Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #40 – The Black Swan (Not the Movie)

September 29th, 2025

The Black Swan (Not the Movie)[1]

 

I bought a book in the airport: 50 Philosophy Classics from the 50 Classic Series by Tom Butler-Bowdon. My idea was to skim through the summaries of the fifty classics to see if I could recognize a truth that was conceptualized and expressed in an especially inspiring way.

 

I liked that each classic had an “in a nutshell” summary that enabled me to judge which ones I thought worth reading, sometimes to affirm their conceptions and sometimes to critique them.

 

For example, “Nicomachean Ethics” by Aristotle seemed interesting: “Happiness comes from what we have rationally decided is good for us over the longer term. Happiness is not pleasure, but a by-product of a meaningful life.”

 

I found the idea of materialism expressed in “The Ego Trick” by Julian Baggini quite unappealing and not worth reading: “The brain and body provide us with a strong and continuous sense of self, which gives us freedom to create who we are.”

 

What I did gain while briefly going through the book was more faith in my own tradition. The Vedas teach that knowledge of this world is manifest simultaneously with its creation. It is then channeled and preserved through various lineages of wisdom teachers. To be connected in this way gives one a basic standard to gauge the validity of any philosophical treatise or school. I will try to demonstrate that by analyzing just one of the classics in the book, The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

 

The title of the book and Taleb’s philosophical message come from a particular historical phenomenon that he read about. Until a black swan was sighted by early explorers in Western Australia, people not only assumed that swans were white, but they were, in fact, even defined in that way. From this event Taleb developed an entire theory of events and causality. He postulated that things that happen against all expectations, which he named “black swans”, had an extreme and important impact on history and one’s life. These include anything from the unexpected spread of great ideas and powerful religions to dynamic historical events that no one foresaw, such as the rise of Hitler or the spread of the Internet. Accepting this fact of randomness as it applies to the world and one’s life rather than a strictly causal or linear perspective, he concluded, is the first step in succeeding in the world. Here is how 50 Classics sums up “in a nutshell” the import of The Black Swan:

 

“We want to make the world an orderly place, but the frequency of truly unexpected events should tell us that we really don’t know what causes things.”

 

Taleb therefore concludes, “black swan logic ‘makes what you don’t know far more relevant that what you do know’, because it is the unexpected that shapes our lives.”

 

Now a brief analysis of The Black Swan from the perspective of Vedic teachings, starting with the part of Taleb’s teaching that I found reasonably congruent with what you would find in the Vedas — the obvious weakness we can recognize in conditioned human psychology.

 

Taleb saw that we desire to impose order and control in the world beyond our capacity to do so. Living in that way makes one fearful and frustrated. In other words, to hope to see the world as linear and predictable, and in accord with the way we want it to be, is a recipe for disaster. I think Taleb got this right. Unless we temper our hope for a world that conforms to our desires, we will always live in uncertainty and disappointment. And we will be sorely unprepared for the unpredictable.

 

While I think Taleb’s insight is important, Vedic perspective gives much more depth. While the world is certainly beyond our control, he is wrong when he says that the world moves haphazardly and without meaning. The Vedic perspective teaches us that unexpected events, while far beyond our control, do not happen randomly. They are the result of the law of karma. They come to teach us important lessons essential to elevating us to a higher level of realization. I like how Rumi put it:

 

“When God is digging a ditch to throw us in, he is actually making a well to quench our thirst.”

 

And that was my takeaway from flipping through 50 Philosophy Classics from the 50 Classic Series by Tom Butler-Bowdon. Connection to traditions of true wisdom, and certainly the Bhagavat philosophy, gives us the tool of understanding to put into context all philosophical speculations, and certainly The Black Swan (not the movie).

 

 


[1] When I review Monday Morning Greetings from many years ago, I can see how much my writing has improved as has the quality of the editing. Occasionally I will rewrite and edit old Monday Morning Greetings in a way that even those who have read them before will find them almost new. This one is from March 2, 2020.

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #39 – Guruship and the Death of Bhakti

September 22nd, 2025

Maybe the title is too heavy, but there is a point there.

 

Material consciousness means to think of oneself as the center of the world and thus as the controller and enjoyer. Devotion means the opposite, to move away from that imagined center to instead become the humble servant of God. In this regard, here’s how Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī describes the essence of bhakti in his treatise titled Bhakti-sandarbha.

 

“…Therefore, an intelligent person should engage unflinchingly in the unalloyed devotional service of the Lord, under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, whom he should accept as his worshipable deity and as his very life and soul.” Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.2.37

 

What can be more challenging in cultivating bhakti than to accept such a position where one is highly worshiped by many and sometimes thousands?

 

I remember the end of 1977, just after Śrīla Prabhupāda had passed away. Eleven sincere godbrothers, practically not one over thirty, most not even with eight years as a devotee, took up the mantle of guru. They all received the lavish worship worthy of an ācārya.

 

How do you think that worked out?

 

You guessed it. Most didn’t survive. How could they? Unless one is very spiritually advanced, the worship (pūjā) that is being offered to one as a guru and the distinction (pratiṣṭhā) that naturally follows are the very things one must shun if there is any hope of gaining a taste for bhakti.

 

At the time when my godbrothers took up that service, I thought they had the world. I certainly don’t envy them now. They were put, in many ways, in the most unfortunate position — attempting to follow the path of utter humility and being put on a pedestal at the same time.

 

But what to do? Although one of the principles of devotional service outlined in Bhakti-rasāmta-sindhu is not to take many followers, the commentary on the above verse also says that a sannyāsī must accept disciples to increase his lineage.[1] I was confused. Which is it? When I was asked to accept disciples, I therefore went to a senior Vaiṣṇava for advice. I placed this seeming contradiction to him for clarity. I took his advice to heart.

 

“Don’t think you are guru. Do it as a service to your guru. And be careful not to take many disciples.”

 

So that’s the key. Many must nobly take up the mantle of leadership to push on Śrī Caitanya’s mission, but one must never embrace any designation other than “I am the humble servant of Guru and Krishna.”

 

Why am I writing this? Shortly, I will be 75. Soon my disciples will celebrate Vyāsa-pūjā on my birthday. The worship will be lavish. In the midst of such pomp, it is important to remind myself, and thus others, that Vyāsa-pūjā is meant for worship of the paramparā (disciplic succession). The guru is simply representing the previous masters and redirecting that honor to them.

 

A great example of that mood:

 

“We are just sitting on the throne of our Guru Mahārāja, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda. So this pūjā, this offering, must go to him. Not to us. Our business is only to deliver it to him. So the students, who have to go through us, should give all honor and respect to our Guru Mahārāja.” (Vyāsa-pūjā address from 1982, Śrīla Bhakti-rakṣaka Śrīdhara Dev-Goswami Mahārāja)

 

The lesson is clear: if we remain simply the servant of the servant of Śrīla Prabhupāda, our service will be the life, not the death, of bhakti, whether we are doing service behind the scenes, or whether we take the center stage.

 

 


[1] The thirteenth item of devotional service as mentioned in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu does mention not to take too many followers in devotional service. It serves as a caution. Too many followers and management responsibilities can distract one from one’s devotional practices. The commentary does acknowledge, however, the sincere and necessary act of expanding the devotional lineage.

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #38 – What I Learned from the Sad Story of David Seigel

September 15th, 2025

He was about five foot three inches and almost 200 pounds and that was in 10th grade! Tough karma for a young boy growing up in Brooklyn in 1964. America is perhaps more than any other country built on the superficial ideal of “I am successful.” Imagine the challenges placed on David’s psyche to find his self-worth in that setting.

 

But David tried.

 

More than anything David wanted to star for the high school basketball team. We thought he was crazy. Canarsie High School played in arguably the toughest basketball league in the country at the time. The conference even became known as the “suicide division” because it was so incredibly competitive and stacked with talent. It had produced the likes of NBA Hall of Famers Connie Hawkins, Lenny Wilkins, and Billy Cunnigham. The players were that good. But a short and heavy-set Jewish kid?

 

When we passed the outdoor public courts every day after school, we were amused to watch David by himself taking shot after shot. He was determined to make the team. The coach, however, was not amused. He cut David on the first day of tryouts. His dream was crushed!

 

We didn’t see much of David for a few months. Then one day we spotted him across the street on Seaview Avenue on our way home from school. It was a cold, miserable December day, but David was wearing only the shorts and thin jersey of the Knicks, New York’s NBA team! We quickly crossed the street to meet him. David began to ramble:

 

“Ate ‘em up! Ate ‘em up![1] Scored twenty points.” He began to describe the previous night’s game and the players he went up against and “ate up” or thoroughly outplayed. He went on and on about his exploits, “Ate ‘em up! Ate ‘em up! Twenty points!” He actually thought he was on the Knicks. David had gone mad!

 

Years later when I joined ISKCON and began to lecture, I realized that what happened to David was perfectly analogous to how we fell into illusion in this world. I would explain it something like this:

 

“We are eternal servants of God by constitution. When we desire, however, to be separate and independent controllers, a position we can’t have by our own constitution, it can only be fulfilled in illusion. Therefore, God, who fulfills the desires of the living entities, covers us by maya, or His illusory energy. Then instead of thinking ourselves to be part of God and meant for His service, we become mired in the illusion that we are our bodies meant to independently enjoy and control. There is an important principle illustrated here. When one intensely wants something that exceeds reality, it can only be fulfilled in illusion.”

 

Lecturing like thus, I inevitably thought back to my teen years and related the sad story of David Seigel.

 

But are our own stories any better? We are tiny sparks of the Divine. Somehow, we intensely wanted to be God and we have worked intensely on that since time immemorial. We became increasingly immersed in the illusion that we are our temporary body and the designations it embraces. Today we also walk down the streets of New York, or any town in the world, posting our profile on Internet, posing ourselves as the enjoyer, and announcing our exploits to the world. What a joke!

 

And that is the sad story of David Seigel and sadly our story also!

 

 


[1] “Ate ‘em up” is a slang expression used in sports, contracted from “ate them up.” When I grew up it was used to indicate that you dominated or utterly defeated the competitors.

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #37 – There is no Victim Consciousness in God Consciousness

September 8th, 2025

There is no Victim Consciousness in God Consciousness[1]

 

“Victim consciousness is a stage of consciousness in which people deny personal responsibility for the things that happen in their lives. People in victim consciousness believe that the world is acting upon or against them, and they are the innocent targets of other peoples’ action or behavior.”[2]

 

Elevated God consciousness is the opposite. Here are four examples:

 

Dharma the Bull

 

King Parīkṣit was informed that a bull had been badly beaten. He immediately rushed to the scene of the crime. Although the bull knew that he was beaten by the personality of Kali, the bull refused to identify him.  He knew that ultimately without the sanction of the Lord, no one could afflict trouble upon him. He then began to explain in detail the various misconceptions about the cause of suffering and how one could use them to abnegate personal responsibility and remain ignorant of the lessons God meant for one to learn.

 

Observing the bull’s reaction, and hearing his exposition full of knowledge and philosophy, the king recognized the bull as Dharma (the personality of religion): “You are speaking according to the principle that the destination intended for the perpetrator of irreligious acts is also intended for one who identifies the perpetrator.” In other words, although it is the duty of one to protect the vulnerable from exploitation, victim consciousness is not encouraged.

 

Vidura

 

The elderly Vidura was unfairly thrown out of the kingdom by Duryodhana, his cruel nephew, whom he had served selflessly his whole life. In addition, he was harshly insulted by him. He refused, however, to play the victim. Rather, he saw that God was delivering to him an important message: it was time to retire from the intrigues of family and political life and leave for pilgrimage. An elevated soul sees destiny as the language of God.

 

Bhīmadeva

 

Although Yudhiṣṭhira led a noble and sinless life, his suffering year after year was unbearable. Even worse, nobody could satisfy his inquiry as to why he had to suffer. In frustration he inquired from his grandfather, Bhīṣmadeva, who was lying on the battlefield waiting to die. Somehow, his grandfather was able to muster up the strength to reply. Destiny, he explained, is just God’s grace offering us the gift of spiritual realization for those who respond to their fate righteously and according to appropriate guidance.

 

Socrates

 

When Socrates was unfairly condemned to die by the Greek assembly for political reasons, his wish to confront his accusers was granted. Rather than feeling persecuted, he informed them, “If you think you will harm me, you will not harm me; you will only harm yourselves.” Socrates was expressing something quite deep. The self or soul is eternal and spiritual. It therefore can only be harmed by one’s own acts of selfishness. In other words, if he was executed, the Greek Senate, who would kill him in a mood of exploitation, would be the one disadvantaged and not himself, who would respond in dignity.

 

It’s unfortunate how far the world has veered from a culture of personal responsibility and self-correction based on God consciousness.  Certainly, all forms of oppression and exploitation should be shunned and appropriately rectified. There are powerful realizations one can glean from the perspective of the downtrodden. One should be wary, however, of adopting the consciousness of victimization and conceding the power to change one’s life to external actors. Contrast this to the teachings of the Bhagavatam which educates and fully empowers one to change oneself in any circumstance.

 

“We all suffer, but to be a victim is a choice.” — Unknown

 

 


[1] This is a substantially edited reprint of Monday Morning Greetings November 18, 2019.

[2] Barry and Janae Weinhold — https://web.archive.org/web/20220122105432/https://weinholds.org/victim-consciousness/

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #36 – Dearer to Me than Even My Brother Balarama!

September 1st, 2025

Yes, Krishna says say that. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.14.15) Who is dearer than his eternal associates, and even His brother? He is talking about His helpless devotees in this world who are completely dependent on His mercy and surrender to Him!

 

That same concept came up in my recent studies of Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta.

 

When Lord Śiva is approached by Śrī Nārada and glorified by him as the topmost devotee, Śiva deflects his praise by glorifying the residents of Vaikuṇṭha, and for good reason. They have given up everything material as if it was useless straw and have renounced all egoistic self-conceptions. Śiva then tells him that there is a destination even better than going to Vaikuṇṭha. He can visit Dvārakā on Earth where the Lord is presently residing with such eternal associates. Śrī Nārada is so enthused that he begins to leave immediately, but surprisingly the Lord stops him. He calls him close to whisper something into his ear and recommends something else!

 

“There is a greater recipient of Krisha’s mercy than your father, me, and other servants like Garuḍa, and even than the goddess of fortune. His name is Prahlāda. He is famous throughout the world as the dearmost devotee of Krishna.” Bb 1.3.75

 

But better than Brahmā, Śiva, and even the goddess of fortune?

 

A commentary in the chapter offers an explanation.

 

“One reason why the Supreme Lord speaks like this is that although His eternal associates — Saṅkarṣaṇa, Mahā-lakṣmī, and so on — are ever established in unswerving devotion, they underwent no tribulations to gain it, whereas His ‘new’ devotees in the material world have sacrificed all comforts and security to gain pure devotional service. For the trouble such devotees have taken, Lord Krishna is especially grateful.” Bb 1.3.84, commentary.

 

It’s still hard to believe. How can those in this world coming to Krishna consciousness attract the Lord’s mercy more than His eternal associates who are ever established in unswerving devotion?

 

Śrīla Mādhavācārya explains:

 

“The only way to obtain the Lord’s mercy is through His causeless love, and the Lord is most lovingly inclined toward those devotees who are most dependent on Him, just as ordinary mothers and fathers worry more about their helpless children than about those who are self-sufficient.” SB 11.14.15, purport

 

Ultimately, such comparison, that one kind of devotee is better than another, doesn’t matter much. Such devotees are all on the highest level of devotion. What really matters is how much these descriptions encourage us to make the same sacrifice to attain pure devotion to the Lord.

 

It also provides us with a powerful meditation:

 

How grateful Śrī Krishna must be for the trouble Śrīla Prabhupāda endured to give Śrī Krishna to the world, and how much we should revere those who have followed him!

 

A beautiful concept to fill our thoughts and hearts:

 

Dearer to Me than even My brother Balarama!