Namaste:
Instead of composing a commentary on Illinois Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” speech on race, religion and politics in America, I have decided to simply put forth the Table of Contents — including a synopsis for each chapter — from my book “The Bhagavad-gita in Black and White: From Mulatto Pride to Krishna Consciousness” in this missive.
After reading the Senator’s March 18th speech delivered in Philadelphia, certain sentiments struck me as being somewhat in accord with my own philosophy vis-à-vis the race notion and transcending race-consciousness. Now, mind you, I have substantial disagreement with Mr. Obama’s refusal to recognize this country’s growing multiracial population as being other than a subset of the major racial groupings, but it is almost as if he actually read my book and took notes.
Why do I say that? I do so because I mailed him a copy a few months ago, and I received a letter from him regarding same. Click here to view and read the Senator’s letter to yours truly. (Click on the letter with your cursor for larger text.)
Of course, it is possible that he never read my work, that an Obama underling composed, typed and mailed the letter that I have reproduced for your online perusal. It could also be that Barack Obama actually sat down with “The Bhagavad-gita in Black and White: From Mulatto Pride to Krishna Consciousness,” and — just perhaps — it impacted him. Who knows, other that God/Krishna?
So, please read the Senator’s speech as well as the book’s TOC below. After that, please purchase the book from Amazon.com (click on the provided links or the book cover) and see what conclusions you personally draw. Thank you for your time.
Charles Michael Byrd
Charukrishna
CHAPTER ONE
Observing the Armies on the Battlefield of KurukshetraIt is not easy to overcome the racial identity imposed by a racially obsessed society, a society that still embraces “hypodescent,” or the inheritance of only the lowest status racial category of one’s ancestors (a.k.a., the infamous “one-drop of ‘black’ blood rule”), a society that has made the conscious decision that multiracials should be content to parcel out their identities to “federally recognized groups” — all in the name of achieving social justice.One’s view of the “race” notion and to what “race” the individual supposedly belongs is heavily influenced by the family into which the person is born. Thus, transcending the race concept is often difficult, because it is so heavily connected with family (intimate relatives) and background (including teachers and close friends). It is analogous to Arjuna’s dilemma.CHAPTER TWO
Contents of the Gita SummarizedWe are not our bodies; ergo, we are not representatives of various racial groupings. Devotional service should be focused on God, not on any “racial” or “ethnic” leader and his political agenda.CHAPTER THREE
Karma-yoga (“The Yoga of Work”)
One of the most important activities a person of “mixed-race” can engage in is showing others the falsity of “race” and pointing them in the direction of The Supreme.
CHAPTER FOUR
Transcendental Knowledge
The world does not have a shortage of teachers who can guide people away from modern-day forms of tribalism (racial, ethnic and cultural pride) toward transcendental knowledge of the Supreme. Common sense and simple logic will also help in this endeavor. There is no substitute for a good teacher, however, an enlightened soul who can expose the foolishness of bodily consciousness.
CHAPTER FIVE
Action in Krishna Consciousness
Teachers should not act for sense gratification or think they are better than others. All too often modern-day preachers tend to wield power over their congregations for political purposes. Accordingly, many Americans doubt their spiritual leaders, and America itself, in fact, is in need of a spiritual re-awakening. Plagued by such doubt and spiritual lethargy, it is no wonder that modern men and women have a difficult time engaging in spiritual action and thus rarely develop true knowledge, peacefulness, detachment, and so on.
CHAPTER SIX
Dhyana-yoga (“The Yoga of Meditation”)
In our day-to-day interactions, we should approach and address each other as spiritual beings — not as the fleshy bodies we see before us. We need to view each other as emanating from the same source. We should embrace age-old techniques, such as yoga, if they allow us, or inspire us, to go beyond the body. We must, in essence, find a disciplined way of life, one that will teach us to focus on transcendental topics, for only by so doing can we rise beyond the mundane sphere.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Knowledge of the Absolute
In materialistic culture, we tend to divert our minds from the Supreme and become ensnared by illusory pursuits. We revel in superficial games, such as advocating racial pride and competition, furthering the purposes of one group over another.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Attaining the Supreme
We fear death because of our misidentification with our bodies. If we become self-realized, we do not fear death, nor do we fear moving beyond racial or ethnic identification. In fact, a natural by-product of self-realization is overcoming fear of all kinds. We will not fear differences, and thus we will not need to identify with artificially constructed races and ethnic groups; we will not fear the natural consequence of the body — death — for we will know that it is merely the dismantling of material elements, quite removed from who we are and what life is really all about.
CHAPTER NINE
The Most Confidential Knowledge
By realizing our eternal relationship to God, we are no longer affected by others’ attempts to control our energy, to bend us to their will. Nor will we submit to it.
CHAPTER TEN
????????The Opulence of the Absolute
America’s success is by the grace of God, but our nation tends to neglect this truth. Moreover, we seem to ignore our virtues as a nation and prefer, instead, to break into small factions and warring groups.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The Universal Form
We tend to forget that we live in a vast physical universe with untold billions of galaxies, solar systems, planets, moons, suns, etc. Therefore, we should view the global battle on Earth between black and white as not worth our time.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Devotional Service
The highest end of spiritual existence is not Sunday services at your local church. It involves the cultivation of spiritual consciousness, whatever one’s institutional affiliation may be. Unfortunately, too many preachers of all colors propagate the gospel of race-consciousness and thus lead their followers astray. They do this by not only trying to legitimate the bodily concept and race-consciousness but by teaching that religion is about church attendance and mundane rules of behavior. In other words, they teach that the “shell” of religion is its essence, and they ignore its real essence: Love of God.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Nature, the Enjoyer, and Consciousness
If we but listen to our conscience (the Supersoul, the Ultimate Knower of our bodily Field), we will intuitively know that identifying racially is wrong.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The Three Modes Of Material Nature
We should strive to perform all our actions in the mode of goodness while simultaneously noticing those around us who act in passion and ignorance. The mode of goodness allows us to think clearly and to bid adieu to race-consciousness — and to other unsavory conceptions of falsity. Goodness also acts as a springboard to transcendence, allowing us to realize our innate relationship with God.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The Yoga of the Supreme Person
The purpose of this book is to help one detach oneself from racial and ethnic considerations, and to thereby link with the Supreme Person.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The Divine And Demoniac Natures
A perfect example of one who possesses demoniac qualities is one who not only hates because of racial differences but also encourages violence upon the bodies of those who are different.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The Divisions of Faith
“Ministers” in the modes of passion and ignorance lead many so-called churches, but their preaching does not serve to purify the hearts of their parishioners.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Conclusion — The Perfection of Renunciation
Abandon all allegiances to mundane abstractions such as race, ethnicity, and culture. Instead, embrace your humanity as well as your higher spiritual nature. By this method, surely, you will gradually rise to transcendence and develop love for God.
Namaste: In light of Illinois Democratic Senator Barack Obama’s surprising victory in the Iowa caucuses, his close second place finish in the New Hampshire primary and his huge triumph in South Carolina, please allow me to provide you with a couple of references to the Presidential hopeful that you will find in my book