nana-sastra-vicaranaika-nupunau sad-dharma-samsthapakau
lokanam hita-karinau tri-bhuvane manyau saranyakarau
radha-krsna-padaravinda-bhajanandena mattalikau
vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau
I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Six Goswamis, namely Sri Rupa Goswami, Sri Sanatana Goswami, Sri Raghunath Bhatta Goswami, Sri Raghunath dasa Goswami, Sri Jiva Goswami and Sri Gopal Bhatta Goswami, who are very expert in scrutinizingly studying all the revealed scriptures with the aim of establishing eternal religious principles for the benefit of all human beings. Thus they are honored all over the three worlds, and they are worth taking shelter of because they are absorbed in the mood of the gopis and are engaged in transcendental loving service of Radha and Krsna.
As 2008 said goodbye I sat with a friend and talked about culture- by gone cultures like the Maya, Aztec and Vedic. We talked about how little is known about the Aztec and Maya, and how the Vedic knowledge, although still available, is normally presented from a historical, and often myth oriented point of view. History does show, as far as Maya and Aztec are concerned, through the art and architecture they left behind, that they were quite cultured and advanced people. The Vedic science of living, although still available today usually reaches the west in a very watered down form. Yoga, Ayurveda and Vastu have all entered mainstream as people today look for pieces from the past to better shape the future of mankind.
One of the topics we agreed on is the fact that the vedic knowledge isn't a "do-it-yourself" kind of knowledge. Everything in that system was presented by qualified teachers to qualified students. Society was set up in such a way that the welfare of every being was met. The intellectuals guided the administrators ,who gave protection to the merchants, and in turn the merchants provided for their employees, their protectors and the teachers who guided them all. A person was not qualified by birth, as mistaken today, but by ones natural actions. For example the son of a warrior wasn't born a warrior, but trained up to be. And if during training it was found that this boy had a natural tendency towards intellectual pursuits, mercantile , or other talents, he was then trained in that particular field. So naturally everyone had something to do in vedic culture; no one was homeless or jobless.
The culture was not only occupationally minded, but also spiritually oriented with gradual developmental knowledge for the individual. A young person was thought the principles of respect, responsibility, truthfulness etc, but most of all self control. Control of the senses and mind was very important in going deeper into spiritual realms. Later in life, usually around 25, a young person entered family life and used the principles previously learned. At 50, knowing that death was approaching soon, husband and wife would then focus on the deeper and highest goal in life, freedom from the bondage of matter and reinstatement into ones eternal constitutional position.
During this part of the conversation we laughed a lot about how puffed up modern man has become with the audacity to claim that such cultures as the Maya or Vedic were primitive and how advanced we are now because of our advancement in "science". One example given was how those cultures existed for many thousands of years and left historical monuments and art that still baffle scholars today. Not only did they build or write or live a wholesome life, they also left the earth practically more beautiful than they met it. In our few hundred years here, our monuments often depict wars and struggles, and our exploitation of mother earth hasn't left her lush and green, rather bored with spots of land fill, plastic waste in the oceans- you name it.
I told an historical account from the Vedas of how gold and silver were offered as gifts to the priests who performed great sacrifices for the benefit of society, yet the priests, satisfied in themselves would leave the paraphernalia where they were. Imagine leaving heaps of gold ornaments and other things in an arena or by the road today... . Everyone was provided for so well, that no one was in need of anything. At functions, or even simple house parties, guests were served with gold or silver plates, and the women were ornamented with diamonds, gold and silver, plus other earthen perfumes. Compared to today's advancement, we kill for gold, eat in glassware, and that's if you can afford it, or plastic, paper and other things that harm the human body and our women now wear plastic ornaments as decorations.
As mentioned before, yoga, amongst other art forms are becoming a prominent part of society today. But the fact is that yoga now, doesn't elevate people to higher consciousness, rather it keeps them on a more bodily platform, with capitalistic minds even providing interesting clothes for yoga lifestyle people. Did sages of bygone ages were tight spandex outfits in a heated room in downtown Delhi? Was yoga for reducing bodily fat? Hmmmmm...
Ayurveda was not meant for curing illnesses, but more for preventing them through a strict dietary and physical lifestyle. In our advanced culture today, we've created cures for cancer and other deadly diseases; but to be honest we've also created the diseases. We live in a lazy culture: work now involves sitting for hours in front of a computer in a building without good lighting, food consists of things I will not write about, and to top it all, the stress of it all drives us to the next whiskey bar to drown our troubles. When that doesn't work, SEX :)
To avoid the responsibility of sex life, which nature designed for procreating beings who can continue the task of honoring and preserving mother earth, we, by out expertise invented the condom. Yes, spill your life out in a plastic. And when you do want a child, the same pills taken to prevent the responsibility of pregnancy then, now hampers you from having children. In short, we are advancing to a quick demise rather than something the future can look back on and learn form.
So, going back to the first prayer in of this blog, we humbly thank those monks who, 500 years ago foresaw the issues of today and scrutinizingly give the essence of Vedic knowledge that we may qualify ourselves and honor human life as it is meant to be honored. Furthermore, we thank Our Grand Spiritual Teacher His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who brought the teachings of the six Goswamis from Vrindavan to the shores of America, China, Europe and everywhere else we have temples today. I urge the readers of this article to take advantage of these temples and learn how to live peacefully and happily, and look forward to another year of properly learning rather than blindly following what is the status quo.
Happy New Year
lokanam hita-karinau tri-bhuvane manyau saranyakarau
radha-krsna-padaravinda-bhajanandena mattalikau
vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau
I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Six Goswamis, namely Sri Rupa Goswami, Sri Sanatana Goswami, Sri Raghunath Bhatta Goswami, Sri Raghunath dasa Goswami, Sri Jiva Goswami and Sri Gopal Bhatta Goswami, who are very expert in scrutinizingly studying all the revealed scriptures with the aim of establishing eternal religious principles for the benefit of all human beings. Thus they are honored all over the three worlds, and they are worth taking shelter of because they are absorbed in the mood of the gopis and are engaged in transcendental loving service of Radha and Krsna.
As 2008 said goodbye I sat with a friend and talked about culture- by gone cultures like the Maya, Aztec and Vedic. We talked about how little is known about the Aztec and Maya, and how the Vedic knowledge, although still available, is normally presented from a historical, and often myth oriented point of view. History does show, as far as Maya and Aztec are concerned, through the art and architecture they left behind, that they were quite cultured and advanced people. The Vedic science of living, although still available today usually reaches the west in a very watered down form. Yoga, Ayurveda and Vastu have all entered mainstream as people today look for pieces from the past to better shape the future of mankind.
One of the topics we agreed on is the fact that the vedic knowledge isn't a "do-it-yourself" kind of knowledge. Everything in that system was presented by qualified teachers to qualified students. Society was set up in such a way that the welfare of every being was met. The intellectuals guided the administrators ,who gave protection to the merchants, and in turn the merchants provided for their employees, their protectors and the teachers who guided them all. A person was not qualified by birth, as mistaken today, but by ones natural actions. For example the son of a warrior wasn't born a warrior, but trained up to be. And if during training it was found that this boy had a natural tendency towards intellectual pursuits, mercantile , or other talents, he was then trained in that particular field. So naturally everyone had something to do in vedic culture; no one was homeless or jobless.
The culture was not only occupationally minded, but also spiritually oriented with gradual developmental knowledge for the individual. A young person was thought the principles of respect, responsibility, truthfulness etc, but most of all self control. Control of the senses and mind was very important in going deeper into spiritual realms. Later in life, usually around 25, a young person entered family life and used the principles previously learned. At 50, knowing that death was approaching soon, husband and wife would then focus on the deeper and highest goal in life, freedom from the bondage of matter and reinstatement into ones eternal constitutional position.
During this part of the conversation we laughed a lot about how puffed up modern man has become with the audacity to claim that such cultures as the Maya or Vedic were primitive and how advanced we are now because of our advancement in "science". One example given was how those cultures existed for many thousands of years and left historical monuments and art that still baffle scholars today. Not only did they build or write or live a wholesome life, they also left the earth practically more beautiful than they met it. In our few hundred years here, our monuments often depict wars and struggles, and our exploitation of mother earth hasn't left her lush and green, rather bored with spots of land fill, plastic waste in the oceans- you name it.
I told an historical account from the Vedas of how gold and silver were offered as gifts to the priests who performed great sacrifices for the benefit of society, yet the priests, satisfied in themselves would leave the paraphernalia where they were. Imagine leaving heaps of gold ornaments and other things in an arena or by the road today... . Everyone was provided for so well, that no one was in need of anything. At functions, or even simple house parties, guests were served with gold or silver plates, and the women were ornamented with diamonds, gold and silver, plus other earthen perfumes. Compared to today's advancement, we kill for gold, eat in glassware, and that's if you can afford it, or plastic, paper and other things that harm the human body and our women now wear plastic ornaments as decorations.
As mentioned before, yoga, amongst other art forms are becoming a prominent part of society today. But the fact is that yoga now, doesn't elevate people to higher consciousness, rather it keeps them on a more bodily platform, with capitalistic minds even providing interesting clothes for yoga lifestyle people. Did sages of bygone ages were tight spandex outfits in a heated room in downtown Delhi? Was yoga for reducing bodily fat? Hmmmmm...
Ayurveda was not meant for curing illnesses, but more for preventing them through a strict dietary and physical lifestyle. In our advanced culture today, we've created cures for cancer and other deadly diseases; but to be honest we've also created the diseases. We live in a lazy culture: work now involves sitting for hours in front of a computer in a building without good lighting, food consists of things I will not write about, and to top it all, the stress of it all drives us to the next whiskey bar to drown our troubles. When that doesn't work, SEX :)
To avoid the responsibility of sex life, which nature designed for procreating beings who can continue the task of honoring and preserving mother earth, we, by out expertise invented the condom. Yes, spill your life out in a plastic. And when you do want a child, the same pills taken to prevent the responsibility of pregnancy then, now hampers you from having children. In short, we are advancing to a quick demise rather than something the future can look back on and learn form.
So, going back to the first prayer in of this blog, we humbly thank those monks who, 500 years ago foresaw the issues of today and scrutinizingly give the essence of Vedic knowledge that we may qualify ourselves and honor human life as it is meant to be honored. Furthermore, we thank Our Grand Spiritual Teacher His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who brought the teachings of the six Goswamis from Vrindavan to the shores of America, China, Europe and everywhere else we have temples today. I urge the readers of this article to take advantage of these temples and learn how to live peacefully and happily, and look forward to another year of properly learning rather than blindly following what is the status quo.
Happy New Year
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