Plain Living and High Thinking

It is possible to live a comfortable, simple life in harmony with nature. All that is required is some land, cows and food grains. With these three necessities we can obtain everything required for a simple life.

It is one of the objects of the Changing the Face of the Earth Campaign toestablish Plain Living and High Thinking farm communities to show simple life doesn't mean uncomfortable life, and that it is a practical alternative to todays hectic city life.

• Cows, Bulls and the Land

  The cow and the bull are the key to any successful self sufficient rural project. We sometimes see groups of people attempting to live a self sufficient lifestyle, however, because they don't know of cow protection their attempts generally fail.

  The combination of cows, land and grains is perfect. The cows give profuse quantities of milk, the miracle food. From milk so many useful and healthy products can be prepared. These include yogurt, ghee, butter, cheese and cream. When these milk products are combined with grains (rice, beans, flower, etc) thousands of delicious and nutritious foods can be prepared.

  The bull is happy to pull a plow all day to cultivate the land. The bulls can be trained to work in teams thus providing enormous amounts of power, similar to the power available from the modern tractor, but without the requirement of expensive fuel and maintenance.

  The land, when cultivated by the bull will produce abundant quantities of food grains and the Plain Living and High Thinking farmer will then be wealthy.

• Wealth Means Land, Cows and Grains

  According to the Vedic Scriptures real wealth means to possess some land, cows and a store of grains. These things are practical. The land and the forests in conjunction with cows and food grains provide all the necessities of life.

  The forests provide building materials for dwellings, honey, flowers, fruits and medicinal herbs and drugs.The rivers provide fresh drinking water and are a source of natural fertilizer and gems. Fertiliser is produced in the mountains and by the arrangement of nature the rivers flood the land periodically, thus replacing the lost nutrients in the soil.

  Everything produced by the cow is valuable, even the stool and urine are pure and have practical uses (it has been scientifically proven that cow stool contains all antiseptic properties). Cow stool can be dried and used as fuel for cooking and heating. It burns very cleanly and produces the best type of flame for cooking. If cow stool is used in this way there is no need to cut down trees for fuel. When the cow dies of natural causes the leather can be used to manufacture shoes, musical instruments and so on.

  If there are cows, land and a store of food grains we have everything needed for a comfortable life. Regardless of what is going on in the rest of the world the cows can be milked, the land can be cultivated with the assistance of the bulls and delicious foodstuffs can be prepared from the milk products and grains.

  The businessman with a big bank balance and a factory producing nuts and bolts can't eat the nuts and bolts and at any moment his fortune in the bank can become worthless. In contrast the Plain Living and High Thinking farmer with cows, grains and land has real, practical wealth which will not be lost in times of economic crisis.

• Plain Living and High Thinking

  It's strange that in our high-tech society, despite modern time-saving devices, it seems most people have little time to do anything except eat, sleep and work.

  Many people spend the majority of their waking hours traveling too and from and working at a job they don't enjoy, simply to "pay the bills." If there is some spare time then "getting out of it" at the bar, watching television or taking one of the many "recreational" drugs seem to be high priority activities.

  On a Plain Living and High Thinking farm community, there are no bills to pay, everything can be produced from the land at no cost. If there is some small requirement for money some excess produce can be sold at the marketplace.

  If spiritual life is cultivated there will be no need for drugs or television and the residents of the community will be very peaceful and happy.

  The simple lifestyle means we are engaged in work such as plowing the fields, milking the cows and so on for three to four hours a day, the remainder of the time is available to study the Scriptures and ponder the meaning of life.

  Such farm communities would also provide the ideal place for artists, craftspersons, writers and musicians to work.

  The purpose of human life, as revealed in the Vedic Scriptures is to enquire into the meaning of spirit, or to question why are we here, why am I suffering, what is the point of life? Unfortunately the modern hi-tech lifestyle doesn't allow time for these questions and the result is most people today are wasting their lives, simply trying to obtain more and more facilities for sense pleasure.

  The Plain Living and High Thinking communities will provide an alternative lifestyle with ample time for enquiring into the meaning of life.

• Plain Living and High Thinking -- A Solution to the Unemployment Problem

  Technology has manufactured tractors and computers, however it has failed to manufacture jobs for the people displaced by these wonders. There are certainly many new opportunities in the high-tech world for intelligent technologists, however, not everyone is so intelligent.

  Each person has different levels and types of skills and abilities. A just society should provide suitable work for everyone according to their ability.

  Technology has abolished much of the manual labor, office and farm work meaning that the displaced workers must swell the ranks of the unemployed, or take employment in areas not really suited to their ability. For many of the young unemployed there is little future so they often resort to alcohol and drugs, which they use to "dull the pain."

  We are losing a whole generation of young people simply because society is unable to employ them in any useful way. A large percentage of young people are now unemployed. Even amongst the employed many are being exploited in "dead end" jobs such as cash register operators in supermarkets, only to be thrown away when they become too old.

  In this throw away society it seems that we are now happy to throw away an entire generation of young people.

  The Plain Living and High Thinking communities will provide a practical solution for this rejected generation by giving them the opportunity to engage in meaningful work, according to their ability. This will enable them to regain their dignity and sense of purpose in life.

• God Made the Country, Man Made the City

  The country and the forests are in the mode of goodness and therefore provide the perfect atmosphere for those interested in developing the spiritual aspects of life.

  There is a type of peace available in the country that no city dweller could even dream of. City life is in the mode of passion and ignorance and the city dwellers automatically become passionate and ignorant by living there.

  We urgently need to establish God Centred Plain Living and High Thinking communities to give people a chance to take a break from their high-pressure, smog fllled environments for at least some time. Even if they only spend a week or a weekend living in the community they will be benefited.

NEXT: The Varnasrama Social System

Changing the Face of the Earth
The Changing the Face of the Earth campaign is a world-wide program to bring about a solution to the problems currently faced by this planet and her inhabitants.

The Environment and Economic Development
In this age of rapidly increasing technology and automation the impression is we have made great advanced and are now in a far better position than the "primitive" civilisations of the past.

Karma and Consciousness
The law of karma describes the universe as an interconnected network in which every action causes a reaction to occur in the future. Material scientists understand the gross manifestation of this law in the form of physics, however, they have no idea of the workings of the same law on a more subtle platform.

Vegetarianism and Cow Protection
People are generally unaware of the importance of cows. Cows produce, in large quantities, the miracle food, milk. Milk is produced from the blood of the cow, however she is happy to give her blood transformed in a peaceful, non-violent way in the form of milk.

Plain Living and High Thinking
It is possible to live a comfortable, simple life in harmony with nature. All that is required is some land, cows and food grains. With these three necessities we can obtain everything required for a simple life.

The Varnasrama Social System
There is a natural system of social organisation which can bring about a peaceful society where everyone is happy. This system is described in the timeless Vedic literature of India and it is called Varnasrama dharma.

The Golden Age
This age is called Kali-yuga, or the dark iron age of quarrel and hypocrisy. It is considered a very unfortunate age as spiritual knowledge is covered and almost the entire population of the planet is performing inunlimited sinful activities.

The Science of Mantra Meditation
Sparks are beautiful as long as they are in the fire. Similarly, we have to remain in the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and always engage in devotional service, for then we shall always be brilliant and illuminating.