Thursday, April 3, 2008

Political Dementia

It's hard to not get stuck in politics these days. The election is coming up, the war is still thriving, a collapsing economy and many more issues linger above the American people's heads. Some people have given up totally on politics because they feel that nothing is going to change. Is politics important for one on a spiritual path? Ultimately, no. Yes, politics do affect everyone, but when it gets into you focusing more on politics than on serving God, it can actually damage your spiritual life.
The leaders of today are lusty, greedy, and angry. In Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 18, text 43, Lord Krishna says: "Heroism, power, determination, resourcefulness, courage in battle, generosity and leadership are the natural qualities of work for the kshatriyas (leaders of society)."   Does that sound like our President or any president or prime minister? The leaders today are unqualified men who breed hate by engaging the citizens in sinful activities. Now, that may sound harsh, but allow me to explain.
 The leader of a society is always seeking the welfare of the citizens. They are expected to create an atmosphere of security and make sure the people are making process in spiritual life. Today, the government wastes so much money in war programs, works the people endlessly and then creates opportunity for people to engage in illicit activities like: drinking, smoking, and prostitution. They try to make the people comfortable with television programs, feed the people mind-numbing news, and promotes violence by keeping slaughterhouses. The two major functions of leaders is to protect the cows and protect the brahmans (spiritual intellectuals). 
Should we do away with politics and live without a government? Not at all. The government must be setup so that it is in line with the teachings of Bhagavad-gita and Shrimad-Bhagavatam.
Shrila Prabhupada gives us  a very practical way of looking at politics: "Jesus Christ and Muhammad, two powerful devotees of the Lord, have done tremendous service on behalf of the Lord on the surface of the globe. And from the version of Shrila Shukadev goswami it appears that instead of running a godless civilization in the present context of the world situation, if the leadership of world affairs is entrusted to the devotees of the Lord, for which a worldwide organization under the name and style of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness has already been started, then by the grace of the Almighty Lord there can be a thorough change of heart in human beings all over the world because the devotees of the Lord are able authorities to effect such a change by purifying the dust-worn minds of the people in general. The politicians of the world may remain in their positions because the pure devotees for the Lord are not interested in political leadership or diplomatic implications. The devotees are interested only in seeing that the people in general are not misguided by political propaganda and in seeing that the valuable life of a human being is not spoiled in following a type of civilization which is ultimately doomed."
So Clinton or Obama? It doesn't matter as long as we're sincerely trying to serve the Lord and preach the glories of Shri-Shri Guru-Gauranga. 

1 comment:

Bhakta Dave said...

Thank you for the relevant and timely post. I will use this should I need to preach to anyone regarding modern politics.

I just read something interesting by Bhakti Charu Swami. He is discussing democracy and varnasrama. I have taken the most relevant part and am posting it here. I think it is interesting to see how hopelessly misguided our democratic system really is.

"Democracy is of the people, by the people, and for the people. The mass of people are ignorant. They are sudras. In a proper society, out of ten sudras there is one vaisya, out of ten vaisyas there is one ksatriya and out of ten ksatriyas there is one brahmana. And in the age of Kali, most of the people have become sudras. Therefore, democracy means a society of sudras. Sudras are electing a greater sudra as their leader. A sudra will never recognize the qualities of a brahmana. Therefore he will never elect a brahmana or a person superior to him in qualities. And in a democratic society there is no room for ksatriyas, because leaders are elected by popular vote and the government doesn’t allow individuals to come into position by their own power."

To see the full article go to:
http://www.bhakticharuswami.com/?p=599