Transcendent Magazine

TRANSCENDENT Now is the time to inquire about the Transcendence

So-called

happiness in the bodily concept

of life…

A civilized man must be twice-born…

The sum and substance of material existence…

The king of all confidential knowledge…

TRANSCENDENT Now is the time to inquire about the Transcendence

Dear sober-minded reader, The content of “TRANSCENDENT” bi-monthly magazine derives from the Vedic knowledge, which is required for understanding the path of self-realization. The Vedas deal with fruitive activities to gradually elevate the general public from the field of sense gratification to a position on the transcendent plane. All living entities who are in the material world are struggling very hard for existence. For them the Lord, after creation of the material world, gave the Vedic wisdom advising how to live and get rid of the material entanglement. This wisdom includes knowledge of the phenomenal world and the spirit behind it. When one is situated in transcendent knowledge, he need not search for peace elsewhere, for he enjoys peace within himself.

Because this human form of life is especially meant for self-realization, by neglecting this important part of his activities, one simply wastes his time. At present human society is being misled, for they do not know the aim and objective of human life, which is self-realization and the reestablishment of our lost relationship with the Transcendent Truth. The human life is meant for self-realization, and economic development is required just to maintain the body in a sound, healthy condition. The Vedas contain regulative principles of knowledge covering social, political, religious, economic, military, medicinal, chemical, physical and metaphysical subject matter and all that may be necessary to keep the body and soul together.

Any sober-minded man must be inquisitive to know the original source of everything. We are searching after knowledge in so many ways but we do not know the ultimate knowledge. The ultimate knowledge is to understand the original source of everything and the Vedas give us a chance to learn by pointing out the paths of religion, economic comfort, regulated sense gratification and the means to get out of the miserable condition entirely. A human being should realize the aim of his life, and this direction is given in Vedic literatures, which the magazine is based on.

Sincerely,

“TRANSCENDENT” magazine

The Vedic science was introduced to the Western world

by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Srila Prabhupada).

He translated from Sanskrit and published 80 volumes of Vedic literature. Millions of Srila Prabhupada’s books have been distributed around the world in more than 70 languages. He constantly traveled and circled the globe at least 12 times, from the age of 70 until 80 years, to propagate the Vedic science of self-realization to the suffering humanity in general.

TRANSCENDENT

TRANSCENDENT

No.1 | 2015

Issue | Bhakti-yoga

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

4

Transcendent and Material Mind

6

38

Illusion

Time - The Instrument of the Supreme Lord

7

39

The Process of Transmigration and Evolution

The Topmost Perfection of All Yoga

8

41

Make an Experiment and See by Chanting

The Nonsensical Darwinian Theory

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43

The Cause of Fall Down

The Pangs of Birth

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44

The Original Cause of Creation

The Gifts of a Sadhu

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45

The Sum and Substance of Material Existence

Stop the Danger of Death

12

46

Mystic Powers

Elevation to Higher Status of Living

15

48

Plan of Material Nature

Mental Speculations

16

49

Real Civilization

The Most Important Point in Human Civilization

17

50

Discriminate Charity

Symptom of the Soul

19

51

Human Form of Body

The Law of Karma

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52

The King of All Education

Planetary Systems

20

53

Just Prior to Death

The Life Is Made of Chemicals

22

54

The Real Purpose of Life

The Age of Quarrel and Hypocrisy

25

57

Combination of Superior and Inferior Natures

Solving the Perplexities of Life

27

57

If You Want To Stop a Crime

Bewilderment

28

60

Twenty-six Qualities of a Devotee

The Greatest Executive Power

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63

Enemies of a Living Entity

A Civilized Man

31

65

Diameter of the Universe

Bhakti-yoga

31

66

An Ocean of Ignorance

Brahma-jijnasa

32

A Ghost

34

Becoming Perfect In Life

35

Different Kinds of Faith

36

Killing the Demon Bakasura

37

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5

Time – The Instrument of the Supreme Lord

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he impersonal time factor is the background of the material manifestation as the instrument of the Supreme Lord. It is the ingredient of assistance offered to material nature. No one knows where time began and where it ends, and it is time only, which can keep a record of the creation, maintenance and destruction of the material manifestation. This time factor is the material cause of creation and is therefore a self-expansion of the Personality of Godhead. Time is considered the impersonal feature of the Lord. The time factor is also explained by modern men in various ways. Some accept it almost as it is explained in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (the essence of the Vedanta literature). For example, in Hebrew literature time is accepted, in the same spirit, as a representation of God. It is stated therein: “God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets”. Metaphysically, time is distinguished as absolute and real. Absolute time is continuous and is unaffected by the speed or slowness of material things.

Time is astronomically and mathematically calculated in relation to the speed, change and life of a particular object. Factually, however, time has nothing to do with the relativities of things; rather, everything is shaped and calculated in terms of the facility offered by time.

Time is the basic measurement of the activity of our senses, by which we calculate past, present and future; but in factual calculation, time has no beginning and no end. Canakya Pandita (370-283 BCE, an Indian teacher, philosopher, and royal advisor) says that even a slight fraction of time cannot be purchased with millions of dollars, and therefore even a moment of time lost without profit must be calculated as the greatest loss in life. Time is not subject to any form of psychology, nor are the moments objective realities in themselves, but they are dependent on particular experiences.

Therefore, Srila Jiva Gosvami (philosopher and saint of Vedanta tradition, producing philosophical works on the theology and practice of bhakti-yoga) concludes that the time factor is intermixed with the activities – actions and reactions - of the external energy of the Lord. The external energy, or material nature, works under the superintendence of the time factor as the Lord Himself, and that is why material nature appears to have produced so many wonderful things in the cosmic manifestation.

Transcendent and Material Mind

B

ecause the mind is absorbed in desires for pious and impious activities, it becomes attracted to material sense enjoyment. The mind brings about birth in different types of bodies among demigods, human beings, animals, birds etc.

Transmigration among different species is due to the mind’s being polluted by certain material qualities. The mind is the center for accepting the dictations of material nature.

Mental activities under the influence of material nature cause happiness and distress within the material world. Being covered by illusion, the living entity eternally continues conditioned life under different designations. On the whole, the mind is the cause of conditioned life; therefore the entire yogic process is meant to control the mind and the senses. If the mind is controlled, the senses are automatically controlled, and therefore the soul is saved from the reactions of pious and impious activity. Just as the mind is the cause of bondage, it can also be the cause of liberation. When the mind is engaged in the Lord’s service, it is called transcendental. When the mind is engaged in material sense gratification, it is called material. At the present moment, in our conditioned state, our mind is fully absorbed in material sense gratification, but it can be purified and brought to its original Krsna consciousness or transcendent consciousness by the process of devotional service (bhakti-yoga). When the mind and senses are purified, one’s total existence is purified, and one’s designations are also purified. When the senses and mind are purified and one is fully engaged in the Lord’s service, one can be liberated and return home, back to Godhead.

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“Maitreya said: Eternal time is the primeval source of the interactions of the three modes of material nature. It is unchangeable and limitless, and it works as the instrument of the Supreme Personality of Godhead for His pastimes in the material creation.” Srimad-Bhagavatam

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7

The Topmost Perfection of All Yoga

“When a devotee takes shelter at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he is completely cleansed of all misunderstanding or mental speculation, and he manifests renunciation. This is possible only when one is strengthened by practicing bhakti-yoga.

Once having taken shelter at the root of the lotus feet of the Lord, a devotee never comes back to this material existence, which is full of the threefold miseries.”

Srimad-Bhagavatam

So the ultimate knowledge is to know God. But if you do not know God, then what is the value of your knowledge?

8

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he yoga system, as described in Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavadgita(the essence of the Vedanta literature) or as recommended in the Patanjali yoga process, is different from the nowadays-practiced hathayoga as it is generally understood in the Western countries. Real yoga practice is to control the senses and, after such control is established, to concentrate the mind on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna. To practice concentration of the mind, one has to sit with the head and the back in a straight line, and one must practice in a secluded place, sanctified by a sacred atmosphere. The yogi should observe the rules and regulations and strictly live a life of self-restraint and celibacy. One cannot practice yoga in a congested city, living a life of extravagancy, including unrestricted sex indulgence and adultery of the tongue. Yoga practice necessitates controlling the senses, and the beginning of sense control is to control the tongue.

One who can control the tongue can also have control over the other senses.

One cannot allow the tongue to take all kinds of forbidden food and drink and at the same time advance in the practice of yoga. Real yoga is to search out the Supersoul within one’s heart and see Him perpetually in meditation. If, however, one wants to meditate upon something void or impersonal, it will take a very long time before he achieves success in yoga practice. The Supersoul is seated with the individual soul as friend and witness.

The Nonsensical Darwinian Theory

As a friend, the Lord is always anxious to get back His friend, the individual soul, and bring him back home, back to Godhead. As a witness, He is the bestower of all benedictions, and He endows each individual with the result of his actions.

The Supersoul gives the individual soul all facilities to achieve whatever he desires to enjoy in this material world. Suffering is a reaction to the living entity’s propensity to try to lord it over the material world.

But the Lord instructs His friend, the individual soul, who is also His son, to give up all other engagements and simply surrender unto Him for perpetual bliss and an eternal life full of knowledge. This is the last instruction of Bhagavad-gita, the most authorized and widely read book on all varieties of yoga.

This age of Kali is called the fallen age. In this age, people in general are short-living and very slow to understand self-realization or spiritual life; they are mostly unfortunate, and therefore if someone is a little bit interested in selfrealization he is likely to be misguided by so many frauds. The only way to realize the perfect stage of yoga is to follow the principles of Bhagavad-gita. This is the simplest and highest perfection of yoga practice. This yoga system is practiced simply by chanting the holy name of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as prescribed in the Vedanta, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita, and many important Puranas (ancient Vedic texts). It is very easy and practical for this age, especially for those who are serious about success in yoga. No other process of yoga can be successful in this age. If one wants success in practical yoga practice, it is advised that he take to the chanting of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, and he will actually feel himself making progress.

Yoga necessitates controlling the senses, and bhakti-yoga, or Krsna consciousness, is the process of purifying the senses.

When the senses are purified, they are automatically controlled. One cannot stop the activities of the senses by artificial means, but if one purifies the senses by engaging in the service of the Lord, the senses not only can be controlled from rubbish engagement, but can be engaged in the Lord’s transcendental service.

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he various types of living entities were created simultaneously at the very beginning of the creation.

The nonsensical Darwinian theory of evolution is not applicable. It is not that intelligent human beings did not exist millions of years ago. On the contrary, the most intelligent creature, Lord Brahma, was first created. Then Lord Brahma created other saintly sages like Marici, Bhrgu, Atreya, Vasistha and Lord Siva. They in their turn created different types of bodies according to karma (activity). In Srimad-Bhagavatam, we can find that the living entity gets a particular type of body in accordance with his work and that this body is decided upon by higher authorities appointed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus from the beginning of creation it can be seen that the first creature is the most intelligent. It is not that so-called modern intelligence has developed by the gradual process of evolution. There is a gradual evolutionary process, but it is not the body that is evolving. All the bodily forms are already there. It is the spiritual entity, or spiritual spark within the body, that is being promoted by the laws of nature under the supervision of superior authority. Everything is there; it is due to our lack of knowledge that we cannot see things in their proper perspective. The followers of the Vedic instructions cannot accept the Darwinian theory of evolution, for it is marred by imperfect knowledge.

There are 8,400,000 species of living beings beginning from the highest intellectual being, Brahma, down to the insignificant ant, and all of them are enjoying the material world according to the desires of the subtle mind and gross material body. The gross material body is based on the conditions of the subtle mind, and the senses are created according to the desire of the living being.

The Lord helps the living being to get material happiness because the living being is helpless in all respects in obtaining what he desires. He proposes, and the Lord disposes. Out of 8,400,000 different species of living beings, 400,000 belong to human species. Out of these, there are numerous lower forms of human life that are mostly uncivilized. The civilized human beings are those who have regulated principles of social, political and religious life. To revolve in the cycle of transmigration in a series of lives numbering 8,400,000 is an imprisoned life for the condemned conditioned souls. The human form of life is a chance to get out of this imprisoned life, and as such, the only occupation of the human being is to reestablish his lost relationship with God. “At the beginning of creation there are penance, myself [Brahma], and the Prajapatis, the great sages who generate; then, during the maintenance of the creation, there are Lord Visnu, the demigods with controlling powers, and the kings of different planets.

But at the end there is irreligion, and then Lord Siva and the atheists full of anger, etc. All of them are different representative manifestations of the energy of the supreme power, the Lord.”

Srimad-Bhagavatam

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9

The Pangs of Birth

The Gifts of a Sadhu “In this materialistic life, there are many difficulties, as I have just mentioned, and all of these are insurmountable. In addition, there are difficulties arising from so-called happiness, distress, attachment, hate, fear, false prestige, illusion, madness, lamentation, bewilderment, greed, envy, enmity, insult, hunger, thirst, tribulation, disease, birth, old age and death. All these combine together to give the materialistic conditioned soul nothing but misery.” Srimad-Bhagavatam

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hen the child comes out of the abdomen through the narrow passage, due to pressure there the breathing system completely stops, and due to agony, the child loses his memory. Sometimes the trouble is so severe that the child comes out dead or almost dead. One can imagine what the pangs of birth are like. The child remains for ten months in that horrible condition within the abdomen, and at the end of ten months, he is forcibly pushed out. After coming out of the abdomen, the child is given to the care of persons who are unable to understand what he wants, and thus he is nursed by such persons. Unable to refuse whatever is given to him, he falls into undesirable circumstances. The atmosphere within the abdomen was not at all pleasing, but as far as the child’s feeding was concerned, it was being properly done by the laws of nature. But upon coming out of the abdomen the child falls into a different atmosphere. He wants to eat one thing, but something else is given to him because no one knows his actual demand, and he cannot refuse the undesirables given to him. Sometimes the child cries for the mother’s breast, but because the nurse thinks that it is due to pain within his stomach that he is crying, she supplies him some bitter medicine. The child does not want it, but he cannot refuse it. He is put in very awkward circumstances, and the suffering continues. In his helpless condition, gnats, mosquitoes, bugs and other germs bite the baby, whose skin is tender, just as smaller worms bite a big worm.

The child, deprived of his wisdom, cries bitterly. In this way, the child passes through his childhood, suffering

different kinds of distress, and attains boyhood. In boyhood, also he suffers pain over desires to get things he can never achieve. And thus, due to ignorance, he becomes angry and sorry. When the child attains boyhood, he is enrolled in a school which he does not like. Another kind of distress is that he wants to get some things with which to play, but circumstances may be such that he is not able to attain them, and he thus becomes aggrieved and feels pain. In one word, he is unhappy, even in his boyhood, just as he was unhappy in his childhood, what to speak of youth. Boys are apt to create so many artificial demands for playing, and when they do not attain satisfaction they become furious with anger, and the result is suffering.

In Bhagavad-gita, the Lord points out that a person who is serious about advancement in spiritual consciousness should always consider the four pangs of birth, death, disease and old age. The materialist advances in many ways, but he is unable to stop these four principles of suffering inherent in material existence. One should try to understand the distress of accepting birth, death, old age and disease. Because we forget how much distress we have suffered within the womb of the mother, we do not make any solution to the repetition of birth and death. Similarly, at the time of death, there are all kinds of sufferings. And as far as disease and old age are concerned, no one wants to be diseased, and no one wants to become old, but there is no avoiding these. Unless we have a pessimistic view of this material life, considering the distresses of birth, death, old age and disease, there is no impetus for our making advancement in spiritual life.

The material body, which is subject to birth and death, diseases and old age, is the cause of all sufferings of the living being, otherwise the living being is eternal; he is never born, nor does he ever die. Foolish persons forget this problem. They do not know at all how to solve the problems of life, but become engrossed in temporary family affairs not knowing that eternal time is passing away imperceptibly and that their measured duration of life is diminishing every second, without any solution to the big problem, namely repetition of birth and death, disease and old age.

If you want to be God conscious, then you must be free from all sinful activities. God is pure.

If you want to approach God, then you must be pure. If you remain impure, you cannot understand.

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ttachment for one thing is the cause of bondage in conditioned life, and the same attachment, when applied to something else, opens the door of liberation. Attachment cannot be killed; it has simply to be transferred. Attachment for material things is called material consciousness, and attachment for Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or His devotee is called Krsna consciousness or transcendent consciousness.

Consciousness, therefore, is the platform of attachment. When we simply purify the consciousness from material consciousness to Krsna consciousness, we attain liberation. Despite the statement that one should give up attachment, desirelessness is not possible for a living entity. A living entity, by constitution, has the propensity to be attached to something. We see that if someone has no object of attachment, then he transfers his attachment to cats and dogs. This indicates that the propensity for attachment cannot be stopped; it must be utilized for the best purpose. Our attachment for material things perpetuates our conditional state, but the same attachment, when transferred to the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His devotee, is the source of liberation. Attachment should be transferred to the self-realized devotees, the sadhus (sages). And who is a sadhu? A sadhu is described in Bhagavad-gita as one who unflinchingly engages in devotional service. Service to an elevated devotee of the Lord is the royal road of liberation.

Rendering service to the materialists has the opposite effect. If anyone offers service to a gross materialist, or a person engaged only in sense enjoyment, then by association with such a person the door to hell is opened. Attachment to a devotee is attachment to the service of the Lord because if one associates with a sadhu, the result will be that the sadhu will teach him how to become a devotee, a worshiper and a sincere servitor of the Lord. These are the gifts of a sadhu. If we want to associate with a sadhu, we cannot expect him to give us instructions on how to improve our material condition, but he will give us instructions on how to cut the knot of the contamination of material attraction and how to elevate ourselves in devotional service.

Even the aborigines and cannibals can

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also be engaged in the devotional service of the Lord if they happen to be under the guidance of a genuine devotee of the Lord.

In the Vedic literature, there is a narration that a hunter in the jungle became the most enlightened devotee of the Lord by the guidance of Sri Narada Muni (Vedic sage).

A hunter was taking pleasure in killing animals, but after becoming a devotee, he was not prepared to kill even an ant. From this story, one can understand the greatness of association with pure devotees: «Narada Muni saw a hunter holding arrows who was ready to kill animals. When Narada Muni went to the hunter, all the animals immediately saw him and fled. The hunter addressed Narada Muni: “O great saintly person! Why have you left the general path through the forest to come to me?

Simply by seeing you, all the animals I was hunting have now fled.” Narada Muni then told the hunter: “I have one thing to beg of you. Your business is killing animals. That is a slight offense on your part, but when you consciously give them unnecessary pain by leaving them half-dead, you incur very great sins.” In this way, through the association of the great sage Narada Muni, the hunter was a little convinced of his sinful activity. He therefore became somewhat afraid due to his offenses. The hunter then said: “I have been taught this business from my very childhood. Now I am wondering how I can become freed from these unlimited volumes of sinful activity.”

Narada Muni assured the hunter: “If you listen to my instructions, I shall find the way you can be liberated.” The hunter then said: “My dear sir, whatever you say I shall do.” The hunter broke his bow, immediately fell down at the saint’s lotus feet and fully surrendered. After this, Narada Muni gave him instructions for spiritual advancement.

One day, Narada Muni went to see his disciple the hunter. When the saintly sage came to the hunter’s place, the hunter could see him coming from a distance. Seeing the ants, the hunter whisked them away with a piece of cloth. After thus clearing the ants from the ground, he fell down flat to offer his obeisance. Narada Muni said: “My dear hunter, such behavior is not at all astonishing. A man in devotional service is automatically nonviolent. He is the best of gentlemen. For those engaged in the Lord’s devotional service are never inclined to give pain to others because of envy.”

“Every learned man knows very well that attachment for the material is the greatest entanglement of the spirit soul.

But that same attachment, when applied to the selfrealized devotees, opens the door of liberation.”

Srimad-Bhagavatam

«Father» means responsibility.

According to our Vedic literature, one should not become a father unless he can deliver his son from the cycle of birth and death.

At the present moment we are in the cycle of birth and death in the conditioned stage.

So it is the duty of the father how to save the son from the cycle of birth and death. This is responsibility.

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Stop the Danger of Death (from the lecture of Srila Prabhupada on February 1975 in Mexico City.

Translated from and into Spanish throughout by Hrdayananda) Prabhupada: If you want to stop the danger of death, then you have to understand what is that Absolute Truth.

If you come to the sunshine, there is no darkness. But if you keep yourself within closed door, do not like to see the sunshine, that is your own choice. So everyone should try to come to the light.

That is Vedic injunction: «Do not remain in darkness, come to the light.» Light means knowledge, and darkness means ignorance.

So every one of us now in the ignorance that we do not know «What I am.» Everyone is in darkness in the concept of body. Ask anyone what you are. He will say, «I am this body. I am Mr. Such and such.» «I am Indian.» «I am American.» This is all bodily description. This body is temporary, but I, the spirit soul, I am permanent. I have already experienced that I had my childhood body, I had my babyhood body, I had my boyhood body, youthhood body, but the bodies are no more existing, but I am existing. So therefore, I am permanent, and the body is nonpermanent. Our knowledge is imperfect because our senses are imperfect. Therefore, we do not come to the right knowledge by exercising our senses. The idea is that we should accept the statement of Krsna and the sastra (scriptures) that we or I or you, we are spirit soul; we are permanent. And the body is not permanent. But we should be intelligent enough - how we can get the condition of permanence. That is possible when you or I, we come to the platform of eternity. We are part and parcel of God; therefore we have got the same quality just like a particle of gold has got the same quality as the big gold, and the small drop of sea water has got the same chemical composition as the large mass water. That God is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge.

We can also attain that stage by purifying ourselves. That purificatory process is knowledge and austerity. And the method is very simple: chanting Hare Krsna mantra. The more you chant this mahamantra, or the transcendental vibration Hare Krsna, you become purified. Then you can understand what you are. Then every one of us, we can understand that «I am not this body. I am not American. I am

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not Indian. I am not Mexican. I am spirit soul.» This stage is called self-realization.

That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, as soon as you are self-realized, you become jubilant. In the bodily concept of life we are always full of anxiety and morose. Yes, that is the material condition. But as soon as you realize yourself that you are not this body, you are different from this body, you become jubilant. And what is the symptom of becoming jubilant? He does not hanker after anything; neither he laments for any loss. In the material condition, we are in the platform of lamentation and hankering.

Everyone is trying to possess something, which he does not possess, and everyone is lamenting after losing his possession.

These are the condition of the materialistic person. And if you practice little austerity and knowledge, then you become purified.

And as soon as you are purified, you understand what you are, and what is God, and what is your relationship with God. And as soon as you know these three things your life is perfect.

Thank you very much. Now you can ask questions.

Hrdayananda: What happens after death, where do we pick up?

Prabhupada: That we have explained that you have to accept another body.

And there are 8,400,000 different forms of body. And you will be awarded one of the bodies out of the 8,400,000. The body is awarded according to your karma or action. We are acting in three modes of material nature. Some of them are acting in goodness, some of them are acting in passion, and some of them are acting in ignorance. So at the present moment, in your human form of body, you are also mixing the same qualities in your different desires. That means you are creating your next body. So at the time of death the thoughts and the activities which will be prominent within your mind, you will get a similar body in next life. Therefore, the intelligent man should be very cautious to get the next body. We can get the body Continued on Page 14

What is the distinction between a living body and the dead body?

When a man is dead, his relatives cry, lament: «Oh, my father has gone». But the father, as we have seen, he’s lying on the floor.

Where he has gone?

He’s lying on the floor.

Why you are crying: «Oh, my father has gone away»? That means the person who has gone away, who has left this body, you have never seen. You have seen this body. So any intelligent man can understand that the real father, within the body, was a different thing. But our ignorance is so great that we accept this body, this dead body, as my father.

This body is not only dead now, it was always dead. Because the living soul was there, within this dead body, it was moving. This is the fact. Just like a nice motorcar is running.

But when the driver is not there, the motor is lying there, idle. If one identifies with the motorcar, the driver of the car, that is foolishness.

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Continued from Page 13

like God; we can get the body like the dog.

Therefore, the best intelligent person should try to endeavor to get the next body like God. That will solve your all problems, namely birth, death, old age and disease.

Hrdayananda: What is the difference between God and ourselves and what is the relationship?

Everyone is hankering after: «Where is happiness?» This will be the happiness.

When people will be peaceful, happy in their living condition, that will bring happiness, not by imagining that «If I have got a skyscraper building, I will be happy,» and then jump over and commit suicide. They do not know what is happiness.

Therefore everyone requires guidance from Krsna. That is Krsna consciousness.

Prabhupada: God is great; we are small.

Otherwise, we the same. God is also living entity; you are also living entity.

God is eternal; you are also eternal. God is full of bliss; you are also full of bliss.

So quality, there is no difference. Only difference in quantity. Just like a drop of sea water. It is salty. So this means in the drop there is salt. But the quantity of the salt in the drop is not equal to the quantity of the salt in the vast water.

And there is another example. Just like the big fire and the sparks of the fire. The spark of the fire, when it falls on your cloth, a point like space it can burn. But the big fire can burn the whole building.

So the quality of God is in every one of us. God can create a planet like the sun, which is floating in the air, and you can create a small airplane floating in the air. God can create a mosquito, which has got the same construction like the aeroplane, but you cannot do it. That is the difference between God and you. You can create; He can create. But His creation and your creation is not equal. What is the relation between big and small? The big is the master, and the small is the servant. If somebody is big merchant, big factory owner, you go to serve him.

Therefore, our business is to serve God. This is our position. Because we are meant for service, so instead of giving service to God, we are giving service to dog.

Therefore, we are unhappy.

Hrdayananda: After taking birth again, how does one continue his spiritual progress? And also when one is feeling very weak, fallen, how can he get going spiritually?

Prabhupada: First of all, the next body may not be for cultivating knowledge in spiritual life because we are already fallen,

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and if we do not elevate, we may accept another body, still fallen. Therefore, the intelligent person in this human form of life should take to spiritual cultivation of knowledge immediately. Immediately means before another death takes place.

Because death will take place - that is certain - so our duty is immediately take to cultivation of spiritual knowledge so that we may get next life either liberation or another opportunity for cultivating spiritual knowledge. So anyone who begins cultivation of spiritual knowledge, he is on the path of perfection, but even if he falls down immaturely, he is guaranteed to get next life a human body so that he can again begin his cultivation of spiritual knowledge and make his life perfect. Therefore, the conclusion is that without delay, we should immediately take to spiritual life and try to make our life perfect. Because there is no certainty when our death is coming. That is real intelligence.

Hrdayananda: What do we think of Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Buddha and all these different messengers of God? Prabhupada: Just like Mohammedans, they accept the kingdom of God, and the Buddhists, they say that this material world has to be finished. Buddhists do not give any information of the spiritual world, but they do not like this material world; they want to finish it.

So every religious principle is preached according to the candidate, place and time. So if one surpasses these stages, then he can come to the higher stages of spiritual understanding. We should try to understand what is religion. Religion means the law of God. Just like law means the rulings given by the state, similarly, religion means the rulings given by God. But if one does not know what is God, then how he can accept what is His ruling?

Therefore, anyone who has got very scanty knowledge of God, that kind of religion is also scanty. That is the definition in the Vedic literature. And the Bhagavad-gita, the same ruling is given: «You give up all types of man-made religion; you simply surrender unto Me.» Therefore, the conclusion is religion means to surrender to God. So one who is fully surrendered to God, he is religionist.

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“My dear boy, all of us are bound by the Vedic injunctions to the divisions of varnasrama according to our qualities and work.

These divisions are difficult to avoid because they are scientifically arranged. We must therefore carry out our duties of varnasrama-dharma, like bulls obliged to move according to the direction of a driver pulling on ropes knotted to their noses.” Srimad-Bhagavatam

Elevation to Higher Status of Living

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e each get a body according to our association with the qualities or modes of material nature. As stated in Bhagavad-gita, the four orders of the social system - namely brahmana (intelligent class), ksatriya (administrative class), vaisya (mercantile class) and sudra (working class) - are arranged according to their qualities and work. The varnasrama system is scientific. Therefore, if we accept the divisions of varna (social order of life) and asrama (spiritual order of life) according to the Vedic instructions, our lives will be successful.

Unless human society is thus divided and arranged, it cannot be perfect. As stated in the Vedas: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Visnu, is worshiped by the proper execution of prescribed duties in the system of varna and asrama. There is no other way to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One must be situated in the institution of the four varnas and asramas.” All of human society is meant to worship Lord Visnu, the Supreme Being. At the present moment, however, human society does not know that this is the ultimate goal or perfection of life. Therefore, instead of worshiping Lord Visnu, people have been educated to worship matter.

According to the direction of modern society, men think they can advance in civilization by manipulating matter to build skyscrapers, big roads, automobiles and so on. Such a civilization must certainly be called materialistic because its people do not know the goal of life. The goal of life is to reach Visnu, the Absolute Truth. But instead of reaching Visnu, people are bewildered by the external manifestation of the material energy. Therefore, progress in material advancement is blind, and the leaders of such material advancement are also blind. They are leading their followers in the wrong way. It is best, therefore, to accept the injunctions of the Vedas. In accordance with those injunctions, everyone should find out whether he is a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or sudra and should thus be educated accordingly. Otherwise, all of human society will be confused. If human society is divided scientifically according to varna and asrama, and if the Vedic directions are followed, one’s life, regardless of his position, will be successful. The injunctions in the Vedas are explicit directions from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Bulls tied by ropes in their nostrils move according to the direction of the driver. Similarly, if we move according to the instructions of the Vedas, the perfect paths for our lives will be set. Otherwise, if we do not move in that way but act according to our whimsical ideas, our lives will be spoiled by confusion and will end in despair. Actually, because people at the present moment are not following the instructions of the Vedas, they are all confused. If we do not live according to the injunctions of the Vedas, we shall never achieve success in life, to say nothing of happiness or elevation to higher statuses of living.

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Mental Speculations

Symptom of the Soul

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ll the great devotees of the Lord are aware of the different potencies of the Lord along with the potency of His name, quality, pastimes, entourage, personality, etc. And how do they know?

Certainly, it is not by mental speculation, nor by any attempt by dint of limited

instruments of knowledge, either the senses or the material instruments like microscopes and telescopes one cannot even fully know the Lord’s material potencies, which are manifested before our eyes. For example, there are many millions and billions of planets far beyond the scientist’s calculation. But these are only the manifestations of the Lord’s material energy. What can the scientist hope to know of the spiritual potency of the Lord by such material efforts? Mental speculations, by adding some dozens of «if’s» and «maybe’s,» cannot aid the advancement of knowledge-on the contrary, such mental speculations will only end in despair by dismissing the case abruptly and declaring the nonexistence of God. The sane person, therefore, ceases to speculate on subjects beyond the jurisdiction of his tiny brain, and as a matter of course he tries to learn to surrender unto the Supreme Lord, who alone can lead one to the platform of real knowledge. In the Upanisads (the Vedic texts), it is clearly said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead can never be known simply by working very hard and taxing the good brain, nor can He be known simply by mental speculation and jugglery of words. The Lord is knowable only by one who is a surrendered soul. Therefore, the fruitless spoiling of energy by pursuing the path of experimental knowledge must be given up. One should gain knowledge by surrendering unto the Lord. The Lord helps the surrendered soul to know Him proportionately with the advance of one’s surrender.

«In the material world, conceptions of good and bad are all mental speculations.

Therefore, saying, ‘This is good, and this is bad,’ is all a mistake.”

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

This material world, so-called love, society, friendship and love - everything is depending on that sense gratification, beginning from sex. So long one is attached to this sex impulse, he is neither svami nor gosvami . Svami means when one becomes master of the senses. As Krsna is the master of senses, so when one becomes Krsna conscious, he becomes master of the senses. It is not that senses should be stopped. No. It should be controlled. «When I require, I shall use it; otherwise not.» That is master of senses. «I shall not act impelled by the senses. Senses should act under my direction.» That is svami.

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“Consciousness is the symptom of the soul’s presence. Because the soul is in the body, the body feels pleasure and pain.

When the soul leaves the body, the body can be hacked to pieces, and yet it will not protest. This is because the consciousness is gone.”

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he soul undergoes no changes like the body. The body is subject to six kinds of transformations. It takes its birth in the womb of the mother’s body, remains for some time, grows, produces some effects, gradually dwindles, and at last vanishes into oblivion.

The soul, however, does not go through such changes. Anything, which has birth, also has death. And because the soul has no birth, he therefore has no past, present or future. He is eternal, ever existing, and primeval; there is no trace in history of his coming into being.

Under the impression of the body, we seek the history of birth of the soul. The soul does not at any time become old, as the body does. The so-called old man, therefore, feels himself to be in the same spirit as in his childhood or youth.

The changes of the body do not affect the soul.

The soul does not deteriorate like a tree, nor anything material. The soul has no by-product either. The by-products of the body, namely children, are also different individual souls; and, owing to the body, they appear as children of a particular man. The body develops because of the soul’s presence, but the soul has neither offshoots nor change. Therefore, the soul is free from the six changes of the body.

The soul is full of knowledge, or full always with consciousness. Therefore, consciousness is the symptom of the soul. Even if one does not find the soul within the heart, where he is situated, one can still understand the presence of the soul simply by the presence of consciousness. Sometimes we do not find the sun in the sky owing to clouds, but the light of the sun is always there, and we are convinced that it is therefore daytime. Similarly, since there is some consciousness in all bodies— whether man or animal—we can understand the presence of the soul. The consciousness of the individual soul is prone to be forgetful because it is materially contaminated. For instance, water pouring down from a cloud is pure, but as soon as the water comes in touch with the earth, it becomes muddy—immediately. Yet if we filter the same water, the original clearness can be regained. Similarly, Krsna consciousness or transcendent consciousness is the process of clearing our consciousness. As soon as our consciousness is clear and pure, we are eligible to be transferred to the spiritual world for our eternal life of knowledge and bliss. This is what we are hankering for in this material world, but we are being frustrated at every step because of material contamination.

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The Most Important Point in Human Civilization

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he most important point in human civilization is that while one engages in different occupational duties, he must try to satisfy the Supreme Lord by the execution of such duties. That is the highest perfection of life. The atheists, who do not are thrown into the darkest region of material existence and birth after birth, such atheists go still further down, finally to animal forms. Thus for millions of years they have to remain in darkness without knowledge of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is a person like all other living entities, but He is the leader or the best of all living beings. He is the chief of all eternals, the chief of all living entities, and He is complete and full. He has no need to derive benefit by interfering with the affairs of other living entities, but because He is the maintainer of all, He has the right to bring them to the proper standard so that all living entities may become happy. A father wants all of his children to become happy under his direction. Similarly, God, or Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has the right to see that all living entities are happy. There is no possibility of becoming happy within this material world. The father and the sons are eternal, but if a living entity does not come to the platform of his eternal life of bliss and knowledge, there is no question of happiness.

In order to regulate the activities of the living entities, God has given us codes, just as a king gives codes of law in a state, and whoever breaks the law is punished.

Similarly, the Lord has given the infallible knowledge of the Vedas, which are not contaminated by the four defects of human life - namely the tendency to commit mistakes, to be illusioned, to cheat and to have imperfect senses. If we do not take direction from the Vedas but act whimsically according to our own choice, we are sure to be punished by the laws of the Lord. The different varieties of life and of material existence do not come about by chance and necessity; they are different arrangements made by the Supreme Lord in terms of the pious and impious activities of the living entities. By performing pious activities one can take birth in a good family in a good nation, one can get a beautiful body or can become very well educated or very rich. We see, therefore, that in different places there are different standards of life, bodily features and educational statuses, all awarded by the Supreme Personality of Godhead according to pious or impious activities. Varieties of life, therefore, develop not by chance but by prearrangement. There is a plan, which is already outlined in the Vedic knowledge. One has to take advantage of this knowledge and mold his life in such a way that at the end, especially in the human form of life, he may go back home, back to Godhead.

“By worship of the Lord, who is the source of all beings and who is all-pervading, man can, in the performance of his own duty, attain perfection.” Bhagavad-gita As It Is

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We are not teaching Hinduism, Muslimism, Christianism. We are teaching how to love God. There is no question of proselytization. We are, by nature we are lover of God. Just like father and son. The love is already there. It cannot be extinguished.

The father and son may be separated for many years, but when they come together the affection immediately revives. So we are teaching that, that we have got eternal relationship with God and revive it. We are embarrassed by establishing artificial relationship with my family, country, and society, and so-called religions. These are all artificial. Real relationship, that «God is great and I am His servant,» that is real religion.

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The Law of Karma

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veryone who has accepted a material body must maintain the necessities of the body by acting or earning some livelihood. A devotee should only work for such income as is absolutely necessary. He should be satisfied always with such income and should not endeavor to earn more and more simply to accumulate the unnecessary. A person in the conditioned state who has no money is always found working very hard to earn some with the object of lording it over material nature. Every living entity has a predestined happiness and distress in his present body; this is called the law of karma. It is not possible that simply by endeavors to accumulate more money a person will be able to do so, otherwise almost everyone would be on the same level of wealth. In reality, everyone is earning and acquiring according to his predestined karma. According to the Bhagavatam conclusion, we are sometimes faced with dangerous or miserable conditions without endeavoring for them, and similarly we may have prosperous conditions without endeavoring for them. We should engage our valuable time in prosecuting Krsna consciousness or transcendent consciousness. In other words, one should be satisfied by his natural condition. If by predestination one is put into a certain condition of life, which is not very prosperous in comparison to another’s position, one should not be disturbed. He should simply try to utilize his valuable time to advance in Krsna consciousness. Advancement in Krsna consciousness does not depend on any materially prosperous or distressed condition; it is free from the conditions imposed by material life. A very poor man can execute Krsna consciousness as effectively as a very rich man. One should therefore be very satisfied with his position as offered by the Lord.

“When the conditioned soul accepts the shelter of the creeper of fruitive activity, he may be elevated by his pious activities to higher planetary systems and thus gain liberation from hellish conditions, but unfortunately he cannot remain there. After reaping the results of his pious activities, he has to return to the lower planetary systems. In this way he perpetually goes up and comes down.”

Srimad-Bhagavatam

Planetary Systems

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n modern so-called scientific society, the idea is very prevalent that there is no life on other planets but that only on this earth do living entities with intelligence and scientific knowledge exist. The Vedic literatures, however, do not accept this foolish theory. The Vedas give information that in all planets - not only within this material sky but also in the spiritual sky—there are varieties of living entities. Although all these living entities are of one spiritual nature, in quality the same as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they have varieties of bodies due to the embodiment of the spirit soul by the eight material elements, namely earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind, intelligence and false ego. In the spiritual world, however, there is no such distinction between the body and the embodied. We have full information from the Vedic literature that in each and every planet, both material and spiritual, there are living entities of varied intelligence. The earth is one of the planets of the Bhurloka planetary system. There are six planetary systems above Bhurloka and seven planetary systems

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below it. Therefore, the entire universe has fourteen different planetary systems. One who is promoted to those higher planetary systems enjoys a longer duration of life and better facilities for sense enjoyment, yet one is not allowed to stay there forever. One is again sent back to this earthly planet upon finishing the resultant fruits of pious activities. He who has not attained perfection of knowledge, or he who fails to understand Krsna, the cause of all causes, becomes baffled in achieving the ultimate goal of life and is thus subjected to the routine of being promoted to the higher planets and then again coming down, as if situated on a ferris wheel which sometimes goes up and sometimes comes down. Instead of being elevated to the spiritual world where there is no longer any possibility of coming down, one simply revolves in the cycle of birth and death on higher and lower planetary systems. One should better take to the spiritual world to enjoy eternal life full of bliss and knowledge and never return to this miserable material existence. The inhabitants of the spiritual world engage in varieties of loving service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Lord Krsna lives on the planet called Goloka Vrndavana (topmost planet of the spiritual world), and although Lord Krsna lives there perpetually, He also expands Himself in millions and trillions of forms and appears on this material planet to attract the conditioned souls back home, back to Godhead.

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“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His feature of eternal time, is present in the material world and is neutral towards everyone. No one is His ally, and no one is His enemy. Within the jurisdiction of the time element, everyone enjoys or suffers the result of his own karma, or fruitive activities.

As, when the wind blows, small particles of dust fly in the air, so, according to one’s particular karma, one suffers or enjoys material life.” Srimad-Bhagavatam

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“The stage of perfection is called trance, or samadhi, when one’s mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. This is characterized by one’s ability to see the self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the self.

In that joyous state, one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness and enjoys himself through transcendental senses.

Established thus, one never departs from the truth, and upon gaining this, he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty.

This indeed is actual freedom from all miseries arising from material contact.”

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

The Life Is Made of Chemicals

Continued from Page 22

(from conversation of Srila Prabhupada on May 1975 in Perth, Australia) Amogha: Sometimes when we are speaking, people say, «Why do you say this is a science? It seems that this must be belief. Because science...»

Prabhupada: Your so-called science is also belief. You believe in one way, we believe in another way. If you call your belief as science, then why shall I not call my belief as science? You have never gone to the moon, and you are talking of so many things about moon. That is your belief.

Amogha: But they say with science they can prove so many things.

Prabhupada: We can also prove. You cannot prove. Just like you say the life is made of chemicals. You prove it. Take

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chemicals and make a life, then it is true.

Otherwise, it is a humbug. You cannot prove it. You take the chemicals and prove-produce life. You did not produce a life, even an ant, in the laboratory, and still you say life is a combination of chemicals.

Ganesa: We cannot see souls, Srila Prabhupada. It appears that matter comes from matter, or life comes from matter.

We cannot see the soul.

Prabhupada: You cannot see, but you can perceive. If life comes from matter, then when there is a dead body, put matter and make it alive. Or put chemicals.

Chemical is also matter. First of all this is my challenge: that here is a dead body, so Continued on Page 23

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bring some chemicals. Just like a motorcar stopped for want of chemical, petrol. So you bring petrol and it will be started.

Similarly, you bring some chemical and start it again.

Paramahamsa: Well, that will require some time to find the chemicals.

Prabhupada: That means you fool. You are talking nonsenses. You do not know what is that chemical.

Amogha: In Bhagavad-gita we claim that it is a fact scientifically that Krsna appeared on earth and so many things. But actually is not it because we believe that the Bhagavad-gita is true that we think it is scientific? Because we believe it. But someone else would say, «I don’t believe it, so for me it’s not scientific.»

Prabhupada: Everything is true. If

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you think it properly, you will find it is all true. Bhagavad-gita says: «By Me, the four divisions of human society are made.» The most intelligent class, the brahmana, who knows the soul, God, etc., by their character, by their behavior.

This is the most perfect way of keeping society. Unless there is a class, which is very intelligent, who know what is God, what is soul, then what is the civilization? Simply motorcar drivers? Is that civilization? Where is the brahmana?

This is not civilization. Simply some artisans and workers, motorcar drivers, mill workers, where is civilized man, who knows God, who knows soul, who knows how to conduct the human society to the perfection? Where is that man? It is not civilization.

Paramahamsa: But we have philosophers and poets.

Continued on Page 24

The whole philosophy is that our whole misery is due to this bodily contact. We feel miseries, distress or happiness at the present stage. It is due to this body. Take, for example, the water.

Water, in summertime it is very pleasant, and wintertime, oh, it is very distressful.

Now, water as it is, it is water constitutionally, chemically or whatever it may be, but it is due to the bodily touch of the water we sometimes feel pleasure and sometimes feel distress. Therefore all our feelings of distress and happiness is due to this body.

Body under certain condition, mind under certain condition, feels happiness and feel distress. We are actually hankering after happiness because the soul’s constitution is happiness.

Artificial change of «ism» will not help.

One must know the philosophy of life.

One must know what is God. One must learn how to love God. That is real life.

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The Age of Quarrel and Hypocrisy Continued from Page 23

Prabhupada: They are all loafer class.

They have no information of the soul.

They are studying in the dead matter, that is all. Freud and others, Darwin.

What do they know? First thing is that there is a supreme authority. You are not independent. So if you do not know who is that supreme authority, what is the value of your knowledge? You have to accept there is a supreme authority, because you are not independent. But you do not know. A civilized man means he knows what is government, what is the history of government. That is civilized. And if he doesn’t know what is government, he is simply living there, he’s a third class man. So you have to accept there is a government of the whole universal affair, but you do not know it. Then you are third-class man.

This body means the senses. My eyes want, «Oh, there is a beautiful girl. Let us see. Oh, I am hankering after it.

I am following that beautiful girl.» «Oh, there is very nice music. All right.» Ear. «All right. Let us have it.» «Oh, there is a very good restaurant, palatable dishes.» Oh, tongue dictates, «Oh, you go there.» Similarly, all our senses. This body means senses.

Without senses, the body has no meaning.

So our position is that eyes dragging to some place, ear dragging to some place, tongue dragging to some place, hand dragging to some place, leg dragging to some place. So we are perplexed. Now, we have to learn how to control these senses.

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Ganesa: The Bhagavad-gita was written five thousand years ago, so it does not pertain to today.

Prabhupada: No, it was not written.

It was there. It was first spoken forty millions of years ago, now it is lost. The material world is like that. One thing is lost sometimes. Just like we are putting Bhagavad-gita, why am I stressing so much? It is lost. By the so-called Gandhis and Dr. Radhakrishnan, they have made it lost. We are simply trying to revive it again. People do not understand it, do not follow it, that is the difficulty.

It is revival of the whole teaching.

Permanent teaching. Permanent beneficial instruction. Just like you cannot say the sun is now coming. It is there. It is there always. You are seeing now. They used to think like that—at night, the sun is dead. They used to think that this earth is square. They are changing their opinion daily. That is their scientific knowledge.

Why should they change?

Amogha: They say this means they are discovering the truth, step by step.

Prabhupada: That means you do not know the truth. That is a fact. You do not know—simply speculating. You are accepting some spot—this is truth. And after some days, «No, no, this is not truth,

this is truth.» This is your position.

Paramahamsa: Many of the scientific textbooks that were written twenty years ago are all outdated. Can’t use them any more.

Prabhupada: Useless. So this scientific at the present moment, after twenty years they’ll be useless. This is your scientific.

Amogha: But at least what we know now is more true than what we knew before.

And if we keep trying we’ll know more.

Prabhupada: Yes, that means you are always in ignorance. We may forget something, but the truth is always the same. But you are making, manufacturing, discovering truth. That means you do not know what is truth. Truth is never discovered. It is already there. But you do not know what is that truth. That is credit that you are making advance towards truth, but you do not know what is truth.

That is a fact. Making discoveries means you do not know what is truth.

Paramahamsa: So eventually, if we keep advancing like this we’ll understand the truth.

Prabhupada: No you’ll never advance.

Your advance is so slow and foolish that you cannot.

Amogha: But some Indian history professors say...

Prabhupada: We are not talking of Indian history; we are talking on the truth. We never say it is Indian truth.

Amogha: But Bhagavad-gita has been presented in so many ways also, and now we are saying it is another way.

Prabhupada: Therefore Krsna says, «I am showing you the way how to understand Bhagavad-gita. You have to accept that.» Not so many ways. Only that way. That I have explained in the Preface, that when you have to take a medicine, you have to take the direction: dose, such and such. Not that so many ways doses are prescribed. According to the prescription, you have to take. Otherwise, you will waste your time.

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he Age of Kali (present age of quarrel and hypocrisy) is very dangerous for the human being. Human life is simply meant for self-realization, but due to this dangerous age, men have completely forgotten the aim of life. In this age, the life span will gradually decrease. People will gradually lose their memory, finer sentiments, strength, and better qualities. A list of the anomalies for this age is given in the Srimad-Bhagavatam.

The people are so busy with sense gratification that they completely forget about self-realization. Out of madness, they frankly say that there is no need for self-realization because they do not realize that this brief life is but a moment on our great journey towards self-realization.

The whole system of education is geared to sense gratification, and if a learned man thinks it over, he sees that the children of this age are being intentionally sent to the slaughterhouses of so-called education. The people of the world in this age of Kali are always full of anxieties. Everyone is diseased with some kind of ailment. The particular symptom of the age of Kali is that no family is now blessed to live together. To earn a livelihood, the father lives at a place far away from the son, or the wife lives far away from the husband and so on. There are sufferings from internal diseases, separation from those near and dear, and anxieties for maintaining the status quo. In the age of Kali, the women and the children, along with brahmanas (intelligent class of men) and cows, will be grossly neglected and left unprotected. In this age illicit connection with women will render many women and children uncared for. Circumstantially, the women will try to become independent of the protection of men, and marriage will be performed as a matter of formal agreement between man and woman. Education and bad character go ill together, but such things will run parallel. The administrative heads as a class will condemn the tenets of Vedic wisdom and will

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prefer to conduct a so-called secular state, and the so-called educated brahmanas will be purchased by such unscrupulous administrators. These are some of the symptoms of the Kali age, which are harmful to the general welfare of human society.

Kali-yuga, the iron age, is not at all suitable for self-realization as was Satya-yuga, the golden age, or Tretayuga or Dvapara-yuga, the silver and copper ages. For self-realization, the people in Satya-yuga, living a lifetime of a hundred thousand years, were able to perform prolonged meditation. And in Treta-yuga, when the duration of life was ten thousand years, self-realization was attained by performance of great sacrifice.

And in the Dvapara-yuga, when the duration of life was one thousand years, self-realization was attained

by worship of the Lord. But in the Kali-yuga, the maximum duration of life being one hundred years only and that combined with various difficulties, the recommended process of self-realization is that of hearing and chanting of the holy name, fame, and pastimes of the Lord.

“O learned one, in this iron age of Kali men have but short lives. They are quarrelsome, lazy, misguided, unlucky and, above all, always disturbed.” Srimad-Bhagavatam

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“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master.

Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The selfrealized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.” Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Solving the Perplexities of Life

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y nature’s own way, the complete system of material activities is a source of perplexity for everyone. In every step, there is perplexity, and therefore it behooves one to approach a bona fide spiritual master who can give one proper guidance for executing the purpose of life. All Vedic literatures advise us to approach a bona fide spiritual master to get free from the perplexities of life, which happen without our desire.

They are like a forest fire that somehow blazes without being set by anyone. Similarly, the world situation is such that perplexities of life automatically appear, without our wanting such confusion. The Vedic wisdom therefore advises that in order to solve the perplexities of life and to understand the science of the solution, one must approach a spiritual master who is in the disciplic succession.

Who is the man in material perplexities? It is he, who does not understand the problems of life. In the Garga Upanisad (the Vedic texts), the perplexed man is described as follows: «He is a miserly man who does not solve the problems of life as a human and who thus quits this world like the cats and dogs, without understanding the science of self-realization.» This human form of life is a most valuable asset for the living entity who can utilize it for solving the problems of life; therefore, one who does not utilize this opportunity properly is a miser. We should work under the directions of the Supreme Lord.

Such directions are given in authoritative scriptures such as Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita, or from a bona fide spiritual master. Because the spiritual master is the representative of the Supreme Lord, his direction is directly the direction of the Supreme Lord. The spiritual master, saintly persons and scriptures direct in the same way. If one accepts a spiritual master, he can learn to distinguish between matter and spirit, and that becomes the steppingstone for further spiritual realization. A spiritual master teaches his students to get free from the material concept of life by various instructions.

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Bewilderment

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n the material condition, the spirit soul is covered by the material qualities namely goodness, passion and darkness. When one is in goodness, he feels happiness; when one is in passion, he feels satisfaction through material enjoyment; and when one is in darkness, he feels bewilderment. All these activities are of the mind, and they function on the platform of thinking, feeling and willing.

When the living entity is encircled by wife, children and home, he acts on the mental plane. Sometimes he is very happy, sometimes he is very much satisfied, sometimes he is not satisfied, and sometimes he is bewildered. Bewilderment is called illusion. Illusioned by society, friendship and love, the living entity thinks that his so-called society, friendship and love, nationality, community, etc. will give him protection. He does not know that after death he will be thrown into the hands of a very strong material nature that will force him to accept a certain type of body according to his present work. This body may not even be a human body.

Thus, the living entity’s feeling of security in this life in the midst of society, wife and friendship is nothing but illusion. All living entities encaged in various material bodies are illusioned by the present activities of material enjoyment. They forget their real business, which is to go back home, back to Godhead. One’s so-called feelings of happiness and

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satisfaction resulting from material things are also illusions. Factually, neither society, friendship, love nor anything else can save one from the onslaught of the external energy, which is symptomized by birth, death, old age and disease. To get even one living entity out of the illusory condition is very difficult; therefore, Lord Krsna says in Bhagavadgita: “This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.” Therefore, unless one surrenders completely at the lotus feet of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he cannot get out of the entanglement of the three modes of material nature.

“Due to this external energy, the living entity, although transcendental to the three modes of material nature, thinks of himself as a material product and thus undergoes the reactions of material miseries.” Srimad-Bhagavatam

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The Greatest Executive Power

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The great sages said: “Dear King, we have come to give you good advice. Kindly hear us with great attention.

By doing so, your duration of life and your opulence, strength and reputation will increase. Those who live according to religious principles and who follow them by words, mind, body and intelligence are elevated to the heavenly kingdom, which is devoid of all miseries. Being thus rid of the material influence, they achieve unlimited happiness in life. O great hero, for this reason you should not be the cause of spoiling the spiritual life of the general populace. If their spiritual life is spoiled because of your activities, you will certainly fall down from your opulent and royal position. When the king protects the citizens from the disturbances of mischievous ministers as well as from thieves and rogues, he can, by virtue of such pious activities, accept taxes given by his subjects.

Thus, a pious king can certainly enjoy himself in this world as well as in the life after death.”

Srimad-Bhagavatam

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ccording to Vedic civilization, in a monarchy the king is advised by saintly persons and sages. By taking their advice, he can become the greatest executive power, and everyone in his kingdom will be happy, peaceful and prosperous. The great kings were very responsible in taking the instructions given by great saintly personalities.

Unfortunately, in the present age of Kali, the head of government does not follow the instructions given by the saintly persons; therefore neither the citizens nor the men of government are very happy. Their duration of life is shortened, and almost everyone is wretched and bereft of bodily strength and spiritual power. If citizens want to be happy and prosperous in this democratic age, they should not elect rascals and fools who have no respect for saintly persons.

The saintly sages instruct that the king or head of government should set an example by living a religious life. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (the essence of the Vedanta literature), religion means worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One should not simply make a show of religious life, but should perform devotional service perfectly with words, mind, body and good intelligence. By doing so, not only will the king or government head rid himself of the

A Civilized Man contamination of the material modes of nature, but the general public will also, and they will all become gradually elevated to the kingdom of God and go back home, back to Godhead. Formerly, in practically all parts of the world, there were monarchies, but gradually as monarchy declined from the ideal life of religion to the godless life of sense gratification; monarchies all over the world were abolished. However, simply abolishing monarchy and replacing it with democracy is not sufficient unless the government men are religious and follow in the footsteps of great religious personalities. A king’s first and foremost duty is to give protection to the citizens from thieves and rogues as well as from ministers who are no better than thieves and rogues. Formerly, ministers were appointed by the king and were not elected.

Consequently, if the king was not very pious or strict, the ministers would become thieves and rogues and exploit the innocent citizens. It is the king’s duty to see that there is no increase of thieves and rogues either in the government secretariat or in the departments of public affairs. If a king cannot give protection to citizens from thieves and rogues both in the government service and in public affairs, he has no right to exact taxes from them.

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he Lord appears in this universe in different incarnations and He manifests His different transcendental activities for the welfare of the twice-born, the cows and the demigods. A civilized man is one who has taken his birth twice. A living entity takes birth in this mundane world due to the union of male and female, but a civilized human being has another birth by contact with a spiritual master, who becomes the actual father. The father and mother of the material body are so only in one birth and in the next birth the father and mother may be a different couple. But the bona fide spiritual master, as the representative of the Lord, is the eternal father because the spiritual master has the responsibility to lead the disciple to spiritual salvation, or the ultimate goal of life. Therefore, a civilized man must be twice-born, otherwise he is no more than the lower animals.

The cow is the most important animal for developing the human body to perfection. The body can be maintained by any kind of foodstuff, but cow’s milk is particularly essential for developing the finer tissues of the human brain so that one can understand the intricacies of transcendental knowledge. A civilized man is expected to live on foodstuffs comprising fruits, vegetables, grains, sugar and milk. The bull helps in the agricultural process of producing grain and thus in one sense, the bull is the father of humankind, whereas the cow is the mother, for she supplies milk to human society. A civilized man is therefore expected to give all protection to the bulls and cows.

The Lord’s pastimes for the protection of the twice-born civilized men, the cows and the demigods are all transcendental. A human being is inclined to hear good narrations and stories, and therefore there are so many books, magazines and newspapers on the market to satisfy the interests of the developed soul. But the pleasure in such literature, after it is read once, becomes stale, and people do not take any interest in reading such literature repeatedly. In fact, newspapers are read for less than an hour and then thrown in the dustbins as rubbish. The case is similar with all other mundane literatures. But the beauty of transcendental literatures like Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam is that they never become old.

They have been read in the world by civilized man for the last five thousand years, and they have never become old.

“The first birth is made possible by the parents, and the second birth is made possible by the spiritual father and Vedic knowledge. Unless one is twice-born one cannot understand the transcendental characteristics of the Lord.”

Srimad-Bhagavatam

“When a devotee takes shelter at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he is completely cleansed of all misunderstanding or mental speculation, and he manifests renunciation. This is possible only when one is strengthened by practicing bhakti-yoga. Once having taken shelter at the root of the lotus feet of the Lord, a devotee never comes back to this material existence, which is full of the threefold miseries.” Srimad-Bhagavatam

Bhakti-Yoga

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ccording to Ayurvedic medical science the three items kapha, pitta and vayu (phlegm, bile and air) maintain the physiological condition of the body. By practicing the breathing process of pranayama one can be released from contamination created by the principal physiological elements, by concentrating the mind one can become free from sinful activities, and by withdrawing the senses one can free himself from material association. Ultimately, one has to meditate on the Supreme Personality of Godhead in order to be elevated to the transcendental position where he is no longer affected by the three modes of material nature namely goodness, passion and ignorance. It is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita that one who engages himself in unalloyed devotional service or bhakti-yoga at once becomes transcendental to the three modes of material nature and immediately realizes his identity. For every item in the yoga system, there is a parallel activity in bhakti-yoga, but the practice of bhakti-yoga is easier for this age. Bhakti-yoga is a feasible process that begins with chanting and hearing names and glories of the Lord. Bhakti-yoga is the sunlike illumination for delivering the conditioned souls. They have no eyes to see their own interests. They do not know that the goal of life is not to increase the material necessities of existence, because the body will not exist more than a few years. The living beings are eternal, and they have their eternal need. If one engages only in caring for the necessities of the body, not caring for the eternal necessities of life, then he is part of a civilization whose advancement puts the living entities in the darkest region of ignorance. Sleeping in that darkest region, one does not get any refreshment, but, rather, gradually becomes fatigued. He invents many processes to adjust this fatigued condition, but he fails and thus remains confused. The only path for mitigating his fatigue in the struggle for existence is the path of devotional service or bhakti-yoga.

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Brahma-jijnasa

(from conversation of Srila Prabhupada on October 1976 in Chandigarh, India) Continued from Page 32

preparation we have made?

Indian man (1): The real truth is we don’t know. This is what we would like to know from the learned people.

Prabhupada: Yes, that is our duty, provided you want to learn it. But practically they are not interested. That is the pity of the situation. First of all you understand your identity. You are now identifying yourself as Indian, or as brahmana, or as ksatriya, or white, or black, and so many things.

Indian man (4): My first identification is my own body.

Prabhupada: Yes, that is ajnana (nescience). So long you are identifying with the body, you are no better than the animal. I am Indian. You are Englishman.

You are this. You are that. Simply we are fighting, like cats and dogs.

Indian man (4): Does the soul which passes from body to body, does it or he experience the pains and pleasures of my body?

“The beginning injunction of the Vedanta-sutra is “athato brahma jijnasa” - “Now is the time to inquire about Brahman, the Absolute Truth.” The word “atha” means that one who is intelligent, who has come to the point of realizing the basic frustrations of material life, is capable of making inquiry. Our inquiries should be about the transcendental worlds, which lie beyond this universe.”

Prabhupada: People are very much fallen from spiritual standard, and to fall down from the spiritual standard means to spoil the humanity. There is no education on this point. Most of them, they do not believe that there is spirit soul, and human life is meant for understanding it and make progress on that platform. Nobody understands. What is your understanding about this transmigration of the soul?

Indian man (1): We consider that man gets life after death according to his karma.

Prabhupada: If we believe that we have to get another life after death, then what

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Prabhupada: Certainly. Even the trees, they feel pains and pleasure. If you cut, it does not feel so much pains and pleasure as a human being. It is the development of consciousness. So in human form of body the consciousness is developed.

Therefore, he can understand what his position is. Therefore, for human being there are sastras (scriptures) - the Vedas, the Puranas - to understand his position.

The tree cannot take advantage of the instruction of Bhagavad-gita. A cat cannot take advantage. We should take advantage of this human form of life, and we must know what is our position, why we are in this material world. This is called brahma-jijnasa. But nobody is interested.

That is the effect of bad education. And especially in the Western countries, they do not believe in the next birth. The body is changing from baby body becoming a boy, a boy is becoming a young man, young man is becoming middle-aged man, and the middle-aged man is becoming old Continued on Page 33

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man. The body is changing every moment, and still, they do not believe. Every one of us, we know that we had a childhood body, a boy’s body. Where is that body?

That body is gone. I am existing, but the body is not existing. Similarly, after socalled death, the soul changes to another body. After the destruction of this body, the person is not killed. These things are there, but nobody understands.

Indian man (4): In theory, everybody believes it.

Prabhupada: No. What is that nonsense theory? We must know it actually. What is the use of theory? Theory is no good. You must know factually. That is knowledge.

Theory is not knowledge. Anyone can put forward some nonsense theory. That is not knowledge. Knowledge means factual. So we have to take knowledge.

Indian man (4): How to attain that knowledge then?

Prabhupada: That also, Krsna is explaining. Why don’t you take it? The knowledge is there, but you refuse to accept.

Indian man (4): How should I persuade myself that...?

Prabhupada: No, if you do not persuade, nobody can induce you to persuade. If you are obstinate, who can persuade you?

But you must agree. First of all, you have to surrender. But if you don’t surrender, how you’ll get knowledge? If you think, you are very big man, then how you get knowledge?

Indian man (4): No, we do not think that we are big men.

Prabhupada: I do not say particular.

Everyone thinks, «I know everything.»

Indian man (4): No, no. We think that we are ignorant, petty creatures.

Prabhupada: But if you think so, that you are ignorant petty creatures, then you take

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knowledge from the authority. What is the meaning that you think you are ignorant petty creature, at the same time, when the most learned person is giving you knowledge, Krsna, you don’t take it? Why you are not serious, «What kind of body I am going to get?» Here is a body, tree.

If you are going to accept a body like this, just how miserable it will be. Why you are not afraid? Just like if you want to go from here, Chandigarh, to Delhi, you have to arrange so many things. So what we are doing, that we have to change this body?

And there are 8,400,000 different types of bodies. Which body I am going to get?

Why we are not serious? We are spoiling our life.

Indian man (4): That eight million, is that fixed thing? So many life, so many animals, species have become extinct.

Those that have become extinct, dinosaurs and those...

Prabhupada: That is rascals’ theory.

Nothing extinct. Just like, he says that man comes from monkey. Where is the question of extinction? There is no question of extinction. Just like there are first-class, second-class, third-class compartments. If you pay for the firstclass, you enter into first-class. You cannot say that third-class is extinct. So it is according to your karma you’ll get a body. Why it should be extinct?

Indian man (4): Because it is extinct. We find there are fossilized…

Prabhupada: You do not find. You simply repeat Darwin, that’s all. You do not find.

You do not see anything. You simply hear from Darwin. You have taken Darwin as your authority. But you do not take authority, Vedas. That is your fault.

Indian man (4): Darwin had drawn that theory from observations.

Prabhupada: Wherefrom he has drawn?

He has speculated only. Wherefrom he got this thing? He has said that «It is my speculation.» Speculation is no knowledge. You can speculate in your own way. Knowledge gathered from the authority, that is real knowledge.

If I call a dog, «Please come here, read this book,» how he will understand spiritual nature? It is not possible for him.

But if I call a human being and I ask him, and if he agrees to understand what is spiritual nature, it is possible. That is the difference between dog and a man. A dog cannot understand what is spiritual nature, but a man can understand.

Therefore the conclusion is if in this human form of life we do not take advantage of understanding what is our spiritual nature, then we are no better than the dog. It is an opportunity given by the nature or by God to understand this human form of life.

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Becoming Perfect In Life

A Ghost

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hose who are very sinful and attached to their family, house, village or country do not receive a gross body made of material elements but remain in a subtle body, composed of mind, ego and intelligence. Those who live in such subtle bodies are called ghosts.

This ghostly position is very painful

because a ghost has intelligence, mind and ego and wants to enjoy material life, but because he does not have a gross material body, he can only create disturbances for want of material satisfaction. Ghosts are bereft of a physical body because of their grievously sinful acts, such as suicide. The last resort of the

ghostly characters in human society is to take shelter of suicide, either material or spiritual. Material suicide causes loss of the physical body, and spiritual suicide causes loss of the individual identity. Human life is meant for realization of the self, the spiritual soul within the body. A materialistic rascal does not know that he is not the body but a spiritual soul within the body. However, one should understand his real position and cultivate knowledge by which to get free from bodily entanglement.

Like an unfortunate person who acts madly, haunted by ghosts, a materialist haunted by the ghost of lust forgets his real business so that he can enjoy so-called happiness in the bodily concept of life.

When a man is haunted by ghosts, he can only speak nonsense.

Similarly, anyone who is under the influence of material nature should be considered haunted, and whatever he speaks should be considered nonsense. One may be considered a great philosopher or great scientist, but if he is haunted by the ghost of maya (illusion), whatever he theorizes and whatever he speaks is more or less nonsensical. Today we are given the example of a psychiatrist who, when requested to examine a murderer, proclaimed that since all the patients with whom he had come in contact were more or less crazy, the court could excuse the murderer on those grounds if it so desired. The point is that in the material world it is very difficult to find a sane living entity. The prevailing atmosphere of insanity in this world is all caused by the infection of material consciousness.

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veryone should follow the principles of varnasrama-dharma (social and spiritual orders of life); then, in whatever capacity one remains within this material world, his salvation is guaranteed after death. In this age, however, since the system of varnasrama-dharma is topsy-turvy, it is very difficult to strictly follow all the principles. The only method for becoming perfect in life is to develop Krsna consciousness or transcendent consciousness. As varnasrama-dharma is executed from different positions by different men, so the Krsna consciousness principles can be followed by everyone in every part of the world. Great sages have already given us instructions on how to live according to the principles of varnasramadharma. It is essential, therefore, to follow the instructions of the acaryas (spiritual masters) in the parampara (disciplic succession) system, who have received the knowledge as passed down from spiritual master to disciple. In this way, although living in our material condition of life, we can get out of the entanglement of material contamination without leaving our positions.

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu (incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead) advises, therefore, that one does not have to change his position. One simply has to hear from the perfect source – parampara - and follow the principles for practical application in life; thus, one can attain the highest perfection of life – liberation - and go back home, back to Godhead. In other words, the change

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This body is a machine.

This machine, just like a car, has been offered to us by material nature, by the order of God, Krsna.

So the real purpose of life is to stop this transmigration, perpetually from one body to another and revive our original, spiritual position so that we can live eternally, blissful life of knowledge.

That is the aim of life.

The whole Vedic conception is based on this principle.

“Lord Visnu continued: My dear King Prthu, if you continue to protect the citizens according to the instructions of the learned brahmana authorities, as they are received by the disciplic succession—by hearing— from master to disciple, and if you follow the religious principles laid down by them, without attachment to ideas manufactured by mental concoction, then every one of your citizens will be happy and will love you, and very soon you will be able to see such already liberated personalities as the four Kumaras [Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana and Sanatkumara].” Srimad-Bhagavatam

These madmen do not know that this is the cause of getting this miserable material body.

The sufferings of humanity is due to this material body and the cause of acting for sense gratification. So this life is meant for acting for liberation, but they are acting for sense gratification. Therefore they are mad. They do not know the aim of life. Life after life, they are working. The cat’s life, the dog’s life, the horse life, the man’s life or even demigod’s life, simply for sense gratification. And so long he will continue these activities of sense gratification, he will have to accept some sort of material body in the 8,400,000 of species either as demigod or as dog.

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required is a change in consciousness, not in the body. Unfortunately, in this fallen age, people are concerned with the body, not with the soul. They have invented so many “isms” pertaining to the body only, not to the soul.

In the modern age of democracy there are so many government representatives voting for legislation. Every day they bring out a new law. But because these laws are only mental concoctions manufactured by inexperienced conditioned souls, they cannot give relief to human society.

Formerly, although the kings were autocrats, they strictly followed the principles laid down by great sages and saintly persons. There were no mistakes in ruling over the country, and everything went perfectly. The citizens were completely pious, the king levied taxes legitimately, and therefore the situation was very happy.

At the present moment, the so-called executive heads are more or less selected from materially ambitious persons who simply look after their own personal interests; they have no knowledge of the sastras (scriptures). Therefore, we find periodic upheavals in society in the forms of battles, communal riots and fratricidal quarrels. Under these circumstances, not only are the leaders unable to lead the people toward liberation, but they cannot even give them peace of mind. In Bhagavad-gita it is stated that anyone who lives on concocted ideas, without reference to the sastras, never becomes successful and does not attain happiness or liberation after death.

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Killing the Demon Bakasura

(from the transcendental pastimes of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead)

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“The Blessed Lord said: He whose mind is fixed on My personal form, always engaged in worshiping Me with great and transcendental faith, is considered by Me to be most perfect.” Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Different Kinds of Faith

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ccording to scriptural injunction, only the Supreme Personality of Godhead is worshipable, but those who are not very conversant with, or faithful to, the scriptural injunctions worship different objects, according to their specific situations in the modes of material nature. Those who are situated in goodness generally worship a particular demigod for a particular purpose. Those who are in the mode of passion worship the demons or generally select a powerful man to be God. They think that anyone can be worshiped as God and that the same results will be obtained. Those who are in the mode of ignorance, in darkness, worship dead spirits. Sometimes people worship at the tomb of some dead man. Sexual service is also considered to be in the mode of darkness. These different kinds of worship are not actually God worship.

Those who are completely purified of the material modes of nature and who are transcendentally situated can worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Those who know the rules and regulations of the scriptures, but, out of laziness or indolence, give up following these rules and regulations, are governed by the modes of material nature. According to their previous activities in the modes of goodness, passion or ignorance, they acquire a nature, which is of a specific quality. But this nature can be changed if one associates with a bona fide spiritual master and abides by his rules and the scriptures. Gradually, one can change his position from ignorance to goodness or from passion to goodness. Blind faith in a particular mode of nature cannot help a person become elevated to the perfectional stage. One has to consider things carefully, with intelligence, in the association of a bona fide spiritual master. Thus, one can change his position to a higher mode of nature.

At the present moment, the human society does not know what the meaning of religion is. The meaning of religion is to abide by the laws of God, just like a good citizen means he who abides by the laws of the state. Because we have no understanding of God, therefore, we do not know what the laws of God are, and therefore we do not know what religion is. That is the present status of the human society. We take religion as a kind of faith but the faith is not the real description of religion. Religion means the laws, which are given by God, and anyone who follows the laws, he is religious. It does not matter whether he is a Christian or a Hindu or Muslim. If he follows the laws of God, then he is religious. One is called a faithful man who thinks that, simply by acting in Krsna consciousness or transcendent consciousness, he can attain the highest perfection. This faith is attained by the discharge of devotional service and by chanting «Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare,» which cleanses one’s heart of all material dirt. A person who is faithful to Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, can easily attain perfection.

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Krsna easily bifurcated Bakasura’s mouth as easily as a child splits a blade of grass

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ll the cowherd boys would daily go to the bank of the River Yamuna(India’s most sacred rivers) to water their calves.

One day, after drinking, when they were sitting on the bank of the river, they saw a huge animal, which looked something like a duck and was as big as a hill. Its top was as strong as a thunderbolt. When they saw that unusual animal, they became afraid of it. The name of this beast was Bakasura. He appeared on the scene suddenly and immediately attacked Krsna with his pointed, sharp beaks and quickly swallowed Him up. But when the Bakasura demon was swallowing up Krsna, he felt a burning fiery sensation in his throat. This was due to the glowing effulgence of Krsna. The demon quickly threw Krsna up and tried to kill Him by pinching Him in his beaks. Bakasura did not know that although Krsna was playing the part of a child, He was still the original creator of the universe.

Krsna caught hold of the beaks of the great gigantic duck and, before

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His cowherd boyfriends, bifurcated his mouth, just as a child very easily splits a blade of grass. From the sky, the denizens of the heavenly planets showered flowers like the cameli, the most fragrant of all flowers, as a token of their congratulations.

Accompanying the showers of flowers was a vibration of bugles, drums and conch shells. When the boys saw the showering of flowers and heard the celestial sounds, they became struck with wonder. When they saw Krsna, they all were so pleased that it seemed as if they had regained their very source of life.

As soon as they saw Krsna coming towards them, they one after another embraced and held Him to their chests. After this, they assembled all the calves under their charge and began to return home. When they arrived home, they began to speak of the wonderful activities. When the gopis (cow herding girls famous for their devotion to Krsna) and cowherd men all heard the story from the boys, they felt great happiness because naturally they loved Krsna,

and hearing about His glories and victorious activities, they became still more affectionate toward Him. Thinking that the child Krsna was saved from the mouth of death, they began to see His face with great love and affection. They were full of anxieties, but they could not turn their faces from the vision of Krsna.

The gopis and the men began to converse amongst themselves about how the child Krsna was attacked in so many ways and so many times by so many demons, and yet the demons were killed and Krsna was uninjured.

All the elderly cowherd men used to talk of the wonderful activities of Lord Krsna and Balarama (elder brother of Krsna), and they were always so much absorbed in those talks that they forgot the threefold miseries of this material existence. This is the effect of Krsna consciousness or transcendent consciousness. What was enjoyed 5,000 years ago can still be enjoyed by persons who are in Krsna consciousness simply by talking about the transcendental pastimes of Krsna and His associates.

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The Process of Transmigration and Evolution

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riginally the living entity is a spiritual being, but when he actually desires to enjoy this material world, he comes down. The living entity first accepts a body that is human in form, but gradually, due to his degraded activities, he falls into lower forms of life - into the animal, plant and aquatic forms. By the gradual process of evolution, the living entity again attains the body of a human being and is given another chance to get out of the process of transmigration. If he again misses his chance in the human form to understand his position, he is again placed in the cycle of birth and death in various types of bodies.

The desire of the living entity to come into the material world is not very difficult to understand. Although one may be born in a family of Aryans, where there are restrictions against meat-eating, intoxication, gambling and illicit sex, still one may want to enjoy these forbidden things. There is always someone who wants to go to a prostitute for illicit sex or to a hotel to eat meat and drink wine. There is always someone who wants to gamble at nightclubs or enjoy so-called sports. All these propensities are already within the hearts of the living entities. The more one desires a degraded life within his heart, the more he falls down to occupy different forms of abominable existence. This is the process of transmigration and evolution. A particular type of animal may have a strong tendency to enjoy one kind of sense enjoyment, but in the human form one can enjoy all the senses. The human form has the facility to utilize all the senses for gratification. Unless one is properly trained, he becomes a victim of the modes of material nature. As soon as one desires to enjoy his senses, he puts himself under the control of material energy and automatically, or mechanically, is placed into the cycle of birth and death in various life-forms.

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llusion is very strong. In the name of philanthropy, altruism and communism, people are feeling compassion for suffering humanity throughout the world. Philanthropists and altruists do not realize that it is impossible to improve people’s material conditions. Material conditions are already established by the superior administration according to one’s karma. They cannot be changed. The only benefit we can render to suffering beings is to try to raise them to transcendent consciousness. Material comforts cannot be increased or decreased.

It is said in Srimad-Bhagavatam: “As far as material happiness is concerned, that comes without effort, just as tribulations come without effort.” Material happiness and pain can be attained without endeavor. One should not bother for material activities. If one is at all sympathetic or able to do good to others, he should endeavor to raise people to Krsna consciousness or transcendent consciousness. Transcendent consciousness can be attained by real knowledge. Real knowledge means to develop the consciousness of “I am not this body. I am spirit soul, an eternal part and parcel of the Supreme Lord.” Real knowledge entails renunciation, or non-acceptance of this body as the self. In this way, everyone advances spiritually by the grace of the Lord. We should be very careful not to be misled by so-called welfare activities conducted in bodily terms. One should not give up his interest in attaining the favor of the Lord at any cost. Generally, people do not know this or they forget it. Consequently, they sacrifice their original interest, the attainment of the Lord’s favor, and engage in philanthropic activities for bodily comfort. In the bodily conception, when we think that sense gratification will help us, we are in illusion.

Another kind of illusion is to think that one will become happy by trying to satisfy the desires that arise from the illusory body. Similarly, material activities performed for political emancipation and social and humanitarian activities performed with an idea that people of the world will be happy are also illusory because the basic principle is the bodily conception, which is illusory. Whatever we desire or perform under the bodily conception is all illusion.

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Suppose if my life is for hundred years, say. I can remain a rich man, I remain a learned man, I can remain a beautiful man, say, for fifty or sixty or hundred years, but your life is not for hundred years or sixty years or thousands years or millions of years. You are eternal.

You have to attain your eternal life. That is the whole problem. That problem can be solved when you are Krsna conscious so that by Krsna conscious, when you leave this body, you will no more have to come to this material world and accept this material body or suffer and enjoy thereof. The point is very difficult for common man, but this is the point. I have to avoid this material existence altogether.

It is not the question of improving my material condition. That is not the solution.

“When the living entity wants to enjoy the modes of material nature in their totality, he prefers, out of many bodily forms, to accept that body which has nine gates, two hands and two legs.

Thus he prefers to become a human being or a demigod.”

Srimad-Bhagavatam

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Make an Experiment and See by Chanting

(from the lecture of Srila Prabhupada in Edinburgh, Scotland on July 1972) Pradyumna: «The Blessed Lord said: While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief.

Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor the dead.» Bhagavad-gita As It Is Prabhupada: This Krsna consciousness movement is to teach people to understand what is the constitutional position of the living entity. Here it is said that one who is learned, he does not lament either for the living or for the dead body. The present civilization is based on the bodily concept of life: «I am this body.» Although there is advancement of learning, many universities and educational institutions, but nowhere this subject matter is discussed or taught, «What I am.» Rather, they’re still more misled by giving them education that «You are born in this land. You must feel for your nation, you must act for your nation,» or the socalled nationality is taught. But nobody is taught actually what he is.

The same position was for Arjuna (key warrior of the righteous war) in the Battlefield of Kuruksetra (historical land in India, where religious war was fought).

So there was a fight between two cousin brothers of the same family, and that is the theme of this Bhagavad-gita. Krsna informs Arjuna that «Why you are deviating from your duty? Do you think that your brother or your uncle or your grandfather on the other side, they will be dead after fighting?

No. That is not the fact.» The point is that Krsna wanted to teach Arjuna that this body is different from the person. Just like every one of us, we are different from the shirt and coat. Similarly, we living entities, soul, is different from the gross body and the subtle body. This is the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita. People do not understand it.

Generally, people understand that he is this body. The bodily concept of life is meant for the animals. The dog does not know that he is not this body, he is pure soul. But a man, if he is educated, he can understand that he is not this body, he is different from this body. If you ask me also, anyone, «What is this?» Anyone will say, «It is my head.» Nobody will say, «I head.» So if you scrutinizingly analyze all parts of the body, you will say, «It is my head, my hand, my finger, my leg,» but where is «I»?

«My» is spoken when there is «I.» But we

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have no information of the «I.» We have simply information of «my.» That is called ignorance. So the whole world is under this impression of taking the body as the self. Suppose my father has died. Now I am crying, «Oh, my father is gone. My father is gone.» But if somebody says, «Why do you say your father is gone? He is lying here. Why you are crying?» «No, that is his body. My father is gone.» Therefore, in our present calculation, I am seeing your body, you are seeing my body, nobody is seeing the actual person. After death, he comes to sense: «Oh, it is not my father; it is my father’s body.» So we become intelligent after death. And while we are living, we are in ignorance. This education is wanted because people, by this ignorance, they are fighting with one another. One nation is fighting with another, one religionist is fighting with another religionist. But it is all based on ignorance. I am not this body.

This is a bag of bones and muscles, and it is manufactured by three elements according to Ayurvedic (ancient medicine of the Vedic tradition) system: kapha, pitta, vayu. So therefore I am a spirit soul. I am part and parcel of God. This is the Vedic education.

Try to understand that you do not belong to this material world. You belong to the spiritual world. In the Bhagavad-gita, God says that «All living entities are My part and parcels”. He is undergoing a great struggle for life under the impression, under the bodily impression that he is this body, but this kind of impression or understanding is animal civilization. Because the animals are also eating, sleeping, having sex intercourse, and defending in their own way. So also if we are engaged with all these business, namely eating, sleeping, sex intercourse, and defending, then we are not better than the animals. The special prerogative of the human being is to understand «What I am? I am this body or something else?»

So our present situation is that the whole civilization is going on under the wrong impression that everyone is the body. Therefore, this Hare Krsna movement has got a special effect. Do not think this Hare Krsna movement is ordinary sound vibration. It is spiritual vibration. It is called maha-mantra. In India Continued on Page 42

If you water the root of the tree, it will go to the twigs, it will go to the leaves, it will go to the fruit, it will go to the flower. One who does not know the root, however he might be working very diligently for the poor humanity or community or society, they will never be successful to gain the result, peace and prosperity. They are forgetting the root.

And root is God. So they must put water in the root. Then it will be all right. Otherwise, it will be all failure.

The history of the world is like that. They are trying for the nation, for the society, for the community, and for the family, but everything has become unsuccessful.

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Now, our whole thing is to serve the Supreme. We are now in designated service. Due to these material bodies, we have manufactured so many service. Just like the water cannot be more than a liquid thing, similarly, we cannot be more than a servant, but because we have got so many designation, our service is being rendered in designation. That is the difference. Now, when we become free from the designation and we come to our senses and render service to the Lord, that is our position of freedom, real position.

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still, there are many snake enchanters. So they chant some mantra and a snake-bitten person can be revived to his consciousness.

So similarly, at the present moment, due to our ignorance, we are sleeping. Therefore, to awaken us, this maha-mantra, is required. Krsna means the all-attractive, all-good. All-attractive means He must be good; otherwise, how He can be attractive?

He has got all the good qualities, all the opulence so that He is attractive. That is the right description or right nomenclature of God. If God has got any name particular which is full in everything, that word is Krsna. It is a Sanskrit word, but it indicates God. So our this Krsna consciousness movement is not a sectarian religious movement. It is a scientific philosophical movement. Try to understand it. But the process is very simple. The process is by chanting this Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Simply chant this transcendental vibration and one becomes gradually cleansed of all dirty things within the heart. Our whole trouble in this material world is due to misunderstanding. The first misunderstanding is that «I am this body.»

And actually, every one of us are standing on this platform, the bodily concept of life.

And because the basic standing foundation is mistaken, therefore whatever we are creating, whatever we are understanding, they are all mistaken. Because the basic platform is mistaken. So first of all we have to drive away this mistaken idea that I am this body. So we have to cleanse this misconception, and that is very easily done by simply chanting this Hare Krsna maha-mantra. It is practical. So our request is that every one of you, if you kindly take our instruction to chant Hare Krsna mahamantra. You are not losing anything. But the gain is very much. It does not require any education. It does not require any price. Why do you not make an experiment and see by chanting? That is our request.

Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. One may object, «Why shall I chant your Hindu Krsna’s name?»

God has got many names. That we admit.

God is unlimited. Therefore, He must have unlimited names. But this Krsna word is very perfect because it means all-attractive.

So if you think that «Krsna is the name of Hindu God, why shall I chant this?» If you have got another alternative name of God, then you chant that. Our only request is that you chant the holy name of God. You will be purified. Each and every name of God is as powerful as God. Because God is Absolute, therefore there is no difference between His name, form, pastimes. Nothing is different from God. That is absolute knowledge. So if you chant the holy name of God, that means you are directly in touch with God. Because the name is not different from God. If you touch fire, it will act. If you do not know or know what is the quality of fire, it does not matter. Similarly, if you actually chant the holy name of God, it will act. If you keep yourself always in touch with God, then gradually, you become godly. You do not become God, but you become godly.

So everything has clear conception in the philosophy of Vedic literature, especially they are summarized in the Bhagavadgita As It Is. So our only request is that you become God conscious. This human form of life is the only opportunity to understand what is God, what I am, what is my relationship with God. The animals - we cannot invite cats and dogs in this meeting. That is not possible. We have invited human being. Because they can understand. So the human being has got the prerogative to understand. If we do not try to understand in this form of life «What is God, what I am, what is our relationship,» then we are committing suicide. Because after this life, as soon as I give up this body, I will have to accept another body. And we do not know what kind of body I am going to accept. That is not in my hands. So if we have to prepare ourselves in this life for the next body, why not prepare yourself for a body back to home, back to Godhead. This is Krsna consciousness movement. We are teaching every man how he can prepare himself so that after leaving this body, he can go directly to God. So this Krsna consciousness movement is to save the human kind from being fatally injured by the wrong conception of bodily concept of life. And the simple method is by chanting the sixteen words, or if you are philosopher, if you are scientist, if you want to know everything scientifically, philosophically, we have got big books. You can either read books or simply join with us and chant Hare Krsna mantra.

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“When one’s mind and senses are attracted to sense objects for enjoyment, the mind becomes agitated.

As a result of continually thinking of sense objects, one’s real consciousness almost becomes lost, like the water in a lake that is gradually sucked up by the big grass straws on its bank.” Srimad-Bhagavatam

The Cause of Fall Down

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ur original Krsna consciousness or transcendent consciousness becomes polluted and we gradually become almost completely forgetful of our relationship with the Supreme Lord. We should always keep in touch with the devotional service of the Lord so that the blazing fire of devotional service can gradually burn into ashes material desires and we can become liberated from the repetition of birth and death. This is also how we can indirectly keep our staunch faith in the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When the mind is allowed to think of sense gratification continuously, it becomes the cause of our material bondage. If our mind is simply filled with sense gratification, even though we want Krsna consciousness, by continuous practice we cannot forget the subject matter of sense gratification. Even though one goes to the Himalayas or the forest, his mind will continue thinking of the objects of sense gratification. In this way, gradually one’s intelligence will be affected. When intelligence is affected, one loses his original taste for spiritual consciousness.

If a big lake is covered all around by long grass, just like columns, the waters dry up. Similarly, when the big columns of material desire increase, the clear water of consciousness is dried up. Therefore these columns of grass should be cut or thrown away from the very beginning. The material desire for sense enjoyment is the cause of our fall down in this material world, and thus we suffer the threefold miseries and continuous birth, death, old age and disease. However, if we turn our desires toward the transcendental loving service of the Lord, our desires become purified. We cannot kill desires. We have to purify them of different designations. If we constantly think of being a member of a particular nation, society or family and continuously think about them, we become very strongly entangled in the conditioned life of birth and death. But if our desires are applied to the service of the Lord, they become purified, and thus we become immediately freed from material contamination.

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The Sum and Substance of Material Existence

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he male and female living together constitute the sum and substance of material existence. The attraction between male and female in this material world is very strong.

However, when one fully understands spiritual life, his attraction for the opposite sex is completely vanquished. By such attraction, one becomes overly attached to this material world. It is a hard knot within the heart. Everyone comes to this material world attracted to sense gratification, and the hard knot of sense gratification is the attraction between male and female. By this attraction, one becomes overly attached to the material world in terms of home, land, children, friends, money and so forth. Man and woman should not be united simply on the consideration of sex life. There are many other considerations, especially character and taste. If the taste and character differ between the man and woman, their combination will be unhappy. Even about hundred years ago, in Vedic marriages, the taste and character of the boy and girl were first of all matched, and then they were allowed to marry. This was done under the direction of the respective parents. The parents used to astrologically determine the character and tastes of the boy and girl, and when they corresponded, the match was selected. Other considerations were less important.

Womanly love is just to agitate the mind of man. Actually, in the material world there is no love. Both the woman and the man are interested in their sense gratification. For sense gratification a woman creates an illusory love, and the man becomes enchanted by such false love and forgets his real duty. When there are children as the result of such a combination, the next attraction is to the sweet words of the children. The love of the woman at home and the talk of the children make one a secure prisoner, and thus he cannot leave his home. Such a person is termed, in Vedic language, a grhamedhi, which means “one whose center of attraction is home.” Grhastha refers to one who lives with family, wife and children, but whose real purpose of living is to develop Krsna consciousness or transcendent consciousness. One is therefore advised to become a grhastha and not a grhamedhi. The grhastha’s concern is to get out of the family life created by illusion and enter into real family life with Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas the grhamedhi’s business is to repeatedly chain himself to so-called family life, in one life after another, and perpetually remain in the darkness of maya (illusory energy).

The human being is a social animal, and his unrestricted mixing with the fair sex leads to downfall. Such social freedom of man and woman, especially among the younger section, is certainly a great stumbling block on the path of spiritual progress. Material bondage is due only to sexual bondage, and therefore unrestricted association of man and woman is surely a great impediment. A desire to maintain body, wife and children is also observed in animal society. The animals have full intelligence to manage such affairs. If a human being is simply advanced in this respect, what is the difference between him and an animal? One should be very careful to understand that this human life is attained after many, many births in the evolutionary process. A learned man who gives up the bodily conception of life will, by the enlightenment of spiritual knowledge, become a prominent individual spirit soul, as the Supreme Lord is also. The point is that one should use one’s reason to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for that is the perfection of human life.

“Just try to understand the mighty strength of My maya in the shape of woman, who by the mere movement of her eyebrows can keep even the greatest conquerors of the world under her grip.” Srimad-Bhagavatam

The Original Cause of Creation

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verything is happening by the energy of the Supreme Lord.

The atheistic philosophers, who do not agree to accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the original cause of creation, think that the material world moves by the action

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and reaction of different material elements. But one cannot produce life by such interaction of chemicals.

There are 8,400,000 different species of life, with different wishes and different actions. How the material force is working cannot be explained

just on the basis of chemical reaction.

Behind all material action and reaction there is Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The material creation is set up by the Lord, but He remains aloof, He simply glanced over it, and the agitation of matter

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immediately began. In Bhagavad-gita it is said that the Lord impregnates the material energy with the partand-parcel living entities, and thus the different forms and different activities immediately ensue. Because of the different desires and activities of the soul, different types of bodies in different species are produced.

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In Darwin’s theory there is no acceptance of the living entity as spirit soul, and therefore his explanation of evolution is incomplete. Varieties of phenomena occur within this universe on account of the actions and reactions, but the original creator or the cause, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

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Mystic Powers

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he inhabitants of both Siddhaloka and Vidyadhara-loka (upper level planets of the universe) are naturally endowed with mystic yogic powers by which they not only can fly in outer space without a vehicle but can also fly from one planet to another simply by exerting their will. Just as fish can swim within water, the residents of Vidyadhara-loka can swim in the ocean of air. As far as the inhabitants of Siddhaloka are concerned, they are endowed with all mystic powers.

By regularly practicing the yogic processes one after another, the yogis attain various perfections; they can become smaller than the smallest, heavier than the heaviest, they can even manufacture a planet, get whatever they like and control whatever man they want. All the residents of Siddhaloka are naturally endowed with these mystic yogic powers. It is certainly a very wonderful thing if we see a person on this planet flying in the sky without a vehicle, but in Vidyadhara-loka such flying is as commonplace as a bird’s flying in the sky. Similarly, in Siddhaloka all the inhabitants are great yogis, perfect in mystic powers.

It is said that the inhabitants of Kimpurusa-loka can perform many wonderful mystic demonstrations. In other words, they can exhibit as many wonderful things as one can imagine. The inhabitants of this planet can do whatever they like, or whatever they imagine. Such powers are also mystic powers. The demons generally learn such mystic powers by the practice of yoga. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, there is a vivid description of how the demons appear before Krsna in various wonderful forms. For instance, Bakasura (demon in the transcendental pastimes of Krsna) appeared before Krsna and His cowherd boyfriends as a gigantic crane. While present on this planet, Lord Krsna had to fight with many demons who could exhibit the wonderful mystic powers of Kimpurusa-loka. Although the inhabitants of Kimpurusa-loka are naturally endowed with such powers, one can attain these powers on this planet by performing different yogic practices.

That should be the aim.

That we are eternal soul. We must be again replaced in our eternal life. People are engaged in that way. Simply trying to get happiness and avoid distress, and forgetting that he has got a mission of life, to realize his self and go back to home, back to Godhead. This is the defect of the modern civilization.

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“Others also, the inhabitants of planets known as Kimpurusa-loka, made the demon Maya into a calf, and they milked out mystic powers by which one can disappear immediately from another’s vision and appear again in a different form.” Srimad-Bhagavatam

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Plan of Material Nature

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his material world was created for the use of the living entities, but it was created according to a plan that all living entities who might come into it to dominate it for sense gratification would be given directions in the Vedas in order that they might ultimately leave it and return home, back to Godhead. All necessities grown on earth—namely fruits, flowers, trees, grains, animals and animal byproducts—were created for use in sacrifice for the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although there are immense potencies within the earth for the production of grains, fruits and flowers, this production is checked by the earth itself when it is misused by non-devotees, who have no spiritual goals. Everything belongs to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and everything can be used for His satisfaction. Things should not be used for the sense gratification of the living entities. This is the whole plan of material nature according to the directions of this material nature. The whole Vedic plan is

In the material world, to be dependent on the mercy of someone else is the utmost sign of misfortune, but in the case of our transcendental relation with the Lord, it is the most fortunate case when we can live completely dependent on Him. The material disease is due to thinking of becoming independent of everything.

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that the misguided conditioned souls who have come to lord it over material nature should be trained to become a devotee of the Lord. This means that they should take a vow to satisfy their senses or enjoy material life only by satisfying the senses of the Supreme Lord. One can attempt all kinds of work, but one should do so to satisfy Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In modern times, however, people have forgotten Krsna altogether, and they conduct their activities for sense gratification. Such people will gradually become poverty-stricken, for they cannot use things, which are to be enjoyed by the Supreme Lord for their own sense gratification. If they continue like this, there will ultimately be a state of poverty, and no grains, fruits or flowers will be produced. Indeed, it is stated in the Bhagavatam that at the end of Kali-yuga (present age of quarrel and hypocrisy) people will be so polluted that there will no longer be any grains, wheat, sugarcane or milk.

“We accept as blessings different states of higher life, distinguishing them from lower states of life, but we should know that such distinctions exist only in relation to the interchange of the modes of material nature. Actually, these states of life have no permanent existence, for all of them will be destroyed by the supreme controller”. Srimad-Bhagavatam

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“In modern civilization people are very much interested in exploiting the resources of material nature through the methods of science. Indeed, this is considered advancement. This is not actually advancement, however, but is simply pleasing to hear. Although we are advancing according to such concocted methods, we are forgetting our real purpose. Such a civilization is condemned because it does not lead humanity toward knowing the real goal of life. People are simply wasting time and the valuable gift of the human form because a human being who does not cultivate spiritual life but dies like the cats and dogs is degraded in his next life. From human life, such a person is put into the cycle of continuous birth and death. Thus one loses the true benefit of human life, which is to become Krsna conscious and solve life’s problems.”

Real Civilization

(from conversation of Srila Prabhupada on May 1977 in Hrishikesh, India) Prabhupada: Everyone has got body. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said, «After this body is finished, another body is given» because atma (living entity) is eternal. The atma has no birth, no death, and neither he is dead after the annihilation of this body. But we are putting ourselves in this condition of repetition of birth and death. Once we take birth, and again we annihilate this body. This ignorance of self-realization must be removed. This body should not be misused like animals. The dog, cat, or doglike man, catlike man, they may remain in ignorance. They have no chance although they have got two hands, two legs, but because there is no knowledge. There are innumerable living entities. These jivas, living entities, part and parcel of God. Just like the sunshine. The sunshine, this is very atomic parts of the sun brightness. They are individual, but they are combined. So similarly, God is compared with the sun, and we are atomic particles of God, the same thing in a very small portion. You take the tip of the hair and divide it into ten thousand parts, and that one part is the formation of the jiva. You cannot count how many there are. Majority of

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them, they live in the spiritual world, just like majority of the population of the state, they live outside the prison house. Prison house means some of the citizens who are criminals, they are put into the jail. Similarly, these living entities who are criminals, means who have rebelled against the order of God, they are sent here, in this material world. So they are suffering one term after another.

For sense gratification the hogs and dogs, they also work very hard and then enjoy senses. So this body is not meant for that purpose. You are thinking that you are working so hard, and big skyscraper building and nice motorcar, nice roads.

Electricity you have discovered. You are very advanced. So much hard labor for sense gratification? This is not good. Then what it is meant for?

So human life is meant for tapasya, self-realization. A living entity must be purified from the contamination of the material modes of nature by tapasya (austerity). That is real civilization. Your existence will be purified. Now your existence is not purified. Therefore you have to accept birth and death, old age and disease. So here is the chance

to purify your existence. You are hankering after happiness, but if you purify your existence, then you get unlimited happiness of Brahman (the greatest, unlimited). There is no end.

Here, whatever happiness you are getting, that is not unlimited. That limited happiness is available in the life of cats and dogs also.

One who has understood Krsna he is mahatma (great soul). If you get the chance of getting such mahatma, then try to give him service. Then your path of liberation will be open. Those who are after sense gratification, if you associate with them, then you are going to the darkness. Two ways are open - now make your choice. Everything is given, information, in the Bhagavadgita and all other sastras (scriptures).

Bhagavad-gita is the gist of all Vedas and Upanisads, Vedanta.

Veda means knowledge. Anta means the end of knowledge. The end of knowledge is to understand Krsna.

In order to come to the position of that mahatma, one has to render service to Vasudeva (another name of the Lord). Real life means vairagya (renunciation) and renunciation must be based on knowledge.

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Discriminate Charity

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At the present moment we have discovered so many services - national service, communal service, and this service, that service - but nobody is recommending service of God. This is the diseased condition.

Therefore, we are suffering.

hat gift which is given out of duty, at the proper time and place, to a worthy person, and without expectation of return, is considered to be charity in the mode of goodness. In the Vedic literature, charity given to a person engaged in spiritual activities is recommended. There is no recommendation for giving charity indiscriminately. Spiritual perfection is always a consideration. Therefore charity is recommended to be given at a place of pilgrimage and at lunar or solar eclipses or at the end of the month or to a qualified Vaisnava (devotee) or in temples. Such charities should be given without any consideration of return.

Charity to the poor is sometimes given out of compassion, but if a poor man is not worth giving charity to, then there is no spiritual advancement. In other words, indiscriminate charity is not recommended in the Vedic literature.

Charity performed with the expectation of some return, or with a desire for fruitive results, or in a grudging mood, is said to be charity in the mode of passion. Charity is sometimes performed for elevation to the heavenly kingdom and sometimes with great trouble and with repentance afterwards. «Why have I spent so much in this way?» Charity is also sometimes made under some obligation, at the request of a superior. These kinds

of charity are said to be made in the mode of passion. There are many charitable foundations which offer their gifts to institutions where sense gratification goes on. Such charities are not recommended in the Vedic scripture. Only charity in the mode of goodness is recommended.

And charity performed at an improper place and time and given to unworthy persons without respect and with contempt is charity in the mode of ignorance. Contributions for indulgence in intoxication and gambling are not encouraged. That sort of contribution is in the mode of ignorance. Such charity is not beneficial; rather, sinful persons are encouraged. Similarly, if a person gives charity to a suitable person without respect and without attention, that sort of charity is also said to be in the mode of darkness.

The highest perfectional work of charity is to give people in general immunity from the anxieties of material existence. This can be done only by performing activities in devotional service to the Lord. Cultivation of the knowledge in the Vedas, performance of sacrifice, and distribution of munificent charities all together cannot form even a part of the immunity from the pangs of material existence that is gained from devotional service.

“One who is sufficiently intelligent should use the human form of body from the very beginning of life—in other words, from the tender age of childhood—to practice the activities of devotional service, giving up all other engagements. The human body is most rarely achieved, and although temporary like other bodies, it is meaningful because in human life one can perform devotional service. Even a slight amount of sincere devotional service can give one complete perfection.” Srimad-Bhagavatam

Human Form of Body

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n the first night of conception, the sperm and ovum mix, and on the fifth night the mixture ferments into a bubble. On the tenth night it develops into a form like a plum, and after that, it gradually turns into a lump of flesh or an egg, as the case may be. The body of the soul develops in four different ways according to its different sources.

One kind of body, that of the trees and plants, sprouts from the earth; the second kind of body grows from perspiration, as with flies, germs and bugs; the third kind of body develops from eggs; and the fourth develops from an embryo. In the course of a month, a head is formed, and at the end of two months the hands,

“Acts of sacrifice, charity and penance are not to be given up but should be performed.

Indeed, sacrifice, charity and penance purify even the great souls.”

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

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feet and other limbs take shape. By the end of three months, the nails, fingers, toes, body hair, bones and skin appear, as do the organ of generation and the other apertures in the body, namely the eyes, nostrils, ears, mouth and anus. Within four months from the date of conception, the seven essential ingredients of the body, namely chyle, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow and semen, come into existence. At the end of five months, hunger and thirst make themselves felt, and at the end of six months, the fetus, enclosed by the amnion, begins to move on the right side of the abdomen.

Deriving its nutrition from the food and drink taken by the mother,

the fetus grows and remains in that abominable residence of stools and urine, which is the breeding place of all kinds of worms. In the Markandeya Purana (the Vedic texts) it is said that in the intestine of the mother the umbilical cord, which joins the mother to the abdomen of the child, and through this passage the child within the womb accepts the mother’s assimilated foodstuff.

In this way the child is fed by the mother’s intestine within the womb and grows from day to day. The statement of the Markandeya Purana about the child’s situation within the womb is exactly corroborated Continued on Page 52

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by modern medical science. Since the child depends completely on the assimilated foodstuff of the mother, during pregnancy there are restrictions on the food taken by the mother. Too much salt, chili, onion and similar food is forbidden for the pregnant mother because the child’s body is too delicate and new for him to tolerate such pungent food. Bitten again and again all over the body by the hungry worms in the abdomen itself, the child suffers terrible agony because of his tenderness. He thus becomes unconscious moment after moment because of the terrible condition. The miserable condition of material existence is not only felt when we come out of the womb of the mother, but is also present

within the womb. Miserable life begins from the moment the living entity begins to contact his material body. Unfortunately, we forget this experience and do not take the miseries of birth very seriously. The child thus remains just like a bird in a cage, without freedom of movement.

At that time, if the child is fortunate, he can remember all the troubles of his past one hundred births, and he grieves wretchedly. What is the possibility of peace of mind in that condition? After birth the child may forget about the difficulties of his past lives, but when we are grownup we can at least understand the grievous tortures undergone at birth and death by reading the authorized scriptures like Srimad-Bhagavatam.

If we do not believe in the scriptures,

Just Prior to Death

that is a different question, but if we have faith in the authority of such descriptions, then we must prepare for our freedom in the next life; that is possible in this human form of life. One who does not take heed of these indications of suffering in human existence is undoubtedly committing suicide. This human form of life is the only means for crossing over the nescience of material existence. We have a very efficient boat in this human form of body, and there is a very expert captain, the spiritual master; the scriptural injunctions are like favorable winds. If we do not cross over the ocean of the nescience of material existence in spite of all these facilities, then certainly we are all intentionally committing suicide.

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The King of All Education

A “He who follows this imperishable path of devotional service and who completely engages himself with faith, making Me the supreme goal, is very, very dear to Me.” Bhagavad-gita As It Is

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person who has completely ended the reactions of all sinful activities and who is fully engaged in pious activities, being freed from the duality of this material world, becomes engaged in devotional service (bhakti-yoga) to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna. For those who are engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all sinful reactions, whether fructified, in the stock, or in the form of a seed, gradually vanish. Therefore the purifying potency of devotional service is very strong. Devotional activities are never to be considered material, although sometimes it appears that devotees are engaged just like ordinary men. They are all spiritual and devotional, uncontaminated by the material modes of nature.

The execution of devotional service is so perfect that one can perceive the results directly.

This direct result is actually perceived, and we have practical experience that any person who is chanting the holy names of Krsna (Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare) in course of time feels some transcendental pleasure and very quickly becomes purified of all material contamination. Furthermore, if one engages not only in hearing but in trying to broadcast the message of devotional activities as well, or if he engages himself in helping the missionary activities of Krsna consciousness or transcendent consciousness, he gradually feels spiritual progress. In the Vedanta-sutra this is also described in the following words: «Devotional service is so potent that simply by engaging in the activities of devotional service, one becomes enlightened without a doubt.»

This devotional service is eternally existing. When the devotee goes to the spiritual planet in the kingdom of God, he is also engaged there in serving the Supreme Lord. He does not try to become one with the Supreme Lord. By executing devotional service (bhakti-yoga), one can understand the Supreme Lord. No one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead by executing any other yoga independently. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is confirmed that when one becomes purified by executing the process of devotional service, especially by hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam or Bhagavadgita from realized souls, then he can understand the science of Krsna or the science of God. When one’s heart is cleared of all nonsense, then one can understand what God is. Thus the process of devotional service, of Krsna consciousness, is the king of all education and the king of all confidential knowledge. It is the purest form of religion, and it can be executed joyfully without difficulty.

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“Despite your unwillingness to die and your desire to live even at the cost of honor and prestige, your miserly body will certainly dwindle and deteriorate like an old garment.”

Srimad-Bhagavatam

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he period of life just prior to death is certainly very dangerous because usually at this time people are attacked by the weakness of old age as well as many kinds of disease. When a man is young, he does not care for old age, but enjoys sex to the best of his satisfaction, not knowing that at the end of life his sexual indulgence will bring on various diseases, which so much disturb the body that one will pray for immediate death. The more one enjoys sex during youth, the more he suffers in old age. As one’s body engages in sense gratification, it becomes weaker and weaker daily. When death finally comes, one leaves the body devoid of spiritual assets. At the present time, even the oldest man in the family does not leave home, being attracted by wife, children, money, opulence, dwelling, etc. Thus at the end of life one worries about how his wife will be protected and how she will manage the great family responsibilities. In this way a man usually thinks of his wife before death. According to Bhagavadgita: “Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” At the end of life, a person thinks of what he has done throughout his whole life; thus he gets another body according to his thoughts and desires at the end of life. One overly addicted to life at home naturally thinks of his beloved wife at the end of life. Consequently, in the next life he gets the body of a woman, and he also acquires the results of his pious or impious activities.

When an attached person in family life becomes old and is unable to earn, he is no longer liked by his wife, sons, daughters and other kinsmen, and he is consequently neglected, what to speak of not being given respect. It is judicious, therefore, to give up family attachment before one attains old age and take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One should employ himself in the Lord’s service so that the Supreme Lord can take charge of him, and he will not be neglected by his so-called kinsmen.

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TO REVIVE TRANSCENDENT CONSCIOUSNESS

The Real Purpose of Life

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n modern civilization people are very much interested in exploiting the resources of material nature through the methods of science. Indeed, this is considered advancement. This is not actually advancement. Although we are advancing according to such concocted methods, we are forgetting our real purpose. Bhaktivinoda Thakura (18381914, prominent spiritual preceptor) therefore says: “Materialistic studies are the glare of maya (illusory energy) only, for they are an obstacle to spiritual progress.” The temporary comforts of life experienced either on this planet or on other planets are all to be taken as illusory because they do not touch the real purpose of life.

The real purpose of life is to go back home, back to Godhead. Ignorant of the real purpose of life, people take to either gross materialistic activities or ritualistic activities. Actually the aim of human life should be God realization, or Krsna consciousness.

People do not know about their

real home in the spiritual world.

In the spiritual world there are many Vaikuntha planets, and the topmost planet is Krsnaloka, Goloka Vrndavana. Despite the so-called advancement of civilization, there is no information of the Vaikunthalokas, the spiritual planets. At the present moment so-called advanced civilized men are trying to go to other planets, but they do not know that even if they go to the highest planetary system, Brahmaloka, they have to come back again to this planet. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita: “From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again”. Space vehicles may go very high in the sky, but as soon as their fuel is finished, they have to return to this earthly planet. All these activities are performed in illusion. The real attempt should now be to return home, back to Godhead. The process

WITHIN THE ENTIRE HUMAN SOCIETY

is mentioned in Bhagavad-gita that those who engage in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead return home, back to Godhead. Human life is very valuable, and one should not waste it in vain exploration of other planets. One should be intelligent enough to return to Godhead. One should be interested in information about the spiritual Vaikuntha planets, and in particular the planet known as Goloka Vrndavana (topmost planet of the spiritual world), and should learn the art of going there by the simple method of devotional service, beginning with hearing the names and glories of the Supreme Being. This is also confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam: one can go to the supreme planet simply by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra. It is the special advantage of this age that simply by chanting the Hare Krsna mahamantra one can become purified of all material contamination and return home, back to Godhead. There is no doubt about this.

IS THE HIGHEST WELFARE WORK

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he whole material world is full of hungry living beings. The hunger is not for good food, shelter or sense gratification, but the hunger is actually for spiritual food, spiritual shelter and spiritual sense gratification. A person engaged only in ministering to the physical welfare of human society cannot factually help anyone. Temporary relief of the external body and the mind is not satisfactory. In the name of philanthropy, altruism and communism, people are feeling compassion for suffering humanity throughout the world. It is impossible to improve people’s material conditions because material conditions are already established by the superior administration according to one’s karma.

The only benefit we can render to suffering beings is to try to raise them to transcendent consciousness.

One who performs sacrifices or charity with a spiritual objective makes a perfect sacrifice. As you deposit tax to the state and it is distributed throughout the whole state, similarly, if your fruitive result is offered to the Supreme Lord, then your fruitive result is distributed to everyone.

We humbly appeal to you to support the cause and help to propagate the transcendent knowledge to the suffering humanity. When you donate and/or subscribe, you make a greatest contribution to the nonprofit activity – sharing with you and people in general the science of spirit soul and the ultimate knowledge of the Transcendent Truth, which alone can solve all calamities of one’s life.

The magazine is based on the Vedic knowledge, the purpose of which is to propagate the science of the Transcendent Truth. Since human life is the opportunity to get free from all material miseries, it is properly guided by the knowledge of the Vedas, in the matters of both material needs and spiritual salvation. The Vedas contain regulative principles of knowledge covering social, political, religious, economic, military, medicinal, chemical, physical and metaphysical subject matter. The human being is seeking happiness but he is vainly seeking happiness in the material atmosphere. A living being is constitutionally a spiritual spark of the complete whole, and his happiness can be perfectly perceived in spiritual activities. Anyone who is in this material world is extremely anxious to get more and more things for sense gratification. However, the purpose of life is not sense gratification but self-realization.

A human being should realize the aim of his life, and this direction is given in all Vedic literatures. The magazine is based on the Vedic literatures and published six times a year. The subscription price is $35. When you donate and/ or subscribe, you become part of the highest welfare activity which is to awaken transcendent consciousness throughout the whole human society.

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“Those who are less intelligent accept the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies as all in all. They do not know that the purpose of the Vedas is to understand one’s own home, where the Supreme Personality of Godhead lives. Not being interested in their real home, they are illusioned and search after other homes.” Srimad-Bhagavatam

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Combination of Superior and Inferior Natures

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hatever is created is but a combination of the living entity and material nature.

There are many manifestations like trees, mountains and hills, which are not moving, and there are many existences, which are moving, and all of them are but combinations of material nature and superior nature, the living entity. Without the touch of the superior nature, the living entity, nothing can grow. Therefore, the relationship between matter and nature is eternally going on, and this combination is effected by the Supreme Lord; therefore He is the controller of both the superior and inferior natures. The material nature is created by Him, and the superior nature is placed in this material nature, and thus all these activities and manifestations take place.

Anyone who can see three things-the body, the proprietor of the body, or individual soul, and the friend of the individual soul, Supersoul, combined together by good association-is actually in knowledge. Those who are not associated with the soul’s friend are ignorant; they simply see the body, and when the body is destroyed they think that everything is finished, but actually it is not so. After the destruction of the body, both the soul and the Supersoul exist, and they go on eternally in many various moving and unmoving forms. They are not destroyed. One who can see in this way can actually see what is happening.

“The ritualistic ceremonies of atonement recommended in the religious scriptures are insufficient to cleanse the heart absolutely because after atonement one’s mind again runs toward material activities. Consequently, for one who wants liberation from the fruitive reactions of material activities, the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra, or glorification of the name, fame and pastimes of the Lord, is recommended as the most perfect process of atonement because such chanting eradicates the dirt from one’s heart completely.” Srimad-Bhagavatam

If You Want To Stop a Crime

(from conversation of Srila Prabhupada with Lt. Mozee, Media Relationship of Chicago Police Department, on July 1975 in Chicago) Prabhupada: It is fact that one man is very pious and one man is very vicious. What is the difference? The difference is: one is dirty in his heart and one is pure in his heart. So if you keep people dirty, then there will be crimes. So you have to purify the dirty things, diseased condition.

Then things will be all right. So our simplest process is to assemble in congregation and chant the holy name of God. Then dirty things will go away. So if you want to stop crime, then you have to arrange for mass sankirtana. That is our movement. Gather people as large as can be possible and congregationally chant the holy name of God. Lt. Mozee: Do you have any feeling about the crime here in the United States as opposed to the crime in your own land?

Prabhupada: Crime, what is your definition of crime?

“O chief of the Bharatas, whatever you see in existence, both moving and unmoving, is only the combination of the field of activities and the knower of the field.”

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

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Lt. Mozee: Any infraction against one person by another person. Any trampling on the rights of one person by another person can be a crime or should be a crime.

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Continued from Page 57

We have to transfer, because we are giving up this body. So you must accept another body.

So either in this planet or in other planets or as human being or less than human being.

There are 8,400,000 types of body. You have to accept one of them according to your karma. How the next body is developed, that is depending on our work. If we work like demigod, then we go and get the body of demigod. And if we work like dog, then we get the body of a dog.

According to activity and association of the modes of material nature, we get, up and down, different varieties of body. Some of them are low grade, some of them are high grade. That depends on our association with the modes of nature.

So we have to know how to associate. If we associate with the goodness, then we are elevated to the higher planetary system. And if we associate with passion, then in the middle, just like human being. And if we associate with ignorance, then go down like animal, trees, plants, like that.

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Prabhupada: Our definition is the same in the Upanisad that everything belongs to God. As you think everything belongs to the state, we think everything belongs to God. So you can utilize your possession, what is allotted to you. Do not encroach upon others. So people are not thinking in that way. First beginning is that you Americans, you are thinking this America land is your, although two hundred years ago it was not your. You have come from other parts of the world. Now you are claiming it is your land. But actually it is God’s land. So God’s land belongs to everyone. Everyone is God’s children.

That is our broad conception. So people have no conception of God. Everyone is practically godless. Therefore they should be educated about God. Just like in America your government says, «We trust in God.» But where is the education about God? Simply, trust is also good, very good, but simple trust will not endure unless you know scientifically what is God. That education is lacking.

Lt. Mozee: Do you feel, sir, that it is lacking only here in the United States?

Prabhupada: Everywhere. This is the age of forgetting God. We say it is Kali-yuga. Kali-yuga means the age of misunderstanding. And that is, I said, dirty things within the heart. So God is so powerful that if we chant the holy name of God, then we become purified. So our movement is based on this principle, chant the holy name of God. So if the government authorities give us facilities for this business, that we hold mass sankirtana, Hare Krsna, and give them little prasadam, then we are sure the whole place will change.

Lt. Mozee: If I understand you then correctly, sir, you would say that the emphasis should be returned to the religious aspects.

Prabhupada: Certainly. Without religious aspect what is the difference between dog and man? Man can be turned to be a religious man, the dog cannot be. So if you keep the human society to the status of dogs and cats, how you can

expect peaceful society? If you bring one dozen of dogs and if you want to keep them peacefully, is it possible? So if we keep human society as dogs, then how you can expect peacefulness? So therefore it is the duty of the authority, of the government, of the elderly person, father, guardian, to teach the subordinate how to become God conscious. Otherwise, there will be trouble because there is no difference between dogs and man in every respect. The dog eats, we eat. The dog sleeps, we sleep. The dog have sex, we have sex. The dog also tries to defend itself, we also try to defend ourselves.

These are common factors. The only difference is the dog cannot be instructed about his relation with God, but man can be instructed.

Lt. Mozee: I do not see the vast differences between the spiritual beliefs of one religious group as opposed to another.

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asked them to sit down, and chant Hare Krsna mantra, and distribute them little prasadam. This should be done in a mass scale, and then things will become very peaceful. It is fact.

Lt. Mozee: Would you say that it should be done in an area of affluence or an area of poverty to beginwith?

Prabhupada: There is no such condition that the only poor man will take benefit and the rich man, they do not require.

Everyone requires. Do you think that the criminality is only in the poorer section?

Lt. Mozee: Oh, no.

Prabhupada: Everyone is a criminal, either he is a poor man or rich man. So we

should not make such distinction. So our process is to cleanse the heart, not the opulence or poverty. To cleanse the heart.

If the poor man is cleansed in his heart he will not touch anybody’s property. I heard that King, Emperor Edward VII, his habit was to steal. So we have to change the habit by changing the heart. Many thieves, they have committed many times theft and put into the jail. So he knows that «If I commit theft, I will go to the jail.» He has practically seen it, and he knows it. Still, he steals. Why? Because heart is unclean.

So this process will cleanse the heart.

Unless he cleans the heart, you cannot stop criminality simply by laws. Laws are already known. The professional thief, he knows the law. The professional murderer, he knows the law. But still, he commits because heart is unclean. And our process, to cleanse the heart. Then all the troubles of this material world will be solved.

Prabhupada: We do not say that. We say that you follow any religious system.

Does not matter. But you understand God and love Him. That is our propaganda. We do not say that «You are Christian. This is not good. You come here.» We do not say. But our proposition is that either you are Christian or Muslim or Hindu, it does not matter. You understand God and love Him, that’s all.

Lt. Mozee: What words you may have that would assist us, my superintendent and my department, in the reduction of crime, other than, I recognize, that the first and the foremost way would be a return to God as you said, that there is no doubt about that. But is there something else that you may know or that you may feel that you may be able to say that would assist us in a reduction less than the ideal?

You analyze the body, but you won’t find the real soul or real life, although it is within you. But why you cannot find? It is very small. The formation of the soul, measurement of the soul is smaller than the atom. The tip of the hair you divide into hundred part, and take one part. Again divide it into hundred parts. That one part is the measurement of the soul. That means one ten thousandth part of the top of the hair. So how you can see? But that small particle is giving you living force. This knowledge we get from Bhagavad-gita, and that is the fact. You cannot get life by analyzing this material body. That is not possible.

You have to find out what is that small particle. You have to hear. Therefore you cannot get knowledge by your material activities. You have to hear it from the authorities; otherwise there is no possibility. Just like you cannot understand who is your father. You have to take the knowledge from your mother. If mother certifies, «This gentleman is your father,» that is correct. But if you go on researching who is your father you will never be able to know who is your father. Similarly, what is life, what is soul, what is body, what is the ultimate goal of life, why you are suffering - all this knowledge you have to take from the higher authorities. That is called Vedic process, not to endeavor by research. What you can research? Our fund of knowledge is very poor, limited. You cannot have perfect knowledge unless you hear from the authority.

Prabhupada: That I have already in the beginning said, that give us facilities, the authorities, to chant the holy name of God and distribute prasadam. Prasadam means some refreshment as remnants of foodstuff of God. Then it will make tremendous change. I came from India alone; now I have got so many followers.

So what did I do? I did the same thing. I Continued on Page 59

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«One who has unflinching devotion for the Personality of Godhead has all the good qualities of the demigods.

But one who is not a devotee of the Lord has only material qualifications that are of little value. This is because he is hovering on the mental plane and is certain to be attracted by the glaring material energy.» Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Twenty-six Qualities of a Devotee

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n Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Lord says that performing great sacrifices or undergoing the austerities of mystic yoga practice cannot satisfy Him. He is pleased only by elevated character and behavior. But these cannot develop unless one becomes a pure devotee of the Lord.

Anyone who has developed unalloyed, unflinching devotional service unto the Lord develops his original good qualities

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as spirit soul. The spirit soul, as part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has all the good qualities of the Lord. When the spirit soul is contaminated by the material modes of nature, one is considered good or bad with reference to the material qualities. But when one is transcendental to all material qualities, all Continued on Page 61

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Continued from Page 60

the good qualities come out. These qualities of a devotee, twenty-six in number, are listed as follows: (1) kind to everyone, (2) does not quarrel with anyone, (3) fixed in the Absolute Truth, (4) equal to everyone, (5) faultless, (6) charitable, (7) mild, (8) clean, (9) simple, (10) benevolent, (11) peaceful, (12) completely attached to Krsna,

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(13) has no material hankering, (14) meek, (15) steady, (16) self-controlled, (17) does not eat more than required, (18) sane, (19) respectful, (20) humble, (21) grave, (22) compassionate, (23) friendly, (24) poetic, (25) expert, (26) silent. The Lord is satisfied by development of the transcendental qualities of the living entity and not by artificial performance of sacrifices and mystic yoga.

Just like a good child.

He has decided, «I shall do only what my father says.» Then he is safe. And as soon as he misuses his little independence, he is complicated. So decide like that, that «I shall not do anything which is not ordered

by Krsna.» Then it is all right. Otherwise you’ll suffer. Simply do what Krsna says; then you are safe. Why don’t you do that? That is also independence. You are misusing independence.

Then you must suffer.

The government says, «Do according to the law.» Then you are safe.

Government will give all protection. And if you violate law, you must suffer.

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Enemies of a Living Entity

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he reason why pure souls come into the existential circumstances of the material world, which is considered to be the criminal department of the Supreme Lord, is stated in Bhagavad-gita. It is stated that as long as a living entity is pure, he is in complete harmony with the desires of the Supreme Lord, but as soon as he becomes impure he is in disharmony with the desires of the Lord. By contamination he is forced to transfer to this material world, where the living entities have three enemies, namely desire, anger and lust. These three enemies force the living entities to continue material existence, and when one is free from them he is eligible to enter the kingdom of God. One should not, therefore, be angry in the absence of an opportunity for sense gratification, and one should not be lusty to acquire more than necessary.

There are two things in the world which can satisfy living beings. When one is materially engrossed, he is satisfied only by sense gratification, but when one is liberated from the conditions of the material modes, he is satisfied only by rendering loving service for the satisfaction of the Lord.

Being illusioned by the conditions of the external energy, one falsely thinks himself to be the served, but actually he is not served; he is servant of the senses like lust, desire, anger, avarice, pride, madness and intolerance. When one is in his proper senses by attainment of spiritual knowledge, he realizes that he is not the master of the material world, but is only a servant of the senses. At that time he begs for the service of the Lord and thus becomes happy without being illusioned by so-called material happiness.

A living entity is eternal and, as such, qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord. Then what is the reason he falls prey to the material and commits so many sinful activities by the influence of the material energy? In reply to this question, Lord Krsna in the Bhagavad-gita said that it is lust which causes a living entity to glide down from his exalted position to the abominable condition of material existence. This lust circumstantially changes into anger. Lust is the product of the mode of passion, and in the absence of satisfaction of lust, the same desire transforms into anger on the platform of ignorance. When ignorance covers the soul, it is the source of his degradation to the most abominable condition of hellish life. To raise oneself from hellish life to the highest position of spiritual understanding is to transform this lust into love of Krsna. Sri Narottama dasa Thakura (15th century great spiritual leader of the Vaisnava tradition) said that due to our lust, we want many things for our sense gratification, but the same lust can be transformed in a purified way so that we want everything for the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As we have fallen into this material existence because of our lust and anger, the same two qualities can be utilized for the purpose of advancing in Krsna consciousness or transcendent consciousness, and one can elevate himself again to his former pure, spiritual position.

“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.” Bhagavad-gita As It Is

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Just like a man.

When he’s alive his decoration, his nice dress, everything is very good. But if he’s dead, then it is useless.

Similarly, without spiritual consciousness we are dead. Because the body is dead.

Because the spirit soul is there, therefore it is moving. The important point is the spirit soul.

So if you are simply taking care of the body very nicely, that means you are decorating the dead body. What is the value of it? Similarly, without spiritual knowledge, this dead civilization simply on the bodily concept of life, it is ludicrous.

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Diameter of the Universe

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his phenomenal material world is expanded to a diameter of four billion miles.

The entire material world is a display of sixteen diversities and eight material elements. The first sixteen diversities are the eleven senses (the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, touch, voice, legs, hands, the anus, the genitals and the mind) and five sense objects (smell, taste, warmth, touch and sound), and the eight elements are the gross and subtle matter, namely earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind, intelligence and ego. All these combined together are distributed throughout the entire universe, which extends diametrically to four billion miles. Besides this universe of our experience, there are innumerable other universes. Some of them are bigger than the present one, and all of them are clustered together under similar material element. The layers or elements covering the universes are each ten times thicker than the one before, and all the universes clustered together appear like atoms in a huge combination. The coverings of the universes are also constituted of the elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether, and each is ten times thicker than the one before. The first covering of the universe is earth, and it is ten times thicker than the universe itself. If the universe is four billion miles in size, then the size of the earthly covering of the universe is four billion times ten. The covering of water is ten times greater than the earthly covering, the covering of fire is ten times greater than the watery covering, the covering of air is ten times greater than that of the fire, the covering of ether is ten times greater still than that of air, and so on. The universe within the coverings of matter appears to be like an atom in comparison to the coverings, and the number of universes is unknown even to those who can estimate the coverings of the universes.

“The diameter of the universe is four billion miles. Therefore, since the sun is in the middle of the universe, the distance between the sun and the edge of the universe is calculated to be two billion miles.� Srimad-Bhagavatam

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So our Vedic process is like that. We do not make any research. It is not possible to come to the right knowledge by so-called research, because our senses are imperfect. Just like we see through the telescope and we come under certain conclusion, but the fact is that I am the same person seeing through the telescope, and telescope is also manufactured by me or by you. So machine is imperfect and my seeing power is also imperfect. Then how you can have perfect knowledge? The imperfect person is seeing through the imperfect machine.

Then how we can conclude perfect knowledge? This is not possible. Therefore the method is, according to the Vedic knowledge, that if you want perfect knowledge, then you should approach the perfect person, guru.

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An Ocean of Ignorance

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he living entity is ignorant of his origin. He does not know why this material world was created, why others are working in this material world and what the ultimate source of this manifestation is.

No philosopher, scientist or politician actually knows wherefrom we have come, why we are here struggling so hard for existence and where we will go. Generally people are of the opinion that we are all here accidentally and that as soon as these bodies are finished all our dramatic activities will be finished and we will become zero. In this material world we have many nice facilities for living, but we are so foolish that we do not ask who has made this world habitable for us and has arranged it so nicely.

Everything is functioning in order, but people foolishly think that they are produced by chance in this material world and that after death they will become zero. The Bhagavatam says that we are all born ignorant within this material world. In our ignorance we may create nationalism, philanthropy, internationalism, science, philosophy and so many other things. The basic principle behind all these is ignorance. What then is the value of all this advancement of knowledge if the basic principle is ignorance? Unless a person comes to Krsna consciousness or transcendent consciousness, all of his activities are defeated. This human form of life is especially meant to dissipate ignorance, but without understanding how

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to dissipate ignorance people are planning and building many things. After death, however, all of this is finished.

Actually everyone is suffering within this material world due to ignorance. Every day we see that a person without knowledge commits some criminal act and is later arrested and punished, despite the fact that he actually may not have been conscious of his sinful activity. Such ignorance prevails throughout the world.

People do not consider how they are risking their lives in an attempt to have illicit sex life, kill animals to satisfy their tongue, enjoy intoxication and gamble. It is very regrettable that the leaders of the world do not know of the effects of these sinful activities. They are instead taking things very easily and are succeeding in making the ocean of nescience wider and wider. Opposed to such ignorance, full knowledge is the greatest achievement within this material world. We can practically see that one who has sufficient knowledge is saved from many dangerous pitfalls in life. As stated in Bhagavad-gita: “When one actually becomes wise, he surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a great soul is very rarely to be found.� The greatest danger is the danger of getting a body lower than that of a human being. It was with great difficulty that we attained this human form of life just to take advantage of this body and reestablish our relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

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uman society has made rapid progress in the fields of material comforts, education and economic development throughout the entire world. But there is a pinprick somewhere in the social body at large, and therefore there are large-scale quarrels, even over less important issues. There is need of a clue as to how humanity can become one in peace, friendship and prosperity with a common cause. The Vedic literature will fill this need, for it is a cultural presentation for the re-spiritualization of the entire human society.

This transcendental science is not only for knowing the ultimate source of everything but also for knowing our relation with Him and our duty toward perfection of the human society on the basis of this perfect Vedic knowledge.

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada introduced to the Western world the science of the spirit soul and the knowledge of the Transcendent Truth through the Vedic literature such as: • Bhagavad-gita As It Is • Srimad-Bhagavatam, 18 volumes • Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, 9 volumes • Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, 2 volumes • The Nectar of Devotion • Sri Isopanisad • Teachings of Lord Caitanya • The Nectar of Instruction • Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahuti • Teachings of Queen Kunti • Light of the Bhagavata • The Journey of Self - Discovery • Transcendental Teachings of Prahlada Maharaja • A Second Chance: The Story of a Near-Death Experience and much more…

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