Sensory Training

“One can obtain the results of renunciation simply by self-control and by becoming unattached to material things and disregarding material enjoyments. That is the highest perfectional stage of renunciation.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 18.49)

The day has finally arrived. The moment you were anxiously awaiting has come. The new laptop that you wanted – the one with all the new features, including the latest operating system, a huge bank of random access memory, a bright, new state of the art screen, and the fastest hard drive known to man – is lying in its box right in front of you, just waiting to be opened. You rummage through the packaging, grab the new device and marvel at its look and feel. You flip open the cover, fire the bad boy up and check out the new features. Now comes the time to plug the power source in, to make sure that the battery doesn’t get drained. This is just a formality, as the power supply is not paid any importance. You dig deeper through the packaging and find, to your surprise, a large, dark brick connected to a chord that has prongs at the end. But this isn’t just any ordinary brick; it’s the very power supply for your laptop that you need. Now you start to worry. “Is this going to fit in my laptop bag? I’m going to have to lug this giant thing around everywhere?”

The senses weren’t expecting this sudden turn of events. If other aspects of the notebook computer have been streamlined and made more efficient, wouldn’t the power supply follow the same pattern? The specifications say that the battery life on this new laptop is much longer than on the previous one you owned, so why this monstrosity of a power supply? Regardless, the laptop must be used, so any minor inconveniences are necessarily tolerated. Yet an interesting thing happens after a few weeks: you get so used to lugging around the new power supply and plugging it in on a regular basis that you start to overlook its girth. Indeed, you still have your old laptop and its battery pack, and if you happen to look at its power supply, you’ll start to think, “Wow, I can’t believe how thin and small this battery charger is. Who would have thought you could make a power supply this size?”

The senses of the living entity are very powerful, but this doesn’t preclude them from being trained. They can grow accustomed to anything; a fact which gives an indication of the true potency of the human form of body. When the senses are shaped in the proper direction, when they are taught to remain detached from those things we don’t need and attached to those things we do need, success in life’s mission can be found.

How do we determine what we need and what we don’t? Isn’t this an entirely subjective assessment? How can this ever be applied universally? Goswami Tulsidas, a famous Indian poet of the 16th century, shares his most profound revelation in the Dohavali, a collection of short and succinct, yet brilliant, poetic couplets describing the Supreme Absolute Truth in His form of Lord Rama. God is a singular entity, but since there is variety in spiritual enjoyment and differences in the way the tiny fragmental sparks emanating from the giant spiritual fire interact with Him, God can manifest in a variety of ways which are each equally as worshipable as the original, who is known as Krishna because of His all-attractiveness. Tulsidas was especially devoted to Lord Rama, the handsome and pious prince of Ayodhya, a warrior incarnation of Godhead who appeared on earth many thousands of years ago.

Tulsidas knows that Shri Rama is God because everything that we actually need in life is readily available and rather inexpensive, while those things we don’t need are rare and costly. Grains, water and milk fluctuate in price depending on government intervention and the habits of speculators, but these commodities still remain in great abundance throughout the world. A cow freely provides milk without requiring much maintenance. Water is found everywhere, and grains are the easiest crops to grow. Shelter can be found in a cave or by erecting a thatched hut in an area that doesn’t suffer through harsh winters. Even if there is no opportunity for growing food from the ground, man can consume the different fruits and berries that fall off of trees that grow through nature’s independent actions. Indeed, the sages of ancient times would take on the ascetic’s lifestyle by subsisting solely on fruits and roots while living in the forest.

“I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who know this perfectly engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 10.8)

God supplies us everything we need, and He makes sure that the necessities are less expensive than jewelry and fine clothing, which are things we can live without. Since the human being has the ability to train the senses, he should take full advantage by using proper discretion. The animal species does not have the ability to think rationally in this area. A fish will eat whatever food is presented to it, even if the amount is more than it needs. The animal lives primarily off of its instincts, so if it wants to eat, it will eat. The human being has the ability to think rationally and train the senses through starvation.

This ability is there for a reason. After all, what is the difference between a man who survives off of eating three meals a day versus one who eats only twice? One person may be larger in stature while the other is thinner, but in the grand scheme of things their thought processes are pretty much the same, as advancement to the spiritual plane hasn’t been made. The true benefit of a human form of body is the ability to think of God and take the necessary steps towards serving and pleasing Him. In this regard, the objects of the material senses play no role, as eating, sleeping, mating and defending are only necessities aimed at keeping the body intact. Besides maintaining their existence within a particular body, the real business of spirit is to serve God. Lord Chaitanya, the preacher incarnation of Godhead, states that the real form of the living entity is that of servant of God. This form is also eternal, so once it is accepted it doesn’t have to be renounced.

“The real identity of the living entity is that he is eternally servant of Krishna.” (Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 20.108)

Our real svarupa stands in stark contrast to the forms we accept when our consciousness is driven by the senses. If we fail to properly train our senses, the primary demands of the body will dictate our actions. Since material nature has no direct relation to the Supreme Lord, any activities undertaken to interact with matter will have a beginning and an end. At the end of life, when the body starts to decay and no longer serves a purpose, a new form is granted, which signals the beginning of the next life. The cycle continues perpetually until the living entity is wise enough to start directing its senses in the right direction.

We know from the laptop example mentioned above that the human being can pretty much get used to anything. If we grow accustomed to a certain lifestyle, what initially may have seemed to be unpleasant suddenly gets accepted as the norm, that to which we are familiar. Sensory training is required for success in virtually every endeavor. A marathon runner completes a race that is over twenty six miles in length, but do we think that they could run that far on their first attempt in the sport? For someone not accustomed to running or jogging, just finishing one mile without strain is very difficult. Yet pretty soon, through rigorous training, the body grows accustomed to the previously difficult task.

In any notable field of endeavor, if we see someone doing extraordinary things, we should understand that it likely took them extensive training to reach their level of excellence. To understand God properly requires the same dedication, which should ideally start as soon as possible, even as early as childhood. If the human being starts to receive its spiritual education at the onset of adulthood, it would defeat the purpose. The young child can be molded, shaped and, most importantly, given orders that it will follow. The mature human being, on the other hand, thinks itself fully independent, so it’s difficult to get them to do anything against their will. More importantly, the mature adult has spent many years living in their body, so they have grown accustomed to a certain way of life. If this lifestyle isn’t streamlined and dedicated to austerity, the task of understanding God becomes even more difficult.

What are some of the austerity measures that can be adopted? Also, how will they enable the human being to better understand God? In ages past, the level of austerity adopted was quite severe. The sages in ancient times would spend years and years in meditation, living practically on nothing. Their dedication was so strong that they could survive for long periods of time without eating or sleeping. Because of their elevated inner strength, their minds could remain focused on the Absolute Truth, especially His unmanifest feature, which is known as Brahman. Beyond the dualities of life and death and the constant changes that take place around us is an all-pervading spiritual energy, a force which is immune to any defects that come from material contact. This force, when not fully understood, is taken to be a spiritual energy lacking any intelligence.

But through enough austerity and meditation, the fortunate souls are able to see that Brahman is simply the light effused off of the original transcendental body of the Supreme Lord. God is a person with spiritual attributes. His realm is full of matter that is not inhibiting towards the development of consciousness. Without full sobriety of mind, however, the fixed position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna, cannot be comprehended. Therefore after these sages dedicated to austerity remained on the brahma-bhutah platform for quite some time, they would then take to devotional service, or bhakti-yoga.

“One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman. He never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 18.54)

Fast forward to today and you have dramatically different external conditions. Finding a quiet place to meditate for years and years and actually knowing how to properly undergo the process are very difficult. But as Tulsidas revealed that those things we actually need in life are readily available to us, the most potent form of religious practice, that one tool that will bring us full satisfaction of mind and complete liberation from the effects of the senses, is available to everyone, regardless of their inability to accept severe austerity measures. The holy name of the Lord, which is a sound vibration representation of God, is the least expensive way to connect with God, as it doesn’t require anything except the devotee’s sincerity. By regularly chanting, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, the same level of devotion attained by those on the brahma-bhutah platform can be achieved very quickly.

Though the holy name is inexpensive and abundantly available, tapasya, or austerity, is still relevant. The sages of the past did the hard work for us. They spent so much time in meditation and contemplation on the Absolute Truth that they passed down a tradition of spiritual practice that doesn’t require the same level of dedication. The Vaishnava saints, the pure devotees of Krishna, understood that future generations of mankind would find it very difficult to take to the same level of austerity; therefore they passed down literature that glorified the holy name of the Lord and His pastimes. Chanting the name of God is the best way to evoke Krishna consciousness, or purification of thought.

To increase the chances of accepting the chanting process as our life and soul and also to enhance the pleasure felt during execution of bhakti-yoga, there are four primary restrictions recommended for the transcendentalists of this age. If the human being can train their senses to refrain from meat eating, gambling, intoxication and illicit sex, the chances of becoming fully Krishna conscious through dedication to chanting and hearing about Krishna will increase all the more. These restrictions seem quite drastic upon first glance, for who do we know that actually avoids any of these engagements, let alone all of them? But if we tackle these issues head on, especially at an early age, prior to when we develop the habits that will remain attached to us for the rest of our lives, then the negative outlook on the restrictions will be soon removed.

The new laptop charger which was initially thought to be gigantic after a while is taken to be the normal size. The inconvenience slowly turned into something not even noticed; such is the power of the senses. Material nature is full of dull matter after all, so any attachment to it can be easily cut off through proper training and regulation. With the Supreme Lord, the effect is just the opposite. Since He is the very essence of spirit – which is immutable, unchanging and fully vibrant – attachment to Krishna only increases the more we remain in His presence. We can look at the same picture of the Lord day after day and still marvel at His beauty.

“My dear sir, Krishna’s form was most wonderful when He appeared on this planet and exhibited the potency of His internal energy. His wonderfully attractive form was present during His pastimes on this planet, and by His internal potency He exhibited His opulences, which are striking to everyone. His personal beauty was so great that there was no necessity for His wearing ornaments on His body. In fact, instead of the ornaments’ beautifying Krishna, Krishna’s beauty enhanced the ornaments.” (Uddhava speaking to Vidura, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 3.2.12)

It is said that Krishna is so beautiful that He actually enhances the appearance of the ornaments that are placed on His body. Typically, the reverse is true, as we put on cosmetics, jewelry and fine clothes to make ourselves more presentable. With Krishna, the peacock feather in His hair, the flower garland around His neck, the Kaustubha gem adorning His chest, and the flute held in His soft hands become truly beautiful because of their association with His transcendental body. The name is the same as Krishna, and so is the picture and the deity. When the senses are trained to limit interaction with those things it doesn’t need and regularly swim in the ocean of transcendental nectar that is the holy name and the divine vision of the Supreme Personality, the Krishna conscious mind will settle for nothing less than Krishna’s association at all times.

You’ve Tried the Rest

“According to the Vedic scriptures, the most perfect man surrenders unto the Lord after many, many lifetimes of culturing knowledge. The culture of knowledge reaches perfection only when the knower comes to the point of surrendering unto the Supreme Lord, Vasudeva.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shri Ishopanishad, 17 Purport)

When initially learning of reincarnation, or the transmigration of the soul through different body types, the mind may initially focus on just the future impact. “Okay, so if I’m overly sinful in this life I’ll be reborn as a rat or a dog in the next one? So reincarnation is sort of a punishment?” The chain of cause-and-effect is seen in many different activities, but for some reason it is difficult for the rational human being to believe that the effects can continue even long after the current life expires. The guaranteed delivery of death is wholly accepted, but what happens to the person residing within the body afterwards remains a mystery. The concept of reincarnation, which is so nicely presented by the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, is not only meant to inform the inquisitive mind about their future destination after leaving the human body, but it is also meant to serve as a wakeup call, a reminder that so much enjoyment has already occurred in previous lifetimes in forms lower than the human species. Therefore the advanced potential for intelligence gifted the human being is intended to be used for realizing the true purpose behind reincarnation and how to go about stopping it.

“I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who know this perfectly engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 10.8)

To summarize the principle Vedic teachings, there is a God, who is accepted as the origin of all energies. Since He is Supreme it is difficult to accurately understand every single thing that He does. To make things easier, the Vedic seers, taking instruction from the original Person Himself, tell us that from God come three distinct energies. One is the spiritual force, which is non-different from the Lord Himself. Since He is referred to as a person, or entity, the Supreme Lord is personal, meaning He has transcendental qualities and features. He even has sportive tendencies which sometimes cause Him to make appearances before us in forms that retain their complete transcendence. The second energy is the material energy, which is considered inferior to God. This designation is there because the original Person’s presence is not directly felt in the material energy. We can liken the difference between the forces to the difference between our identity and our component body parts. The hands and legs are part of the body, but should they ever be separated from us, our individuality would not change. Similarly, the material energy remains apart from Krishna, but at the same time it is always under His control.

The third energy technically is the same as the spiritual force. The marginal potency, consisting of the individual spirit souls, is spiritual in quality, but since it is not equally as potent as God, there is a tendency towards association with the material energy, wherein the presence of the Supreme Lord remains temporarily forgotten. For the spiritual forces there is no such defect; there is never the chance of forgetfulness of God and the need to love and serve Him. When the marginal potency chooses in favor of the inferior energy, the spiritual sparks are sent to a temporary playing field, where they are provided different uniforms, or dresses, required for engagement in fruitive activity. When these forms cease to be useful, new ones are provided.

“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the soul accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 2.22)

This explains reincarnation in a nutshell. The desire of the marginal potency to remain apart from God’s personal presence keeps the engine of transmigration rolling. So from this basic information we can understand that coming under the jurisdiction of reincarnation is not ideal for anyone, for the natural home of the marginal potency is in the spiritual realm, where the association of similarly spiritual entities is found.

At this point the question may be raised as to why there is a variation in the species? Why are there dogs, cats, and human beings? Why not just have a uniform body type for everyone? The allure of material association is the chance to imitate God’s abilities in maintenance, creation, destruction and enjoyment. Since the imitation can follow a seemingly endless array of engagements, up to 8,400,000 different body types are awarded to the spirit soul, the marginal potency that chose in favor of the inferior energy. The human being is considered the most advanced because it is a form achieved after many lifetimes spent in inferior species, the fruit of spiritual evolution if you will.

From logical reasoning and direct perception, we can see that the dogs, cats, birds, beasts, and other animals enjoy eating, sleeping, mating and defending just like human beings do. In fact, that’s all that these lower life forms operate on; they have no other engagements. They don’t have to worry about going to school, holding down a job, making others happy, deciding on what movie to rent on a Friday night, or what to do during retirement. In this sense their ability to enjoy the senses is enhanced compared to the human species. From this information, we can understand that the human being must have a higher purpose, a mission to fulfill that no other life form is granted enrollment in.

The Vedas, which are the mouthpiece for the Supreme Lord, whose original form is described as all-attractive and thus referred to as Krishna, reveal that the human form of life is meant for realizing God. This is not that wild an assertion, as only the human being has the ability to make their choice to return to the spiritual land, the eternal home for the spiritual energy, known. Upon understanding the mission, the steps necessary for success need to be taken, with the first being limits placed on sense gratification. The life of unfettered and unrestricted enjoyment found in the animal species is not conducive to constructing a spiritual awakening. The true choice, the up or down vote as to whether the soul wants to return to Krishna’s company, is measured at the time of death. The consciousness, the mind’s contemplation, while quitting the body is measured by higher authorities. The predominant desires formed over the many activities undertaken during the days spent within the human form construct the consciousness. When the mind is pure and focused on the lotus feet of Krishna, liberation can be had.

“And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 8.5)

If the human being continues to imitate the animals, the opportunity for purification goes to waste. Indeed, there is no reason to continue unrestricted sense gratification, as we already know from our own remembered experiences that there is more to life than simply playing all day. As children, we enjoyed the same benefits that are found in the animal community. We got to play day after day, didn’t have to worry about the pressures of work, and didn’t have to maintain a family. But as we got older, we took on more important tasks, such as getting an education and learning how to master a skill that could help us to earn a livelihood. The independence of the adult human being is best utilized for choosing in favor of learning about God. Concomitant with this undertaking is the voluntary restriction placed on sense gratification. Since this restraint is initially considered painful, or a penance, it is referred to as tapasya.

Restriction on sense gratification is only viewed in the negative light in the beginning stages. This is because we don’t know any better. We have had so many lifetimes of unregulated sense gratification that we think that if we somehow starve ourselves of unrestricted enjoyment, we will end up the loser. But again, we can revert to our childhood memories to understand that this is not true. How many of us actually wanted to go to school for twelve years and then college afterwards? Speaking from personal experience, our humble self dreaded every single day of school we ever attended. But if the young child gets its wish, it will never be properly educated. The forced penance actually turns out to be a great boon, as the education received allows for a higher taste in adult life.

Similarly, if the mature human being puts restrictions on the activities driven by the impulses of the senses, there will be increased sobriety and a much greater chance for God realization. In fact, all of the inhibitions rooted in doubt of the existence of God, which is furthered by the preponderance of religious systems which each claim that theirs is superior, run away the more sober one becomes and the more they take to self-realization.

In addition to tapasya, there must be an active engagement. Sense demands are the natural instincts, tendencies which don’t have to be taught. There are cooking channels on television that show how to make delicious food preparations and where to grab the world’s tastiest burger, but the tendency for eating doesn’t need to be imbibed in anyone. Similarly, there are discussions on different sexual activities and what types of alcohol to drink, but these tendencies are also there in the animals, who have no education on these matters whatsoever.

To the human being, what actually needs to be taught is how to connect with God, how to purify consciousness, and how to remain dedicated in transcendental service. The beginning point is the chanting of the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. The holy name is the gateway to the spiritual world. Though sound vibrations are considered part of the material nature, when they are used to address and glorify the person to whom we are inherently attached, they become fully spiritualized. In this way we see that the human being has the choice and ability to associate with the spiritual energy even before the time of death.

“Why should I chant ‘Krishna’? Why not just worship God? I believe in God, shouldn’t that be enough?” Chanting the holy names is wonderful because it addresses God in a loving way. The term “God” is actually quite vague, as it fails to describe the Lord’s transcendental features. The key ingredient in attachment and dedication in service is attraction. If we don’t find something palatable, why would we continue servicing it, giving it attention and making sure we have enough time to connect with it? When an entity is attractive, however, every effort is made to remain always in its company. The words “Krishna” and “Rama” are beautiful not only in the way they describe the Lord, but also in their ability to bring transcendental pleasure to the person who repeats them in a loving way.

The animal cannot chant these words. They are fully attached to Krishna because of their similar spiritual nature, but due to the inhibitions placed on their body type, their consciousness does not have the ability to fully develop. The human being can not only understand reincarnation, but they can also take the necessary steps to stop it. The tendency of the tired worker is to seek relief, a permanent vacation. “I can’t wait until the day when I no longer have to work.” By following the Vedic prescriptions of tapasya and the sacrifice of chanting in devotion, these desires are revised and extended to say, “I can’t wait until I no longer have to suffer the influences of the material world. When will that day come when all I do is think about and glorify Krishna? I’ve had all the sense gratification I could handle, and it failed to provide me any lasting happiness. But with Krishna, I can’t seem to get enough of His association. I see His smiling face and how He gives so much pleasure to the cows, and I immediately forget my past experiences, which never brought me anywhere close to the thrill I feel by being alongside Krishna.”

For any human being, at any stage in their life, so much time has already been spent trying the hand at sense gratification. As there is always the new search for happiness, which is evidenced by the popular self-help books that line the shelves at major bookstores, why not try the ancient art of bhakti-yoga, or the religion of love. A key component, a starting point if you will, is the restriction on sense gratification, and more specifically, refraining from the activities of meat eating, gambling, intoxication and illicit sex life. Throughout their many lifetimes in the material land, the marginal potency expansions have travelled down so many avenues of sense gratification. As the human form brings the best opportunity for advancement of consciousness, when there is full sobriety now and the ability to decipher between right and wrong and good and bad, why not take a stab at austerity mixed in with regular chanting of God’s names? The secrets of devotional life are never revealed to those who refuse to advance past the animalistic consciousness. On the other hand, when even a small, yet fully sincere, effort is made towards finding Krishna, that person becomes fully endeared to the Lord, as their devotion is noted and recognized as an indication that a piece of the marginal potency is taking tangible steps towards returning to their natural home.

No Pain No Gain

“The living entities are foreign to matter, and thus they cannot be happy unless they are situated in the same spiritual life as the Lord.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 3.5.26 Purport)

Life is full of pains and frustrations. Any mature human being will agree with this, as we could take the most successful individual, one who seemingly has everything at their fingertips, and find that they are frustrated in their attempts every so often, that they too feel the sting of defeat and the heartache arising from separation. Death, which is the name ascribed to God by those who refuse to acknowledge the Supreme Lord’s existence, itself represents the greatest limiting factor. All successes and gains will ultimately be wiped out at the end of life, irrespective of whatever plans are made. Those who roam the world in ignorance try to run away from the most powerful natural force throughout their lifetime, thereby encountering pains and miseries and not knowing what to make of them until ultimately everything becomes finished. The wise, however, understand that due to the flawed nature of the realm currently inhabited, pain and misery are two wonderful features that serve to remind the pure soul of where its true engagements lie. In the absence of pain, the highest gain, the reward that is the comfort and solace of the association of that one individual who is everyone’s friend for all of eternity, could never be found.

Frustration and pain work in strange ways. For instance, to some people, just earning a paltry living is a form of hardship. “If I had millions of dollars, I wouldn’t complain about anything. When you are wealthy, you can just buy whatever you want without anyone there to stop you.” So let’s run with this example of going from rags to riches, becoming a rich millionaire, someone who has maybe run a lucrative business or been successful in the arena of sports, and see if it brings a panacea of happiness and joy. The way the mind works is that desires constantly flow inwards, like rivers pouring into an ocean. The ocean of the mind’s satisfaction never fills to the brim regardless of how strong the incoming waves are. As such, desires can never be truly satisfied. One who is a millionaire will indeed meet much frustration because desires do not cease once a certain income level is reached. Even if a successful business brings a high net worth, the same establishments still require maintenance. Most profitable businesses are looking to expand, so with each new branch opened and every new product offered come the chances of failure. The same situation is present with the star athlete, who may have won several coveted titles but is still subject to eventually suffering defeat in some form or another.

“This body, O son of Kunti, is called the field, and one who knows this body is called the knower of the field.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 13.2)

The pain and misery experienced are rooted in the nature of the playing field. In the manifested world, there are different machines known as bodies. The dwelling our soul currently occupies is known as a perishable body, one that takes birth, develops for some time and then eventually gets discarded. The world we live in, including the numerous bodies, can be thought of as the playing field. The soul residing within is the knower, as it is directing the workings of the machine. Without knowing the nature of the field, the knower takes to activities which are deemed conditioned. They are described as such because they have no direct relation to the knower.

What does this mean exactly? If we eat something, is not the knower, the impetus for action, the soul, being satisfied? If we go to work every day to support ourselves and our families, is not the knower benefitted? The soul’s ultimate aim is not related to the body at all, as any object composed of matter is dull, lifeless and full of ignorance. Matter represents an external manifestation of the Supreme Spirit’s limitless energies. Material nature is governed by Goddess Durga, whose very name means “difficult to overcome”. The knower is deluded into a false identification and ergo a flawed guiding force for activity as soon as it is placed inside the localized instance of the playing field known as the body.

“O son of Kunti [Arjuna], I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable om in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 7.8)

The simplest way to understand matter is to know that it is not God. The Supreme Lord in the Vedic tradition is described by many names which speak to His personal forms, with the original being Krishna, who is all-attractive. But at the same time there are other words which describe His transcendental features in a more neutral way, one that satisfies those who refuse to acknowledge, worship or understand the original personal aspect of the Supreme Spirit. The syllable om, which is popular with yogis and Vedantists and forms the starting point for all important Vedic mantras, is an impersonal way to address the same Personality of Godhead. Brahman, or Parabrahman, is the description of spirit that points to its ever-blissful nature, a position that can never be diluted. The innumerable individual spiritual fragments residing in the different playing fields are also Brahman, but they are in a marginal position. Matter is maya, or not Brahman, and Brahman is Truth. The spirit souls, the jivas, are marginal because they can choose between maya and Brahman. Naturally, since Brahman is tied directly to God, association with it will lead to pleasure, bliss and the relief of all miseries. Those who are in tune with Brahman only take to constitutional activities.

Maya, on the other hand, being not Brahman, brings just the opposite conditions. The pure knower of the field of activities, when deluded by maya, takes to conditioned activities, which by definition must yield pain. Certainly unhappiness and unpleasant conditions aren’t met with smiling faces and open arms, yet the pain that results from maya’s association can actually be quite beneficial. Since everyone meets with frustration and defeat in their endeavor to lord over material nature, there are typically two options that the bewildered soul can take to remedy the unwanted situations. The first option is the one chosen by most of us throughout the majority of our many lifetimes on earth. The spirit soul, as part and parcel of Brahman, exists eternally. When the body dies, the soul does not. The spiritual spark is simply placed into another playing field at a certain point in time in the future. The event of placing the soul within the field is known as birth, and the exit of the same knower is known as death. Hence the duration of time spent within each field of activity is deemed a life or lifetime.

Faced with frustration, the typical response is to make adjustments that will alleviate the distress felt. Despite the remedial measures adopted, as long as the deluded consciousness continues, pain and misery will never be rooted out completely. The glaring examples of this fact are the predicaments faced by the wealthy and the hugely successful. Multi-billionaires have very successful businesses, loads of money in the bank, and beautiful women hanging around them, but seemingly nothing to do. Hence they take to charity, philanthropy, training at and playing golf, travelling around the world, and all sorts of other activities to try to fill up their time. Anyone who does not know their true identity will remain perpetually lost, irrespective of how materially successful they are.

“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, Bg. 7.16)

On the other hand, when defeat ignites the inquisitive nature of the mind and causes a hankering to know the Truth, a desire to transcend the temporary ups and downs that are part and parcel of life on the playing field, the highest gain can be achieved. Under this model, the pain and frustration of material life turn into the greatest blessings. Let’s think of it in this way: When we place our hand into a fire, the skin will obviously burn. A burn brings such intense pain that even after only a second of putting the hand into the flame the hand will immediately move away from the fire. This rapid drawback is actually an involuntary motion, something we don’t have to explicitly tell the hand to do. The contact with fire results in such an acute and intense pain that the field of activity automatically alerts the knower to shy away from it.

The pain resulting from a burn is certainly considered harmful and something we would want to avoid. But what if instead of avoiding open flames altogether, we took some drug that numbed the feeling in our hand. Cortisone and other chemicals are often injected into athletes who are suffering from an injury but are desperately wanting to play in a big game or match. Let’s say we first injected a numbing agent into our hand and then went back and put the hand into the fire. This time there would be no pain and no involuntary reaction. In the absence of pain, everything would be fine, right? No more scorching pain, and thus no more fear of fire, no?

To the sober individual, one with a little intelligence, the absence of pain in this instance is actually incredibly harmful. Why is this? As soon as the numbing agent wears off, the effects of placing the hand into the fire are realized. Even though we didn’t feel anything initially, our hand started to burn as soon as it was placed into the fire. Just because we didn’t notice the reaction doesn’t mean that the burning stopped. Indeed, once the pain-killing agent subsides in effectiveness, the reality of the incredibly burnt hand is upon us. As such, the original pain that we felt and the accompanying involuntary drawback in motion that occurred when we didn’t use a painkiller turned out to be the greatest blessing, an indication from nature that we shouldn’t do this specific activity. The same principle applies in sports and other areas where painkillers are taken. Cortisone shots are deemed dangerous because in the absence of pain, the athlete might do further damage to the injured area. And they wouldn’t feel the effects of the damage until much later.

Intoxication is the most potent form of illusion that seeks to temporarily numb the pain of material life. The pressures of school, work and family can get to be so great that the suffering soul simply wants an escape, a false reality. But just as the numbing of pain proved to be harmful in the end to the individual placing their hand into the fire, the temporary effects of sensory escape brought on by drinking alcohol and taking drugs lead to the greatest detriment. The pain that we experience in the material world serves as the most glaring reminder that maya is not our best friend. The Supreme Spirit, Parabrahman, is the only entity worthy of our service and love.

So how do we shift from conditioned activities to constitutional ones? Can we just escape our current body and hope to be in God’s association at all times? This brings us to the tricky part about maya, an issue that may be difficult to grasp. Though the field of activity is one crafted solely for the purpose of associating with matter, when the same field is used for the benefit of the original Creator, the elements themselves become purified. Our eyes, ears, legs and hands were crafted out of a desire to imitate the Supreme Spirit, but when the same powerful aspects of the field of activity are used for the pleasure of the origin of all energy, to glorify His nature and His pastimes, and to regularly remain connected with Him through consciousness, then even the field of activity becomes the greatest vehicle for satisfaction and happiness.

The most blissful aspect of the Supreme Spirit is His name, as it automatically evokes memory and consciousness of His forms, pastimes and qualities. When the pain of material life leads us to regularly chanting, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, all our frustrations and defeats prove to have been worth the struggle. In the fields of exercise and physical fitness, if one is training to build their muscles or compete in a race, they need to inflict pain on the body through forced exertion. Eventually the pain will be more easily tolerated and the body will become stronger. In material life, no amount of tolerance and pain can lead to the purification of consciousness, a mindset where all thoughts and desires are focused on God. But when the same pain is endured in activities of the constitutional variety, such as chanting, hearing, remembering, and worshiping, the spiritual strength of the individual gradually increases.

“In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 2.40)

Unlike gains in material life, spiritual powers never diminish. Even a small step made in bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, never goes to waste. In the enlightened state, the natural torchlight of knowledge found within the soul starts to shine everywhere, thus guiding the knower of the body along the proper path of action at every step. Those activities which were the most inhibiting towards spiritual advancement are avoided, and those engagements which further solidify the spiritual consciousness are wholeheartedly adopted. Just as the burning sensation caused by fire turns out to be to our benefit since it loudly screams to us to avoid fire, the pain and miseries of material life are the greatest gifts from God, His indications that we are on the wrong path.

In spiritual life, the fortunes are reversed. In the heightened state of spiritual consciousness, one where the devotee feels intense pain due to separation from Krishna, even the apparent discomfort causes the greatest bliss. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the most famous exponent of bhakti-yoga in the modern age and a divine incarnation of Shri Krishna Himself, always felt tremendous pain due to separation from Krishna. Yet His pain was extremely blissful, as He was in the mood of worship followed by the damsels of Vrajabhumi, the cowherd girls of Vrindavana who always think of Krishna even when they are not in His company. Under the spell of maya, pain arises from frustration and defeat and pleasure from temporary victories. But in spiritual life, the seemingly unpleasant engagements bring great pleasure and the seemingly pleasurable activities, those based on animal instincts, are avoided since they are divorced from any relationship to God. The regular chanting of God’s names brings one to the spiritual platform, a state of mind where all thoughts are focused on Krishna. Following this ascendency, the devotee only desires to be able to continue their divine service, a wish kindly granted and then protected by the Lord Himself. If not for the pain of the mundane world, the highest bliss of loving attachment to the Supreme Spirit would forever remain far out of reach.

Practice Makes Perfect

“The Lord, being the source of everything that be, is the origin of all austerities and penances also. Great vows of austerity are undertaken by sages to achieve success in self-realization.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.7.6 Purport)

The opening verse of the famous Shrimad Bhagavatam relays an aphorism from the Vedanta-sutras which states that everything in this world emanates from the Supreme Absolute Truth, or God. The Vedanta-sutras are meant to consist of short and succinct phrases or aphorisms, each having deeper meaning and import. This one statement about everything emanating from God can be studied daily and still provide new and fresh meanings. It is for this reason that the bona fide commentary on the Vedanta-sutra, the Shrimad Bhagavatam, is itself quite lengthy. Moreover, great devotees have written their own commentaries on Shrimad Bhagavatam, with other devotees writing commentaries on the commentaries. Thus we see that there is no limit to God’s greatness, for on can go one explaining His powers forever and ever.

When we hear that everything emanates from God, we naturally look to objects, i.e. things relating to matter. The mountains, the sky, and the sun are obvious examples of God’s greatness. But even living entities themselves are molded after the Supreme Lord. It is for this reason that we become enamored by the events of birth and death. Planting a seed and watching it grow into a full-blown tree is one of the more amazing sights to behold. The same can be said of watching our children grow up to be adults. Though we tend to only compare objects and their relationship to the Supreme, we can also apply the same principle to various philosophies, disciplines, and exercises. Everyone has some sort of philosophy, regardless of whether or not the basis of their way of life comes from spiritual authority.

Every philosophy that has ever existed actually emanates from the Supreme Lord. To see an example of this principle, we need only study two important Vedic concepts: tapasya and yajna. Tapasya refers to the voluntary acceptance of austerities, or penances. Yajna refers to sacrifice, or in general terms, the active engagement in religious practice; rituals, chants, or travelling to spiritual pilgrimages. Sacrifice and austerity are requirements for anyone seeking spiritual enlightenment, and just as with everything else in this world, they originate from God. The Supreme Lord gave us yajna and tapasya so that we could use them to understand Him better. Many people shy away from religion specifically because of the ritual aspect of it and the need for self-control, or austerity. The irony is that austerity and sacrifice are practiced even outside of the realm of religion. This is another example of God’s greatness, and it also reinforces the meaning of Absolute. Since God is the Absolute Truth, His energies are all-pervading.

A great example of sacrifice and austerity in action can be seen in the arena of rock and roll. This will raise eyebrows right off the bat. “Rock and roll? Isn’t that the extreme opposite of self-control? People dream of becoming rock stars so that they can live a life of hedonism. Sex, drugs, and rock n roll. How can this teach us about religion?“ It is undoubtedly true that the rock star lifestyle is all about indulging the senses as much as possible. Yet if we do a quick study of what it takes to become a successful musical artist or rock band, we’ll see that self-control and discipline are two vital components.

The life cycle of a successful rock band is usually the same, but to help us understand things more clearly, we’ll focus on one example in particular: the heavy metal band Metallica. While they are currently one of the most popular bands in music history, Metallica didn’t start out that way. Like most aspiring bands, Metallica started off as a garage band; four young teenagers getting together in a small room and playing loud music. They all had long hair and a penchant for drinking alcohol. To make it in the rock business is not easy, for there are many bands competing for a record deal. In the early 1980s, Metallica had to play small clubs throughout California just to get recognized. They distanced themselves from the popular hair bands of the time by playing a style of music commonly known as thrash, or something similar to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Metallica eventually got their record deal and were flown to New York to record their first album.

In the band’s early years, the lifestyle wasn’t luxurious at all. Band members had to travel mostly by bus, taking their equipment with them. They weren’t even headlining acts, so they had to open up for other bands, playing in tiny clubs throughout America and Europe. Slowly but surely their popularity increased, and after about ten years of touring and putting out records, they finally achieved fame throughout the world. Instead of travelling on buses, they now had their own airplanes. Rock stars are famous for the riders that they fill out when they go to different venues. The host of the show will ask what each band member requires in their dressing room prior to the show. Rock stars, demanding that all their senses be satisfied at all times, ask for whatever they want, and most of the time they get it.

Rock stars also have lots of beautiful women who follow them around at every show. There is certainly truth to the notion that rock and roll is all about drinking, drugs, and sex; activities which involve little to no self-restraint. But if we study a little further, we’ll see that a rock band requires self-control and discipline to be successful. The members of Metallica are all in their late forties today, but they play to giant sold-out arenas. All of the members of the band have to take care of their bodies in order to be able to play on stage for two hours at a time. The physical toll is especially great on the drummer, Lars Ulrich. Playing the drums for any other type of music may not be as physically demanding, but playing drums for a heavy metal band is a real workout. Just playing one song involves constantly moving your arms and legs to maintain the quick tempo. A typical Metallica concert is around two hours, so one can imagine how much weight is lost in terms of sweat for the drummer.

Before embarking on any major concert tour, Lars takes up a strict running regimen to get himself into shape. He also makes sure to eat properly before a concert. Though most of the members drink alcohol regularly, they keep a careful eye on their intake prior to a concert. Alcohol can dehydrate the body fairly quickly and can also have an effect on a person’s motor skills. Playing guitar in a heavy metal band requires lightning fast movement of the fingers. The lead guitarist for Metallica, Kirk Hammett, wraps tape around his fingers to prevent bleeding. The singer, James Hetfield, also isn’t immune to the wear and tear of life on the road. During the early 1990s, Metallica toured for two years non-stop. By the end of the tour, James’ voice was failing him, and he was worried that he might be seriously damaging his vocal cords. Ever since that time, Hetfield makes sure to go through a series of voice exercises prior to every concert.

All this preparation is most certainly a form of austerity. The other piece of the puzzle is activity, or sacrifice. You can’t just put any four people together and expect them to produce beautiful music. A successful rock band is one that has good chemistry and knows how to play songs in front of people. To this end, Metallica, like most other bands, must rehearse constantly to make sure they don’t mess up songs when playing them in front of 50,000 people. This dedication to activity isn’t exclusive to the live arena either. Making a studio record requires just as much effort, for the band members must play their songs over and over again until they get every piece of the song just right.

Though the rock star lifestyle is certainly filled with self-indulgence, if it weren’t for their dedication to austerity and sacrifice, bands like Metallica would never be able to do what they do. In a similar manner, success in spiritual life requires even more dedication. Sometimes we’ll get frustrated in life and turn to God. “Oh Lord, why have You put me through this? Can’t You end my suffering?” These feelings are quite natural, for we are all looking for an easy way out of our misery. But just as we see with other areas of life, success in spiritual pursuits takes some effort and dedication. We can’t just think our way to spiritual perfection. We can study the difference between matter and spirit until we are blue in the face, but God is not a person who can be realized by solving a math problem or by running through a series of logical proofs.

If we want to reach the supreme destination of God’s spiritual sky, we have to work for it. The key is to figure out what things should be done and what shouldn’t. In addition, we have to know how to control our senses, i.e. how to make sure we perform at peak capacity. This is where the four regulative principles come into play. The Vedas are a very intricate religious discipline, meaning they have branches that apply to all different types of people. As we see in life, people have different desires which lead them towards performing different types of work. In a similar manner, aspiring transcendentalists also have different desires, so the Vedas kindly provide guidance in a wide range of areas. Since some people look to God to fulfill their needs, there is the karma-kanda section of the Vedas which recommends various yajnas, or ritualistic sacrifices. The performance of these yajnas rewards the practitioner with material benedictions. Some people want to stop all activity; they are sick of always having to do something. They’d rather just remain in a dormant state and not have to worry about future suffering. For these people, there is the sankhya system, where one can study the difference between matter and spirit and slowly start to negate all activity. There are others who want great strength and power, so for them the Vedas give the system of meditational yoga, which rewards the practitioners with siddhis, or material perfections.

While these are all legitimate branches of the Vedas, there is one discipline which is considered the topmost. This is bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. As the Vedanta-sutras tell us, God is a person; a separate living entity whose intelligence and strengths far exceed ours. Since He is the original person possessing all opulences, it would make sense that having His personal association would be the greatest reward in life. We are all looking for pleasure of some sort, but we see that the enjoyment derived from our current sources of pleasure is short-lived. This is because we’re not channeling our engagements towards the supreme object of pleasure, the one person from whom all other pleasures emanate. That person is Krishna, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

To know Krishna, one must perform some type of austerity. Currently our senses are attracted towards material objects, hence our pleasure is short-lived. In order to shift our desires, we have to starve our senses of the associations they are currently attached to. When encountering an enemy, it is best to attack their strengths right away. Once the enemy’s strengths are eradicated, it is much easier to defeat them. The four things which our material senses are most attached to are illicit sex, meat eating, intoxication, and gambling. Therefore, in order to control our senses, we must refrain from these four activities. This is the starting point.

Austerity is only one piece of the puzzle. We also need some active engagement, something to rehearse or practice. This is where sacrifice comes in. Though the Vedas mention different kinds of sacrifice, the one most recommended for the people of this age is the sankirtana-yajna, or the congregational chanting of the holy names of God, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. The great Vaishnava acharyas recommend that we chant this mantra as often as possible, and with as many other people as possible. This mantra is so great that it can be put into melodies and sung in the call-and-response format. If one visits Vaishnava temples around the world, they’ll see that the singing of this mantra makes up the majority of the day’s activities.

At a minimum, we should chant the Hare Krishna mantra at least sixteen rounds a day on a japa mala, or set of prayer beads. One may ask what the point is to chanting so many times. The goal is to be able to chant this mantra just once without any offenses. Offenses are any distractions or ulterior motives we may have when we recite God’s names. Reciting God’s name without offense equates to a perfect recitation. Devotional service is pure when we develop a love for God and don’t expect anything from Him in return. This is the highest form of religion because it rewards us with the eternal association of the Lord, a benediction which cannot be matched.

Everyone is performing some type of austerity and some type of sacrifice. We don’t need to shy away from these principles, but just purify their execution. By regularly chanting and following the four regulative principles, we can one day hope to say God’s name in a pure way. Practice makes perfect.

Wall of Separation

“A faithful man who is absorbed in transcendental knowledge and who subdues his senses quickly attains the supreme spiritual peace.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.39)

In America, it is believed that there exists a separation between church and state, and as such many people are proud of the fact that religion is not mixed in with government. “The government cannot promote any religion, nor can they talk about it in the public arena. This ensures that all viewpoints are respected when it comes to religion or irreligion.” This mindset has led to an increase in secularism, especially in the national school system. Since there are no religious doctrines discussed with impressionable young students, people feel this system is an ideal representation of religious freedom. “No one becomes offended and no one is forced to hear about religion.” In reality, this is not possible. Secularism is itself a form of religion, except that it is fatally flawed since it is a man-made religion. Since real religion is something which descends from God, any system which neglects God’s instructions will inherently be flawed. The people who follow such concocted systems will suffer greatly as a result.

The separation of church and state is itself an erroneous concept. The Founding Fathers of the United States were very religious people and the land of America itself was founded on the concept of religious freedom. In the 17th century, the Pilgrims fled England since they couldn’t practice their religion freely and openly. If we study human history, we will see that there have been countless instances where governments forced people to follow a certain religious doctrine. If citizens didn’t swear allegiance to a specific scripture or faith, they would suffer the consequences. Many times citizens were killed if they didn’t abandon their own religious practices.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…" (First Amendment to the United States Constitution)

The issue of religion weighed heavily on the minds of the framers of the Constitution. They wanted to have a government which recognized God’s supremacy, but at the same time didn’t force people to participate in any particular religion. Thus they included the Establishment Clause in the Constitution. It states that Congress, meaning the government, can make no law establishing a national religion. This stipulation makes a lot of sense, for even followers of the Vedic tradition believe in this. Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead as declared by the Vedas, expounded on the truths of Vedanta philosophy while on the battlefield of Kurukshetra some five thousand years ago. This famous discourse presented to Krishna’s cousin and disciple, Arjuna, is chronicled in the Bhagavad-gita. At the conclusion of His teachings, Lord Krishna put the onus on Arjuna as it related to adhering to the instructions.

“Lord Brahma heard the occult sound tapa, but he did not see the person who vibrated the sound. And still he accepted the instruction as beneficial for him, and therefore he engaged himself in meditation for one thousand celestial years.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.9.8 Purport)

God doesn’t force us to follow any religious system. The Vedas themselves were first handed down to Lord Brahma, the first created living entity, through the medium of the heart. Brahma wasn’t forced to accept these instructions, but rather he chose to contemplate on them for a long time. This meditation helped Brahma finally realize the presence of the Lord and His greatness. So we see that taking up dharma, or one’s occupational duty, is most certainly a choice, for that is how the material world works. The spirit soul is meant to associate with God, but through desires for fruitive activity, it comes to this material world where it suffers through birth, old age, disease, and death. Religion is God’s mercy upon us, a way to help us return to His spiritual kingdom. More than anything else, religion is put in place not to punish, but rather, to help us understand and love God.

Pure love for God is known as Krishna-prema, and it is nothing like the lusty affairs that exist in the material world. Krishna-prema is pure because it is directed at the supreme pure, Lord Krishna. The love exchanged between God and His devotees is not checked by any forces, meaning there is no requirement for reciprocation. In our own life, we may fall in love with someone and remain attached to them for a while, but should they repeatedly cross us, that love soon turns to hate. Love for Krishna does not work this way. Krishna-prema involves complete surrender; the devotee remains attached to the Lord no matter what the situation. The Lord can send the devotee to heaven or hell, but the love remains the same.

The bona fide religious systems are those which teach the living entities how to awaken their dormant love for God. For true love to exist, it must be voluntarily practiced on both sides. As we all know, we can’t force anyone else to love us, no matter how hard we may try. The relationship between God and the living entities is similar in this regard. God is certainly the supreme controller, ishvara, but He has no control over the feelings and desires of the living entities. We are minute spirit sparks that are similar in quality to the Lord, thus we also have our own form of independence. We are free to act however we wish. Religion [dharma], in the form of the Vedas, was passed down by God to help us reconnect with Him. The Vedas represent a set of guidelines and recommendations for people to follow, especially those who are interested in spiritual life. Nevertheless, adherence to the shastras, or religious law codes, is completely voluntary. Those who ignore the suggestions of the Vedas certainly have to suffer, while those who follow religion enjoy the results that come from associating with God. Nevertheless, there is still no force applied by God. Though dharma is an occupational duty which never changes, the acceptance of this duty remains our choice.

“Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor…Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be…” (President George Washington, Thanksgiving Day 1789, A Proclamation)

The Founding Fathers wanted to make sure that religious freedom was protected. Whatever bona fide faith people wanted to follow, they would be allowed to do so. The first President of the United States, George Washington, was a highly religious man. His 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation is more of a religious sermon than it is a political speech. If such a speech were given by a President today, they would surely be tarred and feathered and investigated for breaching separation of church and state. The whole concept of a separation between church and state didn’t come about until many years after the founding of the country. In a famous 1947 Supreme Court case, a few judges, who no doubt had personal objections to hearing about religion, decided to take advantage of a letter written by Thomas Jefferson in 1802, which contained the term “wall of separation between church and state”, as a way to describe the famous Establishment Clause. These judges decided that Jefferson’s words in the letter were the best way to interpret the First Amendment, thus turning the Establishment Clause into something that it never was intended to be; a ban on discussion of religion in public.

“There are 900,000 species living in the water. There are also 2,000,000 non-moving living entities (sthavara) such as trees and plants. There are also 1,100,000 species of insects and reptiles, and there are 1,000,000 species of birds. As far as quadrupeds are concerned there are 3,000,000 varieties, and there are 400,000 human species." (Vishnu Purana)

As a result of these decisions, secularism is now the mainstay of the American school system. Public schools are not allowed to teach about religion in any way, and many people laud this concept as being ideal. But in reality, people are most certainly taught a religious system; one that is concocted by man. What kinds of things are taught? Students are told that, as a matter of established fact, the universe was created with a “big bang”, a random collision of elements which sprung forth the sun and all the other planets. Life came soon after that on its own. The latest theories presented as facts are global warming and evolution. Any person who does any concrete studies of these theories will find that they have no basis in fact. For example, the theory of evolution states that man evolved from the apes. If that is the case, why are there still apes? Even if a few “intelligent” apes somehow caused their species to evolve, scientists are unable to explain how or why this evolution took place. They ascribe everything to chance, or the involuntary mechanisms of nature.

“This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, and it is producing all moving and unmoving beings. By its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.10)

Global warming has recently been exposed to be a complete farce, driven by political motives more than anything else. Even the global warming proponents never passed the theory off as concrete science, for they always declared that a “consensus of scientists now believe in it”. For something to be established science, there must be a hypothesis that is proved beyond a shadow of a doubt through controlled experiments. Any person with a modicum of intelligence can understand that no such tests can be performed in relation to the weather and man’s affect on it. Real science is not something that is up for a vote.

What has the secular school system produced? For starters, students graduate from school having no aim or purpose in life. Mathematics, science, reading, and geography certainly can be taught without any spiritual bent, but other than that, students aren’t given any real education. They are not taught about the existence of the soul, nor are they taught about the meaning of life. Instead, they are given information about various isms, such as communism, socialism, capitalism, racism, multi-culturalism, etc. There is no mention of moral codes. The idea is that one should satisfy their senses as much as possible. Should they run into trouble, they can practice safe sex or even get abortions.

“That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend; therefore you can understand the transcendental mystery of this science.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 4.3)

Secularism doesn’t really help anyone. Since it is a man-made religion, its followers don’t see any tangible benefits. By itself, the human brain is not capable of understanding higher concepts relating to the soul and the existence of a Creator. Thus the only way to take in bona fide spiritual information is through the disciplic succession process, wherein religious information descends from spiritual leader to spiritual leader in a chain. The origin of this chain is God, for the Vedas come directly from Him. The solution to all of our problems in life is to take up a bona fide religion and abide by its principles.

In this age, following religion is easier said than done. In an ideal system, people are taught about religion in the early stages of life. Young children have a lot of energy and this helps them better take in knowledge. The Vedas tell us that this life is meant for tapasya, or austerity. By curbing the influence of the gross senses, we can live a sober life. Those who are in control of their senses, dhira, can understand who God is and what their relationship is with Him. As we advance in age, we become more set in our ways, thus making it more difficult to make drastic changes to our way of life. If we didn’t practiced tapasya in our youth, it is almost impossible to take it up as adults.

Bearing all this in mind, the Supreme Lord has made the path to spiritual perfection much easier in this age. The only bona fide religious system for the Kali Yuga is sankirtana, or the congregational chanting of the holy names of God, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. God is one, but He has many names. Krishna and Rama are two of His most important names which any person can chant. If a person belongs to the Christian, Muslim, or Jewish faith, there is no offense committed by chanting Hare Krishna, for love knows no boundaries.

The great Vaishnava acharyas advise us to chant as much as possible, and at the same time, refrain from the four pillars of sinful life: meat eating, gambling, illicit sex, and intoxication. This system actually provides the best education because by regularly connecting with God, we develop an attachment for Him. There is no difference between God and the books which describe Him. This means that if we have an attachment for Krishna, we’ll develop a hankering to read about His activities found in the famous books such as the Ramayana, Bhagavad-gita, and Puranas. The knowledge found in these books far exceeds that received from any secular school system.

If we study the lives of some of the great Vaishnava saints, we’ll see that they were all extremely intelligent. Simply by becoming dedicated servants of Krishna, they acquired all the necessary knowledge to be successful in life. We too can become just as smart, but first we must tear down whatever wall exists between us and Krishna.

Controlling the Mind

“The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.42)

Question: “Is the mind considered part of the material body?”

Answer: The material world is made up of five gross elements and three subtle elements. Earth, water, fire, air, and ether make up the gross elements. Every material body that we see consists of these elements to some varying degree. Mind, intelligence, and false ego make up the three subtle elements. They are classified as subtle because they cannot be directly perceived.

We know that the mind exists based on our own life experiences. We are always thinking. Even when we are inactive or in a sleeping state, our mind is still processing thoughts and remembering past events, and making future plans. Using deductive reasoning, we can conclude that other living entities have similar experiences, thus the mind must exist in other people as well. The activities of the mind then lead to the cultivation of knowledge.

"The individual is the passenger in the car of the material body, and intelligence is the driver. Mind is the driving instrument, and the senses are the horses. The self is thus the enjoyer or sufferer in the association of the mind and senses. So it is understood by great thinkers." (Vedic literatures)

The false ego is the third subtle element. This ego is classified as false because it leads one to think in terms of “mine” and “I am”. According to shastric conclusions, this sort of thinking is flawed since God is the actual proprietor of everything. We may have a temporary claim on our body and our possessions, but these things are all given up at the time of death. Even our identification is flawed. Aham brahmasmi, “I am a spirit soul part and parcel of Brahman, the impersonal energy expansion of God.” The atma, or spirit soul, represents are our true identity. The soul is eternal but the gross body is not. By taking birth in the material world, we immediately forget this fact due to the influence of the false ego.

Though it is subtle, the mind is still considered a product of the material world. Since everything here is temporary, one might be tempted to think that the mind should just be ignored due to its flawed nature. Herein lies the catch. Though it is material, the mind can be our greatest friend since it can help us elevate our consciousness. According to Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is our consciousness at the time of death that determines the type of body we will receive in the next life.

“In whatever condition one quits his present body, in his next life he will attain to that state of being without fail.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 8.6)

This consciousness takes shape in the qualities and attributes of the three subtle elements. At the time of death, the gross body is discarded and the soul is placed into a new body. Thus the events of death and birth simply represent the changing of bodies. The soul remains intact. The subtle body is carried with us to our next life, allowing us to continue our consciousness from the previous life. Often times we will see young children who have unique talents in certain areas, or we’ll see that kids will have an affinity for certain activities. This is all due to their past karma. The deeds performed in previous lives determine the starting point for the next life. If we see that someone is very devoted to God in their youth, it must mean that they were very pious in their previous life.

The mind can be our enemy also, leading us down the path of sinful life. We see this situation in the world today where many people take to meat eating, illicit sex, gambling, and intoxication as a way of life. Sundays are spent watching the latest sporting events on television. People work hard during the week, so they like to have relaxation time on the weekend. Watching sports and other things on television is a great way to take your mind away from the rigors of everyday life. Yet simply watching these events isn’t enough, for people also gamble on these games and drink alcohol while watching. The addiction to sinful life is all due to a lack of control on the mind. This material world is governed by three modes: goodness, passion, and ignorance. Passion is very strong and the force known as maya is always preying at people’s passions. Thus the mind is constantly being led in every which direction.

According to the Vedas, this life is meant for tapasya, or the performance of religious austerities. Tapasya is meant for controlling the mind especially. We see that if we give into the demands of our young children all the time, they will become spoiled. They won’t learn the true value of money and when they get older, they will have a hard time dealing with life’s ups and downs. In a similar manner, if the mind is repeatedly allowed to direct us towards activities of sense gratification, we will also become spoiled and lose self-control. Tapasya is meant to curb the influence of the mind.

Simply controlling the mind is not enough. Tapasya actually means performing austerities for a religious benefit. Something as simple as going on a diet can be classified as an austerity, but in the end, this sort of control doesn’t help us in a spiritual sense. Austerities should be performed to help us advance religiously. The point of human life is to know, understand, and love God. Those who think of Him at the time of death, never have to take birth again.

“And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 8.5)

Along with the practice of tapasya, the mind should be engaged in activities of devotion to Lord Krishna. That is the best way to control the mind. One can try to negate all activities, but the mind will continue to work. We can never actually stop thinking.

“One who restrains the senses and organs of action, but whose mind dwells on sense objects, certainly deludes himself and is called a pretender.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 3.6)

Sitting silently in mediation and abstaining from sinful acts are certainly good starting points, but if we still have sinful or material desires, we really aren’t progressing. Devotion to God must come through thoughts, words, and deeds. Simple renunciation can take care of the words and the deeds, but if our thoughts are still devoted to sense gratification, our devotion isn’t complete.

The best exercise for the mind is to captivate it by engaging in devotional service. Technically known as bhakti yoga, devotional service involves performing activities for the benefit of the Supreme Lord. There are nine different ways to do this, with chanting being the method prescribed for this age. Hearing is the most effective way to gain an attachment for Krishna. Chanting takes care of the hearing process because if we recite the Lord’s names out loud, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, we will simultaneously engage in the hearing process. Bhakti yoga means using anything and everything at our disposal for service to the Lord. Nothing should be rejected outright.

Lord Hanuman is a great example in this regard. The eternal servant of Lord Rama, one of the avataras of Lord Krishna, Hanuman directly engaged in serving the Lord by helping Him rescue His wife Sita Devi from the Rakshasa demon Ravana. Hanuman was a monkey by birth, so he didn’t have any fancy weapons or illusory tricks that he could use when fighting. Nevertheless, he easily defeated and killed many in Ravana’s army by uprooting trees and hurling rocks. Hanuman had no desire to fight, but since he was acting on Rama’s benefit, he had no qualms about using violence. Hanuman even had trouble controlling his mind in the beginning stages. When he first reached Ravana’s island of Lanka, he became overwhelmed upon seeing the grandeur of the city and the strength of the Rakshasas. His mind was telling him there was no way he could emerge victorious. Hanuman decided to forge ahead anyway since only by making a sincere attempt at fighting could there be any chance of Sita’s rescue.

The lesson here is that we should all sincerely make an effort to practice devotional service. If we remember Hanuman through every step, then our success is guaranteed. This is God’s promise to us. By fostering a love for God, our mind automatically becomes controlled. This results in the acquisition of real intelligence and the purification of our ego. We start out out with a false ego, but once we realize the true nature of God and our constitutional position as His servants, the ego becomes real. Once we reach that stage, the mind becomes our best friend.

The Last Resort

“Our dear Lord, You are the last word in good fortune and the last resort of all saintly persons; therefore we all consider that we have achieved the perfection of our life, education, austerity and acquisition of transcendental knowledge by meeting You.” (Assembled sages at Kurukshetra speaking to Lord Krishna, Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Volume 2, Ch 2.29)

Attending a drug or alcohol rehabilitation center is the last resort taken by addicts to cure themselves of their problem. Due to the intensity of the treatment program, most addicts try to avoid rehab until all other options have been exhausted.

For an addict, it takes a long time to come to the realization that he or she has a problem. Drug and alcohol use typically start off on a casual level. One will have a drink with friends or coworkers once or twice a week. Very quickly the drinking becomes more frequent, reaching the point where one cannot go a single day without being intoxicated. For brief periods of time, intoxication provides a false sense of escape from the senses. The effects of the intoxicants inevitably ware off, forcing one to deal with their senses once again. In hopes of avoiding such situations, addicts try to remain intoxicated all the time. When one realizes that they may be drinking or using too much, they try various methods to kick their habit. They might try abstention for a day or two, or maybe try avoiding certain people or situations. Drug rehabilitation, involving a lengthy stay at a clinic or center, is seen as the most drastic method of therapy. Addicts know that if rehab won’t cure them, then nothing else will.

Many famous celebrities have cured their addictions by attending rehab centers. Two very famous examples are James Hetfield, the lead singer of the heavy metal band Metallica, and Rush Limbaugh, the most listened to radio talk show host in America. Hetfield developed an addiction to alcohol as his band arose from obscurity to world-wide fame over the course of twenty years. He knew he had a problem, but he tried every method except rehab to try to cure it. It was not until his wife had kicked him out of their house due to his drinking, that he decided to take the drastic step of attending rehab. Rush Limbaugh had developed an addiction to prescription pain killers after doctors initially prescribed them to deal with his back pain. Limbaugh is on the radio for three hours a day, five days a week, so staying at a rehab clinic for four weeks would have a great impact on his radio career. Like Hetfield, Limbaugh also tried various other methods for curing his addiction, but they all failed. Finally in November of 2003, the radio host gave in and spent over a month in a rehab clinic. Both Hetfield and Limbaugh have been clean ever since and say that finally going to rehab was the best decision they ever made. Trained therapists not only got them to kick their habits, but they also made them understand the reasons for why they became addicted in the first place.

In the same way that rehab is our last resort for curing our drug addictions, religion is our last resort for solving our material distresses. We all encounter some sort of distress in our day to day lives, for that is the nature of the material world. According to the Vedas, the miseries of the material world are of three kinds. Adhibhautic is the type of misery caused by other living entities. Sometimes someone will be rude to us or say something that will cause us distress. Other times they will directly inflict physical harm on us through aggression. The miseries that arise from such behavior are classified as adhibhautic. Adhidaivic miseries are those caused by material nature in the form of natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and tornadoes. The third kind of misery is adhyatmic, which is caused by our mind and body. Sometimes we hanker after something so bad that it causes us to lose our minds, or we may lament for something lost which causes us to fall into depression. These miseries are of the adhyatmic variety.

We all experience these miseries and our solution is usually the same. We make material adjustments to our lifestyle in hopes that these miseries will end. If someone causes us mental pain, such as a spouse or girlfriend or boyfriend, we renounce that person and seek companionship in someone else, thinking that a new partner will not cause us any pain. If we are feeling down on our luck, we may think of moving to a new geographic location, in hopes that new surroundings will bring us better fortune and greater happiness. Other common methods of dealing with distress include taking up new hobbies or changing jobs or careers altogether.

Do these solutions work? Not usually. Though they may give us temporary relief from our distress, new problems are guaranteed to come up. That is the nature of the material world. Even if we feel completely happy and content, we are still forced to die, an experience which can be very painful. The Vedas declare that a spirit soul that comes to this material world must repeatedly suffer birth, old age, disease, and death. So even if we come to the stage where we are materially happy and not feeling distressed, we are still forced to accept another body after death. Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, declares in the Bhagavad-gita that one’s consciousness at the time death determines what type of body they will receive in the next life:

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” (Bg 8.6)

Making adjustments to our material way of life simply means we find new ways to perform the same animalistic activities of eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. Dharma, or religion, is our only permanent solution to removing the distresses of material life. Meaning more than just religion, dharma is the occupational duty of mankind. Instead of mere sentiment, it is the requirement of the living entity to know and understand God. Through service to Krishna, one becomes happy. The first stage of any religious discipline is the practice of tapasya, or austerity. Tapasya means regulating one’s activity by voluntarily undergoing penances with the aim of advancing in spiritual understanding. The requirement that one perform austerities is the main reason why religion is viewed as the last resort for those seeking solutions to material problems. As living entities, we enjoy our freedom. We love doing what we want to, whenever we want, without anyone getting in our way. We view austerities as being too restrictive, getting in the way of our fun time. What people don’t understand is that these penances are given to us by God as a way of helping us solve our problems.

Every religion prescribes some sort of austerities and the Vedas are no different. In the Vedic tradition, people are advised to abstain from the four pillars of sinful life: meat eating, gambling, intoxication, and illicit sex life. There are many varieties of sin, but these four are the primary ones since they are the most detrimental to spiritual advancement.

Those who follow the regulative principles of life, performing tapasya under the guidance of a bona-fide spiritual master, will surely have their spiritual consciousness reawakened. Tapasya brings about sobriety of the mind, allowing us to focus our attention on serving the Supreme Lord. By chanting His name, offering Him prayers, or reading books about Him, we gradually change our consciousness to the point where our material miseries no longer affect us. In the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna describes this state of mind as being the brahma-bhutah platform:

“One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman. He never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me.” (Bg 18.54)

Devotional service is rehab for the soul, for it cures us of our addiction to material sense gratification. We needn’t make it a last resort, for we can start the process today simply by chanting the holy names of the Lord, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”.

Fasting

“Work done as a sacrifice for Vishnu has to be performed, otherwise work binds one to this material world. Therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain unattached and free from bondage.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.9)

Lent is the holy period in the Catholic calendar where someone gives up something, a form of sense gratification which is usually meat eating, voluntarily. The Lent period lasts for forty days, so those accustomed to regularly eating meat scramble to find ways to adhere to the fast.

Lent is generally viewed unfavorably by the younger generation. “Why is God punishing us? Why can’t we just eat what we want?” These are some of the questions posed by followers of the faith. In actuality, most people don’t even adhere to the regulations of Lent. Those who are aware of it, often look for loopholes and excuses to continue their meat eating. “Oh fish doesn’t count. I can eat that. I can most certainly eat eggs. What about chicken? That’s not really meat right?” The Catholic Church had a long-standing rule stating that people couldn’t eat meat on Fridays. That rule has since been abolished due to the fact that no one was following it.

The concept of fasting is present in all major religions. The Muslims have the Ramadan Holiday where one is prohibited from taking food during daylight hours. The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, probably have the most comprehensive list of fasting regulations. Those of us who grew up in Hindu families are very familiar with many of them. Our parents and elder relatives were always abiding by some type of fast. “Oh today is Tuesday. I don’t eat on Tuesday…I can’t eat anything with salt in it today…I can only eat fruits and drink water today.” These were some of the statements we commonly heard as children growing up. It seemed very puzzling to us, since we generally just ate whatever we wanted whenever we wanted. What was the point of starving yourself? Many Hindu women even fast for Teej, which is an annual holiday dedicated to ensuring a long life for husbands.

Fasting is rooted in the concept of tapasya. Tapasya means austerities or the voluntary acceptance of penance. This isn’t any ordinary type of penance either. Tapasya is meant specifically to be for spiritual advancement, a completely religious activity. Tapasya works because it involves serving the Lord. As living entities, our natural instinct is to serve ourselves. Not necessarily selfishness, but acting in our own self-interest. The entire free-market capitalist system is built around this notion. People acting in their own self-interest, which leads to an overall favorable condition economically. The Vedas, however, tell us that this life is meant for serving Krishna, or God, and not our senses. It is for this reason that tapasya was introduced. Breaking free of the bodily concept of life is very difficult. Everyone is identifying with their gross material body, something which they are forced to give up at the time of death. I may be an Indian in this life, but in my next life, I can very well be born as an American or a Muslim. Knowing that fact, our nationality, skin color, or ethnicity isn’t important. At our core, we are spirit souls, aham brahmasmi. As spirit souls part and parcel of God, our business as human beings is to reconnect with Him. That is the ultimate aim of life. In order to truly realize this fact, we have to break free from our attachment to sense gratification. Austerities help us do that.

There is a common expression that says “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Though not true in all circumstances, with respect to tapasya, it is generally the case. By periodically abstaining from certain kinds of food, or all food in general, we actually become stronger because our minds become clearer. Many of us spend some time during the day thinking about what to eat for lunch or dinner. “Oh where should I go for lunch? I just went to such and such a place yesterday. I feel like something different today.” Even if we are eating food that we like, we tend to get sick of eating the same thing over and over again. We’re always looking for ways to satisfy our taste buds. Thinking about food may seem harmless, but that time could be better spent thinking about God. This is where tapasya comes. If we spent the day fasting, we most certainly would think about our hunger during the day. Now ordinarily, this wouldn’t be a good thing, since we would be unnecessarily causing ourselves stress. However, if we fast for God, then anytime we think of our hunger during the day, we immediately will think of Him. That is always a good thing. Sometimes men will get into fights or brawls and receive bruises and other wounds as a result. Most men love to show off these wounds to others, because it is a symbol of their toughness and what they went through. In a similar fashion, the hunger pains as a result of fasting for Krishna is a sort of war wound, something we receive as a result of our dedication to the Lord. It is something we can be proud of.

The major occasions for fasting coincide with the appearance day anniversaries of the Lord and His associates. Krishna Janmashtami is generally considered the most important day of the year for followers of the Vedic tradition since it marks the appearance day anniversary of Lord Krishna. Since Mother Devaki gave birth to Krishna at midnight, devotees usually observe a complete fast on Janmashtami leading up until midnight. People fast for the occasions of Rama Navami and Radhashtami in a similar manner. There are so many specific fasts prescribed in the Vedas for different purposes, but the two most widely observed regular fasts are Ekadashi and Purnima. The entire Vedic calendar revolves around the lunar cycle, so Ekadashi and Purnima are specific days in that cycle. Purnima represents the full moon day, and followers of the Satyanarayana Vrata fast specifically on these days. Devotees perform Katha of Lord Shri Satyanarayana, and then eat the prasadam that is offered to Him. Ekadashi is another specific day in the lunar cycle, an occasion observed specifically by Vaishnavas, or devotees of Vishnu. In a strict sense, devotees are supposed to observe a completely fast on this day, but the regulation has been loosened a bit. Generally, devotees simply abstain from eating grains (rice, bread, etc.) and beans on this day.

Vedic literature is full of people performing tapasya and receiving a benefit as a result. Mother Parvati performed severe austerities in the forest for many years and was rewarded by getting Lord Shiva for a husband. Lord Rama and Sita observed a fast the night before the initial date set for the Lord’s installation as successor to His father, the king of Ayodhya. In this way, God and other great personalities set a good example for the rest of us to follow. If one can fast without inflicting too much pain on oneself, then it is definitely worth trying. Tapasya is one of the most important tools in a transcendentalist’s arsenal. It can help us break free of the repeated cycle of birth and death, and bring us back home after this life, back to Godhead.

Life Is Meant For Austerity

"Then raising the vessel of ghee (clarified butter) to His head, He in accordance with the ordinance began to offer oblations to the flaming fire on behalf of the mighty deity. Then, having partaken of the remaining quanity of the ghee, Rama prayed for His own welfare, and meditated on Narayana. The son of the best of men with a collected mind, and restraining His speech lay down on a kusha (grass) bed together with Vaidehi (Sita) within the graceful dwelling of Vishnu." (Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kanda, Sec 6)

We live in an era of great comfort and luxury. Though people may think otherwise, the standard of living in America, and throughout the world for that matter, has greatly improved over the past hundred years. The economic problem is almost non-existent, with farmers persuaded by the government to not grow food. Our leaders are more focused on tackling problems such as childhood obesity and the perceived overconsumption of goods and services by the population in general.

When travelling on commercial airplanes, one of the magazines commonly found in the seatback pocket is Sky Mall. This magazine is a shopping catalog full of gadgets and gizmos, a showcase of the latest advancements in technology. All the products in that magazine are geared towards gratifying our senses. One place where we often look for improved sense gratification is in the area of sleep. Ironically, the Vedas prescribe that one shouldn’t sleep more than six hours if possible. This is in stark contrast to the eight hours prescribed by most health experts.

“One should not sleep more than six hours daily. One who sleeps more than six hours out of twenty-four is certainly influenced by the mode of ignorance. A person in the mode of ignorance is lazy and prone to sleep a great deal. Such a person cannot perform yoga.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 6.16 Purport)

Since we spend so much time sleeping, naturally we are looking for ways to increase the quality of it. Products such as the Sleep Number Bed from Select Comfort allow couples to set different firmness levels on their mattress so that each person can spend the night in the utmost comfort. In addition, regular blankets apparently aren’t good enough for us, so we shop for luxury items such as down comforters. Water beds are another popular phenomenon in the mattress industry.

These products are no doubt very innovative and could certainly prove to be useful. However, they don’t provide us real happiness in the end. If they did, then there would be no need for new products to come out. The fact of the matter is that our real problems have nothing to do with our material comforts. According to wisdom of the Vedas, man’s material sense urges can never be satisfied. Making little adjustments here and there to our material condition only further binds us in the mode of passion.

“My dear Uddhava, a person bereft of intelligence first falsely identifies himself with the material body and mind, and when such false knowledge arises within one’s consciousness, material passion, the cause of great suffering, pervades the mind, which by nature is situated in goodness. Then the mind, contaminated by passion, becomes absorbed in making and changing many plans for material advancement. Thus, by constantly thinking of the modes of material nature, a foolish person is afflicted with unbearable material desires.” (Lord Krishna, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 11.13.9-10)

We get a new bed, but then we immediately want a better blanket. We get a new blanket, but then we immediately want new pajamas, and so on. The cycle never ends.

The Vedas tell us that this life is meant for understanding God. To understand God, one must perform austerities, known as tapasya. Tapasya is not any ordinary type of austerity, but it is geared towards releasing one from their bondage to material comforts, and thereby increasing their attachment to the spiritual world.

“Lord Rishabhadeva told His sons: My dear boys, of all the living entities who have accepted material bodies in this world, one who has been awarded this human form should not work hard day and night simply for sense gratification, which is available even for dogs and hogs that eat stool. One should engage in penance and austerity to attain the divine position of devotional service. By such activity, one’s heart is purified, and when one attains this position, he attains eternal, blissful life, which is transcendental to material happiness and which continues forever.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 5.5.1)

When Lord Rama was living in the kingdom of Ayodhya, His father, Maharaja Dashratha one day decided to install Him as the new king. Lord Rama was informed of this news one day before the date set for His installation. He was instructed by the brahmanas, the priestly class of men, to fast the night before the ceremony and to sleep on the floor on a bed of kusha grass. Rama was God Himself, but He willingly followed the advice of the brahmanas to set a good example for all of us. Religious rituals may seem to strange to us at first, but they all have a purpose.

Rama was the king’s eldest and most cherished son, so He was living in complete luxury. What need did he have to sleep on the floor? Yet He and His wife Sita both did so as a means of respecting God. When we receive good benedictions, it is incumbent upon us to remember that we are not the doers. All our fortunes are tied to God and to our karma. Narayana is God’s four-handed form existing in the spiritual world. Lord Rama was an incarnation of God, so He went along and worshiped Narayana, though in essence He was offering obeisances to Himself. By worshiping Narayana, the sleeping area was sanctified.

Now things wouldn’t go as planned the next day and Rama’s installation would have to be postponed by fourteen years, but that didn’t make a difference. The Lord was always committed to dharma, not for His sake, but because it serves as a guide for enabling one to make spiritual progress. Tapasya properly performed under the direction of a spiritual master never goes to waste. Through good times and bad, we must always remember the Creator. God showed us the proper means of penance and it is important for us to follow His example. The most basic form of penance we can perform is to abstain from the four pillars of sinful life: meat eating, illicit sex, gambling, and intoxication. By so doing, we will always remember God and be freed from our material attachments.