"Network of Illusions?"

A good friend of mine, who has been a Hare Krishna for 30 years, is a non-computer person--he prefers to fix toilets and washing machines and like that, at the Temple, and to look on the internet as a "network of illusions"--"no," I tell him, it's a tool for communication' --I think that is an understatement, dont you?

Devotees find their "service", after they have been around for a while--he is a handy guy and I am a writer--non-writers and writers cant communicate well, either---and people who read a lot of books dont neccesarily understand people who write them.

Of course, I cant install doors or pour cement or all that, but I can try to write in such a manner that you will not be scared off and you will find something interesting, or humorous, in all this philosophy. The things we share with the animals are, eating, sleeping, mating, and defending--if that is all you are doing, you have not yet reached the human platform of life. That platform begins with inquiry, "Who am I, and why am I always in trouble?" "I dont want miseries, but miseries come anyhow--why is that?" and, "athato brahma jijnasa--now is the time to inquire into Brahman, the Greatest".

So my friend, who can do so many herculean tasks, is scared of the internet! Personally, I was ordered by a Vaishnava to preach on the internet, and Prabhupada provided the means to do that, and so that is my service, althugh it is a little difficult to explain--"What do you write about?" people will ask, "Krishna things" I will reply. "Oh" they will say, disappointed. What do they expect me to talk about--Marxism-Leninism?

This idea of "preaching" simply means talking about the Goal of Life and how to achieve it--this is actually real Vedanta--the impersonalists call themselves Vedantists, but the real goal of Vedanta is to become a devotee of Radharani and Krishna--ultimately a servant of Radharani. That is the conclusion of Vedavyas in his commentary on Vedanta called Srimad Bhagavatam. We do not get up on a soapbox and harangue passersby like some so-called Christians do--they are simply giving their religion a bad name. We simply chant the Holy Names, give you something to eat, and then maybe we can interest you in the philosophy--and out here, I simply try to make it interesting, add a little humor, and hope that someone can understand.

It is not about "religion", my religion, your religion, his religion, it is about self-realization--Christianity means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, not a "religion". Hare Krishna means to have a personal relationship with Srila Prabhupada--personally, I have a personal relationship with both of them---to say it is my "religion" is simply to try to put me in a "bag"--being put in a bag is to be philosophically castrated--being into religion is like being a liberal--both dirty words--so liberals call themselves "progressives" now, and religions call themselves "spiritual paths". To me, religion means to go to church on Sunday and give a dollar to a panhandler--I am talking about a lifestyle, not a "relilgion". You get up, bow to the spiritual master, and begin chanting your rounds--I chant 30 rounds daily--that is 108 maha-mantras for each round, times thirty. Actually, it took a great deal of practice to get up to that many rounds--some people think <"Oh, he is just chanting all the time, what is that?" but it is really an accomplishment--we do not like the Holy Names, so to be able to finish that number of rounds is real yoga.