Natural Concentration

“The mystic (yogi) tries to concentrate upon the Supersoul by controlling the senses from all other engagements, and thus he ultimately attains samadhi. A devotee more easily attains samadhi, or trance, by constantly remembering the Lord’s personal feature along with His holy name, fame, pastimes, etc. Therefore, the concentration of the mystic yogi and that of the devotee are not on the same level. The concentration of the mystic is mechanical, whereas that of the pure devotee is natural in pure love and spontaneous affection.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.9.39 Purport)

When learning a new skill, there is the mechanical approach, wherein one accepts certain tools and tricks and then tries to implement them through steady practice. This method is helpful considering the difficulty of the skill being learned, but for the person who is naturally prone to such behavior there is not a problem at all. In many instances the person providing the instruction developed the technique through their own ability and then only after the fact performed some review to decipher the specific mechanics that went into their technique. In a similar manner, there is a way to reach the highest end of divine trance, or samadhi, through a mechanical method, but the natural approach is always more effective and easier to implement. Those who practice the latter method are so immersed in blissful thoughts of the divine that they don’t even know they are trying for samadhi.

Picture an expert ice hockey player, who can shoot the puck up to 100 miles per hour. Perhaps in their youth they were taught the proper skating technique and how to put weight into the shot, but nevertheless, not every professional hockey player has a hard shot. The bending of the stick and the right timing of skating and backswing all go into the perfect shot that is both fast and accurate. Those with a hard shot can try teaching their technique to others, but likely their own ability was developed naturally. It was already within them, so they figured out how to extract it on their own, without following a mechanical approach aimed at reaching the future end.

For the spirit soul trapped in a cycle of birth and death, some instruction is required in order to find the highest end. This is because by default the animal instincts take over. Leave a child to play for the rest of their lives and they will never learn anything. That’s why during the critical early years, when the child is willing to listen to parents, education is imposed. Without some sort of discipline, the hyperactive senses of the child would run wild, causing them to be spoiled and grow up to have a difficult time coping with life.

In the larger scheme, the living entity in general is prone towards eating, sleeping, mating and defending. Divine trance is on the opposite end of the spectrum. It occurs when the aforementioned activities take a back seat, when they are done as a matter of fact rather than a matter of pleasure. This shouldn’t be that difficult to understand, for if we have a higher engagement, we will only eat what is required to maintain the body. Sleep will be a necessary evil, not something we truly relish. Mating and defense also take on a minimal role, for the mind will be focused on something else.

There are two pathways towards samadhi. One is mechanical. It involves some sort of austerity, with the senses controlled through niyama, or regulation. There are also breathing exercises, sitting postures, and specific meditation techniques that further purify consciousness and reduce the influence of the senses, which are likened to serpents with deadly fangs. The mechanical route essentially removes those fangs.

The mechanical approach is appealing because there is no sectarian designation. No one is going to hell if they don’t practice yoga, and neither are they dedicating their worship to a distinct figure of a specific tradition. If they will recite any name at all for the divine, it will be the impersonal sound representation of the Absolute Truth, om. Find a peaceful spot, sit quietly, chant om for a while, and then go back to what you were doing.

It is this last piece that causes the whole system to break down. Meditational yoga is introduced in the Vedas, which come from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord is known as Brahman, and since it lacks opportunity for personal interaction, those who try to connect with it find the path very difficult. Meditation on Brahman is meant to be a full-time engagement, not something that you do for five minutes a day. Think of it in terms of exercise. If I spent one hour in the gym each day but then ate without control the rest of the time, what good will my exercise do?

In the same manner, if the yogi follows the dictates of the senses for the majority of the day, their yoga practice will not do much for them. Therefore it is not surprising that the mechanical process aimed at finding samadhi has degraded to the point that just the extraneous health benefits are now sought. Forget the spiritual component, do yoga so that your body’s internals will be in balance, so that you can enjoy your life of sense gratification even more.

The natural process is much more beneficial. It is known as bhakti-yoga because it involves love directed at the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There are mechanical components to it in the beginning, but in the stage of maturation there is no conscious thought given to practicing any type of discipline. Rather, the devotee connected to God almost spits at the thought of practicing yoga, for the term implies that there is some benefit the devotee is trying to acquire. It’s like a friend going up to you and complimenting you on your parenting abilities, how you are doing a good job raising your kids. For the good parent, there is no specific reward sought for dedicating your life to protecting your child. You’re not in it for the attention or the pat on the back; the dedication comes naturally.

The path of devotion ideally leads to a point where the worship of God takes place spontaneously, throughout the day. One can be cooking, cleaning, watching television, or even driving and still be in samadhi by thinking of the forms, pastimes and names of the Supreme Lord, who is addressed as Krishna because of His all-attractiveness. Like an iron rod that eventually turns into fire upon steady contact with a scorching flame, the devotee eventually becomes completely spiritualized through enough contact with the personal aspect of the Lord.

That same Krishna descended to earth some five thousand years ago and spent a significant amount of time engaged in delightful pastimes in the farm community of Vrindavana. As time passed, Krishna had to depart for the neighboring town of Mathura, leaving the cowherd women, the gopis, most affected by the separation. Shortly after He left, Krishna sent His cousin Uddhava to deliver them a message. Uddhava looked just like Krishna, so at first glance the gopis thought that maybe Krishna was returning to them.

When it came time for Uddhava to speak, the gopis were more interested in Krishna’s welfare than the message He had given. Through Uddhava, Krishna told the gopis that they were the topmost yogis. They had abandoned attachment to their husbands, friends and family in favor of loving the Lord, and for this there was no way Krishna could repay them. He declared that they were exemplary devotees, and that they should be proud of their exalted position.

This is some lofty praise. If your aim is to be a mystic that reaches the samadhi stage, this news confirms that your yoga practice is going very well. Ironically, the gopis did not like this message. Granted, they loved hearing Krishna’s words and the chance to think about Him, but they paid no attention to the descriptions of yoga. What did they care if they were practicing yoga? They just wanted to know if Krishna remembered them and those moonlit nights in the forest when they all danced together. Did He miss them? Was He happy as a king? Was He ever going to come back?

Uddhava was overwhelmed with appreciation for the gopis and their behavior. Though the gopis didn’t know it, they were exhibiting all the signs of samadhi, the goal for the mystic yogi. Because they only wanted to think about Krishna and love Him, they had no need for the mechanical processes of yoga, nor hearing about how they were practicing mysticism so well by concentrating on Krishna. Through their reaction to Krishna’s message, the gopis showed that the Lord was indeed correct about their position as the greatest yogis.

The simplest method of yoga and the most effective are one and the same. Regularly chanting, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, reignites the devotional flame that is inside all of us. This sacred mantra also addresses the pleasure potency of the Supreme Lord, whom the gopis represent as well. Therefore “Hare Krishna” calls both the author of the message delivered by Uddhava and the recipients. The underlying request with the perfect prayer that is the maha-mantra is to have the ability to practice devotion spontaneously, to be immersed in blissful thoughts of the delight of Vrindavana, the life and soul of the gopis, and the author of everything good that ever was, is, and will be in the future. With a humble request made at the feet of the object of yoga, the need for the mechanical path goes away, as it becomes unappealing at the same time. The devotional path is always superior because it directly leads to Krishna, whose association is most cherished.

In Closing:

By following yoga’s mechanical process,

One can surely reach a point of success.

 

The forced restraint and practice gives chance,

To reach position of full divine trance.

 

But in reaching pleasure no need for force,

Divine love charters simpler and better course.

 

Just think of Krishna always like gopis did,

Shyamasundara from their minds couldn’t rid.

 

Their supreme standing messenger Uddhava could tell,

Their hearts and minds to Krishna the gopis did sell.

A Cultured Upbringing

“The unsuccessful yogi, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people, or into a family of rich aristocracy.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 6.41)

It is stated in the Bhagavad-gita that the unsuccessful yogi does not have to worry about having his efforts go for naught or worshiping the Supreme Self in vain. There is no progress lost on the path towards ultimate liberation, which provides the identifiable aspect within every living creature its supreme satisfaction, of which it is most certainly deserving. With other ventures, an unplanned occurrence, something terrible happening at the wrong time, can wipe the slate clean, but the same does not apply with steps made towards the origin of all life and matter. From the statements in the Gita pertaining to this subject, there may be some confusion, for the next destination of the unsuccessful yogi can be a place seemingly not very conducive to spiritual life. A quick review of the matter, however, shows that Lord Krishna – the speaker of the Gita and the object of yoga, the beneficiary of every religious practice performed in the past, present or future – is correct about the fate of the unsuccessful yogi being beneficial.

What is a yogi and how can one be successful as a yogi? Yoga is the linking of the individual soul with the Supreme Soul. The difference between the two entities is subtle yet stark at the same time. The qualification of subtle is made because the individual spirit soul is the same in quality as the Supreme Soul. Juxtapose two human beings. One may be in the stage of infancy while the other is in adulthood. One might have been born in a certain land while another is a native of another area. Despite the differences in circumstances and maturation of external features, the two entities are identical in where they take their identity from. Those sources of identity are also of the same quality. Just as ice and vapor are two different manifestations of the same matter, the living beings in different material bodies are spirit souls with different outer coverings.

The Supreme Soul resides within every living being as well. This spiritual entity is the same in quality as the individual soul. Both are transcendental to matter, eternal, knowledgeable and blissful. But there are differences between the two entities; otherwise one wouldn’t be called Supreme. The Supreme Soul, who is also known as the Paramatma, is all-pervading. The individual soul within is only conscious of its present life’s activities. Since the soul is eternal, it has existed in the past and will continue to exist in the future. The body types are inhibiting towards knowledge, however, sort of like how a lampshade covers up the brilliant light emitted by a lamp. Forgetfulness, the darkness of ignorance, is concomitant with association with matter.

Not only is the Paramatma conscious of the previous lives of the localized being, but it is also connected to every other living entity as well. Hence the Paramatma is referred to as antaryami, or the all-pervading witness. As this ability is not present in the individual soul, the Paramatma automatically becomes superior. From the Bhagavad-gita, we learn that the Paramatma is an expansion of God, a localized representation of the Supreme Lord which acts as an impartial witness to the activities of the individual soul.

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

Yoga is the linking of the individual with the Supreme within the body. Every endeavor actually descends from the search for this link. In ignorance, however, the link will be sought with worldly objects, people and things that are not attached to spirit. Another living entity is obviously a spirit soul as well, but if the source of the attachment to them is related to their bodily manifestation, there is no connection with spirit. The Paramatma is as pure as you get, so the connection that results inherits the same properties as the corresponding entity. Hence yoga is the ultimate activity, the most worthwhile aim to achieve.

Just learning of the need for yoga is rare enough. In the modern age the word “yoga” has turned into a synonym for stretching exercises and gymnastics. The health benefits are but a small aftereffect of the ancient system that was always intended to bring about a fruitful union between the two souls residing within the body. After learning of the need for yoga, practicing it properly is rather difficult. For starters, through many lifetimes spent attached to matter, the conditioned soul is confident that just finding gratification for the senses will be enough to provide happiness. The serpents that are the senses are the greatest inhibitors to achieving the perfect union that is yoga. So the first step in yoga is to provide some type of sense control through austerity and penance.

Whether you try the type of yoga involving the renunciation of the fruits of work, the study of matter and spirit, or work in full devotion to the Supreme Lord, there is always some type of austerity involved. In bhakti-yoga, which is the easiest to implement but the most difficult to accept with firm conviction, the emphasis is placed on the positive activities of devotion, such as hearing about God in His personal form, worshiping His non-different manifestation of the deity, and chanting His names, like those found in the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. Coupled with these positive activities is restraint from sinful behavior like meat eating, gambling, intoxication, and illicit sex.

Since the Gita was a discourse between the original spiritual master of the world and one of His students, there was some back and forth, several question-and-answer periods. When hearing about the principles behind yoga and how difficult it is to practice yoga to fruition, the receiver became a little worried. The fruit of yoga practice is samadhi, or more specifically, sharanagati, which is the merging of the soul into an ocean of bliss through surrender to God. The perfect yogi does not take birth again after the present life is over. Their consciousness is tied to the Supreme Lord, so they get a spiritual body in the next life, one that does not damage the link to the divine consciousness.

Arjuna, Krishna’s student in the Gita, was worried about what would happen to the yogi who didn’t achieve full God consciousness by the time of death. So much hard work goes into yoga, and if one doesn’t succeed, will they have to start over again from the beginning in the next life? Krishna responded by allaying Arjuna’s fears and those of countless future generations by stressing the fact that the unsuccessful yogi never goes backwards. Even if they should fall off of the devotional platform, they get to start again in the next life from the place where they left off.

How does this work exactly? Krishna says that the next birth is in an environment which is conducive to yoga practice. Being born into a family that is God conscious or already devoted to yoga would naturally increase the chances of a person continuing their yoga from the previous life. But Krishna also mentions a family of aristocracy as being a destination for the unsuccessful yogi, who first enjoys in the heavenly planets for many, many years. Yoga corresponds with righteousness, or piety, so there are merits relating to temporary rewards simultaneously accumulated through the link in consciousness, though the target objective is to connect with God and not to find enjoyments that relate to the body that one is trying to transcend.

The concern may be raised that a family of an aristocracy can create circumstances that actually inhibit yoga practice. Sort of like being born with a silver spoon in your mouth, taking birth in a rich family means that sense gratification will be easily available. We know that regularly meeting sense demands will only add fuel to the fire of material existence, making it more difficult to satisfy the same senses in the future. Think of the spoiled kid who is used to getting so many gifts for Christmas that they get angry if they don’t get enough presents on one particular year. How can birth in such a family be conducive to yoga?

In the context of the statements of the Gita, aristocracy actually refers to culture. A family that is cultured can be considered an aristocracy, especially during the time that Krishna was delivering His wonderful message to Arjuna. A non-aristocratic family is more focused on the senses and meeting its demands through hard labor. In ancient times, the laborer class was not educated. They were protected by the higher classes, and they would remain steadfast to their dharma, or occupational duties, through service. Though it is possible for any person in any class or gender to be able to achieve perfect yoga within one lifetime, the circumstances of a non-aristocratic birth make it difficult to even learn about yoga, let alone take up the practice. If the mind is constantly worried about how to procure food and keep a roof over the head, how is it going to pay attention to words of spiritual wisdom?

In modern times, we can liken a non-aristocratic birth in the context of the Gita to being born in abject poverty, where there is no guarantee of eating on a particular day. If there is no peace of mind, how can there be any happiness? If there is no comfort of knowing when and where to eat, how is the mind going to contemplate higher topics like the meaning of life and the need for transcending the senses? A sannyasi, a person accepting the renounced order with fearlessness and firm conviction in the path, can perhaps survive in such unpleasant conditions, but for the normal person the uncertainty would be too much to handle.

At least in an aristocracy there is a chance to become cultured, to be educated on higher matters. Even if yoga shouldn’t be the first avenue chosen, one who is satisfied to the limit with the senses will have a better chance of questioning the meaning of life. If, on the one hand, you have one person who just wants to have a secure life of material amenities and on the other you have one who has already lived that life, obviously the latter person can eliminate more options as being candidates for the ultimate aim in life. No amount of wealth or opulence can make a person truly happy. If it could, the wealthy would never take to philanthropy or seek further expansion of their business.

“Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the duality of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 7.28)

When the individual who has everything becomes bewildered about the meaning of life, they have every opportunity for reviving the divine consciousness and remaining connected to God in yoga. It is said in the Gita that one who has exhausted all of their sinful activities is eligible for coming back home, back to Godhead. At the root level, any behavior not dovetailed with yoga practice can be considered sinful, so the person who has tried every type of sinful engagement and eliminated them as being necessary can very easily accept yoga and thereby continue from where they left off in the previous life.

Regardless of the specific circumstances of birth, whether in this life or the next, there is always something to be gained by taking steps towards Krishna. The spiritual energy is like a sun that never sets. Its warmth is always there for whoever wants to take advantage of it. Even if success in yoga is hard to come by right now, through determination it will eventually arrive. The dedicated devotee is always in good graces with Krishna, who then takes the responsibility for their welfare.

In Closing:

In yoga practice there is no need to hurry,

Even if unsuccessful in this life no worry.

In next life take birth in family of aristocracy,

Or in pious family full of enlightened yogis.

Upon that renewed opportunity seize,

To again start in yoga and Krishna please.

But isn’t it a problem to be born rich,

To gratify senses all the time like unending itch?

To a cultured family is what aristocracy means,

To find spiritual life and sinful reactions clean.

Double Or Nothing

“Activity in Krishna consciousness, or acting for the benefit of Krishna without expectation of sense gratification, is the highest transcendental quality of work. Even a small beginning of such activity finds no impediment, nor can that small beginning be lost at any stage.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 2.40 Purport)

You’ve put in your time at the particular job, knowing that you’ve given it your all and that certain goals just will not be achieved no matter how much more effort is expended. The freedom that comes with living in a modern democratic nation, a place where free will is generally not infringed upon by the forces of government, allows the individual to make decisions that will affect their future. Should they be unhappy in a particular scenario, they can change their setting, find a new place to live and work that will hopefully give them the pleasure they are looking for. There is risk at every turn, however. If you leave the one job you have for another, you could potentially end up losing both, and then be left to worry over what might have been. For the spiritualist sincerely trying to gain the Supreme Lord’s favor, however, there is no such risk.

“Does a spiritualist think that they are risking something by dedicating more time to spiritual life? Why is there a distinction between spiritual and material anyway? Doesn’t this whole world belong to God? Am I not connecting with the Lord just by living, working to maintain my family? Isn’t service to man sufficient for serving God?” The separation between material and spiritual life exists in the minds of those who don’t understand how to dovetail every single behavior with service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That highest discipline is bhakti-yoga, which aims to keep a link to the divine consciousness in a mood of love through every single activity of the day. Whether to the outsider the behavior appears spiritual or material is of no concern, for the consciousness is focused on the glorious attributes of the Supreme Person. That contemplation then results in work being performed to maintain the concentration, completing the circle. Though the activities may vary, the link to the divine consciousness does not break.

Someone not on the divine platform will make distinctions. For instance, hearing, chanting, remembering, serving, and offering prayers specifically to a deity or divine figure are seen as behaviors bearing no relation to working hard at the jobsite, studying in school, spending time with the wife and kids, going out to watch movies, playing sports, going out to eat at a restaurant, or so many other things. Because there are distinctions made based on the beneficiary of the activity, the proportion between the two behaviors is also monitored. Sort of like how one will manage the portion sizes of their food intake, the person seeing duality in existence will take stock of how much time is dedicated to spiritual life, for there is the feeling that the material and spiritual are mutually exclusive.

Are they not correct? If you’re chanting the holy names of the Lord, like those found in the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, are you not avoiding some other behavior? If you’re sitting in a church or temple, is that not an explicit act of religion that is devoid of material association? When one knows the proper definition of God and acts off of it there can be no distinction, as the mentality from the spiritual activities seeps into the consciousness of the individual and then carries over into their other activities.

As a crude example to see a similar principle in effect, we can take weight training. During the actual period of exercise, the different muscles atrophy; they are stretched to the limit so that they can increase in strength. What results is that during periods of rest the muscles continue to eat, sort of like burning calories without doing anything extra. Thus the short amount of time spent in explicit exercise ends up resulting in calorie burning distributed throughout the day, even during sedentary periods like sleep.

The aim of spirituality is similar, except the benefits are all-encompassing. Submissive hearing of the holy names and pastimes of the Supreme Personality are the most effective form of spiritual activity, as they immediately take the mind somewhere else, a place where the dualities of heat and cold, gain and loss, and elation and suffering are absent. This sort of escape is always sought, such as through movies, books and television shows. The tendency for escape is already there, but in bhakti the destination of the travelling mind is pure, thereby making the hearing spiritual.

Despite these cogent truths passed on by the acharyas of the Vedic tradition, the tendency is to think that if I devote too much time to spiritual life, I’ll eventually renounce everything and leave my important obligations neglected. The flaw that immediately jumps to mind is that the worthiness of the obligations supposedly missed is not taken account of. The sports gambler has the obligation of having an internet connection, a cell phone, and a television programming package that carries all the games that he needs to see. The fact that gambling is rooted in the mode of passion and thus leads to a neutral state is not recognized by the gambler feverishly looking to win the next big payout.

The mode of passion is one of the three modes of material nature that govern behavior and also the types of body assumed. The human being typically falls into the mode of passion, with mixes of the modes of goodness and ignorance sprinkled in. The complete description of these modes can be found in the Bhagavad-gita, the most concise treatise on Vedic philosophy, which happens to be delivered by the origin of all knowledge, Shri Krishna. In short we can say that the mode of goodness leads to knowledge, passion to a neutral state coupled with misery, and ignorance to a much worse off position.

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

The gambler is in the mode of passion because through the difficult work of making the wager and nervously waiting to see the outcome, even success does not provide enough mental satisfaction to stop the gambler from repeating the same activity. Similarly, the business mogul who has made billions of dollars doesn’t stop where they are, for their activity has not proved to be satisfactory at making them happy.

Following bhakti-yoga by learning the principles of the Bhagavad-gita from someone who knows how to apply the concepts into everyday life eventually gives one the ability to properly assess whether their specific obligations feared over are worth having. For argument’s sake, let’s say that there is some fear in the beginning. “I don’t want to chant Hare Krishna too often or read too many books about Krishna’s wonderful pastimes in the sacred land of Vrajabhumi because I’m afraid I won’t be able to take care of my other needs, which keep a roof over my head and food on the table.” Though this fear exists, in real yoga there is never a chance at becoming a loser in God’s eyes, a fact confirmed by Krishna Himself in the Bhagavad-gita.

“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)

When contemplating whether or not to take a new job, there is an inherent risk to consider. Say, for instance, that while working at a job that we are comfortably situated in, another offer comes in. This new place is enticing, as it has certain things that we are looking for. One option is to quit the current job and accept the new position. Ah, but there is a risk. What if we fail at the new job? What if we are unable to perform the tasks to the satisfaction of the proprietor? What if we hate the new work environment? What if the people who promised us the job actually go back on their word and give the position to someone else, after we have quit our current job?

In these instances we would become total losers, left without any job. This same risk accompanies every kind of material behavior, those activities where God is not the beneficiary. Indeed, loss is concomitant with gain, as there must be death after birth. The journey through life in the human form involves acquiring certain things and losing others. No property is stable; nothing is permanently retained in our name.

With devotional service, the aim is to purify consciousness, which is an aspect of our identity that stays with us from life to life, as it determined the circumstances of our present birth and the type of nature we assumed. It is seen that some children are born quiet and peaceful, while others are clever, naughty and a general pain in the behind. Some people are born with the ability to adapt to new situations and incorporate the information they acquire very quickly, while others are slow learners and take a long time to complete their tasks. These tendencies are inherited from the previous life, where consciousness was shaped through activity.

With bhakti-yoga, the gains never diminish. Even if we devote much time to studying the Vedas and hearing about Krishna and then simultaneously renounce our other obligations, there is never any risk of complete destruction. If the plunge into spiritual life should result in failure, if somehow we break out of the divine consciousness, we get to start off from the same point in the next life. This benefit is present only in bhakti-yoga and not any other endeavor. You leave a construction site with the job half-finished and you have essentially failed. You may have occupied your time with constructive behavior, but otherwise there is no lasting benefit to the work you put in.

In bhakti, there is at least the seed of devotion to God remaining inside of you, just waiting to be watered again through the association of saints and the submissive hearing of Krishna-katha, or talks about the Supreme Lord in His personal form. With guaranteed progress, there is no reason not to at least give a little time to spiritual life. The saints know that in the current age of Kali conditions in society are not conducive to following spiritual life with any determination. Houses where the names of the Supreme Lord are chanted regularly in earnest are difficult to find, and it seems that even the prominent spiritualists have ulterior motives. Not to fear, though, for the holy name is all we need to connect with God in a mood of love. The recommendation of chanting the holy names in the maha-mantra daily for at least sixteen rounds on a set of japa beads proves to be our best friend, the most effective weapon in our attack against the thick fog of nescience. Just chant the holy names on a regular basis, even if you think it’s an activity that will cause you to lose out on other obligations, and see what effect it has. Changing from one job to another can leave you without any, but making Krishna the beneficiary of your activities instead of material nature will always make you a winner in the mind, for the Supreme Lord will comfortably rest within your thoughts holding His flute and dazzling your consciousness with His sweet vision.

In Closing:

At your current jobsite you’re comfortable,

Smooth sailing, no signs of any trouble.

Then comes an offer from the outside,

To work at new job, give up old and tried.

Now you have a tough decision to make,

Stay where you are or new offer to take.

Trouble when new offer should go south,

A job at either place you are left without.

Only in bhakti-yoga is there not any risk,

Following Krishna brings success that is brisk.

Tilting the Scales

“Listen Rama, I will now tell You where You, Sita and Lakshmana should reside. Those whose ears are like oceans which are constantly replenished by, and never overflow from, streams represented by stories of Your wonderful activities – in their hearts You should make Your charming abode.” (Maharishi Valmiki speaking to Lord Rama, Ramacharitamanasa, Ayodhya Kand, 127.1-2)

“Eat a balanced diet. Don’t watch too much television or you’ll strain your eyes. Don’t eat too many sweets or you’ll suffer indigestion later on. Don’t drink too many adult beverages in one sitting or the onset of intoxication will be so quick that you won’t know what hit you. Don’t exercise too much or you’ll get injured.” On the flip side, there are the recommendations for things which you aren’t doing enough. “You need to get more sleep. You’re not eating enough; have some more food. You’re not taking enough time off from work; being a workaholic is not good for you.” Balance is necessary for vitality and good health in all respects. It is important for both physical wellbeing and success in an endeavor. With one particular discipline, however, no balance is required. No amount of immersion into the divine pastimes and qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead can ever be harmful to the soul desperately searching after someone to love without inhibition.

Imagine a body of water that is constantly receiving raging waters from every which direction, sort of like a bucket that has a steady flow of water coming in from the top. Then imagine that the target container, the body of water in this case, never overflows despite the amount of water that constantly pours in. This wonderful analogy was used by Maharishi Valmiki to describe the position of the devotees of God, especially those who are attracted to Lord Rama, the Supreme Lord in His avatara as a warrior prince of the Raghu dynasty.

This comparison was made in response to a question put forth directly by Rama. The Supreme Lord is a singular entity, eka, from whom many, aneka, have sprung. Despite the stark difference in reservoirs of transcendental qualities, the Supreme Lord has no penchant for domineering over His many expansions. There is only love in pure goodness found in the person most of the world refers to as God. His compassionate nature brings Him from the hallowed grounds of the spiritual world down to the place that we have called home for many lifetimes.

In the Vedas the living entities are described as sarva-ga, which means that they can have their home anywhere. This is already the case with the human being, as people live in virtually every corner of the globe, habituating to places where it doesn’t seem possible for a human being to survive. The harsh winters and their accompanying sparse daylight hours in places like Alaska and Siberia would make it seem that no human being could live there. On the reverse side, the extreme heat of Africa and the tropical storms that regularly arrive in states like Florida also would deter human beings from congregating there. But we see that these places have residents nonetheless.

The Vedic angle of vision applies the scope of residence to way beyond the human species. The ants live in the ground, the birds in the trees, the fish in the water, and the human beings on land. Therefore the many species, which are different forms of the same living force, can have different homes, but for Goswami Tulsidas and the devotees of the Lord, their only home is in bhakti, or divine love. More specifically, that love is facilitated through the holy name, the transcendental sound vibration that best represents the person with whom they are trying to connect. Try to remember a famous personality and you’ll have trouble doing so without thinking of their activities. Perhaps you will have to connect with their body of work – be it a book, film, television series, famous game or match; otherwise your connection will not last long. The same can be said about connecting with close friends and family.

With the Supreme Lord, however, His complete presence is available through His names, of which there are many. Saints like Tulsidas and Valmiki prefer the name of Rama, while the Vedas consider the holy name of Krishna to be even more powerful, though it addresses the same Rama, the Supreme Lord. Just imagine being in a distressed condition, unsure of the future, afraid of what might happen with a particular circumstance. Then imagine the most pleasant condition, where everything has gone so well that you can’t believe your good fortune. In either of these circumstances, just sit quietly and chant, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, and hear the vibrations you are producing. This simple method, followed under regulative principles, with firm faith, love and devotion, can give one all the happiness they need.

“There are an infinite number of living beings, both moving and nonmoving, who have many different abodes, with some residing on the earth, some in the sky, and some in the water. But O helpless Tulsi, for you Shri Rama’s holy name is your only home.” (Dohavali, 37)

Chanting and hearing the names allows devotees to connect with God through His pastimes, the activities He performed in the past and also those that will take place in the future. Just as the positions of north, south, east and west can be relative to the person’s situation and the objects they are comparing, past, present and future also aren’t absolute. Our present life is actually the afterlife from a previous existence. In addition, by tomorrow, today will become part of the past life. Thus there is constant shifting of time, with only the Supreme Lord able to fully make light of the complexities.

The universe goes through cycles of creation and destruction, and there are many universes as well. What we consider the past activities of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna will actually take place in the future somewhere else. This is confirmed in Vedic literature, including in the wonderful Ramacharitamanasa, Tulsidas’ most famous work. In the section describing the marriage ceremony of Lord Rama and Sita Devi in this work, it is said that the first obeisances were made to Lord Ganesha, who is the son of Mother Parvati and Lord Shiva. The Ramacharitamanasa is different from the Ramayana authored by Maharishi Valmiki, for the latter is the original account of the life and pastimes of Lord Rama as they take place during the Treta Yuga, or second time period of creation.

The Tulsidas work is in Hindi, and it doesn’t follow the original Ramayana exactly. The reason for the difference is revealed by the poet himself in the introductory verses of the Ramacharitamanasa . Tulsidas uses a famous conversation between Lord Shiva and his wife as the primary reference tool for his poem. This conversation dealt entirely with Rama’s life and pastimes, and it was later spoken by Lord Shiva to other people as well. This was the version that Tulsidas first heard, being blessed with the words from his guru. Therefore, to show honor and respect to his spiritual master, Tulsidas chose Lord Shiva’s accounts, which are slightly different because of the many times that Rama descends to earth and enacts pastimes, as the basis for his Hindi poem. Lord Shiva’s original telling is found in the Brahmanda Purana and it later became known as the Adhyatma Ramayana.

Since Lord Shiva was watching Rama’s activities from his perch in heaven, when Rama got married, Ganesha had yet to be born. Nevertheless, Ganesha was being offered the first prayers, as is the standard custom for any Vedic ritual. This puzzling contradiction is explained by the fact that the creation continually goes through cycles of manifestation and annihilation; thus Ganesha was honored even before he specifically appeared during that time.

When Sita, Rama and Lakshmana [the Lord’s younger brother] were making their fourteen year journey through the forests of India, they met up with Maharishi Valmiki at his ashrama. After offering obeisances, as was social custom, Rama asked the sage if he knew of a good place that the group could set up camp. Valmiki cleverly replied with a description of the qualities of devotees, saying that Rama should live in their hearts. One of the qualities stated was that devotees have ears that are like oceans that regularly receive water in the form of Rama’s activities. Yet they delight so much in Rama’s pastimes that this ocean never fills up, despite the constant inflow of water in the form of Rama-lila.

Valmiki wasn’t exaggerating, as balance is never an issue in bhakti. One of the greatest fears for a parent following Vedic traditions is that their child will decide to renounce the world early after learning Vedanta philosophy. Veda means “knowledge” and anta means “the end” or “conclusion”. Therefore Vedanta represents the summit of knowledge, the conclusion of conclusions. Unfortunately, this fear is mistakenly there even when the children take to bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, which is above Vedanta study. From Valmiki’s description, we can understand that the bhaktas never have a need to give up anything outright, for their primary aim is pleasure. Whatever they can do to find circumstances favorable for hearing about God and singing His glories, that is the path the devotees will accept. Formal renunciation, or the sannyasa order, is not required for one who is only looking for devotion.

The requirement for balance and restriction does not apply to one who is looking for transcendental pleasure. There is no question of trying to balance spiritual life and material life when the aim is to swim in the ocean of nectar that is divine love. Even if there is a perceived need for balance in the beginning, then one should at least introduce some bhakti into their life. In the absence of loving association with God, the spirit soul will find so many other things to love. Yet when on the material playing field devoid of God consciousness, the need for balance immediately arises. Therefore the condition described by Valmiki can never be found with any material endeavor. This is why every non-spiritual guidebook, every recommended system of maintenance not rooted in divine love, calls for balance. Want to find material opulence? You need to have tolerance and avoid attachment to the outcomes of events. Want to practice mystic yoga and bask in the resulting health benefits? You need balance in your eating and sleeping. Want to save up to buy something expensive? You’ll need to moderate your spending habits.

The sad thing is that accompanying the requirement for balance is the cap on enjoyment, the limit on how much the received reward can be utilized. For instance, material opulence can only go so far, as the wealthiest individuals in the world are known for choosing philanthropy and activism after their enjoyment in life has fizzled out. A lean and fit body that is the reward for exercise and eating in moderation must have a purpose to fulfill, otherwise the healthy person will lose interest and fall back to their uncontrolled eating.

When following bhakti, the desire for connecting with God only increases. The immediate enjoyment received through chanting and hearing isn’t long-lived, but the benefits most certainly are. After the joy of hearing about Rama and His supreme kindness wears off, the devotee will want to hear about the same topics again. The rivers thus keep flowing into the ocean of the mind, and the level of satisfaction never tops off. The Supreme Lord is the most benevolent benefactor because He makes the gifts we really need readily available. The general rule is that those things which are too expensive are things that we don’t require. As the audible nectar of Rama’s holy names and pastimes gives life to the man drowning in the pool of material existence, it is available to every single person, provided they have the desire to enjoy it. The saints carry this healing remedy, and they try to distribute it to as many people as possible. Those who keep this medicine in good supply with them at all times and apply it every single day never worry about finding too much bhakti, for that is never possible.

In Closing:

Keep running up and down pleasure’s hill,

Eventually enjoyment reaches fill.

Moderation in habits required,

Else in constant suffering one mired.

Either on enjoyment put a cap,

Or accept more to avoid unhealthy trap.

But in bhakti balance is never an issue,

Endless ways of divine love spirit soul due.

Tulsidas, Valmiki and Shiva very well know this,

Thus they pass on Rama-lila’s transcendental bliss.

The Bird In The Cage

“The body and the mind are but superfluous outer coverings of the spirit soul. The spirit soul’s needs must be fulfilled. Simply by cleansing the cage of the bird, one does not satisfy the bird. One must actually know the needs of the bird himself.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.2.8 Purport)

Clean up the inside of the cage to remove the waste deposits and maintain a nice smell. The bird will appreciate this, as who besides a hog enjoys living in filth?  But is this all that the bird needs? Will a clean cage take care of everything? If the bird is ill, bored, hungry, stressed, or in want of activity, what will the clean cage do? The simple, yet insightful analogy to the birdcage effectively explains the difference between matter and spirit, and also highlights the fatal flaw in the proposals most commonly presented for finding happiness. Without addressing the needs of the spirit soul, no formula can prove effective in securing permanent happiness.

And why would we want happiness? The question should be, “why wouldn’t we want to be happy all the time?” The goal of every activity, even something as simple as getting up in the morning, is to reach a positive future condition. If you make the objection that the distressed worker arises early in the morning to avoid the punishment that comes from arriving late to the jobsite, even that pursuit represents a search for pleasure. The removal of distress, in this case represented by the chastisement from the establishment’s owner, is itself a pleasant reward, something sought after. Though the following happiness is short-lived, the pain from misappropriating time in the morning is so acute that it is worth avoiding.

With a birdcage, there are debris and dirt deposits that build up over time. Though the cage is relatively small, the principles that go into cleaning it apply to even the largest scale. You could even use something as large as an automobile and apply the same principles. If the brakes aren’t working, you take the car to a mechanic to get it fixed. If you’re feeling adventurous enough, you may even try to do the job yourself, for nothing is more satisfying than using your own hands to complete a difficult task.

But what if the owner of the vehicle isn’t cared for? What if the person who drives the car has a fever or is suffering from a mental illness? What good then will a properly functioning automobile be to that ailing person? The vehicle will just sit in the garage or driveway and remain unused. It ends up being an expensive piece of furniture more than anything else. Those who operate on a higher level of thought give more importance to the needs of the occupant of the vehicle. If the driver is maintained, he can take the necessary action to ensure that the vehicle is functioning properly. It doesn’t work the other way around. The automobile cannot administer medicine, prescribe drugs, or take our internal temperature. Neither can the car engage in conversation, put a smile on our face through sweet words, or tell us where to go in life. The navigation system may tell us which turns to make along the route, but it cannot tell us how to find the one engagement where the thrills encountered meet the constant demands for pleasure within the spirit soul.

Is there someone who can teach us these things? This is the business of the bona fide spiritual master, or guru. The first lesson the guru learned in their own progression towards full enlightenment was that there is an occupant within every bodily form. That occupant’s needs are more important than the dwelling’s, for if the individual is functioning properly, they can act in such a way that their body can survive on minimal necessities.

Why would this be required? Why should we starve ourselves if we have ample food around? The issue relates to attachment and the priority system of importance. If we have a refrigerator full of the most sumptuous food, does it mean that we should eat more than we need to? And what exactly determines how much food we need? We know that some people are skinny and others are overweight; hence they have different eating requirements. How can we apply a universal benchmark for food intake?

“There is no possibility of one’s becoming a yogi, O Arjuna, if one eats too much, or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 6.16)

The rule of thumb is to consume whatever amount of food it takes to keep the body satisfied, to keep the vital functions running, to ensure that one is neither lethargic nor too stimulated by the senses. Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, provides the simplest formula for bodily maintenance in the Bhagavad-gita by stating that a yogi should neither eat too much nor too little. And lest we think yoga is not for us, the level of connection to the divine consciousness is the true measure of an individual’s happiness. Yoga is the way to find peace and contentment without giving primary concern to the outer covering.

The yogi aims to link the individual soul with the Supreme Soul, the source of all pleasure. The individual soul is a mystery, for its presence cannot be detected by even the most powerful microscope. At the same time, the soul’s influence can be noticed at both the microscopic and macroscopic levels. The individual soul acts locally, causing otherwise dull lumps of matter to seemingly act on their own, while the Supreme Soul acts on the largest scale, causing the planets to rotate and revolve and the elements to affect large areas of land.

Just as the individual soul is the source of intelligence within a life form, the Supreme Soul is the mastermind behind the workings of the grand collection of material elements. Depending on the angle of vision used, the level of clarity acquired through accepting instruction from a teacher, that Supreme Soul can be known as nature, Brahman, God, Paramatma, or Bhagavan. Nature is thrown into the mix because that is how the least intelligent conceptualize the Supreme Soul. Nature is considered unintelligent; it is just there. The heat and light of the sun appeared randomly, sort of like how the millions of jobs operating in a large economy just happened to be created on their own. When you take something for granted and ignore its original cause, you will never be able to properly understand how to utilize the resulting output. With ignorance come vain attempts at understanding, sort of like throwing darts against a board while in a dark room. In philosophical circles, the ignorance results in theories like the evolution of species, man-made global warming, and the ability to control outcomes to people’s behavior through laws and regulations passed by governing bodies.

When one takes to a bona fide discipline of spirituality, they learn of Brahman; thus giving some identity to nature. The spirit soul is Brahman, and since every life form has a spirit inside of it, everything is Brahman. Even the material substance comes from Brahman, for Lord Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita that He impregnates the total material substance and thus causes life forms to populate the world. Understanding Brahman is very difficult, for by outward perception we only see differences in species; thereby resulting in varying treatments. It is certainly valid to treat a tiger differently than a cow, but this doesn’t mean that at the core their identities are any different. The bodily manifestations result in varied behaviors, but the quality of Brahman is the same.

“The total material substance, called Brahman, is the source of birth, and it is that Brahman that I impregnate, making possible the births of all living beings, O son of Bharata.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 14.3)

A little more advanced understanding reveals that Brahman has intelligence and can be localized. The individual spirit souls are Brahman, but there is also a giant collection of spirit which expands to reside within every living entity alongside the individual aspect of Brahman. This plenary portion is referred to as the Paramatma, or Supersoul. Yoga is specifically meant for connecting with this Supersoul.

The first rule in yoga practice is regulation. Therefore everything from eating to sleeping is controlled in the practice of yoga, for without attention to the spirit soul and its counterpart residing within the heart, the tendency towards attachment to the material form will increase. For a yogi eating is curbed, limited to only what is necessary to keep the vital force within the body. If we should eat everything in the refrigerator, the chances of giving more attention to the body increase. The more attachment there is to matter, the more the concentration in yoga diminishes. Someone who receives no training in spiritual life and never learns of the difference between matter and spirit will ignore the presence of the soul completely, caring only for the needs of the body, which is like the cage for the bird.

Sad it is when this is the priority system adopted, for the more sense gratification becomes the ultimate aim, the less likelihood there is of remaining detached from the form which will ultimately be discarded at the time of death. To fix the situation the spiritual master teaches yoga, the most potent form of which is bhakti. We can think of bhakti-yoga as the most assertive approach in transcendentalism, the way of playing offense, going on the attack by finding the soul its most ideal counterpart in His complete form. This way, regardless of what progress is or isn’t made in gaining detachment from the interests of the cage-like body, at least the soul gets some positive association, at least there is some spiritual satisfaction.

Only in bhakti-yoga is the Supreme Soul identified for who He really is: Bhagavan. Bhagavan is most commonly known as God, but the Vedas tag Him with thousands of names to give the spirit souls a slight understanding of what the concept of God actually means. The term “bhagavan” says that the Supreme Lord is the most fortunate living entity. The individuals roaming the material land, on the other hand, are always unfortunate. How can we be considered fortunate if something as simple as eating can cause us so much trouble? The onset of disease is sped up through irregular habits, especially as they relate to eating. Fill up your stomach with food that you don’t need and your reward will be so much pain and discomfort. Constantly attack your body from the inside and it won’t have the strength to fend off the steady onslaught of diseases.

“By keeping regular habits and eating simple food, any man can maintain his health. Overeating, over-sense gratification, overdependence on another’s mercy, and artificial standards of living sap the very vitality of human energy.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.1.10 Purport)

Bhagavan is the most fortunate because no one has more beauty, wealth, strength, fame, renunciation, or wisdom than Him. Since He is all-attractive, He is also referred to as Krishna. The spirit soul occupying the temporary dwelling composed of material elements is at its core a lover of Krishna. The spiritual master who follows bhakti, who knows Bhagavan, instructs everyone – including those who are not fully surrendered, those who are dedicated to other spiritual traditions, and even those who deny the existence of God and instead take shelter of an impersonal force known as nature – to regularly chant the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”.

The direct approach with bhakti is better because with other methods, the best one can hope for is a clean cage or detachment from material interests. While these are good steps, they don’t solve the issue of happiness, the pleasure the soul seeks. The spiritual master, from studying the Vedas thoroughly, reveals the hidden secret that Shri Krishna is the reservoir of all pleasure. Since the living entities emanate from Him, they inherit that blissful propensity, or ananda. Who better to fulfill your hankering for bliss than Krishna? If you crave pizza, it is best to satisfy that hunger in an establishment that makes the best pizza. If you desire a high-end television set, it is best to purchase it from a store that sells many of them that are the top of the line.

If you’re looking for transcendental happiness, connect with the beautiful youth who has a blackish complexion, who holds the flute in His hands and wears a peacock feather in His hair. Cast your glance on the sweet vision that is the son of Nanda and Yashoda, who is so kind to the fallen souls that He expands Himself as the Supersoul and resides within their hearts. Shri Krishna is the very same Brahman, but in the complete form. He is the nature that we take for granted, as He controls the heat and the rain. Understanding the different aspects in life can help us to cope temporarily, but this disposition will not address the needs of the soul. On the other hand, the yogi fully immersed in bhakti has all of their needs taken care of.

Let’s think of it this way. If our primary objective is to get to a specific destination, say perhaps even on a regular basis, we will make sure that the car is running smoothly and that it doesn’t have any problems. Should a problem arise, our goal of reaching our destination will be threatened. Since the goal has the highest priority, we’ll do whatever it takes to ensure that the car starts working again; otherwise happiness will be threatened. While the goal of travelling to a specific destination only handles a few other responsibilities like the maintenance of the car and time management, the aim of always connecting with Krishna is complete. Therefore it automatically handles every aspect of life, including the maintenance of the body. The yogi wanting to enjoy Krishna’s association through chanting His names, hearing about His pastimes, and visiting His temples ensures that they don’t eat too much or sleep too little because these extremes will jeopardize their ability to fully relish Krishna’s company. Since bhakti takes care of both the body and the owner, it is superior to any other system of maintenance.

In Closing:

The inside of the birdcage do you clean,

For tidiness and pleasant dwelling to be seen.

But needs of the resident bird do we neglect?

Is it good for attention towards home to deflect?

Effort to maintain the car do you make,

So that to destination you it will take.

The owner is more important however,

To move on its own car is not enough clever.

In similar way, the needs of the soul should be addressed,

From just concern over body evolution regressed.

Soul meant for the most auspicious destination,

To bask always in Krishna’s sweetest association.

Follow bhakti and to soul give top priority,

Other issues solved, happiness with regularity.

Simple Living

“By keeping regular habits and eating simple food, any man can maintain his health. Overeating, over-sense gratification, overdependence on another’s mercy, and artificial standards of living sap the very vitality of human energy.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.1.10 Purport)

Overindulgence in sense pleasures is eliminated through regulation, and regulation is a byproduct of following a disciplinary system. A disciplinary system is followed to reach a certain end, to condition the living entity towards success in a particular venture. Since there is a chain linking these different practices, if the ultimate purpose, the end being furthered, is pure and of the topmost quality, then naturally the other areas will improve in their effectiveness. In the Vedic scriptures this top down approach is ironically likened to “watering the root”, wherein the living entity, who is spirit at the core, takes to their constitutional engagement first, making the pleasure of the Supreme Personality of Godhead their primary business. Through following this non-circuitous route, the ancillary concerns in life get taken care of at the same time.

And what are some of these ancillary concerns? Without a properly situated consciousness, what the spiritualists would view as being secondary in importance actually becomes the primary focus for hankering in the conditioned soul. The mind has two businesses: hankering and lamenting. There is hankering after those things that we want, such as places to go and future situations. Then there is lamentation over what was lost. “I can’t believe how horrible that was. I can’t believe I said that to such and such person. Why am I so stupid?”

Through a regulative system, the mind gets to focus on something more important, thus eschewing its tendency towards hankering and lamenting. Without the proper focus, however, the hankerings can deal with all kinds of issues that are only temporary in their manifestation. For instance, health is an important target for the mind worried about the future. What will happen if we get sick? Will we have enough money to pay for medical treatment? Will our health insurance still be there? Moreover, how do we prevent disease? Can we eat certain foods and be safeguarded that way? Should we try to exercise regularly, for that seems to help keep weight down?

To label these concerns as secondary in importance seems a bit silly, for if we don’t properly maintain our body, how can we perform any vital functions? But in the Vedas, the importance is given first to the spirit soul, who is transcendental, beyond the dualities of health and disease, heat and cold, and happiness and sadness. The body is known to be temporary, for we have been diseased in the past and somehow managed to feel better afterwards. Once the particular ailment was cured, life didn’t suddenly miraculously get better. When we are suffering from a cold or flu, when we wake up in the morning the hope is to just have the disease go away. “When will I get better? When will this stupid cold go away?”

If the health of the body were of primary importance, then on the days that we weren’t diseased we would be ecstatic, no? On most days when we wake up and don’t have the flu, do we say to ourselves, “Wow, I feel great today. I’m so happy that I don’t have a cold or any other disease.”? This may be the sentiment in the immediate aftermath of the disease’s departure, but after a while the healthy condition becomes the norm, something taken for granted. Then the mind focuses on other areas, places where it seeks pleasure.

Lasting pleasure cannot be found through temporary sense enjoyment; so say the Vedas and the wise person who has experienced every variety of temporary sense pleasure. Disease or no disease, if the soul is not intimately tied in a loving bond to its life partner, the Supreme Lord, no condition can be deemed beneficial. On the other hand, one who follows the highest system of religion, bhakti-yoga, automatically finds a way to maintain their health and keep the rest of their lifestyle maintained. The issue, of course, is which religion to adopt and which system to follow. After all, everyone seemingly has their own religious icon, the person who insists on worship. “Jesus says that he is the only way to the father. If you don’t worship him, you’re going to hell.” “Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita that you simply surrender unto Him and be delivered of all fear.”

So which version is correct? Using dogmatic insistence, groups can argue for years and years and never reach a conclusion. One set of scriptures has their particular deity and another has their own. In the Vedic tradition, there is a singular Supreme Lord, but He is not limited to just one form. Neither is there only one doctrine of spirituality. Rather, depending on time and circumstance, only certain pieces of information are given to the people at large. This is because, for whatever reason, the people of the time are not equipped to handle every single piece of information. Indeed, the human mind is severely limited in its thinking abilities, even if it may think otherwise. In this sense there is no real way to completely understand God.

If different groups are only told certain things, how do we find the root, the real beneficiary of religion? While many spiritual traditions espouse the belief in God and the need to worship Him, the Vedic tradition, and especially its works describing bhagavata-dharma, or devotional service, gives more details into the features of the Supreme Lord, His tendencies, His qualities, and His relationship to the living entities, which include us mortal human beings. One who follows bhagavata-dharma actually doesn’t violate the principles of any other religion. Indeed, every single aspect of maintenance and regulation in spiritual life is meant to lead up to the point of devotion to God in full surrender, or sharanagati.

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

Lord Krishna does say that one should surrender unto Him, but this does not come with any threat of punishment, nor is it intended to instill fear. Rather, Krishna declares this in the Bhagavad-gita only after having explained so many other intricate topics, such as reincarnation, the position of the spirit soul, the relationship between spirit and matter, the reason for the creation, the Lord’s position as both personal and impersonal, the three modes of material nature, and what results from following different classifications of behavior.

Even if there is a profession of faith towards a spiritual personality, the words are empty unless acted upon. For instance, if someone insists that we surrender unto such and such person or go to hell, what should happen if we say, “Okay, you’re right. I agree with you. I believe in him now.”? Is that it? Are we free then? We will not suffer in hell? We can just go about doing whatever we want and not suffer the consequences? Obviously the logic is flawed, for a person could then say that they are law-abiding while going out on nightly robbery runs.  From applying a little intelligence, the fanatical insistence of religious zealots is exposed to be a complete joke, something which already isn’t taken seriously by the sober mind; hence one of the causes for the rampant lack of religiosity seen around the world.

With the more detailed information provided by Krishna and His Vedas, we understand that as soon as the living entity turns its back from God there is trouble. This means that a hellish condition is automatically created; it doesn’t need to be explicitly inflicted in the future. Reincarnation itself is seen as the worst kind of punishment, because the individual soul voluntarily surrenders to material nature, which doesn’t bring it the happiness that it wants. Even if one doesn’t want to believe in the transmigration of the soul, they can understand that their own bodies have changed many times during their lifetime. At the same time their identities haven’t changed; thus proving that the soul remains unchanged while travelling within a particular body that does always change.

Bhagavata-dharma turns the tides by pointing the living entity back in the direction of the spiritual world, where they get to see the Supreme Lord and His smiling face. The aim of reaching the supreme destination is best furthered by regular chanting of the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. More than just a profession of faith, chanting in this way sacrifices time and effort. Moreover, consciousness gets changed. If the prevailing thoughts within our mind are directed towards furthering the goal of loving God, then naturally the activities we follow will be altered as well; thus giving meaning to the original profession of faith.

The quickest way to find true happiness is to simply hear about God. That is why the Vedic scriptures exist; to allow the hearing to take place for many generations of mankind. The crown jewel of Vedic literature is the Shrimad Bhagavatam, whose most blissful message is found in the tenth canto, which nicely presents the early pastimes of Lord Krishna, who is considered the original form of Godhead. Yet in order to truly relish these pastimes, one must purify themselves. This makes sense if we think about it. If someone’s worldview, their ultimate conclusion in life, relates to sense gratification, then when they hear about Krishna they will apply an incorrect filter. They will judge all of Krishna’s actions and teachings in the scope of their relationship to sense gratification. The same defect is there in every kind of worldview not related to love of God.

When one follows the principles and regulations of spiritual life as passed down by the Vedas, they get to purify their consciousness to the point that they can really relish Krishna’s pastimes and understand them for what they are. The first instruction taught to aspiring transcendentalists of the Vedic school is aham brahmasmi, which means “I am Brahman.” If we understand that we are not our body, then we can accept that sense gratification, the accumulation of huge amounts of wealth, the possession of worldwide fame, the enjoyment of endless sex life, and so many other things have nothing to do with us. With this knowledge, we will better be able to relish Krishna’s glorious lila.

“There is no possibility of one’s becoming a yogi, O Arjuna, if one eats too much, or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 6.16)

The practice of regulative principles is meant to culminate in loving devotion to God. Therefore one who follows bhagavata-dharma from the start will gradually ascend to the liberated platform. Lest we think the ancillary concerns in life won’t be covered, the system of maintenance provided accounts for everything. Even health is accounted for. In the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna states that the transcendentalist aiming for perfection in consciousness, the yogi, does not eat too much or too little. He also doesn’t sleep too much or too little. Seems like a pretty simple regulation to understand. Follow a dedicated routine, and don’t go down either extreme. From regulation comes sobriety of mind and a better opportunity for understanding the highest concepts of spiritual life.

Those following bhagavata-dharma keep a steady routine, wherein they eat just the right amount of food and follow basic principles on a daily basis. The first guiding principle is the regular chanting of the holy names, up to sixteen rounds of japa meditation on the maha-mantra daily. Then there is abstention from meat eating, gambling, intoxication and illicit sex. The rest of the time is spent immersed in bhakti, which can follow pretty much any avenue of activity. Arjuna, the famous bow warrior, remained in bhakti even while fighting. The aim is to stay connected with Krishna and to act in a way that will increase one’s God consciousness. Overindulgence in sense gratification, overeating, being too reliant on other people, and other extremes keep the body in an unsteady state.

Through simple living, the vitality of the body can be maintained. Rather than try to force this upon oneself through rigid austerity, if one simply keeps the goal of God consciousness in mind, the rest will take care of itself. Just as we know to fall asleep at a certain time to avoid being tired the next morning for work, if our aim is to follow our religious principles to stay connected with God, we will think twice before doing something that will jeopardize the successful outcome. Simple living and high thinking is the Vedic motto, and one who follows it will find happiness at every step in life.

In Closing:

Motto is to follow simple living,

Leaves extra time for high thinking.

Keep the goal of God in mind,

For happiness in life to find.

Difficult to keep track of regulation,

Without knowing the proper direction.

By trying to reach God with devotion,

Other pieces fall into place without effort.

With eye on prize one will use discretion,

So that aim of reaching God will not be hurt.

Harmful is overindulgence in sense gratification,

And relying on others and eating too much.

Follow devotion to Krishna with dedication,

To gain knowledge and feel transcendental touch.

With goal in mind to stay with the spiritual,

Comes ability to easily handle the material.

This Thorn In My Side

“Your business is to elevate yourself to perfect Krishna consciousness and nothing more. If you deviate from this law, if you don’t accept this principle, if you want to enjoy more, then you have to suffer more.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Krishna Consciousness The Topmost Yoga System, Ch 9)

The big game is on tonight. You’re really excited to watch it. The team you can’t stand might lose, so this makes your anticipation increase even more. You can’t wait to get your work for the day done beforehand so you can sit down, relax and enjoy the thrill that comes from watching sporting events. Though the matchups are broken down on paper and the commentators give their analysis and predictions, the games never pan out the way they should. This brings an air of uncertainty to every game, the potential for a desired outcome to happen. When the time arrives, you watch the game, and though it seems like the team you hated would lose, they come back to win in the end. Now you are dejected. “I can’t believe they won. This stinks.” Yet with this trivial experience comes the potential for learning a great lesson. The distresses that we encounter on a daily basis are actually rooted in our desires not related to the interests of the soul. There is only one business for the human being, and anything done outside of this scope eventually results in misery. Those who notice the pattern can make progress in fulfilling the mission of life.

To see the same concept in a larger scope, let’s say that we want to grow some crops in a field that we have. The crop can be anything, even something as simple as a rosebush. The first step is planting the seed, putting the potential crop into the ground. The wonders of nature are too great to count. Who would have ever thought you could get a fully blossoming tree just by placing a tiny object into the earth? Yet this is precisely what happens when the seed is planted and regularly maintained. With the maturation comes the desired object, the fruit of your labor. You now have the nice rosebush that you wanted. However, to traverse through the field that was previously barren and now filled with flowering objects, you must watch out for the thorns in the bushes that resulted from your hard work. To reap the fruits you have to suffer so much, you have to withstand every thorn that tears into your sides and causes you to bleed.

Fruitive activity, or karma, works this way every time, even if we don’t notice the pattern. The desire for sex life carries the result of a newborn child, who must be taken care of for at least the first eighteen years of its life. Can we imagine taking on a full-time job that doesn’t end until eighteen years later? This is a lot of pressure to assume, so in this respect parents deserve the highest praise and sympathy for their hard work and dedication. At the same time, the responsibility came about through a planted seed, which was rooted in a desire. The joy of watching your children grow up is tempered by the constant worry over their future health and safety. In the end, you’re left with an empty house and a lot more hair lost over the stress applied to the body and mind over the many years of care.

“The living entity, thus taking another gross body, obtains a certain type of ear, tongue, and nose and sense of touch, which are grouped about the mind. He thus enjoys a particular set of sense objects.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 15.9)

The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, are unique in that they provide detailed guidelines on how to live during every stage of life. These recommendations are tied together to meet the ultimate mission in life, that of becoming God conscious by the time of death. As soon as there is birth, death is guaranteed. Since we don’t know the exact date of the soul’s future exit from the body, the event tends to get overlooked. Regardless of our acceptance of its inevitability, death will occur. Therefore the wise and the fortunate live their lives in just the right way to guarantee that their consciousness will be situated on the permanent while exiting the body. One must be both intelligent and lucky to have this happen, for mental scholarship will not be able to conjure up the need to remember God, as thinking power is limited by time and space. Since the Supreme Lord is sanatana, or eternal, there is no way for the mind to realize His properties on its own. One must be fortunate enough to accept the dust of the lotus feet of someone who was previously fortunate enough to approach a spiritual master, a teacher following a line of instruction descending from the original Person Himself.

Thinking of that which is permanent, or sat, is difficult when the entire time on earth is spent in the association of asat, or the nonpermanent. The spirit soul is fixed in its position, but when it seeks enjoyment through the senses and association with matter, consciousness drifts further and further away from God. It is not that enjoyment should be denied or that activities required for the maintenance of the body should be ignored. Everyone gets their allotment of fortune from material nature, which makes these measurements based off past karma, or activities performed for a desired result. The key is to not overstep your bounds; otherwise the thorns will increase in number and so will the bleeding caused by the puncturing of the sides.

The need for moderation in ambition shouldn’t be very difficult to understand. Greed is generally frowned upon in any civilized society. Greed is rooted in desires that are never fully satisfied. The animal kingdom, which is much less intelligent than the human community, doesn’t even have this defect in them. If there is a large collection of food somewhere, the animal will come and take what it needs. It will not think, “Let me grab as much as possible before the other animals come. Let me store this somewhere so that I never have to worry about food.” In the human community, hoarding is very common. From something as simple as downloading heaps of music and movies illegally to more involved practices like buying excess land to extend the reach of ownership, greed can take over the otherwise sober mind.

Greed should be avoided because it does not lead to any benefit. If we have every single album of music ever produced, are we any better off? There are only a certain number of hours in a given day. Hence there is no way that the music hoarder will be able to listen to all of the songs they have collected. Similarly, the wealthy man can only enjoy so much. The rows of expensive cars he has in his garage will likely sit idly for the rest of his life, thereby serving as unused furniture more than anything else.

Greed can only arise when the proper destination for the soul is not known. When desires are successfully met, the resulting happiness is short-lived. Therefore new desires must crop up. The mind has a difficult time remembering the labor that went into the previous work and also the fact that the newly met desires will fail to provide happiness in the same way that the just met desires did. But if we are fortunate enough to take up bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, peace and calm can be found very quickly. Yoga studios are popular today because they teach a method of exercise that bears no resemblance to anything else. Yoga means “plus”, or “addition”, so it is really a spiritual activity. When the influence of the senses is too strong, a person can sit in quiet meditation and contemplate on the expansion of the Supreme Lord residing within the heart. This expansion is known as the Supersoul, or Paramatma. Anyone who is able to successfully practice yoga through this method will diminish the influence of their senses, and thereby gain tremendous health benefits.

In today’s fast paced world, the interest in yoga focuses primarily on the ancillary results, with the main purpose of the discipline ignored. Nevertheless, yoga practice will still have some benefits; hence its popularity. But if you break down the practice even further, you see that peace, calm, and control over emotions and the senses are required. Even if a person does yoga for an hour a day, they at least get to have some escape from the seeds of desire that continually sprout up.

If we take the same principles of yoga and apply them perfectly, the benefits are further enhanced. With bhakti-yoga, the same concentration and focus is there, but the target of thought is the Supreme Lord. Instead of sitting in different postures that can be difficult to perfect, one simply has to chant, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. It is best to chant this out loud with friends and family, but even reciting it to oneself on a set of japa beads is highly effective. If the same yoga studios were filled with instructors reciting the maha-mantra and getting their students to follow along, there is no question that peace would no longer be a scarce commodity.

This is a bold assertion, but its validity lies in the potency of the names recited. Krishna and Rama are Sanskrit words that describe the Supreme Absolute Truth’s features of all-attractiveness and having the ability to give transcendental pleasure to His devotees. The young girl in school who has a crush on a classmate will write the boy’s name many times on a piece of paper and draw hearts around it, and the boy will similarly derive pleasure from thinking of his beloved’s name. Since the spirit soul is naturally a lover of God, the more times a living entity can recite God’s name in a loving way, the more their consciousness will be purified.

If on a hot summer day we were to turn on the fan in the room, we would feel some relief from the scorching heat. But a fan has limitations because it can only cool the area that is directly in contact with its airflow. Moreover, once the fan turns off, the room returns to being as hot as it was previously. With an air conditioner, however, the entire room cools, even if the occupants aren’t in the direct line of the machine’s output of air. Even when the machine is turned off, the room stays cool for a considerable period of time. The benefits of bhakti-yoga, and especially chanting the holy names of the Lord, can be thought of in the same way. Prayer, meditation on void, and even study of the differences between matter and spirit can be beneficial for the time of the engagement, but only bhakti keeps the benefits rolling in. Bhakti’s aim is to change consciousness, which represents the predominant thought processes of the mind, so its practices have lasting effects.

“He who is satisfied with gain which comes of its own accord, who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady both in success and failure, is never entangled, although performing actions.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 4.22)

For misery coming from fruitive activity, the seeds of desire are actually the root cause of the distress. These take birth within the mind, which constantly works, irrespective of what the body may be doing. If somehow or other we can learn to control the mind, to keep it focused on something beautiful and bliss-evoking, then the unwanted seeds can be eliminated. This is precisely what occurs with devotional service. Therefore it is not surprising to hear Lord Chaitanya declare that the living entity’s original form, or svarupa, is that of devotee of Krishna. God is God; He is not sectarian or the exclusive property of anyone. Thus chanting His name is open to every single person. Yoga practice may be difficult to perfect, but chanting is not hard at all. Even a child can do it. Bhakti-yoga plants seeds of spiritual desires, hankerings to please Krishna, see His wonderful face, and hear His glories throughout the day. The plants that grow from these seeds are thus free of thorns. The fruits on the desire tree that is Shri Krishna’s holy name only carry positive consequences.

The Gift of Consciousness

“In this material world we desire sense enjoyment, but without Krishna or without Krishna consciousness there is no possibility of sense enjoyment. We may have strong arms and legs, but when there is no consciousness—when there is no Krishna consciousness—we cannot even utilize them.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Teachings of Queen Kunti, Ch 21)

Whether one refers to Him as Krishna, God, nature, or death, the highest authority figure is still the source of the true benefit of the human form of life, the very essence of living for that matter. The supreme gift is known as consciousness, and without it there would be no enjoyment of the various senses and the activities they draw the individual towards. Therefore a wise man would at least acknowledge the existence, presence and benevolence of the kindest of benefactors. Taking things one step further, if the same gift, consciousness, is utilized for the service of the original donor, the most pleasurable object known the world over, then the true potential for knowledge, bliss and excitement in activity will be reached. This fact was well known to Kunti Devi, a famous queen and mother.

Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the most attractive, complete and blissful feature of the original Divine Being, personally made an appearance on this earth some five thousand years ago. Krishna is not simply a blue god of the Hindu tradition, but rather the very embodiment of the origin of spirit, an entity who is ever-intelligent and firmly linked to every instance of life. In one sense everything is God, including matter, but only within the spiritual energy is there a personal presence. Our hands and legs are part of our body, but if someone wants to address us, they must communicate through sound and sight, which enter through the ears and the eyes. The information then gets processed by the brain, which is driven by consciousness. Therefore our ability to have conscious thought is the true benefit of our existence, the essence of which is the spiritual spark found within the heart.

The Supreme Soul residing alongside the individual soul in every form of life is personally identifiable with God, or that person we call out to in times of trouble. Even an atheist believes in Krishna, except their acknowledgement of His personal feature is lacking. An atheist must eventually bow down to a higher force at the time of death. Whether the intelligence and personal abilities of that force are recognized or not bears no difference on the effects. We may not believe in the sun or in the laws of gravity, but these energies will act nonetheless. One may say they outwardly don’t believe in God, but at the time of death they will succumb to a more powerful force, one that takes them away from their present condition without asking for permission to do so. Government influence can be checked through resistance, but no amount of diet, exercise or pleading can stop the all-devouring force of time.

Since God exists, it couldn’t hurt to understand who He is and why He does what He does. This is indeed the true benefit of human life, for the famous Vedanta-sutras open with “athato brahma jijnasa”, or “Now is the time for inquiring about Brahman, or the Absolute Truth.” When first learning about transcendental subject matters, understanding the simultaneously all-pervading and personal nature of the Supreme Truth is quite difficult; therefore it is understandable if one focuses on studying Brahman first. Just as the individual soul is the essence of life within a specific form of body, the sum collection of all individual entities comprises Brahman, which is likened to a beam of light shining off of a luminous object, which is the original source known as Krishna, or God.

Due to His kind-hearted nature and His causeless mercy, Shri Krishna appears on this earth every now and then. During His descent in the Dvapara Yuga, Krishna spent much time with a royal family known as the Pandavas, whose mother, Queen Kunti, had suffered greatly throughout her life. In spite of the difficulties she encountered, due to her attachment to Krishna she actually prayed to have all of those calamities repeat, for that would again bring Krishna’s association. Every time the Pandavas were in trouble, they were somehow miraculously saved. Kunti Devi knew that the only force capable of performing miracles is Shri Krishna, so the credit for their family remaining alive belonged solely to Him. It is said that if Krishna wants to protect someone, no one can harm them. Conversely, if Krishna wants to kill someone, no force can protect them.

In one set of beautiful prayers offered to the Lord, Kunti Devi says that without Krishna’s presence, the senses have no meaning. This is a very nice offering, for it speaks to Krishna’s generous attitude. As we can’t remember even being within the womb of our mother, we can understand that there was no control over where we took birth and what type of body we received. In the larger scheme such events are determined by karma, or the results of fruitive activity, but even with the ability to alter one’s destiny, the individual still lacks a direct influence in shaping the specifics of their future form of body. From these facts we can understand that all of our immediate possessions, the appendages of the outer covering of the soul and its various senses, have been given to us. The real question is, “Why?”

Only with consciousness can there be enjoyment. To reach the full potential of happiness, the mindset must be purified and focused on a legitimate object of pleasure. When acting in ignorance of the source of the senses, the conditioned living entity takes exclusively to material sense gratification, wherein the demands of the tongue, genitals and stomach are given precedence. This behavior is especially prominent in the animal species, as they don’t know any better. A dog has no clue what birth and death are, nor does it understand the presence of the soul and the importance of consciousness. A dog simply eats when it wants to, has sex with whoever is around, sleeps when it is tired, and defends its territory by barking loudly.

Since it is animal-like, the human being has penchants for similar activity. But with the potential for a more developed consciousness provided by “nature”, the human being has the opportunity to ascend to new heights, to actually fulfill the true mission of life. When the presence of the original donor, God, is acknowledged, the senses can be put to good use. Irrespective of the specific activity adopted, the underlying cause is always the mood of service, the desire to offer some type of work as a sacrifice for a future benefit. Under the mindset of pure sense gratification, the living entity drawn towards service views the individual self as the sole beneficiary. In its egregious form this behavior is not only unappreciated by society as a whole, but it provides very limited amounts of pleasure. If selfishness could solve all problems, wealthy millionaires and celebrities would never take to charity, philanthropy, and championing causes they felt were important. A wealthy man has every opportunity for sense gratification available to him, so he could spend the entire day intoxicated if he wanted to. This lifestyle gets old really fast, however, so the search for a new outlet for the desire to serve continues.

Who better to act as a beneficiary for our loving attitude than the original donor Himself, the man from whom our senses emanate? In the Vedic tradition, the Supreme Divine Entity, the person most often addressed as God, is tagged with thousands of names that each speak to His different features. As Hrishikesha, Krishna is the master and owner of all senses. Therefore when the servant acts in the interests of the Master, not only does a harmonious situation result, but the servant actually surpasses the Master in stature. The gloriousness of Shrimati Kunti Devi is a perfect illustration of this fact. As a powerful mother and exalted princess, Kunti Devi could have dedicated all of her sense actions exclusively for the benefit of her five sons, who were all pious individuals in their own right. Instead, she first directed all her thoughts, desires and hopes at the feet of her nephew, Shri Krishna, who also happened to be God Himself. By adopting this proper priority system, not only was Kunti’s consciousness purified, all other aspects of her life were taken care of as well. If Kunti had not served the Supreme Master perfectly, there would be no need to praise her exploits or discuss her kind prayers today.

How do we serve someone that we can’t even see? How do we know that there is such a thing as a God who gives us senses? Moreover, how do we know that serving this entity will actually bring us any pleasure? For starters, we can accept the statements of the great authority figures like Vyasadeva, Kunti Devi, Narada Muni, King Janaka and so many others who dedicated their thoughts, words and deeds to Krishna and subsequently experienced the highest bliss. Following the instructions heard from authority figures is acquiring knowledge through the descending process. This method saves a lot of time and trouble, as the necessary quality assurance tests have already been conducted. The processes recommended by the mahajanas, experts on worship of Krishna, come with a full stamp of approval, so anyone who follows these dictates will be benefited.

But as we all know, if we blindly follow someone who is a swindler, a cheater who has some ulterior motive, the descending process will bring complete disaster. Therefore the best option is to at least try out some of the prescriptions offered by the Vaishnavas, devotees of Vishnu/Krishna, and see what effect they have. Since Krishna is the giver of consciousness, its purification can be quickly had by focusing our thoughts and desires on the Lord’s personal self. Though we can’t see Krishna’s influence in front of us in our conditioned state, His name, which is non-different from Him, is still present. Therefore the foremost recommendation for aspiring transcendentalists of the current age is to chant the maha-mantra as often as possible: “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. This sequence of words is so powerful that Lord Nityananda, the dear associate of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, went from house to house begging people to recite it. Nityananda Prabhu didn’t want any money, fame or acknowledgment of greatness; he just wished that the sincere souls of the world would take to chanting the names of Hari, or Krishna. Haribol, or “chant the name of God”, is the famous line sung by followers of the bhakti school, those who take loving service to the Supreme Lord to be their only engagement in life.

Simply chanting Hare Krishna is enough to make proper use of the senses. The name of the Lord gradually evokes consciousness of His other names, forms, pastimes and attributes. Though it may seem like a childlike process aimed at reforming the unintelligent, since chanting directly attacks the snakelike material senses and purifies consciousness, the activities that result are based on the highest intelligence. We may perform the most worthwhile activity in karma, starve our senses through strict austerity, and even master many mystic powers, but if our resulting behavior is still based on a faulty consciousness, one which views the individual or any inferior entity not directly related to God as the ultimate beneficiary of activity, we will fail to achieve perfection. On the other hand, for one who takes Haribol to be their call to action, the most important slogan in their life, their activities will always remain pure, irrespective of their level of acuity of spiritual wisdom.

Of what use is high knowledge anyway if the resulting activities don’t provide a tangible benefit? If we spend years in medical school, get a license to practice and then stop there, should we be proud of our accomplishments? If we don’t actually start healing people, of what use is our education? Similarly, gathering knowledge of the differences between matter and spirit, adhering to specific dogmas and rituals, and even acknowledging the existence of God don’t represent the summit of activity, as the soul requires an eternal engagement, one that never fizzles out or fades away.

From Kunti Devi’s exemplary behavior, we see that just by remembering God and focusing the consciousness on His beautiful form, we can reach the full potential for intelligence. We have no evidence that Kunti Devi was a Vedantist, a Sanskrit scholar, or a meditational yogi. We do know that she loved Krishna very much, so much so that she saw past His being her brother Vasudeva’s son. Just from a steady link in consciousness to the Supreme Lord, which is the underlying purpose to yoga, Kunti Devi made the most of her unique gift of consciousness. This same benediction of an eternal existence is granted to all of us, so by taking to bhakti-yoga, which starts and continues with the chanting of the names of Hari, we can use our wonderful gift to gain the greatest spiritual advantage. Just as the Pandavas and Queen Kunti were always in a protected status, enjoying the company of Shri Krishna, if not in person than at least in thought, the humble soul who dedicates their consciousness towards satisfying the Supreme Lord, whose foremost desire is to reclaim the fallen souls of the phenomenal world, will never have anything to fear in this world. Remembering Krishna brings an end to the cycle of birth and death, thereby revealing that the most precious benediction of consciousness is the key that unlocks the door to eternal freedom of movement, satisfaction and enjoyment.

Necessity for Meditation

“Since Krishna is the cause of all causes, He is worshiped by all kinds of sages and saints by observance of the regulative principles. When there is a necessity for meditation, great personalities meditate on the transcendental form of Krishna within the heart. In this way the minds of great personalities are always engaged in Krishna.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 2, Ch 32)

A devotee will do whatever is necessary to maintain their connection with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna. The bond to the master of the transcendental world is the source of all pleasure, so any deviation from the purified thought processes or any temporary disconnection in the most important link will lead to trouble. If the electricity should go out in our home for a few hours, the resultant situation borders on an emergency, where great panic and havoc ensue. In a similar manner, for the bhakta, if there is any loss of signal as it relates to the spiritually stimulating sound vibrations and thoughts and mental images pertaining to the Supreme Lord, His countless non-different forms, or His eternal associates, the forces of illusion known as maya take hold and lead the otherwise focused mind astray into a situation of constant tumult, despair and panic. To this end, a true yogi, one who understands that the unmanifest aspect of the Supreme Lord and the localized form residing within the heart are both non-different from the original Personality of Godhead, will always take whatever steps are necessary, including meditation, to keep their consciousness purified.

The present yuga-dharma is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. In the Vedic tradition there are thousands of mantras, but the one considered the most effective at purifying consciousness in the present age is the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. There are certainly other mantras, but this specific sequence of words best encapsulates the most powerful names of the Divine which speak to His all-attractive nature and His ability to provide supreme transcendental pleasure. Some will argue that both Krishna and Rama refer to the Personality of Godhead in His form as Krishna, while others will say that these two words address the two most notable incarnations of the Supreme Lord Vishnu. In either viewpoint the conclusion can be considered valid because the name of the Lord is absolute. If one person chooses to worship God in His Vishnu form in lieu of the Rama and Krishna forms there is no loss in benefit. The key is to remain connected to the holy name in a bond of love and affection, as that is the method recommended in the authorized Vedic texts like the Shrimad Bhagavatam and Mahabharata.

When chanting is not an option, i.e. when there is no opportunity to explicitly recite the sacred mantras on beads or together with friends, then other methods that fall under the umbrella of the sublime engagement of devotional service can take precedent. One of the more popular quasi-spiritual activities of the modern age is meditation. When not on the highest platform of consciousness the individual will suffer chronic distress, wherein seeds of desire result in frustration when defeat and loss occur. When the tumultuous situations lead to repeated pains that become more and more acute, the frustrated individual may take shelter of the meditation process to remove stress. “I just want to be more at peace. I think meditation will help me, but I don’t know how to practice it.” As described in the Vedas, which serve as the origin for all bona fide methods of religion, meditation can be of two varieties, smaranam and dhyana. Smaranam is basic remembrance while dhyana is a key aspect of mystic yoga that involves stern concentration. In reality there is no difference between the two practices when they are focused on the proper entity.

If we meditate on nothingness, there is no bliss derived, and neither is there an exchange of emotion, as an object can only be classified as such if it has names, forms, attributes and qualities. Meditating on a void can possibly keep us from performing sinful activities, or those actions which lead to further distress, but aside from the basic retraction in movement, both physical and mental, there is no tangible benefit derived. Once the meditation breaks, the performer is again cast into the ocean of ignorance, where they must fend off the tempting forces of envy, pride, greed and lust. Moreover, other conditioned souls already find themselves swimming in this ocean, so there is stiff competition for temporary gains and rewards, none of which come close to securing eternal felicity, which is indeed the only fruit that brings a permanent elimination to distress.

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

Dhyana, which is a more standardized form of meditation, must also focus on something tangible. The meditational yogis typically focus their minds on the Supersoul residing within the heart. According to the Bhagavad-gita, the most popular, concise and complete treatise on Vedic philosophy to ever be expounded, the Supreme Lord, who is originally a personality, kindly expands Himself as the Supersoul to reside within the hearts of every living being. Since this form is not manifested to the conditioned eye, it is often described as nirguna, or that form of the Lord not having attributes. But since the Supersoul, or Paramatma, is a non-different expansion of God, it most certainly has features. When the yogi practices dhyana without knowledge of the Supersoul’s qualitative makeup, the practice isn’t much different than simple meditation on void.

Therefore the key ingredient in proper meditation is to know who and what we are focusing our mind on. The primary source of distress in conditioned life is the frustration resulting from repeated attempts at sense gratification. The Supreme Lord is the Truth, and anything not directly relating to Him, i.e. anything that is not Truth, is known as maya, or illusion. One who breaks the link between the individual consciousness and the Supreme Consciousness thus becomes a victim to maya. The chanting of the holy name is the most advocated process for spiritual salvation, which automatically brings palatable conditions in other areas of life, because it leads to a shift in consciousness. Meditation in the form of yoga is certainly nice, but once the explicit concentration practices are completed, the mind continues to work and will inevitably focus again on objects of maya. The chanting process is sublime because it keeps one always in yoga, thereby allowing for a peaceful condition in all types of situations. Moreover, the name of the Lord automatically evokes thoughts and memories of His forms, qualities and pastimes. No other feature, including the impersonal aspect known as Brahman, can bring about such images to the mind simply through invocation.

There is inward meditation, wherein one either remembers someone or something or performs dhyana on the Supreme Spirit, but there is also outward meditation. This involves worshiping the visually manifested form of the Lord, which is described as saguna, or “with attributes”. Irrespective of the viewpoint of the conditioned soul, God’s position as a divine entity possessing spiritually enriched attributes of an incomprehensible magnitude never changes. Just as we sometimes say that the sun is not out on a particular day when it is cloudy, the conditioned entities unable to perceive of Krishna’s presence in every aspect of life describe the unmanifest form of the Lord as nirguna. But this doesn’t mean that God has somehow lost His attributes. The saguna forms are typically the deity representations, wherein wood and stone are crafted into figures that match the transcendental features of the Lord as described by the great Vedic seers who got to personally witness Krishna’s innumerable, pleasurable pastimes enacted on this earth many times in the past.

Goswami Tulsidas, a Rama devotee who spent twenty-four hours a day engaged in bhakti-yoga without even knowing it, mentions in his poetry that while meditating on the unmanifested aspect of Supreme Truth is certainly beneficial and so is focusing the mind on the deity representation, or saguna, chanting is the true gem of spiritual practice. The opinion of the bhaktas is that any aspect of devotional service performed in the Kali Yuga, the present age, can bring about perfection in consciousness, but reciting the name of Hari, harinama, is, in addition to being the most effective spiritual practice, the most relishable activity. Not only is chanting the most effective tool at changing consciousness for the better, but it also can be practiced in the most number of unique situations. For meditational yoga, which can involve dhyana, to be practiced perfectly, a secluded atmosphere and a steady sitting posture are required, with all outside thoughts prohibited from entering into the mind. Since it is constantly overflowing with desires, the mind is the most formidable force for the aspiring transcendentalist to overcome. Therefore dhyana is not very easy to practice, especially in today’s circumstances where life is very busy and many external noise elements are present.

Worship of the deity is similarly difficult today because one must have a murti or picture of the Lord in front of them to focus their attention on. The deity, though made of wood or stone, is non-different from the Lord because it has been authorized as a worshipable object by the spiritual masters of the Vedic line. Indeed, Lord Krishna Himself summarizes the efficacy of deity worship in the eleventh canto of the Shrimad Bhagavatam. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada very nicely describes how worshiping the archa-vigraha works by comparing the practice to the dropping off of letters in the mail. The mailbox is just an ordinary box made up of the same elements that are used in the construction of any other type of enclosure. But we can’t just drop our mail off in any old box and expect it to reach the proper destination. The mailbox has been authorized by the higher authorities to accept letters and packages, which, when accompanied by the proper postage, can be delivered to the intended target. In a similar manner, the deity is the authorized form of worship even though it is made of seemingly material elements. When the worshiper is purified at heart and offers their obeisances in a kind and loving way, the sentiments are transferred directly to the Supreme Lord.

But the worshipable statues and pictures found in temples and homes of devotees are not available everywhere, especially if one has to work all day at a particular office. This makes even the outward type of meditation difficult to practice perfectly in this age. Therefore Tulsidas kindly shares his revelation that he derives the most wonderful spiritual taste from chanting the holy names of his beloved Rama. Chanting Krishna and Rama can go on within the mind even while falling asleep. Generally the time of laying to rest at night is filled with concerns of the next day’s priorities and laments over events of the current day that didn’t end well. But if while falling asleep recitation of the names of the Lord continues over and over again within the mind, thoughts can immediately be transferred to the spiritual sky, where Krishna and His various liberated associates enjoy activities, transcendentally stimulating conversations and exchanges of emotions. Through simple chanting, one can fly faster than the speed of light to a far, far away universe.

Though regularly hearing and producing the sound vibration representations of the Supreme Lord is most effective at purifying consciousness, the devotee will not ignore the other aspects of devotional service if needed. The person who best illustrates the resourcefulness of the dedicated soul is Sita Devi, the wife of Lord Rama. Many thousands of years ago, Shri Hari, out of His desire to exercise His sportive tendencies, appeared on earth in the guise of a seemingly ordinary warrior having extraordinary capabilities. The wonder of the form of the avatara, or incarnation, captivates the hearts and minds of everyone, including the non-devotees. Krishna’s avataras are so popular and celebrated for their activities that even the non-believers, those who take gross matter to be paramount in importance, become enamored and pay close attention. Sita Devi, the princess of Videha and wife of Lord Rama, got to personally associate with her husband a great deal, offering Him service, reciting His name and giving Him tremendous satisfaction in the process. But due to the nature of events as they were ordained by the divine forces, Sita had to be separated from Rama on several occasions. The first period of separation was by no means a peaceful or pleasant one. Forced to live in the ashoka garden in the kingdom of a Rakshasa named Ravana, Sita was not sure whether she would ever see Rama again.

Sita is described as being like Rama’s shadow, for that was how Maharaja Janaka, her father, advised her to behave when she was given away to Rama during the couple’s marriage ceremony. Sita wholeheartedly lived up to this request by always following her husband, even when He was exiled to the forest for fourteen years. It is indeed a wonder how she was able to remain in her body while being apart from Rama for so long after being taken away by Ravana. Just as a fish cannot survive when taken out of water, Sita can never live without being in Rama’s company. Yet she kept herself alive by always meditating on the Supreme Lord and His limitless transcendental qualities. Sita’s situation was quite an unpleasant one, for she was harassed by female ogres all day and night, wicked servants who tried to mentally torture her into submitting to Ravana’s advances.

In Sita’s situation there was no opportunity for deity worship or the dhyana of meditational yoga. Nevertheless, she was able to maintain a steady link in consciousness to the king of the spiritual world by remembering Rama’s form, activities and the time she spent in His company. When the devotee is in trouble, they will always make use of whatever tools are available to keep the link with God active. To the outsider, it may appear that Sita was engaged in meditation on nirguna or the practice of dhyana-yoga, but in actuality her behavior was in pure bhakti, or transcendental love. Exalted figures like Sita Devi are incapable of any behavior outside the scope of bhakti. In the transcendental realm all actions are considered purified because their intended beneficiary is the Supreme Loveable Object, the sweet and blissful Personality of Godhead. As such, the steady mental focus of the devotee is much different than the meditation performed by anyone outside the realm of devotional life. If we follow Sita’s nice formula for always keeping our connection with the spiritual world intact, we will never fall victim to the influences of the material world, which constantly work to divert our attention elsewhere.

What Makes an Object

“Any object is known by its four characteristic features: name, form, qualities and activities. Lord Krishna is the Supreme Object; thus He is knowable in terms of His unlimited and eternal name, form, qualities, and pastimes. The absence of these four features in anything denies its status as object. For example, impersonal Brahman is formless; hence it is not an object unto itself, but simply a distinctive trait of the Supreme Lord.” (Shrila Haridasa Thakura, Harinama-Chintamani, Ch 2)

When stress bubbles over and all other methods of alleviation have been exhausted, the best option is to just sit quietly and meditate. Despite our best efforts at creating insulation from fear, distress, pain, heartache, frustration and chaos, there will be failure lurking around every corner of every endeavor. The material world, the phenomenal realm that we currently call home, is replete with ardent competition and the struggle for supremacy over a surface area that amounts to a tiny speck of the entire cosmos, whose length and breadth are unfathomable. Meditation or any brief renunciation from the interaction of the senses with the various objects of the world brings respite from the struggles and demands placed on our consciousness. It is our mindset, the peaceful or tumultuous nature of our thoughts, desires and lamentations, that determines whether we are in a pleasant condition or not. Therefore, meditation, which is also known as dhyana, is a proven method of temporarily alleviating the pains brought by a disturbed consciousness. Yet who or what should we meditate on? Can we just focus the mind on nothing? What about an outward, inanimate object such as wood? Fortunately, there is no need to have any doubts on this matter, as the celebrated acharya, Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, in his wonderful work titled Shri Harinama Chintamani describes through the mouthpiece of Shrila Haridasa Thakura, the acharya of the holy name of Krishna, that something can only be considered an object if it bears four distinct properties. In the absence of any one of these features, the item of interest cannot be considered an object, and hence its eligibility for being the focus of meditation and worship vanishes. Of all the objects in all the worlds, none possesses the four requisite characteristics to a higher degree than does Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

It is the very presence of these characteristics that firmly establishes Krishna as not only the ultimate object of worship, but also the fountainhead of all pleasurable entities. Since the beginning of time there have been arguments and debates over who is God and who isn’t. One sectarian group will claim that their worshipable figure is the Supreme Being, while another will point to their theistic scriptures as evidence of the divine nature of their object of worship. Yet God’s supremacy and worthiness of attention is not established simply through a mood of sentimentalism or sectarianism. Nor is He worthy of worship because of the threat of punishment. “Surrender unto such and such personality or suffer forever” is certainly not an effective marketing tool for spreading devotion to God, nor is it valid.

Hell is merely a realm where there is an increased level of distress brought on by punishing conditions. According to the Vedas, the oldest scriptural traditions emanating from India, the heavenly and hellish realms are still part of the temporary and destined for destruction material world. Heavenly opulence and hellish pangs are present in the current life. The actual nature of the unpleasant conditions can also vary, as some people, our humble self included, would consider being forced to watch daytime television or major news broadcasts as the worst kind of torture, the embodiment of hell on earth. If such suffering exists already, what fear could the threat of eternal damnation for neglecting the worship of a specific figure instill?

If God’s identity and genuineness aren’t established through sentimentalist traditions, where do we go to find out the real nature of Truth? Since meditation is an age-old, popular and effective method of stress alleviation, by studying its various components we can gain a glimpse into the workings of worship and what is required from the parties involved. Meditation is simply focusing the mind on an object, which, as mentioned before, must have four characteristics, namely that of a form, qualities, pastimes and a name. In the absence of any one of these features, the item of focus loses its status as an object. Once the necessary status is absent, the item of interest, by definition, proves to be second class, or even bogus, as a focus of meditation.

Let’s review some of the common items of focus during meditation to test the validity of the assertion relating to the four characteristics needed for an object. An effective recommendation put forth by psychologists and mental health experts calls for patients to concentrate on their “happy place”, that one situation or area where they feel best at peace. Typical “happy places” are exotic destinations, peaceful mountaintops, or anywhere the company of friends and loved ones is found. The locations of interest do have forms, but they are missing pastimes. Qualities and names may even be present, but there is no stimulative aspect to them. A land mass is in animate, therefore it provides no interaction to the concentrated mind.

Just by this one example we can rule out any inanimate objects as being worthy of worship. Yet, throughout the course of human history there have been countless instances of men concocting gods, or objects of worship, by taking wood, stone, or gold and erecting a worshipable figure. Because such items are lacking descriptive names and pastimes and don’t represent any real person, they fail to provide any satisfaction to the interested party. Another common item of contemplation for meditation is the future. The human mind is always hankering about things it wants and lamenting over those things it failed to acquire. In the peaceful state of meditation, one can calmly ponder over future plans and carefully craft strategies aimed at achieving various objectives. But once again, there are key elements missing. Goals and objectives don’t have names, pastimes, or forms. Indeed, future plans relate completely to a desired condition of the contemplative individual. In essence, the focused person is meditating on a future version of him or herself.

A human being can obviously be considered an object since it possesses all the previously mentioned necessary characteristics. Does this mean that everyone is God and thus worshipable? Can we simply meditate on a celebrity, politician, or significant other and be eternally benefitted? The key is to find that object which holds the largest abundance in both quality and quantity of the four mentioned characteristics. In this respect there is no one who can match Krishna. The individual living entity, irrespective of his present status, is destined for destruction. As they say, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust”, the material elements which envelop the soul, the basic functional unit of life, are temporary in their structure. The soul remains intact for all of eternity, but the dwellings it occupies constantly go through transformation. In the beginning stages the material elements exist on a very small scale, tiny enough to allow the soul to reside within the womb of the mother for nine months. Eventually, the soul takes on more and more material elements to the point where it can function as an independent adult. Yet as the influences of time take hold, the material elements start to dwindle and decay. Ultimately the entire dwelling, when it ceases to be useful, is evacuated by the soul, which continues to exist. Upon release from the deathtrap known as the body, the soul is immediately placed into a new form, which is crafted to match the desires and deeds performed in the just-completed life.

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

Because of reincarnation, there is automatically a built-in limit, a cap if you will, placed on the variety and abundance of each specific characteristic that defines a living entity. The forms, qualities and pastimes engaged in by the individual life form, even if they should remain alive for thousands of years, are directly related to the duration of time spent in a particular body type. With the Supreme Lord, however, there is no such limitation. Since He is the oldest person, purana-purusha, and the cause of all causes, sarva karana-karanam, the potencies of His transcendental features, which include His names, forms, pastimes and qualities, are unlimited.

Krishna is known as Bhagavan, which is a word that references God’s supremacy in the areas of beauty, wealth, strength, fame, knowledge and renunciation. The exact degree of potency possessed by the Lord in each of these features will forever be unknown to the jiva, the living entity who is part and parcel of Krishna. The defect in understanding stems from the limited time allotted for the acquisition of knowledge. The living entities are destined for destruction after all. As such, it is impossible to acquire all the supreme information pertaining to the one person whose qualities never diminish or dwindle. Only God holds the position as the wisest person. Just the attempt to exceed His powers of knowledge represents a challenge to the Lord’s authority, and thus serves as the root cause behind the temporary material creation and the cycle of reincarnation that keeps its land populated.

In addition to possessing the six opulences to the greatest degree and simultaneously, Bhagavan makes use of His features by taking to activities. A general without a mission is no different than an ordinary soldier or even a civilian. A king without subjects is just an ordinary man. In order for exalted titles to mean anything, there must be resulting activities that allow for the superior abilities to be exercised. Krishna’s beauty is exhibited in the exquisite transcendental features belonging to His unimaginably large, blissful, knowledgeable and eternal body. Krishna is greater than the greatest and smaller than the smallest. The size and reach of His transcendental features are incomprehensible, achintya. Through His kind activities, known as pastimes, or lila, Krishna gives the sincere souls, those looking for a legitimate object of worship for dedicating all their thoughts, words and deeds towards, a chance to gain a slight understanding of the transcendental features of Supreme Spirit.

Krishna’s other features, such as wealth and strength, are also substantiated through enacted pastimes. Otherwise, where is the proof of such qualities, and how were they identified to begin with? In this way we see that Krishna-lila is not merely a merciful benediction granted to the love-starved individual souls, but also an intrinsic part of Krishna’s nature. If we refuse to acknowledge the sportive tendencies of the Supreme Lord, we verily deny His existence. There cannot be God without pastimes.

Since the Lord has pastimes and qualities, He must also have a form. If an item of interest is formless, it cannot be considered a valid object of worship. The monist philosophers and pseudo-yogis are enamored by the concept of an incorporeal God, or a formless Absolute Truth. Unable to fathom any entity possessing mutually contradictory attributes, the impersonalist speculators assert that the Absolute Truth’s original feature is that of Brahman, which lacks a tangible spiritual form. Therefore, the goal for any serious transcendentalist should be to focus on this spiritual light of bliss, the brahmajyoti, with the aim of one day merging into it.

Based on the characteristics necessary to have an object, we see that Brahman is more of a trait belonging to the Supreme Lord than an object itself. Since it is not an object, there is no tangible bliss derived from association with Brahman. Even the greatest transcendentalists of the past who were wholly sincere in their meditation on Brahman found a higher pleasure once they were fortunate enough to come into contact with the Supreme Lord in His personal form. Though Krishna is considered the original form of Godhead, the Absolute Truth isn’t limited to just one transcendental manifestation. Just as there are no limits to Krishna’s attributes and pastimes, there is no accurate count of the number of non-different, wholly spiritual, and completely perceptible forms that the Lord can take to.

“All different varieties of atmaramas [those who take pleasure in atma, or spirit self], especially those established on the path of self-realization, though freed from all kinds of material bondage, desire to render unalloyed devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead. This means that the Lord possesses transcendental qualities and therefore can attract everyone, including liberated souls.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.7.10)

Maharaja Janaka, a famous king during ancient times, was well-respected for his mastery over mysticism. He was so adept at focusing his mind on Brahman that he gained the title of Videha, which means one who has transcended the influences of the material body. Through his mystic practices, Janaka was no longer under the dictates of the senses in any way. Yet when he was fortunate enough to see Lord Rama, an incarnation of Krishna, in person, he immediately felt tremendous bliss. Worship of Brahman is not completely rejected as a method of self-realization, but since the process technically focuses on a feature of the Supreme Lord rather than an autonomous object, contemplation of Brahman yields inferior results compared to direct worship of Krishna. One who faithfully and sincerely worships Brahman attains to a status known as brahma-bhutah, which automatically brings with it the quality known as atmarama, or being self-satisfied. We can think of the atmaramas as possessing a full belly in the spiritual sense. If we present a pizza pie to a hungry man, he will eagerly dig in and enjoy. Yet, if after eating to satisfaction we present another full pizza pie in front of the same man, there likely will not be any stimulation to the taste buds at all. The pizza hasn’t changed, as it consists of the same ingredients and gives off the same appearance. What has changed is the level of satiation in the target entity.

In spiritual life, the atmaramas are considered completely full, not capable of being stimulated by any outside pleasures. Yet Janaka, upon seeing the exquisitely beautiful and transcendental body of Lord Rama, couldn’t help but derive tremendous pleasure from the vision before him. Janaka even thought that maybe the Brahman he had spent his whole life worshiping had now taken a form specifically to show favor to him. These are the workings of the Supreme Lord. Through His kindness, He deludes even the sincere souls into not understanding His true nature, as those who worship God without any concern for His opulence and strength are considered the topmost worshipers. It is one thing to treat Bhagavan with love and respect for His superior position, but it is an even higher display of devotion to harbor affection for the Supreme Lord while remaining in ignorance of His fixed position. Such an exalted status of worship is reserved for the greatest devotees like King Janaka.

If Krishna has qualities, pastimes and forms, He surely must have names. Otherwise, how would we address the entity who bears such properties? Indeed, the activities and features of His transcendental forms are how Krishna gets His innumerable names. The name Krishna speaks to the Lord’s all-attractive nature. Rama relates to His ability to give transcendental pleasure to others, and it also references His eternal expansion form of Shri Rama. God is known as Govinda for His ability to give pleasure to the cows and to the senses. He is known as Keshava for having killed the Keshi demon during His time on earth. He is also addressed as Hari for being able to remove the distresses of His devotees. Indeed, Bhagavan is known by thousands upon thousands of names, each of which speaks to different aspects of His character that firmly establish Him as the ultimate object of worship.

Of the four characteristics that make up the Divine Object known as Krishna, the name is the most important. Only the name brings the other three features with it. Therefore every individual interested in meditation can find the most tangible effects by simply chanting the sacred maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. The question may be raised as to who or what should be meditated on during this chanting. When chanted properly and without offense, the sound of the holy name automatically brings the other wonderful features. Krishna brings bliss to the devotee because He possesses all the necessary characteristics of an object to the fullest degree. Therefore by chanting the word Krishna, or by hearing the blissful sound vibration of Rama, all the qualities, forms and pastimes immediately come to mind. In this way we see that success in meditation has nothing to do with quelling desires, focusing on void, or alleviating distress. It is the nature of the soul to be a lover of God. When this affection is allowed to flow in an uninhibited manner, the living entity goes from being a conditioned soul to a liberated one. When the steady stream of transcendental thoughts inspired by the regular recitation of the sound vibration representations of Supreme Spirit flows without any divergence towards the home of that most benevolent of masters, the consciousness remains forever purified and firmly fixed on the forms, qualities and pastimes of the Lord. Each of Bhagavan’s characteristics brings tremendous pleasure to the yogi who has dedicated his life to fixing his mind on Krishna.

Recitation of the holy name allows for instantiation of the original object within the mind in an instant. The resulting link to the Supreme Consciousness can be further maintained by taking to outward activities such as reading, worshiping the deity and chanting congregationally with others. The name is the nucleus of these activities which make up the discipline known as bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. When the name is present, the other requisite items of meditation immediately appear. Therefore the greatest devotees, the mahajanas, don’t simply meditate on Krishna within the mind while rejecting deity worship and service to the Lord’s exalted associates, the spiritual masters and pure devotees. When meditation is performed properly, i.e. when the name of the Lord is the predominant ingredient in the concentration, there is an even greater eagerness to worship the Lord in an outward way through service to His non-different form of the archa-vigraha, or worshipable body carefully crafted and constructed to match the known physical features of the Supreme Lord and His various avataras. Meditation on nothing will bring nothing as a benefit. On the other hand, worship of something tangible, an object which is overflowing with transcendental sweetness, will lead to the highest benefit and pleasure. Shri Krishna, through His defined features and His ability to provide unmatched bliss to the devotee, thus becomes the ideal object of meditation.