by Dharmādhyakṣa dāsa

"The cause of it [the world's malady] is spiritual. We are suffering from having sold our souls to the pursuit of an objective which is both spiritually wrong and practically unobtainable. We have to reconsider our objective and change it. And until we do this, we shall not have peace, either amongst ourselves or within each of us. "
Arnold Toynbee
London Observer
25 October 1972

The reason for Mr. Toynbee's remark is that, at present, governmental plans for social development around the world rely solely on economics, technology, science, and material education. His disapproval of one-sided, materialistic culture finds confirmation in sociologist Pitirim Sorokin's statistical analysis of the past twenty-five hundred years of human history. Dr. Sorokin writes, "We are living in the most scientific, most technological, and most schooled century; and the same century happens to be the bloodiest of all the preceding recorded twenty-five centuries."

Obviously, then, the materialistic plans for social development are failing. Paradoxically, the materially advanced nations are just as frustrated as the developing nations, if not more so. The people in the few areas where materialism has produced the greatest wealth suffer from the greatest psychological distress and highest crime rates. If both the rich man and the poor man are suffering, then clearly their problem is not material, but must stem from the need for something other than material. Historian Theodore Roszak defines that need as follows: "Technological achievements are… meaningless in the absence of a transcendent correspondence. They leave ungratified that dimension of the self which reaches out into the world for enduring purpose, undying value." Psychologist Abraham Maslow shows how a sole reliance on materialistic theories actually inhibits all human progress: "…the major motivation theories by which most men live can lead him only to depression and cynicism."

The alternative to this bleak scene is a spiritually conscious society. This proposal, however, usually provokes two objections: one, that religion is always dogmatic and inevitably leads to "holy wars", two, that a spiritual society is impractical.

Those aware of only Western religious history would readily agree with the first objection. However, the history of the Vedic civilization of India proves that people in a genuine spiritual society live in the greatest mood of tolerance. Even today, the followers of Vedic culture respect all views, be they Christian, Buddhist, Muhammadan, or whatever. The other objection (that a spiritual society is impractical) also withers before Vedic history. In fact, the oldest civilization in the world (the Vedic civilization) is also the most spiritual. Dr. Sorokin's study of history shows that organizations based on a materialistic ideology, whether they be businesses, nations, or any other, have a maximum life span of only a few hundred years. On the other hand, he has this to say about spiritual organizations: "The longest existing organizations are the great ethical-religious organizations-Taoism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Muhammadanism, and the like. They have already lived more than one or two or three millennia." Longevity (which means practicality and strength) results from the satisfaction of people's basic spiritual needs.

At present the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), founded by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, is approaching our pressing social problems with a spiritual solution. Based on the world's largest operational body of spiritual knowledge, the Vedas, ISKCON maintains over one hundred microcosmic spiritual communities throughout the world. Social scientists and government officials, including the former prime minister of India, Sri Lal Bahudar Shastri, have praised ISKCON's practical efforts to improve the human condition. Dr. John B. Orr, Director of the School of Religion at the University of Southern California, appraised ISKCON's social implications in this way: "Perhaps your movement is the revolution we've all been waiting for."

Why did Dr. Orr call the Krsna consciousness society revolutionary? Perhaps because Krsna consciousness strikes at the heart of humanity's problems, our forgotten relationship with the Supreme Being. Specifically, awareness of our relationship with God generates knowledge of the natural laws that govern the successful organization of society. Therefore, although Krsna consciousness is primarily a system for rectifying our spiritual predicament, it solves our material problems as well.

Science attempts to discover general patterns that rule its object of study. By applying the scientific laws of social development found in the Vedas, ISKCON is proving that patterns for harmonious living do exist. Rather than vainly treating symptoms of the social disease, now the world's governments can observe Krsna conscious communities and learn how to treat the real cause of their troubles (the spiritual void in people's lives) by following the laws of nature and of God.