In my previous two articles, “God, Man and Aliens” in the “Meditation and Spirituality” section regarding the eternal nature of the minute soul according to the authorized Vedic literatures, I touched upon the science of karma and reincarnation. While the ancient Vedic texts are very vast (I have given only a drop of nectar from that ocean of love of God) many people have asked that if we accept Krsna as God, (Krsna means all-attractive) what do we do with our belief in Jesus and the Bible etc? All this evidence is startling for most western minds. I’m concentrating mainly on America now even though these truths are universal.
This is a very valid question. My response is, bring the Bible and Christ’s teachings with you. You don’t shoot the horse because you have a car. In regard to Jesus Christ, there is ample evidence coming to light that Jesus did in fact spend many years in India traveling all over the sub-continent. It is also believed he was even in the famed city of Jagannatha Puri, in West Bengal, India regarded as one of the most holy and spiritual places on earth next to Jerusalem. Holy because it was there 500 years ago that Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu advented Himself in 1486 and was recognized by his close associates and disciple to be none other than Lord Krsna Himself appearing as a devotee. In other words, a direct incarnation as opposed to an empowered representative of God such as Muhammad, Christ, Moses etc. These avatars were “sons of God” or direct representatives of God or Krsna.
Why is this important? Because it was Lord Caitanaya who promulgated what is today known as “harinama sankirtana” or the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord; Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna, Krsna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare Hare. Readers may be somewhat familar with this chant. Why are these 16 words so important and how can they help the practioner or chanter to achieve the spiritual world? This is not prayer. Prayer is separate and very vaild and in the Vedas there are millions of prayers to Lord Krsna. Namely, because these words although sounding like A-B-C-D alphabet, when repeated again and again are not of this world but rather imported from the spiritual world from Lord Sri Krsna Himself. I’ll explain this science of the holy names later in part two as volumes of books have already been written about it by great spiritualists in the line for many millennia. The holy names of God are even mentioned in the Bible and various other scriptures as well. It is something akin to the rosary in Catholicism but vastly different.
One also has to remember that the Bhagavad-gita and other Vedic corollaries were extant and available for Jesus’s perusal in those days 2,000 years ago. I believe he questioned the so-called Hindu doctrines of deity worship and some other particulars and when he came back to Jerusalem to begin his preaching mission he delivered a form of religion that is known today as Christianity. By the way, nowhere in the Vedic texts is the word “Hindu” seen. It is a slang term that was used in ancient times that referred to the old city of Hindustan that I believe is today’s modern New Delhi. These are just historical accounts. It is also interesting to note that there was no “America” as we know it 5,000 years ago and thus no Christian-Judeo ethic or “organized religion.” Catholicism would also fall under this category. These western religions appeared as offshoots of the original Vedic religion or “Vaisnavism.” A Vaisnava is a devotee of Krsna and propounder of the Vedic truths. They may also be known as “Brahmanas” although just as we have many tributaries of religious thought in America there are equally various fundamental religionists in India as well and many are not Krsna conscious but “impersonalists” and some outright atheists.
The Vedas have always been extant as an eternal religion even during and prior to the ancient Egyptian civilization. It infiltrated through the Indus civilization and was brought by the “Aryans” or the civilized class of peoples in ancient times. The world’s religions are just watered-down versions of the original Vedic knowledge while still retaining certain basic truths. But there is no religious scripture on earth other than the Vedic texts that describe the nature of God, the laws of karma and reincarnation in as much detail as the Vedas. This has also been corroborated by a multitude of religious seekers of the truth going back many millennia. This system is known as “parampara” or the chain of disciplic succession likened to an unbroken wire that delivers electricity. In fact, if one scrutinizes the Vedas they will see that ironically, the conclusions almost match the words spoken by Jesus Christ in the Bible. Again, I am giving the reader my objective analysis of the ancient texts and have been fortunate enough to realize much of their import.
People also wonder about miracles such as visions of the Virgin Mary, angels and various other divine contact. These are all valid visions according to the purity, faith and one’s individual karma and spiritual advancement. The Vedas also talk about angels and in Sanskrit they are called, “devas.” In fact, other than the Bhagavad-Gita, there is an 18,000 verse scripture known as the “Srimad-Bhagavatam” (the ripened fruit of all Vedic knowledge) that is complete in 12 cantos (50 volumes of books) that delineates the science of God or Krsna and goes into very minute detail about the cosmos, how it was created, the three modes of material nature (goodness, passion and ignorance) the military arts, the 33 million demigods who control universal affairs although they are unseen, the medicinal arts known as “ayur-veda,” the exact mathematical calculations and duration of the many universes and much, much more. In fact, the Vedas state that there is no difference between the books Bhagavatam and the personal body of Lord Krsna. It is as good as seeing the Lord face to face much the same way the Bible may give one an intimate audience with Lord Jesus Christ if one is following Christ’s teachings cent per cent. If they are, then they are walking with God in one sense. Jesus was a representative of God but never claimed to be God Himself. He always referred to God as “the Father.” But for those who were his followers, he was as good as God. It has also been rumored in certain circles that Jesus may have his own heavenly planet as presiding deity but I have not corroborated this as yet although I would not be surprised.
When we talk of “love of God” what are we really trying to say? What does it mean? How can one love God if they cannot see him or have doubts as to His existence? Love means that the lover must reciprocate with the beloved. There must be a “person.” This is where the science of “Bhakti-yoga” comes in, the yoga of love and devotion. There is a process. But the process is not ordinary but rather, extraordinary as it will catapult the performer out of the material tabernacle, beyond the heavenly planets into the spiritual world known as the “Vaikunthas” that is free from birth, death, old age and diseases. Time does not exist there. There are desire tress and all the living entities live eternally in a state of sublime bliss. They’re bodies, while two-armed in a human form, (We get our bodily form from the blessed form of God) is not composed of material elements like blood, pus, stool, urine, bone etc. They are purely spiritual forms known as “rupam” and yet each transcendental body is fully cognizant.
Even the water, birds, beasts, etc. are fully conscious. That is, the material world with it’s many varieties is just a shadow-reflection of the spirtual world accept there is no death and decay there. When one reaches that place they never return to this miserable world. The only ticket into this supreme realm is love of God. It is latent within the hearts of all living entities moving and inert. It just has to be aroused. God, or Krsna is the only male principle while all other living entities are feminine. That is, the soul proper. God is the enjoyer and we are to be enjoyed since He created us. Our only duty or “dharma” is to surrnder to His will. The embodied living entity shares with God 76% in quality but Krsna possesses 100% in full, unlimitedly. This is a very complex and deep subject matter that can be entered into by only a very few devout, fortunate souls in this world. Yet it is open to all.
This “Heaven” that is talked about in western religions is in reality planets or “lokas” where living entities live for a fabulously long duration of life and have beautiful, divine forms. They may be four-armed and possess the ability to fly. There are no mechanical devices there because the atmosphere is pure or spiritual. There are swan-carriers often referred to as “vimanas” or airplanes but not like the crude variety that we have today on earth. The Hellish planets are also far, far below us and it is very nasty. However, punishment is not eternal and the “jiva-soul” must take birth again and again usually in lower lifeforms depending upon the severity of the sins before appearing in the human form again. Thus sinful activity has always been abhorred in every single religion. How to elevate ourselves from sinful activity to the mode of goodness and beyond is Krishna consciousness and the essence of all Vedic knowledge. It is the summun bonnum.
However, the living entities on the heavenly planets are also subject to birth, death and when their stock of pious credits runs out, they must take birth again on the earthly planets for another sojourn. They can also become God conscious or Krsna conscious in the heavenly planets but due to immense pleasure and opulence it is very difficult. Death basically means forgetfulness of our previous births and/or forgetfulness of God. If one is too rich it is very difficult to realize God and Jesus also stated as such to Lazarus in the Bible.
However when one appears in the spiritual world, they do not take brith from the womb of a mother. It is said that even though a living entity may have had millions of births in this world, when they return back home, back to Godhead it is as though they were only gone for a few minutes. Such is the nature of time, or it’s absence. The conclusion is, the spiritual world is the ultimate reality while the material world, being temporary, is illusory and in fact, unreal. It is something like a dream. When we wake up, the dream fades as the day wears on. Again, this knowledge is for intelligent, sober people. Yet, one does not need a high academic degree to understand this basic philosophy. Just faith. But not blind faith. It must be faith based on knowledge and experience. It is not so mystical. One can still pay their rent, raise children and be a lover of God.
One cannot reach the spiritual realm by mechanical means or by spaceships. One must qualify themselves spiritually just as one must be qualified to enter the White House and visit the President. How does a human being become qualified to enter or “appear” in the spiritual world to associate with God? One first has to follow the directions given in scripture from one who has already attained perfection. This person is called a “guru” or spiritual master. This word guru actually means “heavy” because he comes with a heavy message. Jesus was the guru for his people according to time and place. The word guru got a bad name in the 1960’s with the proliferation of new-age gurus who were bogus and cheating the innocent public. The cheaters and the cheated. They established “cults” and some even became deadly for the disciple such as the famous Jonestown massacre.
One must have all their doubts eradicated as to the nature and Personhood of God. Soon, sraddha or faith develops that is firm and then enthusiasm and finally spontaneous love of God. This of course is all easier said than done. It requires a certain discipline and some austerity in one’s life. But this is not like a monk’s life or that of a nun or a priest. This is the soul’s natural constitutional position and in fact, all of us as spirit soul were originally in the spiritual world with God, but due to envy and rebelliousness we fell down into this material world of forgetfulness from a time that cannot be traced out.
This material worlds then is a kind of playground created by God in order for the living entity to re-establish his/her lost relationship with God. Remember, God is a person. Again, He may sometimes send His representatives to remind us of our forgetfulness of our eternal father, husband and lover. God. Our duty is to surrender to His will. Krsna is felicitous. That is, all-sided. He expands. Even though he appears in this material world He does so by His own free will but the original form of Krsna still remains in the topmost planet of the spiritual world known as, Goloka, Vrndavana. Krsna as God never leaves Goloka, Vrndavana. The analogy of the candle is very appropriate in this regard. You can light 100 candles but there will always be the original. Krsna remains in His topmost planet while still appearing in the material world to conduct His pastimes known as “lilas.” These lilas are taking place like clock work in a myriad of planets that are earthlike within a myriad of universes for the salvation of the various human beings caught in this network of illusion. We can summise then that there are other earth-like planets at the proper historical time period for God’s appearance.
The next question that may be raised is if this is so, do the duplicate earth planets have a United States and India etc? If the yugas (ages) are cyclical will those planets also have say, a 1960’s period when the Kali-yuga comes around again? The answer is an unequivocal yes. However, similar historical events may be different. For example, it is highly doubtful that there would be another Vietnam war let’s say. As far as the other particulars, as one could go on and on with this the answer is, I don’t know. I do believe this to be true and again this falls within the realm of faith. These topics are known as “acintya” or inconcievable to our small, puny material minds. There are so many things that are unknown to us. I do know that there are other dvapara-yugas (When Krsna appears once in every millenium) on other earthlike planets otherwise how could Krsna declare that His pastimes are happening again and again? The Vedas are considered spotless with no tinge of material inebriety. That is, human beings are sure to cheat, sure to commit mistakes and sure to be illusioned but God is above such defects. Therefore whatever He says is all good all the time although we may percieve good and bad aspects within the jurisdiction of His materail creation.
There are more spiritual living beings in the Vaikiuntha atmosphere than here in this material cosmos. The analogy is that if you were to put a black pen dot on a 8×10 sheet of white paper, that dot would be the entire material world comprised of millions of planets and universes while the rest of the white sheet is the spiritual world. Don’t think about that too long or you’ll short-circuit. This means that we are living in a prison house. Most of the liberated living entities are already living in the spiriual worlds or planets numbering in the many hundreds of thousand so we can only imagine how many souls and universes are emanating from the breathing of Maha-Visnu who is a plenary expansion of Krsna. There is no living entity above Krsna. He is absolute. The almighty one. That Visnu can make universes emanate from the pores of his body can be likened to the phenomena of perspiration from our bodies as a crude example. Again, spiritual is unlimited while materialism is limited.
Once the masses accept these Vedic conclusions, as we are all evolving through consciousness and not bodies, there will be world peace for 10,000 years. Darwin was not correct. We are not evolving through different bodies but by God consciousness. The bodies already exist. One has to qualify themself to enter into a body by spiritual elevation. This is with the use of one’s mind and intelligence. If you live in an apartment you cannot live in the big house across the street unless you are qualified financially to pay the rent or buy it. It is not that the house does not exist. Again, this is practical Vedic knowledge.
It is best to inject small doses of this Vedic knowledge like medicine to the sick patient suffering from the material disease of hedonism. My future article will address mantra meditation known as “japa” that is the supreme goal of human life and will clear away all the cobwebs and accumulated dirt from many, many lifetimes within the heart to realize the Absolute Truth, or God almighty Himself in the form of Lord Sri Krsna.
