“To know exactly the permanency of spiritual existence, one must voluntarily practice possessing less or only the minimum to maintain one’s material existence without difficulty. One should not create artificial needs. That will help one be satisfied with the minimum. Artificial needs of life are activities of the senses. The modern advancement of civilization is based on these activities of the senses, or, in other words, it is a civilization of sense gratification. Perfect civilization is the civilization of atma, or the soul proper.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.7.18 Purport)

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Friend1: Do you ever run into people who are excited about the future of technology?

Friend2: What exactly about the future? As in, what new devices and gadgets will be invented?

Friend1: Exactly. No one could have imagined the smartphone. Though I know certain entrepreneurs long ago envisioned the idea of…

“Again and again the day comes, and this host of beings is active; and again the night falls, O Partha, and they are helplessly dissolved.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.19)

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भूत-ग्रामः स एवायं
भूत्वा भूत्वा प्रलीयते
रात्र्य्-आगमे ऽवशः पार्थ
प्रभवत्य् अहर्-आगमे

bhūta-grāmaḥ sa evāyaṁ
bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate
rātry-āgame ‘vaśaḥ pārtha
prabhavaty ahar-āgame

The issue is constant. Take any point in the vast timeline of creation and you will find the argument occurring, ready to be debated by both sides. The same will continue in the future, as the one side never seems to be satisfied.

In their futile pursuit to turn the temporary into permanent, the great roadblock that is genuine religion upsets them to the point of raising an objection:

“Listen, man, I respect what you’re doing and stuff. Everyone has to accept some philosophy in life. Cool that you are into…

“O son of Kunti, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.27)

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यत् करोषि यद् अश्नासि
यज् जुहोषि ददासि यत्
यत् तपस्यसि कौन्तेय
तत् कुरुष्व मद्-अर्पणम्

yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi
yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam

Goswami Tulsidas highlights the benevolent nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Shri Rama, by remembering the many requests made directly to Him. The Vanara king named Sugriva needed help against a rival brother. Vibhishana was cast aside in the kingdom of Lanka. Shabari waited to be reunited with her spiritual guides in the unmanifest realm. Guha asked to take Rama across the river in his boat.

The common theme is that the people…

“When everything was complete, Krishna assumed a great transcendental form and declared to the inhabitants of Vrindavana that He was Himself Govardhana Hill in order to convince the devotees that Govardhana Hill and Krishna Himself are identical. Then Krishna began to eat all the food offered there.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 24)

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Bhakti-yoga is not a dry or tasteless activity, reserved only for the time after the transition to statelessness. The individual can never be without individuality. They always have the service tendency, though sometimes it can be greatly suppressed or misdirected.

As the occasion of Govardhana Puja relates to Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is an ideal case study on the emotions that can be involved in the direct interaction with the person who is beyond the material world and the different concepts in duality…

“O Sita, see the golden lord of mountains [Mainaka], which is golden-peaked and which rose up, piercing the ocean, to provide rest to Hanuman.” (Lord Rama speaking to Sita Devi, Valmiki Ramayana, Yuddha Kand, 123.18)

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हिरण्यनाभन् शैलेन्द्रन् काञ्चनं पश्य मैथिलि ||
विश्रमार्थन् हनुमतो भित्त्वा सागरमुत्थितम् |

hiraṇyanābhan śailendran kāñcanaṃ paśya maithili ||
viśramārthan hanumato bhittvā sāgaramutthitam |

Diwali is commonly known today as the festival of lights, associated primarily with the Hindu faith. At its foundation, the annual tradition follows in the footsteps of residents of a specific city many thousands of years ago.

If there is any faith involved, it was in the eager anticipation of the return of the prince of Ayodhya. He is the Supreme Lord Himself, but to the common people He was the beloved son of King Dasharatha, their leader for so many years.

The lights were aligned…

“The Blessed Lord said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!” (Bhagavad-gita, 4.5)

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श्री-भगवान् उवाच
बहूनि मे व्यतीतानि
जन्मानि तव चार्जुन
तान्य् अहं वेद सर्वाणि
न त्वं वेत्थ परन्तप

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
bahūni me vyatītāni
janmāni tava cārjuna
tāny ahaṁ veda sarvāṇi
na tvaṁ vettha parantapa

Friend1: I think people will have a hard time believing that they lived before.

Friend2: What do you mean by “before”? I lived yesterday. So did you. What is hard to believe about that?

Friend1: A past life.

Friend2: Oh. As in reincarnation?

Friend1: Yes. Well, it depends on where the discussion is taking place, in which part of the world

Friend2: I was just going to say that. In terms of numbers, there are millions of people who firmly…

“O son of Pritha, there is no work prescribed for Me within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I need to obtain anything—and yet I am engaged in work.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.22)

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न मे पार्थास्ति कर्तव्यं
त्रिषु लोकेषु किञ्चन
नानवाप्तम् अवाप्तव्यं
वर्त एव च कर्मणि

na me pārthāsti kartavyaṁ
triṣu lokeṣu kiñcana
nānavāptam avāptavyaṁ
varta eva ca karmaṇi

Due to their innocence, children may ask questions of the elders that others may not be so willing to. The adults may not have thought of the idea or perhaps there is worry over revealing ignorance in certain areas where they are expected to know better.

One question a child may pose to a religious leader relates to the activities of the Almighty. They understand that He exists, but they would like to know what He…

“The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 15.8)

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शरीरं यद् अवाप्नोति
यच् चाप्य् उत्क्रामतीश्वरः
गृहीत्वैतानि संयाति
वायुर् गन्धान् इवाशयात्

śarīraṁ yad avāpnoti
yac cāpy utkrāmatīśvaraḥ
gṛhītvaitāni saṁyāti
vāyur gandhān ivāśayāt

1. Where will I go?

This has to be the biggest fear, as it is the area of greatest importance relating to uncertainty. This fear arises already through so many issues in life:

“What will occur after graduation? Will I be able to find employment? That massive student loan debt has to be paid off eventually. I’ve heard that it takes decades to come out from under it. Will I be able to survive that long in an office environment?”

“What will happen if I lose my job? Will I be able to…

“When the great saint Narada Muni had thus spoken, King Indra, being respectful to Narada’s words, immediately released my mother. Because of my being a devotee of the Lord, all the demigods circumambulated her. Then they returned to their celestial kingdom.” (Prahlada Maharaja, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.7.11)

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इत्य् उक्तस् तां विहायेन्द्रो
देवर्षेर् मानयन् वचः
अनन्त-प्रिय-भक्त्यैनां
परिक्रम्य दिवं ययौ

ity uktas tāṁ vihāyendro
devarṣer mānayan vacaḥ
ananta-priya-bhaktyaināṁ
parikramya divaṁ yayau

Friend1: Listen, those who enjoy the bliss of sharanagati naturally want to share the experience with others.

Friend2: Explain what that is.

Friend1: Surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavan. In the complete sense, not just some profession of faith, where you sign a piece of paper or agree to show up at a house of worship on a regular basis.

Friend2: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada gives the wonderful…

“Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes and faces, and He hears everything. In this way the Supersoul exists.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 13.14)

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सर्वतः पाणि-पादं तत्
सर्वतो ऽक्षि-शिरो-मुखम्
सर्वतः श्रुतिमल् लोके
सर्वम् आवृत्य तिष्ठति

sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaṁ tat
sarvato ‘kṣi-śiro-mukham
sarvataḥ śrutimal loke
sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati

You have this great resource in technology.  Everybody loves it. They want access to it. It is like a gift from above, something they’ve been waiting on for a long time.  They can’t believe it is finally here.

The big issue now is concurrency.  Many points of access, which could occur simultaneously.  Something like the denial-of-service attack employed by hackers, the potential for a bottleneck is real. The manager of the resource has different proposed solutions for prevention.

1. Locks in a database management system

No matter the size of the application or where it is…