First check out the video:

DISCUSSION:

MAHAT: It is interesting that people cannot snap out of the materialistic system. I just learned yesterday, for example, that PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) has been all these years killing more than 85% of animals that were given to them for protection. Check out www.petakillsanimals.com. Why? It seems that corruption came along the way.

Why people cannot fight materialism? Because that is the nature of material desires and that is the nature of lust, lust meaning desire for enjoyment through the media of the sense of the body including the mind. As long as one is a materialist it is just a matter of time when one will get corrupt, like PETA for example. It blew my mind. Those guys, PETA, were always the loudest fighters for animal rights, but eventually they started to get corrupt. FYI PETA receives monthly large sums of money in donations from people who want to support their cause. Similar type of corruption we find in Red Cross in India.

According to the ancient spiritual texts of India, Vedas, unless one develops what is called “param dristhva” or higher taste, the spiritual taste, if one does not have spiritual for the source of one’s pleasure then it is just a matter of time when one is going to become a contributing member of any of these outright demonic, hellish systems (referring to the video showed). Therefore it is very important that on the individual and collective platforms higher taste be developed, the spiritual taste. In other words, we are hard-wired so that we always seek pleasure. If that pleasure is not derived from the spiritual plane, the pleasure-seeking urge will drive one to the material plane.

The goal and purpose of mantra yoga is to drive away all the material desires out of our hearts by filling it with spiritual inspiration. At that time one does not plan any more for eating, sleeping, sex, travelling, sports, shopping, anything material. Rather one makes plans for self realization and sharing the spiritual wealth with others. This is what happens to the heart of one who exposes himself long enough to the mantra yoga.

In the video it was shown that consumers, which refers to most of us, fail to see the extraction, production, and disposal. We just see shopping malls. LOL We just see distribution and consumption phases. Isn’t that interesting? People can be so blind. That is because of all the material desires within the heart. Such a heart does not have the ability to step outside of the situation and have an objective look at things. Rather we become blind, sheep-like, followers. Whatever the masses do, we do. The detached heart, spiritually inspired heart is not like that.

You see, there are many different reasons why to apply oneself to a spiritual practice.

PEDRO: I was wandering what can we do to find this system? Chanting is a start, but can we actually do something?

GOPAL: There are lots of solutions. Many are spoken about by Srila Prabhupada in the First Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam. Srila Prabhupada is saying that chanting will bring us to the higher level of awareness and he’s also putting forward many other practical solutions, everything from how government should work, how communities should be sustainable, self sustainable, farm communities where everything is grown and produced locally and natural. I recommend that section for reading. There it is also explained how spiritual life can be institutionalized within the government. So there are lots of practical things explained there about Krishna consciousness.

MAHAT: That is the end goal of Krishna consciousness. Srila Prabhupada called this movement “International SOCIETY for Krishna Consciousness”. Society is different to a social group. Right now we are more of a social group then a society. Society is comprehensive and much bigger then a nation. Society provides to its members all the needs they have, material and spiritual. Society is that comprehensive and it is our end goal to establish a spiritual society.

That’s why we are trying to get people to stop being so darn materialistic by offering a positive spiritual alternative. Life is all about spirit. Materialistic people cannot appreciate it though. An example: Recently Mike told his parents that he was going to move into the temple and become a monk. It freaked them out so bad. “What are you doing?!! You’re missing on life!!!” they were saying. They don’t know that spirit is life, not matter. Matter is dead. By being a materialist one is missing on life.

GOPAL: Sometimes we treat symptoms instead of the problem. Like when we have a cold we take medicine that alleviates the symptoms, but the problem remains. Similarly we see that there are more and more people becoming aware of the issues presented in the video. But we have to keep in mind that dealing with the symptoms will not remove the cause of the symptoms. The problem is this misidentification with the material body and therefrom spring materialistic troublesome systems. When consciousness is changed then everything else will eventually change.