Dedicated to

Indian philosophy & the way of

life
of which
we are an integral part.
 CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 4

PREFACE 5

PROLOGUE 7

1. MATERIALISM 8
Theories of materialism 11
Classical materialism 11
Modern Physicalism 11

2. SPIRITUALITY 13
Spirituality and Religion 15
Spirituality and Religion can blend beautifully 15

3. MATERIALISM AND SPIRITUALITY 17

The materialistic approach 17
The spiritualistic approach 17

4. DUALISM 18

5. MARXIST THEORY OF MATERIALISM 19

Rejection of Reason and Truth 19
Denial of Personal Responsibility 19
A New Natural Philosophy 20

6. CONSUMERISM AND MATERIALISM 21

Consumerism catching them young 22

2
7. EFFECTS OF MATERIALISM 23
Money can’t buy happiness for the materialistic 25
The ups, downs, and vices of materialism 26
The Dalai Lama’s Call 27

8. SPIRITUALITY AND CELEBRITIES 28

9. SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY 33

Scientific Examples 34

10. MEDITATION 38

11. THE THEORIES OF MEDITATION 39

The Indian Theory 39
The Western Philosophy 41

12. THE PROCESS OF MEDITATION 42

Practicing Meditation 42

13. OSHO’S PHILOSOPHY 44

14. LOVE AND MEDITATION 45

EPILOGUE 46

REFERENCES 47

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Our Project “Spirituality & Materialism “ with an aim to understand the

sufferings of mankind and to suggest a probable solution to it
would not have been in it’s present form without the help of
innumerable people around us. We take this opportunity to thank
everyone who has been associated with this work directly and
indirectly.

A special mention is required, however, of Sri. Gokuleshwar Das, IYF,

ISCKON and Sri. Ramesh Shetty, Sanatana Sanstha, who provided
us with the fundamentals of the subject. We would also like to take
this opportunity to thank Sri. Mukund And Sri. Adi keshav for
helping us in realising our ideas in proper form.

We would also like to thank our friends, Charles Wilson & Nawaf Surve
for rendering their support to us by allowing us to utilise their
resources.

Last but certainly not the least we would like to express our gratitude
towards our parents who have taught and constantly encouraged
us to rise above the benighted aspect of human nature.

Before we conclude we would like to mention special thanks to Sri.

Ravindra Kumar and his family who helped us immensely during
the compilation of our project.

4
 PREFACE

Spirituality or the science of self-realisation has been always a very

important part of all religions and is intrinsic to the very existence
of humans on earth. Embarking on this project of spiritualism was
not an instantaneous decision. It evolved through various rounds of
discussions and dialogues with various people around us. After a
series of conversation, we came to a conclusion that the present
society needs some change in the direction of their work. Though
we are living in an age of science and technology, but the way we
are working to achieve our goals is not at all healthy. High levels of
stress, anxiety, peer pressure is eating into our lives. It is also
giving rise to corrupt mentality, which is spoiling this generation.

Therefore, in this project titled “Spirituality & Materialism”, we

have tried to deal with all the aspects of human nature in a broad
sense. Our endeavour has been to constantly discuss the art of
spiritualism in light of present situation, the problem and the
perplexities faced by the mankind today. It has been our sincere
attempt, that none of the religions come into picture as this science
is beyond the doctrine of any religion. Therefore, we have tried to
take the essence of all cultures. Though, sometimes one may find
the undercurrent of the project to be vedic in nature but it is not
due to a biased outlook but simply the fact that abundant research
from various scholars have been done in this field provides a basis
of all future understandings. Similarly, we have used various
American surveys to understand the current status of an extremely
materialistic American Society.

The project explores the aspect of materialism in detail with proper

causes and consequences. The discussion on the “Science and
Spiritualism” is simply done to bring to the fore that scientific
progress without spiritual values is of no use to the human society
and the trend needs to be changed.

The last part of discussion deals with the methods to awake the spirit
inside us and how to start working on our objective to become
spiritually elevated. Here, we have tried to understand meditation
and it’s evolution through the ages.

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At last, we would say that this project is an attempt to unearth,
rediscover and revitalise the relationship of soul with the Supreme
Lord. It would be an extreme pleasure for us if this discussion can
refurbish the thought process of some of our readers.

PROLOGUE

6
“Spirituality & Materialism” – sounds oxymoronical. Yes, they are. One
is eternal and other is earthly. Knowingly or unknowingly, most of
us are materialistic in some form or the other and suffering from
this curse of materialism. But we never realise it, we never want to
understand. This quest for wealth, this urge for fame, the longing
for sense-gratification is slowly and slowly driving us to a dark end
from where we don’t know as to where exactly we have to go.

Have you ever tried to ask yourself who you are? What is your real
identity? Are you simply a name by which you are known? Have
you ever thought of the end result of all your activities, the final
moment, the last breath? I think, no. But think that to every action,
there is an equal and opposite reaction. This law is undefiable. So,
death and birth. Again and again. But till when and why?

Why don’t you ever try to think of something that is permanent,

something that is beyond the degradation of time. Something that
is eternally joyful, full of bliss and provides everlasting pleasure?

7
 MATERIALISM
As the word itself signifies, Materialism is a philosophical system which
regards matter as the only reality in the world, which undertakes to
explain every event in the universe as resulting from the conditions
and activity of matter, and which thus denies the existence of God and
the soul. It is diametrically opposed to Spiritualism and Idealism,
which, in so far as they are one-sided and exclusive, declare that
everything in the world is spiritual, and that the world and even matter
itself are mere conceptions or ideas in the thinking subject. Materialism
considers the whole universe to be exclusively ruled by the laws of
physics. A human, in that system, is exclusively made of matter and
the activities it displays can be explained by currents and chemical
exchanges within its brain. The ancient Indian philosophy, however, is
idealistic; according to it there is only one real being, Brahma;
everything else is appearance, Maya. In Greece the first attempts at
philosophy were more or less materialistic; they assumed the
existence of a single primordial matter -- water, earth, fire, air -- or of
the four elements from which the world was held to have developed.
According to the ancient Indian wisdom too the human body is said to
be formed from the five materials or the Panchbhoot –Prithavi, Jala,
Teja, Vaayu & Aakaash. Hence the human body is also material in
nature. And this material body has material senses, i.e. the senses
provided to this human body are also material in nature. Like our eyes
can see material objects like a table, chair, earth, water, plants etc. but
can it see nonmaterial things like light which is an electromagnetic
wave. The answer is – No. Similarly, rest of our senses are also
material in nature. This is the reason as to why the human eye cannot
see, hear or smell the soul. Because soul can only be experienced
through the process of self-realization. This body has been given to us
as a carrier of the soul. The materialists deny the existence of soul
because the materialists are always busy in the process of gratification
of their senses. They pay little attention to the nourishment of the
human soul while the ultimate aim of this soul to mingle back with its
origin, God himself. This is the ultimate aim of this human life.

[Dictionary Definition]: materialism (noun): the doctrine that

nothing exists except matter and its movements and modifications
and that consciousness and will are wholly due to the operation of
material agencies: materialist (noun): an adherent of materialism:
materialistic (adjective): pertaining to, characterised by, or devoted to
materialism.
….. Chambers 20th century dictionary

8
 If materialism is true, then it seems to negate the notions of free will
and consciousness. If our thinking and behaviour is purely driven by
the deterministic law of physics, how can we consider that we have a
free will?

And what about consciousness, is there anything that we can call

ourselves or are we just a heap of more or less organized current and
chemical discharges or are we only a lump of dead matter? According
to genetic science, we are completely defined by the DNA, but don’t
twins have identical DNA’s, however distinct might be there
personalities. So what differentiates those twins? What makes a human
very different from an animal or a plant; besides the fact it has a more
complex brain? Why should we give more consideration to a severely
mentally disabled human or a new born child rather than to a very
intelligent chimpanzee, as the latter shows more intelligence than the
former?

Computers have been programmed to completely emulate the central

nervous system of simple invertebrates (containing a few hundreds of
neurons). If suppose we assume that in the future we might have
powerful computers to emulate a human's central nervous system,
then does that mean that this computer and its program should then
be considered as conscious as a human is? Do we morally have the
right to pull its plug? What about the printed source code? What about
making copies of that program?

So, there are a lot of questions that we need to ask ourselves before
we accept the materialistic theory or deny the presence of the soul.

Since we are experiencing consciousness (we can think and therefore

we are), and have some free will. So, one needs to think that there are
flaws in materialism and the materialistic theory. So we have to
consider the materialistic view as incompatible to what we are
experiencing.

In this material world everything is made of dead matter , therefore it

is simply an imitation. The reality of things exist in the spiritual world.

According to the Bhagavad Gita

“para tasmat tu bhavo nyo

vyakto vyaktat sanatanah
yah sa sarvesu bhutesu
nasyatsu na vinasyati”

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“Yet there is another nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to
this manifested and unmanifested matter.
It is supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this world is
annihilated that part remains as it is”.

Bhagavada Gita says

“janma karma ca ve divyam

evam yo vetti tattvatah
tyaktva dekam punar janma
Haiti mam eti so’rjuna”

“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and

activities does not upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this
material world, but attains My eternal abode, o ‘Arjuna “

Materialism tells us to satisfy our material bodies and it’s senses but
not the soul. Even more disturbing is the fact about materialism is that
it gives way to more dissatisfaction and thus one gets entangled in this
vicious circle. Materialism is thus a game not worth playing, because in
the mindless pursuit of wealth one just feels unhappy and unsatisfied
even he is successful otherwise.

10
11
 THEORIES OF MATERIALISM

Classical Materialism :
Classical materialism of the nineteenth and early twentieth century
holds that only material things exist and these are composed of atoms,
whose behavior is totally defined by the laws of physics. At the
beginning of the twentieth century matter and energy were shown to
be interchangeable, but this finding didn't at that time weaken
materialism. If anything it strengthened it.

To the classical materialist, the universe is one huge mechanism

composed of tiny particles which behave like electrically charged
billiard balls. Theoretically if you knew the mass, velocity, spin and
charge of each of these particles then you could predict the behavior
of the universe from now until eternity. As humans and animals are
composed entirely of atoms, their behavior is also, in theory,
predictable and therefore free-will does not exist.

Modern Physicalism :

The version of materialism prevalent nowadays is more accurately

known as physicalism. It is more concerned with the laws of physics
and with information processing than with matter as substance.
Physicalism has grown out of advances during the second half of the
twentieth century in the fields of genetics, evolution and computer
technology. Modern physicalism takes as its subject matter DNA codes,
computer instruction sets and data structures.

Physicalism's tenets are that the entire operation of the universe,

including the human mind, can be reduced to algorithms and data
structures. The laws of physics are seen as the algorithms which
determine the informational states of particles (velocity, position, spin
etc) from previous states. The process of evolution itself is regarded as
an algorithm. Evolution produces complex structures out of the endless
algorithmic loop of replication, random error in copying, and resources
which are insufficient to allow all replicated copies to survive to
replicate themselves in turn. Evolution is the algorithm, and the DNA
codes of living organisms are the corresponding data-structures.

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Physicalism has taken on board some of the early findings of quantum
physics (but is struggling to interpret some of the more recent ones
such as non locality). In particular, it is more in agreement with
Buddhism than are either Classical Materialism or Dualism, in that
Physicalism does not recognise the existence of things-in-themselves.
The material world can only be known by its interactions. Production of
new information always depends upon the change of the state of the
system.

At the quantum level, the ultimate particles of matter are

unknowable as things-in-themselves, and in the final analysis turn
into mere probabilities. The characteristics of fundamental particles
can never be directly apprehended, but must be deduced by their
interactions with particles of a similar nature to themselves. The
very act of observation consequently changes what is being
observed in an unpredictable manner.

To the physicalist the human brain is either a computer, or a device

which can be simulated by a computer in terms of how its inputs are
processed to give outputs. The physicalist believes that the mind is
identical to the functionality of the brain.

Consequently if any activity or property of the mind can be

demonstrated which cannot be simulated by algorithms and data-
structures, then the physicalist worldview is shown to be
incomplete. There is increasing evidence that such non-algorithmic
properties do exist, and this is examined by computationalism.

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 SPIRITUALITY

Several people listen to stories, discourses, lectures on spirituality and

read holy texts as well but science of spirituality is about the
knowledge of infinite. As such, the endeavour to understand will be
eternal.

Spirituality and materialism as it sounds clearly are two extreme

aspects of man’s existence. One deals with the soul-the imperishable
and other with matter which is subject to obliteration with time.
Therefore the greatest question thrown in front of any beginner is that,
how can we make these two ends to meet without raising any conflict.
Though, this question seems to be inexplicable but answer exists, if
one is willing to go deep in his spiritual life. The solution is that we can
use this matter for the maintenance of this body but we should not
identify our body with this matter.

The moment we start identifying ourselves with objects i.e. this is MY

watch, MY house, MY car etc. we start loosing over true identity and
starts living with false images. The body which is made up of matter
has to perish and so is any matter under the sky but the soul which is
inside our bodies is everlasting. It is beyond destruction but we don`t
understand this. We identify our soul with the body. This is an ego. This
ego is inside us but we are not ready to recognize it, because we are
always associated with ‘ I ’. This ‘ I ‘ takes us away from GOD. It does
not allow us to understand that we are not the bodies but the soul.

The real objective of life is to understand that we are not this body but
the soul. We have to understand that it is not we who are doing things
but it is GOD under whose will we are doing it. To attain this goal we
have to gain knowledge, which can liberate us from this delusion.

“ sa vidya ya vimuktye “

“The knowledge, which can liberate us “.

Unless and until we strive to gain this knowledge, we remain in this

trap of this illusion called maya. This maya is nothing but GOD’s
inferior energy called apaar prakrati .

According to Bhagavad Gita :

“ Maya dhyaksena prakrathi

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 suyate sacaracarm “

“This material energy is working under my direction “.

Under the spell of this energy we keep on associating our success,

enjoyment, and everything in life with material object thereby
undergoing untold miseries. We suffer each moment but we don’t
understand why we are suffering.

The primary purpose of any intelligent person should be to understand

the cause of his suffering and also to identify as how he is suffering.
After this he should try to overcome these miseries by practicing
materialism.

Many people convey the idea and philosophies of religion and sects in
name of spiritualism. So one has to be careful in this regard because
spiritualism is eternal. It has no connection with any religion practice.

It is beyond realms of religion and is only a subject of one’s faith in

GOD and his urge to liberate himself from the cycle of birth and death.

The goal of our life should inquire about what is happening and why.
But sometimes people tend to misinterpret it. They think that it is only
scientific investigation and researches which are important with any
objective to understand GOD. But, this is wrong.

The Goal of every human endeavour including scientific must be to

know the absolute truth of GOD.

Spirituality is a two-stroke process. The upward stroke relates to inner

growth and the downward stroke relates towards manifesting
improvements in the world/reality around us as a result of the inward
change.

[Dictionary Definition]: spiritualism (noun): the doctrine that the spirit exists as distinct
from matter, or that spirit is the only reality; any philosophical or religious doctrine
stressing the importance of spiritual as opposed to material things: spiritualist (noun): an
adherent of spiritualism who regards or interprets things from a spiritual point of view:
spiritualistic (adjective): of or pertaining to spiritualism.

………. Chamber’s 20th century Dictionary.

One of the great gifts of spiritual knowledge is that it realigns your

sense of self to something you may not have even ever imagined was
within you. Spirituality says that even if you think you're limited and
small, it simply isn't so. You're greater and more powerful than you
have ever imagined. A great and divine light exists inside of you. This

15
same light is also in everyone you know and in everyone you will ever
know in the future. You may think you're limited to just your physical
body and state of affairs — including your gender, race, family, job,
and status in life — but spirituality comes in and says

Spirituality and Religion :

Although religion and spirituality are sometimes used interchangeably,

they really indicate two different aspects of the human experience. You
might say that spirituality is the mystical face of religion.

Spirituality is the wellspring of divinity that pulsates, dances, and flows

as the source and essence of every soul. Spirituality relates more to
your personal search, to finding greater meaning and purpose in your
existence. Some elements of spirituality include the following:
• Looking beyond outer appearances to the deeper significance and
soul of everything

• Love and respect for God

• Love and respect for yourself

• Love and respect for everybody

Religion is most often used to describe an organized group or culture

that has generally been sparked by the fire of a spiritual or divine soul.
Religions usually act with a mission and intention of presenting specific
teachings and doctrines while nurturing and propagating a particular
way of life.

Religion and spirituality can blend beautifully

Different religions can look quite unlike one another. Some participants
bow to colorful statues of deities, others listen to inspired sermons
while dressed in their Sunday finery, and yet others set out their
prayer rugs five times a day to bow their heads to the ground.
Regardless of these different outer manifestations of worship, the
kernel of religion is spirituality, and the essence of spirituality is God or
the Supreme Being.

Spirituality is:

- Beyond all religions yet containing all religions

- Beyond all science yet containing all sciences.

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 - Beyond all philosophy yet containing all philosophy

As one becomes more spiritual, animalistic aggressions of fighting and

trying to control the beliefs of other people can be cast off like an old
set of clothes that no longer fits. In fact, many seekers begin to feel
that every image of divinity is just one more face of their own,
eternally ever-present God.

SPIRITUALITY AND MATERIALISM

Materialism tells us to work only for those activities in which there is

sense-gratification. It only tells us to please our senses but it is
temporary in nature. For how long can a person remain happy and
content in the materialistic life. Spirituality on the other hand teaches

17
us to nourish our soul and walk on the path of self-growth with the
ultimate motive of spiritual upliftment and achievement of moksh (the
state of constant bliss).

Spiritualism influences your way of thinking and so does materialism

but while materialism isolates you from the world. Spiritualism expands
your self-image beyond your physical being and integrates it with the
environment. Materialism causes meanness and self-centeredness
while spiritualism inculcates the holistic way of thinking. To explain this
let us consider the case of a female and a laborer living in the society.
Materialism makes you think that you are female, and your problems
are created by a society dominated by males; that you are a laborer
and the capitalism is out to squeeze blood out of you; that you are
weak and helpless while the world is going to gobble you up. All your
actions are influenced by such fear if your awareness is confined to
your physical self. On the other hand Spiritualism will make you think
that you are not a woman; you are a member of family, a daughter, a
mother, a parent. You protect the family and it protects you. You are
not a laborer; you are a part of industry. If the industry prospers, you
will too gain in status financially as well as socially.

The materialistic approach: The materialistic approach relies

primarily on empirical evidence provided by the five senses — what
can literally be seen, heard, tasted, touched, or smelled. This approach
depends on the outer appearances of things to decide how and what to
think and feel about them. A materialistic person fixes whatever may
be wrong or out of place in his or her world by moving things around
and effecting outer changes.

The spiritual approach: In contrast, the spiritual way is to see

beyond mere outer appearances and the five senses to an intuitive
perception of the causes behind outer conditions. Someone with a
spiritual approach may change and uplift their world by first
transforming and improving his or her own vision. Spiritual way of
thinking will change your attitude entirely and establish friendly
relationship with the world instead of one of hostility as envisaged by
materialism.

DUALISM

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The western response to materialism is dualism, which claims that
there are two kinds of things in the universe - material objects and
souls. The major exponent of dualism was Descartes. The soul is
regarded a thinking self-conscious entity which interfaces with the
nervous system through the the pineal gland. From this organ the
soul controls the rest of the body, which is a purely mechanical
system. Only humans have souls, animals are simple automation
incapable of any subjective mental experience.

Dualism implies that mental experience is a radically new feature

that only humans possess, and a late optional extra slipped into an
already well-defined, functional, physical universe.

As dualism in one form or another continues to be the predominant

teaching of the church, it is apparent why there is so much
antipathy from fundamentalism towards the theory of evolution. It is
extremely difficult to envisage how a mechanistic zombie (animal)
could have gradually evolved into a dualistic being (human). This
problem is not shared by Buddhism, which regards the mind as
being primordial and capable of forming a temporary association
with any sentient organism, as discussed in symbiotic mind.

Marxist theory of Materialism

"You say the materialist universe is ‘ugly,’" wrote C. S. Lewis to a

young skeptic in 1950. "…If you are really a product of the materialistic
universe, how is it you don’t feel at home there?"

19
Nearly half-a-century later, Lewis’s question still resonates. Modern
society continues to operate largely on the materialistic premises of
such thinkers as Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud. Yet
few today feel at home in the materialist universe where God does not
exist, where ideas do not matter, and where every human behavior is
reduced to non-rational causes.

C. S. Lewis spent much of his life debunking the sterility of materialist

thinking; and his insights are as relevant now as when they were first
offered, because our culture remains dominated by four of
materialism’s most deadly legacies.

Rejection of Reason and Truth:

Materialism’s first deadly legacy is the rejection of reason and
objective truth. Nineteenth-century materialists depicted our thoughts
as the irrational products of environment or heredity or brain
chemistry. As a consequence, the intellectual classes became
convinced that only the reality was material, and thus the only true
explanations were reductive. If you wanted to explain a flower, you
described its cell structure, not its beauty. If you wanted to explain
human beings, you looked not to their greatest achievements, but to
the raw materials that made them up. This sort of reductionism
permeates contemporary society, from politics and the social sciences
to literature and the performing arts.

Denial of Personal Responsibility:

If materialism has been hard on reason and morality, it has been
equally destructive of personal responsibility. By claiming that human
thoughts and actions are dictated by our biology and environment,
materialism undermined personal responsibility. The results can be
seen in our criminal justice system, our civil justice system, and our
welfare system. Ever since sin entered the world, human beings have
sought excuses for their behavior, but materialism handed us an
inexhaustible supply of excuses. No matter what we do, it can be
attributed to a cause other than our own choices: our social
environment, subconscious drives, or brain chemistry.

Against this modern ethic that no one is responsible, Lewis strove to

make people aware of just how responsible they really are. Lewis
countered this mentality not so much by direct disputation, but by
trying to place a mirror in front of us that would cause us to recognize

20
the evil in our own souls. This is most apparent in his fictional works,
where there are key moments of self-revelation when major characters
realize that they are really to blame for the fix they are in.

A New Natural Philosophy :

At the end of The Abolition of Man, Lewis called for a new natural
philosophy that would understand human beings as they really are.
"When it explained," said Lewis, "it would not explain away. When it
spoke of the parts it would remember the whole."

Lewis was not quite sure what he was asking for, and–being a realist–
he certainly was not convinced that the revolution would actually come
about. Yet during the next decade it just might. We live during an era
of tumultuous change, and nowhere is this fact more evident than in
the sciences. Recent developments in biology, physics, and cognitive
science are raising serious doubts about the most fundamental
assumptions of materialism. In biology, scientists are discovering such
irreducible complexity in biological systems that the only reasonable
explanation seems to be a non-material designer. In physics, our
understanding of matter is becoming increasingly non-material. In
cognitive science, efforts to reduce mind to the physical processes of
the brain have failed repeatedly.

In other words, for perhaps the first time since the materialist
onslaught we have an opportunity to bring about the collapse of
materialism and to re-found both science and culture along the lines
envisioned by C. S. Lewis more than half-a-century ago.

CONSUMERISM AND MATERIALISM

Consumerism is the tendency of people to identify themselves strongly

with products or services they consume, especially those with
commercial brand names and obvious status enhancing appeal, for
e.g. an expensive automobile, rich jewellery. It is a term which most
people deny making some specific excuse or rationalisation for
consumption other than the idea that they are ‘compelled to
consume’ .

21
Consumerism is driven by huge sums spent on advertising designed to
create both a desire to follow trends and make attachments with the
brands. To those who accept the idea of consumerism, these products
are not seen as valuable in themselves but rather as social signals
allowing them to identify like-minded people through consumption and
display of similar products. Few would yet go so far, though, as to
admit that their relationships with the product or brand name could be
substitute for the healthy human relationships lacking in modern
societies. Consumerism interferes with the workings of society by
replacing the normal common sense desire for an adequate supply of
life's necessities, community life, a stable family and healthy
relationships with an artificial ongoing and insatiable quest for things
and the money to buy them with little regard for the true utility of what
is bought.

Shopping malls have replaced parks, churches and community

gatherings. The marketers, department stores, and retail advertisers
today have turned festivals from being a religious holiday into
materialistic consumerist consumption frenzy.
Friendship, family ties and personal autonomy are only promoted as a
vehicle for gift giving and the rationale for the selection of
communication services and personal acquisition. Events like weddings
and births have turned into consumer events with their own hierarchy
of demands for the things that assume a life of their own. For example,
the bride's dress and accessories assume far more significance than
the bride's state of mind.

Financial resources better spent on Social Capital such as education, nutrition, housing
etc. are spent on products of dubious value and little social return. In addition, the
purchaser is robbed by the high price of new things, the cost of the credit to buy them,
and the less visible expenses such as in the case of automobiles with increased
registration, insurance, repair and maintenance costs. Materialism is one of the end
results of consumerism.
Consumerism catching them young
Advertisers and the companies are doing record levels of research to
help market their products to children. They are relying on brain
science, the reports of child advisers, and extensive videotaping of kids
in stores, playing with toys at playgrounds and in their homes. We all
are well warned about junk food and its effect on our health, how it
dominates advertising aimed toward children.

22
Children are living in an environment where they are bombarded with
advertisements aimed just at them, but it is influencing them in more
ways than their parents might imagine.

The average American child is exposed to 40,000 advertising

messages each year, according to recent estimates, and corporations
are currently spending $15 billion annually advertising and marketing
to kids up to age 12.
The Indian story is no different as the total spending power of the
Indian youth is about $6.5 billion - their own discretionary income plus
what their families spend on them. They carry considerable economic
clout, as well as the power to influence their parents' purchasing.
According to Mahindra & Mahindra, ''We want to grab the funky
market''. ''Kids persuade their parents what car to buy. They determine
style and fashion today''.

The youth-consumerism age ushered in India with the MNC’s which

brought with them a range of experience. The Indian youth was ready
to embrace consumerism and these companies pitched it right at
them.

Advertisers and media agencies such as MTV take advantage of the

insecurities that plague teens to further promote materialism and
consumerism. Teens like to imagine themselves as being superior in
some way to their peers, marketers use teen insecurities in their
advertising messages. Indian teens alone buy nearly 60% of the fizzy
drinks, chocolates, and jeans sold in India. That's a reality marketers in
India are increasingly waking up to, as demographic trends push the
number of young consumers higher every year. And unlike their
parents, this computer-savvy generation has no qualms about
consumerism.
There is a “junk culture” that surrounds them. It is not only making
children materialistic, it is making them sick. They are becoming
depressed and anxious.
They are suffering from headaches and stomachaches, too. "Logos are
everything”, as designer labels contribute to their social ranking. This
junk culture in kids has been relentlessly pushed by a number of mega-
corporations like Disney, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Nestle, Nike, Levi’s
Domino’s, Killer, Cadbury. With the kind of money at hand, these
companies are promoting entertainment, fashion and apparel,
electronics and furniture, and health and beauty aids. After more
than a decade of relentless advertising and marketing the
children have adopted the junk values of materialism and
the desire to be rich.

23
In India, in the 1950s, there were just two cars: the boxy Ambassador
and the equally solid Fiat. The waiting list used to take six years, and
customers took whatever color rolled off the assembly line that month.
Now there is a choice at every conceivable price point. The consumer
is simply spoilt for choice with auto manufacturers falling on top of
each other for a place in the consumer’s mind and on the road.

Now, Indian kids are getting what we could only read about in
American comic books. They are waking up to consumerism. And now,
Its time we woke up to that fact! Still, there are a growing number of
people who are aware that these aspects of consumerism are some of
the main obstacles to living in a pleasant safe community, seeing their
children well-educated and living long healthy productive lives, without
squander and waste.
These articles demonstrate that, materialism through consumerism is
totally promoted by advertisers and the media. One of the things that
makes, materialism and consumerism bad is the insatiable desire for
more.

EFFECTS OF MATERIALISM

Materialism has contaminated today’s society, as money and material

goods have become the masters of humans. Of course, money may be
regarded as a means for attaining other things, but instead of being a
requirement, it has become our obsession. These days people work
24x7 in lure of these material goods. As Society has started to attach

24
success of an individual by the possession of his material belongings,
we are only heading south as regards the moral values. It has started
to show significant effects on the psyche and behaviour of people.

As we have seen during the last two decades there has been a
significant shift in the stress and depression levels of people. As man
constantly strived for these material possessions, along with it came
frustration, greed, jealousy, anger, agony and the human life became
miserable.

These are among the conclusions emerging from a three-year research

project on “Religion and Economic Values” at Princeton University. A
national representative survey of the active (employed) U. S. labor
force in which more than 2,000 people participated. More than 150
people were interviewed from various faiths and occupations in greater
depth. Their responses provide new insight into our deepest obsession
-- money.
In the survey, 89 percent agreed that "our society is much too
materialistic"; 74 percent said materialism is a serious social problem;
and 71 percent said society would be better off if less emphasis were
placed on money. Many of the people we talked to described the
corrosive effect of materialism on their families. Young adults reflected
on how hard their parents had worked. The result was a comfortable
life, but one saddened by emotional distance. Even more common
were the young parents who talked about their own children being
corrupted by television and by advertising. Ninety percent of those
surveyed agreed that "children today want too many material things."

Another indication of how attached we are to our possessions is that

we readily admit our attachment. When asked how important "having
a beautiful home, a new car, and other nice things" was to them, for
example, 78 percent of the people surveyed said "very important" or
"fairly important," while only 22 percent said "not very important." The
responses were similar when people were asked about the importance
of being able to travel for pleasure, wearing nice clothes, and eating
out at expensive restaurants.

Most of us draw such a tight connection between money and other

aims that money itself acquires great value. Freedom, for instance, is
one of our deepest values, and in the survey 71 percent agreed that
"having money means having more freedom." Or, to cite another
example, feeling good about ourselves is a basic value, and 76 percent
agree that "having money gives me a good feeling about myself." The
survey also showed that worrying about not having enough money is
significantly correlated with not feeling good about oneself. Most
people do give lip service to the view that money and happiness may

25
not necessarily go together. In the survey, for instance, only 11
percent said wealthy people are generally "happier than other people."
Yet many of us harbor the conviction that having just a little more
money would indeed make us happier.

Thinking that materialism is a serious problem, however, seems to

have little connection with how we actually live our lives. Money and
material possessions are, in fact, among the things we cherish most
deeply. Our consumer habits are one indication of their importance.
We spend huge sums on consumer products, mount increasing credit
card debts, and perceive ourselves to be under enormous financial
pressure. In the survey 63 percent said the statement "I think a lot
about money and finances" describes them very well or fairly well, and
84 percent admitted "I wish I had more money than I do." On more
specific questions, virtually everyone mentioned having serious
financial concerns.

Religious tradition provided earlier generations with a moral language

that helped curb the pursuit of money. Faced, as we now seem to be,
with a sense that materialism has gotten out of hand and that we are
unable to resist its power, some of us might hope that religious faith
would still be a source of wisdom and guidance in these matters. Yet
the results from our study are at best mixed. Faith is certainly more of
a factor in how we use money than economists might suppose. But it is
undoubtedly less of a factor than religious leaders would like it to be.
Most Americans do believe their faith is relevant to their finances. Only
22 percent of those surveyed, for example, agreed that "God doesn't
care how I use my money."
What religious faith does more clearly is to add a dollop of piety to the
materialistic amalgam in which most of us live. We do not feel
compelled to give up any of our material desires, only to put them "in
perspective." When finances worry us we pray, and that gives us
strength to keep on working. Our faith helps us feel better about
ourselves whether we are worried about our finances, whether we
have money in abundance, or whether we fall into both of these
categories

Money Can't Buy Happiness for the

Materialistic

26
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Even millionaires can be unhappy in life if
their material desires are bigger than their bank accounts, new
research suggests.

In a series of studies of college students, researchers found that

participants' satisfaction with various hypothetical incomes depended
upon whether they would be able to buy the things they desired. Even
"very comfortable" six-figure incomes often weren't enough if
participants felt they would be missing out on the toys wealthier
people enjoyed.

In one of the studies, which asked the students to envision themselves

in the year 2050, participants were less likely to be happy with an
annual salary of $150,000 if they found out they wouldn't be able to
afford the "tele-transporters" that futuristic folks would be using to
whisk themselves around the globe--among other "desirable"
possessions.

In another study, participants described the type of home and other

possessions they hoped to one day have, and their future incomes
were estimated based on the careers they wanted to pursue. Overall,
income satisfaction was similar among the students--until some found
out they would have a tough time reaching their material aspirations,
sending financial satisfaction downhill. And if people aren't happy with
their buying power, they may be unhappy in general, according to
study author Dr. Ed Diener, a professor of psychology at the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"Materialistic people have been found in many studies to be less

happy," he told Reuters Health. "For one thing, materialism can
distract people from things such as social relationships, which are
more important to happiness."

"It is just that the strong desire for money can be self-defeating
because one can never get enough," Diener said.

"People 50 years ago made less than half of what we make today," he
said, "but they were about as happy as we are."

The ups, downs and vices of materialism

According to a study released by Reuters, on July 3, 2001, Materialism
has a link to Depression And Anger. Designer labels and fast cars may
be the dream of millions, but craving material possessions can cause

27
depression and anger, shows the research released. Even the
Australian academicians found a positive correlation between
materialism -- or an "excessive concern" for material things -- and
negative psychological phenomena. While there is growing concern
over the environmental effects of materialism and global consumerism,
little attention has been paid to its psychological effects. One source of
depression among dedicated consumers was the fact that the property
they acquired tended to lose value quickly. Shaun Saunders, one of the
authors of the report from the University of Newcastle, Australia, said it
came as no surprise to discover that money can't buy you love. "If your
self-worth is invested in what you own, as can be the case in our
market-driven society, then these things may not hold their value for
very long," he said.
Wanting a sports car would not necessarily cause psychological
problems, however, because some enthusiasts could take a genuine
interest in the performance of the vehicle and how it is made.

But in most cases materialism is based on people using possessions to

define their place in society. This applies both to the "haves" and the
"have-nots," Saunders said. "People want to compare themselves to
others. In our society the criterion tends to be what you own.

"It can be a very frustrating experience trying to stay ahead of others,

which can be a precursor to anger expression." It also leads to
conformity, based on the notion that the self in a market-based society
is treated as a commodity whose value is determined externally.

So before heading off on a shopping spree to lift the gloom, retail

therapists should take note: "This may give a person a sense of control
through owning something, but the research shows that materialism is
negatively correlated with life satisfaction," Saunders said.

According to a study conducted by Australian researchers it was found

that materialistic people were more likely to suffer from depression
and anger. They were also more likely to be conformist. However, they
were less likely to be satisfied with their life, or to be interested in the
environment.
The doctors said: "While the possession of conspicuous goods may be
equated with success, happiness and seen as a goal in itself, it is
associated neither with global life satisfaction and psychological
health, nor with a love of life or concern for the environment."

Giorgio Armani and his disgust with luxury

According to Reuters, Milan, Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani,
creator of some of the world's most expensive clothes, says he is fed

28
up with luxury. "I'll tell you something. Luxury disgusts me," the
designer was quoted as saying. He urged young fashion fans to put
their craze for designer labels into perspective. "I want young people
to understand that today's world is false. They must understand that it
is absurd to steal just to get a designer bag because they think that
without it they are nobody," he said.

Dalai Lama calls for rejection of materialism at

Buddhist gathering in eastern India
By ABDUL QADIR, Associated Press Writer
GAYA, India - The Dalai Lama led Tibetan Buddhists' highest worship
ceremony, calling for the rejection of materialism, greed and violence.

"Money breeds greed, jealousy and other social vices. It can never
bring joy," the spiritual leader said Sunday, as he led 20,000 Tibetans
from across the world in the prayer ceremony called Kalchakra, or
Wheel of Time. It is the biggest annual gathering of Buddhism's
Mahayana sect.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 with thousands of supporters after a
failed uprising against China. Since then, he has headed a government-
in-exile in the northern Indian town of Dharmsala. He won the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1989 for his nonviolent struggle against Chinese rule of
his homeland.

The prayer ceremony is held in the eastern Indian city of Gaya, where
the religion's founder is believed to have attained enlightenment.

SPIRITUALITY AND CELEBRITES.

Hrithik Roshan

29
The feeling of being content and happy, of being in communion with
one's soul — that is spirituality for me. It is reaching a higher level of
consciousness and rising above the pain and suffering one experiences
in life. When a person develops total focus, spirituality begins to
manifest itself within the soul.

I am reminded of the example of Prince Siddhartha, who saw grief and

distress in the form of illness, old age and finally death and wondered
to himself about the purpose of life, when it's only eventuality was
death. It is when he realised that one has to live beyond one's
problems and celebrate life, that he attained enlightenment and
became Gautam Buddha.

Am I spiritual? Well, in a lot of ways, all of us are spiritual. Let's just say
that like my body, I believe in keeping my soul fit as well. I must admit
that I connect with the Almighty mostly in times of pain. And whenever
I do, I — more often than not — begin with an apology for not having
touched base more often.

I believe in the theory of karma — a balance of good and bad that we

accumulate in our lives. I am not a religious person but there are
certain rituals that I adhere to strictly.

I believe that parents must lead by example. And, no matter what,

children always mirror their parents. I am the person I am today
primarily due to the fine example set by both my parents. And I am
glad for that.

It's always a challenge to have somewhere new to go, a new trail to

blaze, a new victory to fight for. I believe that the 'idea' of happiness or
success is a much bigger high than the actual experience.

30
“Spirituality Is Within You”

- Raveena Tandon Thadani

Spirituality is within you. Many people waste their time and money
trying to look for spiritual solutions on the outside, when all they need
to do is search within. Reach out to your soul — and you will touch the
greatest highs, the highest summits. I believe every person is spiritual.
Instead of letting our inhibitions hinder our inner person, we must
embrace our spirituality.

A lot is lost in day-to-day materialism. In fact, the essence of life —

what makes it beautiful to live — lies in its simple pleasures. I believe
that most truths are ephemeral. It is the spirit that actually lives on. I
am not unduly ritualistic. I think the religion of humanity is the biggest
religion of them on. Whether a person is a Hindu or a Muslim should
not matter. In the end, we are all human — with the same joys and the
same fears.

I come from a God-fearing family. As a child, I remember visiting

Ajmer-e-Sharif and Shirdi. I still do. Do I believe in God? Yes, I do. I
believe in a power that watches over me. I don't need to have a
timetable to fit God into. I make my own private time with the
Almighty.

“I don’t need to have a timetable to

fit God into. I make my own private time
with the Almighty.”

Fortunately, I have always reached out to God when I have been

happy. And whenever I've prayed, I've asked for the strength to follow
the right path, the ability to fight through testing times. I am not
overtly superstitious but wear a black thread from the last religious
place I visited.

I am at peace at home, when I am surrounded by people I love. I don't

think one needs a temple to find peace and connect with God. In fact,
the one place where I've been most at peace is Hampi in Karnataka,
where my unit was shooting far away and I took myself for a quiet
walk. I remember I just sat and listened to the sounds of nature — it
was most peaceful.

31
Rahul Dravid
I think most of my drive and determination to play the game is inborn.
Even as a young boy, I have always been focused on my cricket. In
fact, I think that's the only thing I've been consistently serious about.

“I don't know what spirituality means. Is it meditation? Is it a

connection with a higher power? Is it a state of being one
with your spirit? I have no idea.”

If I've ever felt remotely spiritual, it's on the cricket field. There are
times when I'm so immersed in the game that I'm oblivious to
everything around me.

That - I think - is as far as my level of spirituality reaches.

When I'm having a tough time - either personally or professionally - I
am most prone to looking inwards.

I find a lot of strength and courage within myself. It is only when I can't
sort out a problem in my mind that I look outwards or upwards for
solutions.

32
“Faith is all that there is”
- Jonty Rhodes

” My faith has allowed me to define my success. I believe

God had a plan for me to play cricket which is why he gave
me the ability to play cricket. “

My faith in the Almighty took a lot of pressure off me and allowed me

to enjoy my game. It is the key to my success.

Am I a spiritual person? Well, people would chide me that I never

visited church but I believed that my God was everywhere and was not
restricted to four walls. I can be equally close to God at backward
point, as while sitting in the front row of the church.

I draw my strength from my spirituality. It has taken me

through the toughest times. Especially when I am all by myself, away
from home.

Faith is all there is. When my good friend Hansie Cronje died, it was his
wife's faith that took her through this terrible time. I believe that God
helps you at just the right moments. And I'm not talking about winning
a tough game or playing a good bowler. God was never an ingredient
for my success on the field. God is meant for better things.

If there is one philosophy I live my life with, it is to be the best that

Jonty Rhodes can be, with the talents I am blessed with. I want to be
successful in every sphere of my life — be it personal or professional.

There is a distinct difference between religion and faith.

And while my parents gave me a religious upbringing, it was my wife

Kate who taught me the value of faith. She is a spiritual person and
infuses my life with positive energy. I have an amazing relationship
with her. And if you consider the difficult lifestyle I've led, it's no short
of a miracle.

33
Gurinder Chaddha
“Spirituality is taking time out to think about yourself, your
life and the lives of those who matter to you”.

It is discovering how you are and who you are. It is realising how to live
your life. And living it in a way that makes you proud and happy.

There is no substitute to peace of mind. One can have all the awards,
all the riches, all the fame in the world, and still be unhappy and
dissatisfied.

I was never a spiritual person. But I began looking inwards about five
years ago when my father died. Today, I am a much stronger human
being. Not because I have achieved what I have professionally, but
because I have begun to make time for my inner Self, my spirit.

I remember while shooting for Bride and Prejudice , we spent a few

days at Amritsar. The night we got there, everyone was tired and
weary but somehow had the enthusiasm to take a trip to Darbar
Sahab.

The lights of the gurudwara reflected in the water below and made for
a spectacular sight. Just sitting there, soaking in the scene, immersing
myself in the surroundings was a moving experience.

It was the nicest, quietest spiritual experience I have had in recent

times. I have always believed that life is the greatest teacher. When
the world is against you, when everything around you seems like it's
falling apart, look inwards.

Take every failure in your stride. I have never taken any adverse
circumstance personally. There always has to be a reason for things to
happen.

To be able to recognise a problem for what it is worth, to deal with it to

the best of one's ability, to learn from it and then to move on - that is
what inner strength is all about.

34
 SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALISM

INTRODUCTION:

Modern scientists, especially geneticists, have gone so far that it

appears as if the destiny of man lies in their hands. They proclaim that
in the feature they will make human beings according to demand and
necessarily.

This sort of scientific revolution started in 1543 with the publication by

Copernicus, the polish astronomer, of the heliocentric theory (i.e.… the
premise that planets revolve around the sun) E.E Snyder, in his book
history of physical sciences writes “since an understanding of the
natural world was possible through science that man should be able to
alter the world to his own ends and there by improve his nature. The
burden for man’s progress, than was on man, not god. God created the
universe so that it obeyed certain natural laws. These laws were
discovered by men (scientists); therefore god was not particularly
necessary except in a personal sense.”

My concern is to show that god is still as necessary as ever, and that

the further advancement of science itself is necessarily dependent on
this understanding, we have reached a point in our technological
capability where humanity, whose independence is the cornerstone of
the scientific edifice, is threatened by its own achievements.
Doomsayers abound, but weather the end comes by bomb, pollution,
automated loneliness or whether it comes at all, there can be no doubt
that a fundamental error is being committed in thinking that humanity
alone has all the answers.

Science-that is, observation and hypothesis- is a basic fact of the

mechanics of thoughts. What is lacking is the purpose. So instead of
centering one’s consciousness around temporary machines, one should
transfer his consciousness around temporary machines, one should
transfer his consciousness to god, the supreme scientist, knowing that
he is the central point for all activities there can be innumerable
concentric circles around a common center. Similarly, all scientists,
philosophers, businessman, politicians etc, can engage in god’s
consciousness, keeping god in the center of all their activities. Because
even zero, if it stands alone has no value. However, when a one is put

35
before it, it becomes ten. Similarly, all activities have no value unless
god is included within these activities.

When we think calmly and carefully about this wonderful universe, we

can see that everything in working under the control of a supreme
brain. The arrangements in nature are perfectly ordered. Things would
be at random without the careful planning of a scientific and
engineering brain. It is a common understanding that there is a cause
behind each action. A machine cannot run without an operator. Modern
scientists are very proud of automation, but there is a scientific brain
behind automation also. Even Albert Einstein agreed that there is a
perfect brain behind all the natural physical laws. When we talk about
“brain” and “operator”, these terms imply a person. They cannot be
impersonal. One may inquire who this person is. He is god, the
supreme scientist and engineer, under whose kind wills the whole
cosmos is working.

SCIENTIFIC EXAMPLES :
Now let us look into a few samples from the lord’s creation, and upon
contemplating these exemplary aspects, one should develop a better
understanding and appreciation of the existence of the most powerful
brain, i.e., god. The sun that we see daily is the nearest star. It is one
hundred earth diameters across and is ninety-three millions miles
away from the earth. Every day the sun supplies the solar system with
a tremendous amount of heat, light and energy.” The very tiny of the
sun’s energy is estimated to be 100,000 times greater than all the
energy used in the world’s industries.” The total energy the sun emits
in a single second would be sufficient to keep a one-kilowatt electronic
fire burning for 10,000 million years. In other words, it has contributed
so much for the human beings. Yet, it is one of the countless numbers
of stars floating in the sky in every direction. With the material
scientific brain, the thermal, electrical and nuclear power houses have
been made. These can supply heat, light and energy to a small, limited
extent, but god is supplying the whole planet with an unlimited source
of energy just from one sun. He has arranged the planets so
accordingly that they revolve in a systematic path around the sun.

Scientists have gained great acclaim for making a few space ships,
whereas god effortlessly produces gigantic spaceship, such as planets
and stars, which are perfectly equipped and maintained. Thus we
never see sun rising in the west and setting in the east. The Colorful
rainbow that we observe when the sun is shinning during a shower is

36
only visible when the sun is behind the observer, due to the laws of
refraction. Also, each year the season changes quite periodically,
producing symptoms unique to each season.

Now let us look into some aspects of the lord’s creations at the
molecular level. Chemists find that the different colors in flower are
due to chemicals called anthocyanine, and his different aromas are
mostly due to chemicals called trepans and terpeniods compounds.
The molecular frame works for these compounds range from very
simple structures to very complex networks. Camphor, for example, is
a terpenoid compound, and the characteristic odor of lemons is due to
the molecule called limonene, which is one of the simple trepans.
Similarly, the characteristic color in carrots and tomatoes are due to
molecule called cartenoids, which are higher forms of trepenes. The
molecular framework for each definite color or aroma is wonderfully
unique. A little change in position of a few atoms in the molecules, a
little variation in the geometry of the molecules or a slight change in
the size of the molecule can cause the color to change from orange to
red, a mild, pleasing aroma to become repellent and pungent, and a
Flavor to change from sweet to bitter. On one extreme we find the
smallest molecule, the H2 molecule, on the other extreme we find
giant molecules such as the proteins and nucleic acids (DNA, RNA),
which contain innumerable atoms, made for a definite function.
Similarly, the crystalline pattern of each different molecule is unique
.The geometrical shape for sodium chloride, graphite and demands are
all derived from the same elements, carbon, and yet the shinning and
transparent demand is extremely hard, where as graphite is soft, black
and opaque.

This is due to the difference in the crystalline forms of these

molecules .In the crystal lattes of the diamond, each carbon atom is
tetra hardly surrounded by four other carbon atoms at a distance of
1.54 angstroms .In graphite, by contrast, the three bonds of each
carbon atom are distorted so as to lie in the same plane, the fourth
bond being directly perpendicularly to this plane to link with a carbon
atom of the neighboring layer.

In this way, we can site innumerable examples of molecular networks

so fantastically and delicately arranged that chemists cannot but
wonder. About the most expert hand and brain who is making all these
wonderful artistic arrangements in his laboratory. Indeed, the
intelligence and ability of the supreme scientist, god is inconceivable.
There is no scientist who can deny it. How then can any chemist
abstain from appreciating the wonderful works of the supreme lord?
Thus one should mediate upon the supreme person, who is the

37
maintainer of every thing, who is beyond all material conception, who
is inconceivable, and who is always a person.

At best the scientist can only try to imitate the wonderful artistic works
of the supreme lord. They cannot do this properly, and most of their
attempts lead to failure and disappointments .For example, Prof R. B.
Woodward’s of Hayward, a noble prizewinner in chemistry (1965) and
Prof. A. Eschenmoser of Zurich took 11 years to synthesize the
vitamins b12 molecule. Altogether, 99 scientists from 19 different
countries were involved just to accomplish this one small task. Yet, god
is making this entire complex molecule at will.

Interestingly enough, when scientists fail again and again in their

attempts to make something, they consciously or unconsciously pray
to God for help. Does this not indicate the existence of the supreme
scientist in the natural subordinate position of all other living entities?
A crude example is the explosion that occurred inside the Apollo 13
spacecraft during its attempt to land on the moon on April 11, 1970.
The Apollo capsule was made by hundreds of scientific and
technological brains and cost million of dollars. No one could predict
that there would be an explosion. When it happened, however, and the
lives of the three astronauts were in danger, those involve in the
mission requested all the people on earth to pray for God for the safe
return of the astronauts. Such is the situation. At times of danger, most
people tend to remember God, although at other times they forget
Him.

Now let us look in to some very simple and graphic examples of the
artistry of the Lord’s creation. We see that among the lower forms of
living entities, social organization is very smoothly maintained. For
example, in a bee colony the queen bee is nicely taken care of by the
drones (male bees), while the workers collect nectar from the flowers
all day long. It is quite amazing to consider how the bees, with their
tiny bodies, can collect such a great amount of honey for themselves
as well as for other living entities. In this way, colony is maintained in
beautiful order. Similarly, the loving relationship between a mother and
her baby is quite clearly visible even in very small forms of living
entities. During the monsoon season in tropical countries, when there
are torrents of rain, the small ants run to find shelter, carrying their
eggs on their heads. The spider makes its wonderful webs with great
architectural skills to serve as shelter as well as to catch its prey for
survival. Silkworms spin hundreds of yards of fine threads to form
cocoons for their shelter during their pupa stage. Inside a tiny seed,
smaller than a size of mustard seed, the whole potency of a big banyan
tree is present. In this way, we can see the wonderful arrangements of

38
the supreme Lord, who is creating, maintaining and guiding all living
entities, small or big.

The main trouble with material scientist is that they generally neglect
the most important and fundamental aspect of their inquiries. For
example, when Newton saw the falling of the apples, he asked why and
how the apple fell. However, he did not inquire who caused the falling
of the apples. As an answer to his inquiry, he discovered the laws of
gravitation. His answer was that the apple fell because of the law of
gravitation. But who made the laws of gravitation? Because the apple
did not fall while green but while ripe. Therefore, Newton’s
gravitational theory was not enough to explain the falling of the apple.
There is some other cause behind the total scene of the falling and
thereby, behind the law of gravitation. That cause is God. Further
more, scientists have to know that the little ability they have is also
given by the god.

By various mechanical means (telescope etc), assumptions, empiric

theories and conceptual models, cosmologist and astronomers are
trying with tremendous vigor to understand what the universe is, what
its size is, and the time scale of its creations. At the present time they
are speculating that there may be a tenth planet in the solar system,
and they are trying to locate it. How far they will be successful in
finding real answer to their attempts only time can tell. But the fact is
that they will never be able to fully discover the secrets of nature,
which is the product of creation of God, the Supreme scientist. Any
thoughtful person can understand how foolish he is even to dream of
measuring the size of this universe, since he does not know completely
the nature of the Sun, the nearest star. For example, the philosophy of
Dr. Frog who lives in a well of three feet and has no idea how vast the
pacific ocean is but who speculates that the pacific ocean might be five
feet, ten feet etc. Comparing to his well. The point is that
comprehending the unlimited knowledge beyond by our limited means
is simply a waste of time and energy. All the knowledge is already
there in the authorized scriptures, the Vedas. One simply has to take
the knowledge from the supreme authority, God.

Certainly, the secrets of the universe cannot be unfolded by the tiny

brains of material scientists, we should agree without a doubt that
man’s vision in all directions is extremely limited by the inadequacies
of his senses, his technology and his intellect. None can deny the
existence of the supreme scientist, God. He is the proprietor and
knower of everything and only fools would argue about the existence
of the supreme Lord.

39
 MEDITATION

As from our previous discussion we can understand that what is

materialism, what are its causes and consequences, how humans are
different from other species of life and this conditioned soul undergoes
the threefold miseries in this world we can now really understand that
we need to get out of these miseries and realizing our self,
understanding the eternal relationship between this jiva and
paramtma is meditation.

Though many of us understand meditation to be some process in

which we concentrate on a particular object to experience relief from
stress and achieve some physical relaxation but this is not the
objective of this divine art. Any process of meditation has to ultimately
lead you to platform from where you can enter into an eternal
relationship with the supreme lord. If this objective is not achieved in
the process of meditation then that practice is nothing more than
mundane activity with no permanent results.

Before going into details of the matter lets first get acquainted with
how in general any sort of meditation works. In meditation the person
fixes his attention completely on the central object of all activities, that
is the supreme lord, the maintainer of all activities that is beyond
imperfections, miseries, contaminations of material nature and who is
the maintainer of all souls, then he starts experiencing the pleasing
aspect of that process. The person starts moving beyond the physical,
he starts experiencing the transcendental, the true bliss and he

40
rejoices in that state of life continuing in that state with faith ultimately
leads him to realization of GOD, which enlightens him and he attains
Moksha - the state of constant bliss.

After a person has attained that state of perfection he is free from the
effects of material nature. He is neither joyous in times of ecstasy nor
is he sad in periods of gloom. He maintains a life of constant mental
state where there are no confusions, no distortions. He lives a life
which is beyond perplexions of material life, the do’s and dont’s of
every day. After attaining this state of perfections the soul is free from
the cycle of birth and death.

THEORIES OF MEDITATION

THE INDIAN THEORY OF MEDITATION:

Most of the Indian practices of meditation are based on Yoga and
undertaking penance. Although nowadays yoga is used for physical
well being but originally its inception was not meant for this purpose. It
was meant for some elevated purpose of life.

Penance, which is more important in Indian philosophies because it

helps us to get detached from materialistic illusion of the world and
concentrate on your vital energies to get linked with the super soul.
Also this will help to open the doors of knowledge and wisdom to an
individual where he gets enlightened (attains Nirvana) after constant
untiring efforts.

The scriptures corroborate this fact:

“ Tad-Buddayas tad atmanas

tan nisthas tat parayanah
gacchanty apur-avrttim
jnana-nirdhuta-kalmasah ”
(Bhagvad Gita 5.17)

41
“When ones intelligence, mind faith and refuge are all fixed in the
Supreme then one becomes fully cleansed of misgivings through
complete knowledge and thus proceeds straight on the of liberation.”

“ Ihaiva tair jitah sargo

yesam savye sthitam manah
nirdosam li samam brahma
tasmad brahmani te sthitah ”
(Bhagvad Gita 5.19)

“Those whose minds are established in sameness and equalimity, have

already conquered the conditions of birth and death and thus they are
situated in Brahman.”

“Na prahsyet priyam prapya

nodvijet prapya cpriyam
sthira-buddhir asammudho
brahma –vid brahmanisthitah”
(Bhagvad Gita 4.20)

“A person who neither rejoices upon achieving some thing pleasant

nor laments upon obtaining something unpleasant who is
intelligent, who is un bewildered and who knows the science of god
is already situated in transcendence.”

“Bahya sparseva asaktatma

vindaty atmani yat sukham
sa brhma-yoga-yuktatma
sukham aksayam ashute”
(Bhagvad Gita 4.21)

“Such a liberated person is not attracted to material sense pleasure

but is always in trance enjoying the pleasure within. In this way the self
realized person enjoys unlimited happiness, for he concentrates on
Supreme. “

The Srimad- Bhagvatam further substantiates the reason to meditate

(5.5.1)

42
 “Nayam deho deha-bhajam nr-loke
Kaman arhate vid bhujam ye
tapo divyam putraka yena sattvam
suddhyed yasmad brhma –saukhyam tv anantam”

“My dear sons there is no to labor very hard for sense pleasure in this
human form of life. Such pleasures are available to the stool eaters
(hogs). Rather you should undergo penances in this life by your
existence will be purified and as a result you will be able to enjoy
unlimited transcendental bliss.”

Further the Padma Purana says:

“Ramante yogino nante

satyande cid atmani
iti Rama-padenasau
Param Brahmabhidhiyate”

“The mystics derive unlimited transcendental pleasures from the

absolute truth and therefore the Supreme absolute truth the
personality of God head is also known as Rama.”

Therefore a liberated person enjoys happiness by factual experience.

He can therefore sit silently at any place and enjoy activities of life
from within. Such a liberated person no longer desires external
material happiness this state is called Brahma-Bhuta attaining which
one is assured of going back to God head, back to home.

THE WESTERN PHILOSOPHY :

The western philosophies are basically Epicurean in nature. I say so
because it tells you to eat, drink, enjoy your life without much
introspection. It does not encourage you to know much about your
relationship with Lord much though you might be worshiping Lord
daily. Due to lack of austerities in the western practices there is lack of
amount of concentration you develop in your practice, which is the
most important part pf the practice.

43
THE PROCESS OF MEDITATION:
An important point to note here is that these variations in methodology
of meditation are not baseless but in fact are very important as they
are comprehensive with the age in which they are practiced. According
to the Vedic literature the life on the earth has been divided into four
periods or Yugas i.e. Satyuga , Dwaparyuga, Tretayuga and Kaliyuga.
All these yugas had different characteristics of people who were
present in that Yuga. For example in Satyuga people had unusually
long life span of thousands of years, they had brilliant memory, huge
and unlimited resources etc. Therefore in Satyuga people used to
meditate by means of undertaking penance. But as the ages passed
life of human being became shorter, his memory started failing, there
began scarcity of resources etc therefore in Dwaparyuga we had Deity
worship and in Tretayuga we had fire sacrifices. The present age,
which is the age of Kali or Kaliyuga, the process recommended by the
scriptures is one of Namasmaran or chanting.

In this method of chanting we repeatedly call out the name of our

supreme Lord and concentrate on the transcendental sound vibrations
of the God’s name. These transcendental vibrations purify our soul and
we start becoming spiritually elevated.

PRACTISING MEDITATION :
As already stated meditation can be done in many ways. Some do it by
controlling their breath and some other like to meditate by repeating
certain Mantras. There are persons who like to do devotional service. In
fact in the present age this form of meditation i.e. devotional service to
God and chanting is one of the most profound importance because the

44
flexibility it provides to individuals at the same time transforms him
both intellectually and spiritually.

Looking at how it works we can take the example of the meditation

where concentration is placed upon the breath passing through the
nostrils. In this we sit quietly with back straight on chair or ground and
set your attention on the breath passing through your nostrils. Every
time you inhale you say silently to yourself IN and every time you
exhale you say OUT Because this breath is the only evidence of your
life and all emotions are just activities of the mind therefore you start
connecting your emotions, thoughts and ideologies with your breath.
Every time you exhale you actually exhale lust, fear, anger, greed and
when you inhale let in come truth, joy, peace.

Basically if we see then these two eastern and western philosophies of

meditation are at two extreme ends there seems to be no compromise
on either of the two sides. So looking at this one might speculate of the
existence of some midway. Actually speaking in the terms of the
Indian Vedic literature there is no midway to attain liberation. But still
for the materialistic beginners we can have some theory, which
imbibes the best from the east and the west. One of such attempts is
the Osho’s philosophy.

45
OSHO’S PHILOSOPHY:

Osho’s philosophy is a blend of the best aspects of life from both east
and west ideologies. It considers all the aspects of existence together.
It discards the Epicurean philosophy of the west, which believes in
eating, drinking and merry making [ Epicurious (341-270B.C.) was a
Greek philosopher, Epicureanism, a school of philosophy based on the
belief that pleasure was the only worth while aim in life ].

People in west are fed up with Epicurean philosophy which states that
there is no need for doing any introspection and search for truth.

Osho also condemns the eastern philosophy in which eating, drinking,

having excessive sense enjoyment considered to be sinful. It does not
believe in ascetics, mahatmas and yogis because according to him a
life of so many regulations destroys the soul and the body.

Osho’s philosophy is a combination of Epicurean ideology and

Buddha’s principle. The philosophy is epicurean in the sense that it
believes in sense gratification which is prohibited up to a certain extent
in the Indian philosophy. But Osho’s philosophy at the same time also
imbibes the truth seeking principles of Buddha. It believes in
meditation

From the fusion of these two philosophies comes out one of his most
essential ideologies, that is, of Love and Meditation.

46
 LOVE & MEDITATION

Since now we have very clear-cut perceptions of the various

philosophies of meditation which can help us to liberate our self from
the cycle of birth and death. One thing that is very important and true
is that all of us have a tendency to love and in turn to get loved.
Although this instinct is more or less our present state of mind is
materialistic but this is so because we have not properly understood
the meaning of the word love and we have contaminated it to the
extent where we think that it’s essential to keep it outside the
boundaries of spiritualism. But this is not the real case. Love in its true
essence is spiritual. To understand this we first need to understand
what is love, truly speaking it is care, protection, affection without
physical, mental or intellectual exploitation. So something which is
beyond material contamination and follows this definition is bound to
be spiritual. There fore we can use this love as a medium of
meditation.

True love is spiritual because it is not contaminated by desires and

expectations. Therefore such love offers you pleasure, true pleasure.

Osho says that “there is no conflict in meditation and love and in fact
the more you meditate, the more you become capable of love, the
more you love the more you become capable of meditation………”

The highest possibility a man can arrive at, the greatest symphony is
when you can love and meditate together.

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 EPILOGUE

From matter to spirit, a metamorphosis which is the final goal of any

human endeavour. A quest for understanding the absolute truth, to
obtain the highest state of perfection, the least perturbed mind are the
final objectives of any spiritual practice or scientific venture.

Life is a journey, an opportunity, a precious one to understand the

causes of our suffering from time immemorial, the pain of repeated
birth and death, to be liberated from all the miseries, to be free from
this - “Dukhalayam” and enter the real world, the world with the
supreme lord at it’s center, where there is no place for dualism, no
pain, no suffering, just bliss – an eternal bliss.

So, before we close, we would once again like to say that we should
rise above this crude matter, and try to realise the spirit inside you and
others. Nourish the soul, not the body. This matter will dissolve in
matter, but this spirit will still exist, as neither was it born nor will it
annihilate.

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 REFERENCES

1. BHAGVAD GITA.
2. SRIMAD BHAGVATAM.
3. BRAHAM – SAMHITA.
4. PADMA PURAN.
5. CHANDOGYA UPNISHAD.
6. ISA UPNISHAD.
7. INTRODUCTION TO SPIRITUALITY.
-JAYANTBALA ATHAVALE
(SANATANA SANSTHA.)
8. LAMA YESHE’s WISDOM ARCHIVES.
- BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHER.
9. THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF KRISHNA
CONSCIOUSNESS.
- H.H. BHAKTI SVARUPA DAMODAR SWAMI.
(BHAKTI VEDANT BOOK TRUST)
10. SAVIJNANAM – SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION FOR
SPIRITUAL PARADIGM ,Vol. 1.2002.
(JOURNAL OF BHAKTI VEDANT INSTITUTE, 2002)
11. ORIGIN – HIGHER DIMENSION SCIENCE.
(JOURNAL OF BHAKTI VEDANT INSTITUTE.)
12. SPIRITUALITY FOR DUMMIES.
- SHARON JANIS, 2000.
13. Dr. JOHN G. WEST JR. ARCHIVES
(ACTION INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF
RELIGION AND LIBERTY,1996.)
14. LIFE COMES FROM LIFE.
- A.C. BHAKT IVEDANT SWAMI SRILA PRABHUPADA.
(BHAKTI VEDANT BOOK TRUST.)
15. SCIENCE OF SELF REALIZATION
- A.C. BHAKTI VEDANTA SWAMI SRILA
PRABHUPADA.
(BHAKTI VEDANT BOOK TRUST.)
16. EASY JOURNEY TO OTHER PLANETS.
- A.C. BHAKTI VEDANT SWAMI SRILA
PRABHUPADA.)
17. LAWS OF CIVILISATION.
- A.C. BHAKTI VEDANT SWAMI SRILA
PRABHUPADA.)
(BHAKTI VEDANT BOOK TRUST.)
18. THE ECONOMIST.
- MATHEW BISHOP.
THURSDAY, JULY 3 ,2001.

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19. JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY.
20. REUTERS NEWS NETWORK ARCHIVES.
21. THOUGHTS ON SYNTHESIS OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION.
(BHAKTI VEDANT BOOK TRUST.)
22. READINGS IN VEDIC LITERATURE
- SATSVARUPA DAS GOSWAMI.
(BHAKTI VEDANT BOOK TRUST.)

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