News of the Prout Research Institute of Venezuela

The effort to buy the perfect house for the PRI-V continues. In the meantime, we have rented temporary office space in the upstairs of the Ananda Marga Kindergarten. Last year a new roof was put on, and this week the bathroom is being repaired, the interior is being painted, two new doors are being hung, and office furniture is being purchased. The school telephone will be transferred to the PRI-V: 00-58-212-633-0131.

We have applied for broadband Internet connection, and the company has promised to install it within 10 days. (Of course things don’t move as quickly in Venezuela as in other countries!) For those who have visited Venezuela, you will realize how happy we are to have employed Diipanii to cook a delicious breakfast and lunch for the staff five days a week!

The first meeting of the Venezuelan Board of Directors has taken place. We are confirming the proposed legal constitution and bylaws of the Institute Foundation. Eight Venezuelan Proutists (Sarvajiit, Satyam, Manujesh, Mrtyunjaya, Tapas, Sulocana, Laksman, Krsna Priya) plus Didi Ananda Sadhana and myself will be members. We will also collectively decide on inviting some other professionals who are sympathizers to sit on the Board.

Eleven senior Proutists in other countries have so far agreed to be on the International Advisory Board of the PRI-V: Hiranmaya (US), Karma Rasa (US), Dharmadeva (Brazilian economist moving to NYC), Dhruva (US), Suprabhata (US), Nirainjana (Palestine/US), Dayabatii (US), Mayajiit (US), Citsvarupa (US), Aradhana (US), Shiva (PhDc Philippines), Jayanta Kumar (Australia). We are still waiting for confirmation from the others we have invited.

Our multi-lingual web site is under construction by professional web-designer Dada Unmantranandajii. We are finishing the various menu texts in English and Spanish, and we hope to have it ready in the first week of October.

Despite his university diploma, his former job as an architect and despite the apartment in Budapest that he owns, the US government refused to give a visa to our LFT Dharmapal so that he could transit in Miami Airport for 150 minutes. Now he is struggling to re-route his air ticket to avoid touching that country that is forbidden to him. Atideva, another excellent brother from Hungary will arrive here this week.

Fabio, in consultation with half a dozen IT experts in other countries, continues to develop the detailed plans for our computer system. The hardware infrastructure will be desktop computers and one (file) server. We will buy the expensive components in Miami and assemble them here. The system will run on Linux (Ubuntu) with Open Office which we are confident will fulfill our needs and be consistent with our ideological direction. The network will be secured via a firewall, and will operate on a RAID system, with two hard disks continually mirroring the stored information, so in case of a disk crash, the other disk can carry on operations seamlessly. Weekly backups on rewritable DVDs stored in different locations will prevent electronic knowledge loss even in catastrophe scenarios.

Asiima is researching about Venezuelan inflation, devaluation and other economic indicators. Other researchers in other countries have started looking into cooperatives as well.

Please send your suggestions and best wishes.

Translation of Finnish article

(English translation of the article that appeared in the Finnish magazine of the Service Center for Development Corporation ("Kepa") For more about Kepa, see: www.kepa.fi/English

Lifestyle: Volunteering

Dada Maheshvarananda, 53, who travels constantly around the world, describes himself with the words "lifetime volunteer". The monk, who is originally from the U.S.A, is a true global citizen. "I have travelled around the world for the last three years, and previously I lived for many years in Asia, Brazil and Venezuela."

Maheshvarananda tries to connect universal, spiritual values to social change in the developing countries. He is involved in different school projects in the developing countries, for according to his opinion education is the best way to alleviate poverty. "I have written dozens of articles about the need for social change, and the book After Capitalism was published in 2003." Maheshvarananda is not content with just writing, but teaches yoga and meditation to prisoners in Brazil, the Philippines and in Portugal. "Empowering communities is needed."

"Helping others has always been my number one priority, and I have decided to help others throughout my whole life by doing volunteer work. It has given me more happiness and love than I could ever have imagined possible."

"One of the most significant experiences I have had happened during my training in Nepal. I did not know the language and I did not know anyone, but the inhabitants of the local poor village helped me. Sometimes I had wondered who would take care of me, if something happened. But from that experience I realized, that I will always be taken care of as a response to my own efforts as a volunteer."

An inspiring visit to Helsinki

I just returned from six days in Finland to publicize the release of the Finnish edition of “After Capitalism: Prout’s Vision for a New World”. Didi Annapurna with the help of Mitra translated it with great struggle. This edition includes contributions by two famous Finnish writers, psychohistorian Juha Siltala.and Heidi Hautala, Finnish Member of Parliament and former EU Parliament and Green Party presidential candidate.

The Finland national development agency Kepa published an article in their national magazine www.kepa.fi/kumppani/arkisto/2006_5/5004 and requested the book for their library. In addition, Mitra helped deliver a review copy of the book to the editors of nine newspapers and magazines, and Amrta has sent them faxes and phoned them to follow up. Another freelance journalist is writing a review of the book now. Email announcements were sent to 200 activists and sympathizers, and 80 leaflets were distributed and posted around the city. Didi Annapurna is now successfully selling the book door-to-door and has so far convinced two bookstores to carry it and a cooperative café to advertise it. Shantatma is selling it on the Internet.

With only a few days to prepare, a successful two-hour Prout lecture was given to 16 people in the public library. Professor Tapani Köppä, who has coordinated and taught about cooperatives for 40 years, came and explained about the 3000 existing worker-owned enterprises in the country. The major alternative radio station recorded a one-hour interview with Didi Annapurna and myself. We also took part in a peace march.

The History and Future of Finland According to Sarkar’s Social Cycle

The recent discovery in Susiluola (in the Southern Ostrobothnian municipality of Kristinestad) of stones worked by the human hand suggest that people were living there over 100,000 years ago, after the discovery of fire. The mental color of those early human beings was shudra, struggling to survive and longing for physical enjoyment. Their minds were almost always absorbed in material thoughts.

About 10,000 years ago the last Ice Age came to an end and the Finnish land surface began to re-emerge from under the receding ice and to rise up from the sea. Humans then came from Estonia across the Gulf of Finland, and from the Ural Mountains of Russia, and began to make settlements. These people lived in tribes, and had already developed sophisticated fishing nets and hunting weapons. Their safety and successful hunting depended on the strongest warriors (ksattriyas) leading the tribe. Their descendants gradually spread out, forming new villages even into northern Finland, and developing agriculture and animal husbandry.

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The evolution of some viprans (intellectuals) during this early tribal period can be seen in the shamans, wise and respected spiritual leaders of their tribe who were believed to have healing abilities and a special relationship with the spirit world. Their search for knowledge is expressed in some of the older epic poems of the Kalevala. However, the tribes for the most part continued to be led by warriors. The population of Finland as the Iron Age drew to a close about 1000 AD has been estimated at around 50,000.

The transition from a ksattriya-led to a vipra-led society started with the introduction of Christianity from Sweden and Russia in the twelfth century and the later takeover of the country in the thirteenth century by the Swedish Empire, which was dominated by the royal family, court ministers and the Catholic Church.

The publication in 1765 of Anders Chydenius’ book, The National Gain, proposing free trade (11 years before Adam Smith’s famous book, The Wealth of Nations), is a good indication of how capitalists (vaeshyas) were increasingly becoming the new power-brokers in Finland. Gradually the Industrial Revolution arrived, and in 1860 the country’s first own currency was introduced and the paper and ship-building industries began to boom.

Starting in 1918 with the class war between the Red Guards and the Whites, some disgruntled ksattriyas and vipras tried unsuccessfully in various ways to lead shudras on a Communist platform to overthrow the vaeshyas. Despite the Soviet Union’s hard efforts to manipulate Finland since its beginning, through the armistice agreement in 1944, and until its own fall in 1991, the majority of the Finnish people resisted this and the society continues to be capitalist-led.

According to Sarkar’s social cycle theory, Finland, like the rest of the capitalist world, is today in its last days of capitalist control. Multinational corporations from throughout the European Union and the United States dominate ever larger shares of the economy. The welfare state is weakening, the gap between the rich and the poor is increasing, and a materialist and consumer outlook is indoctrinating the people.

A fundamental change of consciousness is needed. Courageous fighters (ksattriyas) and thinkers (vipras) should lead a radical, grassroots popular transformation to establish a more orderly, disciplined and ethical society based on economic justice and solidarity.

Prout's message for Finland

With much happiness, I will return to Helsinki for a week on August 11 to "launch" the Finnish version of my book "After Capitalism". The following remarks are from the introduction I wrote for the Finnish edition:

Finland has certainly benefited from capitalism. The country made a remarkable transformation from a farm and forest economy to a diversified modern industrial economy, with a per capita income on par with the rest of the European Union. But the truth is that capitalism works well for some people, but not for everyone. The existence of marginalized long-term unemployed in the country is a sign that this is true even in Finland.

According to the Finnish Government Institute for Economic Research (VATT), the top 10 percent of the population owns almost 40 percent of all the property and share capital. Much more economic inequality appears when calculating the wealth of the few thousand millionaires and billionaires, whose holdings are widely spread through nebulous financial networks. Greater tax breaks for the rich means the welfare state is weakening.

During the last 20 years, a large portion of the Finnish economy has been taken over by international investment funds, who own major shares of Nokia and the other large Finnish companies. Why is it that the majority of stores in Helsinki today seem to have American names? The profits they reap are not reinvested in the local community, they are sent to international banks overseas.

Unfortunately capitalism does not work very well for Finland’s beautiful natural environment either. Air pollution from manufacturing and power plants contributes to acid rain. The water is being polluted by industrial wastes and agricultural chemicals. Wildlife is threatened by the loss of virgin forests.

Finnish people experience the psychological side effects of global capitalism. The materialistic, consumer outlook, where everything seems to have a price tag, supports the existential outlook, “I buy, therefore I am!” Yet I believe the Finnish people, like most people in the world, long for true peace, happiness and unconditional love, which are not really satisfied in a consumer culture. Instead, working ever harder just to increase their income, or just to survive, under increasing stress, people experience alienation, loneliness and depression. Tragically, the suicide rate in Finland is the highest among the developed countries according to the World Health Organization. Among males aged 45-54, 50.4 per 100,000 people committed suicide in 2003.

We need something better: a holistic approach that fulfills the physical, mental and spiritual needs of each person. A world where nobody suffers poverty or hunger, where the resources are shared for the welfare of everyone. Where every human being is encouraged to develop their creativity, their talents, the higher dimensions of their being. How to do this is Prout’s vision for a new world.

Prout in Manila, Baguio and Ilocos Norte, Philippines

My 10-day visit to Maharlika was an incredible inspiration for me. In addition to meeting dozens of old friends, I got the chance to meet and share experiences with hard-working Prout activists.

The National Prout Board of Maharlika is composed of: Dada Gayatrananda, Diivakar, Vishva, Rajnikanta, Subhrata, Paritosh, Jayadeva, Ajiir, Arun, Mahesh, Iishvar, Surendra and Ramesh. Their recent accomplishments include renovating part of the Proutist Universal office in Manila, regularizing the legal registration of PU, holding a monthly study circle, organizing two successful one-day leadership training sessions and a regular radio show (tel. +63-9203225249).

Ang Kasama Samaj activist leaders who attended the seminar were: Dada Devapriyananda, Manorainjan (a labor leader from Clark Airbase), Iishvara (Central Luzon), Ram Prasad (Baguio), Jagatmitra (Secretary General), Lalit Mohan, Parvati, Jagat (Cebu, former editor of Prout Times), Japamala (Cebu, Maharlika Artists and Writers Association), Shiva (Ilocos Norte) and Nareshvar. (Ang KaSaMa office: 11 Union Village, Barangay Culiat, Tandang Sora, Quezon City, tel. +63-2-931-4882, mobile: 09197863739) See www.angkasama.net

During my last 48 hours, I took a bus to Baguio City in the mountains, where Arjuna and others organized a Prout talk for me in a beautiful art center call Vocas (5^th floor of La Azotea Building). Forty people came with just a few hours notice, and I personally taught meditation to four people.

After seven blissful hours, I jumped on another bus to the far north of Luzon Island. Brother Shiva (see photo), professor of political science and coordinator of TIMPUYOG People's Movement, organized a lecture at Mariano Marcos State University. Their certificate of appreciation for Prout is above.

I found a very inspiring speech that Sarkar gave during his June 1968 visit to Maharlika. He said:

“Movement in the physical realm means the construction of a society led by spiritual revolutionaries [sadvipras]… Sinners will oppose you, but you will have to face the challenge... You are human beings, because you are fighting against immoralists.

“In the psychic realm you have to establish righteousness by removing the germs of crude mentality. Everywhere in the world today the crude intellect dominates. It is your duty to replace it with your righteous intellect…

“In the spiritual realm, your task is to establish Cosmic ideation… It is your duty to show the right path to society in those three spheres...

“Work with the Supreme’s infinite power and with infinite speed. Victory is surely yours.”

(from “Accomplish Your Work with this Body Only”, A'nanda Vacana'mrtam Part 23)

The Last Empire

An empire is defined as: “A set of regions locally ruled by governors in the name of an emperor; a large, multi-ethnic state ruled from a single center at least partly by coercion based on greed.”

Empires began to appear soon after the first cities made the necessary administrative structures possible. Approximately 77 empires have existed in world history. Understandably, historians are not in complete agreement regarding the starting and ending dates of each one, and whether or not some should qualify.

P.R. Sarkar describes the psychological root of imperialism. When people become increasingly engrossed in materialism (what he called “carbonic pabula”) their mind gradually sinks towards crude matter. Greed increases, desiring the wealth of others. “Capitalism, state capitalism, communism, nationalism, communalism [groupism based on religion], parochialism [selfish pettiness or narrowness of views], provincialism [sense of superiority because of one’s province or area], socialism, caste-imperialism, male chauvinism, lingualism [that one’s language is superior]… are all the same psychic ailments in various forms and figures.”

The list below is arranged chronologically according to when the empire began. The present-day country where the seat of the empire was located is included if not obvious from the name.

1. Abyssinian Empire (Ethiopia, 3000 BC–1974 AD)
2. Elamite Empire (Iran, 2700-539 BC)
3. Akkadian Empire (Iraq, c. 2350–2150 BC)
4. Ur III Empire (Iraq, c. 2100–2000 BC)
5. Old Babylonian Empire (Iraq, c. 1900–1600 BC)
6. Egyptian Empire (1550–1070 BC)
7. Hittite Empire (Turkey, c. 1460–1180 BC)
8. Israelite Empire (c. 1000–922 BC)
9. Assyrian Empire (Syria, c. 900–612 BC)
10. Magadhan Empire (India, c. 550–350 BC)
11. Persian Empire (Iran, c. 550–330 BC)
12. Athenian Empire (Greece, c. 477–404 BC)
13. Macedonian Empire (Greece, c. 338–309 BC)
14. Seleucid Empire (Greece, 323–60 BC)
15. Mauryan Empire (India, 321–185 BC)
16. Teotihuacano Empire (Mexico, c. 300-700 BC)
17. Chinese Empire (221 BC–1912 AD)
18. Parthian Empire (Iran, c. 200 BC–224 AD)
19. Goguryeo Empire (Korea, c. 100 BC–668 AD)
20. Roman Empire (27 BC–476 AD)
21. Second Persian Empire (224–651)
22. Gallic Empire (France, 260–274)
23. Palmyrene Empire (Syria, 260–272)
24. Britannic Empire (286–297)
25. Gupta Empire (India, c. 320–550)
26. Byzantine Empire (Turkey, 330–843)
27. Islamicate Empire (Saudi Arabia, c. 630–1924)
28. Tibetan Empire (c. 7th–11th century)
29. Bulgarian Empire (681–1018; 1185–1396)
30. Ghana Empire (c. 750–1240)
31. Khmer Empire (Cambodia, 802–1462)
32. Holy Roman Empire (843–1806)
33. Chola Empire (South Indian Tamil, c. 9th–13th century)
34. Venetian Empire (Italy, c. 900–1797)
35. Tu'i Tonga Empire (Pacific Islands, 950–1875?)
36. Irish Empire (1005–1014)
37. Kongo Empire (Congo, 1100-1884)
38. Genoa Empire (Italy, c. 1100–1797)
39. Danish colonial empire (c.1200-1953)
40. Latin Empire (Turkey, 1204–1261)
41. Trapezuntine Empire (Greece, 1204–1461)
42. Nicaean Empire (Greece, 1204–1261)
43. Mongol Empire (1206–1394)
44. Mali Empire (c. 1240–1541)
45. Majapahit Empire (Indonesia, c. 1293–1500)
46. Ilkhanate (Iran, c. 1256–1338)
47. Ottoman Empire (Turkey, 1299–1922)
48. Serbian Empire (1345–1371)
49. Siam Empire (Thailand, 1350–1909)
50. Vijayanagara Empire (India, c. 1350–1700)
51. Aztec Empire (Mexico, 1375–1521)
52. Timurid Empire (Turkey, 1401–1505)
53. Inca Empire (Peru, 1438–1533)
54. Songhai Empire (Burkina Faso, 1464–1591)
55. Spanish Empire (1492–1898)
56. Portuguese Empire (1495–1975)
57. British Empire (c. 1497—1960s)
58. Mogul Empire (Pakistan, 1526–1857)
59. Swedish Empire (1561–1878)
60. Dutch colonial empire (1602-1975)
61. Maratha Empire (India, 1674–1761)
62. Russian Empire (1721–1917)
63. Vietnamese Empire (1802–1883)
64. Austrian Empire (1804–1867)
65. French Empire (1804-1814, 1815, 1852-1870)
66. Haitian Empire (1804–1806, 1849–1859)
67. Mexican Empire (1822–1823, 1864–1867)
68. Brazilian Empire (1822–1889)
69. Belgian Empire (1865–1962)
70. Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867–1918)
71. German Empire (1871–1918)
72. Italian Colonial Empire (1889–1943)
73. Korean Empire (1897–1910)
74. Japanese Empire (1910-1945)
75. Soviet Empire (Russia, 1922–1991)
76. German Third Reich (1933–1945)
77. AMERICAN EMPIRE (1898- ?)

76 empires have ended. Only one remains. It began in 1898 when it stole Maharlika (the Philippines), Guam and Puerto Rico at the close of the Spanish-American War. See http://www.americanempireproject.com/.

RECENT CHANGES IN “MAHARLIKA” (The Philippines)

When I landed in Manila International Airport last week, the customs officer asked me if I had anything to declare. “Yes,” I said. “I declare that I am very happy to be back after 16 long years!” She looked at me and said, “I bet you looked different then, without your white hair.” “Yes, ma’am, that’s a fact!”

I had worked in Manila from 1981-1990, so this time I met dozens of old friends, and adults came up to me and told me I had performed their baby-naming ceremony! It was truly wonderful to see again the spirit of Bayanihan, the Tagalog word which means to move a house together. This is the spirit of solidarity, of making the impossible become possible (painting by Joselito E. Barcelona, 1993).

Of course I wasn’t happy about every change that had taken place. The World Bank reports that air pollution kills 2,000 Filipinos a year. In addition, in the cities of Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao and Baguio 9,000 suffer chronic bronchitis. Lost wages and medical treatment total Pesos 79.5 billion (US$1.5 billion) annually, 2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). This means that every Filipino spends around P 2,000 ($40) each year for treatment and medication for illnesses caused by air pollution.

Automobiles create 80 percent of the pollution, reducing everyone’s life expectancy. Tiny particles (“particulate matter”) penetrate deep into respiratory tissue and directly into the bloodstream. The good news is that eating more fresh fruits and vegetables help to reduce the creation of “free radicals” in the body caused by this particulate matter.

Deforestation has also worsened. From 1980 to 2000 the total forest coverage in Maharlika was reduced by half! Today only 19 percent of the country is covered by forest. The tragic results are land degradation, erosion, flash floods, draught and mudslides. (Ian Coxhead and Sisira Jayasuriya, “Environment and Natural Resources” in The Philippine Economy: Development, Policies and Challenges, Oxford University Press, 2003.)

The West prides itself on its science and technology, yet it ignores the warnings of world scientists about the effects of pollution and global warming. First in 1992, scientists from around the world signed a joint letter asking world leaders to sign the global warming treaty at Kyoto. Five years later even more signed a "Call to Action"– 1,500 scientists from 63 countries, including 110 Nobel Prize laureates. Then in 2001, 100 Nobel laureates issued a brief but dire warning of the profound dangers facing the world from global warming and the proliferation of small arms: “…To survive in the world we have transformed, we must learn to think in a new way. As never before, the future of each depends on the good of all.”

Predictably, these compelling warnings have been for the most part ignored by the mainstream media in the United States because they are contrary to the policies of the US government.

I checked the Forbes magazine website (www.forbes.com) to see who are the richest Filipinos – as expected, the three billionaires were also the wealthiest people 20 years before:

1. Lucio Tan, self-made wealth from cigarettes, liquor, Philippine Airlines and Philippine National Bank. Total worth: US$ 1.7 billion.
2. Henry Sy & family, self-made, owns 23 shopping malls: US$1.5 billion.
3. Jaime Zobel de Ayala & family, inherited, Ayala Corporation owns real estate, water and telecom: US$1.3 billion.

By checking the Forbes lists during the last ten years, it can seen that each one is two to three times richer. So I asked each audience, “Are you?” Invariably the reply came, “No, we’re poorer!”

Professor Arsenio M. Balisacan of the University of the Philippines in his article “Poverty and Inequality” in The Philippine Economy: Development, Policies and Challenges, Oxford University Press, 2003 gives many statistics demonstrating how the widening gap between rich and poor has resulted in most of the gains of national economic growth being eaten up by the rich, leaving the poor with very little benefit.

Of course Prout’s response to this extraordinary widening gap between rich and poor is to remind everyone that the world’s physical resources are limited. If individuals accumulate too much, there will not be enough for everyone. So every country should decide maximum salaries, wealth and land ownership. The only reason to pay more is to motivate people to make a greater effort to benefit society.

I had the pleasure of meeting again Alejandro Lichauco, a radical economist cited in the bibliography of my book. His most recent work is Hunger, Corruption and Betrayal: A Primer on U.S. Neocolonialism and the Philippine Crisis, Citizen’s Committee on the National Crisis (CCNC), 2005, 115 pages, available online for $12.00 from www.marymartin.com. He writes on Thursdays and Sundays for The Daily Tribune and many of his articles can be found online by doing a Google search. He was imprisoned for three months and then kept under house arrest for two years by former dictator Ferdinand Marcos. In an “Open letter to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo” published recently, Lichauco wrote: “The Philippines is now a case of humanitarian disaster. Late last year, the Food and Nutrition Research Institution of the Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST) released a survey finding that "8 out of 10 households are hungry." This is the first time, to our knowledge, that the government, through an important agency, acknowledged the fact that mass hunger--and not only mass poverty--now grips the lands.”

A Training Center for Spiritual Revolutionaries

In the silent pine forests of southern Sweden lies a most inspiring center of transformation. Fourteen brothers and sisters have come from around the world to study there – from Argentina, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Madagascar, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Singapore and USA. They are highly motivated, and are literally putting their lives on the line.

They are in training to become nuns and monks. The color orange that they wear means they are dedicating their lives to the service of humanity. Though it differs from person to person, most spend about three years in training. In addition to chanting, practicing yoga asanas, reading spiritual philosophy, they are sitting for silent meditation 4-5 hours each day.

They also intensively study the spiritual and social philosophy of P.R. Sarkar, the founder of Prout. After passing all their exams, they then travel to India and are assigned to work in another continent from where they grew up.

The center was started in 1976, and hundreds who trained there have gone to six continents to serve humanity. I deeply enjoyed giving them Prout classes for two days and doing long meditation together. I told them that I have come to realize after 28 years of working as a monk, I am very much still “in training”! Every day I am learning, discovering, struggling to understand and to realize the deepest truths.

Then I drove to Stockholm where I stayed in the home of Proutists Krsnadeva and Sumana. I recorded nearly 3 hours of their personal experiences with the founder of Prout – incredible. Sumana said that in their last meeting together, Sarkar said, “You know, there are two kinds of people in this world, those who give, and those who get. Which kind are you?” She laughed and replied, “The kind that give, Baba.” But ever since that day, she realizes that so many people, even those on a spiritual path, are always concerned about and often criticize the quality of seminars, programs, etc., without looking for ways to contribute, to make it better. These stories are being transcribed now.

Five trainees plus other employees and interns are working in an organic bakery in Stockholm (www.sattvanaturbageriet.com). It’s an incredible beehive of activity round the clock. I also gave them a class on Thursday.

Then on Friday night I gave a lecture on Prout and Spiritual Values that they organized for the public – 35 people, both young and old, came. These people fill me with hope.

If you are ever uncertain about what to do in your life, and how you could contribute more to making a better world, there’s a beautiful, quiet place in southern Sweden that I highly recommend!

Finland Social Forum

SOCIAL FORUM OF FINLAND

Over 1000 people came to the Third Finnish Social Forum in Helsinki on April 1-2, 2006. Once again it proved to be a most remarkable occasion to network with other activists, or, as Sarkar termed it, “to unite the moralists,” meaning those who are struggling for a better world.

Before the event Didi Annapurna wrote two one-page articles in Finnish that were posted on the Social Forum web page (www.sosiaalifoorumi.fi) after a long struggle with the organizers, insisting that small groups also have a right to be heard. One is about social change and Prout in Venezuela, and the other is called “Why Another World is Inevitable” that explains the spiritual dimension. She also spoke twice during the press conference before the event.

We organized five workshops during the event that were advertised in 50,000 copies of the Social Forum newspaper distributed around the country. I gave three: “From Evolution to Revolution,” “From Erosion of Democracy to Quadro-dimensional Economy,” and ; “Cardinal Human Values in the Economy” with Didi Annapurna. In addition, Dr. Sauli Siekkinen spoke on “Strength from Volunteering” and Didi Ananda Krpa, Dada Gatimayananda and Bhuwan Pathak from Vasudaiva Kutumbakam from Uttarakhand in the Central Himalayas talked about “Restoring Ecological Balance.” More than 70 people attended these workshops.

I was asked to sit on the panel of the workshop “A Debate on the World Social Forum” to explain the way in which Proutist Universal’s application to join the International Council of the WSF was rejected and how the promise two years ago to set up a process to hear our appeal has still not been prepared. In an amazing Cosmic “coincidence”, Oded Grajew, the Brazilian entrepreneur who originally conceived the idea of the World Social Forum and is on the WSF Secretariat, arrived a few minutes before I spoke. Afterwards he insisted, as did other members of the International Council who were present, that a proper and transparent decision-making process should be followed in this case.

This year I was also allowed to speak to the general audience in the closing ceremony. I told how during my last visit to Finland, I spoke at the University of Helsinki School of Economics where one of the professors insisted that in their belief, capitalism was good and the best way for developing countries to progress. I answered that of course capitalism works for some people, but not for everyone. On a wall in Mumbai was written, “Every morning I wake up on the wrong side of capitalism!” What the world needs today is an economic system that benefits everyone, so that we can share and utilize the resources of the world in a just and ecological way.

We sold 20 books and gave an interview to a magazine about social service work. Our success was a result of our continued efforts and struggles on the organizing committee, and the unity and the help of many Proutists, especially Omprakash and Mitra. The Finnish translation of “After Capitalism: Prout’s Vision for a New World” is now being reviewed and will be printed within a few months.

World Social Forum Caracas VI March

Marching for a Better World

On the first day of the Sixth World Social Forum in Caracas thousands of activists marched from the Central Venezuelan University with the theme, “Another world is possible!”

Thirty Proutists formed the most colorful and attractive group with the best music! Singing kiirtan continually, waving orange flags while they danced, they followed two wonderful clowns on stilts with orange flags. They carried four banners which said: “Cooperatives = Economic Democracy, Prout: A Vision for a New World”, “The first revolution is the revolution of consciousness,” The absence of universal spirit is the root of all problems – P.R. Sarkar,” and “Struggle for social justice and meditate for peace.” A slightly intoxicated older man did the whole march with us, playing some incredible bongo rhythms with our kiirtan for four hours.

Five thousand journalists are registered here at the WSF, and the majority were at the march, taking photos and filming. We gave dozens of interviews for both Venezuelan and international media. Events such as this one has tremendous potential for propagating the ideals of Prout and P.R. Sarkar. The more Proutists that can participate, the greater impact we can make.