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The pleasure and displeasure caused by the senses start dominating the mind. This is the constant challenge for you. It has always been so. It was there eons ago. It is there even now.

Q: Devotees from Malaysia: What are the challenges in pursuing the principles of Sanātana Dharma in today’s rapidly changing world?

Swamiji: Actually, the world has not changed at all! This is what I have to say. As it is today, in ancient times also, life was an interaction between the individual, his senses, and the sensory objects.

The constant challenge before us is our own senses – the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. The senses have only one direction: they go outward, they cannot perceive inward. When you open your eyes, you will definitely see something. And what you see can be various. The moment you see this variety, some of them please you and some displease you. The pleasure and displeasure caused by the senses start dominating the mind. This is the constant challenge for you. It has always been so. It was there eons ago. It is there even now.

You have read Ramayana. Sita was a great princess brought up by Janaka Maharshi, himself a great saint. She had, thus, not only religious but also a noble, spiritual heredity. She abandoned the comforts of the palace and decided to go with Rama to the forest for fourteen years. She completed thirteen years successfully. The last year, Rama wanted to live a life of spiritual austerity. He put up a hermitage (kuteer) in Janasthāna. It was in a very ascetic, sublime atmosphere.

Then suddenly came that golden deer. Do you have any product better than this today? But actually, a golden deer can never be. Gold is metal and a deer cannot be made of gold. But she was so allured by the deer that she prevailed upon Rama to catch it and bring it alive. You know the story. In fifteen minutes she was abducted and became a slave of Ravana. Was it not her untimely and immature desire that caused it?

Sensory moderation and discipline – Sanātana Dharma extols these all the time. Adhering to these has always been the most difficult challenge in human life. Is there any challenge today greater than this?

Q: Devotees: Swamiji, the world and the ecology have been changing with the advent of modern man. Is this not a challenge before him?

Swamiji: Yes. The world is having a flare for modernism now. Maybe we are causing more damage to Nature – that is a point of concern. Our scientists are saying that the effects of modernism have been harmful for the environment. I was writing about the ‘greenhouse effect’ in my commentaries on śrīmad  bhāgavataṃ. Do you know that during the past 10,000 years, the earth’s temperature had gone up only by about 0.6 degree Celsius, whereas, in the next 100 years it is expected to shoot up by nearly 6 degree Celsius?

Now, this is the effect of modernization. The global temperature is rising. The glaciers in the Himalayas and the Polar regions are melting. The scientists say that our ocean is going to rise by about three to five metres and many of the low-lying areas will be under water.

This is what we humans have generated in the name of civilization! But for us, this global warming would not have taken place. Now you tell me, in such a civilization, is there anything really grand or great? Many things we are doing as advancement are actually harming us in the long term.

It is not that only some people or some countries are misbehaving; the whole world is misbehaving. We are warming up the earth. All the natural resources are getting exhausted. Coal, oil and minerals are extracted indiscriminately. When they are extracted in such large quantities from under, will not the earth have to regain its balance? Will we not have a number of tsunamis?

I think this is the challenge. Try to be considerate. Try to understand Nature comprehensively. Live in harmony with Nature so that you do not cause any imbalance in it. Let us learn to coexist as a nation, as a family, and as individuals. All of these are a must – because, the alternative is co-destruction.

When we understand these realities seriously, there is greater persuasion to follow Sanātana Dharma. The world scenario compels us to think repeatedly about the tenets of Sanātana Dharma. These are: all-fold compassion, non-hurting, sensory moderation, equal vision and knowledge of the Soul – our own identity. These are also the means for inner contentment. Once you conform to these, for which the world scenario repeatedly beckons you, I think the challenge is very clear. The answer also is very clear.

– Vicharasethu-Feb 2008