I’ve been asked how we can navigate our way through this current “age of outrage”. It’s really important to recognize that in a heightened state of emotions people generally do not think very clearly and certainly do not make the best choices and take the best actions which produce the best possible outcomes. 

Social Media (YouTube included) have employed AI-driven algorithms to feed you “outrageous” content, content that elicits an emotional reaction from you. The more emotional, the more “sticky” the post is. The masters of social media are vying for your time. The more time you spend with them the more information you are delivering to them which can in turn be monetized. You are the product! This of course is having a horrible effect on everyone’s psyche and propelling the current “Age of Outrage” we live in.  

Becoming aware of these external influences upon us and engaging in positive spiritual cultivation will help blunt and even negate the influence of these forces. But we really need a paradigm shift and to make very healthy choices to be able to remain unscathed by their influences.  

In the talk, I reference a well known techno-sociologist Zeynep Tufekci who has been quite outspoken about this influence. She has a number of TED talks that are of interest and feels we should be deeply questioning the ethics of algorithms. This is one of her talks - https://www.ted.com/talks/zeynep_tufe...

This is the final part of “A Code to Live By” where we examine some of the qualities which can help me to achieve peacefulness and happiness. Some of those qualities recommended by the ancient sages are:  

• Self-control (includes control of the appetites, passions, mind),  

• Freedom from Possessiveness & Theft (includes covetousness) (being satisfied with just as much as one needs for his maintenance),  

• Simplicity – it is advised that one should be so straightforward that without diplomacy you can disclose the real truth even to an enemy.  Also means living frugally - “need over greed” 

• Modesty  

• Engaging in a life of spiritual pursuit  

• To be Charitable  

• Bravery/Heroism  

• Control of anger  

The Vedas provide an amazing perspective on peace and happiness which is the opposite of what the materialistic or hedonistic lifestyle promotes.  

“A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires — that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still — can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.”  Bhagavad-gita 2:70 “A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego — he alone can attain real peace.”  Bhagavad-gita 2:71  

“One who is not connected with the Supreme can have neither transcendental intelligence nor a steady mind, without which there is no possibility of peace. And how can there be any happiness without peace?”  Bhagavad-gita 2:66

This is a continuation where we begin to examine some of the qualities which we are encouraged to cultivate as part of a code to live by. I am dividing a list of qualities promoted in the Vedas into two main parts. The first of qualities that affect my relationships and dealings with others. The second part I will deal with next week.  

In considering these qualities we should try to contemplate how we would like others to deal with us, both in our good times and our bad. What are the things that would touch us very deeply if someone related to us this way? Using this lens, we should look at our own actions and speech and see if we measure up to our own ideal of how we would like others to treat us.  

Prominent amongst these qualities would be: 

• Kindness/Compassion, (defined as “being unable to bear the suffering of others”) 

• Humility, (not feeling higher than any other person) 

• Tolerance (defined as “to patiently endure unhappiness”)  

• Non-violence (Treating all life Equally – even giving up jealousy and envy)  

• Truthfulness (not distort the truth for some personal interest and to speak the truth in a pleasing way, “as declared by great sages”)  

• Forgiveness

Societies can only function when there is an agreed code of conduct for everyone.   A code of conduct guides all organizations, companies, religious groups, educational institutions, and civic organizations. But theses codes may be external controls that people accept within a group but then discard once outside of that group.    

Guiding principles are most effective when adopted and internalized by individuals.  Everyone who seeks to walk a more spiritual path, and who is interested in their own true happiness and the wellbeing of others, should embrace a set of values, a code to live by.  Throughout history we see diverse civilizations and societies adopting such codes that often contain the same guiding principles.  Many of these principles have a deeply spiritual and universal underpinning.  

This is the beginning of a conversation which will hopefully help individuals establish and adopt their own code to live by.

In this talk (the 3rd in the series “Lessons from Lockdown”) we examine the need for a guiding light to help us navigate life.  There is a need to recognize the fact that we are often the “products” of a great deal of conditioning (previously known as brainwashing).  There are some surprising examples of this in the talk.   

We have been sold the idea that increased consumption will deliver much-wanted happiness, peace, and fulfilment. As a result, we feel the need to be always “on the go” in that quest for a wonderful future.  But as we may have learned from the lockdown, this may not be true.  In fact, some of the messaging we respond to may in fact deliver the opposite result to what was promised.  Hence the need for objective and insightful guidance to find a way forward, to a more peaceful and purposeful life.    

Albert Einstein penned a short formula for happiness which he gave to a bellboy in lieu of a tip while visiting Japan in 1922. His advice directly contradicts current consumer messaging. He wrote:  

“A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness.”  

This provocative message is consistent with the ancient guidance offered by great spiritual authorities. The ancient Bhagavad-gita offers similar advice: “A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires -- that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still -- can alone achieve peace and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.” Bhagavad-gita 2.70  

What a shock to discover that feeding our desires and appetites will neither fulfill us nor make us happy and peaceful.  We sorely need to find and embrace such wisdom and have it guide our life choices and values if we are to truly become happy and peaceful.

One of the glaring observations around the world about lockdown was how dramatically the pollution levels fell and the environment began “healing”.  The abuse of the environment by humanity at large is unquestionable, but the ‘solution’ is less obvious.  

Rather than just pushing for the use of alternative energy sources – that doesn’t address the underlying problem which is over-consumption – there is a need to dig a bit deeper.  

Gus Speth, the American environmental lawyer, and advocate, former dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, former Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme has stated: “I used to think that top environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse, and climate change.  I thought that thirty years of good science could address these problems. I was wrong.  The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed, and apathy, and to deal with these we need a cultural and spiritual transformation. And we scientists don’t know how to do that.”  

This view is reinforced by the British Economist, E.F. Schumacher, when in the early 1970’s he stated:  “The modern economy is propelled by a frenzy of greed and indulges in an orgy of envy, and these are not accidental features but the very causes of its expansionist success.  The question is whether such causes can be effective for long or whether they carry within themselves the seeds of destruction.”  

The current environmental crisis is nothing less than a ‘spiritual’ crisis. And the solution must, therefore, be spiritual.  Mahatma Gandhi wisely stated; “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed.”

What are the lessons we can learn from the current lockdown?  In this series I hope to present some thought-provoking ideas about our lives up to this point, and what we can do to live a ‘better’ life – provided we learn the necessary lessons.   

I mention an article from the New Zealand Herald which stated; “Optimists throughout this lockdown have hoped that coming out of the pandemic, we'll have learned a few lessons along the way ... that we'll enjoy a gentler, more meaningful existence as a result of slowing down and connecting with what really matters.  Looking at the queues outside the drive throughs, it looks like we're heading straight back to the lives we left behind.”  

I think we can do better.

This is a continuation from last week as there were some questions from people wanting to know more about Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.  

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was a real spiritual revolutionary who not only introduced congregational kirtan as the prime means of spiritual attainment in this age, but also his overwhelming desire to see that all people attain the highest spiritual realization, and attain perfect spiritual love.  He was therefore known as ‘patita-pavana’ or the deliverer of the most fallen.  

In this talk, there is an account of two wonderful examples of this.

The day following this talk was the 534th anniversary of the appearance of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the “Father of Kirtan”, so I was asked to speak about him.  

In the talk I referenced several quotes from the Vedas about him, predicting his appearance over 4,500 years prior to that day.  I also referenced 3 of the 8 prays he personally wrote, all of which I am sharing here.  गौरः सर्वात्मा महापुरुषो महात्मा महायोगी त्रिगुनतितः  सत्त्वरूपो भक्तिं लोके कश्यति  gauraḥ sarvātmā mahā-puruṣo  mahātmā mahā-yogī tri-guṇātītaḥ  sattva-rūpo bhaktiṁ loke kāśyati "Lord Gaura, who is the allpervading Supersoul/Paramatma, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears as a great saint and powerful mystic who is above the three modes of nature and is the emblem of transcendental activity. He disseminates the science of devotion throughout the world." — Caitanya Upaniṣad  

पुण्यक्षेत्र नवद्विपे भविष्यामि शचिसुतः puṇya-kṣetre nava-dvīpe bhaviṣyāmi śacī-sutaḥ " I shall appear in the holy land of Navadvipa as the son of Sacidevi." — Kṛṣṇa-yāmala-tantra

कलौ संकिर्तनरंभे भविष्यामि शचिसुतः kalau saṅkīrtanārambhe bhaviṣyāmi śacī-sutaḥ "In the Age of Kali when the sankirtana movement is inaugurated, I shall descend as the son of Sacidevi."  — Vāyu Purāṇa  

अथ वाहं धरधमे भूत्वा मद्भक्तरुपधृक मायायां चा भविष्यामि कलौ संकिर्तनागमे ॥ atha vāhaṁ dharādhāme bhūtvā mad-bhakta-rūpa-dhṛk māyāyāṁ ca bhaviṣyāmi kalau saṅkīrtanāgame "Sometimes I personally appear on the surface of the world in the garb of a devotee. Specifically, I appear as the son of Saci in Kali-yuga to start the sankirtana movement."— Brahma-yāmala-tantra       

य एव भगवन् कृष्णो रधिकाप्राणवल्लभः  सृष्ट्यादौ स जगन्नाथो गौर आसीन महेश्वरी ॥  ya eva bhagavān kṛṣṇo rādhikā-prāṇa-vallabhaḥ sṛṣṭy ādau sa jagan-nātho gaura āsīn maheśvari "The Supreme Person, Sri Krishna Himself, who is the life of Sri Radharani, and is the Lord of the universe in creation, maintenance and annihilation, appears as Gaura, O Mahesvari."— Ananta-saṁhitā

कृष्णवर्णं त्विषाकृष्णं संगोपङ्गस्त्रपर्सदं । यज्ञैः संकीर्तनप्रयैर यजन्ति हि सुमेधसः ॥३२॥ kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ “In this age of Kali, those who are intelligent perform the congregational chanting of the names of Hari, worshiping the Supreme Person, who appears in this age always chanting the glories of Krishna. That incarnation is yellowish or golden in hue and is always associated with His plenary expansions, and personal expansions, as well as devotees and associates.”— Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.32)  

सुवर्णवर्णो हेमाङ्गो वरन्गश चन्दनाङ्गदि । संन्यासकृच्छमः शान्तो निष्ठशन्तोपरायणः ॥ suvarṇa-varṇo hemāṅgo varāṅgaś candanāṅgadī sannyāsa-kṛc chamaḥ śānto niṣṭhā-śānti-parāyaṇaḥ “The Lord [in the incarnation of Gaurasundara] has a golden complexion. Indeed, His entire body, which is very nicely constituted, is like molten gold. Sandalwood pulp is smeared all over His body. He will take the fourth order of spiritual life (sannyasa) and will be very self-controlled. He will be distinguished from Mayavadi sannyasis in that He will be fixed in devotional service and will spread the sankirtana movement.”  — Mahābhārata

1. Glory to the Śrī Kṛṣṇa saṅkīrtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This saṅkīrtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.

This is a continuation of last week's talk on this most relevant topic.