Miscellaneous
1. Under what circumstances is a person justified in killing another human being?
2. Why do you often quote from the Bible while talking about Hindu religion and tradition?
3. Are you interested in purifying the Hindu religion or in world peace?
4. Why does the body of the yogi not give out a bad odor even after several days after death?
5. If we catch a fraud guru by error, what will be our fate?
7. Can you please give the message on Sankara Jayanti?
8. Why do you criticize Hindus so often and praise Christians and Muslims?
1. Under what circumstances can a human being kill another human being?
A) When one human being tries to kill another human being, then alone is the other one justified in killing the first. In short killing a human being is justified only in self defense. For no other sin of a human being should he be killed by another. This applies even to all living beings. You should not kill any living being when it is not going to kill you. Likewise on a societal scale, the punishment of death should be meted out only if the crime is murder.
The crime and its punishment have to be equitable. Every sin and its punishment (given by God) are also equitable. The Dharma sastra enumerates various punishments for various crimes. The Dharma sastra is in the realm of pravrtti, which means the behavior of a human being with other living beings. Lord Rama taught pravrtti. On the other hand, nivrtti means worshipping the Lord in human form. The incarnation of Krisna represents nivrtti. One should concentrate on the human incarnation of the Lord, who alone can give salvation. Pravrtti (righteous worldly action) disappears when you are able to cut the bonds with your family members and even the bond with your body and life. The aim of the human life is nivrtti and not pravrtti. Beyond the minimum requirements, one should not waste time on pravrtti.
2. Why do you quote from the Bible while talking about Hindu religion and tradition?
A) I want to bring world peace by establishing a common platform which unites all religions. Unless this unity is brought about, brotherhood among the followers of various religions will not be possible. Religion is only the external wrapping. The same spirituality is packed in different religions. Whatever may be the color of the external plastic insulation of a wire, the metallic wire inside and the electric current flowing though it are the same in all wires. Whatever may be the color of the plastic cover, each wire provides the same electricity that rotates the fan.
For the sake of money, men quarrel with one another without recognizing that the same soul that is present in all human beings. Similarly, countries fight with one another over religious differences, without recognizing the spiritual oneness in all the religions. If you want to convey the greatness of religion to a person of a different religion, you must first expose the common points between your religion and his religion. Then alone can that person become your friend. Later on you can reveal the spiritual greatness of your religion. Thus he will understand and appreciate your religion. If you analyze deeply, spirituality to the same depth is present in all the religions. The Lord is One and came to different countries and taught the same Truth in different languages. Religion is only the external culture consisting of dress, food habits, language etc. Spirituality is the subject related to the One God who created this entire universe.
3. Are you interested in purifying the Hindu religion or in the world peace?
A) Both these programs are on my agenda. For the first program I need the support of rich Hindus and for the second program I need the support of rich people of any religion in the world. I want to clean my house as well as my town. Both are important.
4. Why does the body of the yogi does not give out a bad odor even after several days after death?
A) The yogi he who participates in the service of the Lord in human form as said in the Bhagavad Gita (karma yogena yoginam). Service means practical sacrifice. Sacrifice alone proves the lack of even an iota of selfishness. Selfishness is the bad odor. Sacrifice is the sweet scent. People mostly sacrifice mere words and mind (feelings) to the Lord, that too, in their spare time only.Their sacrifice is completely illusory and false. This is the reason why the body of any person gives a bad odor soon after death.Since the yogi is the embodiment of sacrifice, his body does not give a bad odor. This is the reason why the fragrance of the sacred lotus flowers, scented sacred ash, sandal paste etc., coming from the Lord, is often experienced by devotees. (Devotees of Swami often experience the sweet fragrances). The Lord is Datta, which means dana or sacrifice. He is the embodiment of the sweet fragrance.
5. If we catch a fraud guru by error, what will be our fate?
A) The Veda means knowledge.When the knowledge is given to you to identify the real human form of the Lord and if you fail in identifying the real human incarnation and catch a fraud guru you are lost. In the chemistry laboratory, you are given a chemical and the procedure to identify it. If there is an error in doing the analysis according to the given procedure, your identification is wrong and you fail the examination. However there is another chance given to the failed students to re-take the examination. In this re-examination, you must revise your laboratory procedure, carry out the analysis correctly, identify the chemical and pass the examination.In real life, you even if have been decieved by a fraud guru and have 'failed' once, you must identify the Sadguru or the Lord in human form, before your life ends. Otherwise, you cannot be sure of the human birth again (jantuna? narajanma durlabhamidam- Sankara in the Vivekacudamani).
6. Lord Jesus, in the Bible, said "The first will be last and the last will be first". Please can you explain this?
A) People who by their mere sacrifice of words and feelings and their dramatic display of devotion or scholarliness, stand in the first place in the eyes of world, are pushed to the last position by the Lord who can easily see through their fake devotion. On the other hand people who do not express their love in words and mind and do not display their devotion but sacrifice practically, may stand in the last position in the eyes of the world. However the Lord will push such people to the first position as He recognizes their genuineness. A gravel stone covered by a glittering paper is placed first by the world and a diamond covered by dust is placed last. The Lord reverses these positions.
7. Can you please give the message on Sankara Jayanti?
A) The right side (daksina) of Datta is the form of Guru. Datta is the united form of the three forms (Brahma, Visnu and Siva). Therefore in the south (also called as daksina) of India the three Gurus viz., Sankara (Siva), Ramanuja (Visnu) and Madhva (Brahma) were born as three Gurus. All the human Gurus must treat them as their Gurus. The left side of Datta is the form of Bhagavan. Therefore Rama, Krisna etc., were born as incarnations of Bhagavan in the north of India,.who are the ideals for the human beings. Sankara had only four disciples. He never craved for disciples, fame or money unlike the human Gurus of today. Nowadays, if there are ten disciples, the Guru collects ten paise from each disciple and gets one rupee. The aim of Sadguru (the real Guru) is not to earn one rupee. Instead His aim is to completely cut off the attachment to money of of at least one deserving disciple and give him salvation. Therefore the Sadguru takes one rupee from such a single deserving disciple. He will make that disciple sacrifice one rupee. The Lord came as a guest to the house of Saktuprasta. The aim of the Lord was to liberate Saktuprasta and his family from the bonds of money and to give them salvation. The aim of the Lord was not to pacify His Own hunger because the Lord has no hunger. The Lord in the form of a guest asked for the entire food that was prepared for the family. A beggar goes to ten houses and earns his complete meal. An inefficient teacher collects the fees from ten students and each student gets performs poorly and fails. The aim of such a teacher is not to help the student pass but to eke out a living for himself. An efficient teacher on the other hand, concentrates on only one deserving student and makes sure that he passes with flying colors. A doctor in a subsidized government hospital gives some medicine for temporary and symptomatic relief from a disease affecting the patient. He does not care what happens to the patient after he walks out of the door. However a responsible doctor from a reputed hospital conducts all the necessary tests makes a good diagnosis and cures the disease. The doctor of the government hospital takes a fee of ten rupees from ten different patients. The doctor from the reputed hospital collects a hundred rupees from a single patient. In Shirdi several householders were ready to give food to Sai Baba. But Sai took food only from five houses through out His life. He wanted to liberate those five deserving devotees. His aim was not the food. A beggar goes to all houses since his aim is only getting food. This is the difference between a Sadguru and a Guru. Today the human gurus are unable to liberate even a single person through their preaching. They are similar to the barber on the Tirupathi hill who performs the ceremonial tonsure. In his effort to catch as many customers as possible, the barber shaves several customers partly so that they cannot leave and go to another barber. He will be surrounded by ten partly-shaved barbers. A modern day human guru is like this barber. He too is surrounded by several half-baked disciples. No disciple is completely liberated. The aim of present human guru is getting the fame of having several disciples and collecting enough money from all the disciples. The human guru is not interested in the final welfare of any single disciple. The Sadguru aims at the liberation of at least a single disciple. However, His preaching is always harsh because it is truth. The preaching of human Guru is always false and sweet. When a diabetic patient goes to a restaurant and asks for sweets by paying ten rupees, the owner of the restaurant promptly supplies the sweets and does not enquire about his diabetes. Therefore he appears sweet to you. This is the case of the human Guru. The case of Sadguru (Guru Datta) is different. The 'Datta Cafe' is very peculiar. When you go to the 'Datta Cafe' and ask for the sweet, the owner will charge you rupees thirty for a blood test. If the test comes positive for diabetes, he will charge another ten rupees and will give you a bitter medicine. You have lost forty rupees and during blood test you feel lot of misery when He pricks you with the needle. You will get lot of unhappiness while taking the medicine. However it is easy to see that He alone cares for your well-being and health. This is the difference between the human Guru and the Sadguru. Therefore today all the human gurus must remember Adi Sankara who is a Sadguru.
8. Why do you criticize Hindus so often and praise Christians and Muslims?
A) I am interested in the spiritual welfare of Hindus. They are being misled by selfish gurus, who are masters in twisting real meaning of the scriptures to suit their own convenience. I am angry with those false gurus and I pity the Hindus who are misled by these gurus. Hindus are not serious about spirituality unlike Christians and Muslims.
Most of the Hindus are only bothered about their families and wealth. They even try to use the Lord as an instrument for their happiness. The root cause is that the Hindu gurus twisted the Hindu scriptures and popularized a wrong concept that a soul gets several human births. Consequently people try to postpone spirituality for their old age. They think that it is just a pastime of old folks who have nothing better to do. They spend the active years of their lives immersed in family bonds and material life. This attachment to their family and wealth enters each and every cell of such people by the time they get old. Then they become so addicted to this attachment that they cannot live without it.
Sankara could cut the bond with his mother when he was a child. Hanuman could not cut the bond with his mother even in his old age and fought with the Lord for the sake of his mother. These old people who are unable to get rid of their attachment then conveniently postpone their spiritual effort to the next human birth and just continue wallowing in their attachment to their family. Such postponement of the spiritual effort is characteristic of the misguided Hindu.
In Christianity and Islam, there is no concept of human re-birth. According to these two religions, after this human birth, the final enquiry will be done and the soul will either reach the Lord or will be thrown into an eternal hell. This belief creates the necessary urgency and seriousness for the spiritual effort from the beginning. If you declare that there is no re-examination for those who fail in the examination, students will be serious from the beginning. If you say that there are an unlimited number of re-examinations for the failures, students will have no urgency or seriousness. They will postpone their studies till the last month and then the last week before the exam untill it is to late. Finally they will convince themselves that since it is impossible to pass the examination at that state, it is better that they do not write the examination at all. They think it is better to take the examination the next time. There is always a next time!
If we research the Hindu scriptures, the reality comes out. The same Lord told the same Truth in all the religions but in different languages. That which is a fact is valid irrespective of the religion, land or time. The principle of conversion of mass into energy (E=mc2) discovered by Einstein remains the same everywhere. Thus, the real interpretation of Hindu scriptures also shows that there is no human re-birth for a soul.
The teacher's harsh criticism of the student, who is in error, should not be misunderstood as it is meant only to correct the student. Datta is the Universal Guru. He makes no distinction between religions. All human beings in this world are the same to Him. He is the creator of the entire creation. His criticism is the bitter medicine that gives you spiritual health by destroying the illness of ignorance. The sweet words of false gurus are the sweets, which bring you illness.
9. Your photo as Lord Ve?ka?esvara is wonderful and appears as if you are stating that you are Lord ve?ka?esvara. Can you give us a song to associate with that photo?
A) I am the Lord of the seven hills and I am the ruler of the fourteen worlds.
.. I am the protector in your problems and I am resting on the Lord of the Serpents.
.. I am the collector of money with interest and I donate all the boons here.
.. I am the One you prostrate to in every step and I measured this earth with one step.
.. I am the idol in cilukuru and I am in human form in the house of cilukuru.
.. Those who recognize Me alone can come to Me with full faith.
.. Those who do not recognize Me will go away with a scoff.
10. We came to know that your devotees started a website under the heading "UNIVERSAL SPIRITUALITY". Can you give the details of this?
A) UNIVERSAL RELIGION - PART I
Followers of each religion say that theirs is the 'only true path' to the Lord. They also add that all other paths lead to hell. If you say that your religion is the only true religion and that other paths lead to hell, I have one humble question to you. This question is posed to every religion without any bias. The simple question is: Today I hear of your religion and that it is the only correct path to God. So if I follow it, I will reach God and if I refuse I will go to hell for my own fault. This seems to be very much reasonable. However before this time, I had not heard of your religion. Moreover, centuries ago, when your religion had not spread to my land, my ancestors lived here. They lived in total ignorance of your religion, its prophets or its scriptures. Then according to the earlier statement that your religion is the only true path to God, my ancestor could not have reached God. He would have most certainly gone to hell for no fault of his. I would then have to hope that my ancestors would take rebirth in the present time and hear about your religion and follow it so that they may be able to reach God. However you rule out even that possibility since you say that there is no rebirth for the soul. Thus my ancestor suffered forever for no fault of his. This is sheer injustice and the responsibility falls entirely on God. We come to an unfortunate and absurd conclusion that God must be biased. He revealed the 'only true path' to only a particular land and a particular people and in a particular time. Had the God been impartial, He would have revealed your religion, which is the 'only true path' to all lands in all times equally. Had that happened, my ancestor might have also had the opportunity to reach God. However your assertion contradicts this possibility. Therefore we have to settle with the conclusion that God is partial.
The only way out of this absurdity is that you must accept that your God appeared in all the lands and in different times in different forms. He preached the same 'true path' to different people in their language and according to their culture. Of course the external form of His preaching was different, but the essential message was the same. This is but natural as cultures, mentalities, and languages of people in different lands and ages are different. The Lord taught the same Truth in the most effective and relevant way possible. It is like the same syllabus of a subject such as physics being taught in different media of instruction. The science remains the same. The concepts and their explanations remain the same. The language alone differs. This facilitates learning since the student leans the subject in his own mother tongue. This is the only way to resolve the above absurdity that God is partial. Can you contradict my explanation and provide any other reasonable solution to this problem? Certainly not! Any person of any religion in the world can pose the question to you that if your religion is the only true religion then how.can you prove that your God is impartial?
Moreover every religion states that their God alone created this world. Unfortunately this world is one. How can the Gods of each religion create the same world independently? There are not several worlds to justify that each God created His own world. Therefore any human being with an iota of commonsense has to agree that there is only one impartial God who created this one world and He came in different forms to different countries and preached the same path in different languages.
Let this logic, which is the sword of divine knowledge, cut rigid conservatism of the religious fanatics in this world. Thus alone will there be Universal Peace. I need not beg and plead to all these religious followers to be united and harmonious with each other for the sake of world peace. Enough of such appeals were made in the past. The influence of such appeals is limited and temporary. The followers of each religion feel that although there is no real unity in different religions they should still live in harmony with other religions because their kind hearts melted by these appeals. Thus appeals bring about a unity through the heart. It is only a temporary change. At the most a generation or two of the followers of different religions lived in harmony. The subsequent generations again resumed fights with each other with a vengeance because they felt that there is no real unity in the different religions.
The root cause of this notion that there is a difference among religions is the scriptures of each religion. There are glaring contradictions in the scriptures of different religions. As long as these contradictions remain, there cannot be a unity among religions. A permanent solution can never be reached by merely appealing to the hearts and better sense of people. Real unity can be brought about only by uniting the scriptures; by resolving mutual contradictions. This resolution is possible only with Divine Knowledge, which is the source of all scriptures. A logical approach is essential. Thus followers of various religions will be united for generations together. Therefore, My strategy is not to appeal to the hearts of the followers through love and kindness. My strategy is to directly attack the contradictions among religious scriptures with an intellectual and logical analysis of divine knowledge. Unity through the heart is temporary. Unity through intellectual and analytical divine knowledge will be permanent. Hearts agree but brains realize. Agreement is temporary, but realization is permanent. This is the first trumpet of My divine conch shell for the permanent unity of all the religions and achieving eternal and universal peace.
11. What are the various factors, which disturb world peace, and how does your universal spirituality address them?
A) Following are some of the ways in which world peace is disturbed:
Communal wars based on religious differences:
Every religion says that God created this entire world. Since there is only one world, the God mentioned by each religion must also be One. Now every religion also believes that that One God is impartial and that all individuals in this creation are equal to Him. If that is the case then such an Impartial God must give an equal opportunity to every individual in the creation to approach Him and achieve the spiritual goal. The scriptures of every religion are believed to the revealed Word of God by the followers of that religion. The spiritual knowledge given by the Lord in these scriptures is the means to attain the spiritual goal. Now since there is One Impartial God, He must have revealed the same spiritual knowledge in every land, in every time and in every language. This spiritual knowledge alone is recorded in the scriptures of the world. If this is not true then one would have to accept that God is partial.
The problem arises when each religion claims exclusivity. Each religion says that theirs is the only true path and that their scriptures alone are the revealed Word of the Lord. They also claim that other religions are not true paths and that their scriptures are not the revealed Word of God. They say that followers of their religion alone will go to heaven and attain the Grace of the Lord while followers of other religions will be thrown to an eternal hell.
In olden times, when most of the known religions were founded, communication between different lands was minimal or non-existent. In such times, the Lord had preached the 'true religion' in only one land to one people and in one language. This makes it exceedingly unfair to other lands. Millions of people, who were not fortunate to be born in that land were unable to receive the divine message and for no fault of theirs, were thrown into a permanent hell. The only conclusion that could be drawn out of this is that God must have been partial to have given the 'true religion' to a privileged few belonging to one land and one culture. At least some of the people who got thrown into hell could arguably have followed the 'true path' and reached God.
Suppose we assume that somehow, communication was possible even in that time. Then people on all continents might have received the divine message of that 'true religion'. Therefore one can argue that people of that time did get an equal opportunity to follow the true path. Also, people who lived in later times could follow that religion and reach God. Yet people who lived before the time that the Lord preached the 'true religion' were not fortunate enough to get that message. They got thrown into an eternal hell for no fault of theirs. That makes God partial again.
One possible counter-argument could be that those who were consigned to hell could later take re-birth and be born in an appropriate land and time where they could get the opportunity to hear about and follow the 'true path'. However this possibility too is eliminated when most religions do not accept rebirth. This makes the scene even grimmer. So the souls who went to hell for no fault of theirs have no escape from terrible suffering for all eternity.
Another argument could be that God taught that special knowledge in that old time to a particular land and people since He had planned it in such a way that that country alone had all the deserving human beings and other countries had none. It is just like an intensive coaching given to a special class containing the top most students. However commonsense and observation will show that good and bad, deserving and undeserving persons are found randomly distributed in all countries, and all times. The so-called privileged land where the Lord gave His message may have contained many people with a demonic nature and some distant land may have had highly devoted and deserving individuals. In fact we have evidence of the existence of some of worst men during the time that the Lord preached His message. When Lord Krisna lived in this world, there were cruel and unjust people who were guilty of heinous crimes. These sinners fought with the Lord and went to great lengths to try to destroy Him. Similarly, people living in the same land and time as Lord Jesus, opposed Him. They went to the extent of crucifying Him. When Prophet Muhammad preached his religion there were people constantly warring with Him. This proves that good and bad people were randomly distributed in all countries and times. Thus the argument that Lord preached the true path to a certain land which had only deserving individuals and that other lands did not have any deserving individuals is flawed.
The only way out of this predicament is to accept that there is only Impartial God who created the world. He alone came in the form of all the different prophets of the world and preached in different lands and different times to teach the same universal message of spirituality. He taught in different languages and according to the culture and requirements of the people to whom He preached. All the scriptures are His revealed Word. All contain the same essential message which is the Universal Spirituality.
Faith
Some people say that it is no a question of arguments and counter-arguments but it is a question of faith. One keeps faith in one's religion being the only true religion and one holds on to it. Here we have to clearly understand that faith is the final part of the path to reach God. However, faith should not be blind. It should be the result of true knowledge, which is the fruit of a logical analysis.
A scientist too believes in a theory or concept. However that theory or concept must have been previously proved and established beyond doubt, by practical experiments followed by a detailed logical analysis. This is true faith. Such faith stands permanently and will appeal even to the hearts of scholars and ordinary people alike. Such faith alone can be universal.
Faith without logical analysis and proof is blind. It gives birth to fanatics. A fanatic may come and kill you because he believes in some distorted and corrupted form of a religion. His faith is to kill other people. Can you tolerate his faith and get killed by him? No, you will resist him and have him arrested. You would want to take him to court. Suppose the advocates and the judge are ot interested in arguments, logical analysis and the truth, but hold on to their faith and decide the case based on their faith. Would you tolerate it?
In the scriptures of every religion, we find the prophets giving statements which declare their uniqueness and their identity with God. E.g Lord Jesus says 'I am the light, I am the path', 'I and My father are One', 'One can reach My father only through Me' etc. Every fanatic misunderstands these statements to be statements of exclusivity. He thinks that his religion alone is the path. Its prophet alone is identical with God and all the religions are false.
Suppose there is a person who is neutral and wishes to join some religion. Which religion he should join? Follower of each religion says that theirs is the best religion and the only true religion.
The above concept of One Impartial God, who created this one world, clearly demands the unity in all the human incarnations and in all the religious scriptures. Proper interpretation of the statements of scriptures can achieve this unity. For example, Lord Jesus declares His oneness with God, His Father. The word 'I', used by Lord Jesus in the Bible, means the human incarnation in general. It is called Emmanuel (Heb. 'with us is God'). It means that God comes to live with human beings. The Bhagavad Gita also says that God enters the human body. God pervades all over the human body like electricity pervades all over the wire. The electricity and the wire become one and the same. This is the interpretation of oneness of Father and the Son.
One can experience God only through the medium in which He is present. In His Cosmic form, He is beyond our reach. Thus the human beings can experience God through human incarnation only. This is the interpretation of the statement that one can reach the Father only through the Son. Every human incarnation clearly preaches the special knowledge which clearly throws light on every minute detail. Such interpretations reveal the real universal meaning of scriptures.
When a mother says to her children 'all children must serve me', she does not mean that all children in the world should serve that mother alone. The children residing in faraway lands cannot possibly serve her. The correct interpretation of her statement is that all of her children should serve her. When you generalize her as any mother, then it means that every child should serve his or her own mother. Thus conservatism leads to ignorance while generalization based on the essential truth leads to universal knowledge.
Suffering in the world
We find in the world that people are suffering due to poverty, disease and violence and natural calamities. This suffering is given to a soul as a punishment for previously committed sins. People commit dreadful deeds which hurt and pain other individuals. God's administration is most just and impartial. Every good deed will be rewarded and every bad deed punished. There is no escape from this foolproof system. The greatest sin is turning away from God. In the world, people chase after worldly wealth and pleasures with selfishness and greed. They become so attached to their own body and their families that they totally forget God. They forget the sense of righteousness and commit injustice and dreadful deeds. It becomes necessary for God to intervene and turn the defaulters back to Him. All suffering, be it in terms of poverty, violence, disease, or calamities is given to a person as a punishment meant change the person. It is a disincentive for bad deeds caused by forgetting God. Through the punishment, the Lord wishes the defaulters to identify and rectify their mistake and turn to God.
Futility of philanthropy
Suppose a person is suffering due to poverty and you, in a bout of philanthropy, give him a large sum of money to alleviate his suffering. This help amounts to interference in the administration of the Lord. There is no reason for you to sympathize with that person and take it upon yourself to solve his problem. The Lord cares for him more than you pretend to care for him. The parental love of the Lord is greater than your brotherly love. God wants him to achieve far more than what you can provide. Only the grace of God can end the punishment forever.
Your compassion for those suffering is not entirely useless. If you preach divine knowledge to them and help them turn to God, then you have actually helped them. That way, you are not interfering in God's administration but assisting it. God's aim is not to make them suffer needlessly but to turn the one's who are suffering towards Him. Any physical help such as donating money to the poor if done as secondary or complimentary to the main activity of preaching divine knowledge and devotion is acceptable. The divine knowledge and devotion will bring a change in him and you have served the purpose of the punishment. Then God is pleased with you and also will show grace on that poor person. His poverty will vanish forever. Therefore social service must be integrated with spiritual mission.
Mere social service is like providing students with mere boarding and lodging without any teaching or classes. Lodging and boarding is secondary. Education is primary. Lodging and boarding is acceptable if given complimentary to education. Without education, it is worthless as the students will remain as ignorant as ever. Therefore Sankara denounced the sect called loka sevaka matam, whose motto was "Service to man is service to God". Mother Theresa did a lot of social service. However she integrated it with spirituality. Therefore her work was commendable. Social work alone is only a temporary solution. Spiritual preaching integrated with social work is the permanent solution.
Limitations of science
Science too aims at benefiting human society. However science is devoid of spiritual knowledge. Hence we find that advancement in science, while providing some temporary benefit and comfort has bred a whole new generation of problems for the human race and life on earth. Discovery of the atom and atomic energy gave birth to nuclear power plants but it also gave birth to the atom bomb, radioactive pollution, and increased incidence of cancers. It is the same story for all scientific inventions, discoveries and advancements. Simultaneous with technological advancement there is advancement in environmental degradation, pollution, crime, violence and insecurity. The root cause of such a predicament is the lack of spiritual basis to science and scientists. They try to serve the society without any spiritual basis and end up doing more damage than good.
Corruption
Corruption is usurping the wealth of others for one's own comfort and that of one's family. The body is like a seat in the train and you are the soul which is like the passenger. The family members are like just co-passengers sitting next to you, in the same train. For the comfort of yourself and that of certain co-passengers, (your family) you are robbing other passengers in the train. Life is like a very short train journey. Your co-passengers will get down at their respective destinations and will not even remember you later. You have to leave your seat too eventually. After the death, you have to leave your family members. They will not recognize you and nor will you recognize them in the next birth.
After getting down from the train of this life, you have to face the interview with God. You will be judged and will enjoy permanent happiness or endure permanent misery. Therefore, during the journey of this life you must concentrate on the preparation for that great interview. There is no point on wasting time and efforts in worrying about the luxuries and comforts of yourself and co-passengers. The journey is very short and a great interview awaits you at its end. This alone should be on your mind.
The bonds with co-passengers such as your family and friends are temporary and unreal. Sankara says that whatever is temporary must be unreal. The bond, which did not exist before and which will not exist in future, does not exist in the present. Such spiritual realization will remove the covetousness for wealth and comforts. One will understand the foolishness and futility of appropriating others' wealth. This alone will control corruption and crime permanently.
Atheists vs. Theists:
The atheists accept direct perception of objects and logical conclusions based on perception and practical experience. They are generally averse to blind and unverifiable beliefs. They are averse to concepts such as heaven, hell or a God in heaven and so on since none of them are verifiable by perception. Another objection that atheists have against theists is the lack of a rational or a logical approach. A theist given to blind faith, dogmas and irrationality can never resolve the arguments of the atheist.
Real spiritual knowledge alone can resolve the objections of the atheist. The human incarnation of God is available to direct perception. There is no need to believe in an imaginary God sitting on a golden throne above the clouds. The Lord is right here on earth, before your eyes. You can talk to Him and interact with Him. You can experience God through the human incarnation in this world itself and in this very life.
Infinite love and bliss derived from the special divine knowledge preached by the human incarnation of the Lord are enjoyed here itself. Enjoyment of love and bliss is the goal of any worldly bond. Yet the love and bliss derived though any worldly bond is limited in both intensity and duration. The love and bliss derived through the bond with God is both permanent and infinite in intensity. The devotee gives up all his worldly bonds in favor of this single bond. Detachment from all worldly bonds such as the bonds with family and wealth is called salvation. The bonds are in this world and before our eyes. The liberation from these bonds is also right here in this world. This is salvation or jivanmukti. It means salvation while you are alive.
Whatever one achieves while living, continues with the soul after death. Thus perception alone is the basis for the future which is beyond perception.
