It was easier in the Vedic times
In the Vedic times the miraculous effects of religion were directly observable. The fire sacrifices performed by qualified brahmanas would yield immediate results for everyone to see. Demigods would appear in front of everyone’s eyes and would give the deserved benediction, animals sacrificed would obtain a human body, powerful weapons and machineries were invoked, rain obtained and many more. How nice it would have been if such miracles were ubiquitous today for everyone to testify the truth in the scriptural injunctions.
The techno-yagynas
In the modern times however the oblations of time, energy, money, intellect and resources is poured in the altar of hi-tech laboratories and research centres. They provide the masses with their material necessities, comforts and luxuries. More than having a solution for all our problems, they give fulfilments for the wants we never had. Thus technology is the obvious fall-back for our material necessities, scriptural injunctions are out of question.
What remains of religion?
Effect of religion has, however, not vanished. Effect of religion on the physical and mental health of people has been popularly documented in the Oxford Handbook of Religion and Health, and God the Evidence by Patrick Glynn. The evidences however are not as loud as we have described in the first section of the article and thus needed close observation by researchers. The cream of the Vedic scriptures has fortunately survived in its full potency. This is the process of God-realization by 9 processes of devotional service like hearing about God, chanting His glories, remembering the Lord, offering prayers to God and so on. Chanting of the holy names Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, and the supporting injunctions to make the chanting more effective, has made a marked difference in the lives of millions of people around the world. Many individuals have been elevated to the level of God realization of the Vedic sages. Thus the effect of Vedic injunctions on consciousness is still observable. The experiential aspects of religion have survived but the experimental aspects are conspicuous by their absence. It takes a spiritual advancement to detect the effect of spirituality on consciousness.
Harmonizing the two worlds
In Vedic world the immediate necessities, comforts, power, luxuries and tenets of spirituality for God realization are excavated from the same territory of Vedic injunctions. It is much easier for an individual to quickly advance from taking ephemeral benefits to taking eternal benefits from the scriptures. He can be sure it will work; only consideration is whether or not he wants it. At present however we face the problem of harmonizing the two worlds viz.: the world of technological conveniences—derived from a invariably atheistic scientists and technicians—and tenets of spirituality which are laid down in the authentic scriptures. Thus the modern man facilitated and enamoured by the technological advancement is sceptical about the efficacy of spiritual activities. Moreover it becomes all the more indigestible because the premise of verification of the efficacy is experiential and may take time for an individual to realize. Thus we see the present craze among the spiritualists to establish even ‘Science points to Spirituality’, Spirituality encompasses everything including material science. Thus people who are qualified by being sceptical about spirituality can be taken to the premise of spirituality by means of science. Thus for Krsna Consciousness to be easily embraced by people at large, its presentation should be professional and pure. By professional it is meant that we should be able to effectively bridge the scientific realm with the devotional realm. Being attracted by this people would like to experiment with Krsna Consciousness. Purity in the presentation will give people hands on experience of the happiness in Krsna Consciousness and coax them to take to it whole heartedly.
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