Oct 14, 2013 — OJAI, CALIFORNIA, USA (SUN) — A slide series demonstrating that extraordinary individuals throughout history eventually came to appreciate in some capacity that “… Everything has come down from the banks of the Ganges.”
Wisdom of The Wise
This is one of the 86 slides that make up an automated PowerPoint Slide Show entitled: “Wisdom of the Wise.”
The purpose of this presentation is to help the uninformed realize how many extraordinary individuals throughout history eventually came to appreciate in some capacity that “… Everything has come down from the banks of the Ganges." - Francois Voltaire
What is particularly interesting about this collection of quotes is that the people who made these statements are known to us, because they rose to the top of their respective fields of expertise. That is why this show is so inspiring. These individuals are all visionaries albeit many are mundane and materialistically oriented. They were indeed committed to their craft and not willing to settle for the normal status quo. They did not accept the routine mediocre standards of their day, and in their own strange and clumsy way they were all moving closer to at least some convoluted concept of the absolute truth.
These folks were very talented and wise. Their wisdom is reflected in the fact that despite how prominent they became in their own field of study, they recognized that Vedic knowledge was from a different dimension. They came to appreciate that the Vedas reached far beyond the realm of their typewriter, laboratory, or social circles etc.
Controversial Inclusions
Some devotees will no doubt take exception to the fact that I have included favorable quotes from some people who do not appreciate the efforts of well-intended Vaishnavas. In fact, I could have parodied Baba Ram Dasa in a way similar to how he was mocked as “Baba Rum Raisin” in the 1974 edition of National Lampoon. I instead chose to highlight one of the few favorable things he included in his landmark debut book: Be Here Now instead of highlighting his grossly egocentric impersonal comments that are extremely offensive towards the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna, which he is well known for today.
Most of the prominent mundane personalities were not as odious as Ram Dasa, but they all found their way to the feet of the Vedas one way or another. Most of them had only a partial understanding of what they were looking at and therefore they remained misguided in regards to the higher purpose of life. This is to be expected because without the clarity and guidance of a pure devotee spiritual master like His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, it is not possible for someone to navigate through the Vedas and arrive at the proper siddhanta.
What should become apparent for the viewers of this presentation is that all these folks were sharp enough to realize that the Vedas provided them more rewards in life than their own limited feeble efforts, studies or talents could yield on their own.
Contributions from Women
It should be noted here that I searched extensively to include quotes from prominent women in this presentation, but it was not easy to find many which were favorable to the teachings of Veda Vyasas. It appears that there just aren’t an abundance of appropriate citations available from well-known women. Consequently, I felt compelled to include Vedic accolades from controversial individuals like Annie Besant, Mary Baker Eddie, and none the other than the Grandmother of the New Age herself, Madam Blavatski, etc. This is not in any way to imply that any of us should run out and study what these people had to say. The intent is just the opposite.
It could be argued that contributions from such fickle sources should not be included in this presentation, but hopefully those who look up to these individuals will realize that they would be better off if they would be more open to the Vedic source that inspired their “guru” when a Vaishnava approaches them and invites them to do so.
This work was intended to reach beyond properly trained Vaishnavas who have already come to fully appreciate the importance of the Vedas. The intention here is to inform the poorly educated pseudo-spiritualists that even the people they claim to respect appreciated the content of the Vedas and were humbled by them.
Request for Appropriate Quotes from Erudite Women
Despite making these types of concessions in an attempt to more fully balance the content of this presentation from both the male and female point of view, it remains terribly under-represented by female devotees. I therefore invite individuals who may be able to provide additional quotes from historic women to send them to me so I can include them in future editions of this educational tool.
Spoofing the New Age
Putting this presentation together gave me an ideal opportunity to juxtapose some of the outrageously foolish things that are taught by contemporary New Age charlatans, against core Vedic teachings. Some will no doubt feel this is inappropriate and argue that it is not our business as Vaishnavas to point the finger at anyone. Sankirtan devotees who are thrust into the public are appropriately trained to: “Leave everyone with a Good Experience.” Indeed, if we have an opportunity to sell a Bhagavad-gita As It Is to someone who is mesmerized by the vague feel-good teachings of the Dalai Lama, then that is our foremost mission at that moment. That is NOT the time to point out that the Dalai Lama is an atheist and isn’t even presenting the concept of Buddhist ahimsa properly, as he himself isn’t committed to keeping a Vegetarian diet.
At some point however, it is imperative that we stand up and speak out to expose how ludicrous it is for anyone to teach: “You Are God” (Ramtha) OR: “What love is cannot be taught.” (A Course of Miracles) OR: “Nobody can be dertain of anything” (Bertrand Russell).
Because the Wisdom of the Wise presentation provided such an excellent forum to expose the bogus teachers of our day, I simply could not miss the opportunity to do so. Including an occasional quote from these mega-rascals not only makes the whole presentation more educational, it makes it more interesting and provocative as well. As devotees we have an obligation to speak the truth. We try to do that as cordially and diplomatically as possible, but when someone assumes the position of a “Spiritual Master, Shaman, Guru, or Messenger of Love etc.”, then my training as a devotee is, that individual had better know what they are talking about! The layman may give us opinions, but a professional had better know his trade or he should be put out of business! -md
This show remains without any audio. With a good soundtrack this presentation would be one of the first small attempts for Vaishnavas to expose the New Age Neo-Advaita nonsense that is being thrust upon the public in the form of movies like: “What the Bleep Do We Know”, “The Secret”, “I Am”, “The Way”, “Samsara” “Project Happiness” and “The Shift” etc. These shows are released with much pomp, hyperbole, and hypnotic fanfare. However they all suffer from flawed ideas brewed up in the heads of individuals who have little or NO understanding of Vedic wisdom and therefore they cannot be effective in accomplishing their stated objectives.
Thankless Task to Teach the Four Legs of Dharma!
The laws of nature dictate that water consists of hydrogen and oxygen, that items fall to the earth at the rate of 32 Ft. per second squared, that energy can neither be created or destroyed, etc. Similarly the subtle Laws of Nature dictate that there will be consequences when these laws of dharma are violated. Devotees of the Lord are the only ones who are even attempting to teach the four legs of dharma.
One of the most obvious symptoms that confirms when we are facing off with a New Age philosophy is that they avoid addressing any of these core law of dharma principals. This is why it is so imperative for us to take up this thankless task. Srila Prabhupada started this effort in 1965 and boldly presented it to the “Love-Peace-and-Happiness flower children of Height Ashbury San Francisco.” Now we must find a way to do the same. The Wisdom of the Wise presentation is my small effort to start moving us all more in that direction. I hope everyone will benefit from this effort.
Thank you.
Aspiring to serve the Vaishnavas, I remain…
Mayesvara dasa (ACBSP)
AKA: William G. Roberts MBS/ MIS, CCP
Director: American Vedic Association
Propriator: Jagannatha Enterprises
687 West Villanova Road
Ojai, California 93023
william.roberts @ jagannatha.com
(805) 640-0405
mdjagdasa @ gmail.com (My new email address utilizing Boxbe to sieve out spam.)
