The Peace Formula

The great mistake of modern civilization is to encroach upon others’ property as though it were one’s own and thereby create an unnecessary disturbance of the laws of nature.

We are witnessing a world in turmoil right now, with nations at war with each other. And I am reminded of the peace formula that Srila Prabhupada has given us. He first presented the peace formula in an early edition of Back to Godhead Magazine, then in the Bhagavad-gita, and it appeared in many small books and pamphlets. We share with you today, a sampling of the peace formula in some of the early small books.

“A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.” (Bhagavad-gita 5.29)

The politicians and diplomats are trying to establish peace in the world. We have the United Nations and many other organizations. They are working to establish real peace and tranquillity, to eliminate misunderstanding between man and man and nation and nation. But that is not happening. The defect is that the root is wrong. Everyone is thinking, “It is my country,” “It is my family,” “It is my society,” “It is my property.” This “my” is illusion. This “I-and-my” philosophy is māyā-illusion.

Whatever Happened to the Revolution?

My dear friend from the Prabhupada Connection, Padmpani Prabhu, sent me the following post in my mail box the other day and gave me his permission to post it. So with great pleasure we are posting it here.. Please, if you havn’t already, check out his famous site The Prabhupada Connection

Whatever Happened to the Revolution?

For many of us who came of age in the Sixties and Seventies, the counterculture and its promise of an alternative society based on love and peace was an important part of our lives. Art, music, poetry, philosophy, ecology and human rights were just a few of the buzzwords floating through the collective psyche of the Sixties generation. Revolution was in the air. “The establishment” was doomed and soon to be replaced with a kinder, gentler society. Peace would reign supreme and all peoples of the world would unite and be free from the chains of oppression. Or so we thought.

At the time, it appeared that massive cultural changes were about to sweep away the capitalist system (or the “military industrial complex,” as we used to call it). Every day there was a new victory for change. Underground newspapers proliferated, broadcasting the latest progress reports: the sit-ins, the love-ins, the be-ins, the antiwar and civil rights demonstrations, the Democratic National Convention of 1968, the Chicago Seven Trial, Woodstock, etc. Something was happening here, and it was big.