Inquiries into the Absolute, Digest 4

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Hare Krishna !!

 

Digest 4, Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami Maharaja

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Please send your questions to mail or by simply replying to

this Email. Questions of general interest will be posted in the digest for

the benefit of others. Specific questions will be answered individually.

Please allow for 1-2 weeks for your answers.

 

Questions about fate and karma:

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Q 4.1) I am very unclear and confused. Bhagavan Shri Krishna says that all

that is happening is predestined and nothing moves without His sanction.

Then He says in BG 2.47 ‘Whenever and wherever there is a decline in

religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of

irreligion—at that time I descend Myself.’

 

Ans.

Our present material position has been determined by our past activities.

This does not mean that we are like programmed robots without any free

will. Within our present circumstances, we have some freedom – just as a

tethered cow can move in a small circle. Depending on how we choose to act

now, in accordance with the Supreme Lord’s laws or against His laws, we

can get greater facilities or we can bind ourselves further, or we can get

totally liberated by fully surrendering to Him.

 

Q 4.2) I have always been a pious man, given in charity and donated to the

temple. Then why am I made to suffer?

 

Ans:

Our present suffering is due to past sinful reactions from this or

previous lives.

 

Ultimately, our suffering will continue as long as we continue in this

cycle of repeated birth and death. Therefore, it is very important for

each of us, in addition to performing our charity work and donating to the

temple, we must very carefully cultivate our dormant spirit of unalloyed

devotion for Krishna. The most effective means for this is to daily and

regularly chant the Holy Name of the Lord. When we attain the stage of

chanting without offenses, we will no longer experience any suffering in

this world, because we will be mercifully transferred to the abode of Lord

Krishna!

 

Are you regularly chanting yet? If not, please begin, today!

 

Q 4.3) What is fate? Why is a person is born in a particular place to a

particular parents, some rich, some poor, some beautiful, some wise etc.?

Is this because of past karma?

 

Ans.

Yes. As the saying goes, ‘As we sow, so shall we reap.’

 

Q 4.4) OK, then after we are born in this world with certain predetermined

benefits (like being rich, wise etc), one has to lead an ongoing good

life. At this juncture what is the role of God? Is He going to change my

fate in my present life, or does He have no control at all, once fate is

determined by my past actions? Why I should pray to God?

 

Ans.

Please refer to the last few answers. Depending on our action, we get

appropriate rewards (or punishments), but we must always remember that

there is a Supreme Person Who awards the results. And that person is the

Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is independent and is not bound to give

us the results. He can relieve us altogether of the reactions to our past

deeds. He is not bound by any laws because He is the lawmaker. He can

choose to give a different result, or He can absolve us of all past

reactions completely. Therefore, we are dependent on His mercy.

 

Q 4.5) How can I do my duties if everything is predestined? I want to do

them and I want to follow the teachings of Bhagavan Shri Krishna, but

circumstances prevailing at certain times sometimes push me to take any

optional decision which ultimately proves to be disastrous.

 

Ans.

In addition to the above answers: It is the mode of passion that forces us

to take up a course of action that opposes our deepest convictions.

Therefore, we must carefully cultivate a live centered in goodness.

Bhagavad-gita teaches us so clearly what will help us remain centered in a

life of goodness. However, because we have entangled ourselves so much in

this material condition, it is very perplexing how to make the right

decisions, even if we learn about the Lord’s teachings. Therefore, it is

essential that we need to take guidance from advanced devotees, ultimately

taking shelter of a bona fide guru, who can help us progressively align

ourselves with the Lord’s instructions and not commit blunders, which will

only entangle us further.

 

Q 4.6) Some people claim that what is to happen in this life is already

determined by God (i.e. fate). Their idea is that we do not have much

control on our life. We are under the illusion of Maya. Others think that

only because of our intelligence and our carefully executed efforts, we

achieve desirable ends. My question is, do our efforts really matter?

 

Ans:

Yes, we create our own destiny, but the scope for doing so is quite

restricted or limited. We have our desires and free will, but they are

supervised by the Supreme, according to natural laws. Thus, our freedom to

‘create our destiny’ is VERY restricted! We really have not so much

control, ultimately. With unrestricted freedom, we can choose if we are

going to act according to God’s laws or not. That is within our control.

But ultimately Krishna is the supreme controller and actual doer.

 

Q 4.7) What is Astrology? I have heard it said that when one is born in

this world his horoscope is fixed depending on the time and place of

birth. People born at auspicious time will have all the good of nine

Grahas, which determines ones life, i.e., what he will become, how long he

will survive, rich/poor etc. Was Duryodhana born as wicked man and

Yudhisthira born as good man? Is this all based on their past karma?

 

Ans:

The material circumstances of a person, their future, their general

disposition etc., are all predestined according to one’s guna and karma.

When the soul takes birth in this world, the event takes place according

to their karma, during a corresponding arrangement of constellations.

Astrology is a branch of Vedic science that, among other things, gives

detailed techniques of how to use this information (stellar arrangement at

the time of birth) to predict one’s future.

 

While one may have particular tendencies or conditioning of modes of

nature from birth, it is also to be understood that the association one is

in has a great influence on their character traits.

 

Questions on reincarnation

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Q 4.8) How can you know for sure that there really is life after death,

instead of the other belief that we are just mechanistic organisms that

live and then die and then are nothing?

 

Ans.

There are different processes of acquiring knowledge, such as by direct

perception, by experiment, by logic and example, by hypothesizing etc. But

none of these methods bring us to the point of conclusive knowledge,

especially about something that lies beyond our sense perception; all

these processes are subject to defects. The best way of acquiring

knowledge is therefore to hear from qualified authorities. We accept the

Vedas as authority on all subjects, because they are not man-made but

given by the Supreme Lord, the creator Himself. It would be a big mistake

to think that Vedic knowledge is nothing but a set of blind beliefs or

that it is fictitious; the Vedas are very scientific and reasonable. From

Vedic evidence, such as Bhagavad-gita, we can get very clear and

scientific understanding of our true nature as spiritual entities beyond

the combination of material ingredients, in the shape of the material

bodies which we presently occupy.

 

Q 4.9) When you are reincarnated is it always the same gender?

 

Ans.

Not necessarily. In fact it is said that if one is too attached to the

opposite sex, they will be attain a body of the opposite gender in their

next life!

 

Questions on Prasadam

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Q 4.10) If prasadam is spiritual why does it decay like normal food does

in a

day or so.

 

Ans:

Prasadam is spiritualized by virtue of its contact with the Supreme Lord.

Prabhupada gives the example of iron rod and fire. The iron rod kept in

fire acts like fire, but is not fire itself. Prasadam is spiritual in that

it has been accepted by Krishna, and thus it has a spiritualizing effect

on those who partake of it. Nevertheless, it is still made of material

elements and appears to our mundane vision as undergoing material

transformations. The same applies to the deity forms of the Lord

(archa-vigraha), the body of a pure devotee, the holy dhama (place of

pilgrimage) and the sacred scriptures.

 

An advanced devotee, however, would be able to see the actual spiritual

nature of each of these items, and would never consider them according to

their material appearance, just as Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was accepting

old and spoiled remnants of Jagannath maha prasadam as delightful mercy of

Lord Jagannath.

 

Q 4.11) Some devotees insist that, while taking prasadam, only those who

have not eaten can serve; they say that those who have just eaten are

unclean. How can one be unclean while taking in prasadam? One added point

is that if we were to be taking prasadam in a house where we would like to

have all of the family members honor prasadam simultaneously, it would not

be possible to do so if we insisted on the above rule.

 

Ans.

The general principle is that after eating, one must at least wash one’s

mouth, hands and feet, before touching other things, especially kitchen

utensils which are used in Krishna’s service (like serving utensils).

Although prasadam is transcendental and purifying, while eating our hands

touch our mouth (either directly or with a spoon or fork), which is not

clean. The minimum Vedic standard of cleanliness we should follow after

eating is that we must cleanse our hands and mouth thoroughly. Prior to

worship of an installed Deity in the Temple, one must fully bathe and put

on a clean set of clothes after eating.

 

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Saturday, May 12, 2001 (USA EST) Disappearance Sri Ramananda Raya

 

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Web Address : http://www.iskcondc.org

Email : mail

 

 

 

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