(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 14 March 2014, Melbourne, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 2.7.46)
We see in Caitanya Caritamtra, it is mentioned in Madhya Lila, chapter nineteen where it is leading to Caitanya Mahaprabhu instructing Rupa Goswami; a description is given that out of so many living beings within the universe, there are only very few in the human form of life. And of those in the human form of life, there are very few who are actually following Vedic culture. Out of those who are following Vedic culture, most are just rendering lip-service! That is the situation that we find today – in more than 90%, lip-service only!
Some quick ritual, something external but where is the substance; where is the purity? Where is that? The thread is worn but where are the brahminical qualities; where are the samskaras; where are all the standards that are to be followed?
The last figures I got are a bit outdated. In the year 2004, it was published in the Times of India, that in general, less than 30% of the population of India were now vegetarian and of the Brahmins, 55% were vegetarian but what about the other 45%? And that was in 2004, ten years ago! I think these figures have gone down a lot very quickly. You will be shocked now to see where it is at. We will not inquire into these things. We will leave them for what they are.
Therefore ye ‘nye ca papa yad-apasrayasrayah (Srimad Bhagavatam 2.4.18), for those who have taken to the sinful way of life, that has become the standard. Kalau sudra-sambhava (Skanda Purana), in the Age of Kali, everyone is sudra or even less, therefore sense gratification has become the only standard, “What is enjoyable to my senses is important; that is what counts and that is the standard by which I measure things.”
Sin is no longer so much of an issue. That is an old fashioned word – in modern dictionaries, you don’t find it. The old dictionaries have this archaic word called “sin”. This is an awkward word that you don’t know what to do with. Sin is like some sort of outdated morality and has nothing to do with the modern world.
It is mentioned in the encyclopedia Britannica, which is considered by some to be an authority, that probably Sigmund Freud has had the greatest impact on the intellectual life of modern man because this is an age of psychology. There is a model of a human being which is like a pressure cooker. Everyone knows that the pressure cooker has a safety valve which makes the hissing sound and if there was no safety valve, then it would explode.
According to Freud, human beings are depicted as pressure cookers that can explode at any moment if we suppress our desires! Therefore we must let out the steam. This is meant to justify all degraded behaviour because (according to Freud’s theory) it is psychologically damaging if you are denying your natural tendency – it is dangerous as it can cause psychosis. Therefore, do not suppress any desires and do not let such a terrible word as sin, which done so much damage to society, do not let it harm you, o’ modern man!
With that philosophy, we do not have to worry about sin; just be true to yourself but which self, is the next question: the lower or the higher self? Which one are you?
