Vedic Perspective
Editorial Commentary
9-10-87

  Today, there is simply too much talking and expressing personal opinions
among those people who are looking for the truth that there is little hope
in finding out truth.
  People who are searching after truth are placed into two categories,
namely, the scientists who think that they'll find the truth through
laboratory experimentation and deduction and the religious men who think
that they'll find the truth through Holy scriptures and sacred rituals.
  But today it seems that as many religious men and scientists are there,
there are that many different opinions about the idea of truth.  Nobody is
actually agreeing but everyone has their own opinions about the idea of
truth.
  Just like this visit from Pope John Paul, the pontiff of the Catholic
Church.  He has come to America according to all the reports, to dialog with
American Catholics and to discuss about various issues that American
Catholics see as truth and what the Pontiff sees as truth.  This is actually
a novel idea because in the past, there was no question of dialoging and
discussing about the authority of the Pope.  The Pope is supposed to be
regarded as the direct representative of Jesus Christ and there is no
question of trying to bargain and pressure the Church change the orders of
Jesus Christ.  But there are American Catholics who see the Church as
outdated and should adjust its teachings to allow for the morality of
America today.  That morality concerns a more liberal attitude on sexual
behavior.
  And in the scientific world, scientists are continuing on with their
various scientific projects and experiments meant to make the world a better
place to live.  However their tendency is to accept scientific research as
supreme.  Being very proud of their past scientific achievements, they
theorize falsely that there is no God, there is no eternal soul, that there
is no life after death although they cannot understand what is the cause of
life which they theorize as chemicals; and in this way they are creating
many various theories that are no more valid than fantasies.
  Mostly atheists are very proud of the achievements of the scientific
world.  Somehow or other, I have had the opportunity to talk with some very
staunch atheists--one MD and one author and lecturer from the west coast.  I
was very much surprised that the author and the MD atheist believes that
very soon medical science will find a cure to death and make it possible,
perhaps within a matter of years to become immortal.  And both have
proclaimed the glories of material life which include TV, computers, nuclear
energy, sexual freedom and the abolishment of all religion which they claim
is based totally on mythology.
  So everyone now considers himself as an authority on the subject matter of
truth and talking simply nonsense.  There is no agreement.  So the Hare
Krishna philosophy is against talking nonsense like this.  In this Kali-yuga
age that we are living in, it is practically impossible to get an
understanding of the truth simply by arguing.  Our Shri Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu, the founder of this Hare Krishna movement and predicted
incarnation of Godhead declared that He Himself was not even qualified to
understand the Vedanta philosophy and so He was just simply instructed to
chant the holy names of God.
  This is a very good instruction for everyone in this age who is simply
after talking and talking but getting nowhere.  If they use their tongue to
vibrate the holy name of God, then by this talking, they can get some kind
of understanding about what is the real truth.  Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
noted that since He had begun the chanting of God's names, He had begun to
experience some wonderful change of mind so that His happiness and
understanding about what is God and what is truth was always constantly
increasing.
  So following in the footsteps of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, this Hare
Krishna movement is requesting everyone to kindly stop all their unnecessary
talks and arguments and chant the holy names of God like Krishna and Rama.
Then as the mind becomes more and more fixed up on what is God and who I am
then everyone can save themselves from all these unnecessary talks which
ultimately are of no value.  It is said that such unnecessary talks are just
like the croaking of frogs.  Frogs are croaking and croaking but ultimately
the snake comes and finishes the croaking frogs.  Similarly, for the person
who indulges in unnecessary talks, ultimately death comes and to finish that
person and he again must accept birth in this miserable material world.

--Vaishnava Dasa