THOMAS AQUINAS:

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) was the leading christian philosopher of the middle ages.He led an austere life as a celibate monk,writing prolifically and teaching widely.
Thomas Aquinas compiled the entire church doctrine which constitutes the official philosophy of the Roman Catholic Church.
Since human reason is not perfect,revelation is also needed.The truth is attained through logic,philosophy and revelation.If we accept the bonafide spiritual master and please him by submissive service,by virtue of his mercy and pleasure we can understand God and the spiritual world by revelation.When we engage our senses in the Lord's service,the Lord reveals Himself.
For Aquinas,God is the only single essence that consists of pure form.He felt that matter is only a potential and,in order to be real,must assume a certain shape or form.In other words,the living entity has to acquire an individual form in order to actualize himself.When matter unites with form,the form gives individuality and personality.
Aquinas believed that only God and the angels have nonmaterial form.There is no difference between God's form and God's spiritual self.
Aquinas set forth five basic arguments for God's existence: first,God necessary exists as the first cause; second,the material world cannot create itself but needs something external,or spiritual to create it; third,because the world exists,there must be a creator; fourth,since there is relative perfection in the world,there must be absolute perfection underlying it;and fifth,since the creation has design and purpose,there must be a designer who planned it.
In the material world,we engage in many different activities,but they all refer to the material body.In the spiritual world,the spirit engages in the Lord's service,and this is salvation.
Aquinas considered sins to be both venial and mortal.A venial sin is one that can be pardoned,but a mortal sin stains the soul.As materialistic education advances,we are missing the aim of life.Life is meant for understanding the Absolute Truth.Vedic civilization is based on this principle,but modern civilization has deviated and is devoting itself to that which cannot possibly relieve us from the tribulations of birth,old age,disease and death.So-called scientific advancement has not solved life's real problems.Although we are eternal,we are presently subjected to birth and death.People create their own way of life,and they are unfortunate and disturbed.
Aquinas concludes that if the laws of God and man conflict,we should obey the laws of God.

St. AUGUSTINE:

Augustine (A.D. 354-430) considered the soul to be spiritual and different from the material body but he also believed that the soul did not exist before the body's birth.He simply supposed that the soul is the superior part of the person and the body the inferior part.He also thought that the soul attains immortality only after God creates it-only after God brings it into being.At death,Augustine said,the soul goes on to live eternally.
Augustine considered that because of Adam's fall,all men are subject to the death of the body.In addition,Augustine believed that while God destines some men to enjoy everlasting happiness after death,He destines others to undergo everlasting suffering.In other words,Augustine said that some people endure both physical death-when the soul abandons the body-and "soul-death"-when God abandons the soul.Thus,when one is damned he faces not only physical death but also "soul-death."
Figuratively speaking,when one forgets his identity as a servant of God,he undergoes a kind of death-but actually the soul is eternal.So,what Augustine calls "soul-death" is actually forgetfulness of God.Of course,until one acquires freedom from material existence,one is "spiritually dead," even though still existing in the material form.Forgetfulness of one's real identity is a kind of death,because only when one is alive to God consciousness is he actually alive.In any case,the soul is eternal and survives the annihilation of the body.The soul is essentially part and parcel of God,but in this material world the soul is factually imprisoned in different types of bodies.
The soul,always part and parcel of God,simply assumes different types of bodies according to his pious or impious activities and desires.The desires of the soul actually determine higher or lower bodies.But in any case,the soul is the same.It is therefore said that those who are advanced in spiritual consciousness see the same quality of soul in each and everybody.
There are many people who are well situated,and there are others who are suffering.
Suffering and enjoyment take place according to one's body.
In the human form of life,as in other forms,material nature punishes the living entity with so much suffering.But at the same time you can consider human life a gift-because in the human form we can approach God.We should think that if God has given us this body for our punishment,it is His mercy,because by undergoing His punishment willingly,we may become purified and progress toward God.Devotees think in this way.Although the body is a form of punishment,they consider it a reward-because by undergoing the punishment,they are progressing toward God realization.Even when the body is given by God for our correction,it can thus be considered a gift.
Concerning peace,Augustine writes "peace between a mortal man and his maker consists in ordered obedience,guided by faith,under God's eternal law.Peace means coming in contact with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.A man in ignorance thinks that he is the enjoyer of this world,but when he contacts the Supreme Personality of Godhead,the Supreme controller,he understands that God is the enjoyer.
a servant supplies the needs of his master,and we are servants meant to supply enjoyment to God.Actually God Has no needs to fulfill,yet He enjoys the company of His servants,who in turn enjoy His company.A servant is very happy when he receives a good master,and a master is happy to acquire a very faithful servant.This is the relationship between the individual soul and God,and when this relationship is destroyed,it is said that the individual soul exists in illusion.When the relationship is restored,the individual is situated in his spiritual consciousness by which he understands that the Supreme God is the actual enjoyer and that we are His servants.God is the actual enjoyer and proprietor as well as the Supreme Being.When we understand God's transcendental qualities,we become happy and attain peace.

ARISTOTLE:

Aristotle (384-322 BC) was Plato's leading student and the teacher of Alexander the Great.Aristotle constructed a system of abstract notions and principles-"matter,""form,"and "privation" ; "potency" and "act"; the ten categories; the four kinds of causes; and so on-which he tried to show were universal in scope,capable of explicating reality on all levels.He wanted to show how all of reality is thus intelligible.
God is perfect: He is pure form,without potentiality or matter.But man is a combination of matter and form.Since man is form and matter,he is imperfect,less than fully or realized.This imperfection is inherent,being located in matter or potentiality.
This conceptualization is nonsense.Man is not made of matter but is covered by matter.Man is made of spirit.If God is spirit,man is also spirit.In the Bible it is also said that "man is made in the image of God";therefore man is originally perfect.
A person is generally healthy,he falls into a diseased condition,it is not his inherent imperfection.It is something external that has attacked a healthy man.According to his original nature,the living entity is healthy,or in other words,pure spirit.
Although Aristotle criticized the Platonic separation between matter and form,his evaluation of these two was much like that of his teacher.Matter for Aristotle is unknowable and unintelligible,of no intrinsic worth; it is the cause of imperfection,change and destruction.Form alone is the object of knowledge,the really real,the unchangeable and enduring; it alone endows the world with meaning,intelligibility,and intrinsic purpose.
There is a process of evolution.The living entity passes from one species to another,from fish to trees to vegetables to insects to birds,beasts,and humans.In the human form,the result of evolution is fully manifest.It is like a flower unfolding from a bud.When the living entity attains the human form,his proper duty is to understand his lost relationship with God.If he misses this opportunity,he may regress.
Aristotle is correct,therefore when he says that everything has a purpose.The whole creative process aims at bringing the living entity back home,back to Godhead.
Does every living entity eventually come to that point? As a human being,you can properly utilize your consciousness,or you can misuse it.That is up to you.
Now,as a human,you can choose whether to return to God or again endure the cycle of birth and death.If you are fortunate,you make the proper choice according to the instructions of the spiritual master.Then your life is successful.Aristotle sees a hierarchy of forms extending from minerals,vegetables and animals up to human beings and ultimately God,who is pure form and pure act.God is devoid of all potentiality or materiality.
Of course there is a hierarchy.And the individual soul transmigrates from one form to another.That is a fact.You accept another form just as you accept another suit of clothes.Those clothes may be valuable,or of no value whatsoever.You get your clothes according to the price you pay,and you accept a form according to your work.Similarly,you bring about your own form,and you enjoy or suffer according to your work.
In any case,a material form is never perfect,because it undergoes six changes.It is born,it grows,it stays for a while,it leaves some by-products,it dwindles,and then it vanishes.When a form vanishes,it decomposes,and its various elements return to nature.
God is pure form or actuality,without matter or potentiality.But for Aristotle,form without matter means thought.Therefore,he considered God to be entirely mind or intellect and the divine life to be the life of the mind.God's perfection requires this.
Aristotle recommends that a man should meditate to become perfect.This meditation presupposes imperfection.Contemplation is recommended for conditioned living entities,but we should understand that God is never conditioned or imperfect.He is so powerful that whatever He desires or wills immediately comes into being.If one knows nothing of God,one should not speak of God.God certainly reciprocates with His devotees.As we offer our love to God,He responds and co-operates accordingly.
God need only think of a thing in order for that thing to be created or actualized.God's thinking,feeling,willing,and acting are the same.Because we are imperfect,when we think of something it may or may not happen.But whenever God thinks of something,it takes place.One has to speculate if one does not receive perfect knowledge from God Himself. No one can check what God decides.It doesn't matter whether you help God or not,but it is in your interest that you become His instrument.
For Aristotle,God is known by speculative reason,not by revelation.We are all limited,and God is unlimited; therefore we cannot understand God by our limited sensory powers.Consequently,God must be known by revelation.
It is not possible to know God by mental speculation.But when we engage in His service,He reveals Himself.When we are freed of ignorance by our service to God,God reveals Himself.

PLATO:

Plato (428-347 BC) was one of the most creative and influential thinkers in Western philosophy.The chief student of Socrates.Plato's major work was on political theory,Plato wrote that society can enjoy prosperity and harmony only if it places people in working categories or classes according to their natural abilities.He thought that people should find out their natural abilities and use those abilities to their fullest capacity-as administrators,as military men,or as craftsmen.Most important,the head of state should not be an average or mediocre man.Instead,society should be led by a very wise and good man-a "philosopher king".
Everyone,both in human society and in animal society,is influenced by the modes of material nature; goodness,passion and ignorance.By scientifically classifying men according to these qualities,society can become perfect.
Plato also observed social divisions.However,he advocated three divisions.One class consisted of the guardians,men of wisdom who governed society.Another class consisted of the warriors,who were courageous and who protected the rest of society.And the third class consisted of the artisans,who performed their services obediently and worked only to satisfy their appetites.
Yes,human society does have this threefold division also.The first-class man is the mode of goodness,the second-class man is the mode of passion,and the third class man is the mode of ignorance.Plato's understanding of the social order was based on his observation that man has a threefold division of intelligence,courage and appetite.Plato believed that man's position is marginal-between matter and spirit-and therefore he also stressed the development of the body.
Plato thought everyone should be educated to work in whatever way is best suited to awaken his natural moral goodness.But moral goodness is not enough,because simple morality will not satisfy the soul.One has to go above morality.Of course,in this material world morality is taken as the highest principle,but there is another platform,which is called the transcendental platform.Man's highest perfection is on that platform.However,because western philosophers have no information of this platform,they consider the material mode of goodness to be the highest perfection and the end of morality.But in this world even moral goodness is infected by the lower modes of ignorance and passion.You cannot find pure goodness in this material world,because pure goodness is the transcendental platform.To come to the platform of pure goodness,which is the ideal,one has to undergo austerities.One has to practice celibacy and control the mind and senses.In this way,one can rise to the platform of pure goodness.
Plato thought the state should train citizens to be virtuous.No one should be trained in everything; that is a waste of time.
If one is inclined toward production,business,or agriculture,he should be trained in those fields.If one is philosophical,he should be trained as a philosopher.If one is materialistic,he should be trained as a warrior.And if one has ordinary ability,he should remain a laborer.The four classes of society are organized by their symptoms and qualifications.One should be selected for training according to his qualifications.
Plato believed that the student's natural tendency wouldn't come out unless he practiced everything.No,that is wrong because the soul is continuous,and therefore everyone has some tendency from his previous birth.Astrology can help if there is a first-class astrologer.Plato's method of education was imperfect because it was based on speculation.A person may be born in the family of guardians,and be a laborer.It is a question not of birth but of qualification. 

SOCRATES:

Socrates (469-399BC) was a thorn in the side of leaders of ancient Athens,who saw him as a corruptor of young men.The problem was that he was uncompromising in his search for an objective understanding of such moral virtues as justice,courage and piety,and he passed on this spirit to his students,most notably Plato.And in the process,the leaders contented,he neglected the gods of the state.He taught all who would listen to engage in self-examination and tend to their souls.Even today,many have heard of Socrates' instruction to "Know thyself," but what does it mean?,to really know the self one must know the supreme self.
Socrates strongly opposed the sophists,a group of speculators who taught that the standards of right and wrong and of truth and falsity were completely relative,being established solely by individual opinion or social convention.Socrates,on the other hand,seemed convinced that there was an absolute,universal truth or good,beyond mere speculation and opinion,that could be known clearly and with certainty.He was correct.For our part,we accept God,as the supreme authority,the Absolute Truth.
An individual citizen cannot manufacture laws,since laws are given by the government.Our perfection lies in following the orders of God cent percent.Those who have no conception of God or His orders may manufacture religious systems,but our system is different.
For Socrates,the goal of life is to rise by means of the intellect to a realization of this absolute good.A person who had attained such knowledge of the good would be self-realized in that he would always do the good without fail.A soul who had thus realized the good was said to be in a healthy or sound state,or to have attained wisdom.Socrates' name for the single absolute good was "Knowledge".
We are all part and parcel of God,yet somehow or other we have forgotten this.Previously,we rendered service to God,but now we are rendering service to something illusory.Whether we are liberated or conditioned,our constitutional position is to render service.
In the material world we work according to our different capacities-as a politician,a thinker,a poet,or whatever.
The absolute truth is true for everyone,and the relative truth is relative to a particular position.The relative truth depends on the Absolute truth.God is the Absolute Truth,and the material world is the relative truth.Because the material world is God's energy,it appears to be real or true,just as the reflection of the sun in water emits some light.But that reflection is not dependent of the sun,and as soon as the sun sets,that light will disappear.
We cannot separate heat from fire;heat is also fire,yet heat is not fire.This is the position of the relative truth.As soon as we experience heat,we understand that there is fire.Yet we cannot say that heat is fire.
Relative truth is like heat because it stands on the strength of the Absolute Truth,just as heat stands on the strength of fire.
Because the absolute is true,relative truth also appears to be true,although it has no independent existence.Similarly,this material world appears attractive because there is actually an all-attractive spiritual world.
Socrates held that "all the virtues are one thing-knowledge." He saw goodness and knowledge as inseparable.
According to the vedic conception,life is continuous.Since we are always acquiring experience,we cannot actually say that Socrates was self-taught.Rather,in his previous lives he had cultivated knowledge,and this knowledge was simply continuing.That is a fact.Otherwise,why is one person intelligent and another ignorant? This is due to continuity of life through the process of transmigration of the soul.
One may labor a long time under some mistaken idea,but when he finally comes to the proper conclusion,he becomes very happy.He thinks,"Oh,what a fool I was,going on so long in such a mistaken way!" Thus a self-realized person is happy.Happiness means that one no longer has to think of attaining things,so real knowledge means that one no longer hankers for anything.
Socrates could have avoided the death penalty if he had compromised his convictions.He refused to do this and so became a martyr for his beliefs.

THE LAWS OF NATURE:

Man prides himself on being a creature of reason,above the lowly beasts.Yet it seems that when he applies his reason to unlocking the secrets of nature for his benefit,he sinks deeper and deeper into a quagmire of intractable problems.
Modern agribusiness produces a dizzying variety and abundance of food at the supermarket,but also results in the death of the family farm,the pollution of ground water,the loss of precious topsoil,and many other problems.
It is clear we're missing something in our attempts to harness the laws of nature for our own purposes.What is that "something"?
Everything in this creation is owned and controlled by the Lord.One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself,which are set aside as his quota,and one should not accept other things,knowing well to whom they belong.
In nature we see this principle at work.Nature's arrangement,set up by the Lord,maintains the birds and beasts: the elephant eats his fifty kilos per day,the ant his few grains.If man doesn't interfere,the natural balance sustains all creatures.
The vedic literature declares that the Supreme Lord owns and controls the entire creation.Not a blade of grass moves without His sanction.He is the complete whole.Then what is our position?
Again we find the answer in the vedic literature.
Our natural,constitutional role is to serve God.He is the Supreme enjoyer,and we are meant to take part in His enjoyment through service to Him,not by trying to enjoy separately.He is omnipotent and thus completely independent.Our minute independence is a tiny reflection of His total independence.It is our misuse of that minute independence and our attempt to enjoy separate from Him that have resulted in our current predicament.
According to the vedic wisdom,we are not bodies but rather spirit souls-minute particles of consciousness dwelling within the body and animating it.The body is a machine that allows the spirit soul to act and to experience sensations and thoughts within the Lord's material nature.
When we understand our true identity as spiritual beings,part and parcel of the Supreme spirit,God,we understand that we are meant to serve Him just as the hand or foot serves the whole body.
The vedic literature explains that human activity,when devoid of service to the Lord,is governed by a subtle law known as the law of action and reaction,as it pertains to what we do in this world and the enjoyment or suffering we experience as a result.If I cause pain to another living being,then as surely as the wheel of life turns,I will be forced to suffer similar pain.And if I bring happiness to another,a like pleasure awaits me.
At every second,with every breath,our activities in this material world causes enjoyment and suffering.To facilitate these endless actions and reactions,there has to be more than just one life.There has to be reincarnation.
The vedic literature makes reincarnation of the soul a central feature in its explanation of human destiny.And the logic is obvious when we consider a simple question like the following: Why is one child born to wealthy parents in the United States,while another is born to starving peasants in Kenya?.Only the doctrine of reincarnation-reward and punishment carried over many lifetimes-answers this question easily.
The Supreme personality of Godhead is "perfect and complete".Part of the Lord's complete arrangement for this material world is His process of creation,maintenance,and destruction.
Every living being in this material world has a fixed schedule of six changes: birth,growth,maintenance,the production of by-products,diminution,and destruction.This is the law of material nature.
A flower is born as a bud.It grows,remains fresh for two or three days,produces a seed,gradually withers,and then is finished.You cannot stop this by your so-called material science.To try to do so is ignorance.
Sometimes people foolishly think that by scientific advancement man will become immortal.This is nonsense.You cannot stop the material laws.
Material nature consists of three modes,the modes of goodness,passion,and ignorance.By your own efforts you cannot get out of this bondage.
Every living entity in this world is struggling very hard to maintain himself and survive.This is called hard struggle for existence.
When a horse works very hard,foam comes out of its mouth.Similarly,when we are tired from working very hard,our tongue may become dry and some foam forms in our mouth.
Everyone is working very hard for sense gratification so much so that foam is coming from their mouth.In spite of all our efforts,we remain bound up by the ropes of material modes of nature.
In material life,one is always in a blazing fire of fear,since no one knows what will happen next,(Death).
All our hopes and plans for happiness and security in this world are ended by death!

~Reference: The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust

DATING AND ENGAGEMENT AS SOCIALIZATION FOR MARRIAGE:

Dating is an aim inhibited courtship,i.e.courtship without aim in which both the dating pairs and their parents clearly understand that there is nothing serious in the relationship.
Dating is a playful interaction and not playing for keeps.Going steady is when a dating pair starts taking each other seriously as candidates for marriage.
Although it is possible to have many reshuffles of going steady but people go steady with each other on the grounds that they have identified each other as possible candidates for marriage.
These two processes are considered to be socialization processes for marriage because during dating and going steady there is a tendency to exhibit empathetic accuracy towards each other in the same way that married couples do.Because of this,some girls have been exploited sexually during dating because of empathetic accuracy.
Premarital sex has got different effects on the couples,in women it increases the desire to get married but in men,it reduces the desire to get married.
Engagement is the stage of courtship when couples are allowed to simulate marital roles,but its also a stage when parents still have a say over that relationship.For some couples,engagement symbolizes a point of no return meaning that they are for sure getting married but engagement is not marriage.
Engagement can easily be terminated without the complications that usually accompany marital break up.
During engagement,the couples usually engage in self disclosure.They also tend to take up the roles that they anticipate to play in case they get married.This is the time when people put trial in marriage.One key factor in engagement is that all other competing relationships must be relinquished.
A real indicator of engagement is that there are no competing relationships.During engagement also,the couple harmonize their relationship with family meaning that there are no friends who are personal.
Engagement serves a number of purposes;
1). To study each other's background and establish compatibility as well as point of departure.
2). Engagement provides an opportunity for planning for marriage.
3). It also provides a chance to simulate marital roles and establish points of agreement with each other.
4). Engagement provides an opportunity to align the relationship with in laws and friends.
5). It is also the period when the couples try to address the challenges of sex.
Most couples who are engaged have reported in engaging in sexual intercourse before marriage although this has got a number of effects;
In most cases where divorce has been experienced,there has been a positive correlation with frequency of premarital sex.The more frequent premarital sex between couples,the higher chances of divorce due to poor marital adjustment.
The period of engagement has also a relationship to the stability of marriage.
Couples who have cohabited before tend to have the reduced desire for marriage.
>Common sense and science are two different things,Beauty and money can never make marriage.
What leads to missed opportunities is our refusal to let go.Learn from the failures and allowing ourselves to heal and move on.If a relationship can't work,let it go!