Thank you very much for reading these posts. For something a little different I would like to discuss what has become the religion of the materialists, evolution.
Darwin's theory of evolution
Scientists and atheists are very fond of Charles Darwin's work on natural selection and evolution of the species. It was only after Darwin's theory of evolution became widely accepted that the scientific community had a reasonably plausible explanation of the development of the diverse forms of life we see around us without any divine direction or intelligence behind it. His work was quickly accepted by all atheistic men and practically it is the support of the modern godless technological world. However evolution is still only a theory and although it parallels the evolution of consciousness described in the Vedas, the idea that material bodies evolve into different species by the process of 'natural selection' driven by chance is completely false.
We have never seen one species turn into another species and there is no evidence for this ever happening in the fossil record. That is because there are 8,400,000 species of life and these species are fixed. It is the consciousness of the particular living entity, spirit soul, at the time of death, or the time he leaves the body, that determines the type of body he will be placed into in his next birth.
So it is the living entities who's consciousness is either evolving or devolving and who change from one body to another. But the 8,400,000 species of life remain constant. Ultimately the whole material world with all its universes containing unlimited planets and stars will be annihilated however the patterns of these 8,400,000 species of living entities will remain stored and when the material world again becomes manifest the exact same 8,400,000 species will again become manifest. They are never 'evolved' and there is no chance or natural selection in the process.
Of course in the beginning of the creation the whole surface of the planet is covered with water. So initially only the aquatic living entities are able to take birth. But as the water drys up and the land starts to come out the insects and plants and animals and man also become manifest.
The exact process of how the planets of the universe are populated with living entities is described elaborately in the Srimad Bhagavatam and for further details on this process I strongly recommend you study the Srimad Bhagavatam. You will find that this ancient Sanskrit text from India is full of astonishingly correct scientific information.
So although there is an evolution of consciousness and the world is initially covered by water and therefore there are only aquatic living entities present and the creatures of the land come later, after the water dries up and the land becomes manifest, the process driving this manifestation of the living entities is not at all natural selection and chance. In some ways this process could be called evolution, but the theory that the diverse forms of life we experience around us were caused by 'natural selection' driven by random mutations is completely false.
We have never found the "missing links"
Darwin himself admitted there was no proof for his theory of one species gradually evolving into another species in the fossil record at the time of writing his thesis, but he was sure as time went on the "Missing Links" would be found. The subsequent fossil evidence has done nothing to support his theory. There are unlimited specimens which contradict the idea of natural selection altogether and no proof to support a continuous chain of slightly different species evolving from one form to another more advanced form. It is just not there in the fossil record. So why have the supposedly intelligent scientific community not rejected the idea of evolution of the species? The only answer is the alternative is to accept some sort of divine direction driving the force of creation and that is unacceptable to the materialistic scientists and atheists in our hedonistic world.
Of course the 'theory' that there is a God, a Supreme Person in control who is directing and managing the process of the creation of the material world is a completely valid and logical 'theory', but it is rejected by science because they want to be god themselves. They do not what to accept that there may be some intelligence and direction that is greater than themselves. Therefore rather than considering the perfectly valid 'theory' that there is intelligent control behind the creation they instead remain attached their disproved theory of natural selection by chance which allows them to imagine that they are the greatest creatures in the creation and there is no one superior to them...
Banishing God and building a "Brave New World"
Generally we have all come to the material world because we want to become the enjoyer. Actually as living entities our real constitutional position is that we are eternally servants of Krishna. We experience the highest transcendental pleasure by serving Krishna. That is the only way we can become happy, by serving Krishna. However we have a little independence. So we can choose to serve Krishna--which is the proper use of our independence--or we can decide to give up the service of Krishna and try and be happy independently from Krishna. Instead of serving Krishna we want to become just like Krishna. Krishna is the Supreme enjoyer and we are His servants. But sometimes we become envious of the position of Krishna and we want to become the enjoyer, just like Krishna.
So that is why Krishna created this material world and that is why He sent us here. We want to enjoy our senses to the maximum extent and science is about facilitating this sense gratification by exploiting the natural resources of this planet and exploiting the energy of the general mass of people by engaging them in working in factories, laboratories, hellish cities and other degraded situations to build the scientists "Brave New World." Practically they have succeeded in building a new world with money and sense gratification as the worshipable objects and God is banished altogether.
Are we any happier than our forefathers?
But what have we achieved? Certainly we can now drive in fast cars, fly from one side of the planet to the other quickly and play games on our computers and phones, but are we any happier now than our forefathers one hundred years ago? My answer would be unquestionably no, definitely not. We see signs of despair and anxiety everywhere. Crime, murder, rape and suicide levels are climbing alarmingly, killer diseases like AIDS and cancer are claiming more and more victims despite the helpless scientists feeble attempts to stop them. War and social and political strife is affecting a large percentage of the earth's population... in other words the world is in a big mess. Our quality of life has not improved at all from the so-called advances of science.
Nature is not blind
Nature is not blind. There is an intelligent direction behind nature and there is a purpose for life here in the material world. This world is manifested to give us, the rebellious living entities, a chance to live separately from God and became false lords and masters. Because we want to be god Krishna, the real God, has very mercifully built this material world for us. It's something like a child's playground. We can come here and try to fulfill our desires of becoming the lord and master. But there's a catch. This world is more like a prison than a playground. Although the material energy is very attractive, the real pleasure substance we are searching for cannot be found here. That pleasure, or ananda, can only be found in the spiritual world, the kingdom of God. So this material world is a place of rectification.
The Material World is designed to frustrate us!
To some extent we can fulfill our material desires here in the material world but nature is constructed in such a way to frustrate all our attempts in the long run. We are forced to come back here to the material world birth after birth and in every birth we try to enjoy our senses but we are always frustrated in the end. Every body we get in the material world is subject to birth, old age, disease and death. After many, many births of frustration in the material world an intelligent person can see there is actually no pleasure here so he begins to search for something else, something spiritual...
Scientists have good intelligence, but they are misusing it
Scientists are actually misusing their God-given intelligence. They certainly have good intelligence but such intelligent men are meant to be trained as Brahmins to become experts in the Vedic scriptures so they can learn and teach actual scientific knowledge which can really solve all the problems of the people on this planet. When people become frustrated with material life there has to be someone to tell them about spiritual life so these intelligent men should be doing this. They should use their intelligence to study the Vedas, to become Krishna conscious themselves and then to spread Krishna consciousness all over the world. But instead the scientists are misusing their good intelligence and are encouraging people to become more and more animalistic.
There is an Evolution of Consciousness, not an evolution of species
According to the Vedic knowledge there is evolution but it is not evolution of the species as Darwin proposed, but evolution of consciousness. As the fossil record clearly shows there are no intermediate forms between one species and another. The Padma Purana describes there are 8,400,000 species of life within this universe. Every species is existing at all times but they may not all be present on any given planet. There are unlimited planets in this one universe and we have information that beyond this universe there are unlimited other universes also. This universe is one of the smallest. There are many universes much larger than this one. But everywhere in the material creation these 8,400,000 species of life exist. The forms already exist on the subtle platform even if they are not physically manifested. This universe is going through cycles. Sometimes it is manifested and sometimes it is unmanifested but even when there is no manifested material world all the forms of the 8,400,000 species of life are still there on the subtle platform.
Every species of life is one step on the ladder of the evolution of consciousness. The soul in every species of life is equal in quality and quantity with the others, it is only due to the consciousness of a particular living entity that he takes a higher or lower body. If I ask the real questions one is meant to in this human form of life, which are: "Who am I? What is the purpose of life? What is spirit? Who is God?" then I am bound to be elevated to a higher platform of consciousness in the next life.
Evolution working backwards?If, however, I misuse this human form of life and live like the monkeys, simply looking for the material necessities of life: namely eating, sleeping, sex life and defense, then I am no better than a monkey and I will take a monkeys body in the next life.
The scientists don't know about this "backward" evolution. They are heading backwards in the evolution of consciousness because they are using their God-given intelligence for facilitating the animal propensities in an advanced, scientific way instead of using it for advancing spiritually. As a result of their misuse of their intelligence they are going backwards on the evolutionary path and will find themselves in the bodies of monkeys in their next lives.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
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