The only hope for human consciousness September 5, 2010
Q: Swamiji, why do you say the revival of the Vedic tradition is the need of the hour?
The revival of the Vedic tradition is the need of the hour, because this is the last hour human consciousness is having! If you don't revive it, this is going to be the last hour.
The Vedic tradition is the one and only tradition which can give the spiritual solution for all the problems of the human consciousness.
It has solutions for the problems of the inner world, the questions about life, death, body, and mind consciousness.
It has solutions for social issues like peace, unity, love, co-existence, and ahimsa.
It can help you with interpersonal issues like understanding each other, accepting each other and creating wealth without sucking others' blood, which has become the consumeristic lifestyle.
I tell you, these are the major problems humanity is facing, which really, really makes us feel this may be the last hour of planet Earth: the unconsciousness of human beings, and the ability to
destroy others through weapons - not just with the traditional weapons like atomic and chemical weapons, but with something new, the ideological weapons, spreading ideas through media and communication systems, and dismantling certain unique lifestyles, the ethnic ways of living on planet Earth.
Human society is facing a major dangers in the form of consumerism, which is responsible for so many things, including ideological conflicts and terrorism. The diseases which are spreading rapidly because of consumerism are found in all levels of life - food, clothes, furniture, music, sex, and lifestyle. HIV is just because of consumerism in the level of sex. That is responsible for HIV. Obesity is from consumerism in the level of food. So many psychological disorders are just because of consumerism in the level of entertainment - the music which creates so much restlessness, and the visuals which create so much violence. In every way, we are heading towards the last hour of planet Earth.
The other day I was reading an article which said that the religion of the future has to be one which accepts many gods, or all gods. If we want a permanent solution for religious terrorism on the planet Earth, we need to follow the example of the Vedic tradition. Hinduism is the only religion which accepts many gods or all gods. We don't have a problem! Any number of gods and saints - Rama, Krishna, Shiva, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed - can coexist happily in one puja room. We don't have a devil who needs to be destruction and rejuvenation, is God for us. Even destruction is taken care of by God under controlled conditions, in deep compassion, for the sake of rejuvenation.
It is not just about religion. The Vedic tradition allows all ways and systems of eating, clothing, furniture, dance, medicine and all lifestyles. The Vedic tradition has something unique for everyone, at every level, in everything. We need to revive the Vedic tradition, because this is the only tradition which has the breadth for coexistence, based on ahimsa, non-violence, and which does not claim a monopoly of Life.