We have to have the vision of how to use technology

Question:

You said when those computers and we, I mean India is going toward the computerized system, so that takes you away from God?

Answer:

Not necessarily, computers are neutral. Computers can be used in God's service, or in greed's service, lust's service, anger's service. The computer is neutral. But it is a western device and along the computer comes the mentality of the people that made the computer, which is basic materialism and godlessness. You can take the computer but you shouldn't take the mentality that made it. You think those people made the computer for ethical and pious purposes? They made those computers for only one thing, to satisfy their greed, their power for money and that same society that invented computers that is the same society, alcohol they are drinking all the time. They are having dates and sex relationships' hundreds of times but many times before marriage. In America for a man or a woman to be a virgin at the time of being married is practically an extinct species. In fact I am from another generation, now it's way ahead. I was in high school in the 1960's. I never had sex. I was the only one in my class in the whole high school who never did it. People thought I was crazy. I was eighteen years old. I was an out-caste. That's the society. There is nothing wrong with the computers, but as India is accepting these things, unfortunately all these other things are being exported along with it. And don't you think that is starting to take place here in Bombay. Dating, taking drugs, all kinds of violent cinema. This is part of western culture. What our Guru Maharaj said was this, "America's technology and India's spiritual vision, if you put the two together then the greatest progress will be made in making the world prosperous and God-conscious." He explained that India because of so much poverty is like a lame man, a man whose legs don't work anymore. Can't get anywhere, but India although lame because of its great spiritual heritage, that lame man has incredible vision. The western world especially the United States of America is like a man with powerful strong legs. But he is blind. Now what to do? Either one of them alone is not going to get much done. But if the lame man gets on the shoulders of the blind man, with India's vision and the technology and the opulence of the west, and the science of the west, if you put them together then there can be a great tremendous progress in this world. There is nothing wrong with the computers as long as we have spiritual vision to use them. But if we don't have the spiritual vision they will take on the vision of where it came from and use it for those purposes. You understand what I mean? We welcome. Krishna in the Gita as well as Srila Rupa Goswami, he explains that anything that can be used in God's service, should be used, but we have to have the vision of how to use it in god's service. Technology is neutral depending on the hand's it's in.

- Answered by HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj