"Highly Focused Intelligence."

In the Bhagavad-gita 2:41 Lord Sri Krishna states,

vyavasayatmika buddhir

ekeha kuru-nandana

bahu-sakha hy anantas ca

buddhayo 'vyavasayinam

"Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched."

In this verse two key words are "one" and "many". If we are Krishna conscious, we have one-pointed highly focused intelligence. Otherwise if we are not Krishna consciousness, our intelligence is splayed out all over the place. In such an unfocused state one is not able to successfully carry out the purpose of this human form, i.e. to realize the Absolute Truth.

Some people complain that we do not give any practical guidance on how to realize the Highest Truth. But then when we tell them the actual technique for attaining it, they again complain. What can be done? If we want to realize the Absolute Truth, we have to be willing to make some serious sacrifices of our time and energy. We should not think that the most valuable thing to be found anywhere in the universe comes cheaply. There has to be some serious expenditure of time and energy from our side.

When one of my students told me that he did not have sufficient time for chanting the Hare Krishna mantra daily on the japa beads because he was so busy with his job, I asked him to give a breakdown of his daily schedule. It turned out that he was spending two hours every evening watching mundane television with his relatives. If we are willing to cut the unnecessary time-wasters out of our schedules we can easily find sufficient time and energy for realizing the highest perfection of developing pure love for God. We have to simply realize that there is nothing more important than this and devote every spare minute of every day to this topmost of all activities, realizing the Absolute Truth.

Real poverty is of The Heart

Quote's of the day

Question: Why Are People So Afraid of Death?

Gurudeva, why are people so afraid of death, as it is a fact that one who is born has to die one day, no one can avoid this? Why they are not able to accept this truth?

Answer: It Is Simply Due to Ignorance

We do not want to accept the inevitability of death because as eternal spiritual beings we actually do not ever die. We live eternally. The foolish materialists try to avoid death by material means, and 100% of them fail in this attempt. The devotees of the Lord, however, conquer over by reviving their original eternal identities as servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

"The Soul Cannot Be Killed."

Many years ago I was riding one night with some friends down a remote dark country highway in the hill country west of Austin, Texas. It appeared that another car was tailing us and it became fearful for us that perhaps the persons in the other car had some ill intentions towards us. But then one of my companions stated that he was not afraid because he has a bulletproof soul. His words were a wonderful reassurance to me that there is nothing at all to be feared in this world. I never forget his profound words. It is most comforting to know that the self can never be slain.

This knowledge of the imperishable nature of the self is coming originally from the Vedic wisdom, the ancient spiritual wisdom of India. This knowledge was spoken over 5,000 years ago by Lord Krishna to Arjuna as recorded in the Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 2, Text 19:

ya enam vetti hantaram

yas cainam manyate hatam

ubhau tau na vijanito

nayam hanti na hanyate

"Neither he who thinks the living entity the slayer nor he who thinks it slain is in knowledge, for the self slays not nor is slain."

Since the actual self, the soul, is indestructible, why have we built an entire civilization around the temporary material body? This is called ignorance. And because we have ignorantly constructed an entire world civilization, therefore no one is happy here. Everyone is anxiety. The rich are in anxiety. The poor are in anxiety. The middle class is in anxiety. Everyone is bewildered because they are basing their happiness on the satisfaction of the perishable material body.

There needs to be now a system in place all over the world to simply educate everyone to the understanding that we are all eternal spirit-souls, part and parcel servitors of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. This will bring about the desired peace and happiness in this world. We pray that this knowledge will now spread throughout the entire world.

"The Way Out of Illusion."

Mortality means anxiety. Nobody wants to die. This is why bodily consciousness, the false identity with the material body, is the root cause of all our suffering and anxiety. If we can simply rise beyond bodily consciousness to the spiritual platform, all of our anxieties will be finished. With proper training from the Bhagavad-gita, the devotees, and

the bona fide spiritual master, it is a simple thing to do. But we are so proud that we hesitate to place ourselves under proper guidance. We think that we can figure out how to get out of illusion on our own. This is our foolishness. Someone who is in illusion cannot know the way out of illusion. This is the nature of being in illusion. We can only be guided out of illusion by someone who is free from illusion.

If a blind man leads another blind man, both of them will fall into a ditch. Such unqualified leaders are described as follows in the Vedic wisdom:

avidyayam antare vartamanah

svayam dhirah panditam-manyamanah

janghanyamanah pariyanti mudha

andhenaiva niyamana yathandhah

"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 Upanisad 1.2.5

If we want actual knowledge we must approach that person who knows things as they are. This is the bona fide spiritual master. In this connection we are advised as follows in the Srimad Bhagavatam, 11th Canto, 3rd

Chapter, text 21:

tasmad gurum prapadyeta

jijnasuh sreya uttamam

sabde pare ca nisnatam

brahmany upasamasrayam

"Any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation."

The spiritual master is situated beyond the illusory energy by dint of his full absorption in Krishna consciousness. By taking shelter of him we gradually master the art of also being fully absorbed in Krishna consciousness. This enlightened state of consciousness is the greatest opulence that one can possess. There is nothing in this world that compares to it even to the slightest degree. 

The spiritual master teaches us how to purely situated on the deathless platform of eternity, knowledge, bliss. There is nothing more valuable than the training we receive from him. By his mercy we can fully realize that we are unborn and deathless, that the soul is never born and never dies. This realization of our immortality delivers us from the anxiety of

material existence.

Śrīla Prabhupāda Says - [Regarding Ekādaśī]

From the very beginning of His childhood life Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu introduced the system of observing a fast on the Ekādaśī day. In the Bhakti-sandarbha, by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, there is a quotation from the Skanda Purāṇa admonishing that a person who eats grains on Ekādaśī becomes a murderer of his mother, father, brother and spiritual master, and even if he is elevated to a Vaikuṇṭha planet, he falls down.

On Ekādaśī, everything is cooked for Viṣṇu, including regular grains and dahi, but it is enjoined that a Vaiṣṇava should not even take viṣṇu-prasāda on Ekādaśī. It is said that a Vaiṣṇava does not accept anything eatable that is not offered to Lord Viṣṇu, but on Ekādaśī a Vaiṣṇava should not touch even mahā-prasāda offered to Viṣṇu, although such prasāda may be kept for being eaten the next day. It is strictly forbidden for one to accept any kind of grain on Ekādaśī, even if it is offered to Lord Viṣṇu.

[CC: Adi Līlā 15.9]

Śrīla Prabhupāda Says - [Regarding how by the association of devotees all success will be there]

If the preachers in our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are sincere devotees of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa will always be with them because He is very kind and favorable to all His devotees. Just as Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa were victorious in the Battle of Kurukṣetra, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement will surely emerge victorious if we but remain sincere devotees of the Lord and serve the Lord according to the advice of predecessors (the six Gosvāmīs and other devotees of the Lord).

As Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has stated: tāṅdera caraṇa sevi bhakta-sane vāsa, janame janame haya ei abhilāṣa. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness devotees must always desire to remain in the society of devotees. Bhakta-sane vāsa: they cannot go outside the Kṛṣṇa conscious society or the movement. Within the society we must try to serve the predecessors by preaching Caitanya Mahāprabhu's cult and spreading His name and fame all over the world. If we attempt this seriously within the society, it will be successfully done. There is no question of estimating how this will happen in the mundane sense. But without a doubt, it happens by the grace of Kṛṣṇa.

[CC Madhya līlā: 4.79]