Cold War 2 begins

Dear friends,

The world just moved into next cold war or potential world War 3 this week. Russia and USA cut off diplomatic relations over Syria and suspended  off a treaty meant to reduce excess fissile material, Plutonium meant for making nuclear bombs.

India's peace message is the best bet the world has in averting a catastrophe. India has always been the guru of the world and it will be.   The best articulation of this peace message is Srimad-Bhagavadgita. The essence of Bhagavadgita is to connect to one's inner self.

Thus, we started Bhagavadgita classes in Radha Krishna Cultural Center, Plainfield everyday 7.30pm to 8pm to share India peace and goodwill message to the world. Please help  us in anyway you can. There is no charity higher than helping people connect with their inner self.

The world is suffering from skin disease: I am Indian, I am American, I am Muslim, I am Hindu, I am a male, I am a dog, I am a software engineer etc. But, all these identities are not our true identity. Our true identity is full of bliss, knowledge and eternity. Let's discover our inner-self.

Thank you!

Power of thoughts

My school senior Joy Chatterjee sent this message to me:

In the movie _Taare Zameen Par_
The art teacher tells the rude and cursing father of the dyslexic kid about *Solomon Islands..*

In those islands, the tribal don’t cut down a tree. *They surround the tree and curse it for hours every day..*

Within a few weeks, the tree
dries up and becomes dead..

Many of us might find that example too difficult to believe. How can intangible and invisible thoughts and words kill a tree.!

Well, if you get to read Bruce H. Lipton’s THE BIOLOGY OF BELIEF, you won’t only believe in the Solomon Islands story, but would also think a dozen times before saying something demoralizing to yourself and the people you love..

In this book, Mr. Lipton tells in detail about the power of conscious and subconscious mind..

The subconscious mind is million times more powerful than the conscious mind, and decides most of the things in our lives according to the beliefs it has..

Many times we fail to change an unpleasant habit despite our will-power and consistent efforts..

It’s because the habit has been so strongly programmed in our subconscious mind that the efforts made by our conscious mind hardly make any difference.

*Conscious Mind is just a shadow* *of our Unconscious Mind..*

So, when the tribals of Solomon Islands curse a tree, they are actually installing negative and harmful beliefs in the tree’s emotion (yes, trees do have emotions too).

Within few days, those negative emotions becomes a belief & eventually changes the molecular architecture of the tree and kill it from inside..

2500 years ago, when the Buddha said that *‘You are what you think',* he was not articulating a random philosophical theory.

Actually he was telling a scientific fact which is now proved correct by Quantum Physics and Molecular Biology.

While reading the book, u will recall how *Buddha had talked about subconscious mind and its unfathomable power over our lives..*

*He called it Alay Vigyan which means stored consciousness..*

*This is the part of mind where all our beliefs and experiences are stored; and they dictate our life from there..*

The book has a special chapter on Conscious Parenting where it talks about the beneficial and harmful effects of what parents say to their children..

*If you are a parent and you keep cursing your child in the name of constructive criticism, you are installing beliefs in their mind which will keep harming them forever..*

*But if you keep appreciating them in a sincere way, you are installing beliefs in their mind which will help them entire life..*

And also be careful of what
you keep saying to yourself.

Repetition of words and thoughts is the best way to install a belief in your subconscious mind..

If you keep saying you are a loser,
don’t be surprised if you become one within a few months or years..

And if you have friends who keep saying such things to you, there is no harm in saying a quick goodbye to them..

May be you value the friendship a lot. But you must value yourself a little more..

So accept all as they are..
Love all unconditionally

*& Always keep saying to urself..*
*I am healthy, wealthy, happy, successful & prosperous!*

Struggling with the voracious tongue and the mind

Dear all,

Kindly bear with my musings and thank you for your audience.

I am visiting Ujjain, India for Ayurveda detoxification and wanted to share a few thoughts on India.  


I want to help people around me and India in particular.  As I walk the streets of Mumbai, I think what can I do to make their lives better. What help do they need and how can I serve them?  I see lots of poverty and messy traffic and pollution all around me. As I walk out of my business meeting, I can smell the garbage from the adjacent creek that dumps the garbage into the sea. Doing my little and humble part to bring order and uplift people in India would be nice.

I counselled a guy with depression and other problems on the railway platform today. My driver does the hard labour of carrying the perambulator when, instead, he can just open it and put all other things in it and push it. The list goes on. If people connect to their inner self more, their lives will be more successful. I feel that people are struggling very hard to satisfy the demands of their six senses --- taste, touch, vision, hearing and smell and the MIND.  Is MIND our best friend or our worst enemy?  Sometimes, the MIND get agitated at the slightest provocation.

I seek your efforts to research how the mind works.

The mind is so strong and obstinate that it sometimes overcomes the intelligence, although the mind is supposed to be subservient to the intelligence. For a man in the practical world who has to fight so many opposing elements, it is certainly very difficult to control the mind. Artificially, one may establish a mental equilibrium toward both friend and enemy, but ultimately no worldly man can do so, for this is more difficult than controlling the raging wind.

The individual is the passenger in the car of the material body, and intelligence is the driver. Mind is the driving instrument, and the senses are the horses. The self is thus the enjoyer or sufferer in the association of the mind and senses. So it is understood by great thinkers. Intelligence is supposed to direct the mind, but the mind is so strong and obstinate that it often overcomes even one’s own intelligence, as an acute infection may surpass the efficacy of medicine. Such a strong mind is supposed to be controlled by the practice of yoga, but such practice is never practical for a worldly person like Arjuna. And what can we say of modern man? The simile used here is appropriate: one cannot capture the blowing wind. And it is even more difficult to capture the turbulent mind.


I need to help people in India.  But what help can I do especially when I don't live in India? I could fund a school to send some children to school. I have had good teachers who pushed me to RIMC, IIT, Princeton, Wall Street, etc.  India and the world is facing a leadership crisis.  The most fundamental need in the world is not software and oil, but good leadership.  I respectfully believe that typical favourite institutions such as Stanford, United Nations, Goldman Sachs and Indian/British parliament have failed to recognize this or provide a solution.  The definition of success in these places is to have a party and loose our intellect to intoxication so we can take a break from the problems of the world.  In contrast, I believe that the underlying transcendental knowledge of India can provide leaders.

The elite of India is working too hard --- something like 80hrs a week to satisfy their senses which can be easily satisfied at 40hrs a week. The extra 40 hrs of elite of India can be used to give guidance to the distressed middle class and lower class. By helping them to connect with their inner self, their efforts towards economic advancement and otherwise will be more streamlined.   As a side effect, Indian GDP would increase like an effervescent soft drink.

So, if a successful person like you gets involved in charity, in addition to charity, we should get, in addition, leaders out of them.  The biggest charity anyone can do to anyone is motivate the other person to connect with their inner self --- which is full of bliss and knowledge to guide us.

sincerely,
sudhakar


--
Dr. Sudhakar Krsna Govindavajhala
President,
Yoga Foundation

Zakir Naik, terrorism, free speech, goodwill of India

Dear Friends,

Please accept my humble respects.

I like to hear from you all on Zakir Naik controversy. As you know government of India banned Zakir Naik's peace TV after recent Bangladeshi terrorists admitted getting inspiration from Zakir Naik.

Is it right on the part of government to ban his channel? Yes, it is true that he does instigate terrorism. For example, some of the Bangladeshi attackers admitted that they were motivated by him.  I am also concerned about of freedom of speech issues. This banning could play into conspiracy theories and create more tensions. It hurts my free speech sentiments. Everyone should be given free speech choice.

This act of banning his channel as opposed to providing an intellectual response is an admission of our collective intellectual weaknesses in our inability answer an intellectual challenge. This is somewhat understandable due to the crumbling quality of our leadership. India and the world are facing a leadership vaccum and our educational and other institutions are unable to fill the gap. We have a problem at hand.

Zakir Naik says publicly  that terrorism is a valid instrument in furthering Islam. Supreme Lord, God is called Allah in Islam.

In response, I would just quote Sri Isopanishad mantra 6:

yas tu sarvāṇi bhūtāny
ātmany evānupaśyati
sarva-bhūteṣu cātmānaṁ
tato na vijugupsate
Word for word:
yaḥ — he who; tu — but; sarvāṇi — all; bhūtāni— living entities; ātmani — in relation to the Supreme Lord; eva — only; anupaśyati — observes in a systematic way; sarva-bhūteṣu — in every living being; ca — and; ātmānam — the Supersoul; tataḥ — thereafter; na — not;vijugupsate — hates anyone.

He who sees systematically everything in relation to the Supreme Lord, who sees all living entities as His parts and parcels, and who sees the Supreme Lord within everything never hates anything or any being.

http://www.vedabase.com/en/iso/6

  Isopanishad

The biggest crisis facing the world is sectarianism, terrorism and environmental degradation. The goodwill teachings of India are best answers to the world problems in this age of hypocrisy and quarrel. Please share the goodwill message of India throughout the world.

Kindly share your thoughts.

Sincerely,
Sudhakar Govindavajhala
President
Yoga Foundation
http://yogascientist.blogspot.com

PS: this post is inspired by a lecture given by His Grace Vaiseshika Dasa (William Suczek) in California. He is an interesting person. He used to go to high school in California without wearing shoes as an austerity to find a meaning for life.

Wanted Heart Transformation Technology

Hare Krsna!

In this golden age of technology and software engineering, we tend to forget easily the risks civilization faces due to the myths we have bought into:

1) Money (or more things) is equivalent to happiness

2) Technology gratification effectively replaces the pleasures of gazing at a sunrise and a flowing river 

3) Weapons bring security

4) The earth provides virtually unlimited resources for our exploitation

5) The earth provides limitless room for waste disposal after we've done exploiting

The world is in desperate of technology and technologists to transform hearts of people to look beyond the ephemeral.  I was touched by an article in a book called Journey WIthin by HH Radhanath Swami.  I recommend that you purchase the book and read it.

http://www.amazon.com/Journey-Within-Exploring-Path-Bhakti/dp/1608871576

***

Excerpt:

I'd like share  a story that shows even during one of the most savage and heartbreaking periods in world history, helpless people surrounded by cruelty, torture and death chose to see an opportunity to connect with grace.

This story was told to me by one of my dearest friends. His father had been an officer in the Nazi SS. He was dispatched on murderous missions and helped to manage concentration camps. From time to time, one of his fellow officers noticed something peculiar. Outside the walls of a gas chamber, in a holding tank, were drawing of butterflies.  What did they mean?

His curiosity was aroused. Finally, he asked a condemned Jew about it. The tortured, emaciated victim gazed own at the filthy, bloodstained floor, shook his head in grief and said nothing. Then he looked up and directly into the eyes of his captor, his face shining with hope. In a whisper he revealed the secret of the butterfly.

A caterpillar crawls in the dirt, eats debris, and at moment can be trampled to death or eaten alive by birds. Then the struggling little insect is imprisoned in a cocoon. But through that  ordeal, the caterpillar is transformed into a butterfly, free to fly in the open sky. It then lives on a diet of pure nectar.

"Some of us believe," the Jewish prisoner told the Nazi, "that despite all your cruelties through our faith in God, our souls will be liberated, into a land of freedom where we will drink nectar from the flowers of God's grace. And you will suffer for your atrocities when our suffering is over."

The officer was taken aback. When my friend's father heard this story from his fellow officer, the bubble of propaganda he and his nation had been fed about how Jews are dangerous subhumans burst. He suddenly saw his own insanity in having bought into such an idea and what he had done in service to the Gestapo. He realized that the people he was murdering were special, sensitive people with profound insight, and for the rest of his life experienced horrific nightmares and felt a bitter repentance.

His son, like so many other Germans of his generation, rebelled against his parents' ignorance and searched frantically for meaning and truth. Eventually he found the path of bhakti. He and I are best friends. He is the son of a murderer of Jews, and I am the son o a Jew whose uncles, aunts, and cousins were torutred and exterminated by the Nazis. But our hearts are one in affection.

We need to rise above the atrocities of the world. Like-minded, caring people can unite beyond sectarian issues and call out for real change based on the real self. In whatever role you find yourself --- mother, father, politician, farmer, entertainer, shopkeeper, industrialist, student, priest or atheist --- listen for the call to open and cleanse your heart and to share the wealth of truth with the world by your words and example. The world craves such leadership.  The GIta ( 3.21) says, "Whatever action a great person performs, common ones follow. And whatever standards they set by exemplary acts, all the world pursues."

Become an enlightened leader. Be active in the world, but rise above all selfish misconceptions  by choosing to keep the roots of your values sheltered in the soil of integrity and grace.

*****

The underlying teachings of India's peace message have the best chance for promoting universal brotherhood in the world.

Sincerely

Sudhakar

Dramatic escalation in nuclear war rhetoric

Hare Krsna Friends,

Please accept my humble respects. I am sending this note due to dramatic escalation in nuclear war rhetoric threat (ignoring my  infirmities).

Please read this news article 

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-26/caught-tape-us-test-fires-nuclear-icbm-warns-we-are-prepared-use-nuclear-weapons

We are in the middle of the next era of cold war, or maybe beginning phase of world war III. 

Recently, Russia test-fired an ICBM. And now USA does the same and in the process also **explicitly** increased the nuclear war rhetoric.

USA: "we are prepared to use nuclear weapons in defense of our country if necessary."

This is happening because the world leaders are disconnected from their heart and inner self.

In this context, the duty of India and anyone born inside India should be to work for world peace.  If each of us can spend ten minutes a day connecting to our inner self,   that is the beginning of revolutionary transformation of our collective hearts that could one day reach the hearts of the world leaders and calm them down.  Peace is biggest need in this turbulent times.

India indeed have crown jewels in terms of the teachings of sages such as Kabir, Mahatma Gandhi and Sri Krsna Chaitanya.

The world is facing a leadership crisis.  One would hope/pray that Indians would raise upto the occassion.

Regards

sudhakar

--

Dr. Sudhakar Govindavajhala,

President, Yoga Foundation

http://yogascientist.blogspot.com

We must know the present need of human society. And what is that need? Human society is no longer bounded by geographical limits to particular countries or communities. Human society is broader than in the Middle Ages, and the world tendency is toward one state or one human society. The ideals of spiritual communism, according to Yoga, are based more or less on the oneness of the entire human society, nay, of the entire energy of living beings. The need is felt by great thinkers to make this a successful ideology. Yoga will fill this need in human society. It begins, therefore, with an aphorism, janmādy asya yataḥ, to establish the ideal of a common cause.

Human society, at the present moment, is not in the darkness of oblivion. It has made rapid progress in the fields of material comforts, education and economic development throughout the entire world. But there is a pinprick somewhere in the social body at large, and therefore there are large-scale quarrels, even over less important issues. There is need of a clue as to how humanity can become one in peace, friendship and prosperity with a common cause. Yoga will fill this need, for it is a cultural presentation for the respiritualization of the entire human society.

Chennai floods, heart vs mind

Hare Krsna Dear Friends,

Please join me in praying for the well-being of Chennai residents.

Please allow me to enter your heart in identifying the need for
transforming our collective consciousness.   The relief efforts IIT
did in the wake of Chennai floods, a man-made disaster, is good.
However, we should influence the society positively so that man-made
disasters can be avoided.  Our role in the society should  be that of
Guru of the society; not just emergency relief efforts. That makes it
possible to avoid this and other future disasters altogether.

The floods in Chennai are very unfortunate and bear semblance to
Katrina disaster in America in 2004.  In both the cases, heavy rains
and breaching of lakes resulted in water flowing into the city.  In
Chennai case, there is rampant building on water bodies and water
pathways, resulting in the blocking of natural river ways that would
drain water into the sea.  For example, the Buckingham canal is
clogged due to it being used as a waste dump due to which the water
could not drain in the sea.    In addition, due to the rampant
deforestation the speed of rain water runoff is not slowed down.

Unlike Katrina, it was nice to see that the social structure and
culture of Chennai being intact in this calamity. There was no
looting. This is India's real strength: people's happiness is not
dependent on economic indicators.

The storm water drainage problems were foreseen by a few people.  All
over India, this it is quite well known that we have no proper urban
planning.  But why were the right steps not taken to take the society
in a positive direction? That is because the hearts and minds of
people in right places are disconnected. The heart wants to do the
right thing, but the mind finds an excuse to postpone doing the right
thing to next year, next decade or next generation.

Heart loses; mind wins. This is the public policy crisis Chennai,
India and the world faces.  People know what is the right thing to do.
But our heart is not strong enough to make the right decision.  The
mind concocts its own own reason as to why short-term profit taking is
more important that strategic decision making.

We have a cancer of the blood, of our collective consciousness.  This
cancer is corroding our societal skeleton.  Applying a bandage on a
boil on skin is not sufficient. Unless we clean the blood, the boils
will keep appearing. In that sense, our efforts to provide emergency
disaster relief, while important, is a short-term adhoc fix. We need
to follow up with a fix for our collective consciousness to do the
right things (respect mother earth, respect civil rights of humans,
animals and plants, adequate city planning etc).

IIT alumni and other leaders of the society should lead the way in
cleaning our collective consciousness.  The way to do it is that each
of us spends certain time connecting with our inner self, and when
possible motivates our friends to connect with our inner self.  As
each individual connect with their inner self, one would realize that
the energy of all human beings is interlinked. Nay, the energy of all
living beings is interlinked. What goes around comes back.

We are all pleasure seekers. As we dig into our inner self, one would
realize that our true essence is bliss.  The happiness within our self
far exceed the happiness from external things.

Leading thinkers such as Decartes, Poincare, Mozhart, Bethoven have
hypothesized that this inner self is what gives our thoughts,
remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. Thus, I request each of you
to connect internally with our inner-self, for say ten minutes a day.
We need improve our collective consciousness and motivate each other
to make the right decisions to avoid catastrophes like man-made
floods.

India is actually the world leader, Guru, in the technology to connect
the heart and mind; its called devotion.  The Indian understanding of
the mind, and subconscious self is super-excellent.   We live in a
world dragged by sectarianism, nuclear war risks and catastrophic
environmental damage.

West Asia (Syria, Iraq, Turkey) is on the boil. Recently we have seen
a fighter jet confrontation between Russia, and NATO; the first time
in 55 years. We are on the cusp of the next cold war or world war. The
duty of any Indian ought to be take the knowledge and cutlure of India
to the whole world for the sake of world peace.

About fifty years ago, knowledge and wisdom were the ornaments of an
individual. Today, money is considered the ornament.  This model is
ridiculous as no amount of money or things can satisfy the self. Only
selfless service and love satisfy the service. Unfortunately the
modern educational system does not understands this and instead
perpuates unrestricted greed.  This bound to result in a catastrophe.

We need to arrest this trend. Please connect with your inner self for
ten minutes a day.


Sincerely,
Sudhakar

We must know the present need of human society. And what is that need?
Human society is no longer bounded by geographical limits to
particular countries or communities. Human society is broader than in
the Middle Ages, and the world tendency is toward one state or one
human society. The ideals of spiritual communism, according to Yoga,
are based more or less on the oneness of the entire human society,
nay, of the entire energy of living beings. The need is felt by great
thinkers to make this a successful ideology. Yoga will fill this need
in human society.

Human society, at the present moment, is not in the darkness of
oblivion. It has made rapid progress in the fields of material
comforts, education and economic development throughout the entire
world. But there is a pinprick somewhere in the social body at large,
and therefore there are large-scale quarrels, even over less important
issues. There is need of a clue as to how humanity can become one in
peace, friendship and prosperity with a common cause. Yoga will fill
this need, for it is a cultural presentation for the
respiritualization of the entire human society.