Slavery to Banks: A Vedic Prophecy, By Stephen Knapp

Slavery to Banks: A Vedic Prophecy, By Stephen Knapp

by Stephen Knapp on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 10:12am

This shows how banks, especially the Central Banks, which are part of a network established in many countries, have set up a system which is increasingly controlling the economy and lives of numerous people around the world, and is gaining more power, wealth and influence. The questionable development of the Federal Reserve Bank in America is presented as an example of the fulfillment of the Vedic prophecy regarding the dangers of standardized gold and the hoarding of it (one of the places in which the personality of Kali resides), and what more problems this can cause in the future as the age of Kali-yuga advances.

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            As related in the Bhagavata Purana, at the start of Kali-yuga, King Pariksit declared that the seeds of evil will manifest in four things: intoxication, gambling, illicit sex, and the killing of innocent creatures, especially for meat-eating. These were the activities in which the personality of Kali could reside.

           Not only are these the bad habits of Kali-yuga, but engaging in the above-mentioned activities propel us into numerous additional negative activities, all of which force us to give in to such undesirable emotions as greed, anger, jealousy, fault-finding, treachery, hatred, and so on. All of these pave the way for untold pain, suffering, misery and further wicked actions and intrigue.

            We can plainly see the damage these activities are presently doing. For example, liquor and drugs and other forms of intoxication no doubt ruin the lives of innumerable people. It causes poor health, depression, the waste of needed money, and even suicides and death, either by accidental overdoses or from other things such as territorial gang wars and so on. Drinking or intoxication literally poisons the brain and body. It takes away the ability to achieve a higher consciousness and destroys the principle of austerity, and being responsible and focused on the goals of life. This leads to irresponsibility and a philosophy of “whatever feels good, do it”. Such intoxication paves the way for further calamities in one’s actions and difficulties in life.

Gambling, or engaging in questionable or fraudulent business practices, takes away the principle of truthfulness and honesty. Gambling houses also tempt people into their clutches with fancy lights and alluring women with the hope of gaining easy fortune, yet mostly take much of the money away from those who patronize such places, sometimes leaving them in ruins.

             A nimal slaughter takes away one’s sense of mercy and compassion for others. It promotes selfishness and cruelty and furthers society’s ignorance of its spiritual identity. You could not so easily slaughter and eat other creatures if you clearly saw the soul within the animal.

            Prostitution or frivolous sexual activity takes away one’s sense of bodily and mental cleanliness. It increases addiction to trivial bodily pleasures, which accelerates degradation and disease in society.

            The desire for sex in this age of Kali-yuga is one of the most captivating of all preoccupations of the human race. It distracts most of society from the real spiritual purpose of life. People want to satisfy themselves in this way and then use up so much energy, physical and otherwise, to meet their sensual desires. It saps them of their time in life when they could be using this existence in much more important ways.

            For quick profits debauched men and even women capture and force many young girls, and boys as well, into a life of prostitution, which often leaves them hurt, wounded, diseased or ruined for life. Such exploitative culprits, who engage in human trafficking and force others into such an existence of engaging in the sex trade, will multiply like a virus in this age. And like any virus, if they are not destroyed completely, they will only reappear later in a different place.

            On a personal level, for any man, semen or the vital force is the most precious substance in the human body, and is not meant to be wasted through mere sensual enjoyment. It is the last product made by the body through the process of digesting the food we eat. This vital force is especially effective in nourishing the nervous system and brain. All who are on the spiritual path to perceive the spiritual dimension are recommended to retain this vital force for assistance and greater strength, concentration, intelligence, good memory, health, determination, and clarity. When it is preserved it is turned into the Ojas Shakti, and is utilized in the brain for higher abilities and noble purposes. If it is wasted and released through frequent or unnecessary sex, one’s brain and nervous system are disadvantaged. This manifests as lack of certitude, direction, clarity, along with mental weakness, indifference and lethargy. Then noble thoughts give way to the increased focus on base and sensual desires. Intellectual energy is then diverted from spiritual inquiry to concocting further plans for more sensual pleasure. Then this becomes the major aim in such a person’s life, especially in Kali-yuga, which depletes them of their time, energy, higher consciousness, and paves the way to death’s door with little else being accomplished. In this way, one’s life becomes wasted.

            Anyone, such as rulers, social leaders, or religionists, who desires progressive well-being for themselves and society should avoid these four irreligious activities. All of these eliminate the finer characteristics of human nature, which leaves behind the lower animalistic qualities and the further degradation of human society and the world. However, the results and tendencies for all of these degrading activities are found in one specific thing more than any other, and that is the hoarding of money, which is explained next.

THE DANGERS OF KALI IN STANDARDIZED GOLD

In the story of Kali requesting Maharaja Pariksit for places in which he could stay, as related in Srimad-Bhagavatam16, Kali begged for one more place to reside, besides the four that have been previously described. So Maharaja Pariksit gave permission for Kali to live where there is gold, because wherever there is the hoarding of gold there is also falsity, intoxication, lust, envy, and enmity. Therefore, the personification of Kali became gold standardized. This has led to innumerable problems in this age, and it is simply getting worse as the age of Kali progresses.

Now one thing to remember here is that we have been warned about the dangers of standardized gold in Srimad-Bhagavatam, which was written around 5,000 years ago. But how does this danger manifest? How would a 5,000 year old statement or prophecy about gold apply to us today? Let us explain further.

Throughout history governments have coined and printed their own money, based on actual supply of whatever commodity was backing the money, such as gold or silver. This is what standardization is all about. A five-dollar bill, for example, would be worth five dollars of gold. Of course, the problem is that they removed that standard years ago and now they can print all kinds of dollar bills that have no standard value. Falsity sets in when actual gold, as in gold coins, is no longer used as a currency and paper money replaces it. The paper money does not fairly represent the value of the actual reserved gold. The result of this is artificial inflation and manipulation because the currency is not real. This inflation can set off multitudes of reactions in the value of goods: changes in the value of your savings and the money you earn, etc.

Then add to this the widespread ignorance and confusion regarding tax laws, and you have a system designed to keep people under control or bewilderment. In a letter to Thomas Jefferson in 1787, John Adams wrote, "All perplexities, confusion, and distress in America arise not from defects in the Constitution, nor from want of honor and virtue so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation." In other words, a dishonest money system is the basis of many of the economic and even social problems in America. Money can either build or destroy a nation. If a money system is honest, all people can prosper. A dishonest system, however, enriches a few at the cost of many.

To give a very simple example, which was also told to me, centuries ago in some townships people stored their gold in the goldsmith’s vault for a fee, in which case, they would get a receipt for their gold. Afterwards, people would exchange these receipts among themselves as a money substitute for commodities or services. They could redeem the receipts for the gold. However, only a small amount of the gold was ever reclaimed, allowing the goldsmith to issue receipts for more gold than he had. So some receipts did not represent anything.

In fact, he could use some receipts himself to make purchases or to lend at interest and yet take title to property as collateral. In this way, the increase in fraudulent receipts decreased the value of legitimate receipts. By manipulating the number of receipts in circulation, the wealth and prosperity of the community were quietly confiscated by the goldsmith without anyone knowing.

By reducing the number of receipts and money in circulation, the goldsmith could cause a depression in which he could increase his wealth at the expense of others. However, by increasing the number of receipts he could stimulate the economy and bring prosperity into the community. In this way, we can see that any money substitute like paper currency is honest only when it accurately represents real money. But when people use paper instead of real money, the seeds of corruption can enter the system.

America’s economic problems are based on this practice of issuing notes that are not accurately backed by gold. This is standard practice in the banking industry that is based on the modern day goldsmith known as The Federal Reserve and their Federal Reserve Notes. Remember, a Note is an I.O.U., or debt. Paying a debt with another debt is not possible. A debt must be paid with something of value, like gold or silver. Thus, the name "Federal Reserve Note" is, in fact, a fraudulent name since it is not what it claims to be--an accurate representation of a certain amount of gold.

There are only two actual economic systems: One is barter and the other is credit. Barter is simply the exchange of items that have equal value. The use of gold or silver coins is a barter system. Other items that have been used for exchange have included cows, salt, tea, tobacco, and opium. But money by itself does not exist: It must be something of value or an honest representation of something of value. However, credit is not tangible; it cannot be measured. It is only an idea represented by bookkeeping entries. Wealth is produced through labor in exchange for value or in making useable products that have exchange value in the marketplace. You do not find this with credit, except for the amount of money that becomes owed.

Bookkeeping tactics can then manipulate and adjust the value of such credit to suit whatever the plans are of those who control it. On page twelve of Keeping Our Money Healthy, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, it states, "The Federal Reserve system works only with credit." But credit is not wealth.

This state of affairs started 200 years ago when Amschel Rothschild (1743-1812) established a principle that the economic and political systems of nations would not be controlled by the citizens but by the bankers, for the bankers. This came about by a carefully planned series of political and economic maneuvers that gradually established a " Central Bank" in every country. This, in effect, allows those involved in this Central Bank system to gain control over the economy of the world. Many people think that the strategy of these power elite bankers is to establish a single world government over which they have complete control. If such would become the case, then politicians, leaders, and people in general, would all be controlled by the policy decisions of these bankers, not by governments. Even nowadays governments are often influenced by the economic decisions made by these bankers.

These central banks have the authority to print money for whatever country in which they are established. It is these banks from which governments borrow money to pay for debts to continue their operation. Thus, printed money is debt money. It has no intrinsic value since they do not base it on gold. It is printed to further the borrowing by the government. This propels a false economy in which everything, even the government, operates on credit, which is debt. And the larger the debt, the shakier everything becomes. So, yes, presently the Federal Government of the U. S. is practically bankrupt, so it keeps borrowing money from the Central Bank, known as the Federal Reserve Bank. And now the national debt is over 8 and one-half trillion dollars (at the time of this writing, as of January 1, 2007), which the government owes to the Federal Reserve Bank and other member institutions. This also means that in a country of over 300,500,000 people, every U. S. citizen owes over $28,000 as their contribution to help pay off this debt. Most of this debt is interest that multiplies on a daily basis that the government, or rather the American taxpayers, are supposed to pay back to the Federal Reserve Bank. To pay back such a debt is most difficult. Thus, policy decisions by the Federal Reserve regarding the national debt can send waves of changes throughout the country at any given time. So we can see how this government must consider the dictates of the Federal Reserve Bank, which operates more like a privately owned and operated organization of international bankers than an agency of the government, since that is exactly what it is.

Presently, the policies of the Federal Reserve control inflation and deflation. They have the duty to establish and adjust the "prime lending rate" that "helps" stimulate the economy or control growth. They can expand or contract the money supply by buying or selling U. S. securities and by raising or lowering reserve requirements, which is the money that member banks must have in reserve. The Federal Reserve has many other duties that exert a powerful influence on this nation’s economic life, and, thus, affect every other country in the world.

It was on November 22, 1910 when the nation’s leading bankers left by train at night from Hoboken, New Jersey on a secret mission to Jekyll Island, Georgia to create what would be the Federal Reserve System. Through their plans they were able to bypass the U. S. Constitution that established how they should regulate money. For example, Article One, Section Eight of the United States Constitution directly states that only Congress has the "power to coin money and regulate the value thereof". Furthermore, Article One, Section Ten of the United States Constitution says, "No state shall make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts". Also, Title Twelve of the United States Code, Section 152, states: "The term lawful money, or lawful money of the United States, shall be construed to mean gold or silver coin of the United States." Even as far back as the " Coinage Act of 1792," Congress fixed the dollar as a specific weight of silver in the form of a coin, and fixed the value of a gold coin in relation to it. Nonetheless, it was in 1913 that Congress surrendered the original constitutional power to create and regulate money to the Federal Reserve in the Federal Reserve Act, thus giving this control to foreign interests. Then the Federal Reserve began printing paper money. Between 1914 and 1963 the Federal Reserve Note never claimed to be money or dollars. It simply stated that, as on a note for five dollars, "The United States of America will pay to the bearer on demand Five Dollars." Above the bank seal it said, "This note is legal tender for all debts public and private and is redeemable in lawful money at the United States Treasury or at any Federal Reserve Bank."

Then in 1963 the Fed began to issue its new series of notes without this promise and began taking the previous notes out of circulation. By removing this promise to pay the bearer, the federal government, in cooperation with the Federal Reserve, eliminated the money system as established by the Constitution and replaced it with something totally different.

The implications of this may not seem as drastic as they really are, and, obviously, most people did not think so at the time. Nevertheless, a few people have certainly understood what this could mean.

For example, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), the third president of the United States, made the prediction: "If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children shall wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

Although Jefferson was no prophet, he perceived a clear picture of what we could expect. Even in the early days of this country the bankers had tried to establish a central bank. In light of this, Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), the seventh president of the United States, stated: "The bold efforts that the present bank has made to control the government, the distress it has wantonly caused, are but premonitions of the fate which awaits the American people should they be deluded into a perpetuation of this institution or the establishment of another like it. If people only understood the rank injustice of our money and banking system, there could be a revolution before morning!"

The reasons for the early American wars were many, including the principles these bankers were trying to implement. England, for example, had attempted to take away the right of the colonies to print their own money. It had been noted by Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) in 1763 while visiting England, that the reason why the colonies were prospering while England was suffering a tremendous national debt and high unemployment was because the colonies issued their money in proper proportions to the demands of its trade and industry.

Thereafter, the Central Banks of England pushed the British Parliament to pass a Bill prohibiting the colonies from issuing their own money. Thus, the bankers could gain control of the wealth of the colonies. Benjamin Franklin later noted that within one year of the enactment of that Bill, the streets of the colonies were filled with the unemployed, and there was great dissatisfaction.

Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) tried hardest to establish the Bank of the United States, which would be an agency of the international bankers. But Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and other leaders greatly opposed this. However, after Franklin’s death, Hamilton had bribed enough congressmen to grant a charter for the First Bank of the United States in 1791. Having lost this battle, Jefferson said that he believed banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. They have set up a money aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. They should take the power of issuing money from the banks and restore it to Congress and the people to whom it belongs.

The charter for the First Bank of the United States was for 20 years and expired in 1811. Then the Bank of England attempted to seize control over the ex-colonies as they had tried before the Revolution. This was one reason for the War of 1812.

For the next 100 years the international bankers tried gaining control in the U. S., but there were various opponents, including Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), the 16th president of the United States. He said the money power preys upon a nation in times of peace and conspires against it in times of adversity. It is more despotic than monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, and more selfish than bureaucracy. It denounces as public enemies all who question its methods or throw light upon its crimes.

It is interesting that in 1913, the same year the Federal Reserve Act was incorporated for the Federal Reserve Bank, the government also adopted the 16th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution that began the Income Tax. Income tax "contributions" are collected by the Internal Revenue Service, which operates like a private collection agency for the Federal Reserve. In this way, they have positioned themselves as tax collectors who take the wealth of all individuals, besides printing the currency and directing governments by making economic policy. Furthermore, member bankers, and their institutions such as various Foundations, have used their wealth to purchase much of the media, controlling our education, news, publications, radio and television networks.

They also can manipulate universities by providing (or withholding) large grants of funds for particular programs, and they also often own companies that produce the college and school textbooks. In these ways, they can feed us whatever information is needed so that we form the necessary opinions they want us to have about many things around us. Thus, much of our philosophies and outlooks on life, the politicians we vote for, even the way we do things, are affected through this means. Plus, these days we can see how many people get seduced by the promise of easy money through various bank loans, adjustable mortgages which may be attractive at first until the rates go up, and the lure of credit cards, which catch people who become forever indebted by such instruments, or products as they are called in the banking industry. Though there may be many of us who use banks for various reasons, these are some of the ways by which numerous people become unknowing slaves to a banking system wherein a small group of elitist individuals live a wealthy life at the expense of the many.

Needless to say, there are hundreds of groups out there that have plenty of information and speculation about what is likely to happen in the future regarding the plans of these power elite bankers and their allies. Some people say that they will replace all money with a single international currency. They will later change this to international debit cards that each person must carry that will have a computer chip in it that will hold information on your whole life. One central computer will observe and track all of your dealings. Later they will do away with these cards and they will surgically embed the chips under the skin of your hand. Then you will not be able to make any transactions without having the microchip. No more cash or private transactions or gifts to friends or family without bankers knowing. There will be no transactions without it going through the banks and through your microchip. Some people also expect that they will take out taxes from your account automatically, or they might take possession of everything you own without you being able to do anything about it. You will have no privacy and few freedoms. You will be either a good citizen of the one world government, or I should say the one world bank, the New World Order, or you will be a renegade living underground or in the mountains. Thousands of people going off to live in the mountains and away from government control is a scenario that is also predicted in the Vedic literature, as we will see as we proceed through this book. From here the speculations of what may happen in the future can go on and on.

The reason why I write about all of this is not to promote the speculations or conspiracy theories of some people, but to show that although the Vedic literature may give a brief warning about what will happen in the Age of Kali and the cause of it when the dangers in the hoarding of gold is mentioned. Also, to help recognize the full implications and how that description will expand as the Age of Kali progresses. In this case, it is only one verse in the Srimad-Bhagavatamthat states the personality of Kali could reside in the form of hoarding and the standardization of gold, and that wherever this goes on there will be falsity, intoxication, lust, envy, and enmity. This also indicates the desire or lust for ever-increasing power and control, and an expanding gap between the haves and the have-nots. Certainly, we can see all of this in the short review above of the last few hundred years regarding this issue and the control of currency. Thus, the results or outcome of whatever small warning the Vedic literature gives may have very wide and deep implications that will greatly affect our lives and the state of society and politics, and even the well-being of the planet and our environment and natural resources. Naturally, the more profit oriented any organization is, the less they will be concerned for the well-being of the people, planet and natural resources.

So, we need to contemplate these warnings and develop the ability to perceive the long term dangers to which these Vedic prophecies are referring. We have to understand that the process of increasing corruption in the economy, government, and society in general of which the Vedic prophecies speak is still an ongoing process. What we may accept as normal during this day and age, even the economic principles that we think are standard, will all mean something far different in another 50 or 100 years. The rate of change and corruption is increasing as the age of Kali-yuga moves forward.

            As we study the warnings and prophecies in the Vedic literature, the implications of them will be quite evident whenever we see the news. But be mindful of the seriousness of what these prophecies describe. Then, as we become familiar with them, we will be more aware of the general pattern of events that are likely to continue into the far distant future of the Age of Kali, and how to prepare for such social tendencies and what our role is in an ever-changing and increasingly materialistic world. Nonetheless, there is still hope for expanding the spiritual forces in society, as I describe in my article, “A New Species of Humanity”. But the time to act is now while we still have the freedom to make a difference.

        [This was adopted from a segment of “The Vedic Prophecies” by Stephen Knapp. More information about this book can be found at www.stephen-knapp.com.]