Week 3 Sanga
Sanga 3: Changing Times
Is Krishna Consciousness still practical in today’s changing world, 50 years after Srila Prabhupad arrived in the West? Are some of our teachings and practices outdated or more relevant than ever?
Content:
Watch “Did you know? 2014”
Read the second chapter of Civilization and Transcendence entitled *Progressing Beyond “Progress”
Objective: To explore statistics of the changing world and how they relate to us as devotees. Understand how we as devotees can balance our presence in the material world with our inclination for spirituality.
Discussion:
What did your group think of the video? Which statistics surprised you? Which do you feel you can relate to the most? Which did you doubt?
Srila Prabhupad specifically said, “In the closing days of Kali-yuga (this present age) men will have to work hard like asses for only a scrap of bread. This process has already begun, and every year the necessity for harder work for lesser wages will increase.” Every year it gets tougher to get into college. Competition is heavily increasing across the globe. From elementary schools up to working professionals, there is a lot of pressure on us to fulfill our materialistic duties in this world. As young college students and working professionals, we sometimes feel distant from our parent’s generation, and even older devotees, because times have clearly changed.
Discuss Prabhupad’s explanation of spiritual progress vs. material progress. Parallel this with the statistics in the video. How do we fit into a society that has rapidly progressed materially in the past 50 years, and will continue to progress, without sacrificing our need for spiritual progress? In the reading, Prabhupad addresses the accusation that devotees are “escapsits” from the material world. Is his explanation still relevant today?