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EDITORIAL May 1, 2000 VNN5901 Comment on this story Three Poems By Madan Mohan Dasa BY MADAN MOHAN DASA EDITORIAL, May 1 (VNN) — The Ballad of Blind Molly Once there was a mighty bang And then our universe began. All elements cooled down into groups And slowly formed a primordial soup. Though illogical and wierd, Life from chemicals appeared By magic of an unknown type. That sums up the current hype. There's no idea that breaks more rules Than self-organising molecules Except, of course, the mystery Of their existence and their history. Well, one day a little molecule Thought: "I'll show...er,someone...I'm no fool. I'll re-invent myself again And next time round I'll have a brain". Molly then became ambitious. Her amoebic form got really vicious And she schemed a revolution Code-named "human evolution". She had miraculous ability To ignore genetic stability And made impossible great leaps across Barriers that just can't be crossed. Molly hatched a final solution To validate her evolution, Disproving God with indignation In her Darwin incarnation. Intelligent creation now seemed risible And though his logic was invisible He could cloud men's minds and make them think: "He's really there, this missing link". Now Molly's power's burgeoned; Priest, scientist and surgeon Making the dangerous incision That caused society's division. Her new religion flourished, Leaving spirits undernourished And her dark, irrational magic Unleashed consequences tragic. Atheistic treason Ushered in the Age of Unreason, While big bang singularity Theory led to mass barbarity. Meaninglessness is Molly's game And though her theories shot to fame She took apart what once was whole And left mankind with empty souls. If we're mere molecules in space With no meaning and no place In any higher scheme of things, Then there's no purpose to anything. The ghostly sight of Molly's face Still haunts the entire human race, Now wandering miserable and forlorn, Wondering why we were ever born. Fortunately there's higher reasons For human life and nature's seasons. And there's one point not to be missed Concerning self-creating Molly. She doesn't exist. Life on Earth There's no life on Mars or the moon And technology will one day soon Clear away all the fog and mist To prove where else life doesn't exist. How ironic then, that life on earth Remains unproven due to the dearth Of hard evidence that proves we're seeing Any kind of living being. The sum total of modern science might Has failed to shine one ray of light On a basic fact that's not yet proved; What causes inert matter to move. Its a fact that DNA alone Possesses no life source of its own. The nature of life remains a mystery To the inventors of science history. But who needs facts when science fiction Feeds academic predeliction For concocting theories with no basis Just to save a few red faces? How embarrassing they still don't know What it is that makes a human body go. They have yet to isolate The alleged chemicals that animate. Acknowledging life's signs is how We come to accept living proof and now, By similar methodology, We can understand cosmology. There's zero logic in insisting What's not seen is not existing. Only the signs of love are visible And without love, life's utterly miserable. So why give loveless misery As the answer to all life's mysteries By imposing atheistic insistence Upon our origins and existence? There's no logic in pre-supposing This universe is just an exploding Mass of meaningless articles And we're mere clusters of random particles. Song of Bhagavan There never was a time when we Did not exist, nor shall there be A time when either you or Me, My friend, shall cease to live eternally. You are a soul. You'll never die. You can't be killed and nor can I. Your mortal frame Is nature's game In which you're given a leading part. Now's the time for you to start To learn the truth about your soul, Life's deepest meaning and its goal. There's a subjective evolution Alongside human devolution Whereby the soul can truly rise Above the body's birth, growth and demise. All that's born will surely die. All civilizations, however high Achievements climb, Fall crumbling at the feet of time Who's just one little part of Me, A spark of divine energy. I am the source of time and space And now's your chance to stake your place In your true home you haven't known Since you decided long ago To leave My world and have a go At being lord of all you see In the mistaken vanity Of thinking you're the same as Me. I am the fragrance of the earth, The father and mother who gave birth To this whole universe of living beings That you're now seeing. I'm the taste in water and music's tune, The fiery sun and nectar-filled moon Who nourishes all vegetation. I am the source of all creation. You're a spark and I'm the sun Don't think you're the supreme one. Though in essential quality We're similar, in quantity We're not the same. I am the whole And you're a part, whose present goal Is to wake up from your deep slumber And evaluate the number Of days left to make the best Of my ultimate bequest To all My children here on earth, Living in fear of death and birth Again in other types of bodies Where they can't even know who God is. I've given you this human chance To enter My eternal dance. You are a student, I'm the master. Remember this and you'll move faster Through the stages of transcendence To regain full independence In My world where you'll be free To laugh and play and sing with Me, Where you'll never know the pain Of birth and death or growing old again. Beware the false authority Of men so envious of Me They want to lord it over others And even try to kill their mother Whose earthly bounties I've bestowed in full To maintain all creatures great and small. I've sowed every kind of seed To provide everything you need To eat. There's no need to kill My cows for meat Those who do will pay In the natural karmic way By taking birth as lower beasts And themselves becoming feasts For those whose lives they took before. This is the way of nature's law. The karmic cycle will not end For you until you know you depend On Me, and all your negative reactions Won't cease without My satisfaction. Piety will make you rise In future birth to heavenly skies. Hard toil will simply keep you here, But some will sink to lower spheres Because they're just not willing To give up lust and greed and killing. Don't waste your whole life energy In pursuit of fleeting, heavenly Reward. Its just a karma thing. The joys of heaven aren't everything. Throughout this entire universe There's no escaping karmic curse. >From heavenly planets to lower sphere, It's ultimately all suffering here. I didn't award this human life Just for you to live as man and wife And raise yourself a family For mankind's perpetuity. The bottom line with human species' Bags of blood and bone and faeces Is you're not here to forge new links With things that die and rot and stink. You've got a vehicle for your soul, Your very self, to reach its goal. So please don't drive into the ditch Of living life like dog and bitch. Your power is in the choice to see Your soul and live eternally With all the friends you don't yet know Who are calling you to go Home, where you belong, To the land where every word's a song And every step's a dance around My realm, where every sound's A tune in perfect harmony With My ever-loving family. Take a good look at yourself. You've been living on the shelf So long You've forgotten My eternal song Of love that resonates throughout your soul, What makes you part of the great whole Of life's existence. You're not complete Till you jump down and find your feet. I adore you. You're My child And My dear friend, just running wild In the bewildering confusion Of this whole cosmic illusion. Its not false, but what won't last, However old, however vast, Is not substantially real. This universe is like a wheel Spinning through seasons great and small. And there's a reason for it all. Where there's force, love is not there. True love's a personal affair. So here's your choice: You can take My hand Or struggle on in foreign land That's not your home. It's up to you. Your choice alone. There's one inclusive energy, Supreme female moiety, Existing inconceivably As one and different from Me, Not separate at any time But separated in the rhyme And reason of love's mysteries That permeate all histories Of lovers' gain and lovers losing The beloved of their choosing. You'll begin to know My better half when You see the Goddess everywhere and then Revere My dearest one Within all thats living under the sun. If you want to end confusion Then accept your constitution As one tiny little soul Whose nature is to serve the whole Of which you're part. As soon as you can start To understand that human living Is not for taking but for giving Your whole self in love to Me, You can set so many others free, Because they'll know deep in their hearts There's something keeping you apart >From the meaninglessness and misery That arise from false identity. You're not the body you occupy. I've given you the wings to fly Free from this cage of misconception Imposed through tragic self-deception. You can train your mind so easily To constantly remember Me In all you do and say and think By offering all your food and drink With love to Me, and then I'll take All karma from your life and make You free from all anxiety, In loving union with Me. It's time to understand the reasons For life's cycles and nature's seasons. Life is wasted, incomplete, If you let birth and death repeat. I've come to relieve confusion In this world of false illusion That I made to give you time To learn that I love you and you're Mine. Give up all the superstition Of mundane science and false religion And give your heart to Me, My friend. Your miseries will swiftly end. There's one sure method that's sublime To make the best use of your time And give you optimum results, Transcending all sectarian cults. If you want to rise above This world, then call My name with love At any time or any place In any way you know And you'll receive My highest grace. When the time is ripe for us to meet I'll send you to the lotus feet Of a pure saint in whom you'll see All My transcendent qualities. Some men deride Me when I take A human form on earth to make Myself accessible to all. There's no convincing stubborn fools. Fast or slow's the choice you take. Eventually all souls will make It home beyond the jaws of death, Which draw closer with your every breath. This universe of birth and death Endures for one mere single breath Of one of My secondary expansions. That's three hundred and eleven trillion And forty billion Years to you. Who's counting? But its true. Your human form is rare Among eight million species, so take care To utilize your time In realizing that you are Mine. If you fear death and growing old And would transform base iron to gold, Then set aside mundane conceptions And seek your ultimate perfection. No one can ever know Me By mere intellectual jugglery But I'm always ready to appear Before faithful souls who hold Me dear. Heart to heart, you're My dear friend And My love for you will never end. When you realize there's only one true love, I'll be waiting here for you, My love. Real life's not a circle in degrees But a rising spiral of melodies Which harmonise into My song Of love, in the life where you belong. Excerpted from "The Alchemist's Apprentice" by Michael Greenwood (aka Madan Mohan dasa) Dear VNN readers, Please accept my dandavat pranams. All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga! Thank you for taking the time to read my poems. Any feedback, especially critical, is very valuable to me, so please don't hesitate to express your reactions. The primary theme is transformation, which I have developed over 360 verses, ending with Song of Bhagavan, with the intention of causing the reader to reassess some basic aspects of the meaning of life. I am keen to know what responses, if any, are evoked by this sort of writing. The target audience is primarily the non-Vaishnava general public, though without the help, co-operation, feedback and encouragement of my fellow aspiring Vaishnavas, this exercise is of little value. I would very much like to work in a non-sectarian, non-judgemental family group. "The Alchemist's Apprentice" remains as yet in its raw form and unpublished. I would greatly appreciate any help in editing, proofing and preparing this project, which is all in a similar vein to the above, addressing the issues of modern living, contemporary education and the need for spiritual development in a way that is hopefully accessible and palatable to a very broad audience. I have no experience in approaching publishers and hesitate to promote my own work. I am very much in need of proper guidance from experienced devotees who may be able to offer their input and expertise to help me. I would also like to hear from any musicians, illustrators, singers, computer wizards and creative artists in any field who might be interested in developing these themes into websites, songs, visual images, etc. Personally, I believe the way ahead in preaching Krishna consciousness now lies in the fields of art, music, communications media and a greater diversity of literature. I personally feel that the "come and join the temple" message no longer holds the appeal or relevance that it held in previous decades, nor indeed necessarily facilitates the pure sanga for which the temples were originally designed. I see the breakdown of institutions as instructive experience for all devotees in being able to help the broader public come to terms with the breakdown of all the major educational, scientific, religious and political institutions which have now outlived their usefulness, and in many respects contribute to modern living only as destructive agencies, very in need of radical re-organization if they are to survive at all. If anyone can offer any helpful input, or would like to work with a growing and diverse family in this potentially very rich preaching field, please contact me at: 106650.1421@compuserve.com I look forward to hearing from you. Radhe, Radhe! Your servant, Madan Mohan dasa. About the Author  Other Stories by this AuthorComment on this story Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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