The Symptoms of a Self-Realized Person
“A person who neither rejoices upon achieving something pleasant nor laments upon obtaining something unpleasant, who is self-intelligent, unbewildered, and who knows the science of God, is to be understood as already situated in Transcendence.” (Bhagavad Gita 5.20)
The first symptom of a self-realized soul is that he is not illusioned by the false identification of the body with his true self. He knows perfectly well that he is not this body, but is the fragmental portion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Therefore he is not joyful in achieving something nor does he lament in loosing anything which is related to his body.
We have all heard it, “You’re not this body, you’re the spirit soul.” And we know it, we may be preaching it to others also, “You’re not this body, you’re the spirit soul…” So intellectually we know this and believe it, but realizing it is another thing. The main quality of a self-realzed person is that he has realized that he is not the body but he is the spirit soul within the body. That is self-realization. Because we are under the misconception that the self is the body and under this misconception we are working very hard to try to satisfy the senses of the body under the mistaken presumption that if we can satisfy our senses then we will be happy. This misconception is only possible for one who is not self-realized, one who has not realized that he is not the body but spirit soul.
When we realize that we are not the body we will no longer have any desire to satisfy the senses of the body. The body is not ours actually, it is Krishna’s, it is given by Krishna, and like everything that belongs to Krishna it should be engaged in the service of Krishna. So we have to look after the body, maintain it, keep it clean, provide it with food, etc, so that we can use the body effectively in the service of Krishna.
But if we find ourselves trying to satisfy the senses of our body by getting nice food to enjoy, by trying to find sex partners, by trying to get very comfortable arrangements for sleeping and a very strong defense system we can know it for sure that we are not self realized. The animals are working for these four things: eating, sleeping, mating and defending — these are the animal propensities. So if in our life we are very concerned with the same eating, sleeping, mating and defending then we are no more than two-legged animals.
Human life is not meant for improving the standard of eating, sleeping, mating and defending. No. We should live very simply and spend our time and energy for spiritual advancement. That is the special quality of the human form of life. We have the ability to question the purpose of our existence and also to discover the answers.
“The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste].” (Bhagavad Gita 5.18)
A self-realized person is so much detached from the bodily concept of life that he does not make any distinction between species or castes. The brahmana and the outcaste may be different from the social point of view, or a dog, a cow or an elephant, may be different from the point of view of species, but these differences of body are meaningless from the viewpoint of a learned transcendentalist. He sees them all in their relationship to the Supreme Lord, for the Lord by His plenary portion as Paramatma is present in both the outcaste and the brahmana, although the body of a brahmana and that of an outcaste are not the same.
The bodies are material productions of different modes of material nature, but the soul and the Supersoul within the body are of the same spiritual quality. This similarity of the soul and the Supresoul, however, does not make them equal in quantity, for the individual soul is present only in that particular body, whereas the Paramatma is present in each and every body. A Krishna conscious person has full knowledge of this, and therefore he is truly learned and has equal vision.
As long as one identifies with the material body he is considered a conditioned soul but as soon as he actually realizes he is not the material body but the eternal spirit soul within the body he is liberated from conditional life, in other words he is no longer subject to take birth in the material world but can enter into the spiritual sky after death.
“Such a liberated person is not attracted to material sense pleasure or external objects but is always in trance, enjoying the pleasure within. In this way the self-realized person enjoys unlimited happiness, for he concentrates on the Supreme.” (Bhagavad Gita 5.21)
Sri Yamunacarya, a great devotee in Krishna consciousness said: “Since I have been engaged in the transcendental loving service of Krishna, realizing ever-new pleasure in Him, whenever I think of sex pleasure, I spit at the thought, and my lips curl with distaste.”
A person in Krishna consciousness is so absorbed in the loving service of the Lord that he looses his taste for material sense pleasure altogether. The highest pleasure in the material world in terms of matter is sex pleasure. The whole world is moving under the spell of sex and a materialist can not work at all without this motivation. But a person engaged in Krishna consciousness can work with greater vigor without sex pleasure, which he avoids.
This is the test of spiritual realization. If we are still attached to sex life then we are not spiritually advanced. Spiritual realization and sex pleasure do not go together. A Krishna conscious person is not attracted to any kind of sense pleasure due to his being a liberated soul.
Krishna continues to discuss the symptoms of a self-realized person in more detail in the Fifth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita. If you do not have it please get it and read it.
http://krishnastore.com/bhagavad-gita-as-it-is-with-bonus-dvd-h-krishna-407.html
Tags: Bhagavad Gita, self realization, Spiritual Master / Guru
About the Author
Madhudvisa dasa My first contact with a Hare Krishna was a most merciful Mataji in Oxford Street, London who sold me a "Higher Taste" cook book in 1984 while I was on holidays there. I started seriously reading Srila Prabhupada's books in Australia 1985 and by 1986 Srila Prabhupada had convinced me "Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead" and "we should surrender to Krishna."
I joined the Hare Krishnas in Perth, Western Australia in 1986. Since then I have been chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, reading and distributing Srila Prabhupada's books and preaching as much as I can.
That's my life and full-time occupation now really. I like it more than anything I've ever experienced before. Srila Prabhupada's books are so amazing... Even after reading them all many times they're still fresh and new. They are truly transcendental!
That's it really. Now I'm just hankering to once again see the world chant Hare Krishna, dance and feast and float away in the ecstasy of Lord Caitanya's Sankirtana movement as it did in Srila Prabhupada's physical presence. Let the whole world drown in the ecstatic flood of love of Krishna!
Hare krishna… I read bhagavat geeta as it is …and now I’ve realized that I’m a consciousness endeavored in Krishna’s consciousness I’m just a teen and I’m Krishna conscious soul……..hare krishna….by soul that’s accepted by supreme soul’s consciousness..apart materialistic conception of life…hare krishna radhe radhe…….kcon
Hare Krishna Prabhu!
I have a question, plz reply.
Is sexual attraction of husband wife is correct ? Should they avoid this? Is this punishable after death in Hell’s ?
Can you guide how an married guy who is sexually can’t avoid his wife or vica versa, how they can progress in their spiritual life as they can’t avoid sex?
I am very sorry if it hurts you or if I have put a wrong question. Actually I am very much distressed because of his feeling!
Hare Krishna Pradeep
That is the difference between grhastha and grhamedi. Grhasta is interested in pleasing Krishna, in advancing in Krishna consciousness, and he is married to his wife and they together work to serve Krishna in their household life. This includes regulated sex life for the purpose of having children. But that is what sex is for, for having children. Otherwise sex is the greatest bondage to the material world. Sex puts us completely in the bodily concept of life and this bodily concept of life blocks our advancement in spiritual life.
So we have to decide if we actually want to make spiritual advancement or not. And if we want to advance in spiritual life then we have to control our sex life. In marriage we have to control for having children and outside of marriage we have to avoid it completely. We need to be convinced that sex is the shackles, the chains, that perpetually bind us to the material world and force us to come back again and again and again and suffer repeated birth, death, old age and disease. The only way to break free from this miserable cycle is to control sex life.
And to control sex life we need to experience a higher taste, a better pleasure. So we have to become Krishna conscious, and as we become more and more Krishna conscious we will experience some spiritual taste, some spiritual pleasure, and the more we experience that the less we will be interested in sex. So it is automatic. As a devotee advances in Krishna conscientiousness he automatically looses interest in sex life.
So you and your wife need to become serious about following the regulative principles. We have to force ourselves to follow the principles in the beginning but after some time it becomes natural and no force is required. But in the beginning we have to force, and that is tapasya, austerity, and that is necessary for spiritual advancement.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Thanks a lot prabhuji. Thanks for your wonderful reply.
Hare Krishna Prabhu ji
Thank you very much today I have discovered one great secret. And it has motivated me to carry on the journey .
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa Prabhu! Does the guru act under yogmaya?
Hare Krishna Aman
Yogamaya helps the devotees in Vrindavan forget that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead so they can accept Him as their friend, their child, their lover, etc. If the parents of Krishna knew that He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that would spoil the relationship of father – son and mother – son. So yogamaya covers the intelligence of Krishna’s mother and father so they accept Krishna as their own son who needs their care and protection.
So generally speaking guru who is preaching Krishna consciousness is not under yogamaya. He knows Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and preaches that. Of course when he goes back home back to Godhead in his eternal relationship with Krishna then, to make that relationship believable, Krishna will pull the curtain of yogamaya and he will accept Krishna as his child, friend, lover or whatever eternal relationship he has with Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Thanks Prabhuji….all glories to your service!
Dear Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna
Is it that devotees start bhakti, austerity, naam sankirtana and so on with an intent of ‘being able to achieve perfection (sat chid ananda) spiritual form and serve krishna’, is it OK to desire an result out of devotion ie not doubt serve Him but get a spiritual body, or do this desire fade away with progressive Kcon?
The only desire a devotee has is to be engaged in the service of Krishna. The only desire a servant has is to serve the master. So our position is Krishna orders and we follow His orders, that is all. So the only prayer a devotee ever makes is ‘please Krishna engage me in Your service.’ That is all we desire. We don’t want anything else except to be engaged in the service of Krishna by serving His pure devotee.
Is it even possible to destroy ones individuality when one merges w/ the effulgence? It`s like taking the wet out of water.
Hare Krishna Andy
No. We are individuals eternally. Our individuality can never be destroyed. The example is given of a green bird flying into a green tree. To the observer from some distance away it appears that the green bird has merged with the green tree. But actually he has not merged. He is just sitting on a branch in the green tree and one will see after some time that same green bird will again fly out of the tree.
So we can ‘merge’ with the brahmajoti, the impersonal effulgence of Krishna. But that ‘merging’ is just like the green bird sitting on the branch of the green tree. Our individuality is not destroyed. We are a tiny molecular spiritual spark, so that tiny molecular spiritual spark can enter the impersonal effulgence and become one of the spiritual sparks that make up the whole effulgence. But we remain that individual spiritual spark. In the impersonal Brahmajoti we can experience knowledge to some extent and also eternity. So there is something called brahmananda, that is the pleasure of being merged within the brahman effulgence. But that pleasure is limited to experiencing knowledge and eternality only.
Real pleasure has three aspects: sat [eternity], cit [knowledge] and ananda [transcendental bliss]. And real pleasure can only be experienced in a transcendental form, vigraha. So in the impersonal brahmajoty we can only experience knowledge and eternity. There is no ananda, bliss, and there is no ability for us to express our individuality or relate with others. So without ananda and without the ability to express our individuality and without the opportunity to associate with others we very soon become bored and end up desiring to go back to the material world again because at least in the material world we can express our individuality and associate with others.
So that is what happens with the souls who get this impersonal liberation. They go to the brahmajoty for some time and for some time may enjoy the relief there. Something like if you reject the society and go to live alone in the mountains. It may be a relief for some time, but soon you will again hanker for the association of others. And probably you will go back into the city again… So when they get bored they fall back down again to the material world.
So this impersonal liberation is not really liberation because it is temporary. It us unsatisfying and therefore after some time the so-called liberated impersonalists again fall back down to the material world.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Madhuvisa das,
PAMHO AGTSP
In BG 7:27, Krsna says to Arjuna, “O scion of Bharata [Arjuna], O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, overcome by the dualities of desire and HATE (My emphasis). How is the great saint Yamunacarya not hating sex pleasure, when he talks so harshly about it (I spit at the thought and my lips curl with distaste)? Shakespeare said, “me thinks he does protest too much”, to indicate a person who is not really saying the whole truth, but is speaking in such a way, so as to cover up that there is still attraction for what is being protested about. A more contemporary example,
could be President Nixon and his famous expression, “I am not a thief”. (I think Shakespeare would say about Nixon\’s expression and Nixon, “me thinks he is a fool”) But I diverge a little.
So, what can we make of this slightly enigmatic expression that the great devotee Sri Yamunacarya uses to tell us of his attitude about sex pleasure?
That is the mood of a devotee. He spits at the thought of sex. He is disgusted by the idea of it. A materialist is enamored by sex. He thinks it is such a wonderful thing. But an actual devotee sees sex for what it really is. He knows it is a very unclean thing that causes so much disease and suffering and causes the loss of semen and energy so he is disgusted by it. He spits at the thought of sex. This is the feeling of an actual devotee. And this is the fact actually. Sex is disgusting. We should feel disgusted by it. It is only maya that makes us think that sex is a very wonderful thing.
Of course a grhastha will engage in sex for the purpose of having Krishna conscious children and this is the proper use of sex. But not that he is interested in sex for his own pleasure. Sex is for having children within marriage. That is all.
So the platform of a devotee is not an ordinary thing. We are thinking sex is such a wonderful thing. That is the sign that we are not yet devotees. Actually sex is a disgusting thing and one in knowledge like Sri Yamunacarya will spit at the thought of it. Will be disgusted by the thought of it. That is the true and correct reaction.
Nothing changes in Krishna consciousness. The knowledge is eternal. Not that sex was disgusting back then but now sex is nice. It is not that Yamunacaraya is attracted by sex so he says it is disgusting. NO. He knows sex is disgusting and is disgusted at the thought of it. You totally misunderstand the feelings of the devotees towards sex. An actual devotee has no attraction to sex whatsoever. He sees it for what it actually is. Disgusting. Sex is actually disgusting and on in knowledge will realize it is disgusting and will spit at the thought.
Of course someone who is attracted by sex may falsely imitate this mood, that is another thing. But that is not the devotees position. No he sees sex for what it is, disgusting, and he spits at the thought.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhuji.
According to prabhupada’s books the souls in the material world are
considered to be “conditioned” souls.
What does “conditioned” souls mean ?
I recently came across this prabhupada padma vakya on http://www.harekrsna.com :
June 5, 1974, Geneva
Morning Walk
“Mahatma is not independent. He is also conditioned.
So first of all, we must understand that our natural position is to be conditioned.”
If i am not understanding it wrongly then what prabhupada is saying is that
the “Mahatma” or the liberated souls are also “conditioned” souls.
Then what is the difference between “conditioned” souls in the material world
and the “conditioned” souls i.e the liberated souls of the spiritual world ?
I looked up the meaning but it means several things.
I will be very grateful if you can clarify on this.
Hare Krishna.
Brijesh Dani
Hare Krishna Brijesh
We are always conditioned souls. We can be conditioned to serve maya or we can be conditioned to serve Krishna. We can never be independent. Liberated soul means being conditioned to serve Krishna, it means servant of Krishna. So liberated soul is not independent. And he is conditioned soul also. Conditioned to serve Krishna.
The conditioning is there both ways, the service is there both ways. But we are very happy serving Krishna and that is our natural constitutional position. However we are very miserable serving maya. That is a painful and unnatural position for us.
So we need to become conditioned to serve Krishna. We can never become independent. We are dependent on Krishna always. Even in maya, we are dependent on Krishna. We can never be independent.
The difference between the conditioned souls in the material world and the conditioned souls in the spiritual world is in the material world they are serving maya and in the spritual world they are serving Krishna. That’s all. The living entities are servants eternally, conditioned eternally. Liberation means being conditioned to serve Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
the newsletter which you sent me is very interesting and useful for one’s self realisation,
sir i have one doubt?
how one can know about his next birth and in what way one can gain this knowledge-explain it in detail
eagerly waiting for your valuable answer.
Your next birth depends on your consciousness at the time of death. And you create your consciousness by your activities in this life. So the idea is to be always Krishna conscious. Always remember Krishna, never forget Krishna, then at the time of death naturally you will remember Krishna and if you remember Krishna at the time of death Krishna promises in the Bhagavad-gita that you will certainly go back home back to Godhead. So if you become Krishna conscious in this life and remember Krishna at the time of death you will not take birth again in the material world, you will return back to the spiritual world with Krishna where you will have your original spiritual eternally youthful body which is full of ever-increasing transcendental ecstasy and knowledge.
So we should not waste our life for material sense gratification. We should use this valuable human form of life to become Krishna conscious. That should be the mission of our lives…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
a great devotee is one who never leaves the name of lord even in his bad duties.
Haribol Madhuvisa Prabhu,
pamho. AGTSP!
Thankyou for sending me Krishna Connect Newsletters,it is
very inspiring,thankyou.
I am based in London (Wimbledon) and since i am a fallen condition soul,i
am seeking like-minded devotees who live near me,or anywhere
in the UK,i would like to meet any like-minded devotee who focus
in distributing Srila Prabhupada’s original books in the UK.
At the moment i am on my own when distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books,
so i very much wish to meet any like-minded devotees out there,please.
Yfs,
Dean
hare krisna prabhu
i am ennggineering student .because of exams and other work .i am enable to chant 16 rounds .because of busy scheduled i am chanting 4to5 rounds every day till my completion of my exam.i am enanble to concenterate on my studies .is their any problem if i chant minimum rounds,and how to concenterate on my studies
Well you will not be able to become Krishna conscious and you will waste your life.
YOU HAVE TO GET YOUR PRIORITIES CORRECT!!!!
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
Dandavat pranam,
Dear prabhu pse clear my doubt regarding the meaning of “causeless knowledge”, “causeless mercy”. What does the word causeless imply in both cases. Pse refer SB 1.2.7
Thank you prabhu.
HareKrishna.
Causeless means there is no cause….
“By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world.” (SB 1.2.7)
it is experienced by devotees who take seriously to Krishna consciousness that so many things happen in their lives that appear to have no cause. Simply by taking to devotional service one gets causeless knowledge. He know so many things about so many subject matters and there appears to be no reason for this. And he automatically becomes detached from many things that he may have been completely attached to before taking to Krishna consciousness. One may have been a meat eater for example before taking to Krishna consciousness but as soon as he seriously starts chanting Hare Krishna he has no more attraction for meat and only wants to accept Krishna prasadam. There is no apparent cause for his no longer being attracted to meat eating. It just automatically happens when he takes to Krishna consciousness. So in this way someone who is seriously practicing devotional service develops causeless knowledge and detachment from the world…
HARE KRISHNA
RESPECTED SIR
SIR, I doing regular chanting of harekrishna maha mandram. my 2 daughters also do it regularly. and how can we lead our life with busy schedule. but we are very interesting about all music of prabupada and books . morning we do regular booja to tulasi and pooja room.. my hasbund also very interest to do pooja. i hope harekrishna mahamandram lead our life successfully. mahamandram is life protection of our life. Is there any particular time for chanting maha mandram? I really interest to chant early morning 4 O clock. but my body did not cooperate with me. i stop to eat non-veg and egg also.
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa dasa,
Thank you for your articles. I am receiving this regularly and am very glad to receive your reviews and knowledge about Bhagvad-Gita, spiritual & Matrial world.
I need your favor. I want to have a Iskcon Guru (Teacher) whom i can follow. You know without Guru I can’t approach to God. Please advise me.
Awaiting for your answers.
Hare Krishna
The only qualified ISKCON guru I am aware of is Srila Prabhupada. You are not going to find a qualified guru among the collection of so-called ISKCON gurus who are surrendered to the GBC which is simply a mundane political organization. A qualified guru is only surrendered to his qualified guru and Krishna. So except for Srila Prabhupada you are not going to find a qualified guru in ISKCON…
Hate Krishna prabhu iskon London has a program every sunday I was listening to lecture about complete surrender. I would like to know more about this subject the person gave the example of Drupadhi
Hare Krishna Shanti
The best thing is to surrender to Srila Prabhupada and do the things he recommends. Like chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, strictly following the four regulative principles: no illicit sex life, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication and seriously reading his books.
You will find all the answers to your questions in Srila Prabhupada’s books and you can get the at http://www.KrishnaStore.co.uk or read them online at http://www.PrabhupadaBooks.com
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna prabhu…thank you so much for the advise. i understand it is very difficult to break our bad habits and the only way is by surrendering to God.i will try my best to chant more and follow the regulative principles more seriously. i have read from srila prabhupada’s books that Hare Krishna mantra is the only way of deliverance in kali yuga and we should chant this mantra always. so, sometimes i will chant Hare Krishna mantra when i am walking or when im doing household works but without japa mala. only when im praying in front of Krishna’s deity, i will use japa mala. is it necessary to use japa mala whenever we are chanting Hare Krishna? as an ordinary person who just come to know about Krishna and His teachings through srila prabhupada, i would like to ask prabhu’s advise on how i should live my life with Krishna’s teachings. for example, what should i do after i get up in the morning? how i should start my day? how i can offer my prayers to Krishna and srila prabhupada? any specific time for the prayers? how should i chant without any offenses? and most importantly, what should i do when sinful thoughts are coming in my mind? it will be really helpful for me if prabhu can elaborate in detail regarding these matters and it might be useful for other sincere seekers of Krishna as well. New Year is coming, so i want to start my life with better and clear vision with Krishna in center. Hare Krishna.
sincere seeker,
shankar
HARE krishna, Prabhu ji
I am reading Shree Bhagwat geeta daily from past many years, Because of Krishna I know what is bad or good for my soul but sometime when anger comes the knowlege vanish and If sombody do bad or somthing evil with us we also want to teach them a lesson and dont even think to forgive them inspite of knowing the fact that we all are equal spiritual soul and that person is under stronger influence of maya. its really easy to read and understand but to impliment is very difficult. maya is very strong and powerfull it makes us sometime brainless even after following all 4 rules of ISKON
HARE KRISHNA
Yes. You know that Krishna says this of anger in the Bhagavad-gita. That it destroys our intelligence and causes us to fall from the spiritual platform… Still also anger can be used in the service of Krishna. Arjuna had to get angry at the opposing army to fight with them and that fighting and that anger was pleasing to Krishna and service to Krishna. So anger is not always bad. It can also be used in the service of Krishna.
hare krishna prabhu…my name is shankar and im 24 years old. i got to know about krishna consciousness approximately 3 years ago…i read bhagavad gita by srila prabhupada and was really convinced with his teachings. And i started to chant hare krishna mantra soon after that. im chanting twice or three times a day (morning and evening)and also reading srila prabhupada’s books. im a student, so i only have this time to chant. But, im having a big problem with my sexual desire. i started to masturbate 2 years ago and each time after i masturbated, i felt tremendeous guiltiness inside me. Because, i know that we shouldn’t commit any sins in the strength of Krisna’s holy name. i have tried uncountable times to resist my sexual temptations but all in vain. Sometimes i wonder if God is really helping me? i have been praying to Him about this but i don’t receive any answers. sometimes, i just convinced myself that things happened for a reason but when im keep on doing the same thing, i feel hopeless. And, im not very sure for how long this habit will continue. is masturbation a very sinful habit? sometimes, i feel God will punish me for what i am doing because i have promised to Him many times that i will never masturbate again but i just could not help myself.i hope prabhu can give some solutions for my problem. all i want is i want to become a better person and to serve Krishna forever. and i also wish that i will never masturbate again.
Hare Krishna Shankar
Sex desire is a very strong thing, but Krishna consciousness is stronger. But you are not surrendered to the process of Krishna consciousness so you can not expect it to work. The minimum is chanting 16 rounds a day and following the four regulative principles. And there are many other things you have to do also. Like control the tongue. The tongue, the belly and the genitals are in a straight line, so if you can control the tongue automatically the belly and the genitals will also come under control. The tongue has two businesses: vibrating and tasting. So if you want to control the genitals first you have to control the tongue by only vibrating the holy name of Krishna and the glories of Krishna and by only tasting Krishna prasadam.
There are many things that destroy our devotional service. One thing is gramiya-katha, ‘village talk’. What we vibrate with our tongue and what we hear has a huge effect on our consciousness. So if we want to be Krishna conscious we have to use the tongue to vibrate the Hare Krishna mantra and use the ears to hear the glories to Krishna and the Hare Krishna mantra. Another thing that is very destructive is asadhu-sanga, the association of non-devotees. If we ‘hang out’ with non-devotees, who’s whole lives are about performing sinful activities then we will become like them. There is nothing that can stop this.
So Krishna consciousness is a scientific process and if expect it to work, it you want to be able to actually follow the regulative principles like no illicit sex, then you have to at least do the basic things like chanting 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily. There is no excuse for not doing this. We have to do it. For devotees chanting Hare Krishna is like breathing. Without breathing our material body will die, and if we can not chant even 16 rounds a day our spiritual life will die.
It is not very much to find 2 hours out of 24 to chant Hare Krishna each day. If we can not do that then we are not very serious, and honestly there is no way to become Krishna conscious and to control the senses without taking the teachings of Srila Prabhupada very seriously. We obviously means you have to seriously study Srila Prabhupada’s books. Otherwise how will you know what is Krishna consciousness and what is maya.
So the only answer to your problem is to very seriously take to Krishna consciousness by chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra and becoming again determined to strictly follow the four regulative principles and reading Prabhupada’s books.
Falling down is not a disqualification. It is not surprising. You should never become discouraged and never give up no matter how many times you promise Krishna that you will not do it again and you end up doing it again. Bad habits are hard to break. But we have to break them. We have to come to the platform of actually following the regulative principles. And the strength to do this comes from chanting Hare Krishna. But you have no strength because you just chant a couple of rounds a day. If you actually surrender to chanting 16 rounds a day, even if in the beginning you can not strictly follow all the principles, that chanting of Hare Krishna will give you strength and you will be able to follow the regulative principles, if you just keep chanting Hare Krishna and reading Prabhupada’s books. You have to do it, that’s all, chant Hare Krishna at least 16 rounds a day and read Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day.
This is the most important thing. You have to find time for it. Get up earlier in the morning for example. It is not that you can not study and work and perform your duties in the material world. You can do that. But you have to find at least 3 hours out of the 24 hours for Krishna. 2 hours for chanting Hare Krishna and one hour for reading Prabhupada’s books. No matter how busy you are you have to be able to find at least 3 hours a day for Krishna. Otherwise there is no hope. You will be in maya for sure and never be able to control your senses. You have to get your priorities right. Remember chanting Hare Krishna is more important than breathing. If you neglect chanting Hare Krishna there is no possibility of spiritual life or controlling your senses…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Madhudvisa Prabhu,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
I have been reading your answers to those who have written to you. I am taking real pleasure in reading your patient and thoughtful words of advice.
I simply want to acknowledge you for the wonderful service you are doing for these good souls and for our divine eternal master, Srila Prabhupada.
Your servant,
Ishan das
Thank you Prabhu. I am just trying to repeat what I have heard from Srila Prabhupada, that’s all.
Your servant
Madhudvisa dasa
how come masturbation is an illicit sex. if you take a married person and if he/she is having sex with some other person then that can be called as an illicit sex no. can you please answer my question. kindly requesting you.
HARE KRISHNA
Hare Krishna
Yes, a married person having sex with his wife if it is not for the purpose of having a child is illicit sex. Sex is only permitted in marriage and only once a month and only when one is wanting to beget a child.
You have to understand that the idea of Krishna consciousness is to become free from the bodily concept of life and the thing that most keeps us in the bodily concept of life is sex. So we have to give up sex except for using it for it’s only real purpose and that is to have children in marriage. Otherwise we will stay completely in the bodily concept of life and will not be able to make any spiritual advancement.
I know it sounds impossible. But it is not, because the pleasure you get from actually really practicing Krishna consciousness under the guidance of a real bona fide spiritual master is so much unlimitedly better than the so-called pleasure of sex that we actually am not interested in it any more. We have something much better. This is really true but you can only experience the higher taste by giving up the lower taste and if you are not prepared to give up illicit sex you will never be able to know what Krishna consciousness is…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
laudable explaination. thank you. but you know i will try my level best to come out of it.
First basic axiom of spiritual life:
OUR LOVE IS MEANT FOR GOD. ALL PERSONS IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD HAVE ONLY ONE DESIRE – TO GIVE PLEASURE TO GOD WITH EVERY THOUGHT, WORD AND ACTIVITY. AND KRISHNA OR VISHNU, RECIPROCATES, BY FILLING THE HEARTS OF SUCH GOOD SOULS WITH UNLIMITED SPIRITUAL BLISS, ANANDA.
Those souls who wish to seek that happiness independent of Krishna’s service, are sent to this material world where we are all engaged in self-centered processes.
So Krishna is SWAMI = MASTER, or HUSBAND. And we are His eternal servants, “nitya Krishna das”. But although we are actually His eternal servants, we have chosen to seek our fulfillment independently. Threfore our position, in this material realm, has been created so that we can persue this ILLICIT orientation.
It does not matter what we are doing for enjoyment in this material realm. If we are seeking fulfillment outside of giving pleasure to God, our position is ILLICIT. And the price, or penalty for such an attitude is that we are subjected to repeated birth and death. The penalty is this death sentence – repeatedly. This is called “samsara”.
The purpose of human life is to RE-AWAKEN our dormant spontaneous love for God. If we cultivate this love successfully, we will become mad after giving pleasure to Krishna, and all self-centered pleaure seeking will fall away from our hearts.
So we are now suffering from this heart disease. A disease which takes us repeatedly to the grave, or funeral pyre. This suffering is to discourage us in our ILLICIT orientation.
It does not matter if we are masturbating, watching TV, walking on the beach, or smelling a rose. If we are not seeking God’s pleasure, then our position is ILLICIT.
These are very strong words. But our predicament of repeated birth and death is an extremely high price to pay for our inappropriate spirit of self-centered pleasure seeking.
It is a tremendous wake-up call to understand this. Most of the unlimited souls in existence live in the spiritual realm completely overwhelmed with feelings of love for Krishna. And only the self-centered souls live in the material realm. This material realm is like an insane asylum for disorientated souls, who are being subjected to a horrific form of hypno-therapy, in order to bring us to our senses. Although we are deathless, we are subjected to the experience of repeated birth and death.
In the material realm, our entire orientation is illicit. Our real husband, our real master, Jagganatha Swami, is ignored, while we seek our fulfillment separately. Masturabation is simply another futile, emabarassing portrayal of how blind we have become. How blind? So blind that we are willing to submit ourselves to repeated birth and death, simply so that we can have these few seconds of fleeting pleasure.
We Krishna Conscious people are not prudes, or mundane moralists. We have been kindly instructed, to understand clearly, that our orientation is illicit, the price we are paying is extremely high, and that our highest opportunity for unlimited pleasure and satisfaction lies in rekindling our eternal relationship with our eteranl Lord and Master, Sri Krishna.
All of this is explained by Krishna to Arjuna in Bhagavad-gita. And after explaining like this, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna, “Now do as you like.” Therefore we wish to encourage you to acquire a copy of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, and all of this will be nicely brought into focus.
Hare Krishna ! Ishan das
please also let me know i do not keep all ekadasi but i keep Nirjal (Bhim ekadasi) so is it ok or need to keep all ekadasi’s.
Observing the ekadasi fasting is very helpful for making advancement in Krishna consciousness. Lord Caitanya stressed the importance of this to his disciples and at that time there was some custom that the women may not follow the ekadasi fasting so at one point His mother was not following it, but He requested her to follow the ekadasi fasting. So observing the Ekadasi days and the Festival days are very good for making advancement in Krishna consciousness and it is very easy to not eat grains. It is not even really fasting. You can drink milk and eat fruit and vegetables. So you do not even need to get hungry. Just you don’t eat grains. It is very easy to do and there is a great benefit in doing it so devotees who are even a little serious about Krishna consciousness will certainly observe the ekadasis. So my advice to you is that you must observe the ekadasi fasting by not eating any grains on the ekadasi days…
Narayan Narayan,
Mahdudvisa Dasa i have one question why member of ISKCON have changed or added (Devi \ Dasi \ Das) with there names.
why you need to change the name is it because it makes some attraction or it is convincing. or there is something which i need to understand so please make me understand this.
Hare Krishna
The spiritual master gives the devotee a new name at the time of initiation. It is because initiation is like a new birth, a second birth. So initiation is the start of a new life, so you get a new name. The old name is given by your material parents and has so many connections with family and initiation means giving up all of those material designations and changing our designation to “Krishna dasa”, servant of Krishna. All the devotee’s names mean servant of Krishna or servant of the servant of Krishna. So that is the idea. You may know the story of Ajamila. He had the great fortune of naming his son ‘Narayana’ and he happened to call out the name of his son: “Narayana” at the time of his death and even though he was very sinful this chanting of the name of “Narayana” at the time of his death saved him and the Visnuduttas came there to take him back home, back to Godhead. So if our own name means “Krishna dasa” and we are hearing it all the time then that will be very good for our spiritual life.
So initiation means a new name… Krishna dasa…
Hare krsna! please accept my respectful obessiances. you know the only problem i facing time to time is controlling my sex urges. i know all the facts that i’m not going to be satisfied by doing these nonsense. its really disgusting for me to think even that i can enjoy and satisfy my senses but whenever i’m alone and internet is there than this rascal mind hunts me down. i’ve tryed a lot to convince my mind and i’m still trying. this habbit is being really prominent in me and i want to get rid of this. i’ve been reading prabhupad’s books and chanting aswell but still not getting that higher taste. any suggestions????
Hare Krishna Anil
Krishna consciousness is like poison at the beginning and like nectar later on. Material sense gratification is like nectar in the beginning but soon turns into poison.
In the beginning we have to just force ourselves to follow. But that requires very serious engagement in Krishna consciousness. The taste comes from surrender to a bona fide spiritual master and serving him and when he is pleased with your service and happy with you then he gives you his blessings. So you have to do some practical service to please Srila Prabhupada.
Krishna consciousness means devotional service. That means we have to use our time and our energy in the service of Krishna under the direction of Krishna’s pure devotee. And the secret is to be fully engaged in serving Krishna 24 hours a day so there is no time left for serving maya.
We are fallen by nature and there is an English saying: “The idle mind is the devils workshop.” So if you are not busy, have nothing to do, then of course the devilish mind will start acting up.
I know it from my own life, I can only be engaged in the service of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna or the service of maya, there is no other alternative. So fortunately for me I am so overloaded with service that I have no excuse but still I also get distracted and I know exactly what you are saying and completely understand. But I do experience a higher taste when engaged in serving Srila Prabhupada.
The thing is you have to actually surrender to Krishna consciousness fully and make that the mission of your life rather than treating it as a religion or a hobby or something like that. We have to actually try to be Krishna conscious 24 hours a day 7 days a week. We have to actually read all of Srila Prabhupada’s books.
The thing is if you actually surrender to chanting 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and become determined to follow the four regulative principles and you read Prabhupada’s books regularly you will become Krishna conscious and you will experience a higher taste and you will be able to control your sex desire. But in the beginning you may fall down and fail many times. This is not very strange and you should not become distressed about this but just pick yourself up and keep chanting Hare Krishna.
It will work. The Hare Krishna mantra is so very powerful that it will purify you from any condition.
Of course you have to feel disgusted and really want to stop the illicit sex. And really every time feel regretful and pray to Krishna and Srila Prabhupada and ask them for forgiveness and ask them to give you the strength so you can resist these temptations in the future. I have been there, and I could be there also next week, I hope not, but spiritual life is like a razors edge. It is very easy to fall down into sense gratification. You just have to become disgusted with yourself and understand what you are doing from the philosophical and logical point of view and read Prabhupada’s books and understand how to become Krishna conscious and as you become Krishna conscious automatically the desires for sense gratification will reduce.
A big problem is association. If we associate with others who are interested in sex then it becomes very difficult for us to control our sex desire. It is a great pity, the reason Srila Prabhupada established ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, was to create a society of devotees living together in the association of devotees because really Krishna consciousness can only develop in the association of devotees. This society of devotees has been broken now, it does not exist any more in any practical functioning way. They still have some temples but there is no society of devotees living together.
This is the material world so everyone practically is materialistic and by their association even though we try to become Krishna conscious we also tend to become materialistic.
But anyhow if you really actually chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, even if you are fallen in every way and it seems hopeless if you keep chanting 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, even if you don’t feel any higher taste, Krishna will adjust everything in your life and after a while everything will be OK and you will be back in control.
That is my practical experience in my life. I have been in very difficult, hopeless situations, and I just keep chanting Hare Krishna and Krishna always adjusts things and everything becomes right again…
So just keep chanting Hare Krishna and reading Prabhupada’s books. When you are alone chant Hare Krishna and read Prabhupada’s books instead of going to those sites on the web…
We can’t control our senses because they are attracted by the things we see for example. So we have to avoid as far as possible seeing and hearing things that will agitate our senses… On the other hand hearing about Krishna and seeing the form of Krishna awaken our spiritual consciousness. So it is a decision that we have to make, what we see, what we hear, what we eat, who we associate with, and if we always choose Krishna and always ignore maya then our minds will become peaceful and we will be easily and happily able to practice Krishna consciousness.
So don’t worry too much that it seems very difficult. Just make sure that you actually chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and read Prabhupada’s books and everything will come right, I guarantee it, if you actually do this…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krsna prabhu ji.
thank you very much for showing your deep concern on me. i believe that your words carry power to change my heart. really i need to engage myself in sadhana and services and i do believe how important is association of devotees. but at times i myself find challenging maya that ok i won’t be affected by this or that any more and you know mind really makes you convince on that. anyways i’m looking forward on your response on coming days and i hope i’ll be able to say “yes” for Krishna and “No” for maya.
thank you very much and i really appreciate you for getting time for suggesting me.
All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga.
thank you once again.
Hare Krishna.
Some of the things that our minds direct us to do, we will never do, simply if we are in the association of another sincere devtoee.
And we are talking about a life and death matter. If we do not suceed in our spiritual life, we must take birth again in this material world. And we do not know what kind of hellish situation we will be born into. Therefore we should be very concerned. We must be very sober in considering.
Therefore, the presence of another devotee can save your life. Somehow you must have that association. Somehow you must make that arrangement. That will eliminate so much of your struggle.
Hare Krishna! Ishan das
One thing i have always wondered about KC,which noone from iskcon has managed to answer me is whether or not masterbation is considered illict sex under shastric rules or if it is permitted for unmarried people
just wondering
Hare Krishna
Well if the ISKCON devotees can’t answer this question there is big problem!
Of course masturbation is illicit sex. Everyone knows that. There are two reasons why devotees do not have sex except for having children. The main reason is that sex is the biggest bond to the material world. It is the thing that keeps us shackled in the material world. Sex is the chains that keep the prisoners in the jail. So while we are attached to sex there is no chance of us ever being able to get out of the clutches of maya an no way we can become Krishna conscious.
So if we want to make any spiritual advancement at all we have to either give up sex life altogether or to get married and only have sex with our wife when we want to have children and then only once a month.
It sounds horrible, and it is really not possible unless one is actually Krishna conscious. If one is really a Krishna conscious person he will be experiencing a pleasure from the spiritual platform that is so much greater than the so-called pleasure that one gets from sex that sex will be not attractive to him. He will feel disgusted with the idea of sex. But this is only possible if we are really Krishna conscious and we can only become Krishna conscious by following the four regulative principles [which includes no illicit sex which includes no masturbation] and chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and following everything else that Srila Prabhupada is instructing us in his books.
So you can understand there is a difficult time at the beginning. In the beginning we are still very much attached to sex life and we have not yet become Krishna conscious so we have to be prepared to undergo the austerity of giving up sex. We have to stop it, even though we feel very much like doing it, we have to stop doing it. Because if we continue to have illicit sex we will never be able to become Krishna conscious. We will never know what Krishna consciousness is.
So if the ISKCON devotees you are talking to can not tell you this they are not devotees. They are imposers. This is a very basic point.
Without giving up illicit sex, without stopping masturbation, you can make any advancement in spiritual life. Sex is a very heavy ancor that will keep your firmly in the material world. It is difficult to give it up, but unless we give it up we can not get out of this material world. We will be stuck here forever suffering birth, old age, disease and death… We will never get out.
I said there was two reasons at the beginning and the other reason is that brahmacary means keeping the semen within the body because if it is kept within it raises to the brain and helps very much develop the functions of the brain and makes on very strong and determined so he can be successful in anything he puts his mind to
So anyhow please understand that the definition of illicit sex is quite broad and certainly any activity that stimulates the genitals like this is illicit sex. And if we want to make spiritual advancement we have to stop it.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Yes, CK. Everything that Madhudvisa prabhu says is factual.
The first level of realization in spiritual life is that we are not these material bodies. But if I am trying to enjoy this body, aside from using it for Krishna’s pleasure, then that realization is impossible.
Any attempt to enjoy the material body simply tightens our identification with this illusory sense of self. It is like trying to extinguish the flame of material identification by pouring gasoline on it.
Srila Prabhupada used to say that spiritual life is not a cheap thing. There is a real price to be paid. So many bogus gurus and swamis will tell us that we can do all nonsense. And some may invite us to do nonsense with them. But they are bound for hell, and are willing to take us with them.
It is not that sex is bad. It is not a question of good and bad. It is simply to understand that such actitivites reinforce our material identification, and such identification makes it impossible to know God. Therefore such behaviour is unintelligent.
However, if one is posing as a spiritual teacher, and encourages the students in the wrong way, that is extremely sinful. One who takes the position of spiritual teacher must be immaculate in all ways, because to mislead his students by encouraging sexual indulgence is worse than murder. By trusting such a teacher, one may have to repeat in the cycle of birth and death, perhaps millions of times. Along with positions of power comes great responsabilty. This is true in all spheres, what to speak of being a spiritual teacher.
Sense gratification, of any kind, is our diseased condition, causing repetition of birth and death. Simply because we want more of it, therefore we must come back to aonther material body. And of all material desires, sex is the strongest. We are not talking about mundane conceptions of morality. If we want spiritual realization we have to give up material sense gratification.
And as Madhudvisa Prabhu has pointed out, spiritual life in Krishna Consdciousness is not dry. If we really follow the process, we will become happy in Krishna Consciousness and maya’s grip on us will be loosened. And if we engage in sense gratification, maya’s grip will will become more strong. Therefore you must be intelligent. You must understand the science of Krishna Consciousness, and structure your life intelligently. No one can force you. You must understand clearly, and decide for yourself, hour by hour, day by day. Spiritual life is not a hobby, not a club. Spiritual life is about life and death.
We are now caught in the grip of repeated death. Spiritual practice, real spiritual practice, offers us eternal blissful life. We must be sober and choose intelligently.
Hare Krishna! Ishan das
Hare Krishna
Please Accept my humble obeisances,
in this materialistic world human mind will roaming around earning & enjoying.
offcoarse depending of the ability earning will have, but in sexual matters everybody’s thinking is same. so how to control the thinking of that matter, and concentrate on supreme personality.
yours servant
Hare Krishna Surya
Yes. You are right. We all suffer from the sexual problem. In one sense Krishna consciousness is unnatural in the material world. We have these material bodies and they have the sexual organs and they are constantly demanding satisfaction. But I think we have all noticed that there is never any satisfaction in regard to sex. It is impossible to satisfy that demand. It is like if you have a sore and it is itching then you can scratch it to try and satisfy the itching but that will not solve the problem but will make the sore worse. If you scratch it then it will get bigger and get infected and will get so much worse. But if you just tolerate the itching and leave it alone, don’t scratch it, then the itching will go away quickly and the sore will heal.
It is the same with sex. When the desire comes we have to just ignore it and it will go away. But if don’t ignore it, if we start planning how to have sex… It becomes so complicated and such a problem and completely distracts us away from Krishna consciousness.
The real solution to this problem is to get to the point where we are actually enjoying spiritual pleasure from chanting Hare Krishna and serving Krishna. And when we are actually in this position of real Krishna consciousness the so-called pleasure of sex will seem to be insignificant to us. Even if the thought of sex comes in our mind we will actually really feel disgusted at the idea.
This is a sign that we are making spiritual advancement. We are making advancement if our material desires are reducing. And our material desires reduce as our attachment and love for Krishna increases.
So the real answer is to become Krishna conscious, to develop love for Krishna, then automatically we will not be interested in sex, we will have something better.
But there is a problem because to make any advancement in Krishna consciousness we have to give up illicit sex. If we don’t give this up that will completely block our spiritual advancement. So we have to give up illicit sex before we are actually experiencing any tangible pleasure from Krishna consciousness. So this tapasya, austerity. We have to voluntarily agree to undergo some suffering for making spiritual advancement. So we have to voluntarily agree to follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] even though to stop doing these things is suffering for us in the beginning.
Actually there is nothing good in these things but we are attached and it is difficult to give up that attachment but we have to become determined to undergo that tapasya, austerity, difficulty. And when we voluntarily follow the regulative principles like this and voluntarily agree to force ourselves to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, then Srila Prabhupada will be pleased with us and if he is pleased with us Krishna will be pleased with us.
We have to remember that to please Krishna we have to please Srila Prabhupada. So this is the key to solving the sex problem because the real solution is to experience a ‘higher taste’. To actually give up sex and get rid of the disturbance in our mind we have to experience something better than sex. And this higher taste, higher pleasure, is there is in Krishna consciousness and ultimately the only way we can become Krishna conscious is by pleasing a pure devotee of Krishna.
So we can read Srila Prabhupada’s books and understand what is his mission and what he wants us to do to help him in his mission. And if we make Srila Prabhupada’s mission, in whatever way we can, our mission in life, then Prabhupada will be pleased with us and Krishna will be pleased with us and we will experience a higher spiritual taste and sex will no longer be a very big attraction to us. If we are married it will become a service to bring Krishna conscious children into the world and if we not married we will be able to serve Krishna with great strength and determination without being disturbed by the sex urge…
It is real, I can guarantee 100% that Krishna consciousness has the power, the potency, to give us pleasure that makes sex seem disgusting. But Krishna consciousness is only really available if we can surrender to Krishna’s pure devotee. So when, by the mercy d. Otherwise there is no solution. The Mayavadis for example can not solve this problem. Because they do not believe in Krishna ultimately as a person, so they can not get any transcendental bliss, so they will always be having the sex desire that they are suppressing and trying to avoid. So they will never get rid of it, only suppress it and it can pop up at any time.
But actual devotees who have a loving relationship with Krishna are really experiencing something better than sex, so they have no sex desire. It is like if you starving then any rubbish food will be very attractive to you. You will eat anything practically to satisfy your hunger. But if you are very satisfied after eating a very nice meal of first-class foodstuffs and then you see some rubbish food you will not feel even slightly attracted to that rubbish food.
Anyhow the bottom line is it is not very easy to become Krishna conscious, but Krishna consciousness is the greatest achievement, so it is worth undergoing a bit of austerity, voluntary suffering, by forcing ourselves to avoid illicit sex, meat eating, gambling and intoxication, and force ourselves to chant:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
at least 16 rounds a day.
The little suffering we undergo to force ourselves to do this will be repaid unlimitedly when we get the real treasure of Krishna consciousness… It is well worth it…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Sir,
I have one doubt. What it means the living entity and how much living entities are there in our body and what happens to it when our death happened?
Hare Krishna Abhilash
There are so many living entities. Unlimited. And considering this there are so few living entities in the human form. You have understood that within your body even there are so many living entities. But you are the one living entity who is the soul whose consciousness pervades your entire body. You are the one living entity who is directing the actions of your body.
So we can see that even to get a human body is such a rare thing, and it is only in the human form of life that it is possible to ask the questions like “Why am I here?” “What is the purpose of life?” and get the answers. So this human form of life is so valuable that we should not waste even a second. Most people are completely unaware of the great opportunity of the human form of life and simply waste it like the animals. Animals are eating, sleeping, mating and defending. So if you look at the general public they are only doing these things also, they living like animals [eating, sleeping, mating and defending] with no idea of the great advantage of the human form of life…
So the point, to answer your question, is that all the other living entities in your body will go on also after your body dies. After your body dies you go on, you take birth in another body. So all the other living entities will also go on. If their body is OK they can keep living in their body but if their body dies then they will take birth in another body and the cycle of samsara goes on…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Also, Abhilash,
if you are in good Krishna Consciousness, all the other living entities that are in your body, as bacteria, worms, etc., they will be benefitted by your good Krishna Consciousness.
Therefore some great Vaishnava saints have written prayers to take birth even as an insect, in the home of a real vaishnava.
Just by being Krishna Conscious the vaishnava is doing the highest welfare work. Because to bring other souls closer to Krishna is a greater service than to open a hospital. By bringing others closer to Krishna, they can eventually end samsara, the repetition of birth and death. No hospital, no other social welfare program can offer this kind of benefit.
Therefore although such welfare workers may pose themselves as virtuous, only the vaishnava is supplying the real benefit – helping people to return to our real home, where no hospitals are needed – the Vaikuntha world, Krishna Loka. Krishna Consciousness is above all such misguided sentimental public service.
Hare Krishna, Ishan das
Hare Krishna! Ishan das
hare krishna prabhu,
thanku very much for this, now i m feeling some good taste of krishna counscious due to ur blessing, now i m observing fasting for ekadasi, and that day trying to take leave from work, and i m very happy due to this, its request to u pls , guide me more as much possible,
hare krishna
sanjay kumar
I have cut the time of doing the mantra from about twenty minutes
a round to ten minutes ! . I have done this by speeding up and
changing from Rama to Ram . I will build it up to 16 rounnds .
Hare Krishna.
Hare Krishna Peter
It is very good news!! Practice makes perfect. So the more you chant Hare Krishna the better it will become. Ten minutes per round is quite an OK time, even at 10 minutes per round 16 rounds only takes 2 hours. So I think you can find two hours a day for the chanting without any problems.
Actually the last a on Rama is a short a, so you still chant it but if you are chanting Ram there is still an a sound on the end and it is short. So it is probably OK. It is important to chant and hear all the syllables of the mantra. So we have to be careful that we are actually chanting the full mantra and hearing it. It is OK to speed it up as long as we are actually still able to chant and hear all the syllables of the mantra. It is no good if what we are chanting changes as we speed it up.
We can not go on auto-pilot and keep chanting but let our mind wander onto so many other subjects. When this happens we have to force our mind back to the mantra by concentrating on actually hearing what we are chanting.
Anyhow I am very happy to hear your news!!
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
are we supposed to give up our duty such as studying,working and taking care of our family and just do devotinal service to krishna?what will happen to the people we left behind?
Hare Krishna Sharmeni
No. Krishna is not suggesting that we give up our duties, rather we should add Krishna consciousness to our lives. That will be the best thing for ourselves and for our family members also. We are only suggesting chanting 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and following the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating,no gambling and no intoxication], so your other duties can go on — simply you add Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
reading yr mails helps me i got initatied & my name now is indrani devi dasi. my son die by suicide & i still grieve alittle still am i on a worldly platform ?
Hare Krishna Mother Indrani
It is good news you have taken initiation. Now you take it seriously and actually chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and strictly follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and read Srila Prabhupada’s books and Prabhupada and Krishna from within your heart will answer all your questions and you will understand clearly what is your service.
As far as your son, these things happen and you should not worry yourself about this. It is not your fault. Every living entity comes into this world with a different karma and although we appear as family members actually we are all separate individuals with our own individual karma to work through. So what happened with your son is his happening as a result of his karma and there is nothing you could have done about it. To be attached to the body like this is the worldly platform but it is very understandable if it is your own son like this.
It is not that in Krishna consciousness that we don’t feel any love and attachments to our family members. That is still there, but when we become devotees we understand better how to actually express our love for our family members in a way that is going to be eternally beneficial to them. We can cook for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and after offering distribute the prasadam to our family members and even if they are not directly interested in Krishna consciousness by accepting the Krishna prasadam they will very quickly become Krishna conscious.
So the thing is we can not do anything about the past, and there is no point worrying about the past. We have to look forward and become Krishna conscious….
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvsia daa
Asf
Hare Krishna RESPECTED madhudvisa DASJI
are liberation and Moksha same ?. if not, Kindly elaborate Moksha.
Liberated person is always in trance. 24 hours ?.
Scriptures say that Lord Mahavira and Lord Buddha attained moksha and they saw the whole (Material and spiritual worlds) at once with full knowledge.
Kindly explain it giving references from Bhagvadgita ?
Hare Krishna
regards.
Hare Krishna Rajesh
Liberated person is not always in a trance. If he is a devotee he is engaged in devotional service which means performing many practical activities for Krishna. Like going out and distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books for example. That is also a type of trance but not like you are thinking. Liberated just means realizing that he is not the body. It has nothing to do with trance.
I have no idea which scriptures you are talking about but there is no reference in the Bhagavad Gita to Lord Mahavira or Lord Buddha. Lord Buddha is an incarnation of Krishna so there is no question of him attaining moksha, he is already the Supreme Lord, so he is already beyond moksha.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna.
It’s true that we are not this body but the minute spirit related to Krishna, but sometime souls in your surrounding get bewildered by the agonies they have been going through.
It becomes very difficult to convince such souls and we continue watching them suffer.
What could be the best possible method to get away them from such physical & temporary pain?
Hare Krishna.
Dalbir
Hare Krishna Dalbir
There is no way to get away from physical and temporary pain. That is coming as karma, reactions to sinful activities we have performed in the past and you can not stop it. If you stop it in one way it will just come in another way.
This world is a place of suffering. That is the purpose of the material world. It is a prison where the rebellious living entities are sent for reformation. So suffering is an important part of that reformation. You can not stop the suffering. That is not possible.
The only way to stop the people from suffering is to give them Krishna consciousness. That is the reason they are suffering, because they have forgotten Krishna. So the solution is to spread the Krishna consciousness movement and help the people to remember Krishna…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishana
Self Realization is a very common word these days and practically everyone knows that we are all eternal spiritual entities or nityabadhas.
Under these conditions it will be best to know where one is rather than who one is.
While The Creator Himself has modestly coined this part of His creation as Dukhalaya, Guru Maharaj Srila Prabhupada has not minced any words nor spared any efforts in explicit explanation of where we are.
3.39 BG has been purported by Guruji and He explains this place as Maithunyagara just as the central Jail in Bangalore where I stay is called Parappanna Agrahara.
Agrahara is a sanskrit word for land/infrastructure given away. In the case of Bangalore Jail it is land/infrastructure given away to house criminals and convicts.
Similarly Maithunyagara is an infrastructure given away to sex mongers.
Just imagine the power with which it is being driven. The network, the Operating Systems, the application software, the transcendental cloud computing. It is a clear indication of His disgust.
It is a pity that Maithunyagara has had to be an integral part of Sat Chit Ananda though at a conceptual perfection of the same Sat Chit Ananda cannot give any place to the existence of Maithunyagara even as a thought, it is having to be micromanaged by the very same Dear Lord as Bhagavan Sankarshana.
I am sure He has thought of how to do away with it for good.
The feeling must be sickening for Him.
Haribol
Naren