The God Principle

What does it mean to believe in something? How can you prove your belief? Every day and practically every minute of our existence we take someones word for something. We read the newspaper and we believe that the writers are telling us factual information, we go to the doctor and we believe that his advice is going to make us better, we learn from our mother who our father is. But were we there when our parents conceived us? Do we know that the writer of the article checked all his facts. Are we certain that the Doctor's prescription is going to make us more healthy? We don't know, but we are forced to take someones word for it. 

We are always forced to submit to some authority for our information. And in every case there is always some kind of authority and in every case there is some person that we are forced to submit to. This is called "The God Principle"; everyone MUST submit to some person. 

If a criminal is caught by a police officer, at that moment in time the Police officer is "GOD" to the criminal. The criminal MUST submit either by force or by voluntary submission. If a citizen breaks the law, he can not say "I don't believe in this country so you can not take me to jail". No, he must submit to the law enforcement person. He must submit to his God. And of coarse the law enforcement man must submit to his God, the Chief of police. The Chief of police must submit to his God: the Mayor. The Mayor submits to  the people who elected him. The military submit to the President and the President submits to his wife or his kids. When a man's wife wants more jewelry, at that moment she is "GOD" to her man as he submits to getting the money together to pay for her jewelry. When we go to school, the teacher is "GOD" to the students. This principle of God can not be avoided. 

It is an undeniable fact, there is a God in every case, in every circumstance. We are spiritual entities in a material world. We manipulate matter and rearrange it. We are Gods in every sense. But the intelligent person will try to find out who is the Supreme Person? Who is the Supreme God? 

It is stated in the Vedic literature that the one who possesses 6 qualities in full: 1) Fame, 2) wealth, 3) knowledge, 4) beauty, 5) renunciation, and 6) all strength, that person is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If we look for that person and find him, he is God. 

As material manipulators, we find that there are laws that we are governed by: Natures Laws. Everyone must be subjected to the natural law of birth, every person is born. Everyone must be subjected to getting diseased, every person has some sort of disease through out their life. Everyone must be subjected to old age, every person must get old. And lastly, every person must meet death. These laws of Nature are being run by the Supreme Person, just like the American Government is being run by one man: the Supreme American. Do we see the Supreme American in person? 

Ninety-nine percent of the American citizens have never seen their president except in moving pictures on TV.  Does he really exist? We believe he does because someone told us that he really is the President and they experienced him in person.  Everything is created by some person, there is not one example in the Universe where one can say that this was not created by some person. From the automobile, the phone, the airplane, the factory, the government; all these were created and thought up by one person. But in most cases we never actually saw the person who created it or even watched them create it, we just took someone's word for it.

Sankirtana: A Cleansing For The Soul

What does the word “Sankirtana” mean?

Sankirtana is a Sanskrit word. “San” comes from the word “samyak” which means “complete” and Kirtanmeans “glorifying” or “describing.” Generally when one is “glorified”, there is good reason. For instance, if a man becomes wealthy, most likely he will become famous and naturally he will be glorified, praised, and adored for his wealth and fame. But, who can say that they posses all wealth or all fame?

It is stated in the ancient Vedic text called the Srimad-Bhagavatam that God posses all these six opulence’s in full:  He is complete in wealth, renunciation, fame, knowledge, strength and beauty.

One of God’s many names is Asamaurdhva, which means that no one is equal to or greater than Him. In this connection the word Sankirtana has its complete meaning because only He can be glorified “completely.” A common man may be glorified, but his glorification can only go so far. There is always another who out does him. Another who possesses more of the thing he is being glorified for, therefore the common man’s glorification falls short. But God possesses everything  therefore only He can be completely glorified.

Sankirtana is universal to all religions: 

King David preached, “From the rising of the sun unto its setting, the Lord’s name is to be praised.” (Psalms 113:3)  

Lord Buddha said, “All who sincerely call upon My name will come to Me after death, and I will take them to Paradise.” (Vows of Amida Buddha 18) 

Muhammad declared, “Glorify the name of your Lord, the most high.” (Koran 87.2) “Allah, who does not fit into heavens or worlds, fits into the hearts of men. The process used to clean the heart is dhikrullah (chanting the names of Allah). Dhikr is a key to the secrets of life.” (Ninety-Nine Names of Allah) 

It is written in the Bible, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21) 

And in the ancient Sanskrit Vedic scriptures it says, “Chant the holy name, chant the holy name, chant the holy name. In this age of quarrel there is no other way, no other way, no other way to attain spiritual enlightenment.” (Brihan-Naradiya Purana)

The performance of Sankirtana is a spiritual cleansing for the mirror of the mind, just as soap is a material cleansing for the body.  According to the Vedic scriptures, there are three stages for spiritual cleansing, the first is to cleanse the mirror of the mind by Sankirtana. It is stated in theBhagavad-gita, “For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his very mind will be the greatest enemy.” (Bhagavad-gita Ch.6, text 6)

Due to long term association with matter, the mind becomes polluted, or dirty and this Sankirtanaprocess purifies the mind. The second stage is to become free from material existence. Material existence means to be always hankering and lamenting. “I must have a new car, I need more money, I need a good partner, I need this, I must have that. Then when I have these things; I lament, I have lost my partner, I have lost my money, I have lost my car. I am simply in a lamenting state.” So the second stage is to become free from this lamenting. The third stage is called “Brahma-bhutah prasannatma”. This is described in the Bhagavad-gita, “One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman. He never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me.”

Sankirtana is generally performed in a congregation but anyone can sing or chant alone or with anyone. 

The Maha Mantra, or “Great Chant” is recommended by all great authorities:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

“All Glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada for bringing Lord Caitanya’s Sankirtana Movement All Around the Globe!”

Scientific Research In Sound

Although the Vedas have very detailed explanations and descriptions of how sound is correlated with material objects, western scientists have only just begun to research this subject with in the past 550 years or so. The first accounts of Western thinkers pondering about sound and matter date back to Leonardo Da Vinci (1452 - 1519).

Da Vinchi writes, "I say then that when a table is struck in different places the dust that is upon it is reduced to various shapes of mounds and tiny hillocks. The dust descends from the hypotenuse of these hillocks, enters beneath their base and raises itself again around the axis of the point of the hillock."

Forward a little over a hundred and twenty years and Galileo Galilei wrote about it in his book, "Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems" in 1632. In this book he talks about how he noticed that the vibration of a brass plate with a chisel caused some fillings to be straight and equidistant to each other. About fifty years later in the 1680s notable scientist Robert Hook did experiments with a glass plate and a violin bow, noting the various shapes that took place.

With access to Hooks work, Ernst Chladni (1756-1827) a famous musician and scientist, some times known as "the father of acoustics", noted the shapes that were produced with sand when the brass plates were vibrated with the violin bow. He made sketches of each shape which are known as the "Chladni Figures".

Notable scientist such as Michael Faraday and Lord Rayleigh also experimented with this subject, but perhaps that most extensive research has been done by a Swiss medical doctor named Hans Jenny  (1904 - 1972). It was Jenny who invented a machine called a "Tonoscope" and used it to do many experiments with sand and vibrations.

Jenny also had a fascination with Vedic mantras and yantras and included these in his research.

A little background on Mantras and Yantras: a Mantra is a sound that is uttered and is meant to fix the mind on a particular thing. In a sense, Mantras can be a correlation between sound and matter depending on what the mantra is used for. In Sanskrit "Mana" means mind and "tra" means to deliver. The word yantra means "machine". The human body (as well as animals bodies) are also an example of a yantra. Because we are not the body but the consciousness that runs the body called the "soul" or "jiva" in Sanskrit, the body is considered a physical machine and it will become useless if the jiva is not operating it. Just like a dead body, no soul is inside to operate the machine so it is useless and will rot away eventually with out the soul. Yantra's are two or three diminutional machines and they function as a tool for the jiva to use for various things. The body is one example, but they are used also in correlation with mantras to focus the mind. In Vedic ages, mantras and yantras were used to comunicate with personalities who are in charge of particular elements. For instance, the personality in charge of fire is Agni. By reciting a certain mantra to Agni, expert yogis are able to invoke fire.

Back to Hans Jenny: Jenny did experiments with mantras and particularly with the mantra "OM". By producing this sound Jenny was able to manifest the Sri-Yantra, which is a circular shape with triangular sapes inside the circle. 

When Dr. Jenny experimented with sounds of other languages, no results were produced.

In the Vedic ages mantras were practiced by practically everyone due to the advanced consciousness of the people. In the Dwarpa Yuga (a span of 800,000 years) the types of mantras were used to create and detonate atomic weapons. About 5,000 years ago at the end of Dwarpa Yuga and begining of Kali Yuga (our current Yuga) there is evidence that atomic weapons were detonated.

Evidence can be found today in a city near Kurukestra where a 3 square mile location has been sectioned off due to radioactivity from the atomic weaponry. This famous battle is where Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-Gita to Arjuna.

In the Bṛhan-Nāradīya Purāṇa, part of the Vedic literatures, it is stated, "In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy [Kali Yuga] the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way." Chanting of the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra, "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna / Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama / Rama Rama Hare Hare" is the most effective way to focus the mind in this Age of Kali. 

Mars Exploration: Is It Really A New Idea?

On January 8th 2013 Mars One, a Netherlands based non-profit, announced that it would be seeking volunteers to help colonize Mars and hopes to land there by 2023. While the world is anticipating and marveling at the idea of travel to other planets like the Moon or Mars, devotees of the Krishna Consciousness Movement are peacefully chanting the Hare Krishna Mantra through out the world. They are hardly amazed at such endeavors, as interplanetary travel has been going on for billions of years. In the Bhagavad-gita (8.16) it is stated, 

ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ
punar āvartino 'rjuna
mām upetya tu kaunteya
punar janma na vidyate

"My dear Arjuna, even if you go to the highest planetary system, which is called Brahmaloka, you will have to come back." 

The Bhagavad-Gita is the most famous of the Vedic texts and dates back over 5,000 years. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, a Vcdic text that documents the entire History of the universe, (4.21.13) it is stated,

ekadāsīn mahā-satra-
dīkṣā tatra divaukasām
samājo brahmarṣīṇāṁ ca
rājarṣīṇāṁ ca sattama

“Once upon a time King Pṛthu initiated the performance of a very great sacrifice in which great saintly sages, brāhmaṇas, demigods from higher planetary systems and great saintly kings known as rājarṣis all assembled together.”

The Vedas state that the universe is divided into fourteen planetary systems, seven different systems going upwards from earth and seven going downwards from earth. The earth resides in the middle and is situated in the planetary system called Bhurloka. In the 14th Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is (14.18) it is stated, 

ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti 
sattva-sthā madhye 
tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ 
jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthā
adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ 

“Those situated in the mode of goodness gradually go upward to the higher planets; those in the mode of passion live on the earthly planets; and those in the mode of ignorance go down to the hellish worlds.” 

So we can see from the above quoted verses that interplanetary travel as well as air travel has always been possible, but the method of travel was different. The Ancient flying machines were called Vimana's and they worked on mantras (spiritual hyms that enabled the flying machine to function) where as modern flying machines rely on material functions such as propellers, engines, wings, and wheels. Due to the Age of Kali (Age of Quarrel and Hypocrisy) which lasts 432,000 years, man's spiritual potency has been diminished. In previous ages yogis could  achieve “siddhis” or “spiritual competence” through meditation and penance, and with this spiritual competence they were able to move objects with their mind, operate Vimanas, or even travel using beams of light. That age was called, “Dwarpa Yuga” and lasted roughly 800,000 years. But as foretold in the Vedas, the Kali Yuga age has brought shorter life span for the human being, less intelligence, and a mind that is always disturbed.

The modern governments are claiming that they have gone to the Moon planet and the next mission is to set foot on Mars. Today many governments are going bankrupt and are worried about spending money and collecting taxes, yet they spend billions of dollars on plans to send men to other planets. Even if they could walk on the Mars planet, what would be the benefit? Humans are subjected to the same laws of nature whether on earth or on another planet. No one can avoid birth, disease, old age, and death.

Therefore devotees of the Krishna Consciousness movement are not interested in traveling aimlessly through out space, going to the Moon, or Mars. Krishna says in the Bhagavad-Gita (9.25): 

yānti deva-vratā devān
pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ
bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā
yānti mad-yājino 'pi mām

“Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me.” 

If one has the desire to go to any planetary system even in this day and age of Kali it is still possible. In the darśa-paurṇamāsī, the part of the Veda's prescribed for material benefit, there are prescriptions for worshiping different demigods who live in different planetary systems through out the universe and by worshiping them one can go live there. There are also prescriptions to go to the lower planets by “black magic” practitioners. But all these demigods and rulers of the different planets must ultimately be subjected to the four miseries of Material life namely; birth, disease, old age, and death. Therefore the devotees of Krishna are interested in worshiping Krishna because it is the Vedic conclusion that He is the the maintainer of all the planetary systems. The very first verse of the Srimad-Bhagavatam states:

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
janmādy asya yato 'nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ
tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ
tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo 'mṛṣā
dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi

“O my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.”

This Krishna Consciousness Movement is now distributing this most important information for the benefit of all human society. In any walk of life, one can learn that they are not the body but the soul that runs the body. The body is temporary and last but only 75 to 100 years at most. At the time of death the soul will enter a new body depending on the consciousness of the soul. Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, 

yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ
tyajaty ante kalevaram
taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya
sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.”

By chanting the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra one can immediately connect to Krishna because Krishna and His name are non-different. In Kali Yuga chanting His names are the most effective way to worship. It is stated in the Padma-Purana,

nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś
caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ
pūrṇaḥ śuddho nitya-mukto
'bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ

'The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is Kṛṣṇa Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Kṛṣṇa's name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Kṛṣṇa Himself. Since Kṛṣṇa's name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no questionof its being involved with māyā. Kṛṣṇa's name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name of Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa Himself are identical.'

By chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa Maha Mantra:
 
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa 
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare 
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma 
Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

one can become perfect and go back home Back to Godhead.