[Posted December 14, 2007]

The Mother of all mistakes

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

How a single mistake sets off a chain reaction of mistakes

YouTube - David Letterman and Bill O'Reilly

LETTERMAN LOSES IT

O'REILLY: I don't know. What I'm trying to tell you is this is geopolitics in the world we live in, it's incredibly complicated. The reason to go into Iraq was WMDs with a mad dictator. Okay?
LETTERMAN: That was a mistake.
O'REILLY: That was the reason. It was wrong. If we could go back in a time machine, we wouldn't do it.
LETTERMAN: But how does staying and killing more and more Americans make it right? How do you make a right decision out of a wrong decision?
O'REILLY: If you get out of—
LETTERMAN: It looks to me like the country is going to fall apart anyway, regardless of what people do. Do you think stability will prevail over there?
O'REILLY: Well, Dave, if you get out of Iraq and leave it in chaos, Iran comes in and takes over, and then we basically have a ten times worse situation, because the oil flow then goes under the jihadists in Iran. You want to debate geopolitics?
LETTERMAN: There you go. Really, it's all about oil. You just answered the question.
O'REILLY: Absolutely, it's all about oil. The whole world is about oil.
LETTERMAN: That's right. It's all about oil. That's why we're there. Big deal. go to story

The Bhaktivedantas World Sankirtan Party and Inside Nam Hatta are hosted by Hansadutta das, a senior disciple of Srila Prabhupada and trustee of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. Participate or learn more about World Sankirtan Party.

Who are you?

The Premise is the Problem Hansadutta das

Mistakenly accepting the material body as one's self, the conditioned soul is busy from morning till night searching for food, shelter, protection and sex, and in the struggle to obtain all these bodily necessities he develops love, friendship and society (social position) with similarly bewildered conditioned souls like himself. These three relationships are the platform from which he shows off his acquired material WEALTH, WOMAN and PRESTIGE. In this way the material existence is just like the atmosphere of a mental institution in which every inmate imagines himself to be someone or something he is not. Thus he is a madman. more

The basic principle is wrong

excerpt from interview with The Star reporter, Johannesburg, October 16, 1975

REPORTER: If I asked you to give the people who will read my article a message...

PRABHUPADA: This is my message, that the whole civilization is misdirected, giving importance on the body, but the living force within the body, he does not know anything about.

REPORTER: But what message would you give to people in terms of helping people, perhaps, to live better lives?

PRABHUPADA: Yes. But if the basic principle is wrong, then all their plans for becoming happy is also wrong. So he does not know what is the important factor. So when he comes to know that he is not this body, he is spirit soul—he studies what is the nature of the spirit soul, what is the necessity of the spirit soul—then he becomes happy. If he is under misconception... Suppose if I take you, Mr. Singer, as the coat, and I take care of the coat and not of you, person, then is that very good proposal? So that is going on. They are taking care of the shirt and coat, not the person who is putting on the shirt and coat. This is the mistake of the modern civilization.

And the Krishna consciousness movement is an attempt to correct it, not theoretically, but by scientifically, by philosophically, economically, religiously, everything. Therefore we have got so many books. We are trying to distribute, enlighten people. This is our business. Then people will be happy.

Unless one who knows "what I am, and what is my business, what is my aim of life," then how he can be happy? Just like a dog is jumping here and there, here and there, but he does not know what is the aim of life, so if we do not come to the spiritual platform, that we remain animal like cats and dogs, then what is the civilization of cats and dogs? If you keep the dogs as dog and if you ask some of them to come together and make a peace formula, is it possible the dogs will be able to make any peace formula? Because they are dogs, they will go on barking. That's all. So we are attempting so many peace formula, but we are keeping the consciousness on the body, exactly like the dog. And therefore there is no peace. There cannot be any peace. First of all you must come to the real platform, the living force, what is that spirit soul, what is the necessity, what is the aim. That you do not know.

Sri Guru and Gauranga