We discussed in our first podcast the question Srila Prabhupada asked the student and faculty at MIT over 50 yrs ago. “Where is the department that looks at the difference between a dead body?” live body?” And the importance for us of this inquiry. Now let us look at another statement he made concerning the United Nations. He commented once, with mild sarcasm that you say “United” nations, but there is a new flag flying every year. And he pointed out that, when people come to the table to discuss, they are thinking I am German, I am American, I am French and they are concerned only for the welfare of their own country based on the false identification with this material body.
We are watching in dismay as cities are being destroyed due to this misidentification with the external, physical form. I am black, I am white, I am female, I am male and so on. What were you before you came into this body? Where will you go when you leave? These are the important questions answered in the books translated by Srila Prabhupada from the ancient Sanskrit language into English. Nowhere else will you find such definitive answers. However one identifies oneself, either by race, color, religion, or any other category, every living being, including the lower life forms go through the same processes of transformation. First there is birth, the body grows, some byproducts of the body are produced, then dwindling and death. Examine any life form you know of and see whether this applies. There is far more that unites us as living beings than divides.
Now, let us do an experiment together. I would like you to point to yourself. Where do you think “you” reside? Most point to the heart area. Why? According the Vedic literatures, the soul resides in the area of the heart, and is completely separate from the body. Who has taught us this?
Our whole world, run by God-less atheists have convinced us that if we just enjoy our bodies in every way possible, we will be happy. Are we?
If I am living my life thinking I am something I am not, how can I possibly be happy? My whole foundation is wrong. The Constitution says that all men are created equal? We base our laws on the Constitution. How are we equal, when we all have different levels of abilities, intelligence and so on? We are equal on the platform of the soul. If we accept we have a soul and are eternal, we must accept there is a God. So our Constitution is based on God.
A small number of very powerful atheistic people are influencing the entire world in all spheres of life. Because we are not properly educating our youth with basic spiritual principles, they can easily sway masses of people into accepting ideologies which are not only man made, but divisive and damaging to the point that destroying property, property, looting and killing as a way to bring attention to a problem in society, has appeared acceptable in the eyes of those who fail to discern the incongruity of such behavior and succumb to superficial, sentimental rhetoric even though such behaviour is not benefiting society at large or even those whom they claim to support.
We can no longer afford to allow others to dictate our thinking, feeling and willing according to their own agendas which do not include God and the following of His commandments. How has it happened that we live in a world where if one makes a stand for truth, for goodness, for morality, for decency one is mocked? Do we really want to live and raise our children in this kind of atmosphere?
Unfortunately, we have allowed a great deal of wrong thinking to come into our lives, which has no basis in the eternal truths as given in all the great scriptures of the world, including Bhagavad-gita. It is time we take our power back from all this foolish and atheistic nonsense. We might ask ourselves, what would change if I began to see myself as the soul and not this body? What would I do differently? How would I treat others? How would I treat my body, Mother Earth, her children, my family, and friends? Perhaps spend this next week letting this idea settle deeply into your heart and mind and pray for the revelation of this truth within your own life.
Thank-you for joining us at Godhead is Light Nescience is Darkness.
