God's Gift to this world

All Pervading Sri Krishna

The ring, the bracelet and the earrings are made of gold. If you look at their external shapes you only see these shapes, if you look deeper you can see the gold that is the substratum within all of them. Remove the boundary between two fields, and there is only one field. Boundaries and divisions are artificial, and created by man.

When we stop fanning ourselves with a handheld fan, the flow of air stops. But it doesn't mean there is no air. When a light bulb burns out or a fan stops turning, it doesn't mean that there is no electricity. God is everywhere as Nirakara Brahman . He is both formless ( Nirakar) and with form ( Saguna Brahman or Bhagavan Sri Krishna) .

It is difficult for a person to connect with the formless "Nirguna Brahman" through Hatha-yoga and meditation , which need to be taught by God realized Rishis . It takes many years to attain these skills . Moreover, in this Kali-yuga , Rishis are not readily available .

Knowing these difficulties, the Supreme God has made Himself available as Sri Krishna . Bhagavan Sri Krishna is God's gift to this world . Just by surrendering to Bhagavan ( SaranAgati) and chanting His names ( Nama-japa) , a Bhakta can easily attain Sri Krishna .

Krishna Experience

Will you get any milk by pressing the ears of a cow? Can you say there is milk in all parts of her body? Only her udder contains milk for us to drink, and we will get that only if we milk her. It's true that Bhagavan Krishna is everywhere, but to actually experience Him we have to connect to Him through Deity worship and Nama-japa .

"Worldly pleasures are like a candy that gives sweetness now, but ruins your teeth later. If you know Sri Krishna , you can enjoy sweetness all the time – and it is most beneficial to your body ,soul and your family .

Surrendering

Sri Krishna is the one who purifies your mind. Take refuge in Him and chant His names with faith . The names of Krishna will clean the dirt of your mind. Only Nama-japa can cleanse you.

Once we board a train, do we continue to carry our load and complain about how heavy it is? Take refuge in Sri Krishna and surrender everything to Bhagavan .

Please chant :

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

And be happy !!!

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya!! !

Result of failing to know Bhagavan Sri Krishna

Hare Krishna ! Pranams to Bhagavan Sri Krishna and Bhaktas,

Failing to have enough faith in Bhagavan Sri Krishna, or in getting to know Him, is not quite the same as you might find in some other faiths or religions wherein they say you will go to eternal hell if you are a non-believer, or you are an infidel worthy of death, or whatever. But failing to investigate Him and realize what is our final destination is considered a waste of this particular life. Bhagavan Krishna Himself explains:

· "One may be well versed in all the transcendental literature of the Vedas, but if he fails to be acquainted with the Supreme, then it must be concluded that all of his education is like the burden of a beast or like one's keeping a cow without milking capacity." (Bhagavatam. 11.11.18) .

· "Those who worship the Devas will take birth among the Devas ; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me." (Gita .9.25)

In this way we can begin to see the futility of following some materialistic path or a secondary spiritual method without the process for reaching an understanding of Bhagavan Krishna. "Among all the eternal, conscious beings, there is One who supplies the needs of everyone else. The wise who worship Him in His abode attain everlasting peace. Others cannot." (Katha Upanishad 2.2.13).

In this way, a person is allowed to proceed through life in the way he or she wants. Bhagavan Krishna allows each person to develop in their own way, and to continue wandering throughout the universe and through various activities until they begin to wonder about the purpose of life, or become ready for a deep spiritual path. Materialistic activities are not the way to find everlasting peace, and most of us need to discover that for ourselves. However, a person cannot be helped until he or she is ready. So, until then, they may be offered the spiritual knowledge they need, but they must decide for themselves how much of it they wish to utilize. Just as when Sri Krishna spoke the whole Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna, at the end of it He asked Arjuna what he wished to do. He had to make up his own mind. He was not forced to do anything. In the same way, we can only offer this knowledge for the benefit of humanity, and they can decide what they wish to do, or how long they wish to continue their existence in the material worlds.

"They are truly ignorant who, while imprisoned within the ceaseless flow of this world's material qualities, fail to know You (Sri Krishna) , the Supreme Soul of all that be, as their ultimate, sublime destination. Because of their ignorance, the entanglement of material work forces such souls to wander in the cycle of birth and death." (Bhagavatam. 10.85.15)

Therefore, regardless of what else we do, we should recognize how advantageous it is to add the process of engaging in devotional service to Bhagavan Krishna in this lifetime. We may not even be able to become perfect at it, but it nonetheless accelerates our spiritual development. Otherwise, regardless of what else we have accomplished materially, our life remains incomplete. "Caught in the grip of ignorance, self-proclaimed experts consider themselves learned authorities. They wander about this world befooled, like the blind leading the blind." (Katha Upanishad 1.2.5)

It is only through this spiritual education that we can understand our real identity and transcendental nature beyond the body and all material activities. Without that, we remain ignorant of our true potential and the final shelter that is awaiting us in the spiritual domain.

Please chant :

Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna , Hare Hare

and be happy !!!

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya !!!

How to Realize the Divinity Within?

This is the simplest question and yet the solution seems to be beyond all vocabulary and Intelligence of the whole universe put together. As a matter of fact, all questions seem the same way to me!

How to swim? The answer seems simple to start with … We would say, by steering the body in certain fashion using our limbs. But, if we really want to explain the same phenomena, the words and sentences start piling up, and yet we would not have effectively answered the question. Actually, the solution IS simple. Just jump into the water, your body will start educating itself just the same way it has done to walk and talk! The fundamental property of the water is to make everything lighter and to float! Therefore, just jump and you WILL swim. Will a child trust this simple fact? Will you trust it?? Will I trust that???

Realizing The Divinity within is the simplest - do nothing ... just be … Lo! You are THAT!!

The real question is how to "do nothing"? The inertia we have collected to stake ownership on doing, knowing and enjoying can never let us appreciate the simplest of all - "doing nothing"! Therefore, the solution for the question is in the solution we could seek in "how to do nothing? how to know nothing?? and how to enjoy nothing???".

The solution to these questions are also simple … just be the activity! be the knowledge!! be the joy!!! But, again raises the question … "how to be the activity or knowledge or the joy?" as we only know how to have them and have never dabbled on the idea of being them - Paraanchi khaani vyatriNaat swayambhooh tasmaat paraangpashyati naantaraatman ...

All the instructor can do is to fill in confidence in the learner that it is perfectly OK to jump into the water and swimming is a POSITIVE POSSIBILITY for the one who wants to learn. So are the scriptures … to a seeker, they provide the basic confidence to start with that the divinity is a positive factor within everyone and everyone is CERTAINLY capable of attaining the same. Just like the instructor cannot make you learn swimming, the scriptures also cannot make you experience The Divinity.

Just like one who wants to learn swimming SHOULD jump into the water and figure out how to swim, one has to just jump within to experience The Devine - kashchiddheerah pratyagaatmaanam aikshat aavrittachakshuh amritatvamicchhan …

You need courage to experience tha water since its dynamics seem totally different from the dynamics of earth and air that you are used to. You had screamed in pain when you were exposed to that environment from your mother's womb as well ... you can't just recall that! Same way you need courage to take a deep dive within as you are always used to jump around in the external existence. Actually, you needed the same courage to interact with the external world as well ... you can't recall that growing pain you experienced when you were a baby!!

Realizing The Divinity within is a possibility ONLY WHEN you take a deep dive within. It is possible to find The Divinity around as well … but there are too many possibilities confusing us … one who takes a dip in the Ganga within starts experiencing the same everywhere else as well ... but how to know The Ganga to say it is That ... ONLY BY TAKING A DEEP DIP WITHIN ...

How? Try it! … Again!! ... And Again!!! …

“I am not this Body.” Easy to say…

The body is a machine, like a motor car is a machine. I am within this body as the driver is within the motor car.

Now the motor car has many needs. It needs gas, it needs oil, it needs to have it’s tires pumped up and so on. But if one forgets the driver in the car and simply concentrates on the machine and the needs of the machine the driver will not be satisfied.

He will be sitting in the car starving. Because the food of the driver is different from the food of the car. You can not feed the driver gas. His food is different.

So we are the driver of this body. This body has so many needs, but these bodily needs are different from our needs, we are the driver of the body, the soul within the body, “the ghost in the machine…”

So our idea is to satisfy the bodily needs only as much as necessary to maintain the body in a healthy condition and spend the rest of our time and energy in spiritual activities which help us to reawaken our original spiritual consciousness, these are our real needs, the needs of the soul.

It is not that we do not eat, or sleep, or have sex or defend, but these things are done in a regulated way to maintain the body in a healthy condition. But as the motor car is simply a vehicle which is meant to transport the driver to his destination, we see this material body as a vehicle which can be used to transport the driver–the soul–to his ultimate destination: back home, back to Godhead.

If we spend all our time trying to satisfy the senses of our body we will waste all our time and energy in this way and become completely distracted from the real purpose of life which is to get out of this material world and get back home to the spiritual world where we will get an eternally youthful spiritual body full of knowledge and full of pleasure… Then we will really be happy…

Are we allowed to lead sinful life in Kali-yuga ?

Question : As per our Vedas, we have satiyuga, tretayuga, dwapar yuga, and ;kaliyuga, and as compared to other yuga, a person is least religious in kaliyuga and commits lots of sin. but when the arrangement has been made by God for these yuga, then why human being are responsible for committing sins.

Answer :

Kali-yuga is the age of deterioration. In this tricky age , most of the Vedas are supposed to be lost . And aggressive anti-Vedic religions will challenge Sanatana Dharma . As predicted, we have already lost almost 90% of the Vedas . And aggressive "Mlecha" ( meat eater) religions like Islam and Christianity are threatening Sanatana Dharma .

However, Bhagavan Sri Krishna had advised His Bhaktas well in advance ( through Srimad Bhagavatam and the teaching of His avatars like Chaitanya Mahaprabhu) that although Kaliyuga is difficult , it will then be much easier for Bhaktas to attain God realization just by Nama-sankirtan . Whatever benefits obtained by *Tapas* ( penance) in the previous yugas cane be easily obtained by Nama-japa in kali-yuga. modern scriptures like Narayaneeyam ( which has the stamp of approval by Bhagavan) clearly states that , it is desirable for a Bhakta to take birth in Kali-yuga, since it is very easy for him then to attain Bhagavan by simple Nama-japa .

What is important is a person's freewill . He has two options . One is the easy option to enjoy sinful life as a beef eater (Mlecha) like most others . The other option is to follow Bhagavan's advice by remaining connected to Him by performing Nama-japa and leading a Krishna oriented life . Kali-yuga is not an excuse but a God given opportunity to be utilized .

Please chant :

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare ,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare !!!

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya !!!

Sri Sankaracharya was taught that Bhakti is superior to Sidhi

Sri Sankaracharya was taught that Bhakti is superior to Sidhi

Once the great Jagadgura Sri Sankaracharya was on his aerial journey from Kaladi to Shringeri. He reached above Guruvayur temple. Siveli procession was progressing in the temple . Sankaracharya smiled at the pompness and vividity of the procession in the temple and tried to pass the temple without making any obeisance to Bhagavan.

When snubbed like this by Sri Sankara, Bhagavan decided to teach him that Bhakti is superior to Sidhi . Suddenly Sankara came crashing down and the Siveli procession stopped there at the northwest corner. He soon recovered and saw Bhagavan Sri Krishna in all his divinity. Realizing the cause of his fall, Sankaracharya prostrated before Bhagavan and tried to win Bhagavan's favour by singing Bhajahovindam and Govinda Ashtakam. (The small opening in the roof over the North- West courtyard is in commemoration of this event). Sankaracharya stayed for (41) days at the temple . And he instituted the ritual of *Mandala Vilakku* (lighting of lamps for 41days) .

As the living entity is promoted to the platform of human life

yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham
[Bg. 4.7]

The whole material atmosphere is going on, but we... There is a program. There is a plan. The plan is that, as soon as the living entity is promoted by gradual evolution, promoted to the platform of human life, he has to understand his spiritual position. That is the whole program. The nature is going on on this plan of the Supreme Lord. The plan of the Supreme Lord. All the living entities here, in this, whatever we see... Sarva-yonisu kaunteya sambhavanti murtayah yah [Bg. 14.4]. The Lord says, Lord Sri Krsna says, "Whatever forms of life, living entities, you are seeing before you, all of them are born of Me. They are My part and parcel. I am..." Aham bija-pradah pita. "I am the father. I am the father." So Lord Sri Krsna, or God, He is the father of every living being. He does not like to see that His sons undergo unnecessary miseries. He does not like to see. Why? If we are sons of God, and what is the position of God? All powerful, all opulence, all wealth, all beauty, all knowledge, everything in full. That is the conception of God. Now, if we are sons of God, then we are very rich man's son. Then why should he suffer? We should not have suffered. But some way or other, by material contact, we are suffering. We are suffering. Now, this suffering, we have become so much accustomed to sufferings that we have taken it granted that these sufferings are nonmaterial. "Let us enjoy this material life. This suffering... " They don't care for suffering. You see? They want this material enjoyment, which is the cause of his bondage. It is cause of bondage. So they do not want... Just like there are some prisoners who do not like to get out of the prison life. They think it is better to remain in the prison because "I have no responsibility. If I go outside the prison, oh, I will have to search out some work. Oh, that is botheration. Let me remain here." Or even after the termination of the prison life, when he comes out, he commits again some criminal act so that he may be put again into the jail. He has been accustomed. Similarly, he does not take seriously the miseries of prison life. He is so accustomed that he does not take. That is ignorance. That is ignorance. Similarly, those who are in this material world under the shackles of material modes of nature, they have completely forgotten that we have got a spiritual life which is full of freedom, full of knowledge, full of bliss, and we can become exactly almost like God. These things they have forgotten. They think that "If, from the C-class prisoner's life, I can become an A-class prisoner..." Just like in the prison life there are some classes, A-class prisoner, B-class prisoner, C-class prisoner, similarly, our endeavor is going on in this material life to become A-class prisoner. The program is not for getting out of the prison life, but we want to become A-class prisoner. That is ignorance. That is ignorance.

It is very difficult to get rid of Egotism

A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego--he alone can attain real peace. B GITA 2 - 71


The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature. GITA 3 - 27

When we see something significant in our selves, it is a major flaw. If we see smartness in our self (such as - I know the Gita by heart, I have an in-depth understanding of the meaning and expressions of the Gita etc), or if we see spiritual goodness in us, (e.g. I worship God, I meditate, I chant devotional songs, I repeat His holy name etc), or anything great that we see in our self, it is all egotism. By whatever means we find something special in our self, that is egotism.

This egoism can come due to one's caste, color, creed, stage in life, knowledge, intelligence and many other forms of arrogance and conceit. It is different forms of pride that can lead to one's downfall. Thinking that we have - good qualities, desirable abilities, knowledge, smartness, articulation etc. is egotism. Such egotism coming from goodness is dangerous and difficult to get rid off.

With respect to "Egotism" it has been said in Ramayana -
"Sansrut mool soolprad naanan, sakal sauk daayak abhimaana." (Manasa 7:74:3)
All devilish tendencies, bad qualities, evil actions, operate under the umbrella of "Egotism." (arrogance, conceit).

The more effort we put into getting rid of this egotism, the more it becomes firmly established. The more ways that we find to wipe out the pride and arrogance, the solutions themselves will increase our egotism. It is truly very difficult to get rid of Egotism.

A spiritual aspirant must keep in mind that whatever good qualities he has, are not his own, rather they have come from God. Being a part of God, the Self (Atma) is flawless and without qualities. Therefore those great qualities should be understood as being God's, not ours. By believing and understanding with a firm resolve that these good qualities are all God's, there will be no egotism. This pride and arrogance cannot be rooted out by our self, it needs the grace of God. On this subject a spiritual aspirant must remain very vigilant.

Pride Leads to Distress

Gist: Pride leads to jealousy, distress and sin. To root out pride, let us focus only on ourself. Worldly and material things are limited, and by enjoying a thing, others are deprived from enjoying them, which leads to distress in others. Spiritual bliss is unlimited and does not cause distress to others. By eliminating desires, pride will be eliminated and vice versa. When both are rooted out, worldly attachments will come to an end, and so will sorrow end.

Pride Leads to Distress

Pride leads to distress and sin. So, how is pride to be given up? On reflecting, it appears to me that we should not compare ourselves with others. Pride and desire are two evils that lead to problems, including jealousy, pain, sorrow, envy, evil acts. This pride can surely be rooted out.

As long as there is pride within us, our nature will not improve, rather it will worsen. So what is one to do? Firstly, only look at yourself and not others. Whether others are doing well or not, let us not cast our sight on anyone as this will give rise to pride.

Those who have virtues cause distress to others. The reason is that those who have virtues feel proud, and those who do not have them, feel jealous. If you do not have pride, you will save others from jealousy and distress. On the other hand, pride will automatically cause distress in others. It is only spiritual bliss that gives happiness and comfort to oneself and to others.

There is no worldly pleasure that does not cause distress to others. Even if the worldly enjoyment, is with money, knowledge and power that has been earned justly and honeslty. One may ask why is this so? This is because material things in this world are limited. Limited things that to be divided among people, and each can only get a limited share, but all desire to get the maximum share. By enjoying a thing, others are deprived from enjoying them. This is what causes the distress in people. This is a very serious matter that one cannot enjoy worldly things without causing distress to others.

On the other hand, spiritual bliss is unlimited and does not cause distress to others. Every one can gain full share or claim on it, just like every child of a mother has full claim on her.

By seeking worldly pleasures, a person also degrades himself. In whatever way a man seeks worldly pleasure, it is a pathway to hell. At the heart of all this is one's desires. By eliminating desires, pride will be eliminated and vice versa. When both are rooted out, worldly attachments will come to an end, and so will sorrow end.

Elevation to Krishna Consciousness

om ajnana- timirandasya jnananjana-salakaya-
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namoh
"I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, who has opened my eyes, blinded by the darkness of ignorance, with the torchlight of knowledge."
It is customary with this verse to offer obeisances to the spiritual master who enlightens his disciples in the matter of transcendental knowledge. The Vedic process does not involve research work. In mundane scholarship, we have to show our academic learning by some research, but the Vedic process is different. In the Vedic process
the research work is already done; it is complete, and it is simply handed down by disciplic succession from teacher to student. There is no question of research work because the instruments and the means with which one conducts such research work are blunt and imperfect.
At this stage of our material existence, we are conditioned by many laws of nature. All conditioned souls are subject to four defects due to the imperfection of their senses. One defect is that the conditioned soul is certain to commit mistakes. There is no man who does not commit mistakes. In India, for instance, Mahatma Gandhi was supposed to be a very great personality, but he also committed mistakes. Five minutesbefore he came to the meeting at which he was killed, he was warned by confidential associates not to go, but he persisted. To commit mistakes is very natural in the conditioned state of life. Indeed, the popular saying has arisen: "To err is human."
Another imperfection of the conditioned soul is that he is sure to be illusioned. Being illusioned means accepting something which is not, phantasmagoria to be factual. Every one of us is under the impression that we are these bodies, but actually we are not. Accepting the body to be the self is called illusion, or maya. The third imperfection is that conditioned souls have a tendency to cheat. We have often heard a storekeeper say, "Because you are my friend, I won't make any profit off you." But in actuality we know that he is making at least 50% profit.
There are so many instances of this cheating propensity. There are also many examples of teachers who actually know nothing but put forth theories in words like "perhaps" or "it may be," while in actuality they are simply cheating their students. The fourth imperfection is that the senses of the living entity are not perfect. Our vision is so limited that we cannot see very far away nor very near. The eye can see only under certain conditions, and therefore it is understood that our vision
is limited. Similarly, all our other senses are also limited. It is not possible to understand the unlimited by these imperfect, limited senses.
The conclusion is that the Vedic process does not encourage us to endeavor to learn the Absolute Truth by employing our present senses, which are conditioned in so many ways. If we are to have knowledge, it must come from a superior source which is not conditioned by these four imperfections. That source is Krsna. He is the supreme authority ofBhagavad-gita, and He is accepted as the perfect authority by so many
saints and sages.
Those who are serious students of Vedic literature accept authority. Bhagavad-gita, for example, is not a scholarly presentation which arose out of so much research work. It is perfect knowledge that was taught by Lord Krsna to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kuruksetra, and we receive information from it that in previous ages Sri Krsna also taught it to the sun-god Vivasvan, and it was handed down from time immemorial from Vivasvan by disciplic succession.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Texts 36 to 40 informs us about happiness:

O best of the Bharatas, now please hear from Me about the three kinds of happiness which the conditioned soul enjoys, and by which he sometimes comes to the end of all distress. That which in the beginning may be just like poison but at the end is just like nectar and which awakens one to self-realization is said to be happiness in the mode of goodness.

That happiness which is derived from contact of the senses with their objects and which appears like nectar at first but poison at the end is said to be of the nature of passion.

And that happiness which is blind to self-realization, which is delusion from beginning to end and which arises from sleep, laziness and illusion is said to be of the nature of ignorance.

From the above one can deduce that "as is the state of the mind so is the nature of one's happiness." Thus, seeking happiness from another person (or mind) will fail. Bhagavan tells us about the Dull, the Passionate, and the Good mind.

To the Dull mind, living in an utterly deluded world of make-believe is happiness. He lives in an artificial state of bliss.The constancy because of which a foolish man does not abandon anger, violence, fear, grief, depression, lust, possessiveness, egoism, and also arrogance and conceit, that fortitude, O Partha. is Tamasic
(Dull).

To the rajasic nature of mind, happiness consists of sensations and excitements - at first it is like nectar, but in the end it becomes poison. The fortitude, O Arjuna, by which one holds fast to duty, pleasure and wealth, from attachment and craving for the fruits-of-action, that fortitude, O Partha, is rajasic (Passionate) .

For the Good or sattvic state of mind, the happiness is like poison at first then like nectar at the end. When the happiness is unconscious then it results in a condition of bliss. Bliss is not of the mind, but in the supreme state of unconsciousness the experience of bliss comes. One is detached from that which appears to be poison. The man of sattvic quality is detached in the midst of favorable conditions of life and so in the end he is supremely happy. It is happiness born of detachment and not dependent on another human being.

Seeking happiness from others results in disappointment and unhappiness. Cultivate and nurture the sattvic state of mind that will lead to Eternal Happiness - the happiness that endures, not the one that decays in the process of time or is dependent on the whims and fancies of others..

How can we develop this Sattvic state of mind? One has to return to the original rather than the acquired nature of the mind. We must observe the mind by conducting an inquiry into the processes of the mind that would enable us to see how we have built up an acquired nature due to which we are caught up in the Para-dharna and have lost sight of the Svadharma.

To become aware of the acquired nature is to start the process of being free from it. To discover one's original nature is to be initiated into a new dimension of living, a revolutionary event in the journey of life. By the Grace of Bhagavan, I will have a another post on this topic in the next day or two.