Elder Brother

“The human being is the elder brother of all other living beings. He is endowed with intelligence more powerful than animals for realizing the course of nature and the indications of the Almighty Father.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.10.4 Purport)

It’s just not fair. The elder brother gets all the grief, all the negative attention, and seemingly none of the benefits. The younger siblings can mess up all the time, perform poorly, set a bad example for others, and still not get nearly as much blame as the eldest child does. This is a fact of life that must eventually be accepted, for the older one is supposed to be wiser. They are expected to set a good example for the rest of the children to follow. The elder brother has the authority as well, for they are more powerful than the younger brothers until full maturity is reached. With that responsibility comes the potential for setting the best example and also providing the best protection. The elder brother who fulfills their obligations thus achieves a very high end in life.

Why does the eldest get this burden? What if they didn’t ask for it? The younger ones live under the protection of the parents and the elder brother. The protection of the parents is easy to understand. The mother and father provide for the food, clothing and shelter and make sure that the difficulties in life are minimized while the young ones have a chance to mature. The protection of the elder brother comes in the form of the shielding of the parents’ influence. In the majority of cases, the younger siblings can skate by without drawing too much attention to themselves, but the elder is not so lucky. They are the first ones to get the blame and the last ones to get the credit. Nevertheless, throughout the course of human history there have been some terrific elder brothers, who bore the responsibility without uttering a complaint and set the best example for future generations.

Of course a brother who is an incarnation of God would serve as the ideal example. Shri Ramachandra, also known as Lord Rama, the eldest son of Maharaja Dasharatha, set a terrific example for His younger brothers to follow. Sometimes the right course in life wasn’t apparently clear and Rama was not without His own difficult circumstances. As the eldest son, Rama was expected to be the successor to the throne, but on the eve of His coronation, He was instead ordered to leave the kingdom. Here was an instance where Rama was wronged without a reason. He was treated unfairly only because of the selfish motives of one of Dasharatha’s wives, Kaikeyi, who wanted her own son Bharata to be on the throne.

“Please tell me which of Your enemies shall today be deprived of their life, fame, and friends by me. I am Your faithful servant, so please do instruct me as to how I shall go about bringing this whole earth under Your control.” (Lakshmana speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 23.40)

Lord Rama was the most powerful bow warrior of His time, so He could put up a violent resistance at any time. Indeed, this is what the younger brother Lakshmana suggested. Lakshmana was the third of four sons of Dasharatha, and he was the closest to Rama, though all the brothers respected and loved their eldest brother. Rama took the news of exile to the forest for fourteen years in stride, but Lakshmana did not. He did not have an example to set. Rather, he was able to follow his natural inclination of loving Rama first, without giving much attention to other details.

Lakshmana loved Rama more than anyone else, and he showed this by suggesting that the Lord enact a coup and take over the kingdom. Lest Rama think He would have to do all the work, Lakshmana insisted that he would administer the violent overthrow all by himself. Should Dasharatha or Bharata mount an opposition, Lakshmana would defeat them in battle. Rama was certainly pleased to the heart by the devotion shown by Lakshmana, but the suggestion was never taken seriously. Dasharatha and Bharata had done nothing wrong, and if Rama ignored the order, it would sully the family name established by the many pious kings who previously ruled in the Ikshvaku dynasty.

Rama set the example of an ideal elder brother and righteous ruler. He was detached from the outcome of events, though He fought rigorously to defend dharma, or religiosity. His brothers didn’t bear nearly the same burden because they were not the eldest in the family, but they appreciated everything that Rama did for them. Bharata, for his part, would later try to convince Rama to return home from the forest, but the Lord responded with many cogent facts relating to the shastras, or scriptures, and the need for upholding the good name of the father.

Many thousands of years later, an incarnation of dharma itself, Maharaja Yudhishthira, set a great example for his four younger brothers. The Pandavas faced many hardships and it would have been easy to ignore the rules of propriety and simply go on the attack against the aggressors in this case, the Kauravas. Bhima, one of the younger brothers, was always in an irritated spirit, angry at the people who had wronged his family. If not for Yudhishthira’s calming influence, Bhima might have acted upon his inclination towards violence. The eldest brother had much pressure on him, and sometimes he buckled under that pressure, but never did he completely abandon virtue. Rather, he was there every step of the way to set the best example, which would eventually result in the triumph of the Pandavas over the Kauravas. Of course that victory was not without the aid of the same Shri Rama in His original form of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In the bigger picture, the human being is considered the elder brother of all living entities. Strange to think that we have a relation to tigers, alligators and insects, but we do. Every life force is a part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, miniature samples of God that are vastly inferior in the output of divine qualities. Knowledge, wealth, beauty, fame, strength and renunciation exist in the human being but not nearly to the same levels as they are found in the Supreme Lord.

The variety in species exists because of guna and karma, or inherent qualities and fruitive action. Yet just because one person makes a mistake and another is free of mistakes doesn’t mean that there is any constitutional difference between the two. The results are just temporary, while the qualitative makeup is the same. In the same light, the lower species are either travelling upward in the chain of spiritual evolution towards the highest form known as the human birth or they have temporarily fallen down from the auspicious condition of the human life.

In either case the human being still bears the burden of responsibility, for they are more intelligent. If the younger brother and older brother should get into a fight, even if the older is not in the wrong, the parents will blame him. “But Dad, I didn’t start it. He hit me first.” What is the response of the parents? “Well, you’re supposed to know better. He doesn’t know what he is doing, but you do.” For the human being this same principle applies. Just because the tiger eats other animals doesn’t mean that the mature human being has to follow the same behavior. Rather, with the combination of sobriety in thought and activity in the mode of goodness, the human being has the chance to realize the oneness of spirit, to see the undivided in the divided.

“That knowledge by which one undivided spiritual nature is seen in all existences, undivided in the divided, is knowledge in the mode of goodness.”  (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 18.20)

Not that everyone is the exact same entity or God Himself, but every living being is part of the giant collection of spiritual energy known as Brahman. Only the human being can realize Brahman, and from that realization comes model behavior, which seeks to maintain that equal vision and also advance to the next position of loving God in His personal form. The living entity must eat another living entity to survive, for that is the law of nature. At the same time, however, there is discrimination. Even amongst meat eaters, there isn’t a desire to eat other human beings or cats or dogs. Therefore, the human being naturally uses discrimination, and with the vision of Brahman, the right kind of discrimination is applied.

“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit, or water, I will accept it.”  (Lord Krishna, Bg. 9.26)

How do we know which living entities we are allowed to eat? Grains, fruits, vegetables and milk have been provided to the human being for its sustenance. There is no sin involved in eating these foodstuffs when they have been first offered to the Supreme Lord. Animal flesh cannot be offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for He has no desire to profit from another creature’s unlawful slaying. The food consumption of the human should also be limited, as eating is not meant solely to fulfill urges for sense gratification. It is correct to try to maintain the vital force within the body, for as long as there is conscious thought within the human form there is every chance of realizing God. But to try to go beyond maintaining the body and enjoy the senses at the cost of others is not a valid utilization of effort.

From setting the best example through loving God, the human being automatically has love for other creatures. With love for everyone, there is no question of anger, rage, greed, vengeance, or unnecessarily inhibiting the growth of others. Thus simply by loving God, by regularly chanting His names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, the elder brother that is the human being sets up conditions where everyone can move forward in their evolution towards the same platform of God consciousness.

In Closing:

The elder brother sets example on how to live,

Proper knowledge to younger siblings he gives.

 

In quarrel, spotlight on elder all the same,

Even if younger started, elder still to get blame.

 

Human being is elder of species, should set good example,

By knowing that all living entities of God are a sample.

 

Tigers and other creatures their prey they will chase,

Wiser human their behavior not to imitate.

 

Grains, flowers and milk for human being’s palate,

By devotion to God, in pure goodness sit.

Password Change

“To surpass the influence of the illusory energy is very difficult, but those who are determined to catch hold of the lotus feet of the Lord are freed from the clutches of maya.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Adi 3.89 Purport)

As if we are Pavlov’s dog requiring specific training to follow certain actions, repeatedly taking the wrong tact and seeing the negative response is required before we can actually change our behavior. If it weren’t for the negative reactions and our dislike for them, the pattern of behavior would never change. And the change is necessary in order for a higher purpose to be fulfilled. In the absence of the change we’re just wasting time torturing ourselves. The repetitive pattern actually can teach us a lot about the makeup of the world, how the Supreme Controller has perfectly arranged everything for our benefit and how we can use objects around us to further the highest end.

While it’s nice to ponder these concepts theoretically, a practical example is more helpful. Staying in tune with the modern times, the password change suffices, especially that instituted by the managers of an IT infrastructure. If you work in an office these days, you are likely using a computer. A computer uses a system that requires authentication; otherwise any person could sit at your desk and pretend to be you. With authentication comes the ability to track performance and progress, to see if the person sitting at the desk is actually doing the work assigned to them.

In a computing environment, it is common to have sensitive data, information that not just anyone should have access to. Hence to facilitate the authentication and data protection requirements, each end-user is assigned a login and password combination. The password is where things get tricky. It is specific to each person and it is so sensitive that under an ideal setup, the system itself won’t know what your password is. Should you happen to forget it, the system will allow you to create a new one, which is stored internally with some sort of hash applied to the original characters. If your password is say “Krishna”, the system will perform a hash function to the characters in the word and maybe store the password as a bunch of unrelated characters.

There is no explicit way to retrieve the crypted password, for the hash function operates only on input. Therefore the only way to get the password is to repeatedly make attempts into the hash function to see if what you entered matches what is stored in the system. Bearing this in mind, a properly implemented system will place a limit on the number of login attempts that you can make. Otherwise one could easily perform what is known as a “dictionary” attack, wherein an automated system tries many combinations of letters and numbers until a correct login is made.

In addition to the limit on the number of failed login attempts, there are specific requirements for what a password can be. In ideal setups, this policy is implemented across the system, which means that even the highest person managing the company has to follow the rules and regulations. Your password likely has to have characters, both upper and lower case, and numbers. The password must also be a minimum length, for the longer the password, the more difficult it is to break or guess.

Here comes the kicker. This last requirement is probably the most annoying for the user. In addition to the length and character requirements, the password must be changed periodically, perhaps every month. This shouldn’t be too difficult, right? Have two passwords that you normally use and just rotate them every month? Ah, but the system is one step ahead of you. You cannot reuse any password that you have used recently. Therefore you really have to come up with a unique password each month, something which you may not even remember so quickly.

This rule is helpful for obvious reasons. Say that you decide to give your login credentials to a friend one time because you’re not at your computer, or perhaps you wrote down your password somewhere on a note placed on your desk. The biggest issue with having secrets is keeping them secret. This especially applies to the password, which is the secret of secrets. Should someone get ahold of your password and have nefarious motives, they could do a lot of damage to the system. The longer that secret stays valid, the greater the chances of a security breach. With the requirement for periodic change, if someone should happen to find your password, they only have a short time to use it, which greatly limits the chances of a violation occurring.

For the end user sitting at the computer regularly, authenticating all the time, the password change every month is beyond annoying. Why is this? If you can touch type – that is type without looking at the keys on the keyboard – the entering in of the password essentially turns into a muscle memory operation. You can likely type your password faster than you can verbalize it. If you had to write down your password, you might have difficulty, for it is your fingers that have memorized it more than your mind. Now that you have a changed password, the next time you go to authenticate, you will surely first enter the most recent password that just expired.

The immediate reaction to this behavior will be an invalid password warning flashing up on the screen. Since the password is so long and the characters masked on the screen, you try to enter it again really quickly, only to have the same message come up. Now the pressure is on. You have one more attempt to log into your account before you are locked out for having reached the failed account login threshold. This time you carefully type the letters, remaining conscious of the keys you are pressing. Whew! You made it. You can now use your computer with your login. You weren’t doing anything wrong before, but somehow the machine treated you like a criminal.

What’s probably more annoying is that you have to follow the same tact repeatedly, at least for a day or two, before your muscles get used to the new password. If not for the stern warnings and the fear of having your account locked out, you would never change your behavior to account for the new password. In this sense the warnings train you, sort of like shock treatments. As if you were a dog that was learning how to relieve himself at the proper time, the machine, for your own safety, to protect your data and identity, trains you every month to use a new password.

“Unseen and indefinite are the good and bad reactions of fruitive work. And without taking action, the desired fruits of such work cannot manifest.” (Lakshmana speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 66.17)

What does this mean in the grand scheme of things? The entire world is filled with smaller and larger versions of the interaction with the authentication system on the computer. For every action there is a reaction. This is how karma, or fruitive activity, works. As Shri Lakshmana so nicely states in the Ramayana, there are both good and bad reactions to work, pious and sinful activity, and the results are not always immediately seen. They may not remain manifest for long either. Nevertheless, for every reaction seen, there is an initial cause, some work which was applied.

Knowing this information is only helpful if we can use it to change our behavior. We should follow actions that will effect changes that are worthwhile. At the same time, we should avoid behaviors that produce negative reactions. Ah, but here is where things get interesting. How will we know which reactions are bad? How will we know which consequences are worth avoiding?

The easiest way is to accept the information from authority figures, those who learned the relevant truths through either their own experience or through the words of wisdom passed down from previous authority figures. Our parents can tell us during childhood to not place our hand in a fire. At such a young age, we have no clue what fire is or that it will burn our hand, so if we follow the advice of our parents, we acquire perfect knowledge of something to avoid. The other option is to try it out ourselves, to feel the sting and then hopefully have it register that the same reaction will occur again and again, each and every single time the same action is repeated.

The latter option is the more painful one, as there is no guarantee of how quickly the proper knowledge will be acquired. For the larger picture, the entire duration of existence within a human body, the Vedas, the scriptural tradition of India, provide information about which activities to avoid and how they relate to the ultimate mission in life. Of the harmful activities, the most sinful, or detrimental towards the achievement of the end goal, are meat eating, gambling, intoxication and illicit sex.

Not to be misunderstood as restrictions meant to punish us or keep us from having fun, the negative reactions from these behaviors are visible even if we should ignore the warnings of the Vedas and the people who teach Vedic wisdom to others. Meat eating is harmful not only because of the detrimental health effects, but also because of the violence that goes into it. In a system of fairness, with no partiality applied by any governing agent, if one side is killed unnecessarily just for the satisfaction of taste buds which can be pleased through so many other areas, the same reaction must be imposed on the killer at some point in the future. In addition, through unnecessary violence, mankind loses his merciful attitude, his ability to harbor compassion. Killing innocent cows without discrimination makes it easy for man to kill innocent babies, confiscate wealth, and have an overall vindictive attitude towards their fellow brothers and sisters. This last attitude is the root cause of all strife in the world, and since it is a byproduct of a contaminated consciousness, we see that meat eating becomes one of the causes for wars and conflict.

The harmful effects of gambling are quite obvious. The mind feverishly engages in games and wagers for hopefully winning sums of money that don’t provide any happiness at all. People’s lives can get ruined by gambling, as there are support groups to help those with gambling addictions. The same defect is present in intoxication, as the false escape from the senses brings tremendous negative effects on one’s health. Drunk driving is eliminated through abstention from consuming alcohol, as are so many other negative consequences.

Illicit sex brings the most lasting and visible negative effects. If sex urges driven by lust are not controlled, you can get attachments and burdens that you don’t expect. You also remain beholden to an urge that is easily satisfied in the lower species. The monkeys and dogs have sex life without discrimination, so how can imitating their behavior be worthwhile for a human being with advanced intelligence?

The negative reactions resulting from these sinful behaviors are actually a great blessing. Just as the warnings from the invalid entry of the password helped to change our behavior for the better, the harmful sequence of negative effects arriving from impious acts are meant to change the way that we act, to keep us on the straightened path. The Vedas reveal that the precious human form of body is meant for realizing God, the ultimate reservoir of pleasure. Every ritual, regulation, restriction, and recommendation is intended to further that highest aim.

The knowledge coming from Vedic teachings is necessary; otherwise man remains lost like the animals. Thankfully for us, there is one tool that is so powerful that it automatically carries with it sublime wisdom. It brings peace of mind at the same time, which helps steer us clear of the dangerous path of impiety. That tool is the chanting of the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. In this age where sin is taken to be piety, where the end-goal of life remains unknown, a positive action is required to teach the highest truths. Repeated negative consequences resulting from sinful behavior can help us gain knowledge of what to avoid, but even with that, the soul needs a constitutional engagement, an area to go where pleasure is found.

The holy name is that area, as it carries the forms, pastimes and qualities of the Supreme Personality, who is known as Krishna because of His sweetness. Krishna’s words spoken in the Bhagavad-gita are sweet, as are His dealings with the cowherd women of Vrindavana. Krishna’s portrait is sweet, with its peacock feather, beautiful smile, and flower garland. Krishna’s material energy can also be viewed as sweet, for she purposefully makes life here difficult so that the wise will find the loving embrace of Shri Krishna awaiting them in the next life, in the spiritual sky where no one requires training in their actions, as they are all driven by the most beneficial attachment to Shri Krishna’s service.

In Closing:

Every month or so password must change,

Has to be new, not within recent range.

Old password entered through memory of muscle,

But with change system gives user much trouble.

The fear of losing access a good thing,

Reason to change behavior it does bring.

In same way forces of nature teach,

That for higher purpose man should reach.

Don’t follow animals who satisfy with ease,

Opportunity for loving God fully seize.

I Love You Man

“I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 15.15)

Though the issue of freedom has long since revolved around government’s restriction of it, the real yearning for liberty comes from within the spirit soul, who cannot even act out its natural propensity when residing within a large body and having a giant field to run on. Only through the proper outlets is the natural love found within the heart allowed to be set free, to run in every which direction without exhaustion. For a soul constantly in touch with the divine consciousness, a liberated individual who showers forth heaps of praise on its beloved master – whose transcendental glories are inexhaustible – there is no figurative lactic acid buildup. The perfect match can only be reunited by following the principles of bhakti.

Picture the inebriated person who gets happy when they are in their coveted state. It does seem odd to try to find anything praiseworthy about the behavior of someone who is obviously not trying to follow the rules of propriety. Inebriation, though enjoyed by many, isn’t something that one would consider a good state to be in. We don’t want people driving their cars while drunk. We don’t want them making phone calls in the middle of the night to people they shouldn’t be talking to. We don’t allow drunkards to come over our home and perform handiwork. Thus what can we actually learn from a drunk person?

Depending on the type of person involved, drinking can lessen inhibitions with respect to the outpouring of emotion. The drunkard who tells everyone else how much they love them reveals that within the heart there is only affection for others. In the state of sobriety that affection is covered up. There are also the social conventions restricting the outpouring of emotion. If a sober person were to come up to us and say, “Hey, I love you man. You are great”, we’d wonder if they were on some type of drug or if they had gotten enough sleep the night before. Yet if the same person acts that way when intoxicated the behavior is not only allowed, but somewhat appreciated. “Oh, isn’t that nice? They must really mean what they are saying because now they are not inhibited in their speech.”

In every relationship in life the release of emotion is checked. The spirit soul is actually full of potential for action of the loving variety. From love comes pleasure, and pleasure is what every individual seeks. Even amongst the monists who abstract every type of behavior and thus consider God to be one gigantic collection of everything, there is still the desire for pleasure. The psychiatrist who shrinks the heads of their patients by abstracting behavior and considering every action of the human being to be part of some genetically predisposed tendency also must seek pleasure despite their high knowledge.

Both within and without the realm of spirituality the search for pleasure is present, but only with one beneficiary can the release of action aimed at attaining that pleasure continue on and on without exhaustion. Unmotivated and uninterrupted are the properties that describe bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, when executed at the highest level. This combination seems paradoxical, as in most cases interruption is the initial motivation for action. We work hard in school so that we’ll see the interruption of graduation. We put in the long hours at the office during the day so that we can go home at night and relax. In every area of endeavor except love there is this combination of motivation and interruption.

Yet even with love there is forced interruption. The mother who loves her child without motive and throughout the child’s entire life must eventually part ways. Outside the company of your beloved, there is no way to love them directly. You may think of them in your mind, but the thoughts do not reach the person being remembered. The spirit soul is limited in its residence. One soul can only occupy one established dwelling at a particular time. Through mystic yoga one may temporarily perform some magic by traveling outside of their body or even dividing their soul, but even through this difficult effort there is no way for one soul to simultaneously reside within every single creature.

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, or He Himself, Krishna, the localized Supersoul, sits in the heart directing the living being. After changing bodies, the living entity forgets his past deeds, but the Supersoul, as the knower of the past, present and future, remains the witness of all his activities.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 18.61 Purport)

The Supersoul is different. He resides within every single life form, right next to the individual soul. This means that wherever we are, we can offer our obeisances to Him. And why should we? The release of loving emotions is triggered by the qualities of the party being loved, or more specifically the relationship we have to them. A celebrity is honored for their extraordinary abilities in acting, playing sports, writing, governing, etc. Parents, children, siblings, relatives and friends are honored because of the relationship we have to them, one that was established via some physical link, either through family lines or through close proximity in an environment where fruitive work was conducted.

The Supersoul is but an expansion of the original Personality of Godhead, who is known as Bhagavan because of His unmatched transcendental features. Right away, we see that just based on His position He is worthy of our praise. Since He already resides within us as the Supersoul, there is a relationship to Him established. It is one based on both proximity and heredity, as everyone comes from God. There is a simultaneous oneness and difference between the living beings and the Supreme Lord. God is the great soul, while we are tiny fragments expanded from Him. The fragments have the same qualitative makeup, but they are limited in their pervasiveness. The individual soul is the localized witness that can hardly remember what happened a few hours ago, while the Supersoul is the all-pervading witness who knows everything past, present and future about every single living entity.

“The Blessed Lord said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!” (Bg. 4.5)

The link to the Supersoul is ideal because the relationship is already established and also because of the pleasure that comes from connecting with Him. Just as the happy drunkard shows that they love everyone when their guard is down, the spirit soul, when immersed in bhakti, reveals that it has unbounded love for the Supreme Lord. With this immeasurable love comes an uninterrupted and unmotivated flow of work to stay in the good graces of the beloved, to remain fixed in divine trance. From this connection, love for all creatures of the world, who are related to God in the same way, is automatically established.

Loving God, who is known as Krishna because of His all-attractiveness, is never inappropriate. Even the mother must check her affection at some point in the child’s life. If the child is mature and married, what can the mother do by buying clothes and telling them how to live and where to go? The paramour must be mindful of not smothering their partner, lest they run the risk of alienating their beloved and causing a rift in the relationship. The drunkard can express their love for others when they are “hammered”, but under sober conditions the same behavior would be considered strange.

In bhakti, one can spend the entire day chanting the Lord’s names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, and not run the risk of getting out of favor with Him. Indeed, just the opposite happens. With each successive utterance of the holy name, the mind gets further purified to the point that eventually there is no other desire except to love Krishna. What other beneficiary would allow us to continue to love, while giving us increased pleasure as the bond strengthens? You can stay with Krishna for millions of years and each new day will feel like it is better than the one that just passed.

Aside from chanting, there are other outlets for service such as reading books, gazing at the deity, visiting temples, talking to others about Krishna, and writing poems and books glorifying the Supreme Lord and those who distribute His message to others. Some people even talk to Krishna. While this may seem crazy, why wouldn’t the Lord hear such heartfelt words? He proved many times during His past descents to earth that even through separation one can worship Him perfectly. As Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Krishna accepted the foodstuff offered to Him by devotees residing hundreds of miles away. Lord Krishna heard every one of the prayers of the gopis and reciprocated by remaining within their consciousness.

Following bhakti-yoga is the true path towards liberation, towards being freed of the shackles borne of material contact. This freedom is every soul’s birthright, irrespective of present conditions. Whether one is practicing religion or wholly against it, the search for pleasure will continue nonetheless. In the absence of divine love, service will be directed to so many other entities, but the outpouring of affection will always be checked. With Krishna, the invitation is an open one, as He remains within the heart for each go around in a material body. If it takes us one lifetime or many to attain perfection, there are no hard feelings on the Lord’s part, for He is kindly awaiting our return to His spiritual land.

Question: If getting drunk helps a person loosen their inhibitions when dealing with others, will it not also help in bhakti?

Though intoxication may help slacken inhibitions to the point that one feels freer to express their loving sentiments towards others, it doesn’t have any beneficial effect in spiritual life. The soul is naturally blissful and knowledgeable, which means that it has nothing to do with the body. Yoga practice starts with identifying oneself properly, aham brahmasmi. From the proper identification comes the sober realization that one must do whatever they can to limit the influence of the senses that is concomitant with residence in a temporary form. Both the drunkard and the transcendentalist are looking for a way out of the perpetual ups and downs that result from the swinging pendulum of acceptance and rejection in material affairs, but only the transcendentalist following bhakti can find real liberation, where the influence of the senses is naturally removed.

With intoxication, there is a temporary escape from the senses, but the release is an illusion, for the fall back into material affairs is very painful. In the process, much damage is done both physically and mentally to the individual. With yoga, the effect is the opposite. There may be some temporary pains resulting from refraining from meat eating, intoxication, illicit sex, gambling and a host of other sinful behaviors the living being was conditioned to, but in the end this abstention turns out to be beneficial. Think of the sick patient who is told to avoid certain foods in order to get better. If those foods are ingested, there is a risk of remaining ill or even getting more sick. On the other hand, if a little nuisance in the form of renunciation is tolerated, a better position of a healthy condition can be reached.

By practicing the principles of bhakti the mind becomes fully sober, and the soul is set free to act upon its loving desires without requiring external aid. The natural highs of seeing Krishna’s smiling face, hearing the sounds of His holy names, and motivating oneself to be dedicated in His service far surpass those felt with intoxication, be it caused by material success, the consumption of adult beverages, or the association of women. Shri Krishna is the reservoir of pleasure, so one who can connect with Him gets to bask in that pleasure all the time.

In Closing:

After drunkard consumed beer of many cans,

Goes up to friends and says, “Hey, I love you man.”

To that with a smile others might greet,

For the kind sentiment is rather sweet.

The same love exists inside all of us,

But difficult to release for lack of trust.

Loving Shri Krishna is the most ideal,

High affection for Him we already feel.

To find better place accept some austerity,

So that in Krishna’s company you’ll spend eternity.

Tunnel Vision

“He who meditates on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Partha [Arjuna], is sure to reach Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.8)

The purpose of maintaining a “tunnel vision” in terms of thought processes is to stay focused on the task at hand. From the practice’s effectiveness we see that one should limit their distractions if they are to complete their assigned duties properly. For instance, if our job is to drive an automobile to a certain destination, it is advisable to keep the eyes fixed on the road, the hands on the wheel, and the ears open to external sounds. If any of the necessary senses should be diverted elsewhere, the effectiveness in executing the primary tasks gets hampered. The more one can focus, the greater the chances of following the intended action. In the larger picture, meeting the ultimate aim of human life involves a sort of tunnel vision focused on one person, about whom when more is known, the best opportunity for feeling unmatched bliss can be found. In this endeavor, the more distractions that occur, the less likely it will be to find that eternal felicity.

What sorts of distractions can arise? Moreover, how do we know that focusing on this person brings us to the ultimate destination? How can any person say that with full certainty? “One person may claim that the human beings evolved from monkeys while another says that God created everything, but in the end there is no way to tell for sure who is correct.” While this viewpoint, which is rooted in skepticism, seems logical enough, there is still the issue of trust. We know that man has the propensity to cheat, to commit mistakes, to be easily illusioned, and to be affected by his imperfect senses. Any of these defects can crop up at any second.

Based on the deficiencies, should we just sit in a corner of an isolated room twenty four hours a day? Should we not eat anything because it might be contaminated? Should we not believe anything anyone tells us because they might be lying? Should we not trust the documented sense perceptions found in books, newspapers and journals? In reality, we already invest so much faith in others, trusting that what they tell us is true. If the information turns out to be invalid, then at least we think that the person espousing the beliefs has faith in them.

Authority in this sense is established by the results that follow from extending faith. For instance, if the weatherman on television says that it is going to rain tomorrow, we may or may not believe him. He will show us his computer model, his extended forecast, and data from previous weather events as support for his assertion. If we trust him and it does happen to rain on the following day, we can increase our faith in him the next time he gives a weather forecast. We actually do this instinctively with so many things, from the insignificant to the very important. The emergency room doctors and nurses provide powerful drugs to curb our pain, but there is no telling that what they give is going to help in the end. The trust is put into the hospital and its staff based on the accreditations they received from licensing boards.

For deciphering the ultimate aim in life, the same faith needs to be extended. The reason there is such difficulty in this area is that there are competing visions, isolated roadmaps leading to different destinations. Especially when the champions of each faith rely on dogmatic insistence and fear as their primary preaching tools, it becomes difficult to apply faith wholeheartedly. For instance, if someone tells us that we should worship a specific personality or be doomed to hell in the next life, how can we ever tell if their statements are correct? The afterlife is a foggy concept, of which nothing will be concretely known until life actually ends. And if said people turn out to be incorrect, then the valuable human birth goes to waste.

The proper way to confidently follow a path in life that fulfills the ultimate mission is to find that set of procedures which gives benefits both in the current life and the next. In this regard, the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, provide the most detailed and useful information. Though Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the fountainhead of Vedic wisdom, the instructions provided by His Vedas are so widely applicable and comprehensive that one needn’t even explicitly worship the Lord to find benefits.

How does this work exactly? For starters, from Vedic information the picture of the afterlife is cleared up a bit. The next life is similar to the current one. Indeed, the current life is the afterlife of a previous existence. So from applying a little intelligence, we see that there’s nothing really special about the future. Lest we think this is just a dogmatic belief exclusive to the Hindus, we can tell from our own experiences that the future ended up being the past at some point. For example, during our youth we may have looked forward to starting high school, the upper classes of the educational system. High school, at one time, represented the future. In old age, however, high school turns into the past, a time long ago when the individual was much younger.

The concept of the future turning into the past extends beyond the current life. This is how karma works. Every action taken which carries a commensurate reaction falls under the jurisdiction of karma, or fruitive activity. Do something today and see the reaction tomorrow. The reactions sometimes aren’t visible nor must they remain manifest for long. When we exhale, the result is the release of carbon dioxide into the air. This happens so often during the day that the releases aren’t even noticed. In colder weather, we may be able to see the vapor, but this doesn’t mean that the vapor isn’t there every other time we exhale.

Sometimes the results arrive long after we have forgotten about the original work. As a simple example, when a person votes by absentee ballot in an election, their ballot may not be received until after election day. The vote was actually cast prior to the election, but it is not noted until after everyone else has voted. Just as the prior act of voting has consequences that extend past the day of election, the actions undertaken during one lifetime carry consequences into the next life. A lifetime is thus just a relative measurement of time, with the essence of individuality remaining the same throughout.

If the principles of Vedic teachings are taken to heart, not only will there be benefits found in the next life, but even the current life becomes easier to handle. Revisiting the issue of taking on tasks, we know that if there are fewer distractions, there is a better chance of reaching the objective. With knowledge of both reincarnation and the immortality of the spirit soul, which is the essence of identity, comes an ideal position.

“For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.20)

That position is one of purity. The purest form of anything is the state when the object assumes its natural qualities to the fullest degree. For instance, the constitutional position of fire is when it burns and effuses light. If the fire is covered up, doused with water, or contained, its constitutional position remains hidden. The original position of the spirit soul is to be a lover, to be engaged in service. This propensity actually never leaves the soul, but when the individual gets covered up by material elements, the service gets misdirected. Think of holding a fire extinguisher and pointing it in every direction except to where the fire is. Obviously the extinguishing capabilities will still be used, but the necessary target will not be reached. Hence the fire extinguisher will not be properly used.

With life in the material world, the engagements adopted in the 8,400,000 unique body types all involve service that hovers around the ideal beneficiary. Some engagements are closer to the soul’s essential characteristic, or dharma, than others. The animal species has virtually no chance of reassuming their dharma, as they don’t have the ability to accept education and follow the principles necessary for reaching a better end. The human being, on the other hand, is blessed with potential, the chance to develop a higher intellect. When knowledge of self-realization and the concepts of dharma are well established within the mind of the sober individual, the potential for service which exists within the soul can be directed at the matching beneficiary.

Not surprisingly, that ideal beneficiary is God. Ironically enough, knowing that He is God, or just addressing Him through His feature of all-pervasiveness, doesn’t exactly release the soul into bhava, or the state of transcendental ecstasy. Knowing that God exists and recognizing His supremacy represent the initial stages of self-realization, wherein one gets awfully close to meeting the ideal target of work.

The true potential for service is released when the Supreme Lord is recognized for His spiritual attributes, which include attractiveness. Since no one is more attractive than God, He is addressed by the name “Krishna” in the Vedic tradition. Since this beautiful form provides supreme transcendental delight to those who connect with Him in full intimacy, another name for God is Rama. These names form the cornerstone of the sacred formula used for addressing the Lord in a loving way, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”.

How do we know that Krishna is God? Isn’t this assertion just like the ones coming from every other preacher? Skepticism can be used to debunk any assertion and thus give the skeptical individual the cover they need to avoid extending faith. Nevertheless, there will be some faith applied somewhere. Might as well put that faith in Krishna then, for that trust will be validated with the results that follow. How can we say this with full certainty? Krishna is the reservoir of pleasure, the one person who can accept an unlimited amount of love offered to Him by an unlimited number of people. Since He is the greatest enjoyer, His happiness is shared with those who offer their service.

The benefits are not exclusive to the afterlife, though Krishna promises in the Bhagavad-gita, the most concise and complete treatise on spirituality ever to be revealed to the fallen souls of the material world, that anyone who thinks of Him at the time of death never has to suffer through reincarnation again. The departing soul that is Krishna conscious is welcomed by the sweet vision of Shri Krishna in the spiritual world, Shyamasundara holding a flute in His hands and wearing a peacock feather in His hair.

“Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; 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.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 9.25)

The benefits of serving Krishna are also seen in the present life, as the source of all distresses is the forgetfulness of God and His personal feature. Look at everything that causes unhappiness and you will see that the pain is rooted in attachment to the senses which are tied to the temporary body. We know that the body is ever-changing and subject to destruction, so anyone who gets distracted by its accompanying temporary pains and pleasures remains forgetful of their constitutional position. If I get sad every time one of my shirts gets a hole in it or when my shoes start to wear out, the emotion is not warranted. We can always get a new shirt or pair of shoes, so what need is there to feel sad over a temporary loss? As soon as the shirt was accepted, there had to come a time when it would be rejected. A wise person is always cognizant of this, so they don’t overly lament misfortune or overly rejoice temporary happiness.

The attachment to the body serves as the strongest deterrent to enlightenment, the most effective distraction. The primary aim of life is established through Vedic teachings: think of God always and offer Him your undivided service. This doesn’t mean that you have to quit everything and take up the life of a mendicant. If this is what you are inclined to do then great, but service can be offered by any person at any stage in life simply through chanting and remembering. To remember, you need an image. To get an image, you need a person. To get the best image, you thus need the best person. The best person is he who never changes in spiritual qualities, whose attributes never exhaust. That person is Shri Krishna, whose body and spirit are not different from one another.

The mission in life is to stay God conscious, and success in that task is aided by limiting distractions. While eliminating inhibiting behaviors like meat-eating, gambling, intoxication and illicit sex proves helpful, the primary focus should be on remembering Krishna. His image can be created in the mind by regularly hearing the sacred words found in Vedic texts like the Shrimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita. The distracting images borne of sense attachment cause deviation from the purified consciousness, a focus on redressing issues relating to the temporary body. The more the negative images can be eliminated and the positive images kept safely within the consciousness, the greater the chances of finding peace and happiness within the current lifetime. If the soul is in Krishna’s company before the end of life through association with the Lord’s name and image, that link will continue well into the afterlife.

In Closing:

Be benefitted by thinking of Krishna always,

Follow what the Supreme Lord in Gita says.

Distractions hinder success, know it for a fact,

To keep a tunnel-vision on end-goal is proper tact.

Why should not this be the pathway towards ultimate success,

To find company of the best person and forgo all the rest?

Trust in others you already do invest,

The results that follow are the defining test.

Trust in Krishna and in this life benefits you will see,

Endeared to Shyamasundara and His devotees you will be.

In the afterlife waiting for you is Krishna’s embrace,

And vision of His most beautiful, sweet smiling face.

Focus On The Positive

“When the positive form is realized, the negative forms are automatically eliminated. Therefore, with the development of the bhakti cult, with the application of positive service to the positive form, one naturally becomes detached from inferior things, and he becomes attached to superior things.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.2.7 Purport)

If something is bad for you, just avoid it. If you keep inviting pain into the mind by thinking about something traumatic from the past, just stop thinking about it. If certain foods give you bodily discomfort after consumption, don’t eat them. If you feel lingering pains in the stomach and have to constantly vomit from intoxication, stop drinking. These solutions seem simple enough, no? The problem is that to actually consciously avoid something is very difficult. Imagine being forced to sit in one place for hours on end knowing that you aren’t allowed to get up or leave the room. This is what passengers aboard long flights face all the time. Yet instead of just trying to not think about their journey, they try to focus on something else, keeping the mind engaged on those positive things that simultaneously maintain their emotional wellbeing. This technique works with something trivial like an airline flight, and it can work with spirituality as well, which represents activity on the most macro level.

Spiritual life is the antithesis of material life. By antithesis, we mean the opposite in terms of both engagement and outcome. Eating soup is somewhat the opposite of eating ice cream, but the outcomes aren’t that much different. The body is nourished in both cases, and depending on the disposition of the consuming person, the food items can be quite tasty. Spiritual life exists for finding a permanent happiness, which is secured through activities not immediately known.

Are there naturally known activities? Think of what a child does. Play all day, eat to refuel, sleep when you get tired, and then continue playing. With proper conditioning, there is some regulation imposed, and the kinds of play may change a little, but the natural instincts are still there. While the mind may be driven to indulge in specific activities, the outcomes aren’t always palatable. For instance, if the instinct is to play instead of study, the outcome from following that inclination is a failing grade on an assignment or test, which further harms the chances of successfully completing the course. Education for children is required for becoming self-sufficient later on in life, when parents aren’t around to clean up after your messes, when you are yourself responsible for paying for life’s essentials.

“O best among the Bharatas [Arjuna], four kinds of pious men render devotional service unto Me — the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.16)

When the enjoyment from activities following natural inclinations wears thin, when the mind is tired of the repeating cycle of happiness and dejection, when the living entity has grown fatigued of swinging on the pendulum of acceptance and rejection, answers are sought to life’s most difficult questions. In the Bhagavad-gita, it is said that the people who initially approach God in a devotional mood are of four kinds. There are the inquisitive, the desirers of wealth, those looking for alleviation from suffering, and those in knowledge who are looking to go beyond their realization of a formless Absolute Truth. The last group, when following the devotional path, is considered the best because they are already in a good position, though it doesn’t matter at what point one starts. Where they end up is what counts.

The fact that activities in spiritual life are considered different from our other indulgences is well known. This is because the beginning of any dive into spirituality involves a review of the restrictions. “Okay, if I follow this religion, I won’t be allowed to do this. In this other religion, this is allowed but other things are not. This particular religion seems way too strict for me.” The prohibitions are there for a reason. Just as activities that cause us pain should be avoided, those pursuits with a faulty aim need to be rejected outright; otherwise no progress can be made towards a higher destination. Lest we think we’re all going to the same place, in no other area of endeavor does just any behavior result in a uniform destination. You can’t just board any train and expect to go where you want to. You can’t just follow any tract in life and expect to have the same results that others who follow different tracts have.

The initial restrictions in spiritual life are not meant to be the end though. They are meant to foster a change in consciousness, a mindset where the proper outlook in life can be used. Why is this necessary? Imagine trying to read a book while you are intoxicated. Imagine trying to pay attention during a conversation with your friend while your mind constantly replays the traumatic incident that just occurred. Imagine trying to sit through a play performance while you are in constant pain due to indigestion. Obviously these negative conditions are distractions; they don’t allow you to focus on the task at hand.

In a similar manner, if the living entity is mired in activity that keeps it distracted, there is no way to properly decipher which actions should be adopted and which ones shouldn’t. The restrictions in spiritual life are there to bring about sobriety of thought, so that when the decision is voluntarily made in favor of service to that one person who can accept everyone’s service without interruption, the enjoyment that results will be unmatched. Moreover, the commitment to the decision will be firmer once negative distractions are eliminated.

So, what are the most important restrictions? What works best at keeping the mind away from sobriety? In the Vedic tradition, the spiritual law codes passed down since the beginning of time, the most harmful sinful activities are meat eating, gambling, intoxication and illicit sex. A sin is an act that carries a negative consequence. Think of doing something the wrong way and paying for it later on. Stealing is wrong not only because of the potential for punishment from governing bodies it carries, but also because of the harmful effects it has on one’s karma. That good and bad reactions come as the result of previous work applied is inherently understood by so many people, though its scientific basis may not be. The fact that the reactions can continue to arrive after the fact isn’t given consideration either.

“Just as a tree starts to blossom during the proper season, so the doer of sinful deeds inevitably reaps the horrible fruit of their actions at the appropriate time.” (Lord Rama speaking to Khara, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 29.8)

But time delivers all results at the appropriate moments. For instance, if we were to mail in our absentee ballot in a particular election, if election day comes without the voting board receiving our ballot, this doesn’t stop the old mail from being delivered. Indeed, in close elections, the people counting the votes wait a few weeks for absentee ballots that might have been mailed from overseas to arrive. The end point of the election is reached, but the reactions to past work are still coming in.

In a similar manner, the sinful and pious acts we take up accumulate future effects. They don’t always arrive when we want them to. Death is not the end; it’s the beginning of a new life. The circumstances of the next birth are determined by the results that come pouring in like the absentee ballots after an election. From this example we have a rudimentary understanding of karma and how it continuously operates.

Taking away sin not only removes the harmful effects due to arrive in the future, it also has a positive effect on consciousness. One who doesn’t perpetrate unnecessary violence against animals has a better chance of understanding Brahman, the all-pervading spirit. Think of every life form you see on a given day. They are all equal in their constitutional position, but the dresses they assume are different. Spend a day at the shopping mall and you’ll see people dressed in so many different ways, but this doesn’t mean that they are inherently different. The physical characteristics assumed as the result of past karma don’t create dualities in existence. The ant, the germ, the cow, the learned man, the poor man, the woman, the child, and so on are all the same. One who thinks that the animal has no soul will be stupefied by the concept of Brahman, and thus be stunted in their spiritual growth.

Gambling, intoxication and illicit sex are the most effective weapons at keeping consciousness unsteady. This should be rather obvious based on an honest personal assessment made by anyone who has ever indulged in these activities. Give up drinking and you won’t have to worry about so many problems. Gambling can not only make you lose your house, it can make you lose your mind. Illicit connection with members of the opposite sex leads to the most problems, both financial and emotional. The marriage system was instituted by the original person to allow for sex life to be conducted in a regulated manner, where the mental disturbances would be limited.

A sober person has a better chance at realizing Brahman and thus knowing that the forms accepted by spirit souls in their travels through reincarnation are composed of ignorance. Attachment to temporary things and aversion to divine love accompany a material existence. Therefore the restrictions in a bona fide discipline of spirituality focus on detaching one from their senses tied to their temporary form. If I know that my clothes will be taken off at the end of the day, I have a better chance of understanding that the clothes aren’t the most important thing in my life. One who knows the temporary nature of material life understands that their spiritual identity is what counts and that temporary gains and losses aren’t that important.

But detachment from the negative forms is not the ultimate aim, and neither is focusing on elimination of the negative the best way to make progress. Spiritual life is so difficult to accept for the person attached to sense gratification because all that is known is the negative. Why would someone want to voluntarily punish themselves when all that is promised is a better condition in the afterlife, of which nothing is concretely known?

In the highest system of spirituality, which champions transcendental love, the focus on the positive is emphasized more. While the material forms give us so much misery and act as the playing field that yields future fruits of karma, there is a positive form that is meant to be our eternal source of pleasure. This positive form belongs to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna. Not to be confused with a sectarian figure important to just the Hindus, Krishna is the very embodiment of pure spirit. He is all-attractive, kind to His devotees, and universally benevolent. Every type of energy emanates from Him, and all knowledge and renunciation are meant to culminate in service to Him in unalloyed devotion, a spirit of work that is accepted voluntarily.

What’s so amazing about Krishna’s positive form is that association with it automatically purifies the other forms that were formerly negative. What does this mean exactly? Think of using a spoon to try to cut something. A spoon is not sharp, so it is practically useless in trying to cut food. In this scenario we can think of the spoon as negative, something to be renounced. But if we want to eat something like soup, the spoon is the handiest tool. When the spoon is used properly, it becomes an invaluable utensil.

Similarly, the material bodies we are given by nature are meant to act in God’s service. We have ears so that we can listen to talks about Krishna and songs glorifying Him. We have hands so that we can wash the floors of the sacred houses holding discussions about Krishna. We have eyes so that we can gaze at the deity manifestation, which uses material elements to show forms that depict Krishna’s spiritual attributes. We have a stomach to enjoy foodstuff that is first offered to Krishna and then returned as His mercy, or prasadam.

The positive form reveals that service to God is done for our enjoyment. It is not meant as a punishment or a way to get people to stop following others that we may or may not like. If the negative forms are used properly, then there is no question of renunciation. If I am immersed in Krishna consciousness, what need do I have to constantly worry about avoiding certain behavior? If someone completely quits drinking, do they have to worry about driving drunk? Or even better, if a person is constantly high on life, do they have to worry about the temptation to drink?

The superior things in life are those that are related to God. The Lord has many forms, not just His original of Krishna. Though everything is God, not all objects carry His personal presence. Following the instructions of a bona fide spiritual master dedicated to the Personality of Godhead can help us decipher where the personal presence is present and where it isn’t. In the highest state of understanding, Krishna is remembered everywhere; thus eliminating the need for focusing on the negative. Ascension to God consciousness is best facilitated through constant recitation of the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”.

In Closing:

Focus on Shri Krishna, the most positive form,

To hearing His names recited let your heart warm.

Realization of the Lord’s form more important,

Than just knowing that spirit and body are different.

Rejection of the bad leads to our benefit,

But bliss must be found before body we quit.

Otherwise the cycle of karma will continue,

Which brings misery and pleasures that are few.

Material body is nature’s gift to you,

For connecting with God to be used.

The Light Sets Me Free

“Everyone should understand that Lord Krishna is the well-wisher of everyone and should take shelter unto Krishna. In this way one can become completely confident and satisfied knowing that he has someone who is able to give him all protection.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 2, Ch 32)

The difference between just learning about a high concept or truth and actually understanding it can be seen through the behavior that results. If we have really understood a particularly groundbreaking piece of information, something which noticeably goes against our current thought processes, the result should be an alteration in behavior, a change in mindset which is visible in the activities that follow. Behavior is based on habit, so when habits aren’t broken, regardless of whatever assertions are made pertaining to purity of activity, behavior cannot be altered,. In the realm of spirituality the same principle applies most appropriately to the concept of God, or the original Divine Being, offering unflinching protection to those who surrender unto Him. The blanket offer for safety from the fears of the temporary world is present in most disciplines of spirituality, but it is rarely understood, acted upon, or taken advantage of.

To see the difference between learning facts and truly understanding them, we can take the simple example of a gambler. Gambling is typically viewed as an unhealthy activity; a vice, something to be avoided. In the Vedic tradition, the set of values and teachings emanating from the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, gambling is considered one of the four pillars of sinful life. Sin is not something to be avoided simply because a holier than thou preacher has demanded it. Rather, sin, in all fields of endeavor, is any activity that leads to an unfavorable condition in the future. Mankind’s original sin is the desire to separate from the company of the one entity truly deserving of our undivided and unflinching attention. Every other sin, or unauthorized activity, descends from the initial desire to separate from Supreme Spirit. Higher authorities, those who are knowledgeable of the truths of spirituality and the reasons for their rules and regulations, don’t recommend sinful activities because of the overall negative conditions that result, the most intense of which is the continued separation in terms of consciousness from the Divine Entity, the one person who is wholly aware of all the thoughts, desires and activities of every living entity existing past, present and future.

“The Blessed Lord said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!” (Bhagavad-gita, 4.5)

Gambling, which as a sinful activity is a descendant of the initial sin of wanting to part from the company of Supreme Spirit, leads to further separation in consciousness from God. But gambling also has many negative side effects in areas not considered to be related to spirituality. The gambling addict typically follows this pattern of behavior: In the beginning the gambler is aware that excessive wagering is bad for them. Perhaps in the past they have been lectured on the issue or they may have seen a film or television series episode dedicated to exposing the pitfalls and harmful effects of taking to gambling without thought. As with any other sinful activity, the fuel that keeps the desire for gambling well and alive is the loss of rationale. According to Vedic shastra, all activity in the material world, the realm that exists separately and apart from the imperishable and sublime spiritual sky, falls into one of three modes: goodness, passion, or ignorance.

Gambling, which is nothing more than a compact form of fruitive activity, falls squarely into the mode of passion. Rajo-guna, or the mode of passion, is very easy to understand because most human beings associate with it by default. The mode of passion involves fruitive activity, or those actions taken to with a desired end result pertaining to sense enjoyment. The object of pleasure for activities in this mode is the individual self, or some other associated entity which possesses a material body. Only the Original Being, the Supreme Divine Entity in the spiritual sky, never assumes a material body. Hence any activity that is not performed for His benefit and which is taken up for some reward pertaining to the gross material body can be considered part of the mode of passion.

“The mode of passion is born of unlimited desires and longings, O son of Kunti, and because of this one is bound to material fruitive activities.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 14.7)

Without knowing life’s ultimate aim, the mode of passion doesn’t appear to have any flaws. After all, even something as simple as working for a living falls under the umbrella of karma. If we didn’t go to work every day, how would we feed ourselves? How would we put food on the table and pay the bills necessary to maintain our lives and our family’s well-being? Yet fruitive activity falls under the mode of passion because the end-result is simply a neutral state, one no different from where the individual started. For example, as a child, an individual starts off with a material body and a life revolved around playing. Toys, video games and sports aim to please the gross senses of the body. As adults, there may be a requirement to work, but the same objects of affection are there, i.e. the senses. Whether one is a child or a grown-up adult with a high paying job, if sense gratification is taken to be the height of enjoyment, the end-result of activity is still the same.

Fruitive activity, or karma, also brings many hardships and distresses, as is evident with gambling. Wagering involves taking a risk, putting money on the line in the hopes of a large payout. As is the case with any game of chance, the payout will not always materialize. Moreover, the potential for high returns clouds the rationality of the gambler. The famous “gambler’s fallacy” follows the mindset of “Oh, I am due to win any time now. Just a few more hands and I’ll surely come out on top.” In a game of chance, there is no such thing as the outcomes evening out; hence the fallacy. The odds of a particular outcome for the tossing of a coin or the spinning of a wheel can be calculated as a probability, which is a mathematical exercise. The gambler, keeping the mind focused on the potential for what might come their way, ignores the logical truths of mathematics, a discipline which doesn’t take into account emotion, desire, or potential gain.

“By acting in the mode of goodness, one becomes purified. Works done in the mode of passion result in distress, and actions performed in the mode of ignorance result in foolishness.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 14.16)

During periods of sobriety of thought, gamblers understand the struggles they must tolerate in order to see any paltry gain. Yet they continue to take to gambling anyway. Moreover, if there are any winnings, the satisfaction derived is fleeting. We know this is true because a gambler will often want to parlay their winnings into an even bigger payout. If so much effort was taken to secure something that didn’t even provide any satisfaction, how can the original activity, gambling, be considered worthwhile? Based on the visible results and the continuous cycle of desire and dissatisfaction, the teachings of the Vedas, which state that the mode of passion ultimately leads to distress, are substantiated.

When gambling continues without regulation, the results can be disastrous, as more and more items are put up for wager. People can go into great debt and even lose all of their possessions through gambling. Yet prior to entering a casino or placing a small wager, most gamblers will wholly acknowledge the potential pitfalls associated with their future activity. “Yes, yes, I understand that gambling is bad. I won’t let it get the best of me.” Though knowledge of the dangers of the activity is present, the subsequent behavior is still not altered. The same pattern of behavior is evident in other sinful activities such as illicit sex, intoxication and meat eating. Sinful activity is readily acknowledged to be harmful by the majority of those addicted to it, yet behavior often goes unchanged.

“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 18.66)

The essence of spiritual practice is summed up in Lord Krishna’s final order in the Bhagavad-gita, wherein He advises Arjuna, His cousin and disciple, to abandon all other forms of dharma, or religion, and simply surrender unto Him. Giving up in terms of fighting with material nature will not cause Arjuna any harm, as Krishna assures him of protection from all sinful reaction. Considering the underlying properties of the soul and its marginal position, Krishna’s statement is completely accurate. As the Supreme Lord, Krishna is the only person capable of removing sinful reactions. As mentioned before, the initial sin is the desire to separate from Krishna’s company, so naturally anyone who would surrender unto the same person that was originally separated from would be free of the root cause of all their heartache and misery.

Skeptics, atheists, and followers of other spiritual disciplines will argue that Krishna is simply a sectarian figure, a Hindu god, and thus the statements of the Gita don’t apply to them. Indeed, similar prescriptions pertaining to surrender are provided in almost every discipline of spirituality. Yet the difference with Krishna’s statement in the Bhagavad-gita is that it is complete in every way. The Lord addresses different dharmas, or systems of religion. Though the term “religion” is commonly associated with spirituality and God, it actually just refers to whatever a person’s ultimate conclusion in life is, what they view as the most important activity and favorable condition. For example, to the gambler, their religion is wagering, weighing the odds in favor versus the odds against them. The ultimate favorable condition is one of victory, wherein the fruits of wagering are received. Any other discipline can follow the same model. Phrases like “This book is my Bible” and “The Constitution is my Bible” reference the extreme devotion felt towards a particular book or philosophy that is not related to spirituality.

Lord Krishna, as the original Divine Being and supreme object of pleasure for all of mankind, understands that as conditioned entities deluded by the reactions resulting from the original sin of separation from the spiritual world, man will have a tendency to concoct his own dharmas and desired favorable conditions throughout his many lifetimes on earth. Bearing this in mind, Krishna advises Arjuna, and everyone else for that matter, to abandon all other occupational duties, or systems of activity which are given highest priority, in favor of surrender to Krishna. The greatest fear in abandoning our current dharma is that we will end up unhappy, or worse, dead. If one’s perceived dharma is fruitive activity performed for the maintenance of the body, how will surrendering to Krishna be of any benefit? Religious guidelines typically recommend strict austerity, regulation in eating and sleeping, and dedication to some particular sacrificial performance, yet the day-to-day issues of bodily maintenance and mental well-being through association with our fellow man are rarely covered.

But Krishna’s statement is not an empty promise. Rather, one who firmly believes and understands the Lord’s indemnity will never have to fear any reactions in the future, sinful or otherwise. The key is to actually understand what Krishna, or God, says versus pretending to acknowledge the supreme scholarship of divine statements while at the same time remaining firmly committed to activities that fail to provide any lasting pleasure. Surrender is much more than an outward acknowledgment; it involves a change in behavior. Habits, those activities we perform involuntarily due to our being accustomed to them, must be altered in order for behavior to change. Certainly many religious rites and performances across all spectrums of tradition offer the promise of eradication from sin. Even in the Vedic tradition, it is said that if one bathes in a holy place such as the Ganges River all of their sins will be removed. When a student is initiated by a guru, or spiritual master, it is said that the guru takes on all the sins of the disciple. Similarly, in some faiths if a small child takes part in a particular function involving a priest, it is deemed that all their sins for the rest of their life get removed. Even Lord Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity, is said to have assumed all the sins for all of mankind through his crucifixion.

Yet as mentioned before, sin is an unauthorized activity that leads to an unfavorable condition in the future. Just because our sinful reactions may have been removed at one time or another, it doesn’t mean that they can’t come back. If there is no desire to associate with Supreme Spirit, the one entity worthy of our eternal love, respect and association, then there will surely be sin attached to every activity that we perform. This assertion seems overly broad and harsh at the same time, but it reflects the actual situation. If a child places their hand into a fire after being repeatedly warned not to by the parents, there will be a negative reaction in the form of a burn. After the parent has treated the wound and the child has been healed, if the child subsequently places their hand again into the fire, will it not burn?

“The steadily devoted soul attains unadulterated peace because he offers the result of all activities to Me; whereas a person who is not in union with the Divine, who is greedy for the fruits of his labor, becomes entangled.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 5.12)

When the protection from sinful reaction offered through surrender to Krishna is truly understood, behavior will be altered. The activities adopted after surrender don’t have to drastically differ from those performed in the conditioned state; just the intended beneficiary has to change. Rather than work for our own interests, the surrendered souls are advised to do everything for Krishna’s pleasure. As the best friend of the living entities, when Krishna is pleased, so is anyone else intimately associated with Him. Therefore service to the Lord, though considered surrender, bears no similarity to indentured servitude or slavery. Rather, the link between the individual soul and the Supreme Lord that is established through yoga can be considered to be the greatest loving relationship, the only bond where both the lover and the object of affection share the same level of intensity of emotion. When the transcendental link remains firmly established, not only is there a lack of fear of sinful reaction on the individual’s part, but there is no fear of anything. One who surrenders to God loses their will to fight with His external energy known as maya, an illusory force which pervades the material world and deludes conditionally situated entities into taking to fruitive activity as their supreme dharma.

So what sorts of activities do surrendered souls take up? The nature of the actions can vary, but the common component is the object of worship. The Vedas refer to the collection of activities that make up the discipline of the surrendered souls as bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. The quintessential act of bhakti is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. Though one may start off chanting the maha-mantra out of obligation, regulation, or fear of potential pitfalls, the ultimate enjoyer is still always Krishna. Chanting is so sublime that it automatically has retraction built into it. One who chants this mantra regularly refrains from sinful activities without any extra endeavor. Though any action that doesn’t have Krishna as the primary beneficiary should certainly be avoided, by always remaining in the state of Krishna consciousness, the sinful activities that were previously habitual gradually lose their taste.

Another benefit to surrender at the lotus feet of the dear Lord is that the required activities in life, those that must be performed for the continued maintenance of the body, can be taken up without any fear. Since one of the animal instincts is fear, it is natural for the human being to worry about its future condition. But as the origin of all life and the most powerful entity in all the universes, Krishna never worries about anything. As such, anyone directly associated with Him will benefit not only from the Lord’s attitude but also His ability to provide unflinching protection from the greatest calamities. Knowing that Krishna will protect brings the greatest satisfaction and security, feelings that can be steadily maintained through dedication to bhakti. Since bhakti-yoga represents true love, one that is untainted by any desires for association with worldly objects, it is the only dharma that can bring complete confidence and steadiness of mind.

Intoxication

“An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery, which are due to contact with the material senses. O son of Kunti, such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does not delight in them.“ (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 5.22)

Intoxication brings temporary feelings of bliss, followed by unpleasant side effects. Sometimes the short bursts of good feelings are deemed palatable enough to endure the long lasting negative effects. After all, nothing else seems to bring escape from the rigors of material life, so if there is even a brief bit of relief, then the action is good enough to take up. There is one discipline, however, which brings natural highs, elongated feelings of bliss without any of the negative consequences. Not only are the unpalatable conditions removed, but at the time of death, the time when the individual’s consciousness is measured by higher authorities, the provided reward is unmatched in its splendor.

Why is intoxication harmful? Why is it considered one of the four primary sinful activities by followers of Vedic traditions? Supporters of intoxication will argue that their indulgences in adult beverage consumption and recreational drug use aren’t doing any harm to anyone. They are just trying to have fun after all, so why should anyone else raise objections? There is some validity in this argument, especially as it pertains to sense pleasures. If you take two groups of people, with one taking to ordinary sense gratification, and the other taking to intoxication, there really isn’t much of a difference between the overall effects of the two activities. Each side is simply looking for pleasure in the end, so the nature of how that pleasure is sought shouldn’t really be a cause of concern.

But even on the platform of sense gratification, intoxication brings many unwanted and unintended side effects. Inebriation from excessive alcohol intake has too many negative side effects to count. First, there is the loss of motor skills, the lowering of inhibitions, and unpleasantries relating to health. A drunk person is more apt to vomit in places other than a bathroom. They are more likely to get into fisticuffs without cause, hurl insults at others, and even overeat. Drunk driving is also a major concern, as a motor vehicle can turn into a deadly weapon when operated improperly. Driving requires attentiveness and quick reaction time, two things which are greatly diminished in the intoxicated individual. There are also issues relating to overdoses. One can actually die from alcohol poisoning or from taking too much cocaine, heroin, or other narcotic.

It’s interesting to observe how these unpleasant issues are dealt with. There is the classic case of the drunk who gets so intoxicated that he swears he will never drink again. It takes just one night of constant vomiting or one day of an intense hangover to make a person question the soundness of getting drunk. Nevertheless, such promises are mostly empty, for the same person will likely take to intoxication again the next time they are in the mood for a good time or when they are feeling the pressures of life.

Even with all this established, credible, and readily perceptible evidence about the harmful effects of intoxication, the remedies for such problems hardly ever tackle the root issue. For example, even though drunk driving is such a major problem, the common solutions put forth to stop it deal only with driving, while neglecting drinking altogether. A designated driver is deemed the best solution for those wanting to drink without having to drive later on. Additionally, moderation and certain rules of precedence pertaining to wine and beer drinking are suggested so as to minimize illness. The humor lies in the fact that the suggestions are given to those who are contemplating intoxication, which, by definition, brings about a loss of rationality and cognitive thought. This means that any suggestions given to a sober person immediately get forgotten or pushed back to the dormant part of the consciousness once said person actually becomes intoxicated. You can suggest that a designated driver be assigned, but once a person is totally “bombed”, they won’t be able to think clearly in any way. Therefore there is nothing holding them back from stepping behind the wheel of a car.

Another way to tackle the problem of intoxication is to find other activities, those engagements which bring natural highs. These activities can include watching television, attending sporting events, reading books, etc. These “natural” options are generally ignored because the sense gratification they provide is subpar compared to the high achieved from intoxication. Getting drunk equates to an escape from the senses, a forgetfulness of reality. The precarious condition of material life can be summed up in two activities: hankering and lamenting. The mind is always either wanting something or distressing over the things which it doesn’t have. The inebriated state is one of ignorance wherein hankering and lamenting are minimized.

For these reasons, intoxication continues to be a popular form of sense escape. There is one set of activities, however, which brings tremendous natural highs, feelings of bliss which far exceed those felt from intoxication. Not only are these feelings of joy superior, but there are absolutely zero negative side effects associated. The most ecstatic emotions can only be brought on by acts of devotion dedicated to the Supreme Lord. This discipline is known as bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. Bhakti brings spiritual pleasures, those feelings which don’t fade out and which don’t have negative consequences. Therefore sense pleasures automatically become subordinate to spiritual pleasures. Since bhakti-yoga is the only discipline which aims to acquire spiritual pleasures, it thus becomes the topmost discipline, the only set of activities worth adopting.

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, the one who enlivens the senses of everyone by His personal bodily rays, resides in His transcendental abode, called Goloka. Yet He is present in every nook and corner of His creation by expansion of happy spiritual rays, equal in power to His personal potency of bliss.” (Brahma-samhita, 5.37)

Just as there is a thin line between love and hate, the difference that separates those who take to intoxication and those who take to bhakti is actually quite small. Both parties are fed up with the pressures of material life, the incessant pain brought on by the senses. Both groups are looking for an escape, but one side takes the proper path towards freedom, while the other further binds themselves in the perpetual cycle of misery. The life of the inebriated person certainly burns faster, as their opportunities for realizing the highest knowledge and subsequent pleasure rapidly dwindle. Bhaktas go in the opposite direction, using their precious time to slowly but surely find eternal spiritual life. The devotee aims to please the senses of the Supreme Lord by regularly chanting His names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. Krishna and Rama are names for God which are not sectarian in any way. Though they may be well known to the people of the Indian subcontinent, Krishna and Rama are simply Sanskrit words which describe the transcendental features of the Supreme Lord.

God most certainly does exist, even if we fail to acknowledge His presence and supremacy. Matter is dull; its only quality is that of inertia. In order for this inertia to be broken, the hand of spirit is required. The power to move matter belongs to the individual spirit souls, or purushas, and it also belongs to the greatest purusha, the Supreme Spirit. No matter what a scientist may say, nothing can occur in this world without the hand of spirit. Life comes from life, and the origin of life can be found in the spiritual world, a place where dull matter does not exist.

“Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.15)

Bhakti is so nice that it even benefits the atheist. For example, let’s say that a person is a staunch believer in the power of matter and chemicals. They don’t believe in God and they think that once life is over, everything becomes finished. This belief still doesn’t take away from their natural desire to enjoy, their daily search for happiness and peace. The natural inclination of the non-believer is to take to sense gratification at all costs. Yet as we see from intoxication, which represents a temporary escape from the senses, there are many harmful side effects. Since the intensity of the negative effects is greater than the magnitude of the positive effects, we can say that intoxication ultimately leads to a worse off condition for the seeker of sense gratification. Since the aim of the karmi, the fruitive worker not caring about a higher authority, is to reach a positive condition, a general progression in the search for a panacea of happiness, intoxication must be deemed an overall negative activity.

If the same atheist were to take to bhakti by regularly chanting God’s name, hearing stories about Him, and offering obeisances to His deity, there would be many positive side effects. Just by refraining from intoxication, gambling, illicit sex life, and meat eating, the non-devotee going through the motions of spiritual life stays away from the most harmful activities, those engagements which lead to the most intense harmful side effects in this life and the next. In addition, bhakti is a much more peaceful engagement, one consisting of singing, dancing, reading, writing, and eating. One who practices bhakti perfectly no longer has to lament or hanker; life becomes pretty simple. In this streamlined way of living, the strong influence of the senses is quelled, and thus the initial objective of pleasure is actually achieved.

The wise view intoxication and other acts of pure sense gratification as maya, or illusion. When something is illusory, it is taken to be something that it is not. Intoxication represents one of the greatest illusions because it carries the allure of happiness, when in reality it only leads to misery. Bhakti, on the other hand, is completely lacking in deceit. It is so simple, pure, and straightforward that even the non-believers are benefitted by it. The same can’t be said of intoxication or any other act of sense gratification. One who is not a believer in drinking, smoking, or eating meat surely is never benefitted by dedicating their lives to such activities.

Since bhakti proves to be the most beneficial engagement, surely its founder, the person who instituted it, must be very intelligent. The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, tell us that bhakti comes from God, whose original form is that of Lord Krishna. Indeed, bhakti’s effectiveness comes from its target of interest, the satisfaction of the senses of the Lord. If the atheist takes to bhakti and is benefitted as a result, surely the creator of the system would have to be credited for the successful outcome. Since the system comes from Krishna, the atheist would have to acknowledge the Lord’s greatness and intelligence. Since Krishna gave us bhakti, surely His other prescriptions would have to be equally as valid. Krishna’s most succinct set of instructions can be found in the famous Bhagavad-gita, also known as the Song of God.

“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 18.66)

Krishna’s final instruction in the Gita is that Arjuna, His cousin and disciple, should simply surrender unto and dedicate all his activities to God. This will ensure happiness, relief from all sinful reactions, and ascension to the imperishable realm in the afterlife. In this way, bhakti not only represents a natural high in terms of stimulation of the spiritual senses, but it represents a true elevation in terms of where it takes the spirit soul. The secret to the success of bhakti lies in its dealings with the spirit soul. The soul of an individual has a constitutional makeup, a natural inclination towards a specific set of activities. These activities have a beneficiary, an ultimate object of worship. In the realm of the material world, the natural loving propensity is misdirected to the sense objects. In spiritual activities, acts of devotion, the loving propensity is directed at God. This is the natural disposition of the liberated soul. It is a lover of God through and through.

“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.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 2.71)

Only bhakti brings the natural high of association with Krishna. No other discipline, theistic or atheistic, can secure the same reward. Taking up devotional service can solve any and all problems. At the time of death, the individual whose mind is completely fixed on the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord will immediately return to the spiritual realm, a place wherefrom they never have to return. This brings liberation from the cycle of birth and death, which also means that one will never have to be a slave to the senses again. The natural high of association with Krishna, as is experienced by the liberated souls residing in the spiritual world, brings all the glory and happiness without any of the worry.

On one side you have activities which bring some pleasure along with many negative effects. On the other side you have activities which bring tremendous pleasures without any of the unwanted consequences. A sober person, one who can objectively weigh the two options, will surely choose the latter. The claims of the bhaktas are not false promises that only bear fruit in the afterlife. Everyone is looking for pleasure after all, so those who are already faithfully engaged in the service of Krishna would not take to such activity if it didn’t bring them happiness. “The proof is in the pudding” as they say, so one should at least adopt the chanting process and see what effect it has.

Gambling

“Shri Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.2.17)

For strict followers of the Vedic tradition, the highest societal designation one can achieve is that of a brahmana. A brahmana is a person who knows Brahman, or the all-pervasive spiritual energy, the representation of the Absolute Truth. All living entities are Brahman, but they are currently unaware of it. When one takes the necessary steps to realize Brahman, they can be recognized as a brahmana. In order to achieve this high platform of understanding, one must refrain from certain activities, with special attention given to four specific engagements. These four activities constitute the pillars of sinful life: meat eating, gambling, intoxication, and illicit sex. While it is fairly obvious why violence towards animals, excessive drinking, and overindulgence in sex life are harmful, the restriction on gambling may seem a bit puzzling. How does refraining from playing dice, betting on sporting events, and hitting up the blackjack table help us in spiritual life? The issue boils down to honesty, a key prerequisite for returning to the spiritual world.

While most of the spiritual disciplines practiced today put forth an idea as to what the ultimate objective in life is, i.e. that of returning to the kingdom of heaven, the cause of the living entity’s current situation is usually omitted. It’s nice to know that our goal should be to act piously so that God will be happy, but why does this behavior please the Lord? Moreover, how did we separate from Him in the first place? The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, tell us that this separation and connection ultimately come down to the issue of desire.

Lord Chaitanya, one of India’s most famous preachers, philosophers, and divine figures, established the ultimate philosophical and spiritual conclusion of achintya-bhedabheda-tattva, which states that the living entities, the autonomous individual spirit souls residing in both the spiritual and material worlds, are both one with and different from the Supreme Absolute Truth, the original Personality of Godhead. This equality with God means that the individual souls are blissful in nature and completely independent in their desires. No one can tell the spirit souls what to do, where to go, and more importantly, what to want. At the same time, the original Personality of Godhead, the person we refer to as God, is superior in quantitative powers. God is always superior to and different from the individual souls, so in this respect, His autonomy is greater. Since God resides in the spiritual world, He is the king of His castle, the master of His domain. When the individual souls, the tiny separated expansions of the Absolute Truth, desire to imitate God and His power of authority, they are sent to a different land, a replica of the spiritual world. This isn’t meant to be a punishment, but rather a way for the kind and compassionate Supreme Lord to allow His internal energy expansions to live out their desires. The individual souls have independence in their desires, so if they want separation from the supreme object of pleasure, it is granted.

When religious leaders speak of behaving piously and acting according to the dictates of established scriptures, the underlying motivation is the hope for changing the worshiper’s desires. If a person sincerely desires to return to their original home, the spiritual sky where the Personality of Godhead resides alongside His liberated associates, their wish will come true. The key is to have this desire at the forefront of one’s consciousness, in a purified state, not tinged by any defects. This is where the issue of honesty comes into play. Since God is the Absolute Truth, those who associate with Him must also be truthful. This pure honesty especially applies to desire, the pure passion to associate with God in a loving way, without any need for the usurpation or imitation of the Lord’s powers of creation, maintenance, and destruction. For one who extirpates all dishonesty from the heart, there is every chance of achieving the ultimate objective of returning to the spiritual sky after death. From the Bhagavad-gita, a concise and complete treatise on Vedic philosophy, we learn that the purified souls, those who honestly desire God’s association, immediately ascend to the spiritual sky upon quitting their body. Having returned to the imperishable realm, the liberated soul never has to descend to the flawed material world again.

“From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 8.16)

Why is the material world considered flawed? At this point, the reason should be fairly obvious. Lord Krishna, or God, created the material world to be a place separate from His spiritual abode. Having placed exalted living entities known as demigods in charge of the various departments of the creation, the Lord sits back and acts as a neutral witness as the living entities go about their activities. Since God is not directly involved in the day-to-day dealings of material affairs, the separated realm must be considered a miserable place. Why does Krishna play a passive role? In the spiritual world, all activities are directed at pleasing Krishna, or one of His primary expansions. The liberated spirit soul offers service to Krishna in their particular mood of choice, either as a friend, parent, servant, lover, etc. In the material world, the nature of activities is different. Separated in terms of consciousness from Krishna, everyone is trying to be the Supreme Controller and the Supreme Ruler. While the magnitude of this desire may vary from person to person, the underlying penchant to be lord and master is there.

Now that we have established the root cause of all material activities, the path to success in spiritual life can be easily deduced. If we can eliminate the root cause of our material bondage, the one thing that causes us to repeatedly go through births and deaths, we can begin to take the necessary steps towards liberation. Routing out the flawed desire to imitate God is not an easy thing; therefore the revealed scriptures divide spiritual activities into different sections, with various do’s and don’ts prescribed for the conditioned living entities. For the people of this age, the primary “do” is the chanting of the holy names of God, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. This “do” is more effective than refraining from any “don’t” because it tackles the root cause of our bondage with an assertive approach. In any field of activity, game, or competition, it is always better to play offense instead of relying on defense. Offense is proactive; the practitioner has a choice in what moves to make, and they don’t live in fear. By proactively engaging in the chanting process, the central component to the sublime engagement known as bhakti-yoga, one can very quickly eradicate the flawed desire to imitate Krishna, and reassume their true nature of Brahman.

Dedication to this offensive strategy is certainly effective, but for most conditioned souls, there must be a defense as well; a set of don’ts that need to be adhered to. In the Vedic tradition, as in any other spiritual discipline, the list of restricted activities is quite comprehensive. Therefore, for the people of this age, the four most dangerous activities, those things which are the greatest hindrances towards advancement in spiritual life, are given attention. These activities are meat eating, illicit sex, intoxication, and gambling. Meat eating is sinful because it requires unnecessary violence, something is not allowed in the spiritual world. The laws of karma are quite fair, so if we kill another living entity without justification, we are forced to suffer the negative consequence, the worst of which is the repetition of birth and death. Illicit sex is considered the greatest sin because it keeps one’s desires firmly fixed on the illusory energy known as maya. Maya means that which is not, or that which is the opposite of pure spirit [God]. Attachment to maya, manifested through sex life, guarantees that one will remain in the material world. Intoxication takes away cleanliness and intelligence. An intoxicated person will have trouble understanding matters pertaining to God and also adhering to guidelines. It’s difficult to play offense while drunk. If the goal is to defeat our flawed desire to imitate God, we must be sober during our fight.

Gambling is one of the more interesting sinful activities. At quick glance, it seems sort of strange to include gambling as a primary sin. After all, isn’t gambling just having fun? You get a bunch of your friends together and hit up a casino. You play a little craps, roulette, and blackjack, and have a good time. You can also gamble on sporting events, something which increases the enjoyment of watching the game. If you have something at stake in the game, you’ll take a greater interest in it. The reason gambling is listed as one of the primary sins is that it takes away one’s honesty. This honesty is a requirement for one wanting to return to the spiritual world. If a person is dishonest, how can they be trusted? If we’re telling Krishna that we want to be with Him at all times and that we want to love Him without any motive, how can He believe us if we are committed to dishonesty?

To illustrate the influence of dishonesty in gambling, let us study a simple example. In the modern age, playing fantasy sports has become one of the more popular pastimes. Playing a fantasy sport involves getting a group of other individuals together to form teams in a league. Each player owns their own team, which is a lineup consisting of real-life players in a specific sport. The fantasy league follows a sports league, like the NFL, MLB, NHL, etc. For this example, let’s use Fantasy Football. Prior to the NFL season starting, the fantasy teams will hold a draft, where each owner gets to pick the players that will play on their team. Once the draft is over, the teams set their lineups for the first week. In most fantasy football leagues, the format is that of head-to-head, with one team putting their lineup of players against another team’s lineup. Winning and losing are determined by the performance of the real-life players. For example, say that the quarterback I have on my fantasy team has a great week in his game, he will accumulate a certain number of points for my fantasy team. The team with the most accumulated points by all the players in the lineup wins each week.

So far so good, right? No cheating? One of the more intriguing aspects of fantasy sports is the trade. No matter what league you play in, there will always be someone who is looking to swindle other players. They will offer up trade after trade, where they make a proposition to give up certain players on their team in exchange for certain players on the other team. The concept of trading is built exclusively on the principle of cheating. The idea is to cheat the other player, taking his good players while giving him not-so-good players in return. The goal is to find someone who is gullible or unintelligent enough to not realize that he is being swindled.

It can certainly be argued that this tactic isn’t cheating, but rather just an ordinary part of any game. Cheating is usually associated with breaking the rules, ignoring established codes of conduct in order to gain an advantage. Yet why should the definition be limited in this way? The aim of playing dice, roulette, blackjack, or sports in general, is to gain an advantage over the competition. For example, in the sport of hockey, if the goaltender is leaning towards one side during a particular play, the announcers will say that he is cheating. This references the fact that in all fairness, the goaltender would take a certain position in the net, but since he wants to gain an advantage on a particular play, he is leaning towards one side instead of taking the more neutral position.

“I am also the gambling of cheats, and of the splendid I am the splendor. I am victory, I am adventure, and I am the strength of the strong.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 10.36)

The desire to gain an advantage stems from the desire for victory, which is an outgrowth of the desire to imitate God. One of Krishna’s names is Ajita, which means unconquerable. No one can defeat Krishna in any venture without His sanction. Desiring to imitate the Lord, the conditioned living entities are allowed to pursue their dream of attaining “Ajita” status. This desire, however, can never be accomplished, for none of us can cheat the way that Krishna can. God is so great that if He wants to gain an advantage in a particular venture, He’ll gain the best possible advantage. The living entities don’t have this ability.

The great Vaishnava saints didn’t concoct the idea of the four regulative principles on a whim. There is intelligence behind these restrictions. Gambling robs us of our honesty, an honesty which is required in our dealings with our supreme object of pleasure, Lord Shri Krishna. Gambling also causes agitation of the mind, for one is always looking for the next big pay out. There is the famous concept of the gambler’s fallacy, wherein a person thinks they are due a victory after having suffered so many defeats while playing a game of chance. The odds of winning and losing are purely mathematical, statistics which are easily deduced by students of logic. The gambler, however, desperately desiring victory, throws logic and mathematics out the window.

For these and many other reasons, we should pay careful attention to the activities that we take up. The ultimate objective is to change our desires. Whatever we can do to regain our pure loving attachment to God is what we should be committed to. The most effective method is the chanting process. By having a strong offense, along with an alert defense, we can gain victory in our battle against maya. Checking all other desires at the door, we can reenter the spiritual world as liberated souls who love Krishna honestly and purely.

Washing The Car

“Those who are full of dirty things can take to the line of Krishna consciousness for a gradual cleansing process, following the regulative principles of devotional service.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 4.15 Purport)

Men especially take a great interest in automobiles. Televised sporting events give us a glimpse into the psyche of the average adult male. Aside from beer commercials, advertisements for automobiles are the most commonly aired type of commercial during big football, baseball, and basketball games. The latest cars from the big auto manufacturers are showcased in these commercials. Usually the car is seen travelling very fast through a closed track, enticing the viewer to go out and buy it. Men have such an attachment to their cars that they often value the relationship with their automobiles more than they value the relationships with their friends and family.

This concern for cars is an outgrowth of the natural service mentality of living entities. All living entities ( human beings, animals, birds, etc.) are spirit souls at the core. We have been forced to accept a material body due to our past deeds and desires, collectively known as our karma. We performed work in the past with a desired aim, and this life is a result of the performance of that work. At the time of death, our desires and work are measured, and we are then given a suitable body in the next life:

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.6)

Since our real identity is with our soul and not our present body, our natural disposition is towards service. This is because all spirit souls are part and parcel of God. We are qualitatively the same as God, but quantitatively different. For example, our souls can only exist in one body at a time, thus our consciousness is only of the body that we currently occupy. God, on the other, is isvhara, meaning He is the Supreme Controller. One of the ways He displays His controlling feature is through His expansion as Paramatma, which is the Supersoul residing in the heart of every living entity. For this reason, God is conscious of every living entity, and also of their previous lives.

“The Blessed Lord said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you (Arjuna) cannot, O subduer of the enemy!” (Bg 4.5)

Originally, we are all Krishna conscious, meaning we are devotees of God. Being a devotee means loving God in a service attitude. One can say that they love God, but if that relationship is exhibited by constantly asking for things from Him, then one cannot classify that as pure love. “God give me this, give me that.” That is not a loving relationship; that is simply viewing God as an order supplier. A devotee serves the Lord purely, without any personal motive.

When we take birth in the material world, God’s illusory energy known as maya, causes us to forget our original constitutional position. This is by design. We wanted to pretend to be God by coming to this material world, so the Lord facilitated that request by creating maya. It is for this reason that most of us are engaged primarily in karmic activity, accumulating possessions and trying to satisfy our senses. Nevertheless, a small bit of that service attitude still exists inside of us. Due to maya’s influence, we direct that service towards material objects instead of God. Everyone is serving something or someone, and no one can claim otherwise. Even the most powerful CEO of the largest corporation of the world, he is serving his board of directors, shareholders, and customers. A president serves his country, the husband serves the wife and vice versa.

By taking such a great interest in cars, men direct their service towards inanimate material objects. Many people often refer to their car as their “baby”, or they’ll refer to the car as “she” and “her.” They almost view the car as a person. An automobile requires constant maintenance in order to continuously function properly. People take great care to regularly perform tune-ups to ensure that the car performs optimally. Aside from the internal maintenance, car owners dedicate even more time, money, and energy towards maintaining the exterior of the car. The look of a car is probably the most important factor in determining whether a car will be purchased or not. Some cars travel faster than others and some have better features, but the car obsession really focuses on the external appearance. For this reason, having the car regularly washed is of utmost importance. Rain can actually damage the exterior of the car. If an automobile isn’t washed regularly, dirt and other grime can accumulate and damage the paint. Car owners are well aware of these facts, so they closely monitor the exterior look, making sure that the paint looks perfect and that there are no dings or scratches on the car.

On the surface, this sort of dedication to one’s car doesn’t seem to be too harmful. An automobile is quite expensive, so why not make sure that it looks nice? According to Vedic philosophy, such concern is actually a waste of time. One of the first lessons taught to aspiring transcendentalists is that we are not our bodies. What are we then? Aham brahamasmi, “I am a spirit soul.” This fact represents the beginning of spiritual understanding. In conjunction, the Shrimad Bhagavatam tell us that anyone who falsely identifies with their gross material body is a mudha. Mudha is a Sanskrit word that translates to rascal, fool, or ass. Based on these statements, we can conclude that anyone who strictly identifies themselves as black, white, American, Indian, etc. is a mudha. This is very easy to understand. Our souls are eternal but our bodies are not. At the time of death, our bodies are either burned or buried. Death means the changing of our body, so we needn’t be too attached it.

“The Blessed Lord said: While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor the dead…As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” (Bg 2.11,13)

Therefore, the Vedic conclusion is that we should not pay so much attention to the desires of the body, but that we should rather spend our time focusing on the cultivation of spiritual knowledge. One who thinks of God at the time of death, never has to return to this material world:

“After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.” (Bg. 8.15)

If being overly concerned with our material body is a waste of time, one can imagine how senseless it is to dedicate so much time taking care of an automobile. The car is a mode of transportation, something we need to get us to and from places. Most of us need cars to get to work, to go to the supermarket, or to go to school to pick up and drop off our children. It is important for the car to function properly, but how the car looks is irrelevant.

Instead of our car, what really need cleansing are our soul and body. By definition, the spirit soul cannot be contaminated:

“The soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon, nor can he be burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.” (Bg 2.23)

Yet due to contact with material nature, the soul has become embodied in a conditional state. Though the body is made up of five gross elements (earth, air, water, fire, and ether) and three subtle elements (mind, intelligence, and false ego), it is these very material elements that can help the soul return back to God. Through all the sinful activity we’ve performed, our hearts have become dirty. The four pillars of sinful life are: meat eating, illicit sex, gambling, and intoxication. Aside from being bad for our karma, these activities are considered sinful because they bind us to the cycle of birth and death.

Though the body is temporary, it represents the vehicle that can drive us out of this material world by enabling us to put a permanent end to the cycle of reincarnation. We can clean our cars, but they will inevitably get dirty again. Even if they remain clean, the enjoyment we get is fleeting. The real aim of human life is to use our intelligence to clean the body and make it God conscious. We can do that by abstaining from the foul pillars of sinful life and by regularly connecting with God. We can use our ears to hear stories about Him, our eyes to view His deity in the temple and to read books about Him, our legs to travel to Holy places of pilgrimage, and our voice to chant His name and speak about His glories to others. The opportunities for service are endless, and our efforts will never go in vain:

“The unsuccessful yogi, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people, or into a family of rich aristocracy…On taking such a birth, he again revives the divine consciousness of his previous life, and he tries to make further progress in order to achieve complete success, O son of Kuru.” (Bg 6.41,43)

Just as a car’s paint becomes damaged if the car is not washed, the living entity becomes damaged if its sins are not cleansed. Krishna is the Supreme Pure, so we should use His holy names and all other things related to Him to wash away our sins.

Animal Sacrifice

“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.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 5.18)

One of the four regulative principles of devotional service requires one to refrain from eating meat, fish, or eggs. Meat eating involves unnecessary violence towards animals, so anyone who stays away from such food will avoid the negative karma associated with it. Living a simple, non-violent lifestyle allows us to concentrate our time and energy on God realization.

One will find, however, that the concept of animal sacrifice is very prominent in the scriptures of all major religions. The Christian Bible has a detailed list of which animals can be sacrificed and how they are to be offered. Similarly, the Vedic literature lists many such animal sacrifices which reward the performer with material benedictions. During Lord Krishna’s time on earth, the great king Yudhishthira performed the sacred Ashwamedha sacrifice, which involves sacrificing a horse. Prior to that, during the Treta Yuga, the famous Maharaja Dashratha of Ayodhya also performed the sacrifice. It was performed by many kings with the idea of bestowing good karma on the king and his kingdom. Dashratha’s sacrifice bore fruit in the form of Lord Rama, God Himself, being born as his first son.

The performance of such sacrifices seems to contradict the principle of no meat eating. However, this type of animal sacrifice bears no resemblance to the violence committed against animals in modern day slaughterhouses. The Vedas are somewhat complex, with different dharmas (religious duty) assigned to different classes of people. Since the material world is a place governed by gunas, or qualities (goodness, passion, and ignorance), every living entity has a different level of intelligence and thereby varying capacities for understanding scriptural injunctions. Though bhagavata-dharma, loving service to God, is the highest form of religion, God is so kind that He provides other forms of religion so as to allow everyone to make spiritual advancement. Below the system of bhagavata-dharma is the religious system involving the four rewards of life. Those who are religiously inclined generally seek the rewards of dharma (religiosity), artha (economic development), kama (sense gratification), and moksha (liberation). To achieve these benedictions, there is a section of the Vedas known as karma-kanda. It is in this portion of the Vedas where one will find the various animal sacrifices performed by kings of the past. The idea wasn’t to allow meat eating for simple sense gratification, but rather to sanction violence in a regulated manner, which would be both beneficial to the performer and to the animal sacrificed. In a sacrifice properly performed by qualified brahmanas wherein mantras were perfectly recited, the living entity inside the animal would immediately be rewarded a higher birth in the next life. The performer would also immediately receive the material rewards they were seeking after. Naturally, such a religious system is subordinate to bhagavata-dharma, but it was nonetheless performed as a way of allowing kings to make gradual elevation in spiritual consciousness. The kshatriyas, or warrior class of men, generally live in the mode of passion, rajo-guna. Due to this fact, they are allowed to gamble and even hunt deer as a way of practicing their defensive skills. Unnecessary violence towards animals was never condoned, and there are many historical incidents mentioned in the Vedic texts of kings being punished for acts of unnecessary violence towards deer or other living entities in the forest. The same Maharaja Dashratha once accidentally shot and killed a young boy with his arrow while ranging the forest. Since the boy’s parents would eventually die from the grief resulting from the untimely separation from their son, they cursed Dashratha to suffer the same fate in the future. For this reason, Dashratha died after the exile of His eldest and most beloved son Rama.

“In the Vedic literature there are numerous prescription of sacrifice. And in some of the sacrifices animal sacrifice is also recommended. So that animal sacrifice does not mean to kill the animal. Animal sacrifice means to prove the strength of Vedic hymns so that one old animal is put into the fire and he’s given again a new life, renewed life, just to show the potency of the hymns, Vedic hymns. But in this age, Kali-yuga, those sacrifices are forbidden." (Shrila Prabhupada, Lecture, 700416LE.LA)

These sacrifices were a means of testing the brahmanas who would preside over them, and was also a way of benefitting the animal being sacrificed. The entire purpose was aimed at providing purification. These sacrifices were performed during previous Yugas, where dharma had a stronger presence in society. According to the Vedas, dharma gradually declines amongst the population as time goes on. The current age we are in, Kali Yuga, is best known for dharma having only a twenty-five percent level of strength, whereas it was at one hundred percent at the beginning of creation. Gradually with this decline in religiosity, came the tainting of these sacrifices. Brahmanas were no longer performing them for purification, but merely as an excuse to eat animal flesh.

“When there was too much animal sacrifice in India, Lord Buddha appeared. And in the Vedas there is recommendation for animal sacrifice in some sacrificial ceremony, not ordinarily. And that sacrifice is meant for testing the power of chanting mantra. An animal would be put into the fire, and it would come again with renewed life. In this way, there is recommendation in the Vedas that some animals… But people misunderstood it. People began to slaughter." (Shrila Prabhupada, Room Conversation, Tokyo, 720422)

Krishna advented as Lord Buddha specifically to stop the degraded process of animal slaughter. In order to justify his message of nonviolence, he preached against the injunctions of the Vedas. In this way, the modern day injunction against meat eating was instituted and the animal sacrifice process was gradually stopped.

Meat eating involves killing another animal, which shouldn’t be done. But God is so nice that He understands that many people won’t be able to give up such a practice easily. Bestowing His mercy upon them, He provided for the rituals of animal sacrifice to allow them to gradually rise up the chain of God consciousness. If one sacrifices an animal before the Goddess Kali, he is at least thinking about God prior to committing such a heinous act. One will find that dishes containing goat meat are very prevalent in Indian restaurants and it stems from the tradition of sacrifice to Goddess Kali. Even a sanctioned sacrifice like that has many stringent rules attached to it. The animal must be a goat and the sacrifice can only be performed once a month. In this way, God is helping people by making meat eating such an arduous task.

"Even though one may be religiously inclined, animal sacrifice is recommended in the shashtras, not only in the Vedas but even in the modern scriptures of other sects…When such people kill animals, they can at least do so in the name of religion. However, when the religious system is transcendental, like the Vaishnava religion, there is no place for animal sacrifice." (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 4.26.1-3 Purport)

The word “Vaishnava” refers to devotees of Lord Vishnu, who is the same as Lord Krishna. By following the principles of devotional service, we have no need for mundane material sacrifices. We should all try and rise to such a platform. Giving up meat eating may seem very difficult, but if we dedicate ourselves to constantly chanting the names of God in a loving way, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, then we will surely succeed.