Isms Create Schisms!
Why are there wars in the world? Why are there conflicts within the family, within nations, within so-called religious societies, etc.? It is because there is no common platform of loving service to satisfy the Supreme Lord or His bona-fide representative.
Welcome to the KrishnaSoft’s Electronic Newsletter.
This is the October 2000 issue entitled: “Isms Create Schisms!” WEB: http://www.krishnasoft.com
This newsletter goes to over 1100 people who either have an interest in Vedic science and/or spiritually entertaining multimedia technology.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
(1) Isms Create Schisms!
(2) More on Traveling Faster than the Speed of Light
(3) Editorial Policy and Product List
1. Isms Create Schisms!
[The following is the 23rd of a series of articles to present to the benefits of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The Krsna CDROM and the Srimad-Bhagavatam CDROM from Krishnasoft present this great spiritual masterpiece in multimedia format.]
Why are there wars in the world? Why are there conflicts within the family, within nations, within so-called religious societies, etc.? It is because there is no common platform of loving service to satisfy the Supreme Lord or His bona-fide representative. Every materialist has his own mental speculations which he takes as more significant than the Supreme Lord’s desire. Since every materialist has his own mind, intelligence, and false ego through which his desires to lord it over manifest, there is constant conflict and/or dissatisfaction amongst all materialists. This is suggested by the following Bhagavatam reference:
“To the gross materialist who cannot see anything beyond the gross material body, there is nothing beyond the senses. Therefore his occupational activities are limited to concentrated and extended selfishness. Concentrated selfishness centers around the personal body– this is generally seen amongst the lower animals. Extended selfishness is manifested in human society and centers around the family, society, community, nation and world with a view to gross bodily comfort. Above these gross materialists are the mental speculators who hover aloft in the mental spheres, and their occupational duties involve making poetry and philosophy or propagating some ism with the same aim of selfishness limited to the body and the mind…. Because foolish people have no information of the soul and how it is beyond the purview of the body and mind, they are not satisfied in the performance of their occupational duties. The question of the satisfaction of the self is raised herein. The self is beyond the gross body and subtle mind. He is the potent active principle of the body and mind. Without knowing the need of the dormant soul, one cannot be happy simply with emolument of the body and mind. The body and the mind are but superfluous outer coverings of the spirit soul. The spirit soul’s needs must be fulfilled. Simply by cleansing the cage of the bird, one does not satisfy the bird. One must actually know the needs of the bird himself.” (Bhag. 1.2.8)
For example, one mental speculator may have his own theory about the world and how it came about and what is its purpose. Another mental speculator may have his own theory as to the meaning of some religious text. Some other materialist may just be interested in making money or gaining some politically powerful position. Thus in their so-called “preaching”, each one will form his own organization (ism) and try to convince others to follow his ism. Those of similar type of mental speculations (thinking) or the blind followers join such isms. One should naturally expect nothing but dissatisfaction and conflicts amongst such concocted isms because the spirit soul is beyond the subtle and material elements. He cannot be happy in working for anyone’s mental speculations:
“This is because other occupational duties (whatever ism they may belong to) cannot give liberation to the soul. Even the activities of the salvationists are considered to be useless because of their failure to pick up the fountainhead of all liberties. The gross materialist can practically see that his material gain is limited only to time and space, either in this world or in the other. Even if he goes up to the Svargaloka, he will find no permanent abode for his hankering soul. The hankering soul must be satisfied by the perfect scientific process of perfect devotional service.” (Bhag. 1.2.8)
As explained many times in our previous newsletters, this perfect devotional service is coming down from God through the disciplic succession via the transparent medium of the bona-fide spiritual master:
“The Lord’s order descends in disciplic succession through the bona fide spiritual master, and thus execution of the order of the bona fide spiritual master is factual control of the senses . Such execution of penance in full faith and sincerity made Brahmaajii so powerful that he became the creator of the universe.” (Bhag. 2.9.8)
“It is stated in Bhagavad-gita that no one is barred from rendering service to the Lord . Whether one is a woman or a laborer or a merchant, if he engages himself in the devotional service of the Lord he is promoted to the highest perfectional state and goes back home, back to Godhead . The devotional service most suitable for different types of devotees is determined and FIXED BY THE *MERCY* OF THE SPIRITUAL MASTER.” (Bhag. 3.25.28)
The material elements of earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego are all inert so they need to be used to serve the order of the spiritual master coming down through disciplic succession. If they are NOT used in the devotional service of the Supreme Lord, they will be used to serve the dead material elements:
“Without bhagavad-bhakti, without glorification of the Supreme Lord, whatever we have is simply a decoration of the dead body.” (Bhag. 10.12.34)
“Human civilization and all activities thereof must be dovetailed with the supreme blessing of the Lord, and without this blessing all advancement of human civilization is like decoration on a dead body.” (Bhag. 1.15.21)
When mental speculations from various people infiltrate the perfect process of devotional service, the result is various isms leading to schisms or factions. So the million-dollar question is how does one tell whether one is just following some mental speculation or following the order of guru and Krsna coming down through the disciplic succession. The answer was given in the March 2000 newsletter in the article “There is a big difference between a mental speculation and a realization!”. In summary, if one sticks to the devotional service received from a bona-fide spiritual master, Krsna will gradually REVEAL Himself:
“One should therefore choose a bona fide servant of the Lord constantly engaged in His service, accept such a servant as the spiritual master and engage himself in his (the spiritual master’s) service. Such a spiritual master is the transparent medium by which to visualize the Lord, who is beyond the conception of the material senses. By service of the bona fide spiritual master, the Lord consents to REVEAL Himself in proportion to the service rendered. Utilization of the human energy in the service of the Lord is the progressive path of salvation. The whole cosmic creation becomes at once identical with the Lord as soon as service in relation with the Lord is rendered under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master.” (Bhag. 1.5.23)
“Unto the devotees who are constantly engaged in the Lord’s transcendental loving service (priti-puurvakam), the Lord, out of His causeless mercy upon the devotee, gives direct instructions so that the devotee may make accurate progress on the path returning home, back to Godhead. One should not, therefore, try to understand these four verses of Sriimad-Bhaagavatam by mental speculation. Rather, by direct perception of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one is able to know all about His abode, Vaikuntha, as was seen and experienced by Brahmaa. Such Vaikuntha realization is possible by any devotee of the Lord situated in the transcendental position as a result of devotional service.” (Bhag. 2.9.37)
Of course the sastra, being the complete exposition of the Absolute Truth, is a means to check between actual realizations and mental speculations. Note that there is no way for a conditioned soul to know empirically by randomly searching through the sastras without engagement in devotional service:
“If one has unflinching faith in the Supreme Lord and the spiritual master, the essence of all Vedic knowledge is revealed to him.” (Bhag. 5.1.6)
This devotional service begins with the mercy of the guru. Therefore only true followers can distinguish between other true followers and mental speculators just as only a true student of physics will see that his experiments agree with what is stated in the physics book and with those of other true physicists.
Others may juggle words or do random searches but ultimately they cannot understand because they are hovering on the mental platform (trying to satisfy the gross or subtle body):
“The whole materialistic advancement of human civilization is like the decoration of a dead body. Everyone is a dead body flapping only for a few days, and yet all the energy of human life is being wasted in the decoration of this dead body. Sukadeva Gosvami is pointing out the duty of the human being after showing the actual position of bewildered human activities. Persons who are devoid of the knowledge of atma-tattva are misguided, but those who are devotees of the Lord and have perfect realization of transcendental knowledge are not bewildered.” (Bhag. 2.1.4)
2. MORE ON TRAVELING FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF LIGHT
In the November 1998 issue we gave an example of how traveling faster than the speed of light is possible. Here is another example from the Bhagavatam of superluminal travel:
“Durvasa Muni: A powerful mystic brahmana determined to observe the principles of religion with great vows and under strict austerities… He could travel in space by his great mystic powers, and it is understood that he traveled a great distance through space, even up to the Vaikuntha planets beyond material space. HE TRAVELED ALL THESE LONG DISTANCES WITHIN ONE YEAR, during his quarrel with King Ambarisa, the great devotee and Emperor of the world.” (Bhag. 1.15.11)
The universe is covered by seven layers as explained in last month’s newsletter:
“Every universe is covered by seven layers– earth, water, fire, air, sky, the total energy and false ego– each ten times greater than the previous one. There are innumerable universes besides this one, …” (Bhag. 6.16.37)
“The coverings of the universes are also constituted of the elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether, and each is ten times thicker than the one before. The first covering of the universe is earth, and it is ten times thicker than the universe itself.
If the universe is four billion miles in size, then the size of the earthly covering of the universe is four billion times ten. The covering of water is ten times greater than the earthly covering, the covering of fire is ten times greater than the watery covering,…” (Bhag. 3.11.41)
Four billion miles is 500 million yojanas so to go beyond the universe, one would have to travel at least 500 million * 10^7 yojanas or 5000 trillion yojanas (40,000 trillion miles). This is the size of the seventh layer. In one year there are about 31 million seconds so just to go through the seventh layer in one year, one needs to travel at around 1.3 billion miles/second. Since the modern figure for the speed of light is 186,282 miles/second, traveling at 1.3 billion miles/second is about 7000 times faster than the speed of light.
We pointed out in the November 1998 issue that this is possible even by fine material elements:
“One yojana is calculated to be eight miles, and he has to pass along a road which is therefore as much as 792,000 miles. Such a long distance is passed over within a few moments only. The subtle body is covered by the constables so that the living entity can pass such a long distance quickly…. This covering, although material, is of such fine elements that material scientists cannot discover what the coverings are made of. To pass 792,000 miles within a few moments seems wonderful to the modern space travelers. They have so far traveled at a speed of 18,000 miles per hour, but here we see that a criminal passes 792,000 miles within a few seconds only, although the process is not spiritual but material.” (Bhag. 3.30.24)
[See our multimedia Krsna CDROM in the Vedic Astronomy simulation section for an interactive way to travel around the universe. In the simulation, to go through the layers and beyond the universe, you need to download the upgrade from our website.]
3. EDITORIAL POLICY AND PRODUCT LIST
Krishna Software Inc. is dedicated to help people become peaceful and happy via spiritual science presented using modern multimedia technology. Our editorial policy as well as our mission is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.2.37 Purport):
“One should engage in practical service to the Lord. In our Krsna consciousness movement, *ALL* our activities are concentrated upon distributing Krsna literature. This is very important. One may approach any person and induce him to read Krsna literature so that in the future he also may become a devotee…. By fully concentrating on distributing books for Krsna, one is fully absorbed in Krsna.”
Our newsletters are geared to show you the benefits of the instructions contained in the transcendental books of Srila Prabhupada so you can judge for yourself the value of these books and obtain them in book or CDROM format. We also have video demos of the Gita CDROM and Bhagavatam CDROM available for those without computers or those who want to get a glimpse into what is on the CDROM.
Krishna Software Inc. has produced some multimedia CDROMs and all the details and reviews of these CDROMs can be found at our website http://www.krishnasoft.com. Here is our current list of products:
(a) Multimedia Bhagavad-gita As It Is CD: Lord Krsna’s eternal instructions to Arjuna and the rest of the world about Isvara (Supreme Lord), jiva (the soul), karma (activities), kala (time), and prakrti (nature). This is a 30-hour audio-visual CDROM. Also available with Hindi translations.
(b) Multimedia Srimad-Bhagavatam CD: An encyclopedia on the science of Krsna consciousness. This CDROM deals in detail with bhakti-yoga and covers various subjects– the creation of the universe, Vedic astronomy, transmigration, birth-death, etc. This is about 35 hours of audio-visual presentations.
(c) Multimedia Krsna CD w/Vedic Astronomy: This is a 51-hour audio-visual presentation of the Krsna book and a Vedic Astronomy simulation based on the Srimad-Bhagavatam.
All on a single CDROM. Free sample demo downloadable from our website.
(d) Multilingual Word Processor CD [version 4.00/5.00]: Type in diacritics, Hindi, Sanskrit, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, and Assamese without knowing the alphabet. This is for those who want to write articles using multiple languages. Free demo downloadable from our website. New version now supports Marathi script.
All of the above software was tested on various Intel 486 and Pentium processors running Windows 3.1, Windows ’95, Windows ’98, and Windows NT (client and server).
Latest information and secure ordering is available at our web site: http://www.krishnasoft.com. Any upgrades can be downloaded from this website as well.
End of Newsletter- written and edited by KSI staff; (c) 1998-2000 Krishna Software Inc.
Our staff consists of: Hari Rama Dasa, Virender Dayal, Rajni Dayal, and volunteers.
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All glories to Lord Sri Krsna and His transcendental potencies! All glories to the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the literary incarnation of Lord Sri Krsna!
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