Jagat

Many people criticize and condemn religions and religious institutions because of the evil done in their name. This is often based on a predisposition to anti-religious sentiment. One should recognize that religion is a human institution and subject to the same frailties as all human institutions. Those who are in such institutions should recognize these frailties and take steps to control and counteract them. According to Patanjali's Yoga-sūtra (4.7), there are four kinds of people. Patanjali does try to estimate what percentage of human society fits into each category, no doubt since modern ways of enumerating populations was not yet devised. In any case, such percentages no doubt change as societies change. Patanjali divides people according to the kind of work they do in relation to the goal of enlightenment. The first three are (1) kṛṣṇa (black, or dark karmas), which are the actions performed by the evil; (2) śukla-kṛṣṇa or mixed karmas, which evidently are the kinds...

There are three kinds of people: the authoritarian followers , who are sheep. The social dominators, who are like wolves. And the autonomous thinkers, who are real human beings. There are two kinds of wolves, those in sheep's clothing, and those that are openly predatory, the naked wolves. Sheep follow irregardless. There are two kinds of society, those that are run by the wolves and those run by the human beings. Wolves prefer fascisms and dictatorships of whatever kind. If there is democracy, the wolves try to usurp it. It will be saved by the human beings. Oh American brothers and sisters! Vote for the human being in this election. Fight back. Take back your country. Don't give into cynicism. Push for hope and real human society. The only hope is for human beings to act. Too many people have become cynical and think that Obama and Romney, the Democrats and the Republicans are exactly the same, puppets for the real global masters, the Military Industrial Complex, but...

A no doubt well-meaning young man has started a FB group called " Sinister Sahajiyaism" . In his introduction, he states that though Sahajiyaism follows many of the teachings of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, "we use them in our own way. Sahajayana is to Gaudiya Vaishnavism the same that Satanism is to Christianity." I just wanted to make it perfectly clear that I am not in favor of this statement. No doubt I will be told that I don't "understand" Satanism, but I think I understand it well enough. A frequently cited statement by the founder of Satanism, Anton LaVey , is that his doctrine was "just Ayn Rand's philosophy, with ceremony and ritual added." In particular, the nine edicts with which his book begins are felt by many to have been taken from Rand’s Atlas Shrugged : Satan represents indulgence, instead of abstinence! Satan represents vital existence, instead of spiritual pipe dreams! Satan represents undefiled wisdom, inst...