Born as the U.S.A.
Last of a Three-Part Series
By Kailasa Candra dasa
“I have got a fancy for your country, and, being inspired by that, I first went to your country. And still I feel that way.”
Letter to Hayagriva, Aug. 29, 1967
“Mr. Lennon wants to stop war, but the war is the creation of different politicians. So, unless on the summit of administration there are actually Krishna conscious men, we cannot stop war. Therefore, people in general must understand the importance of Krishna consciousness, and they must in this democratic day to send their real representatives who can make right decisions whether there should be war or no war.”
Letter to Vibhavati, June 12.1969 (emphases added)
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech . . .”
Amendment I to the United States Constitution, ratified 1791
As we discovered in the first two parts of this series, the astrological founding of America was at a time that produced a powerful binary, viz., four of the major planets in the chart work in a certain way, but two, Saturn and the upagraha Rahu, work contrary to that quartet. One of the planets, the Sun, is neutralized, although he would have otherwise worked for the astro-majority rule. Although he helps the astro-majority to some extent, basically Mercury is more or less neutral.This binary (or polarity) represents a conflict between the freedom-loving nature of most Americans versus a vein of institutionalism and centralization running through the country, exemplified by the Saturn-Rahu axis. On the material level, there has been evidence of this duality over the years right from the founding of the republic. The political personality of the first President leaned a bit toward a version of federalism that entailed eventual centralization of power. Political parties were not in existence during his two terms of office, but this changed when the second President, John Adams, secured the post by three electoral votes.
In the beginning of the republic, the President was not voted into office by vox populi; he was voted to the post by state legislators, and only male landholders could vote for state legislators. Such elitism, which would result in centralization, bureaucracy, and technocracy, was actually present in the Constitution itself. However, the Bill of Rights—insisted upon by Thomas Jefferson and his constituency—modified the document and those tendencies considerably.
Still, it was not until the election of John Quincy Adams, our sixth President, that the chief executive attained the office by the direct vote of the common man. Even then, however, the election did not constitute real democracy; it was decided by the electoral college, which did not necessarily correspond to the popular vote. Indeed, in American history, at least four candidates for President have received a majority on the popular ballot only to be defeated by electoral votes—in what now appears to be either political shenanigans or some kind of corrupt bargain.
As per the abovementioned featured quote from Srila Prabhupada, he wanted at the summit of the administration of this country–a nation-state that he admittedly fancied–representatives elected into office by the people of America. He was not simply alluding to the top post in making that statement; Prabhupada was talking about all important officials of state. He wanted Krishna conscious men to be elected by the people to these posts, not by some kind of conspiratorial, elitist arrangement. As such, we can glean which side of the American astro-binary he favored.
Federalism and the Democratic Republic
“Why shouldn’t this spiritual education be given to the American people in an organized way? The whole world is going down and becoming Godless. If the American people, who trust in God constitutionally, take this movement seriously, it will be a great service to the human society.”
Prabhupada’s Letter to the Office of the President of the United States, May 9, 1976
“Civil government does not, as some modern politicians affirm, originate either in the people . . . or in the vices consequent upon the Fall. It flows immediately from God the Creator, as the Governor of the Universe.”
James M. Willson, An Essay on Submission to the Powers That Be
The Personality of Godhead is mentioned in both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution (obliquely in the last document, viz., “Ín the Year of our Lord, 1787”). America was not founded as a Godless political entity. Nevertheless, most of the framers of the Constitution abhorred, with profound disgust, the bloody religious wars of the Old World. The founders, with a few exceptions, were united in their determination not to allow the establishment of any denomination as the national religion of state. They were well aware of how this had insured centuries of abominations in Europe, and they did not want that evil to enter into the government of the New World.
Srila Prabhupada evidently approved of religious freedom, and he certainly took full advantage of it during his preaching in America. Why should we then fall for some suggestion that his secret desire was actually to undermine that freedom? It is not so, but the aforementioned Saturn-Rahu Axis works toward that end.
The real founder of this country was ultimately not George Washington but Thomas Jefferson, its third President. He was a classical liberal, enlightened in the sense of what that meant in the Eighteenth Century. He was certainly religious, and he both wanted and expected Americans to be so. However, he did not approve of any national religion entering into the political bloodstream. At that time, Muslims were called Turks. He specifically said that everyone, be they Hindoo, Turk, Papist, or Presbyterian, must be guaranteed equal rights under the law of the land:
Student: Thomas Jefferson put the basic philosophy of the American Revolution into the Declaration of Independence. The important men of the day who signed this document agreed that there are certain very obvious or self-evident truths, the first of which is that all men are created equal. By this, they meant that all men are equal before the law and have an equal opportunity to be protected by the law.
Prabhupada: Yes, in that sense men are, as you say, created equal.
Interview with Back to Godhead in Mayapur, March, 1976
More than any other early American figure, Jefferson embodied the progressive qualities characteristic of what America stood for and is still supposed to represent. He said, “I have sworn on the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” He backed up those words with deeds. While governor of Virginia, he promoted religious freedom. The state was overwhelmingly composed of Englishmen, and thus Anglicanism was the state religion. Jefferson worked hard to disestablish it. After a bitter fight, described by him as “the severest contest in which I have ever been engaged,” the Virginia state assembly passed, in 1786, the Statute of Religious Liberty, promoting religious tolerance. This triumph was so important to him that Jefferson directed it be put on his tombstone. In the wake of this victory, the Anglican Church was disestablished in Virginia.
The founding fathers fashioned a constitutional republic, creating a culture of religious liberty that, with the help of men like Jefferson, prevailed. They refused to link civil rights to religious ritual, observance, affiliation, or adherence. They intentionally created a level playing field for all denominations, cults, and sects. This does not mean, however, that they thought the “religion” of the Hindoo was equivalent to the religion of the God of the New Testament. Nevertheless, they eschewed the crooked deck of the Old World with all of its imposed religious dogmas, leading to the persecution of men who held ideals contrary to those shibboleths.
Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Aaron Burr, and John Adams were inclined toward a centralized model, and the Federalist Party was the political fulcrum for this mindset. Without their knowledge, that political view was astrologically linked to the Saturn-Rahu axis. James Madison was with them in the beginning, but his close association with, and devotion to, Jefferson (Madison was Jefferson’s Secretary of State) turned him around. Indeed, when Madison was elected as the fourth President, he was voted in on Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican ticket.
As Vice-President to the second President, Jefferson was not a Federalist (back then, the Vice-President was the candidate for President who came in second in the vote; Jefferson fell three electoral votes short in 1796). At the time, no one could know that the Democratic-Republican Party would sweep the next four elections and send the Federalist Party into oblivion. Later, there was a split in the Democratic-Republican Party after Quincy Adams, and Andrew Jackson called his wing simply the Democratic Party, still existing today. He easily prevailed in the election of 1828.
According to the classic political definition, Jeffersonian Democracy is a republican model of government. Only a state referendum can be considered democracy (and the results of such referenda are often overturned by courts of appeal or the Supreme Court). Freedom of religion and speech are strongly encouraged within a republican model of godly government, while unmitigated democracy (a.k.a., mob rule) will always eventually culminate in some form of totalitarianism. It may pass through the stage of technocracy before it reaches that dictatorship, however.
To Empower the Iron Triangle
“Situated far above Jupiter is the planet Saturn, which passes through the zodiac in thirty months. This planet is always very inauspicious for the universal situation.” Srimad Bhagavatam, 5.22.16
”Below the Sun is Rahu, which moves like one of the major planets. Its presiding deity is the son of Sinhika, the most abominable of all asuras. Although he is completely unfit to assume the position of a planetary deity, he has achieved it by the grace of God.”
Srimad Bhagavatam, 5.24.1
Sometimes, Saturn is beneficial in a chart–or at least works for the progressive aspects of the horoscope–such as when he is in Libra, Capricorn, Aquarius, or when he is yoga-karaka. Similarly, Rahu, who is in the fire sign of Aries in the chart of the United States, is also sometimes favorable. Nevertheless, he is inclined to work in tandem with Saturn, especially when he (Rahu) is in the same kind of sign, i.e., even when Rahu is favorable as per rasi and/or house placement, he will more often than not dovetail to the Saturnine influence. Such is the case in the horoscope of America.
The United States has taken advantage of Rahu’s portfolio. An example of this was during World War II (the good war, as it was then called). Rahu rules, amongst other things, the criminal element. During the Second World War, the District Attorney of New York City, with the knowledge of the President, made a deal with Lucky Luciano. His men patrolled the New York ports day and night, dovetailing their instincts in how to spot acts of sabotage. These docks were high-priority targets for the Axis powers., because they were so essential to the American effort. During the war, there were no incidents of destruction at any of these docks.
Saturn represents that which destroys, obstructs, impedes, degrades, obfuscates, grinds down, delays, frustrates, or bogs. He also represents foreign influence, and this is particularly his portfolio as far as the American chart is concerned, where he is lord of the ninth. Both he and Rahu are in fire signs.
Saturn is also the horoscope’s chief maraka as well. Although Moon is lord of the second in the twelfth, he is at peak exaltation, i.e., he will not be so much inclined to do the work of a maraka (planet that causes death). Angira, the lord of the seventh, is conjunct depositor Mars; Jupiter is also a benefic for a Gemini ascendant (contrary to the interpolation of post-modern translations of Brihat Parashara Hora). Jupiter can be classified here as a maraka; nevertheless, he will be in a secondary relation to Saturn, who is lord of the eighth (house of death) in the seventh (a maraka-sthana).
In other words, it is Saturn who will terminate America as we know it. He can do so through infiltrating into the country foreign and criminal influences (this last being Rahu’s contribution) in order to end what in essence makes the United States the special country it is. However, Saturn also works in another (related) way, both internally and externally, in order to empower the Iron Triangle.
Saturn rules iron, and we live in the Age of Iron. Rahu rules corruption. In society, the corrupt process entails hypocrisy as it infiltrates the civic order. We live in the Iron Age of Quarrel and Hypocrisy. Currently, there are many bogus, man-made religions flourishing in the United States. The American people are not well educated in esoteric life or transcendent principles, so they tend to think that there is something good about many of these so-called religions. Due to the First Amendment, these pseudo-religious systems may proselytize and convert followers, and, although unfortunate, such facility cannot and should not be restricted by force of law.
At this time, as far as Krishna consciousness is concerned, it is mostly misrepresented in America; this misrepresentation is foisted on the country by the Iron Triangle. Although, at superficial levels, this three-fold institutional deviation is constituted of factions that usually appear to be at each other’s throats, it is united at the penultimate and ultimate levels. This you must know. The Iron Triangle consists of the fabricated, so-called “ISKCON” confederation at its apex, the Rittvik movement at the bottom left of the pyramid and Neo-Mutt at the bottom right. It is ruled by the Saturn-Rahu Axis and permeated by frivolous smorgasbord fringies throughout.
This dangerous entity is constituted of the most ominous elements in human society, especially at its controlling nodes. If it is ever allowed to capture political power in America, this country will be radically degraded and become completely unrecognizable in a short period of time. The Iron Triangle consists of a hodge-podge of quasi-Vedic and pseudo-Vaishnava teachings, principles, and processes; in essence, it is a post-modern form of Westernized Hinduism. The founders tolerated Hinduism but knew very well that it had no correlation with the divine message of the Christian Bible.
Religious freedom will be lost here if the Iron Triangle is allowed to prevail.
In America’s janma-kundali, the Sun, although inclined toward freedom (in Aquarius), is neutralized by Saturn’s aspect on his own sign. Four of the other major planets fight against Saturn’s malefic influence, but he is quite powerful and prominent in the horoscope. Sani-deva is in a quadrant, but, unlike Mercury, he is not partially combust. Saturn is a surreptitious tyrant in this chart, one who creeps insidiously in order to accomplish his objective(s). The other planets outnumber the Saturn-Rahu Axis, but rust never sleeps. In order to overcome the Iron Triangle and keep America free, they must remain ever-vigilant in action against the Saturnine impetus.
Tyranny of the New Technocracy
Secretary: He believed that the best form of government is an enlightened monarchy, enlightened monarchy.
Prabhupada: Yes, yes. . .
Secretary: Saintly.
Prabhupada: That is the idea. He (Plato) has taken these ideas from the Vedic literature.
Secretary: When this form degenerates, it becomes a tyranny.
Prabhupada: Yes.
Secretary: The second best form is an aristocracy, and, when it deteriorates, it becomes an oligarchy, rule of corrupt men. . .
Prabhupada: Yes.
Critique of Plato, Dialectical Spiritualism
“We have to defeat tyranny in the realm of thought and create a will for world peace. Instruments for training the mind and educating human nature should be used to develop a proper social outlook, without which institutional machinery is of little use.”
Back to Godhead (early addition from India)
At this point in the article, some background information about the Krishna consciousness movement is required. In India during the early Twentieth Century, the railroads were the biggest enterprise of the country; they still might be so. The regulatory board controlling them was known as the Governing Body Commission, its acronym being G.B.C. His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada, the spiritual master of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, wanted his senior disciples to manage the growing and expansive Gaudiya Matha religion, and he decided to use this acronym in order to give a well-recognized symbol to the board created he for his managerial purposes.
In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley predicted a Western high-tech government of enlightened ideology within a rational society, i.e., a precursor to today’s post-modern technocracy. When Prabhupada refered to “institutional machinery” (above), he was talking about the Indian bureaucracy. The concept similarly applies to the federal bureaucracy here as well. Many citizens think that American political power is divided into three divisions of checks and balances, viz., the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. In point of fact, however, there are four sectors determining this, and the last one is the most powerful: The Bureaucracy. In sheer numbers, it is much larger than the other three combined. As per departments and agencies, there is no comparison. In terms of employment, the largest private corporation in this country employs only a small percentage of citizens in comparison to the federal bureaucracy.
Saturn rules the federal bureaucracy, which is an outgrowth of unintended consequences from the Enlightenment. How that evolved (or devolved) is both subtle and a bit tangential, cumbersome and difficult to explain. There are now many Offices in the federal bureaucracy that function under, and report to, the President of the United States. There are similarly a significant number of powerful agencies that are, at least in theory, controlled by the President. There are also Cabinet agencies with executive Departments (and bureaucracies working within and under them); in the beginning of the nation, there were only two or three of these.
The President cannot be expected to manage this labyrinth. Besides the abovementioned, there are governmental corporations that are supposed to function for profit, although many of them do not stay in the black. Then there are the regulatory agencies. Most of these are well-known, e.g., the ICC, FTC, SEC, FCC, NLRB, NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission), and the Federal Reserve System (Board of Governors). These are not controlled by the Executive; they are independent entities established by Congress. However, nothing as large as any of this can be independent in a country as well-organized as the United States.
The Executive and Legislative branches have constant turnover, but, since the middle of the Gilded Age, the bureaucracy remains entrenched. This was summed up by Gerald R. Ford, our thirty-eighth President: “One of the enduring truths of the nation’s capital is that bureaucrats survive. Agencies don’t fold their tents and quietly fade away after their work is done; they find something new to do.”
The Saturn-Rahu Axis works like that masochistic left hand of Dr. Strangelove; it is always trying to kill the entity of which it is but a part. Over time, leading bureaucrats of departments, agencies, or commissions turn into technocrats. In and of itself, this is not a negative development for Krishna consciousness. In any quasi-civilized society, generic circumstances are considered to be neutral in the perspective of all genuine transcendentalists; a technocracy will create as many advantages for them as it fosters disadvantages. However, if circumstances lead to a dismantling of the separation of Church and State when the post-modern democracy faces dire circumstances, technocrats morph into theocrats. That devolution would be profoundly disadvantageous for Americans in Krishna consciousness.
There is no danger of a power-behind-the-throne conspiracy in the United States, because there has never been a monarchy here–and there never will be one. The danger to our religious freedoms, in terms of government corruption, are, at least potentially, more insidious than that. In other words, the Iron Triangle, nurtured by Saturn-Rahu, cannot be allowed to get its foot in the federal door either through some kind of newly-created Cabinet level (“Department of Religion”) or, worse, by infiltrating a newly-created regulatory body or commission. If anything like this gets the approval of Congress, the rogues from the Iron Triangle, particularly those at the upper echelons of “ISKCON” and its GBC oligarchy, will control uber-technocrats directing those bureaucratic offices. The results will not be pretty.
“ISKCON” is already practicing. Notice how the GBC oligarchy has formed a whole series of buffers, e.g., new offices, committees, and sub-committees. This is not at all accidental. Although completely against the design of the Founder-Acharya, the oligarchs have already proven that they couldn’t care less about that. They incorporated the governing body in the Nineties—although Prabhupada clearly wanted it to be and remain an unincorporated association. At the head of these “ISKCON” committees is a pseudo-spiritual technocrat, and each and every one of them is expert at pulling political and psychological strings of manipulation and social control.
They are all hoping and waiting for the transition to the next quantum transformation of society-at-large. In the meantime, they are looking for an opening in the federal bureaucracy in order to secure a foothold to exploit if and/or when all hell breaks loose in America. These “ISKCON” rogues have combined religion and philosophy—or, you could say mysticism and reason—in the wrong way. They have been able to falsely unite the binaries, and this is why they have the potential to become the most powerful technocrats in Western civilization in due course of time.
It was Prabhupada’s goal to unify mysticism and science in the modern world. The Enlightenment was the West’s attempt to overcome superstitions and malefic control (of the priestcraft and/or witches) during the Dark and Middle Ages. It was partially successful, but the Enlightenment has also led to technocracy as part of its enduring legacy. Reason and science alone will not satisfy the spiritual urge of man, because there is an intrinsic need for mukti and vimukti, i.e., real freedom. Krishna consciousness can fill that deep need, but a warped form of Hinduism is nothing more than the Saturn-Rahu Axis in disguise. If the Iron Triangle is allowed to enter into Western government, particularly in the United States, then the world is doomed to an extended perdition. It can be avoided and overcome. However, concerted action must be taken now in order to expose and confront the menace.
The First Amendment’s freedom of religion clause, according to Jefferson, was designed “to build a wall of separation between Church and State.” America stands for freedom of religion, speech, and assembly. There is only one way in which this could transform; even then, in essence it would only be upgraded. If the people elect to the summit of administration, by their constitutionally provided vote, genuine religious representatives, the American people would thus be expressing their will for God-conscious government. Such a transformation must remain secular, e.g., driving on the right side of the road here, unlike in Europe, has nothing to do with religion. Such an upgraded and improved government would certainly remain cent-per-cent non-sectarian. The generic principles of Vaishnavism require no cult or oligarchy in order to be adopted; every American can chant the Hare Krishna mantra free from the influence of the Iron Triangle. This is the final standard.
However, a New American Technocracy would inevitably, under the influence of the Iron Triangle, turn into an oppressive form of government. We cannot allow the emergence of such a Technocracy, where warped religious modes would combine with the rigid logic of a compromised bureaucracy. At all costs, we must maintain separation of cult, sect, and denomination from nation-state. Exclusive allegiance to God is required in order to keep that wall of separation; such allegiance is not to be found in Hinduism, Buddhism, Talmudic covenants, or witchcraft. The Supreme God sent His representative to America in order to bring to this country the science of Krishna consciousness. We can always take advantage of the teachings and processes free from any entanglement in government intervention or federal subsidies.
“Who stands fast? Only the man whose final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, or his virtue, but who is ready to sacrifice all this when he is called to obedient and responsible action in faith and in exclusive allegiance to God.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, After Ten Years
To Make It Even Stronger
Secretary: This statement that he makes at the end, “Any attempt, be it circuitous, direct, well-intentioned or not, presents a clear and present danger to this most fundamental basis and eternally needed right of our citizens.” Eternally needed right: Freedom of religion.
Prabhupada: So we should send him a letter of congratulations: “May God bless you for such right judgment. Live long life to serve God.”
Now is not the time to dismantle the separation of Church and State imbedded in the First Amendment of the Constitution; now is the time to make it even stronger. No cult, sect, or denomination should ever be afforded any revenue or other similar facilitation from the federal government. No Department, Agency, Commission, Bureau, or Office pertaining to religion or its regulatory supervision should ever be even be voted on, what to speak of sanctioned, by Congress. If the people of America want to change this country, they and only they are constitutionally allowed to do so. No conspiracy of manipulative technocrats, hiding behind governmental bodies, should make any unauthorized decision for them.
OM TAT SAT
Go to Part One
Go to Part Two