Again and Again
We can learn from history to understand the future. Why dwell on the past? Because it repeats itself—it is coming again.
"Old wine in new bottles," Śrīla Prabhupāda used to call it, who also described the pattern demoniac forces work with.
One doesn’t have to be a devoted follower of various, often concocted, conspiratorial theories—the pattern of actions of demoniac leaders is the same.
1. Step number one:
Create an artificial crisis. Even if nothing detailed has happened yet, "it could happen" or "it is coming."
This is the way atheists and demons would like us to believe. After the Cold War tension comes the atomic war tension. After the atomic war danger comes the virus danger. After the virus danger is gone comes the economic collapse danger... and so on and so on.
What is the purpose of creating such a paranoid atmosphere?
2. Step number two:
People who are paranoid have no time to think. And then, here comes the main factor: they seek shelter.
If not God-conscious, where can they find shelter? Of course!
Following the call of the very same leaders who created the dangerous situation to begin with, they seek relief at the same place their misery came from.
Any mafioso knows this tactic, as he may suddenly appear at our door, aware of our potential to serve him, warning us that "something could happen to us." For a modest fee, he offers us his protection—from the very same threat he created.
In essence, this is the way demoniac governments work all the time.
Fear is the essential factor, and out of fear, people in general even select the biggest autocrat and "liberal fascist" to "protect them"—in the form of the atrocities he is performing.
This game goes on and on, enslaving fools again and again. Even rascals dressed as devotees of the Lord use the danger of vaiṣṇava aparādha in order to subdue and exploit their followers. Do we have to accept it? No, we don’t.
Śrīla Prabhupāda defined spiritual progress by the absence of fear.
Quoting in firm faith the scriptures given by God, he travelled around the globe, confident of Kṛṣṇa’s protection, challenging the very base of demoniac policies.
He called for simplifying our lives to the absolutely necessary level, and he called for cultivation of self-sufficiency—in the form of self-sufficient communities and final absence of any form of dependency on resources demoniac leaders offer.
What others may consider austerity or renunciation, devotees of the Lord consider luxury.
The process to turn back to the freedom God gave us may be gradual, but every step in this direction is a step toward liberation from demoniac autocracy.
As demons promise us democratic choice by pointing their guns at us ("Are you democratic? We fight here for democracy!") Devotees of the Lord go their way, ignoring their calls, aware that we have only one democratic choice: to serve God or not to serve God.
Those who understand this fact are fearless, and their future is bright. Those who ignore this fact are doomed to be slaves filled with fear, seeking shelter, as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam states, at the armies of fallible soldiers who themselves are in service of the grand illusory game called: "Be saved from thieves by serving the thieves."
By detailed study of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books and his words, we can become confident: Yes, there is a way to gain freedom from the illusions imposed upon us. There is a way to become abhayam—fearless.
Kuṇṭha is the place we live in—filled with fear. Vaikuṇṭha is the place governed by the internal energy of the Lord, a place free of fear, the place we belong.
Freedom can be found only on the spiritual platform, and it manifests in the form of detachment from all material designations. This is the freedom Śrīla Prabhupāda offered to us, and he showed us how to live even here in a world filled with fear.