Inquiries Into the Absolute: Digest 140, Maintaining Individuality

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Digest 140, October 16th, 2005. Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami Maharaja

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Maintaining Individuality and Making Desires One with Lord Krsna's Desires

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Q 1) I have trouble in understanding the Bhagavad Gita purports to text 16 and

17 of 5th chapter. The last line of purport to text 16 is "...Identity with

individuality in spiritual life is real knowledge." The last two lines of the

purport to text 17 are "...A Krishna conscious person can thoroughly understand

that there is duality (simultaneous identity and individuality) in Krishna,

and, equipped with such transcendental knowledge, one can make steady progress

on the path of liberation."

 

Please explain how does the living entity maintain his individuality? I have a

specific nature. After becoming Krishna conscious, I change all my desires to

fulfill Krishna's desire. So, how do we maintain our individuality?

 

Answer: Fulfilling Krishna's desire or surrendering to His will does not

require giving up one's individuality. We are not expected to become something

like an automaton programmed to follow commands from the Lord. Liberated souls

have variegated desires to serve the Lord according to their own specific

individual natures, and the Lord is very pleased to reciprocate with them in

different ways.

 

Srila Prabhupada explains this in Isopanishad: "(We should) play the part

designated for us by the Lord. This does not mean that the individual soul has

no initiative of his own. Because he is part and parcel of the Lord, he must

partake of the initiative of the Lord as well. When a person properly utilizes

his initiative, or active nature, with intelligence, understanding that

everything is the Lord's potency, he can revive his original consciousness."

(Isopanishad Mantra 4 purport)

 

As infinitesimal part and parcel of the Lord, each of us has our minute

individuality. In the conditioned state, the soul's desires are perverted and

his true nature is eclipsed due to association with the modes of material

nature; i.e. what we think of as our 'nature' in the conditioned state is

simply a designation based on the material body and mind. In the practice stage

of sadhana bhakti, we purify our desires by engaging them in Krishna's service

under the guidance of guru, sadhu and shastra.

 

Even in this condition, it is not recommended that we annihilate our desires,

but only replace them with desires for service to Krishna. In the initial

stages, our initiatives need to be taken up under careful guidance and based on

scriptural direction, because our capacity for proper use of free will and the

spontaneous attraction to serve Krishna have not yet awakened. The spiritual

master expertly helps us engage our particular natures in the Lord's service.

Through careful practice of regulated devotional service, our original nature

or individuality is revived.

 

When we speak of simultaneous oneness and individuality, the oneness refers to

oneness of interest with the beloved. In Nectar of Devotion (Chapter 40), there

is a description of the reverential devotion exhibited by Pradyumna, Krishna's

son. Pradyumna would immediately accept Krishna's orders as if nectar, even

though it may have been poison and reject whatever Krishna disapproved even if

he personally considered it nectar. In other words, devotees are not devoid of

personal tastes and preferences but they subordinate their will, out of love,

to that of their beloved. Sometimes, however, very exalted and intimate

associates of the Lord may even exhibit desires contrary to Krishna's wishes -

as we sometimes find in the activities of Lord Balarama or the gopis - but

their ultimate goal is simply to enhance the Lord's pleasure.

 

Question 2)

 

What is the word 'misgivings' in the translation to Bg. 5.17 mean?

 

Answer: Our misgivings are in relation to our understanding of the true nature

of the soul, Supersoul and the proper relation between them. As explained

within the purport, understand one's identity to be spirit soul but mistaking

it to be equal with the Supreme soul is a grave misgiving.

 

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Responses to Some Frequently Asked Questions (Karma, free-will, demigods, Lord

Siva, why are we here, how to control the mind, Deity worship, marriage, Jesus

Christ, spiritual and material relationships and morality of Lord Krsna's

conjugal pastimes, spiritual master, spirit soul/jiva/living entity):

http://www.iskcondc.org/cgi-bin/renderphilo.pl?digestname=digest999_faq

 

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