secret of fearlessness (Published on July 07, 2006 with the title \u201cBe cool, draw energy from spiritual devotion\u201d) <\/p>\n

6. Illuminate your heart this Diwali (Published on Nov 01, 2005 with the title \u201cFestival of Lights to illuminate your heart\u201d) <\/p>\n

7. Attract the all-attractive (Published on Aug 16, 2006, Janmashtami day with the title \u201cCelebrate the spirit of Krishna consciousness\u201d) <\/p>\n

To view previous articles, visit<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.iskconpune.com\/HTML\/ss.html<\/p>\n

Invite your friends by requesting them to send an email to: <\/p>\n

SpiritualScientist-subscribe@yahoogroups.com<\/p>\n

The Spiritual Scientist <\/p>\n

Investigating Reality from the Higher Dimensional Perspective of Vedic Wisdom
\nPublished by ISKCON Youth Forum (IYF), Pune
\nDedicated to
\nHis Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada,
\nThe Greatest Spiritual Scientist of the Modern Times
\nFounder-Acharya: International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON )
\nMagazine Committee:
\nRadheshyam Das (M Tech IIT, Mumbai), Director, IYF
\nChaitanya Charan Das (BE E&TC), Editor, The Spiritual Scientist<\/p>\n

Tulsi das, Team leader, Tata Technologies Ltd. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"HareBy Chaitanya Charan Das<\/strong><\/p>\n

The silly point is that we protest about the star shown as a smoker, but not about the same star being shown as a drug-dealing gangster or an underworld don. When movies blatantly exhibit sex, rape, addictions, crime, violence and murder, and when movie stars are today\u2019s perverse role models, isn\u2019t it silly to be shocked when the same happens in society?<\/p>\n

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