How To Save Our Planet🔗

16.8 People with such demonic qualities think there is no ultimate energy or intelligence, which is running this planet earth, which is running the universe, and that this whole creation is produced out of lust and desire, and is unreal.

16.9 Following this material view of creation, these degraded souls with small intellect, lost in themselves and committing cruel deeds, are engaged in the destruction of the world.

Please understand, the energy that is within us, the energy that drives us is the same energy that drives this universe, this solar system and planet earth. This energy is intelligence, the highest intelligence.

Krishna says that when we are unable to recognize this energy, we are demonic. We do not believe everything operates out of this energy; instead we believe we make things happen with our greed, lust and desires. We believe we run this world with our puny intellect that we consider intelligence.

For years, many religious institutions believed planet earth was the center of this universe. They killed millions for believing otherwise. Though they may have believed in some form of God who created this universe, they seemed to think that this God was situated on this planet.

They assumed that they ruled earth, and that there was nothing beyond them, so they could destroy people who did not share such a belief. We need not even be irreligious to be demonic. We just need to be so self-centered that even our God is at our disposal. Then we are demonic.

Such a belief is different from the concept of believing that you are God and that God resides in you. This belief arises from deep awareness instead of dark ignorance and is totally selfless. Once you become God, the rest of the world is part of you and you are part of that world. There is no longer the duality of 'I' and 'You'. Both merge into the non-duality of either 'I' or 'You'; it does not matter.

Even to this day, there is no logical explanation for the creation of this universe. There are theories; that is all. All of them are only theories. The Big Bang theory says that the universe was created in one huge cosmic explosion or Big Bang. But it cannot answer the question, 'What caused that explosion?' What was there before or who struck the match or what created that explosion is unknown. If there was something that led up to the Big Bang, how can the Big Bang be the cause of creation?

More intelligent and aware scientists understand and are creating new concepts. They too, like our sages, suggest that a cosmic intelligence runs the universe. The universe is not dead; it is not just matter. They say that the world is not just pure physics and chemistry.

People who think the world is pure chemistry become demons. Naturally, if we think this whole world is just inert matter, we try to acquire more and more by killing everybody, by hook or by crook, by right or wrong means, and we do what we want to. Only when we understand that this universe is intelligence, and that it responds to our thoughts and activities, will we live properly, or start really living.

A small story:

A group of scientists thought they could do anything and everything. They challenged God, 'Now you are unnecessary. Whatever you do, we can do. We can even clone human beings. What do you say? Now we can also develop whatever you have created on earth. Our department has developed everything. We can do anything.'

God was surprised to see all the scientists' creations - the sizes of the bananas, and other fruits they had created, and so forth!

The scientists then challenged God to a competition. 'Come face us. We will do whatever you do. We are better than you; you can go and rest. We don't need you anymore.'

God agreed to face the scientists.

God created a plant, and immediately the scientists created the same plant in a better way. One by one, they created the same thing God created. Suddenly, God took a little dust and created a man.

The scientists said, 'This is not a big deal, now that we have the ability to clone.' They took some dust and were about to create a man.

God said 'Stop. Bring your own dust and create. Don't use My dust!'

Whatever we may achieve, wherever science may go, the Divine is alive. God exists and the cosmic intelligence runs this whole universe. We may create man out of dust, but where will we get the dust from? We cannot create dust! It has to be God's dust! Be clear that there is a pure energy and intelligence that is the source, the underpinning of the whole universe.

When a person is living within the limits of the intellect and 'me', he cannot experience the Whole. He knows only logic and calculation and with that arrogance thinks he knows everything.

Many young people come to me with their parents who force them to prostrate at my feet. I never like people being forced to fall at my feet. If these young people want they can leave, but they stand there and ask questions such as, 'Why should I fall at your feet?' I tell them, 'I have not asked you to. Why should you stand here and argue?' Yet their arrogance is so much that they stand and argue. I think to myself, 'They should probably get married.' After a year when they return as married people, without prompting they simply do a s¢¾t¢nga namask¢r, a full prostration, because in one year they would have been completely trained to surrender!

What we cannot do in ten years can be done in one year of marriage! Those same people fall flat on the ground and know how to listen. They are polite. They say, 'Yes, Swamiji!' They know the power of the 'Yes' mantra!

That is what should be done to demonic people: Simply get them married and the demonic qualities will disappear. Perhaps that is why God created the institution of marriage!

People with demonic qualities say the world is produced out of sexual desire and lust. Lust is the reason for the whole universe, they say.

Please be clear that lust cannot be the reason. Intelligence, the divine energy is the cause and effect of this whole universe; the cause and effect is the Divine that is responsible for the universe. However, when we think it is lust or that we are responsible, we live with the idea of 'me, me, me'.

Krishna says firmly that when we believe that we are the cause of this universe, this Existence, we are so deluded and locked in our own identities, we destroy the world and ourselves as well.

Our ancient sages, the great ṛṣis, were not fools. They did not retire to forests because they had nowhere else to go. Many were great kings, rulers of this planet, and they voluntarily left behind all that they had, so that they could understand where they came from. It was not enough for them to read and listen to the experiences of others; they chose to experience the truth themselves.

In the process, they realized themselves and became liberated. What they realized in one sense was simple. As many others over thousands of years have discovered, they discovered that they were part of this cosmic Existence. They realized and experienced that they too were Gods. They found that the same energy that operated in this universe operated within them. They experienced that every living being on earth came from the same Source, and is the same Source.

If we studied elementary geography in school, we know that at the core of the earth there is molten magma, not very different from what there is in other planets. Around the core the earth has cooler layers and finally there is the topsoil on which plants grow and we live.

Now, what do we do when we need water and there is no river nearby? We dig a well and, as if by magic, water appears. Now our neighbor wants water; he too digs a well and finds water. Our well and his well may be in two different houses and owned by two different people, yet are these waters different?

They come from the same source, whether you dig a well in Bharat or whether you dig a well in the United States. The locations are at two ends of the world, but the source is the same. Not merely the source, the water is also the same. Yet, we fight over common resources, thinking that we created them and therefore we own them.

This attitude of selfishness leads only to destruction of everything - the environment, the world and all living beings. One part of this world, perhaps with less than one-sixth of the world's population, the so-called developed world, the so-called Western world, consumes more than half of the natural resources of this world. What right do they have to do this?

Not only do they consume more than half the resources, they cause such pollution that the earth trembles. Gradually all the glaciers of this world will disappear, the poles will melt, the oceans will rise and a large part of the world will be under water. However, the underdeveloped world, the poorer parts of the world will be under water, because the people will not have the means to get themselves out of trouble.

We actually waste a lot of water. Why do we need forks, spoons and knives to eat when we have hands and fingers? Also, to clean the crockery and utensils, we need more water and detergents. Detergents pollute the water in our streams. We think our fingers may be dirty; have we ever looked at the utensils we eat with? If you look under the microscope, you will find more bacteria than you can ever imagine.

Then we need to sterilize those utensils. We use chemicals to do that. Those chemicals can lead to cancer. Doctors in the West have warned that reheating food in plastic containers in microwave ovens can lead to cancer. Soon, they will find that eating food stored in refrigerators leads to other complications.

It was said by our Eastern forefathers long ago that food should not be eaten four hours after it is cooked. It becomes non-satvic then and it is unfit for our energy. That's why most people are demonic. Who eats food within four hours? Not even those who cook it. So, we descend into tamas, ignorance, by eating non*satvic*, de-energized food, and convert ourselves into demons.

Everything adds up. The Hitlers of this world do not happen by accident. They are created by society. When Krishna says alpabuddhi, low intelligence, He is not referring to our IQ; He is referring to our emotional and spiritual quotient. He refers to the absence of higher intelligence and awareness.

How can we be aware when we are being rushed from one activity to another? How can awareness arise when we are brainwashed into a belief that we can multitask? We constantly look at what results we must get, rather than focusing on what we are doing.

How many of us think about a job when we are engaged in that job? We drive listening to the news or music. We eat while working on the computer. We talk to another person while watching the television. Even in the shower, we argue with ourselves! What do we do in a focused manner, while staying in the present? No wonder we cannot sleep well, because all the demons of the day chase us in the night.

When we are not in the present, we are in a state of low intelligence; we become demons. We become Hitlers or worse. Hitler became one of the greatest demons the modern world has known because of his insecurities. He was conditioned by society to fear and hate. His fears were magnified so that the whole world feared him.

Low intelligence leads to cruel deeds. When we have no awareness of who we are, we do not care about anyone else. Not even about our parents. We are so self-centered that we will harm our mother if we feel in our imagination that she stands in our way.

All this can change; all this can be changed. All that is needed is the cognitive shift from the demon to the divine, from 'I' to 'You'. There must be an understanding from childhood that this planet is common property and it cannot be owned and exploited or used by playing one against another. It can only be cared for together and shared.

Everyone must be educated to understand that anything that harms the environment harms everyone on planet earth. No one is protected. What is done in the USA affects people across the globe, in China and Bharat, and vice versa.

We are not talking about the power of manmade weapons of mass destruction that can be set to destroy large numbers of people by pressing a button. We are talking about everything that we do, the way we eat, the way we dress and the way we live, everything affects all of us as these affect the environment we live in.

The environment we live in, the oxygen we breathe, the water we drink, the soil that gives the food we eat, all this is energy. This is what we call panca bhūta in Sanskrit, the five elemental energies that sustain us. When these are destroyed by our low intelligence, out of our selfishness, the world around us collapses.

Q: Swamiji, What is the meaning of the mantra OM?

Oṃ is the sound that is heard in one's own being when all other noise in the mind has stopped. When there are no thoughts floating in the mind, when there is nothing to disturb, one senses a deep vibration in the being. This is the sound of Oṃ.

We don't make this sound. We cannot make this sound. It must happen by itself. It is not a mantra to be chanted. We must be utterly silent and receptive. We must listen. We must learn to listen, not merely with our ears but with our whole being. Something then happens within us. Then we hear it. It is what the sages call the still, small voice within. Zen masters call it the sound of one hand clapping, and vedic tradition terms it pra´ava mantra and calls it OM.

Oṃ is the soundless sound. It is the anāhata sound, the sound that is not created. We teach a meditation called the Mahāmantra in our first-level Life Bliss Programs. This meditation energizes the anāhata cakra or heart energy center. Anāhata means that which is uncreated. Oṃ is that sound which is creation itself; it was not created. When you practice this meditation to energize your anāhata cakra, the Oṃ sound is created within you. That is why this meditation is called the Mahāmantra, or great mantra. It is a tremendously powerful self-healing meditation.

Typically all invocations to deities begin with Oṃ as the first word or prefix. There are mantras that are chanted in prayers called aṣṭottaras (108 names) or sahasranamas (1008 names). These mantras are descriptions of the deities, each mantra extolling one or another feature of the deity. Usually these are prefixed by the word Oṃ. They are suffixed with the word namaḥ. Namaḥ literally translates as, 'I am not,' signifying surrender to the deity.

The first verse of Vishnusahasranama, the 1008 names of Vishnu, is 'Oṃ achyutāya namaha'. It means 'Krishna is the incarnation of Vishnu'. The Vishnusahasranama is Bhishma's prayer to Krishna, as Bhishma lay awaiting death on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. As such, it is part of Mahabharata.