Gettin' personal.

My pops sent me this quote the other day...

"The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much , and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom."-George Carlin

Amen, brother. Basically, I feel like what it all boils down to is a
society drifting into the depths of impersonalism. What
attracted me to the Hare Krishna Movement was Srila
Prabhupada's message of personalism. Everyday, I recite a
prayer that glorifies Srila Prabhupada for delivering a message
to the western world, that is slowly liberating humanity from a
frigid ocean of vast impersonalism and voidism.

I feel like, anything I've ever been upset about can basically be
boiled down to this theory of impersonalism. The farther I am
removed from the land and tending a garden, the more my
relationship with Mother Earth dwindles, being hardly aware
of the subtle changes in the weather, the cycle of the moon, the
beauty of each vegetable. The less informed I am of my
community and the larger global community, the less I realize
how much people are suffering. Because I do not understand
the amount of resources it actually takes to manufacture all
products and the repercussions resulting from those extractions,
I rarely think about my consumption habits. The less time I
spend around cows and those who honor them, the more
detached I am from their suffering and the more I liberally
drink their precious offerings with little understanding that in

a short time their bodies will be slaughtered and butchered
alongside their fattened baby calves. In schools, we complain
about our children being just a number. In hospitals, we
complain about misdiagnosis because of the doctor's lack of
understanding our actual dis-ease. It's interesting that in western
medicine, the approach is to treat symptoms, not individuals.
Whereas, in eastern medicine, there is an understanding
that the same symptoms in two different people may have two
entirely different causes depending on the nature of the
individual's body.

It's just this whole idea that the less we know about
something and someone, the less we care about their
situation and suffering. But even more than that, the shallower
our relationships are. Srila Prabhupada came to the western
hemisphere to share the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita,
which at it's essence, decries that all living beings are eternal.
However, until we are purified and situated on a
platform of goodness to recognize and honor this fact, we will
endlessly and repeatedly be subjugated by the laws of nature.
Basically, what goes around, comes around. If you kill and
support the killing of others, you too will be killed, maybe not
this life, but possibly in the next. Just because the child doesn't
know the flame is hot, the child is still burned by the fire.
So basically intelligence impels us to inquire and learn the laws
of nature, question where human beings fit into this game,
and how to proceed from here. My suggestion, turn now to
chapter 3 of the Bhagavad Gita.

I had a nice realization
the other week. We
were celebrating Srila
Prabhupada's 42nd
anniversary of arriving
in America and in his
honor, the temple
planned a big Hari
Nam downtown. But
by the time Nisha got
home she was too
exhausted to get back
in the car and drive
another hour through
rush-hour DC traffic.
We brainstormed and
decided to have our
own celebration
around the apartment
complex instead. We grabbed the mridanga (drum),
kartals (hand cymbals), a picture of Srila Prabhupada,
some prasadam to pass out, and headed out into the parking
lot. We circled around then sat in the grass and lit a few candles.
All of a sudden mis hermanitas came over and started freaking
out, dancing, singing, clapping, "oh, this tastes sooo good",
"what is this drum called", "who is that beautiful man?".

Soon we invited everyone up to the apartment and passed out
the rest of Radharani's birthday cake and tea. The girls
adored the altar and tey all offered incense to the deities. Picking
out Krsna book immediately and commenting, "now that is one
book you don't just leave on the floor," they listened carefully
as I read aloud the first chapter.

The night was brilliant and my biggest realization was grassroots.
Think globally, act locally. I go downtown to distribute vegetarian
cookbooks to strangers, yet I've yet to go next door and offer
some delectable veggie goodness to my neighbors.

I once studied with a brilliant philanthropist, Gustavo Esteva, a
facilitator for indigenous rights movements in southern Mexico.
He published a book entitled, Grassroots Post-Modernism,
which highlights various successful social movements around the
world. What they all have in common is a concentration of energy
in localized, individualized, and personalized, grassroot efforts.

Please remind me of my impersonal behavior and tendencies.
Again, when it comes down to it. There are an infinite number
of relationships out there and souls to connect with. I guess this is
what gives me the greatest joy. Solid, honest, respectful and
eternal connections in this oh so temporary world.