The Truth Is Out There?

Hello, my name is Chris, and I'm a recovering conspiracy theorist.

With your help, maybe, just maybe, I can return to a world free of cynicism, paranoia, and outlandish, highly speculative fairy tales. I'm serious!

I guess I'm not exactly rolling with the popular tide here, as this article from the Las Vegas Sun details.

I find my experience as an bumbling, stumbling, highly conditioned aspiring devotee to have at least a few positive side-effects that my old habits and mental misconceptions can't quite cover up. One of these positive side effects is that I am finding my personality far more grounded and practical.

The strong sense of satisfaction I find in trying to practice a Krsna Conscious life means I'm no longer waiting for the world to end so that all my mundane problems will be solved.

To be honest, I'm not quite jumping right over to the other side of the fence, proudly singing the "Star Spangled Banner", "Kumbaya" and "Purple Haze" and saying everything is dynamite...the facts do remain...there's a lot of evidential discrepancies to the official account of 9/11, plenty of sane and sound people have seen UFOs and have had encounters with their occupants, the Federal Reserve isn't exactly accountable to "We The People", and you can even taste the fluoride in the tap water, but...

...our duty as devotees of the sankirtana mission of Lord Caitanya, in my humble estimation, is to acknowledge the truths and un-truths, the info and disinfo, as yet another virulent symptom of the Kali-Yuga, but we shouldn't become so absorbed that we become cynical in our outlook on life and in our presentation of Krishna Consciousness.

Hollow-eyed cynicism doesn't make anything attractive, least of all our own spiritual message of eternity, knowledge, and bliss.

This is my whole "funda" (fundamental knowledge) realization at the moment on this topic. Cynicism is death to my spiritual aspirations, and the only way to cure this disease is to loosen the ties that bind me to fanciful and darkly horrific ideas that are the very model of "mental speculation".

Again, this is not to say there is not validity to what lies behind the veil of our mass-media, government-funded outlook on the world. Vedic history makes it very clear that demonic influences have infiltrated and influenced this lonely Planet Earth, and are doing so now in many dynamic, subtle ways.

And when I say subtle, I mean that I don't quite think George Bush, the Queen, and Tony Blair are literally evil reptilian beings in disguise.

But if you find yourself worrying a bit too much about the coming global changes of 2012, or whether Obama is actually legit or not, or whether one of the Rockefeller kids will call in a stock-market collapse, I say step outside, take a deep breath, call out "Gauranga", and remember that, in the Holy Name, we actually have a more powerful weapon than microwave guns or nuclear warheads.

We're working on the level of the soul, where by raising people's awareness of their own spiritual nature, we move very far beyond any temporary political half-truths and speculations. We must each do our humble and patient part without getting too entangled in the various vagaries of this world.

The Ten Signs of Intellectual Honesty

It's common sense wrapped up with brahminical wisdom wrapped up with a little good'ol get-ahead-in-your-business acumen.

It's The Ten Signs Of Intellectual Honesty!

Use them freely, use them for the Lord!

Click here to check them out

It's Time To Kick Out The Jams!

One week ago the world tour of Lord Caitanya's Sankirtana (Ananda Vidya on guitar and vocals, Pat on mrdanga and vocals, Tess on kartals and vocals, Mauricio on violin, Jason on grand piano, and Chris on electric bass) began in the Front Room Coffeehouse at the Baker Center on the campus of Ohio University.

A small but appreciative crowd were treated to spirited renditions of the Panca-Tattva prayers, the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, "Jaya Radha Madhava", and "Radhe Radhe Jaya Jaya Madhava Dayite".

It was a warm evening of sharing the Holy Names, and we hope to continue it again in the future, perhaps with a full light and laser show and maybe even a rock opera! We can only dream...

All The Kids Love Lord Jagannatha!

Lord Jagannatha made His annual appearance amongst the teeming hordes of one of the biggest block parties around, The Athens (OH) Halloween Bash!

Yours truly had the honors of wearing The Big Guy this year, and it was, for the most part, a friendly experience. The Lord of The Universe gave many blessings, brought about many inexplicable expressions of heightened confusion, and even fought off a Jedi flashing a lightsaber, proving that it is indeed Jagannatha who controls The Force.

Here's the pics...

Obama-a-Rama!...or Obama or Rama?

I sit here in the Ohio University's opulent computer lab eagerly awaiting the Great American Political Yajna...Election Day!

It's a day of somewhat heightened consciousness, where people of all colors, shapes, and sizes can lift themselves up out of their mundane lives, and feel that they are part of something bigger and higher.

Now you may say or think...Chris, you're in maya! I won't belabor that point, but whether or not I have an interest in a very historical, multi-racial, multi-gender crossroads of cultural conflict that is this year's election won't shatter my devotional sentiments, nor will it shatter yours.

I'll be the first to admit that I still have a great curiosity in the human condition on this Planet Earth. I'm certainly not a pure devotee, and even the pure devotee doesn't shut himself off from the practical realities of the world.

Prabhupada would often show interest in the various machinations of world politics from the futility of world war to the complexities of Indira Gandhi's "emergency rule" but he would always enlighten the situation to prove his eternal point that Vedic culture is the superior way of life.

Actually, if I voted (and I'm not going to vote...I haven't voted since the last presidential election in 2004, and I'm not even sure where I'm registered), I would, in all honesty, write in Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu for the honor.

Even more so, the realization I'm having is that Barack Obama, if elected, will not be the first black president. Krsna is the first black president! He is the Original Black President and source of all black presidents to follow.

Now, I've gone through many different political phases, from liberal/socialist/green all the way into the deep, dark recesses of "conspiracy theory."

I'm just now coming up from those recesses and excesses now (which I'll write about in further detail soon), but since, once again, I'm not a pure devotee, or even a very fixed-up devotee, this whole shebang of electoral eccentricity still tickles my funny bone. Color me detached but unable to look away!

Still, let's make no bones about it. Neither McCain or even Obama come even close to fitting the bill of the pure Vedic leader, and we shouldn't be so naive to expect that coming from the political spheres of the modern world.

Prabhupada clearly states this is his purport to S.B 1.16.22: The word kṣatra-bandhu refers to the so-called administrators or persons promoted to the post of the administrator without proper training by culture and tradition. Nowadays they are promoted to such exalted posts by the votes of the people who are themselves fallen in the rules and regulations of life. How can such people select a proper man when they are themselves fallen in the standard of life? Therefore, by the influence of the age of Kali, everywhere, politically, socially or religiously, everything is topsy-turvy, and therefore for the sane man it is all regrettable.

In Obama's defense, it struck me watching one of the debates that he described sexuality as being "sacred." I got the feeling that it wasn't just something he said, but something he meant. I dare say it was even impressive to hear and experience.

It's natural that we wanted to be protected by those who lead us, and indeed it's the natural propensity and duty of the leader to protect us. Prabhupada again points this out in his purport to S.B 1.9.27: The kings were trained systematically to become munificent and not merely be tax collectors. They were trained to perform different sacrifices only for the prosperity of the subjects. To lead the prajās to the attainment of salvation was a great duty of the king. The father, the spiritual master and the king are not to become irresponsible in the matter of leading their subjects to the path of ultimate liberation from birth, death, diseases and old age. When these primary duties are properly discharged, there is no need of government of the people, by the people.

The essence of Obama's support, which historically crosses so many different boundaries of race, class, and age, is that people feel he will be able to protect them, care for them, and nurture their various social needs.

Of course, whether he'll actually be able to provide this protection in the idealistic way his supporters expect is another question entirely, and is unlikely considering the current economic and social chaos around the globe.

But whatever his faults, political and personal, I do admire his moral character, but somebody get this guy one of Prabhupada's books stat!

In the meantime, I'll watch the results with interest, knowing that in a very practical way to the lives we lead as devotees, involved with and trying to enlighten the people of America and beyond, the results do matter.

We can remain personally abstract from the whole process, but I think we should at least understand who and what is going on (without too many conspiracy overtones!) so that, like Prabhupada, we can show the limits of the whole electoral, political game, and show how Krsna Consciousness goes well beyond those limits, into the realm of the heart, the realm of the eternal.