After the worst decade ever THE REAL HOPE For the New Decade

BY HDG B.S. TIRTHA MAHARAJ

The decade just gone by - from 2000 to 2009 - has been called 'the worst decade ever'. Time magazine called it 'The Decade from Hell'. Why? Because we have seen and suffered with more terrorist attacks than ever, more natural and man made disasters, more political blunders on a global scale, the worst economic collapse for 70 years, and more dramatic and fatal events than normal...

"The volatile situation that we have witnessed and endured in the last decade in all aspects of life does not inspire optimism for anything better in the new decade. If the deplorable trends in most areas in the just ended decade were to deteriorate any further, then, we cannot hope for an improved situation for the new decade. Politicians, scientists, economists and misguided religious
leaders are unable to understand the gravity and magnitude of the problems and their dangerous implications. They are attempting solutions by the trial and error method. The child devotee, Prahlad Maharaj says, dukkhaushadham tadapi dukkham, or “Whatever remedy one is able to find for problems here, becomes a larger problem later than the original problem.”

The events or developments listed above make stark reading but have had a tremendous impact on all of us. Of course, there have been positive developments in science, technology, culture, entertainment and society but the negative happenings outnumber and outweigh them. That is why all of them have not been listed here because these are 'soft' developments that made our lives more comfortable, perhaps more enjoyable. However, the negatives shook us all and brought us near a global war a several times.”

For a look at some major events of the past ten years and for our way forward in the new decade, let us review the disastrous decade and what insights HDG B. S. Tirtha Maharaj has for us in the new decade. As we tiptoe into the new decade, this is our beacon.

Politics 2000 - 2009
2000 - In USA George W. Bush elected President.
2004 - Re-elected as 'war president'.
2003 - Wen Jibao elected China' Premier and Hu Jintao as President.
2004 - Indian elections surprise victory for Congress, Manmohan Singh becomes Prime Minister.
2007 - UK Gordon Brown replaces Tony Blair as Prime Minister.
2009 - Barak Obama elected as first African American President.
2009 - Indian elections: Congress wins, Manmohan Singh becomes Prime Minister.
2000 - 2009: Iran, Iraq, Israel, Afghanistan and North Korea remain political tinderboxes.

HDG Tirtha Maharaj says...
“Politicians may come and go but problems will continue to remain unsolved. This is because human beings have no ability to set things right. They are merely puppets in the hands of God. It is not that one administrative head is good and the other bad. All of them work with a selfish interest. To keep one's own country and its citizens safe, a political head will not hesitate to help another surreptitiously who may wreak havoc against friendly nations. All of them simply rule their nations by mere manipulations and machinations to ensure they are re-elected and their parties remain in power. The people's welfare is not their aim.

In today's Godless society, most political heads have atheistic tendencies politely known as secularism. Some claiming to be God-conscious have no idea about who God is. A mere change of heads through elections cannot bring any tangible benefit to the masses. Irrespective of who or which party rules the nation, it is only a case of the blind leading the blind.

The Supreme Lord Krishna says that only a thoroughly trained Kshatriya is eligible and qualified to rule. In the Gita (18/44) the Supreme Lord describes the qualities of a Kshatriya as: 'Heroism, power, determination, resourcefulness, courage, generosity and leadership'. The current political heads all over the world lack these qualities and belong to the Shudra or labour class by their nature. Ancient kings like Dilip, Raghu, Ajay, Dasharath, Janak, Bharat, Yudhishthira and Parikshit were all great rulers. They were saints among kings. Lord Krishna affirms that such royal Kshatriya personalities were His true representatives on earth. Hence, by the Lord's grace, during their rule all problems were solved in the interest of everyone. When the Pandava king Yudhishthira ruled the whole world as an emperor from Hastinapur (Delhi), there were no problems. People lived in complete harmony. They enjoyed peace, material prosperity and also made spiritual progress. This is the test of a true ruler or a political leader. Who will measure up to these standards in the new decade?”

Wars 2000 - 2009
2001 - US attacks Afghanistan to fight terrorism.
2003 - US attacks Iraq to topple President Saddam Hussein.
2008 - War between Russia and Georgia in South Ossetia.
2008 - 2009 - War between Israel and Palestine in Gaza.
2009 - War in Somalia spawns pirates attacking ships in the Indian Ocean.

HDG Tirtha Maharaj says...
“Demonic persons believe in their ability and not in the Law of Karma. According to the law of Karma, one takes birth in a family of intellectuals, acquires riches, becomes scholarly or possesses a beautiful body. But demonic people think that these are just accidental or can be acquired by personal ability. They fail to see a divine arrangement behind it all. Hence everyone competing with a demonic person is his enemy. Envy begets enemies. Whether an individual, a community or a nation, everyone is envious of another. This same envy is the basis of wars. Especially in the current Kali Yuga, the age of conflict and hypocrisy, wars and fights will take place even without any provocation. This is the characteristic of the age.

Lord Krishna says in the Gita (10/34) mrityu sarva haraschaham, “I am the all devouring death.” Thus, according to Krishna's arrangement, wars are one of the means to reduce the population from time to time. The Lord also claims in the Gita (10/30) kalah kalayatam aham, “I am Time, the subduer.” Everyone is alloted a particular duration of life. So, when the final time comes, one has to leave this world. This is God's arrangement. Nobody can challenge time. Hence, wars are only one of the means to wipe out vast populations at one stroke. At Kurukshetra, in the greatest battle of Mahabharata, the Supreme Lord Krishna,
as Time, personally appeared to eliminate the demonic royal rulers of the Kuru clan. It is as simple as that.”

Terrorism 2000 - 2009
2001, 9/11 - Planes crash into and destroy Twin Towers, New York, and a part of Pentagon, Washington, killing almost 3,000.
2001 - Indian Parliament attacked.
2002 - Bali bombings kill 200+.
2004 - Madrid bombings kill 100+.
2005 - London bombings kill 56.
2008 - Mumbai bombings kill 300+ Terror attacks continue in many parts of India, Pakistan and many other countries.

HDG Tirtha Maharaj says...
“Terrorism in the name of God is nothing but religious insanity. These days, some religious leaders distort the true principles of the scriptures with a selfish motive or they do not understand them falsely claiming to be religious. On the mere presumption of interpreting their scriptures, certain pseudo religious fanatics, languishing in obscurity, desire to re-mould the world by violence according to their perverted ideals. So they cunningly enforce concocted religious orthodoxy and doctrinal rigidity on the ignorant and impressionable masses who are not familiar with true directions and meaning of the scriptures.

The basic tenet of all religions is the love of God. Then, where is the scope for violence and terrorism? Mindless and unauthorized violence can never be the means of conflict resolution in any sphere of dispute, material or spiritual. If everyone understands this universal principle of Lord Krishna, then all kinds of “isms” will instantly vanish. The real universal brotherhood is possible only
with this understanding of common spiritual essence and their relationship to God who is the Supreme Spirit Soul. This is the only way to eliminate terrorism.”

Environment 2000 - 2009
2000 - Over 300 million gallons of thick, black coal slurry sludge is released in the Mississippi River destroying 100 miles of streams and killing millions of fish.
2001 -National Science Foundation report on global warming supports previous warnings by scientists.
2002 - World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
2003 -- Bush Administration compiles the most anti-environmental record of any US president in history.
2004 - Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
2005 - With a majority of the world's nations ratifying, the Kyoto Protocol officially goes into force - without the US.
2006 - India's Centre for Science and Environment claims that US soft-drink giants Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. contained, on average, 24 times the maximum level of four pesticides allowed under government standards.
2007 - Al Gore and R. Pachauri win the Nobel Peace Prize for "their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change."
2009 - UN Climate Change Conference held in Copenhagen.

HDG Tirtha Maharaj says...
“Motivated by the greed for sensual enjoyment, this greed for increasing amounts of money has caused the destruction of natural resources by individuals, corporations and nations, to amass wealth by exploiting nature through indiscriminate mining, killing animals, excessive fishing, cutting trees, polluting water, emitting poisonous emissions and all other environmental crimes.

Today, morally debased, unethical people are exploring newer and newer avenues for ever greater varieties of physical pleasures. Greed is the basis of disharmony in the ecological balance of the planet. This tendency must be arrested if we are to save the earth. Driven by inordinate lust and avarice, these people exploit our planet to invent greater possibilities of a more refined standard of physical sense enjoyment. These must be given up. Instead, people should learn to follow simple living and spiritual thinking. This is possible only if we understand that we are not merely the body but spirit soul. Catering to only basic physical demands, we should cultivate spiritual awareness as well as the knowledge of our eternal relationship with God who is the Supreme Spirit soul. That's how we can stop further damage to the rapidly deteriorating environment.”

Natural Disasters 2000 - 2009
2001 - Earthquake in Kutch, Gujarat, India kills 30,000+ and injures 167,000+.
2003 - Europe hit by a 40 degree C0 heatwave killing hundreds.
2004 - Indian Ocean Tsunami, most destructive earthquake and natural disaster, kills 300,000+.
2005 - Kashmir earthquake killing 80,000+.
2005 - Hurricane Katrina destroys New Orleans, USA killing 1800+.
2009 - HINI epidemic worldwide kills thousands.

HDG Tirtha Maharaj says...
“When mother earth feels the burden of sinful people, natural calamities occur. It is a result of cumulative reaction to the sinful actions past or present of a group of people in a particular region. No human being has the ability to stall their occurrences. With their sophisticated computers and machines, the scientists can only predict the coming of rains or measure the intensity of an earthquake after it has taken place. And, at times, even in this, they are proved wrong. Natural disasters are the evidence of existence of a personal God. By God's design, all living beings must suffer three types of miseries:

1. Adhyatmic: Suffering due to gross physical diseases or mental agonies.
2. Adhibhautic: Pain inflicted by other living entities, like mosquito bites to terror attacks.
3. Adhidaivic: Natural calamities like earthquakes, cyclones, etc.

In the Gita (3/10,11,12), Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna that the demigods such as Indra, Varuna, Chandra, etc are all authorized agents to supply us with natural requirements in the form of water, air, and other elements. They work within the cosmos on behalf of the Godhead, Sri Vishnu. In charge of the various necessities of life, the demigods are satisfied by the performance of Yajna (sacrifice), and so supply all necessities to man. But he who enjoys these gifts, without offering them to the demigods in return, is certainly a thief. If we forget the purpose of human life, and simply take supplies from the agents of the Lord for gratifying our senses, and become increasingly entangled in material existence, which is not the purpose of creation, we become thieves, and therefore we are punished by the laws of nature. The holy scriptures recommend that for this Kali Yuga, the easy form of sacrifice is Sankirtana Yajna or congregational chanting of Krishna, the God’s holy name. This alone can save us from all calamities, including A big meeting, a big disappointment. natural disasters.”

Economics 2000 - 2009
2000 - 2007 - Easy credit, surplus money, increased incomes, stock markets boom.
2008 - Bernie Madoff cheats investors of $ 65 billion in 'the largest investment fraud in Wall Street history'.
2008 - Financial meltdown in USA, UK and Europe triggers depression. Banks and major companies fail, thousands lose jobs and homes. Cause - the greed of the bankers.

HDG Tirtha Maharaj says...
“Most people are usually influenced by two modes of material nature, rajah (passion) and tamah (ignorance). One who functions in these two modes, does not even know what he/she does is right or wrong. All assessments, evaluations and judgments of people overpowered by these modes invariably go wrong. From ignorance arises lust, and out of passion results greed. Both an  employee hankering to make a “fast buck” as well as a corporate director ambitiously targeting at a higher turnover are prey to these two modes. This explains the stock market boom at the beginning of the decade and the economic calamity and the resultant recession at the end.

According to the Vedas, all living beings, including speculative philosophers and childish scientists, suffer from the four negative qualities: 1) Bhrama - Illusion, 2) Pramada - Insobriety, 3) Vipralipsa - Inclination to cheat and 4) Karanapatava - Inefficient senses. Whether Bernie Madoff of the USA or Satyam of India or any other unexposed cheats, they all suffer from these deficiencies. Therefore, a true Krishna conscious person is not shocked or surprised at such incidents.”

Science and Technology 2000 - 2009
Science: 2000 - Human Gnome project completed.
2001 - Space tourism starts with week long stay by American Dennis Tito.
2004 - Mars Exploration Mission reaches Mars.
2009 - CERN's Large Hadron Collider started. Technology: Mobile phones, digital cameras, digital audio players, E-Mail, broadband, Internet for information, commerce and social networking.

HDG Tirtha Maharaj says...
“Scientists play with space vehicles in the name of exploration just like a child plays with toys. The only difference is that the child wastes his father's money while the scientists lavishly and irresponsibly spend the taxpayers hard earned money. A child plays aimlessly and the scientists do the research work mindlessly. Both are in illusion. The astronauts periodically try to reach one or the other planet by technology. This is not possible. By force, one cannot go to higher planets. One has to qualify for it. Even more powerful than the modern scientists, the demon Ravana in the Ramayana once offered a programme to people by which he would construct a staircase to the heavenly planets. He could not succeed.

In the Gita (14/18), Lord Krishna asserts Urdhvam gachhanti sattvastha, or 'Those established in the mode of goodness (sattva guna) are promoted to the upper planetary region of the pious and spiritually inclined'. Mere unbridled passion alone won't do. All the reports we get of space vehicles going to Mars and the moon cannot be relied on as there is no independent agency to verify the veracity of such claims.

Regarding technology, the progress so far made is lamentable, for, this has only succeeded in making our life more mechanical and less human. More and more association with and reliance on machines and gadgets has made human beings operate like robots or machines themselves, in addition to creating economic disparity. People have lost compassion, love, sympathy, patience, tolerance and fortitude in their personal dealings. These days, we do not even find a general sense of camaraderie.

Introduction of various gadgets like calculators, mobile phones and computers have only robbed human beings of their memory power, the sharpness of intellect, their inquisitiveness and mental agility. Moreover, today's man has become more materialistic owing to technological advancement and has lost sight of the actual goal of human life which is to realize his real self, the spiritual identity and revive the knowledge of his eternal relationship with God. Therefore, there is nothing to be proud about for making progress in this direction which has only aided and abetted transforming human society into a mechanical society, for human virtues like nobility, humility, decency, ethics, morality, among others, have all vanished.”

New Decade 2010 - 2020

HDG Tirtha Maharaj says...
“Nobody can challenge the laws of nature which have worked with superb precision right from the time when the universe was created. Nothing happens by chance, as some God denying scientists think. But one can clearly see a design in all the happenings. Politicians, economists and scientists must admit their limitations. Nature's law controls everything. Once we recognize this law, it is easy to conclude there is a lawmaker, the Supreme God in the form of Krishna. So God Krishna declares in the Gita (9/10) mayadhyakshena prakritih suyate sacharacharam, or 'The material nature is working under My direction'.

The Supreme Lord Krishna explains that our present predicament is due to the Godless mindset of the majority of the global population. He depicts perfectly the minds of the demonic people in the Gita (16/8 to 18): 'They say that this world is unreal, that there is no foundation and that there is no God in control. It is the product of sexual desire, and has no cause other than lust.' Following such conclusions, the Godless engage in destructive tasks to destroy the world. The demonic people, hankering after insatiable lust, pride and false prestige, are always sworn to unethical work, attracted by temporary illusions. They believe that gratifying the physical senses until death, is a prime necessity of human beings. Thus, there is no end to their anxiety. Being bound by hundreds and thousands of desires, lust and anger, they secure money by illegal means for gratifying their senses.

The demonic person thinks, “I have so much wealth today, and I will gain more according to my schemes. All this is mine now, and it will increase steadily in the future. I have defeated or killed all my enemies. I am the lord of everything, I am the enjoyer, I am perfect, powerful and happy. I am the richest man. There is none so powerful and happy as I am. I shall perform sacrifices, I shall give some charity, and thus I shall rejoice.”

Therefore, the real solution lies in pursuing spiritual knowledge and god-consciousness. We have all forgotten the main purpose of our life which is to realize God and attain His spiritual abode for transcendental loving service. For this, we must first recognize, at least in theory, our true identity as spirit soul and not the physical body. We should also revive the knowledge of our eternal relationship with God, the Supreme Spirit Soul, as one of the servant and master. The Upanishads say ishavasyam idam sarvam, or 'The whole world is pervaded and owned by God as a person, the Supreme Person'. Vedic literature further asserts: eko bahunam yo vyadadhati kaman, or 'The supreme lord of gods Krishna fulfils the desires of all human beings.' Therefore, the Lord concludes in the Gita (18/66), “Give up all duties, responsibilities and obligations born of bodily concept of life and take refuge in Me in unconditional surrender and I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear."

This is the message we must remember and follow in our daily lives at the start of the new decade. Surrendering to the Supreme Lord Krishna and offering devoted service to Him is our only salvation - not only for the new decade but for all time to come.”

bhoktaram yajna-tapasam
sarva-loka-mahesvaram
suhrdam sarva-bhutanam
jnatva mam santim rcchati

A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries. (Gita 5/29)