What should be the attitude of devotees towards conspiracy theories like say 9-11 was staged by America?

Transcript

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Question, what should be the perspective of devotees on various conspiracy theories, like say, the idea that 9-11 was staged by Americans and not by the Taliban? Answer, at the request of some devotees who had said that some of the answers were very long, they were almost like lectures, I will try whenever I give long answers, about 20 minutes or something like that, that I will condense the answer separately in less than 10 minutes, maybe about 5 minutes or so.
So, these short answers will not be substitutes for the long answers and the long answers are long because the questions that are raised need to be addressed elaborately. But there are devotees who may just want to get a summary understanding of things and who do not want to have such a detailed understanding. So, for their benefit, I would like to give short answers here.
But please keep in mind that the short answer is not a substitute for the long answer and you may not get a clear understanding. Just a summary outline you will get by hearing the short answer. So, essentially, the attitude of devotees towards everything in material life, that whatever is favourable for the devotional service, they accept, whatever is unfavourable, they reject.
So, we have to see whether these conspiracy theories can help us. So, can they help us in our devotional service? If the conspiracy theories are true, then maybe we will lose some of our naive faith in the material world and material things. We will realize this world is a place of cheaters and cheated.
And maybe that will deepen our conviction to get out of the material world. But there are many more non-controversial facts which can help us to gain this realization of cheaters and cheated. We do not need conspiracy theories for this.
Then are the conspiracy theories useful in our outreach? Then we have to see whether those conspiracy theories are about subjects that are related with the philosophy of Krishna consciousness. So, I talked about several conspiracy theories in the long answer. So, let us say the idea that humans have been there for a long time on the earth, but that evidence has been suppressed or destroyed or ignored is a theory.
And if it is true, then it supports the Vedic understanding that ancient civilization was much more advanced than modern civilization. Humans have been there for a long, long time on the earth. So, this will contradict the Rabin’s theory of evolution and establish the antiquity of Vedic culture.
And both are things which are important. So, in that sense, this is an important theory for us to some extent. But then there is a lot of speculation on which particular evidence is correct.
Some people propose that Africa was the continent from which everything came. Others propose there is a lost continent called Atlantis, which was the seed of that ancient civilization. So, we will have to sift between the various theories and understand what can be used in devotional service.
There are other theories like say the food industry is being hijacked by economic barons who have made non-veg food like hamburgers more expensive than vegetarian food like simple vegetables and fruits. All of these come free in nature. And they have rigged the economic system according.
This is true and this can encourage people to live simply and to take a vegetarian food. But then there are other theories like say the economic recession, that the whole economy of the globe is rigged by certain people in some part of the world. Or the 9-11 theory that it was staged by America.
These are not issues that are directly related with devotional service. Indirectly, ultimately everything can be connected with Krishna. But if we start speaking these things, we are not really developing people’s faith in Krishna consciousness by proving these things.
And because every conspiracy theory is debatable and most people do not have the patience to go through all the evidence to evaluate both the sides. Generally, people put the conspiracy theorist in a suspicious bracket. And so, if what we talk about initially seems suspicious to people, then what we talk about eventually, like say, we are not the body, we are the soul, that we have to become purified and go back to Krishna, then we will be happy.
Krishna purifies us. People may start doubting these things also. So therefore, two things we have to keep in mind.
First is that, is it favorable to our devotional service? Is it helpful in our practice of devotional service or sharing of devotional service with others? And secondly, is the theory going to build up people’s faith or is going to build up people’s doubt about us by talking about the theory? So, Sri Prabhupada, in general, did not go too much into conspiracy theories. He did say that man did not go to the moon. And he said that the whole show was a hoax.
That was not the only statement he made. He also said, even if they have gone to the moon, what is the big deal? So, his statement was basically, don’t get excited about anything material, even if it seems to be sensational. Because even if people go to the moon, still, they have to grow old, get deceased and die.
And still, they will be just reading, sleeping, defending like the animals. So, there’s no need to get excited about it. Sri Prabhupada did not emphasize any conspiracy theories.
When he was asked about a book, which said that there’s evidence for ancient civilization in Egypt and in stone in various parts of the world. And that was this evidence of Vedic technology. Prabhupada asked this about Graham Hancock’s Fingerprints of the God.
Prabhupada said that Vedic technology means Guru-Shishya Parampara. That means Prabhupada focused on the transformational potency of Krishna consciousness that we get through Guru Parampara. Because that is what is most practical, most potent, most relevant for people today.
And that is what the world needs. Even if the world has a wrong understanding of history, wrong understanding of economics, still, if people become purified by chanting Hare Krishna, they will to some extent contribute to making this world a better place. And most important, they’ll get purified and go back to the spiritual world to be eternally happy, which is the ultimate purpose of this world.
So, therefore, this is our thrust. And if conspiracy theories can get people to come to this thrust, fine. Otherwise, we shouldn’t meddle our mind too much in those things because either to prove it right or wrong is very difficult because everybody has their own arguments and counter arguments.
And more importantly, even if the conspiracy theories are true, what can we do about it, practically speaking? Even if 9-11 is staged by America and not Afghanistan, even if the whole economy of the world is run by some people, some elite group, maybe some Jews or some other elite people in some part of the world, what can we do about it? So, it is not spiritually purifying, it is not materially in any way empowering. Therefore, it is not essential for us to dabble in these things unless there is a specific purpose of utility in outreach or utility in helping people to develop faith in the core scriptural teachings and process. Thank you.