Chapter 7 The Way Forward

Our culture is not an outcome of a couple of decades or centuries, it is a phenomenon spanning yugas. It has been relayed from one generation to the next. To decide whether our great vedic inheritance will be lost in oblivion or will it enrich the lives of our successors, the need of the hour is to preserve this culture, a culture not of Hindus, Muslims or Christians but the global culture envisioned by the vedic masters to safeguard mankind from the lurking threat of extinction The Mayan calendar comes to an end on 21 st December This date also corresponds to the last illustration of the Lost Book of Nostradamus. Religion should be pursued as a way of life and not a division marker dividing societies. This entails being tolerant to the religion of others, considering it too as a way of life, upholding the vedic tenet of ‘sarva dharma sambhava’. We must not get caught up in rites and rituals and instead follow the universal principles that govern the creation while keeping our focus on the formless divine

So just look at the state of affairs and what all is happening on the streets today. Forget a bull, even if a human being is hit, there is no one who would stop the car and help. The vedic rishis gave us the law of karma, that is, what you sow, so shall you reap. We have forgotten the vedic ideals and hence the sorry state of affairs. Just look at the youth of today – weak bodies, bent spine, thick specs, graying hair, artificial lives, obesity and disease – all this is an outcome of a selfish lifestyle and a move away from Dharma - which is to protect the weak and preserve nature. The only way forward to prevent the extinction of humans from this planet is a reverse journey, back to our roots. Simple measures by each of us can make a huge difference. The law of economics says that if we curtail the demand, supply would automatically stop. If we as the youth of the nation insist on natural and eco-friendly products, the suppliers will be forced to meet the demands of the market Often enough the youth confuses our culture with ritualism and shy away from it. We must not get caught up in ritualism and instead spread the right education of our culture to society in general and children in particular. Only when the children are nourished with the right values of our culture will they respect their elders, parents and teachers, and until that happens the knowledge will not flow from one generation to the next

This is substantiated by the fact that today nobody knows what our culture is. We confuse culture with health and beauty and think of yog as a healing therapy. Yog is not about curing diseases, it is a complete science of the being. Yog is the science of evolution of the soul and has the power and ability to take one to higher dimensions. We choose to overlook many things. We do not even pay heed to our own parents and teachers, let alone our vedic ancestors. How will their wisdom and experience flow into us if we choose not to respect them? It is only in the hands of you and me, to avert the doomsday by reviving and restoring our culture. You represent the force of the world. If we want something, nothing can stop it from happening. If we don’t, nothing can happen.

We are aware of the vows of truth, non-violence, non-covetousness, non-stealing and celibacy that the students used to take in ancient times. The purpose was to discipline the self, gain control over the senses and build a strong character on which future life may be led. Only after strict discipline or brahmacharya did one proceed to the grihastha ashram Today our culture is fading from our memories, we get caught up in hedonism, completely missing out on the higher pleasures and true purpose of life – preservation and evolution. The vedic fire is still lit in the form of masters like St. Francis of Asisi, Ramakrishna Paramhans, Mahavir, Buddha and Yogi Ashwini who are a storehouse of vedic gyan and a way of life St. Francis taught the world that it is in giving that we receive and under the guidance of Yogi Ashwini, thousands of Dhyan Ashram are experiencing first-hand, the power and ability of the vedic culture. It is time to spread this fire far and wide and carve our way back to the heights that civilization had reached under the vedic seers