Everyone is fed up with this rascal civilization of sex and wine. How long one can artificially live on this. They have no other asset. Therefore, people are turning to Krishna Consciousness. Let us push on. Others cannot push on, they have no asset. -Srila Prabhupada

The percentage of the American population drinking alcoholic beverages has fluctuated greatly over the past 60 years, ranging between 55% and 71%. In Gallup Poll's most recent survey on this issue, 64% of the adult population said they had taken an opportunity to drink.

Over a third of Americans report that drinking has been a cause of trouble in their family, the highest percentage in response to this question in the more than 50 years it has been asked.

Now that spring is here, thousands of young people are vacationing en route to Pacific Beach. They have only two things on their mind, beer and sex. This is one strange thing about having a Hare Krishna Temple in P.B., you get to witness first hand the contrast between mindless sensual activities that most Americans hold sacred, and the practice of spiritual life which entails giving up these meaningless pleasures for higher internal ones.

The youth that come to this place worship the youthful human body, because for them they see it as a vehicle to enjoy the pleasures of life. They are very excited about exploring their newly developed human body. And if it gives us pleasure, why shouldn't we do that? To each his own, right?

But is it really pleasure at all?

I don't know, but I can't see it like that anymore. It is not just that there is something annoying like having to pass water every ten minutes, or the fact that people think that acting stupidly uninhibited is thought to be “cool”, it is the fact that we accept false temporary pleasure as real pleasure.

Sadly enough, for some this is even considered the very goal of human life. That, "I will consume a substance that will ‘loosen me up’ to the point of becoming free from social pressure, then stumbling across opposite sex, I will fall in love in the matter of 3 hours and be "making love" in the back seat of my car at the end of the night.

Although these fantasies always fall short of the anticipated goal, still the materialists have taken strict vows, much stricter than us monks, to fulfill these burning desires to enjoy. So for them, alcohol is a wonderful way to express themselves freely in the so-called enjoying atmosphere.

This is a foolish idea.

Krishna Consciousness wakes us up to perfect reality, because it is constantly reminding us of the limitations of the material body. People will complain, "Why do you have to be so cynical? Why not let people find their own happiness?" This Krishna Consciousness movement is not trying to hamper anyone’s enjoyment, but the purpose is to give people real enjoyment and real satisfaction for the heart.

 This body is slowly decaying. Whatever we gain will be taken away by the force of time. There is no doubt about that. Still, we want to enjoy flickering happiness. You have seen a flickering light, right? It is kind of frustrating. It really bugs you. You don't like that a flicker light shining in your face, but that is the kind of happiness you find in this world. But because, we are so desperate for fulfillment and expression, we settle for flickering temporary happiness.

There is much more going on, on the spiritual platform. When we delve into the spiritual potency, life gets more exciting, but we are not talking about reading people minds or attaining psychic powers. Those are subtle mental abilities, they do not satisfy the self.

We require precise knowledge about the soul and the Super soul. On the spiritual platform we have room for the expansion of pleasure we need.

Knowing that one is not the body is the beginning to a more elevated platform to expand our happiness.

They feel by getting drunk that the boundaries go away and they feel carefree, but material life is not like that. It is actually full of miseries, whether it is a simple hunger pain, breaking of bones, or the dying of a lover; it is not constructed for progressive happiness. Life becomes progressively more and more miserable as time goes on.

So to bring that feeling of freedom, we take to intoxication. This is an artificial solution. Basically, it means we are trying to hide or cover up the fact that we are suffering. The more we artificially get high, the more we have come down. Why play with artificial freedom? Why not develop Krishna Consciousness and experience the power of the spiritual potency. In material life there is always a catch, but Krishna Consciousness there is no catch or impediments.

Krishna Consciousness is about developing pure love for the Supreme Soul. Everyone is looking for a "soul mate", right? The nature of the living being is to love without any inhibitions, and who is there a better lover than God Himself?

Krishna is all attractive! His spiritual form is far beyond what we call boring. Just seeing Him once, great souls gave up their lower attachments to family and friends to chase His lotus feet. His form of every youth and beauty is what we are actually trying to replace in this world in our search for continual happiness.

Does that mean that we turn our backs on the world? Are we abandoning the world? No, actually the material world is the inferior energy of Krishna. The spiritual universe is the internal energy. In Krishna Consciousness one can function in both worlds very nicely.

We are forced to express ourselves and enjoy with the material body, which is frustrating by the nature of its limitations. The body is getting old and becoming feeble. Who wants that their body will get old and useless? No one. But, all these bodily pleasures are fleeting and flickering, yet society is encouraging us to enjoy this stinky body to the fullest extent.

No one will warn you that those things are limited. No one except this Krishna Consciousness movement will tell you about perfect reality. This Age of Kali Zine is for waking the sleeping souls, who are eternal by nature, to reality of God Consciousness or Krishna Consciousness.

Trying to enjoy independently is going against the current of the desire and will of God. When we give up this inferior mentality of being the center of the universe’s activities, we can see that we are a part of the greater whole. The process of Bhakti-Yoga is to transfer the activities of the body, mind, and soul, which are normally devoted to selfish pleasures, to the rendering of causeless devotional service to Krishna for His pleasure, just as the hand would render service to the stomach for its own interest.

This is the key to human happiness and the fulfillment of the human quest for enlightenment. This process eradicates the illusory perception of misery. One will no longer feel the need to get intoxicated, which is sort of the soul's form of denial of the limitations of the material body. Upon understanding Krishna, one regains their spiritual body, which is by nature eternally, full of bliss and knowledge. One will not have to suffer repeated birth, death, old age, and disease.

So, this alcohol consumption is not enjoyment at all. It is an attempt to cover up ones suffering life and pretend that material nature is all within our control.

But for those of you that want to piss every 20 minutes, wake up with a headache and a pregnant date and call that happiness, don't say we didn't warn you.

Now you can listen to the ancient sanskrit chants of Bhagavad Gita, sung in classical melodies by noted devotional singer Sri Vidyabhushana. Listen to all 700 verses of the Gita with a beautiful accompaniment of flute, veena, sitar, mridanga, tabla and tala. (Scroll down to listen to it online.)

Set includes 10 audio CDs (7 CDs of sanskrit chants, 2 CDs containing english translations for the entire Bhagavad Gita, and 1 CD providing an introductory lecture on the Bhagavad Gita by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada).