120 km north of Calcutta in West Bengal, on the banks of the sacred river Ganges, is a spiritual center called Mayapur. The main idea of this project is to show that modern civilization has a real alternative that allows you to find a fundamentally different happiness.
At the same time, the external activity of a person there does not destroy the environment in any way, because this activity is based on an understanding of the deep connection between man, nature and God.
Mayapur was founded in 1970 by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in order to practically embody the ideas of Vedic philosophy and culture.
Here are four cardinal steps that radically change the whole atmosphere of society: the transition to vegetarianism, the spiritualization of the education system, the transition to non-material sources of happiness and the rejection of urbanization through the transition to an agrarian economy.
For all the seeming improbability of the introduction of these ideas for modern Westerners, it was the Western followers of the Vedas who started this project, and only later the Indians, for whom this culture is traditional, pulled themselves up. For 34 years, several temples, a school, a farm, many hotels, ashrams (spiritual hostels), residential buildings, and several parks have been built in the Center. Construction will begin this year on a gigantic Vedic planetarium that will display the various levels of planetary systems and life forms that reside there. Already, Mayapur attracts a huge number of pilgrims who are interested in regular festivals. Over the weekend, up to 300 thousand people pass through this complex, who mainly come from Calcutta to look at this paradise on earth. In Vedic times, all of India was like this, but with the advent of the Kali Yuga (the era of ignorance), this culture fell into decay.
While mankind is looking for an alternative to civilization that destroys the soul, Indian culture, unsurpassed in its spiritual depth, is rising from the rubble under which the West tried to bury it. Now Westerners themselves are taking the lead in reviving this oldest of human civilizations.
The first task of an enlightened, civilized society is to provide people with the opportunity to develop their spiritual potential to the maximum. Truly cultured people are not limited to the pursuit of ephemeral happiness in the form of satisfying the basic needs of food, sleep, sex and protection – all this is available even to animals. Human society can be called civilized only if it is based on the desire to comprehend the nature of God, the Universe and the meaning of life.
Mayapur is a project that embodies the dream of those who strive for harmony with nature and God, but at the same time remain an active member of society. Usually, an increased interest in the spiritual sphere turns a person away from worldly affairs, and he becomes socially useless. Traditionally, in the West, a person works all week, forgetting about the highest goal of life, and only on Sunday can he go to church, think about the eternal, but from Monday he again plunges into worldly fuss.
This is a typical manifestation of the duality of consciousness inherent in modern man – you need to choose one of the two – matter or spirit. But in Vedic India, religion was never considered “one of the aspects of life.” Religion was life itself. Life was entirely directed towards achieving a spiritual goal. This synthetic approach, uniting the spiritual and the material, makes a person’s life harmonious and relieves him of the need to rush to extremes. Unlike Western philosophy, tormented by the eternal question of the primacy of spirit or matter, the Vedas proclaim God the source of both and call to devote all aspects of your life to serving Him. So even the daily routine is completely spiritualized. It is this idea that underlies the spiritual city of Mayapura.
In the center of the complex there is a temple with two giant altars in two halls that can simultaneously accommodate 5 people. The people living there have an increased spiritual hunger, and therefore the temple is never empty. In addition to rituals accompanied by the constant chanting of the Holy Names of God, lectures on the Vedic scriptures are held in the temple in the morning and evening. Everything is buried in flowers and divine aromas. From all sides come the sweet sounds of spiritual music and singing.
The economic basis of the project is agriculture. The fields surrounding Mayapur are cultivated only by hand – no modern technology is fundamentally used. The land is plowed on bulls. Firewood, dry dung cakes and gas, which is obtained from manure, are used as fuel. Handlooms provide linen and cotton fabric. Medicines, cosmetics, dyes are made from local plants. Plates are made from dried pressed leaves or banana leaves, mugs are made from unhardened clay, and after use they return to the ground again. There is no need to wash the dishes, because cows eat it along with the rest of the food.
Now, at full capacity, Mayapur can accommodate 7 thousand people. In the future, its population should not exceed 20 thousand. The distances between the buildings are small, and almost everyone moves on foot. The most hasty use bicycles. Mud houses with thatched roofs harmoniously coexist next to modern buildings.
For children, there is an international primary and secondary school, where, along with general education subjects, they give the basics of Vedic wisdom, teach music, various applied sciences: working on a computer, Ayurvedic massage, etc. At the end of the school, an international certificate is issued, allowing you to enter a university.
For those who wish to devote themselves to a purely spiritual life, there is a spiritual academy that trains priests and theologians. Children grow up in a clean and healthy atmosphere of harmony of body and spirit.
All this is strikingly different from modern “civilization”, forcing people to huddle in dirty, overcrowded, crime-infested cities, work in hazardous industries, breathe poisoned air and eat poisonous food. With such a gloomy present, people are heading towards an even worse future. have no spiritual purpose in life (the fruits of an atheistic upbringing). But the solution of these problems does not require any investment – you just need to restore people’s sight, illuminating life with the light of spiritual knowledge. Having received spiritual food, they themselves will aspire to a natural way of life.