No One Surrenders To Vedic Culture

There's so much talk about vedic culture these days. Catch phrases like "our culture", "our tradition" etc.... get used a lot it seems.

We have so much vedic culture. It's inundating everything. We can put on the best ceremonies, wear all the right clothes, quote sanskrit like it's our birth language (even if it's not). We know all the festival days, all the holidays, and all the ways to celebrate them.

That's all really nice. Vedic culture is a beautiful thing. There is something for everyone there, some way for everyone to become attracted to Krishna. Within vedic culture there are even all kinds of forms of religiosity and ways for people of all classes to gradually elevate themselves to higher levels, thus ultimately making spiritual progress.

The only thing about all this that becomes a problem is when we miss the point, or allow others to. The ultimate goal of all vedic culture is to surrender to Krishna, to become His devotee. We have to become free of attachment to all our false concepts of self. That means our identification with our bodies, gross and subtle and our attachment to all things that relate to our bodies. Finally, becoming pure instruments of Krishna's will, and acting out of love/devotion in our eternal relationship with Him.

Sometimes we wonder why more people aren't becoming serious about Krishna consciousness. We examine our preaching methods, we think of more and more ways to "attract" others to the Krishna consciousness.

One thing that occurs to me in all this is the simple fact that no one surrenders to "vedic culture". If they did, then all the millions of Hindu's who have taken up Western ways, and now eat meat and drink alcohol and laugh at the scriptures, would instead be seriously chanting and studying the very scriptures they were born to.

They have all the "externals" available to them. They have "all things vedic" but still, they are not surrendering to Krishna just because of all their vedic things.

Purity of message and focus on the essence is what causes others who are serious to become attracted to Krishna consciousness. A lot of demonstrations of exotic culture and "vedic behavior" and lifestyle may interest people, but how seriously do they take up the process? If they do, for how long? How committed to it are they, how deeply to they internalize the essential things?

There so many thousands of ways within vedic culture for people to become attracted to some aspect of Krishna. Something that is in relation to Krishna can be found in every vedic thing. Still, without the essence, without the focus on that essence, it's going to miss the mark. People will come, gather nice books and clothes and recipes, and maybe change their lifestyle somewhat. Are they going to become truly Krishna conscious as a result? Not in this lifetime. Maybe not for many, many lifetimes.

While vedic culture is a beautiful thing, and something that can encompass a lot of aspects of society and generally influence others in a positive sense, it's not the essence of the sankritan movement of Lord Chaitanya.

The essence is hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord in the association of devotees. You don't have to have a lot of "vedic culture" to accomplish that. You don't need a lot of money, a lot of time, a lot of people, a lot of flags, banners, posters, videos, festivals, and other accouterments.

You only need purity of purpose, the ability to chant, scripture, and a basic understanding of the philosophy. You don't even have to speak in sanskrit. People who are serious are attracted to Krishna. They are attracted to the essence. A lot of "vedic culture" can actually be a distraction to those who are serious.