What I'm thinking

Today's "Daily Insight" email from Zig Ziglar:

It doesn't matter how strong your opinions are. If you don't use your power for positive change, you are, indeed, part of the problem.

- Coretta Scott King

In our strategic planning for Atma over the next three years I noticed that we will have spent half a million dollars in rent over six years. That's a huge outlay. The money that is generated and spent is a side effect of our main activity, which is sharing our spirituality and lifestyle knowledge with others. Atma is a state audited incorporated not-for-profit association. However, we need to be responsible stewards of even the side effects. That's Krishna's energy that we are leaking there.

Also, it makes no sense to continually start from scratch with each new place that we get. Here are some preliminary thoughts on how we are going to approach this:

The secret to any Special Operations success is basic: arrive on the target quickly and establish relative superiority. Simply put, take the advantage during the pivotal moment of battle.

This is no easy task for a small attacking force like the SEALs. For them the ability to sustain relative superiority often comes down to moral factors: courage, intellect, boldness, and perserverance.

"Everybody likes a hero. This nation runs on heroism - dynamic leadership and all that sort of stuff. It's our heritage, and those that don't like it... they're probably cowards."

From a video that Prahlad showed me: Discovery_-_US_Navy_SEALs_-_Direct_Action.avi. It's around 48:00.

Srila Prabhupada's commentary on the Bhagavatam opens with a life sketch of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the ideal preacher of the Bhagavatam.

The personal character of the preacher is an integral part of the message that he preaches. The Sanskrit word for preaching: pracar has integral within it the Sanskrit word for the personal comportment of the preacher: acar. In English we say that you should "practice what you preach". In Sanskrit, what you practice is what you preach.

In his translation of the Srimad Bhagavatam verse 1.2.18 Srila Prabhupada imports two meanings to the phrase nityam bhagavata-sevaya - "By regular attendance in classes on the Bhagavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee". On the trascendental plane the message and the medium are one and the same.

So without being ideal yourself, you cannot preach an ideal message, or cause others to become ideal. The analogy is given that an iron rod may be placed in fire, at which point it takes on the quality of fire and is able to light further fires itself. Our potency to effect change comes from our own submission to the process of change.

For a brahmacari to admit that he is unauthorized by his spiritual master to speak is an admission that his behaviour is less than ideal. For him to then go on to extensively speak on the subject of the behaviour of others and what they should be doing is hypocritical. There is a fundamental incongruity between what you are saying ("this is ideal behaviour and you should be doing it") and what you are doing yourself.

In Bhagavad-gita Krishna describes the austerity of the brahmacaris in this way:

Some [the unadulterated brahmacārīs] sacrifice the hearing process and the senses in the fire of mental control

- Bhagavad-gita 4.26

A brahmacari is offered the respect due the ashram because of his conformance with the ashram. He is a limb of his guru. By this association he becomes worthy of respect. In Srimad Bhagavatam 4.19.12 Srila Prabhupada warns against misuse of the saffron cloth, while explaining how this was first introduced by Indra.

To demand that others "accept Srila Prabhupada's instructions as they are" in the area of social duties while simultaneously failing to do so yourself is analogous to preaching that "you must believe in Jesus" while failing to observe Jesus' basic teachings.

Ravindra Svarupa prabhu in his seminar on ISKCON History talks about the concept of "rectification of names", a concept described in the Analects of Confucius.

If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant; if what is said is not what is meant, then what must be done remains undone; if this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate; if justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion. Hence there must be no arbitrariness in what is said. This matters above everything. Let the ruler be ruler, the minister minister, the father father and the son son

So let the brahmacari first be a brahmacari before he speaks about what everyone else should be doing.

Otherwise whatever we accept on that faulty basis will have no permanent beneficial effect. Whatever may be good there is mixed with something very unhealthy.

Tonight at Atma Josh and I were discussing the idea of "selfish" and "selfless".

Selfish means a mentality of exploitation. Selfishness arises from a misconception of the self - not the self, but selfish - "kind of" the self.

Selflessness, on the other hand, means a mentality of renunciation. It can be favorable when your idea of the "self" is misguided. In that case it means not actually "selflessness" but "selfishlessness"

Otherwise Krishna consciousness means self-realization - not selfish, not selfless, but being yourself.

Don't be selfish, be yourself.

...or in my case, usually quite a few, who don't understand what I'm actually getting at.

Usually at Atma it takes people one or two sessions to figure out how the "Sita-pati provocative dialectic" works.

Here's the purport to yesterday's post, Sprouting Seeds, Spiralling Violence, for all those who didn't get the point and are offended by my "racist statements" about the Indonesians and Chinese. Remember, you can always leave a comment, or send me an email.

Here's the definition of "feral" [from wikipedia]: "A feral organism is one that has escaped from domestication and returned, partly or wholly, to its wild state."

Breakdown of social systems will cause humans to revert to wild ("feral") state

Once the Indonesian islands are submerged significantly by rising tides caused by global warming, the Indonesians are going to experience huge population pressure and the disruption of their economy and agriculture. A likely result of this is the breakdown of their economic and political systems - in other words, meltdown. It won't take long from there for people to start starving and for the population to go feral.

[Note: that description, technically accurate, was the contribution of a doctor who participated in the conversation at Atma. I know that in the Ocker vernacular the word "feral" is used to refer to "people that you don't like", but that's not what it means to 90% of English speakers]

If Australia expends military energy right now (which it does) repelling people attempting to flee from Indonesia to Australia, imagine what is going to happen then. It will be a full-scale, no excuses invasion.

I also mentioned feral humans in the article, but I notice that no-one has taken offense at that. Once we experience the breakdown of our economic and political structures, large segments of the human race will go feral. If you read yesterday's ISKCON News.com article Natural Born Survivors you'll see one expert predict the death of 5 out of 6 humans worldwide in the meltdown. Many of those will die fighting over food, like wild animals.

Nuking the Chinese - ironically, the most sensible thing for meat eaters to do

My call to nuke the Chinese is an ironic device. Unfortunately, it is actually the most sane thing to do given our current situation, which is an indication of how insane our current situation is. With the consumption of the Chinese rising to meet Australian standards the global economic and environmental situation is untenable. The only result of this can be the inevitable clash of the Americans and the Australians with the Chinese, and the Indians, and the Russians, and the Africans, and every other group who wants to live like we do.

Unless the Australians and Americans reduce their consumption and model a more responsible sustainable lifestyle, war with the Chinese, eventually an overt military one, caused by an economic one over the dwindling resources, is the near future of the human race.

If we are unwilling to reduce consumption then we should man up and launch a preemptive strike now.

The alternative - "go vego"

Of course my position is that we should reduce consumption by becoming vegetarian. Most people will disagree with nuking the Chinese, and the article plays on that to show the irony of what's going on. If we don't reduce consumption, nuking them is the most logical and sane thing to do. Some people will think that is abhorrent, but what about the millions of tons of animals that are being slaughtered each year? That's also abhorrent.

Being lukewarm is a cop out. Why stop at killing millions of animals? If you are going to be a killer, then you should be logical about it and kill the Chinese before they kill you. Otherwise, if you do find that idea abhorrent, then take a look at the logical consequences of where this meat-eating is taking us. The Mahabharata tells us: "There is not enough gold, grains, or women in the world to satisfy the desire of one man" - what to speak of one billion Chinese, plus 400 million Americans, plus 20 million Australians plus the rest of the world.

Our irresponsibility in failing to set an example of responsible, sustainable consumption is leading the world to war over dwindling resources, and ecological and environmental disaster. Face up to it. If we don't become vegetarian now, we should drop a nuke on China. It's the only way to make our current diet and lifestyle sustainable.

So stop being so irresponsible: either push the red button, or give up the red meat.

Props to Pandu das, whose post "Scientific Proof that meat-eating leads to war" was an inspiration for this dinner table "shock preaching" tactic.

The third of the four secondary objectives of ISKCON given in Srila Prabhupada's 1966 Constitution: "To popularize the vegetable-grain diet under approved methods in order that full value of protein, carbohydrate, fat and vitamin benefit may be derived therefrom."

Thought for the day:

There is no more revolutionary action than to be yourself in Krishna Consciousness.

Arguing with women is sex life.

An intelligent grhasta learns to expertly manage the situation to make it unnecessary.

Serious brahmacaris have better things to do.

One who is attached to the mode of goodness cannot rise beyond it.
One who has transcended the mode of goodness appreciates its value in supporting the aspiring sadhaka.

Subtle difference, but an important one.

Srila Prabhupada was not conditioned by the mode of goodness or a culture in the mode of goodness. Thus he was able to cross cultural boundaries and pick up people from any situation. At the same time he fully appreciated the value of the mode of goodness and culture in the mode of goodness as an element of support for spiritual practice.

A sifu master once said: "If you want to master something do it ten thousand times".

Of course, beyond the conception of mastery is the realization that we are subordinate to our environment and exist in order to serve.

However, the principle is valuable. I express it like this: "The difference between an experienced drummer and an inexperienced drummer is ten thousand strokes."

The other day I taught the basic strokes on the mrdanga to a student. Then I told her: "Now you know what I know. The only difference between us is ten thousand strokes."

There is no short cut, no substitute. Of course, there are lots of things that you can do to accelerate and deepen the effectiveness of your practice. Serving and associating with others who are better than you will lift your game. But still, the hard yards are there, just waiting for you to do them.

Ten thousand strokes - that's all it takes to get to the next level. How long will it take you to do them?

Prahlad and I are studying the Egyptian tabla at the moment. When I watch a video like the one below of young Yunus firing over a 12/4 rhythm, I realize that he is simply picking up from where he left off in a previous life. Born into an appropriate family, he quickly reconnects with his previous patterns. This is the fate of unsuccessful spiritualist as well - he or she gets the opportunity to take birth in a family of pious, devoted persons.

So in a sense our explanation that at the time of death everything material is lost is not strictly true, because otherwise there would be no such thing as karma. According to Bhagavad-gita 15.8: "The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas."

While material wealth cannot be taken with you, your conceptions of life remain, and you continue to evolve, or degrade in terms of your consciousness.

Materially or spiritually, you get some impetus from your previous life's effort, and you go from there. Ten thousand strokes. Whether it's playing an instrument or progressing in spiritual life, the principle is the same. Do the hard yards.

These guys have dedicated their time to something. Instead of playing video games or watching tv, they've developed this skill. They have the same number of hours per day as everyone else, but they have invested them in a focused way. They have used their time to do ten thousand strokes on one drum.

"Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched." - Bhagavad-gita 2.41

Focused effort. Enthusiasm to begin, simultaneous determination and patience to see it through.

These are the principles of success.

"Ten thousand strokes" - that's what it takes.