Hindustan Times articles
Forget the hereafter, be spiritual here and now
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Sun, 2002/05/19 - 1:00amThe following is an article which appeared in Hindustan Times on Monday, April 8, 2002
Meditations | Mukunda Goswami
"POWER IS present, holiness is hereafter" as TS. Eliot said, is a mentality. A common notion holds that God and heaven are things to concern ourselves with after death and that measuring spiritual advancement in today's world Is irrelevant.
The abortion issue is now a word game
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Sat, 2002/05/18 - 1:00amPrinted 8 April 2002
SUPPOSE YOU'RE told a loved one (husband, wife, mother, father or your child) may be in the next room. You're told that no one is in there for sure, only that he or she MAY BE in there.
Next you are asked to toss a live hand grenade into that room. Will you do it? I doubt it. But that's exactly what medical science it asking us to do when it says that under three months, the embryo may or may not be 'human'. Destroy now; ask later.
Secret message in Hollywood's 'Matrix'
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Sun, 2002/05/12 - 1:00amVERSE 7.14 of Bhagavad Gita tells us that maya can be conquered only by surrender. Maya is difficult to overcome. But, the Gita states that those who have surrendered can easily cross over it.
The Hollywood film Matrix, is a tale that says the world is illusory, a 'virtual reality' created by machines that have taken over the planet earth. They have subdued and grown humans, using them like batteries, to power the grand deception we call the world.
Knowledge of love is important
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Sun, 2002/05/05 - 1:00amPublished 16 February 2002
IS THERE such a thing as a param dristvam or 'higher taste?' And if there is, what is it? Is there anything beyond the simple God-given pleasures of eating and sex?
The Gita tells us that "One whose happiness is within, who is active and rejoices within and whose aim is inward, is the perfect mystic". (5.24)
What's natural for a human is different from what's natural for an animal. True, we are animals, but we are also human. So what's the difference?
Is renunciation an external designation?
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Sat, 2002/05/04 - 1:00amTHE STORY is about someone who ventures to the high Himalayas to visit a bearded holy man in a cave. The man asks, "How can I become a millionaire?" The sage replies, "If I knew the answer to that, you think I'd be living here?"
This parable's ostensible message is that renouncers are all misfits and ne'r-do-wells. They inhabit remote retreats because they can't make it in the 'real world'.
De-stressing is important for a united world
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Thu, 2002/04/25 - 1:00amPublished 12 November 2001
BEING 'PLUGGED IN' doesn't make for globalisation. It's a fact that those who own computers make up six per cent of earth's population, and less than four out of a 100 have Internet access. Even among seasoned web surfers, it is a growing concern that computers and the Internet are hurtling us headlong into the outer darkness of dystopia.
Equal distribution of wealth, freedom for peace
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Sun, 2002/04/21 - 1:00amPublished 22 January 2002
SAMA DARSHAN is the Sanskrit for 'equal vision' as found in Bhagavad Gita 5.18.
Sacrifice is important for healthy supply of food
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Wed, 2002/04/17 - 1:00amPublished 15 January 2002
IN 1825 the Reverend Robert Thomas Malthus predicted that within a century, the world's population would outstrip its food supply. Fortunately, history has proved Malthus wrong.
Bhagavad Gita holds the formula for peace
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Tue, 2002/04/16 - 1:00amPublished 8 January 2002
THE BHAGAVAD Gita, arguably the world's oldest book, gives humankind a formula for peace that is still relevant. The 29th verse, fifth chapter (bhoktaram yajna-tapasam, etc.), informs us that God is the supreme proprietor of everything.
We naturally extend our sense of ownership to our home, family, community and beyond. But this sense of proprietorship can also be deadly. Disputes arise over land, money and personal power. Even major conflicts have been carried out in the name of God.
Vegetarianism brings one closer to God
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Sat, 2002/04/13 - 1:00amPublished 5 November 2001
THE CASE for vegetarianism is not just about compassion and animal rights. It involves money, health, species physiology, the environment, population pressure on world food supply and Vedic wisdom. Britons opting for vegetarianism each week are almost outnumbering Indian converts to flesh diets.