hippies

That the boys do not have the ksatriya spirit does not mean that they are trained in brahminical qualities; they are trained as sudras, and thus in frustration they are becoming hippies. However, as soon as they enter the Krsna consciousness movement which is being started in America, they are trained to meet the brahminical qualifications, even though they have fallen to the lowest conditions as sudras. In other words, since the Krsna consciousness movement is open for everyone, people in general can attain the brahminical qualifications. This is the greatest need at the present moment, for now there are actually no brahmanas or ksatriyas but only some vaisyas and, for the most part, sudras. The classification of society into brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudras is very scientific. In the human social body, the brahmanas are considered the head, the ksatriyas are the arms, the vaisyas are the belly, and the sudras are the legs. At the present moment the body has legs and a belly, but there are no arms or head, and therefore society is topsy-turvy. It is necessary to reestablish the brahminical qualifications in order to raise the fallen human society to the highest standard of spiritual consciousness. (More...)

As long as a person is entangled in fruitive activities, he is bound to accept one body after another. This is called karma-bandha-phaṅsa-entanglement in fruitive activities. It does not matter whether one is engaged in pious or impious activities, for both are causes for further entanglement in material bodies. By pious activities one can take birth in a rich family and get a good education and a beautiful body, but this does not mean that the distresses of life are ultimately eliminated. In the Western countries it is not unusual for one to take birth in a rich aristocratic family, nor is it unusual for one to have a good education and a very beautiful body, but this does not mean that Westerners are free from the distresses of life. Although at the present moment the younger generation in Western countries has sufficient education, beauty and wealth, and although there is enough food, clothing and facilities for sense gratification, they are in distress. Indeed, they are so distressed that they become "hippies," and the laws of nature force them to accept a wretched life. Thus they go about unclean and without shelter or food, and they are forced to sleep in the street. It can be concluded that one cannot become happy by simply performing pious activities. It is not a fact that those who are born with a silver spoon in their mouth are free from the material miseries of birth, old age, disease and death. The conclusion is that one cannot be happy by simply executing pious or impious activities. Such activities simply cause entanglement and transmigration from one body to another. Narottama dasa Thakura calls this karma-bandha-phaṅsa. (More...)

Presently the hippies in the Western countries fit this description. They are irresponsible and unregulated. They do not bathe, and they deride standard Vedic knowledge. They concoct new life-styles and religions. There are many hippie groups at the present moment, but they all originated from King Arhat, who imitated the activities of Lord Rsabhadeva, who was situated on the paramahamsa stage. King Arhat did not care for the fact that although Lord Rsabhadeva acted like a madman, His stool and urine were nonetheless aromatic, so much so that they nicely scented the countryside for miles around. The followers of King Arhat went under the name Jains, and they were later followed by many others, particularly by the hippies, who are more or less offshoots of Mayavada philosophy because they think themselves the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such people do not respect the real followers of Vedic principles, the ideal brahmanas. Nor do they have respect for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Brahman. Due to the influence of this age of Kali, they are apt to concoct false religious systems. (More...)

So why this question of frustration, as Swami..., Goswami Hanuman-prasada was thinking? Now the younger generation are after suicide. I do not know if this is fact. There is some dearth. So many things are. So actually, there is no cause of frustration. There is very good news for jubilation. That is this Krsna consciousness movement. Don't be frustrated. Try to understand this Krsna consciousness movement, how it is scientific, how it is authorized, how it is old, and how it is accepted by great acaryas, great stalwart, learned scholars, and how it is treated by the, I mean, the learned section of all over the world. (More...)

Prabhupada: It's... Especially, we are Indian, it is advertised that we are poverty-stricken. All over the world this is advertised. Wherever I go, they say, "Oh, you are coming from India?" [laughter] Because they are simply begging, the government. But who is dying? There is... Dying is going on, but that death is going on in other countries also. They are dying, committing suicide. And maybe some person are dying out of starvation. You cannot stop death. Suppose you have got enough food. That means that everything is solved? In America there is enough food. Why they are coming hippies? There is no shortage of food. Nothing... Everything is abundant, but why they are becoming hippies? They are lying down on the street, on the park, and I have seen in London, the St. James Park. They are sleeping, and the police is kicking: "Hey! Get up! Get up!" So why? The English nation is not poor nation. The American nation is not poor nation. (More...)

Prabhupada: No, I saw in Amsterdam-simply full of hippies, lying down on the street, lying down in the park, no food, no shelter. It is going on. (More...)

Guest (2): The hippies are not lying in the park because they lack food. (More...)

Prabhupada: They must be wanting something. They are in need of something. (More...)

Prabhupada: One body is in need of food; another body is in need of something else. They're needy, everyone needy. That you have to accept. I have seen in Los Angeles-I was walking in the Beverly Hills quarter-one hippie boy is coming from a very nice house. Beverly Hills, that quarter, is resided by all rich class. And he has got very nice car, but he's hippie. Why? His father is very rich man. He has got nice car. He might be very educated. Then why he is hippie? What is the answer? (More...)

Prabhupada: That means in need. So that is the question, that you may be in need of food, I may be in need of some woman, he may be in need of some money... In this way everyone is needy. Therefore, ultimately one should search after God, when every need will be fulfilled. Just like Dhruva Maharaja, he went... He was in need of an empire like his father. For that reason he went to the forest and performed all kinds of austerities. And when he saw God he said, svamin krtharto 'smi varam na yace: "I have no more need. Everything is fulfilled. I don't want anything." He... God said, "Now whatever benediction you want, you take from Me." He said, "No, I don't want anything. Now everything is fulfilled." So that is the real need. The child is crying, and he is not stopping crying, so many others coming. But as soon as his mother come, he will stop. He understands immediately, "Now I have got the thing, my mother." (More...)

Indian man (2): I would ask the respected Swamiji, you referred to the departure of the villagers to the city and getting invested in city life and the villagers[?] becoming factory worker, and all evils which follow. And you suggested as a solution that if you live in the village and work only for three months, then you'll have food to eat. But I'd like to point out that there is such a vast amount of unemployment in our villages in India. The vast populations are there who, despite all these settlements, are not able to make enough food because they don't own the land and they are not... They are unemployed. And that's why they go into the cities. It is not necessarily the good life in the city which attracts them, but they don't own the land. The land is owned by other people, and they are not free to live in the village as free men and grow enough food for them. Now this is a question of the means of owning, of the means of production. And we still have the zamindar system. We still have the system, and the rich people are being exploiting; therefore they go. Unless there is some kind of a revolution by which you can curb the power of the landlord, how can you be for land distribution in the village, of those people who live in the village, and not go to city to pull a rickshaw or do other labor to...? (More...)