Thanksgiving is one of the important holidays in the American tradition. Known for its bringing of families together through frantic travelling and the eating of large portions of food, Thanksgiving has become a tradition of culture shared by citizens from diverse backgrounds. The origins of the holiday are completely grounded in religion, with the original event serving as a way of giving thanks to the Supreme Lord for all His blessings. The lessons of Thanksgiving also unlock the secret to economic freedom and the real purpose of human life.
Economics is actually quite easy to understand, provided that one is honest in assessing their own behavior. The economic viability of a particular region is dependent on the independent actions of many smaller entities. If we can understand how we operate and what our thought process behind making economic-related actions is, we can understand how the system works on a macro level. The driving force behind economic activity is artha, which is the Sanskrit word for profit or economic development. It is in the fiber of the being of the individual to search after its self-interest, or profit. This is often mistaken to mean selfishness, but self-interest is something much simpler and non-threatening. For example, waking up on time in the morning to ensure reaching the office at a specific hour is an act of self-interest. Getting to work on time will equate to keeping one’s job, which will then allow such a person to pay their bills on time. The driving force is self-interest, the search for profit and the desire to maintain one’s livelihood.
The entire economic system follows the same model. People want to work for a living and be paid as much money as possible while providing the least amount of work. The proprietor of a business wants to turn a profit selling their good or service. This shop owner wants their business to be as productive as possible, which means generating the greatest amount of output with the least amount of cost. The consumer is looking to pay the cheapest price for a good that is of the highest quality. All of these factors can balance themselves out, but we see that the driving force is incentive, the desire to fulfill one’s self-interest. Economics experts and politicians run into problems when they only choose to focus on one area of interest, while neglecting others. Since everyone is acting in their self-interest, it would be silly to say that one person’s interest is of more value than another’s. By saying that one business is worthy of succeeding, i.e. turning a profit at a decent rate of productivity, over another, the principle of artha is quantified, something which doesn’t square with the equality that is shared amongst living entities. Yet this preferential treatment is precisely what occurs through targeted economic policy. It is not surprising then to see the angst and dissatisfaction that results.
“Any person who desires the fruits of the four principles religiosity [dharma], economic development [artha], sense gratification [kama] and, at the end, liberation [moksha], should engage himself in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for worship of His lotus feet yields the fulfillment of all of these.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 4.8.41)
The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, tell us that the rewards of human life can be grouped into four general categories: dharma, artha, kama, and moksha. Goswami Tulsidas, the great poet and devotee of Lord Rama, accurately points out that achieving all four of these rewards in one lifetime is very difficult. One may get economic success and sense gratification, but these two rewards can get in the way of religiosity. When adherence to religion is absent, there is no question of moksha, or release from the cycle of birth and death. In the animalistic stage, the individual entity is only conscious of sense gratification, or kama. Therefore there is no chance of any advancement to a higher lifestyle while in that type of body. The spirit soul is the driving force behind activity, but when it is trapped in a state of ignorance, it cannot take the necessary steps to rekindle its loving relationship with the Supreme Lord, its life partner by constitution.
Those fleeing from Europe became known as the Pilgrims, and they set sail for what was known as the New World. They landed on Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts, and eagerly began their new life. There was a wrinkle in their plan however. While they had the religious freedom they were looking for, the other aspects of life, namely artha and kama, were missing. There were no innkeepers or restaurants to greet them, and there were no heated homes to take shelter of. The first winter was very cold and life was extremely difficult. The Pilgrims decided that for their economic affairs, they would have a commune style government. Everyone would live on shared land, and whatever was produced through farming would be equally distributed amongst the community. This sort of central planning is not uncommon to see implemented by governments wishing to work in the interest of the common good. Under the Pilgrims’ model, the personal labor put forth in the production of food grains essentially became a public service.
“Every one of us must be satisfied with those things the Supreme Personality of Godhead has allotted us. We should not encroach upon the possessions of others. This simple idea can be expanded in our daily lives. Everyone should have a piece of land given by the government, and everyone should possess a few cows. Both of these should be utilized for one’s daily bread.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 25.101 Purport)
It is often pondered why America, above any other tract of land, has turned out to be such a flourishing society in a material sense. In fact, many nations follow the daily happenings of America very closely, often making comparisons with the economic growth rates of their own country. Yet the secret to America’s success in the area of economic development is not very difficult to understand, nor is it something that can’t be replicated anywhere else. Ironically enough, the path to economic freedom laid out by William Bradford is actually the same path practiced for thousands of years by followers of the Vedic tradition.
As mentioned before, the aim of human life is to learn about God and use that knowledge to lovingly serve Him. Before this pursuit for knowledge can take place, one must have a peaceful lifestyle, one where enough food is readily available. In order for food to be available, there must be production, which comes through farming. In order for farming to take place at a healthy pace, there must be a reward for hard work, an incentive for the producers to produce. By allowing citizens to own property that they can farm on, economic development is allowed to flourish. If a family raises enough food for their personal needs, they can peaceably and voluntarily trade whatever surplus they have. This is precisely what occurred with the Pilgrims, as they began to trade with the American Indians soon after their food production started to pick up. Under the private property model, one family may have a surplus of apples, while another has a surplus of rice. Each individual, acting on their self-interest, will trade for whatever products they want, all the while keeping price and profit in mind. In such a system, production is not a problem, and neither is profit. The resulting economic security allows ample time for the real mission of life: devotional service.
“There are three gates leading to this hell-lust, anger, and greed. Every sane man should give these up, for they lead to the degradation of the soul.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 16.21)
What is hell? On the highest level of thinking, any person who takes birth in the material world, a land which exists separate from the Supreme Lord, can be considered to be in a hellish condition. When scriptures mention condemnation to a hellish realm, the reference is to the further separation that will occur between the individual soul and the Supreme Lord. The aim is to gradually elevate oneself from a hellish condition to that of a heavenly one. The only heaven that exists forever is in the spiritual sky, where the Supreme Lord, who is always full of form and bliss, interacts with His purified servants, those entities who never desire separation from their prananatha, or Lord of their life air.
“Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor…Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be…” (President George Washington, Thanksgiving Day 1789, A Proclamation)
Though the miracle of Thanksgiving showed the natural desire for man to offer service to God, we know from history that as economic development increased, the desire to thank the Lord diminished. The first President of the United States, George Washington, declared in his 1789 Thanksgiving Day proclamation that the annual holiday was a day of service to God. He asked the Lord to forgive the citizens of the country for their transgressions and to kindly bestow His favor and protection upon them. But we know that if such a speech were offered by a President today, he would be sternly rebuked for having violated the perceived notion of separation of church and state. As mentioned so wonderfully by Goswami Tulsidas, the four rewards of life are difficult to achieve at one time. One reward can cause a person to gradually lose their interest in the others. Therefore the wiser choice is to take directly to bhakti-yoga, or devotional service.
Therefore, the secret to success in bhakti-yoga is to simply add the Supreme Lord to activities that are already performed. Since we like to sing songs to ourselves, better to take to chanting the sweet and blissful names of the original Divine Being, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. Dancing is certainly a popular activity; otherwise dance clubs would always be empty. Under the model of bhakti, one can direct their dancing for the pleasure of the Supreme Lord. The starters of the sankirtana movement, the congregational chanting of the Lord’s names in public, would regularly chant and dance in the streets as a way of releasing their dormant loving sentiments directed at the Supreme Lord.
Once we are independent and able to provide for our own food, the aim shouldn’t be to simply eat voraciously with reckless abandon. As we saw with the example of the settlers of the New World, when there is good fortune in terms of abundant food to eat, there is an even greater impetus to thank the Lord. Therefore it is not surprising to see that one of the central aspects to bhakti-yoga involves eating in a spiritually conscious way. For thousands of years, devotees of the Vedic tradition have prepared and offered nice food for the Lord to eat. In His incarnation as the archa-vigraha, or deity, God can take the food which is offered to Him with love and devotion and enjoy it. Such food is known as bhoga, or enjoyment for the sweet Lord who is kind enough to appear in a form visible to the conditioned soul.
