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Changing the Face of the Earth

• Subject: Changing the Face of the Earth
• From: Nicole
• Date: Sun Jan 21 16:29:18 1996
• Message-Id: id708

Dear Nicole

Hello Hare Krishna!

Thanks for your letter.

>I beleive in all that you are striving for, but question how long it will take
>for us to reach this desired state.

It need not take very long at all. You can surrender to Krishna in a moment and
that will free you from all the problems of the material world. Of course
generally we don't want to surrender to Krishna -- that's our disease. We are
attached to the so-called pleasures of this world. We think we can be happy here.
But that's not possible. It's a place for suffering. The spiritual world, the
kingdom of God is our real home, we should go back home, back to Godhead.

"A person who is fully absorbed in Krishna consciousness is sure to attain the
spiritual kingdom because of his full contribution to spiritual activities, in
which the consummation is absolute and that which is offered is of the same
spiritual nature." (Bhagavad-gita 4.24)

"...The Absolute Truth covered by maya is called matter. Matter dovetailed for the
cause of the Absolute Truth regains its spiritual quality..."

So, if the material energy is engaged in the service of Krishna, then it acts
spiritually. Therefore even though this world is a place of suffering it can be
turned into Vikuntha [the spiritual world] by the process of Krishna
consciousness, by engaging everything and everyone in Krishna's service.

Everything is Krishna's energy, everything belongs to Krishna, so it should be
used in His service. So long as the people of the world do not have this
consciousness and so long as they are trying to exploit the material energy for
their own sense gratification, there will be so many problems, so much suffering
in this world.

>The governments of the world are so caught up in trying to obtain political and
>personal power, it is frustrating to think this struggle will never end.


It is a useless struggle. We can only stay here for at the most 100 years. But the
soul doesn't die. The soul is eternal. So what is the benefit if they get some big
political position for 20 or 30 years. What is that in comparison to eternity?
There have been so many great empires in the past, they have come, remained for
some time, and they are now gone. The Roman Empire, the British Empire, even the
American Empire will also be finished in due course... And whatever takes its
place will also be finished too after a few years. It's the nature of the material
world. Nothing is permanent here. It is completely frustrating because the soul is
hankering after a permanent position.

>We must start with personal reflection, to realize our relationship with God,
>but even that is a struggle.

It's not possible to find God by personal reflection. Krishna, God is avan manasa
gocara, beyond the range of the mind and the senses. The only way to find God is
to find someone who knows God and learn from him, that is the way:

"Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him
submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart
knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth." (Bhagavad-gita 4.34)

That is Krishna's formulae, you have to find someone who knows Krishna and learn
from him. But at the moment that is not so easy also as there are so many bogus
gurus. They claim to be great advanced devotees, but they are just looking for
fame, followers, money, sex, etc... So the sincere seeker of the truth has to be
very careful these days. You need knowledge to tell the real guru from the
cheaters. So His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-
Acarya of the Hare Krishna movement, has done the world a great service. He has
translated all the major Vedic scriptures into English and if you read them you
will be able to understand what is what.

"This Bhagavata Purana is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after
the departure of Lord Krishna to His own abode, accompanied by religion,
knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of
ignorance in the age of Kali shall get light from this Purana." (Srimad Bhagavatam
1.3.43)

>Who is right?  The Christian, Muslim, Jew, or none of us?

Krishna says:

"Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of
Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion -- at that time I descend Myself. In
order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to
reestablish the principles of religion, I advent myself millennium after
millennium." (Bhagavad-gita 4.7-8)

So Krishna has sent his representatives to various countries and they have
established religious principles according to the people's ability to follow them
at a particular time and in a particular place. Jesus was preaching to some
fishermen, Mohamad was preaching to Arabs in a desert. The time and place were
completely different so the details of their teachings differ. But if you study
the Koran and the Bible you will find the subject matter and the goal are the
same. Only the method differs. So these types of religious systems are correct,
but they are not eternal. They are established at a certain time according to the
needs of the people. But the eternal underlying principles are given in the Vedic
texts like Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. These books are eternal and
absolute, they never change, for they describe the underlying principles. If you
understand Krishna's teachings in the Bhagavad-gita you will also automatically
understand all other religious systems.

"In the present day, man is very eager to have one scripture, one God, one
religion, and one occupation. So let there be one common scripture for the whole
world -- Bhagavad-gita. And let there be one God only for the whole world -- Lord
Sri Krishna. And one mantra only -- Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna,
Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. And let there be one work
only -- the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead" (From Srila
Prabhupada's introduction to Bhagavad-gita As It Is)

>How can we fix the problems of the world when we can't find our place in it.


We have no place in the material world. We belong in the spiritual world. We are
like fish out of water here, we can never be comfortable. It is not our home, so
we should go back home, back to Godhead.

>Be in the world, not of the world.  Once we attain our relationship with God,
>there is so much blocking us from sharing that with others, we must struggle to
>do this.  What do we do?

First we have to reestablish our relationship with Krishna, that means we have to
find someone who knows Krishna and learn from him. The bona fide spiritual master
knows how to engage us in Krishna's service. So once we find and follow the
instructions of such a bona fide spiritual master there is no block at all.
Everything will be perfectly clear. But a real spiritual master is very rare. One
must be very fortunate to meet such a great soul.

"According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire
universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary system, and some
are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering
living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a
bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Krishna. By the mercy of both Krishna
and the spiritual master, one such person receives the seed of the creeper of
devotional service."

Srila Prabhupada is such a bona fide spiritual master and you can meet him be
reading his books. He is personally present in his books. So I would advise you to
read them.

Please write again. Chant Hare Krishna and be Happy!

Madhudvisa dasa

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