Address by HH Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami Srila Sripad Maharaj
18 Sep 2004

(sent by Pranavallabha Prabhu)
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Maharaj recites invocation prayers melodiously and then begins to
speak:

Peace is the birthright of every living entity, not only humans but
also animals and trees, all livng entities.

There are two components of knowledge that must be understood in
order for peace to be possible in human society.

1.

What really is LIFE itself? First of all we have to know what is
life.  The whole culture of Krishna Consciousness is to know what is
the science of life.  Modern science (reductionism) has taken to the
materialistic conception of the origin of life.  This is the
fundamental mistake in modern civilization.  After 9/11, drastic
change in paradigm has taken place.  Scientists now want to know
about God & why religious people behave in this way.  Therefore I
say, a lot of good things are happening as a consequence of the 9/11
tragedy.  It has brought about something good, because the change in
the attitude of scientists has been drastic in my observation.
Therefore now is the opportune moment for us to bring in the
spiritual paradigm about the ultimate nature of reality, the
ultimate spiritual reality behind material nature.  Krishna
consciousness provides the interface between science and
spirituality.  A combined effort of Science and Spirituality will
bring about a new peace to the world.  The definition of knowledge
is given in Ch13 of the Gita – kshetra and kshetra-jna – one must
realize the difference between the field of activites (the body) and
the knower of that field (the soul).  Just like knowing the
difference between a car and a driver.  To know this difference is
the definition of knowledge.  This life particle we shall call a
spiriton – it is the fundamental particle of life.  We have to learn
what are its qualities and properties etc.  In 1944 Schroedinger
pubished a booklet "What is life" and in this book he quoted
profusely from the Upanishads & Vedanta.  In this way, he could see
the importance of VVedic culture/ knowledge.  We have to bring in
the spiritual nature of life within the education systems of the
world.  This is what I propose be called NEW SCIENCE.  Srila
Prabhupada's order to me over the eight years that I had his
wonderful personal association was to hold conferences on Life Comes
From Life.  Thousands of students in universities all over the world
are being misled and therefore there is no real progress of
civilization in the world.

2.

Why has this universe been created?  In modern science, this is
called cosmology, and the most popular idea they have propagated is
the Big Bang theory.  This is absolutely wrong.  If we think we are
just created by a violent explosion of matter, how can we search for
peace and the finer qualities that can elevate a living being and
save him from suffering eternally in the ocean of birth and death?
In opposition to that Big Bang model, we have our "Bhagavata
Paradigm of Cosmology".  It is based on the discussion in the SB
between Maitreya Muni and Vidura.  The Purpose &  Meaning of life is
what we call the `Big Vision'.  Science only deals with `why &
what'.  Briefly, the purpose of life, according to the Big Vision is
this:  The human form of life is the most important thing in
creation, and, by sincere endeavour, the human form of life, by
sincere endeavour, can realize why he is here.  `Bahunaam janmanaam
ante'  - gita says the highest attainment of knowledge brings one to
the point where he can surrender himself fully unto the Supreme
Personality of Godhead; such a soul will never have to be born again
here for he would have thus attained eternal life.  It is for
facilitating this end that the entire creation takes place

So these two items constitute the most important foundational
knowledge for all types of human beings, be they spiritualists, or
religionists or materialists, or professionals or students –
anyone.  It is upon the basis of our understanding the reality of
our condition that all other thoughts and actions in our lives are
planned and enacted.

For 8 years I was fortunate to have the regular personal association
of Srila Prabhupada, be he always spoke mainly about 1 thing to me –
LCFL.  Yes, scientists do wonderful things, and we have seen many
good things their research has produced, but they have also been
responsible for much evil in the world – bombs, drugs, abortion,
weapons, nuclear missiles etc.  Therefore I say that any serious
endeavour to bring peace to the world must involve the scientists.
If it does not involve them, it will never work.  They must be
involved in helping to remove the unwanted activities that are now
plaguing human society.

Towards that end, we, the Bhaktivedanta Institute, are organizing an
International Conference in Rome styled `Life & Its Origin –
Exploration from Scientific and Various Religious/Spiritual
Traditions'.  It will be held in Rome from the 11th till the 15th of
November, 2004.  I selected Rome as the venue for this important
Congress because it is a very important city, both in Europe and in
the world.  I selected it because the spiritual element is very
prominent in Rome, thanks to the presence of the Vatican.  The
discussions at the conference will be focused on the interface
between science & religion.  A new concept I am trying to introduce
is this - Let us try to explain the existing scientific data which
the scientists have observed and recorded, and interpret it from the
spiritual perspective.  In this way we will see how the same set of
data can produce totally different results if the paradigm of the
interpreter is different.  Another topic we will be discussing is
what I like to call the New Biology, one that incorporates the
science of the soul, of life and of the glorification of God.  This
session will be called God and the New Biology.  Altogether this
conference will have 40 – 45 learned speakers, so pls come to Rome
and be one of our delegates.  This conference is different from our
earlier ones, for this will be the first time that we are going to
directly discuss the nature of life mostly from the spiritual point
of view.  On the first day is a public program that is free for all
to attend – it will be in the grand hall of the Angelicum
University.  This hall has been named after the current Pope John
Paul because he was a graduate from this university.  So I hope we
will see many of you in Rome.

Thank you very much.  Hare Krishna.

(notes jotted down by D. A. Das, Zurich, Switzerland)

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