Krishna Dharma - articles

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“It is by the goodness of God that we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practise either of them,” wrote Mark Twain. Wise words from the esteemed author, although it seems that some of us may well doubt their wisdom. So it was in Denmark last month, where – in the name of the popular ideal of free speech – a number of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed were published, to the great chagrin of the Muslim community.

In many ways it is understandable that freedom of speech is held so dear in our society. It stands in stark contrast to the oppressive ‘thought police' dictatorships that heavily restrict any kind of free expression. Nobody wants that. Furthermore, it is felt that without a free press who will keep check on our leaders? We need to be informed of their shenanigans, should they get up to any, as well as given the benefit of critical scrutiny of their policies.

This may be the case, but how just how free is our so-called ‘free press'? To begin with, they are surely not always on the highest moral ground, many of them freely promoting (as well being paid to promote) all kinds of sin in their pages almost every day. Nor are they likely to be consistently objective in their analyses, being sold out to various vested interests that pay their salaries. Everyone knows how the papers all have their different political and corporate affiliations.

Like the religions they often criticize, the media also has its own assumptions about what is right and wrong. Commenting on the offensive cartoons, French newspaper Le Monde said, "Religious commandments and prohibitions cannot take priority over the laws of the republic. Religions... can be freely analysed, criticised, indeed ridiculed." Which of course means that for them the “laws of the republic”, as made by men, are the absolute authority.

In fairness, some sections of the media are trying to point to what seems to them like nothing more than hypocrisy and cheating. There is certainly enough of that around, but who should do the pointing? Should this be entrusted to journalists? According to Vedic wisdom we need such checks, ensuring that even religious leaders act properly, but this is the state's job. The state should in turn be guided by pure hearted saintly persons who are free from material desire and therefore the tendency to exploit and deceive.

In other words, only those who are actually free can practise freedom of speech. Those entrapped by material hankering and lamentation cannot be fully trustworthy, being liable to be carried away at any time by sensual and mental urges. Only the spiritually pure can resist such pressures and act always for our best interests. They know how speech should be properly employed for everyone's benefit. For example, how beneficial is it to human society to hear, in Srila Prabhupada's words, “Mundane propaganda glorifying the temporary and flickering tidings of the material world”? This is what fills almost every publication these days, and it does little more than disturb the mind.

Mundane talk in human society is compared to croaking frogs, which raise up a great sound that simply attracts snakes to eat them. In the same way, when we speak about so many ultimately meaningless things we waste our valuable human life and thus bring death closer. We have so little time in which to perfect our lives and achieve the eternal, supreme abode of God.

The Vedas therefore instruct us to hear speech that glorifies the Supreme Lord, for this soothes the heart and mind, gradually ending all material misery. Saints and sages always engage in this kind of discussion, and make it available to everyone through their sacred writings. Describing the behaviour of spiritually elevated persons, the Bhagavad-gita says that their speech is “truthful, pleasing, beneficial, and not agitating to others.” Prabhupada comments, “The process of speaking in spiritual circles is to say something upheld by the scriptures. One should at once quote from scriptural authority to back up what he is saying. At the same time, such talk should be very pleasurable to the ear. By such discussions, one may derive the highest benefit and elevate human society.”

If the press really do want to do us good they would do well to take a hint from this, giving more of their column inches to the glorification of God and his pure followers, as found in all authentic scripture. Hopefully then we will see rather less riots.

Perhaps one of the most poignant sufferings in society is the failure of human relationships. Recent government statistics reveal that some fifty percent of marriages are ending in divorce. Every day four thousand children call the charity Childline for help. All around us we can all see so many examples of strained and collapsed relationships, possibly even in our own lives. We so much want to enjoy our relationships, but so often they become instead the cause of our greatest pain.

What is the solution? Is it just an inevitable sign of the times; times when selfishness and materialism seem to be more and more vaunted in the media? We all have different interests, so in any relationship where both parties are self-interested there will surely be a clash sooner or later.

The desire for relationship is intrinsic to our nature. The Vedas explain that every living being has an eternal relationship with God. When we forget that we search elsewhere to satisfy our need to relate. But our love is really meant for God. We cannot be satisfied if we offer our love to someone else. Only the Lord, sitting in our hearts, knows how to fully reciprocate our love. How often in any relationship do we feel that the other person simply does not understand us?

Offering our love to God does not mean we cannot love other people. Indeed it means the very opposite. With God at the centre of our relationships they can become truly successful. And according to Vedic wisdom if we do not relate in this way then our so-called love for each other is really not love at all. It is simply mutual exploitation to fulfil selfish needs.

Take a conjugal relationship, for example. It may seem selfless, especially in the beginning when are very accommodating of our partner's desires, but what is its basis? Why do we form such relationships in the first place? Simple, because we like each other. In some way or another our partner pleases us. But when that happy situation ends, the relationship will very likely go the same way. The very selfishness that brought us together will break us apart.

The same can be said of all relationships, if we examine them carefully. Even parent and child, perhaps the most selfless of all, has selfishness at its root. It begins with a desire to enjoy the pleasure of having children, but when child and parent disagree there is separation and heartbreak.

We may say no, this is not true, that I would sacrifice everything for my loved ones. Maybe, but what about someone else's loved ones? Would I do the same for them? Probably not, because after all they are not mine. So really it is mine and thus ultimately me that matters most.

By placing God first in a relationship it will work. Then it is truly devoid of selfish exploitation. By loving God we develop love for all beings, as we are all part of the Lord. Love of God is the only pure and selfless emotion, and if we can centre our human relationships on this spiritual emotion they will become sublime and deeply rewarding.

As only God can ultimately satisfy us, by always trying to bring our loved ones closer to the Lord we show them the greatest love. By pleasing him in this way we will become pleased. But if we try to please ourselves or others separate from God we will only become frustrated. No amount of selfish sensual pleasure ever satisfies the soul.

The family that prays together stays together. By coming together for daily spiritual practises and helping each other on our spiritual paths we will grow closer and closer. As our love for the Lord increases so will our love for each other. Instead of competing together for our own self-interests we put the Lord's interests at the centre. In this way we co-operate without conflict. With a common centre we can draw so many circles and they will not cut across each other. But with different centres even two circles will conflict.

So let's find the love we are really looking for by loving the Lord together. Then so many social problems will be solved.

“A woman's place is in the home,” so the old saying goes. Not any more. These days it is not uncommon to find women heading the boards of huge corporations or even leading countries. Equality is sought everywhere, whether it be the workplace or the home, and the roles of men and women are fast becoming interchangeable. Patriarchal attitudes of past ages are no longer acceptable or ‘politically correct', and we endeavour to root them out wherever they may be found.

But there is one area where the move toward female emancipation seems to have had little effect — the concept of God. He is always a ‘he', our ‘Father in heaven', usually depicted as an old man with a beard sitting up in the clouds somewhere, all alone, without even a female companion. Except, that is, in Vedic culture. Followers of the Vedas have always accepted that God has both a male and female aspect.

Both features are said to be eternally manifest. The Vedas always describe the Supreme with a feminine counterpart or consort, the divine Goddess. She is understood to be the Lord's energy, the means by which he is known. She embodies all divine qualities, through her all things are made manifest, and from her come all living beings.

There are many names of the Goddess found in the Vedic writings, such as Lakshmi, Sita, Maya, and Kali. Ultimately all her forms expand from one, the supreme original Goddess who is known as Radha. At the Manor we worship Radha with Krishna, and last month we celebrated her holy appearance day in the festival of Radhastami.

For Vaishnavas, Radha is the most important personality of all. She is the eternal consort and lover of Krishna, the Supreme Lord. She is considered completely ‘non-different' from God, but at the same time she has her own special identity. In the Vedas there is a verse that says, “Radha and Krishna are one and the same person, but they have separated themselves eternally.”

Another Vedic verse states, “The one becomes many to expand the ocean of bliss.” God is said to be “pleasure seeking”, which is evidenced by us, who as parts of God exhibit the same characteristic. His desire for enjoyment is seen first in the form of Radha, who is described as the Lord's “pleasure potency”. She gives the highest pleasure to the Lord and from her come innumerable varieties of spiritual beings, who enjoy with God in unlimited rasas, or spiritual tastes. “Variety is the mother of enjoyment,” it is said, and the Vedas say that this is true even in the highest dimension of spiritual existence, between God and his eternal lovers, which includes us all.

Through the Goddess we are expanded from the Supreme for the purpose of blissful love. And through the grace of the Goddess we are able to awaken and fully experience that love. In order to help bring this about she assumes many forms. She comprises the totality of material existence, which is meant to direct us toward the Supreme. Vedic wisdom holds that we in the material world are forgetful of our original position as God's eternal lovers; that we have somehow fallen from that state. The Goddess therefore works to gradually bring us back to our spiritual consciousness. As the embodiment of love, mercy and compassion, she leads us away from all misery and back to our constitutional position in which we experience unlimited happiness.

It is said that God is all-attractive, indeed this is the meaning of the Sanskrit name ‘Krishna'. However, Radha is said to be even more attractive in that she attracts even him. Another name of God is ‘Madan Mohan', which means ‘one who bewilders the mind of everyone with his charms.” But the Goddess is called ‘Madan Mohan Mohini' because she bewilders even his mind.

Vaishnavas therefore always worship God along with his divine consort. Radhastami was celebrated with great joy at the Manor, as the devotees meditated on their eternal loving relationship, the perfection of pure spiritual love.

The other day I popped into a local grocer to pick up a few things. The assistant, seeing me in robes, immediately said, “Your book is wrong.”

Interesting greeting, I thought, but I merely smiled. Over the years I have become used to people reacting to my unusual appearance in all kinds of ways. Once a group of children in a small northern town asked me if I was from another planet.

Of course, I laughed at that one, but the assertions that my faith is in some way wrong, as with my friendly shop assistant, are not always so funny. Obviously these kinds of perceptions, seeing other religions as mistaken or inferior in some way to one's own, lie at the heart of so many disputes. History bears witness to many religious conflicts, and even today there are many preachers of all persuasions seeking to convert others.

Why do such differences exist? Why are there so many different religions apparently competing with one another? Surely they can't all be right. But how can they be reconciled when they often have exclusivism enshrined as a fundamental tenet, with various faiths declaring their particular path to be the only true way?

Well, here's the way the Vedas explain it. In every religious teaching there are two components, eternal truth and time-specific instructions meant for the particular group being addressed by the teacher. The former never changes, but the latter obviously will. We therefore need to be able to discriminate between the two, but it seems that many times we take time-specific instructions out of context and try to apply them as eternal truths.

For example, even if a religious teacher says he is the only way, if we understand the eternal truth that God can only be reached through his representative, (mediator, guru, prophet or whatever you want to call such a person), then we can see the truth of such a statement. Vedic teachings make it clear that we require the guidance of a divinely inspired teacher. God cannot be approached directly.

In every theistic doctrine the same essential truths are given – this life is not the all-in-all, we are the eternal servants of God, prepare for your eternal life, don't build your house on sand, follow God's laws, etc. Religion should bring us closer to God, evoke our love for him and increase our knowledge of him and his divine attributes. This is the test of genuine religion. Bona-fide teachers in different places and at different times are all leading their followers toward this goal, but they may have to use different methods according to the condition of their audience. As the old saying goes, “Different strokes for different folks.”

This catholic and tolerant approach has always been the understanding in Vedic culture and Hinduism. Srila Prabhupada would often say that one can chant the names of God as given in any faith and make spiritual progress. “God is one,” he would say, “and therefore religion is also one, to know and love him.” He was always at pains to point out that he was not trying to convert anyone to Hinduism or any other specific religion. His message was that he was simply teaching the pure science of loving God, as found in all genuine faiths.

I am therefore always happy when I see someone declaring their strong faith, no matter what their persuasion. I just wish that it did not have to sometimes be accompanied by a negation of my own faith.

The recent suicide attacks in London were a crime not just against humanity,
but against God and indeed life itself. Human life is a gift from God for us
to achieve life's perfection and go back to him. No one has the right to
maliciously destroy that gift, especially in God's name.

But in truth life itself cannot be destroyed. We are eternal spiritual souls
inhabiting material temporary bodies. We are not destroyed when the body is
killed. The Bhagavad-gita says, "For the soul there is neither birth nor
death at any time. He has not, does not, and will not come into being. He is
unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body
is slain."

Death simply means a change of body, not the end. We must therefore strive
during life to elevate ourselves, aiming to return to the Lord by following
his guidance. Suicide and wanton killing are directly opposed to this sacred
mission of life. They are acts condemned by every authorised scripture, not
least the Vedas which stress the importance of never harming any living
being, including oneself.

Vedic wisdom directs us only to kill the ignorant and sinful mentality which
is the actual cause of our suffering. Such a selfish mindset leads us to
foolish behaviour that results in painful consequences in both this life and
the next. Hatred and aggression are clear examples of such ignorance. As
well as causing misery to all, they feed back into the mentality from which
they are born, driving us to further and further acts of madness.

And we lose all sight of the truth, of why we are suffering in the first
place. When we blame others for our distress, acting vengefully and
viciously towards them, we abdicate our responsibility to look within our
own hearts. This is the real holy war, tackling our own inner demons such as
lust, anger, hate and envy - all of which stem from the misconception of
thinking we are material products. In illusion we forget that we are eternal
beings, all equal parts of the Supreme, living for only a short while in the
earthly body. Thinking ourselves to actually be that body we identify with
labels such as black, white, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, man, woman and so
many other things. But these are all false. None of them apply to the soul.

This misconception is our actual enemy, impelling us to see others as our
competitors and foes, when in fact the problem lies inside us. If we defeat
this adversary we will never come to any harm, as we will then reach the
true spiritual self, beyond the endless vicissitudes of this world.

But overcoming the powerful enemy of illusion is not easy. We need the
Lord's help. Only through his grace, by the light of divine knowledge
revealed by him, can we become free from the ignorance that urges us toward
destructive acts. We must call out to him with sincere feeling, praying
always for his mercy. Then he will act from within to make us pure hearted
and peaceful, gradually bringing us to the level of complete self and God
realisation. Those approaching God in this way naturally become godly,
exhibiting his divine qualities of compassion, forgiveness, understanding
and love.

Let us therefore take full shelter of the Lord, always beseeching his
kindness, and trying at least to purge our own hearts of all impurity. And,
in the mood of hating the sin but not the sinner, let us also pray for those
who would do us harm, for surely they are helpless victims of the same
demons assailing us all.

These days to argue against evolution is a good way to be labelled hopelessly ignorant of reality. Amongst the scientific community it has practically assumed the status of revealed truth. Even much of today's theology somehow fits itself around the theory of evolution, although when first presented by Darwin it was hotly disputed by most religionists of the time.

Some still do oppose the theory, but often only on the basis of scriptural statements, which today does little more than prove you are a dogmatic fundamentalist, some kind of quaint “flat-earther”.

But it seems that things are starting to change. In the last few years there has been a growing movement of theistic scientists who are questioning evolution and other such scientific theories with rather more than just scripture. Their voices are becoming hard to ignore for the scientific establishment, who up till now have usually dismissed such challengers as cranks.

Known as the “Intelligent Design Movement” (IDM), these scientists are presenting more and more cogent arguments, so much so that last month the mainstream science journal Nature published several articles from them. Of course, it also published rebuttals, but at least the IDM is starting to get air space where it counts, next to the “real” scientists.

And so it should. Evolution is one of the mainstays of the modern atheistic worldview. Coupled with the “Big Bang” and other spurious theories of how life originated from matter, it is instilled into our children's psyche in almost all schools, making religion, and worse still, religious morality, more or less an irrelevance.

This is where the IDM most want to have influence. They argue, quite correctly, that evolution and its corollaries are unproven theories and should be presented as such. Intelligent Design by a Supreme Being is by far no less plausible, and should therefore be given as much credibility in our schools.

Even Darwin himself recognised the serious shortcomings of his theory. For example, he said, “To suppose that the (human) eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light…could have been formed natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd to the highest degree.” He was quite right. Science is no closer to solving this little problem today than it was in Darwin's day. And it is by far not the only difficulty they face. Nature abounds with such examples that evolution cannot explain, as the IDM point out in their many writings.

Krishna devotee Michael Cremo, in his recently published book Human Devolution , exposes scores of problems with evolution, as well as vast amounts of contradictory evidence that scientists are quite simply ignoring. He presents a theistic Vedic alternative that is consistent, logical and that answers all the questions that baffle modern scientists, such as where everything came from in the first place. Currently, science simply suggests that it literally popped out of nowhere, and then mysteriously began to grow and evolve. Let's hope it doesn't happen again!

Wherefrom came life, mind, intelligence, emotion and so many other things that cannot be empirically measured and defined is an area that leaves the scientific establishment scratching its head. But all of this is clearly explained in the Vedic model.

Surely we owe it to our children not to indoctrinate them with one highly questionable worldview. Even if we must teach it we should at least show its flaws and problems, along with the theistic alternatives. Then they can make up their own minds.

“Unless we invest in tackling alcohol misuse among young people we will have to spend far more picking up the pieces in the future. And the cost to the young people themselves will be even greater.”

So said the charity Turning Point after the recent European Schools Survey Project on Alcohol revealed a disturbing rise in binge drinking among teenagers. Girls seem to be especially vulnerable. Professor Martin Plant, who presented the results, said, “Something has been going on since the late 1990s which is unprecedented. There has been an enormous increase in drinking among young women.”

By young he means as young as 15, the lowest age in his survey, although the support group Alateen says that many 12 year olds regularly drink. And from talking to my own teenage children, it seems that the survey figures suggesting that 30% of UK teens regularly binge drink are probably conservative.

Surely though any percentage is unacceptable. Is it not a tragic failure of our society that our young are turning more and more toward intoxication? As most experts acknowledge, this is a societal problem with its roots in our culture. The first problem must be our open and free advocacy of drinking. It is advertised and sold everywhere. As Professor Plant says, “We have completely feckless and irresponsible cheap drinks promotions.”

Commenting on the rapid rise of liver disease among young people as a result of drink, Doctor Mark Thursz of St.Mary's Hospital in London said, “We lionise drinking. You will never hear someone say, ‘He's a really good smoker, he can hold his fags', although it is quite acceptable to make similar comments about drink.”

He's right, of course. Drinking is practically a national pastime. Market Research Group Mintel report that 89% of the UK population drink, the highest percentage in Europe. We can hardly be shocked to see our children taking to the habit when almost everyone around them freely indulges.

Something has to change in our culture to reverse this trend. Perhaps it is about finding a better alternative. People drink for two main reasons, for plain fun and as an anaesthetic – to ward off misery and anxiety. Both of these needs can be addressed by God consciousness. Properly practised, spiritual life leads to a profound inner peace and joy that no amount of liquor can ever provide.

It can also be fun, as indeed it should be. Come along to a Krishna temple on any day and see for yourself. Young and old alike, all singing and dancing and not a drop of alcohol in sight. This produces a lasting happiness that can keep us intoxicant-free the whole time. Krishna devotees call this the “higher taste”, which once experienced can replace all kinds of troublesome material endeavours for enjoyment.

While there may be other more immediate “quick-fix” solutions, such as banning advertising, ultimately only a move toward spiritual values and practises can cure the malaise of alcohol and drug abuse at its root. Whether delivered in schools, homes or places of worship, this is what our children need. Somehow our society is failing to give them this in a way they can embrace, and as result we are watching them slide further and further into degradation.

The Hare Krishna Movement is doing its best to introduce more spirituality into our lives. But it needs a society wide effort of community and religious leaders. And we are here to help with that, if we can.

Commenting in The Times (London, December 27) on the Asian earthquake, Lord Rees-Mogg said that such natural disasters “mock human pride and remind us of our smallness.” Another commentator quoted Shakespeare's famous lines from King Lear, “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods – They kill us for their sport.”

Certainly such immense catastrophes are humbling, as the earth with a mere shrug sweeps away towns, villages and tens of thousands of people. Greater powers are surely at work, but it is not some spiteful game. The gods and indeed God himself take no pleasure in seeing our misery. In fact they are constantly trying to get us out of our awkward situation in the material sphere. The Vedic literatures are full of their instructions telling us that we are eternal spiritual beings who do not belong in this world of suffering and death.

Perhaps this is the first point we should remember at such times. In truth we can never be killed. We are indestructible souls, part and parcel of the Supreme Soul, God. All that can be destroyed are the temporary material bodies we inhabit. These are always being destroyed in the course of time. Sometimes that may happen sooner than we expect, but in the end the body is born only to die. Yet the soul within carries on eternally, unaffected by the bodily changes. He can never be destroyed under any circumstances. Therefore the Bhagavad-gita says, “A self-realised soul is not bewildered by death. He does not lament when the body is killed.”

Of course, when we are caught in the midst of terrible tragedy it is very difficult not to lament, especially if we have lost near and dear ones. In such situations grief is natural, but by remembering spiritual truths we can assuage our sorrow. And the most important truth is that we must get ourselves out of this world. Calamities are brutal reminders that it is a place of misery. Ultimately it delivers grief to us all. Even though all our endeavours aim at happiness, still we suffer. The Vedas therefore exhort us to engage seriously in spiritual practises and liberate ourselves from the clutches of matter. They explain that we belong with God, in the eternal spiritual world, where suffering is conspicuous only by its absence.

Somehow we have fallen from that position. According to Vedic wisdom we have turned away from God and forgotten our true spiritual nature. In ignorance we identify with the ephemeral bodies we occupy. We therefore seek pleasure by trying to satisfy the bodily senses and mind. This is a futile endeavour as no amount of material pleasure can ever satisfy the spirit soul, our real self. We therefore increasingly exploit the earth and other living beings, which results in karmic reactions, in one life or another.

ISKCON's spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, said for example, “Men do not understand that because they unrestrictedly kill so many animals (for food), they also must be slaughtered like animals in big wars.” The Vedas explain that killing any creature unnecessarily – even an ant – brings bad karma. The material world is a precarious situation. We can be implicated in karmic consequences at any time, even unknowingly. As long as we are driven by unchecked material desires we must pay the price for our acts, and this can sometimes be very painful.

Our only hope is to turn back toward the Lord. As Lord Rees-Mogg rightly observed, we have no control over nature. The Lord is the controller and, like any loving father, he wants our misery to stop. As soon as he sees us trying to follow his directions our suffering will begin to abate and finally come to an end. This is the message of all authorised representatives of God.

However, when there is devastation on a huge scale our faith in God may be challenged. “How could he let it happen?” We wonder why, if he is actually all-powerful, he does not stop such awful tragedies. According to the Bhagavad-gita he can and will. He says, “Surrender unto me fully and I will free you from all karmic reactions. Do not fear.”

One might ask why we have to first surrender. Why does the Lord not just step in and stop the suffering, whether or not we are following his directions? Prabhupada answered this by comparing us to criminals being punished by the state machinery. The king or executive head can surely intervene in and stop the punishment, but he does that only when the criminal becomes rectified. When he is free from the tendency to commit further crime the king can order the punishment to stop, for it has served its purpose. In the same way, suffering is meant to bring us to our senses so that we give up the vain attempt to exploit matter for our own pleasure.

Even after we have begun surrendering to the Lord our suffering may not end immediately, as we continue to receive residual karmic reactions from previous lives. This is why we sometimes see religious people suffering. Prabhupada gave an analogy of a spinning fan. Even after the electricity has been cut off it will spin for some time, but eventually it stops. So it is with karma, that even though we are trying to stop sinful or selfish acts there may still be some past reactions, but in time they will stop completely. Therefore the Vedas tell us to tolerate that suffering and continue to turn toward the Lord, praying for his mercy and deliverance.

It should be clear that despite our best efforts to manipulate nature for our pleasure, in a moment she can smash all our plans. It therefore behoves us to take shelter of the Lord, who is the supreme controller. By so doing we will not be the loser. A far greater happiness will be ours when we re-unite with God in our spiritual position. The Bhagavad-gita describes that pleasure as “supreme” and “boundless”.

But if we choose to remain attached to the temporary and paltry pleasure afforded by the material body we will stay in the material world. Hence we will continue to remain vulnerable to all kinds of material miseries afflicting us from all sides.

Although most people probably aren't aware of it, each year Britain observes a ‘Faith in the Nation' week. This year it was the last week of October and, as a Hindu speaker, I was asked to do a ‘Pause for Thought' slot on Terry Wogan's breakfast radio show. The subject, and the theme for the week, was “religious tolerance” and it got me thinking; just what does this phrase mean? For most of us it means peaceful co-existence among our diverse religious faiths – at least not attacking each other, and hopefully living harmoniously and happily together.

The Krishna consciousness movement applauds this aim, but it also adds another dimension to the meaning of tolerance, suggesting that it begins with one's own spiritual quest. We are enjoined by the Vedas to tolerate the many disturbances we face in our spiritual practises. These arise primarily from the senses and mind – the senses want to over-indulge in so many things, and the mind always has a hundred good reasons for avoiding any spiritual discipline. It is a continuous battle, therefore in the Bhagavad-gita Krishna tells us we must tolerate these distracting forces.

When we do this, and at the same time engage in the positive spiritual practises of remembering God, the disturbances gradually subside. More than this, we awaken a divine consciousness of our eternal nature as the Lord's loving servants. This means that we begin to see all living beings equally, as parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, equally loved by him.

This becomes a basis upon which we can actually practise tolerance toward others. A person advancing in spiritual consciousness is truly tolerant, as he develops a true vision of everything being a part of God. He does not even see suffering as separate from the Lord, accepting it as a God-given impetus for continually improving his spiritual practises. He surely does not identify other religious followers as the causes of his problems; rather he sees them as co-travellers on the path to the divine and he will try to help them in whatever way he can.

Seeing things in any other way is, for a Krishna conscious person, ignorance. And this is the one thing he will not tolerate. Ignorance ultimately causes all suffering, making us act in foolish ways that bring about painful results. Krishna therefore tells us to vigorously fight our ignorance with the “sword” of pure spiritual knowledge, whilst stoically tolerating the miseries that arise from our past ignorant acts.

Trying to practise tolerance toward others without undergoing spiritual purification is simply not sustainable. Rather than realising how we are each responsible for our own suffering, we will sooner or later see something “out there” as the problem; most probably some other group of people different in some way from us. Then we will look for a solution that will very likely entail displaying a less than tolerant attitude toward them, to say the least.

Let us therefore reserve our intolerance for our own ignorance, fighting it by any means possible. Only then will we be able to live in peace and harmony, both with ourselves and with everybody else.

“Unhappy the land that has no heroes,” says Andrea in Bertold Brecht's drama The Life of Galileo . “No,” replies Galileo, “Unhappy the land that needs heroes.” And as another US election looms large it appears that both statements might be true.

A troubled land in search of a hero to lead them, it seems America may have found one in John Kerry. “I stood up for my country on the front line,” he declared, “and I will stand up for it as President.” Well, he hopes so, at least, as George Bush and his team try their best to undermine Kerry's heroic credentials and establish Bush's on the basis of his tough handling of the terrorist crisis.

But even if Kerry does succeed in making it to the White House, will he make the American people happy? Has Bush or any of the great American heroes before him managed that in recent years? It seems not. Recent figures show that there were more than 30,000 suicides in America during 2001, with another 130,000 attempts. The National Institute of Mental Health in the US reports that 22% of all adult Americans have a mental illness, with half of those being major depressive disorders.

Why is it that such a great country with so many resources is not happy? Perhaps they are looking for the wrong kind of heroic leader. How many noticed when A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami, later to become Srila Prabhupada, arrived on US shores in 1965? Certainly he did not look like the classic hero type. An old man of 70, he appeared a frail figure in his thin cotton robes and shawl as he stepped off of the SS Jaladuta in Boston on a chilly Autumn morning.

Nor did he offer the typical heroic promises of increased security, power and wealth for all. Indeed his message was quite different.
Turn away from the frantic pursuit of material happiness and back toward God. We are eternal spiritual beings, meant to experience unlimited spiritual bliss. Anxiety and misery are artificial impositions on the soul from which we are freed when we turn to the Lord.

Surely though this is the path of true heroism – to take a stand against our ever-demanding senses and mind. To recognise that real happiness lies in following God's directions rather than the impulses of lust, greed and anger. Prabhupada had gone to the end of that path and was offering to show us the way, a way based upon the ancient teachings of the Vedas. Bearing his simple but profound message he had undergone a heroic journey in his ripe old age, sailing alone and penniless from India into a strange and unwelcoming land.

Of course some Americans did take him seriously and hence we now have the Krishna consciousness movement. This month the movement will celebrate the 108 th anniversary of Prabhupada's birth in a great festival known as Vyasa Puja. Many thousands of Krishna devotees from all around the world will honour him.

Some might call that festival a little ostentatious, but perhaps as we see our chosen heroes failing us again and again, and as more and more of us begin to recognise what real heroism means, we will one day see that number grow to many millions.

It is not uncommon these days to be accosted by a beggar on the streets. It happened to me yesterday and, as usual, I found myself in a quandary. Should I donate or not? Although I want to help what usually looks like an obvious case of need, I'm wracked by doubts where my donation will go. Have I helped the person if it's spent on cigarettes, drink, or worse?

What we hope to do with charity is alleviate suffering. For example, we give to the poor because we see poverty as misery. That may be true, but Hindu philosophy asks us to look at the deeper causes. Why does suffering exist at all? The fact that we try so hard to beat it surely indicates that it is not our natural state.

But unless we know the real causes of suffering, we can't do much to help. We may make things worse, like a quack doctor misdiagnosing an illness and prescribing the wrong medicine.

The Hare Krishna Movement's founder, Srila Prabhupada, told a story from his childhood. In his village a girl became ill with typhoid. The doctor gave strict instructions that she be given no food, but when her parents were out she begged her brother for something to eat. Feeling sorry for her, he gave her some bread and her fever heightened. When the parents returned they were furious and they punished the boy. I will never forget Prabhupada's words, “It was love, it was compassion, but the result was only pain.”

We must take care of the needy, but scripture tells us that straying from God's guidance is the real cause of suffering. The greatest need is therefore to understand and follow his guidance, for that alone will we bring a permanent end to all our pain.

The quest for perfection in our society is taking a disturbing trend lately. Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal that more and more women are opting for abortions when they discover that their child has a physical defect.

Babies with conditions that can usually be corrected medically – such as deformed feet and cleft lips and palates – are being aborted in increasing numbers. The number of terminations of babies with Downs Syndrome now outstrips live births. And as screening techniques improve the trend seems likely to grow.

Pro-lifers are incensed. Nuala Scarisbrick of the charity LIFE said, “This is straightforward eugenics. The message is being sent to disabled people that they should never have been born.” And campaigner Patrick Cusworth said, “Such statistics are an indictment of a society which places a conditional value upon its citizens, based upon how ‘useful' they may prove to be in later life.”

Surely that is true, but just what is the “use” of human life? And what is its perfection? Are we simply meant to somehow get a perfect body with which to enjoy ourselves? Even if we could do that, would it actually make us happy? How long will it stay perfect anyway? Can we avoid growing old? Will death not come? If our happiness depends upon the temporary material body then it will certainly end sooner or later.

Krishna devotees do not place great importance on the body, but they consider all life sacred as they see within all bodies the eternal spirit soul. The body is simply a temporary covering for the soul. However the human body is considered especially valuable as it does indeed offer the opportunity to achieve perfection, but that has nothing to do with the body itself. In human life we are blessed with the chance to develop spiritual knowledge and go back to God, where we belong. Once in that position we will never have to take birth in a material body again.

Killing babies because they have a bodily defect demonstrates the greatest ignorance, according to the Vedas. It fails to recognise why the defect is there to begin with. Everyone is born in different situations according to their own past karmic activity. And the Vedas tell us that foeticide is a terrible karmic act that carries fearful consequences. “As you sow, so shall you reap.”

By killing helpless babies we set ourselves up for the same fate in thousands of births. No wonder abortions are rising and rising. And the poor children thus killed will still have to be born somewhere to eventually receive the body they were karmically due in the first place. But once they are finally allowed to take birth they can end their karma and all their suffering for once and for all by taking to Krishna consciousness.

Occasionally there is conflict in my house over the choice of listening material. Whilst I prefer peaceful spiritual vibrations, my children favour the often strident tones of the latest pop song. As I was thinking about writing this piece the other day, the pop music emerged raucously triumphant. My meditation was destroyed, but the lyrics of one song caught my attention. Bewailing the state of the world, the singer prayed, “Father, Father, help us. Send some guidance from above.” That's nice, I thought, sharing the sentiment. Certainly a change from the normal boy loves or loses girl theme. But it made me think. How do we get the Lord's guidance?

People often approached my spiritual master for blessings and his response was always the same. “Please read my books.” His point was that he had presented many volumes of the ancient Indian scriptures, the Vedas, giving instructions how to lead a spiritual life and ultimately solve all our problems.

In other words, getting the Lord's guidance and blessings begins with following his existing directions. It is something like being cured from an illness. I know that when I am ill and the doctor prescribes medicine, I usually forget to take it. And I am also not very good at following health regimes that restrict my diet. But if I go back to the doctor still sick and begging for help, what can he do? It is up to me to take the cure.

If the Lord answered that pop singer's prayer and came before us today, what would he say? Probably very much along the lines of what he has already said in the Vedas, or the Bible, or any other scripture. Lead a godly life and give up sin. If we really do want to end suffering we simply need to follow.

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