Surviving in the Prediction Department
BY: SURESH DASA
Mar 09, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (SUN) — Wow! I didn’t realize I was offending or speaking ill of Srila Prabhupada in my article “Beware of Dire Predictions”, as Jahnava devi Prabhu asserts. Please accept my sincere apologies. That was never my intention. Srila Prabhupada spoke in morning walks and lectures, in the years 1973-1976, of a nuclear war that was coming soon. He mentioned the war would start first between Pakistan and India, and would escalate into an exchange of nuclear weaponry between Russia and the USA. He stated that the USA would side with Pakistan, and Russia would side with India. He didn’t state the exact date, just soon.
There has always been a faction of people, basically anti-establishment types, who distrust all forms of authority, are super negative on everything, and ready to head for the hills, at any mention of the word “apocalypse”. I am not in any way discounting Srila Prabhupada’s prediction. He said soon, just not an exact date.
I would say most of the devotees, and people in general, have been afraid of a coming nuclear world war for most of their lives, since so many of us have grown up in a nuclear age. Based on Srila Prabhupada’s war prediction, I have witnessed many devotees move way out into the boon docks, far away from society, disrupting their lives and the lives of their families, giving up everything they had, to try to escape destruction, and prepare for impending doom. I witnessed devotees in the L.A. Temple, as an example, in the late 1970’s do this, but nothing happened. Again as Y2K approached many devotees again became frightened and headed for the hills, thinking that the war prediction might coincide with Y2K, but again nothing happened. Then in 2006, to coincide with an article Srila Prabhupada wrote in 1956, where he stated the war would come in 50 years (the 50 year anniversary); again there were preparations made, but nothing happened. The next preparations are now being made for 2012 to coincide with the end of the Mayan calendar.
My point is we are all aware of universal time frames, from the Vedic literatures. Lord Chaitanya’s Age is slated to last 10,000 years. The Kali Yuga has more than 400,000 years more to go. A few more years, maybe 5, 10, or even 25 is no big deal in this time frame, and Srila Prabhupada would most certainly be correct when he stated “soon”. I did state that both the USA and Russia have ten’s of thousands of nuclear missiles still pointed at each other, even to this day, so we could get a war at any time, at any second, and it would be without warning for most of us. I sincerely apologize if this is seen as an offensive statement towards Srila Prabhupada on my part.
I just can’t live my life in a constant state paranoia, fear, hysteria, and emergency at every moment. I have tried living that way in the past, but don’t find it healthy or beneficial for me going forward. I have been wrong too many times, so I don’t trust my negative feelings anymore. I am already a very pessimistic person as it is. Based on fear, as an example, I heeded the advice of the book “Bankruptcy 1995”, and stayed in cash all throughout the huge Bull Market of the 1990’s. If you had invested $10,000 in the RS Emerging Growth Fund in 1990, as an example, and stayed fully invested until the year 2000, you would have $2,000,000 to your name. You could retire on that kind money, and dedicate the rest of your life to spiritual service. But, instead I was fearful and paranoid, expecting the world to end at any moment, so I lost out, and still have to slave away at a low-paying job to this day.
Again, after the sell-off between 2000 till the end of 2002, I got scared and kept virtually my entire savings in cash, throughout the entire roaring Bull Market between 2002 to the end of 2007. Again, it was another missed opportunity to save enough to retire. But I heeded scary advice and missed out on piles of great opportunities.
The book “Bankruptcy 1995” was penned in the recession of the early 1990’s. It was actually published in 1992, with a prediction for events to happen by 1995. Instead, there was a roaring Bull Market throughout the entire 1990’s, and no bankruptcy as predicted. I stated that the author predicted first hyperinflation, followed by a complete collapse of the financial system. I am no economist or claim to be one. However I did notice that the price of just about every commodity on earth in the last two years reached all time highs including oil, gold, metals, food grains, real estate, stocks, etc. As an example, last summer oil reached a ridiculous all-time high, as everyone is well aware. For the last year and few months all of these have been in a collapsing state. “Bankruptcy 1995” appears to be vindicated, but some 16 years later than predicted.
Regardless of the final outcome of Jesse Livermore’s life, at the height of the 1929 crash, he was one of the few who made millions shorting the stock market, when everyone else lost their entire life savings. His book is considered a trader’s bible. I personally found the book “Reminiscences of a Stock Operator” a very interesting, fun, fictional read. I found his experiences of the past are still pertinent to today’s market psychology and as thousands of other traders have similarly found over the years. It amazing to me how he turned less than $1 into millions.
I am not an economist and I don’t share the credentials of Karl Denninger, or even pretend to. I intend to study his writings though, and have added his website to my current reading list. I also like the website www.prisonplanet.com, for insight into what may be happening behind the scenes of today’s society, and outside of the mainstream press and media. Prison Planet is also a supporter of Ron Paul, as mentioned by Jahnava devi. At the same time, although I find the info at Prison Planet interesting to read, I have not been stirred to hoard food, prepare for the coming apocalypse and end times, or have any intensions to either head for the hills or build a bomb shelter.
I have been a student of Market Direction, every day for the last 15 years or so. I have found what moves the market has very little to do with the news one finds in the mainstream media or press, what the government is doing or not doing, economic policy, etc. The stock market appears to be manipulated by insiders, who provide disinformation to the press, as well as the public regarding their actions and intensions. I have also noticed that our government is probably controlled by these very same insiders of Wall Street as well. These manipulators are very powerful. To prosecute them, as Karl Denninger suggests is not all that simple or easy. Quite literally they control the highest posts in our government such as Treasury Secretary, etc. Some believe that the very insiders (the Goldman-Government) who engineered the current market sell-off, are now holding the very government jobs assigned to fix everything, and make it all right again.
I have never pretended to be of any particular importance. I am just making some observations based on my limited experience as a tiny individual in the economy and universe. I wonder if I deserve to be so discredited and reamed by Jahnava devi. I personally don’t believe it is wrong to be rich. I believe in worshiping God in victory.
There is a famous saying: “Say what is going to happen, just don’t say when. Say when something is going to happen, just don’t say what.” That is the way to survive, in the prediction department. Everyone eventually gets their Waterloo. That’s why it is important to be very careful who one places his trust in, especially when they are making predictions for the future.
[Editor's Note: Dear Suresh prabhu, thank you for the personal reply and points of clarification. I didn't mean to ream you, personally… only your logic and approach. As for discrediting, I believe that was a feature of your remarks on Denninger, not mine on you. I didn't mean to cause you embarrassment, but felt the need to address your comments on Srila Prabhupada's predictions, and the resulting 'run for the hills' that caused devotees to 'lose everything'. I trust the problem was not with your intention, just your choice of words.
As with all things, reaction out-of-balance is not good. There's well-placed fear, and there's fear that has no basis. One is challenged to understand the difference and act accordingly. Similarly, there's a great deal of difference between "hoarding food" and making sensible preparations, just as there is a great difference between the Christian conception of "apocalypse" or "end times", and the practical assessment of global financial meltdown.
Even in "normal" times, having a healthy fear of the Kali yuga influence in modern cities, and moving instead to the relative peace and sanity of the countryside is obviously sensible. Is that not one of the keystones of Srila Prabhupada's varnasrama program? Surely in times as turbulent as these, it makes even more sense to 'head for the hills', particularly for those devotees who are not actively engaged in city preaching, and who have no real need to be in the city except for the economic conveniences.
The personal details you shared above help us to understand your response to "What's Dead". Thanks again for sharing them. Hare Krsna. Jdd]
