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At long last I am getting around to answering a few pending questions from the CIS forum. These were sent on Feb. 8 2010 so I am three months overdue. Oh well, better late than never as they say (at least I hope so!)
This is from an unidentified devotee:
2. Did Srila Prabhupada attach great importance to the project of Vedic Planetarium in Mayapur temple?
Answer
This was Srila Prabhupada’s last and greatest uncompleted project, the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (TOVP). Srila Prabhupada conceived of a great temple in Mayapur even before ISKCON started officially in India.
As early as 1971 he was already advertising a 100′ high temple and guest house complex:
Prabhupada always viewed the Mayapur project as the world headquarters even when all he had there was a straw and brick hut.
By 1977 his architect Surabhir Abhipalayantam dasa Swami (formerly Saurabha dasa) had designed a grand edifice 350 feet high and a model of that was displayed at the 1977 Gaura Purnima festival in Mayapur:
Srila Prabhupada wanted to do something there to challenge the current mechanistic world view being propagated by the atheistic Darwinist scientists. In presenting the Srimad Bhagavatam 5th Canto he wanted to present the SB world view–that the universe is full of life, that originates from life.
The 5th canto presents us with a multi-dimensional, populated universe which springs from an original, eternal, unlimited source, Goloka Vrindavan.
Actually science and modern astronomy are not too far off the SB in some respects. Nowadays it is accepted at least theoretically that there can be many other dimensions occupying the same space as our 3-D world. Mulit-dimensional universes is an accepted discussion topic.
It is also accepted that there must be many worlds in this universe that are populated with advanced life forms. Just a couple of weeks ago famous scientist Stephen Hawking announced that he believed in life forms on other planets. Although he is an avowed atheist, still he admits that we are not the only inhabitants of this universe:
Published: 8:39AM BST 25 Apr 2010
Stephen Hawking: alien life is out there, scientist warns
Stephen Hawking has suggested that aliens almost certainly exist but has warned humanity not to try to contact them.
One of the world’s leading scientists makes the claim in a new television documentary series, beginning on the Discovery Channel next month.
Hawking says that in a universe with 100 billion galaxies, each containing hundreds of millions of stars, it is unlikely that earth is the only place where life has evolved.
“To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational,” he said, according to The Sunday Times.
“The real challenge is working out what aliens might actually be like.”
Hawking says that they could be microbes – basic animals such as worms which have been on Earth for millions of years, but suggests that extraterrestrial life could develop much further.
“We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet,” Hawking said.
“I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonise whatever planets they can reach.”
The scientist, who is paralysed by motor neurone disease, warned that contact with alien life could spell disaster for the human race.
“If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the American Indians.”
It is also admitted in science that all energy is eternal. Noone can say that there was a definite point at which universal substance came into being from nothing, and nor can it be said that it completely disappears into nothing. What exists must logically always exist and even Hawking admits this.
It is also a fact that the living space we occupy is unlimited. Consider this: If all that exists is this simply this one universe, it must necessarily have no boundaries. We accept that there is space all around us. If it has no boundaries, where does it end? If it has boundaries, that means it is an enclosed universe. So what is outside of it? It must be existing within in another space. And that space is either unlimited or it exists in another space etc. etc. to infinitum.
So we cannot escape the main ideas of the Bhagavatam i.e. that time and space are eternal and unlimited. The only thing we disagree with the scientists on is the question of the origin of life. Material scientists say life is a product of matter, but they cannot show any evidence nor give any explanation exactly how life come from chemical combinations. So it is theory only, and a very poor and illogical one at that.
On our side we say that life is a separate energy from matter and that just as the material energy, or any kind of energy, is eternal, life is therefore also eternal.
This is far more logical and sensible than saying matter is eternal but life is not. We also say that life is the original cause of the combinations of matter, not the other way around.
So when we present our Vedic planetarium, we are presenting a challenge to the entire modern concept of life. And Mayapur, as the origin of the Krsna consciousness movement, is the best place to do this. Srila Prabhupada said that if we make this TOVP, millions of persons from around the world will come and visit and be educated in this Vedic world view. That is our target and by Srila Prabhupada’s blessings and for the pleasure of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the project is now underway.
So yes, Srila Prabhupada attached the greatest importance to this project. Mayapur, the birth place of Lord Caitanya, is the eminent source of all the preaching of the Krsna consciousness movement. It is the heart and soul of ISKCON.
Your humble servant,
Hari-sauri dasa
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