Everyone

When I speak to college students or professors, a particular question often arises: Who is prior, Vishnu or Krishna? Most of my educated friends know that Vishnu and Krishna are names for two distinct manifestations of the same Personality of Godhead. They further know that Vishnu is generally seen as God while Krishna is considered His incarnation. Most dictionaries refer to Them in that way, with Vishnu taking the prior position.

Discussions about the relationship between science and religion usually end in a stalemate: Scientists accuse religionists of relying too much on faith, which they say is experimentally unverifiable, while religionists accuse scientists of relying too much on physical and chemical laws, which they say fail to measure the emotions and sentiments of a conscious living entity.

As we venture over the northwestern border of South Africa by car into Botswana, we sense an almost instant change in landscape. The mercury seems to have crept up a notch or two as we drive along a narrow road away from the border post, headed towards the county’s capital, Gaborone. The dry Kalahari terrain is meagerly populated with plant life. The beige sand extends as far as the horizon and is decorated with greenish-brown hues of what little vegetation there is.

Spiritual life is blissful, but it is not whimsical. The regulative principles of bhakti-yoga (the yoga of devotional service), as defined by the spiritual master and the authorized scriptures, form the standard way for the conditioned soul to come to the purified stage of spiritual existence, and one must first reach that joyful stage of purification before he can serve Krsna in spontaneous love. The Krsna consciousness bhakti schedule in Boston is rigidly followed.

In general, people like gold. It represents wealth and success. A golden age refers to an era of goodness and plenty, acknowledged in Greek, Roman, and Indian cultures. If you have everything, you were born with a golden spoon in your mouth. The Golden Rule is the epitome of cosmic justice or fairness: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. As the saying goes, "As good as gold."

As a student, I competed in the sport of wrestling for eight years, from 1963 to 1971, but happiness eluded me. In high school, even when I won the California Interscholastic Federation championship at 123 pounds, I felt strangely empty inside. At the University of California at Berkeley, wrestling was a diversion, but I couldn't forget the Vietnam War and the countless problems that hung over my generation.

"Realization means you should write. Every one of you. What is your realization? What is this Back to Godhead for? You write your realization—what you have realized about Krishna. That is required.” (Srila Prabhupada, Lecture, August 14, 1972)

"I am the goal, the sustainer, the master, the witness, the abode, the refuge, and the most dear friend. I am the creation and the annihilation, the basis of everything, the resting place, and the eternal seed."—Bhagavad-gita 9.18

Rajiv and I have been friends for several years, and our exchanges often beckon the comedian in him. We relish a certain light-hearted banter that seems to always bring us closer. Sometimes, his sense of humor incorporates spiritual ideas. For example, he recently told me his life was absolutely perfect. In almost every area of endeavor, he said, the fates conspire for his pleasure. I asked why he thought this was so.

"Well, it's because I'm God, don't you know?"

We waited. And waited. It was a sweltering summer day in the Florida panhandle. The morning sun glared through the expansive windows of an airport departure gate. There, a young blond-haired woman, neatly uniformed with a blue vest over a pressed white shirt and matching blue pants, stepped up to the counter, timidly surveyed the room, then announced a one-hour delay. Passengers sighed, edgy to escape from the heat and travel north. With cellular phones pressed to their ears, they persistently glanced at their wristwatches.