Krsna Consciousness Is Extremely Simple!

[Guest guest]

Dear Devotees, Here's Krishnasoft's newsletter for August 1999. ys, Vir

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KRSNA CONSCIOUSNESS IS EXTREMELY SIMPLE!

 

Welcome to the KrishnaSoft's Electronic Newsletter.

This is the August 1999 issue entitled: "Krsna Consciousness Is Extremely

Simple!".

WEB: http://www.krishnasoft.com; EMAIL: krishna (AT) krishnasoft (DOT) com or

vdayal (AT) castle (DOT) net

 

This newsletter now goes to over 1100 people who either have an interest in

Vedic science and/or spiritually entertaining multimedia technology.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

(1) Devotional Service Is Never Lost!

(2) Krsna Consciousness Is Extremely Simple!

(3) Expired Time Versus Experienced Time

(4) Feedback: There Can Only Be One Absolute Truth!

(5) Editorial Policy and Product List

 

 

1. DEVOTIONAL SERVICE IS NEVER LOST!

 

[The following is the ninth of a series of articles to present to the

benefits of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The multimedia Krsna CD published by

Krishnasoft presents the summary of the 10th Canto with parts from the 5th

Canto of this great spiritual masterpiece.]

 

In the July 1999 issue, we discussed how one can easily attain success by

following the orders of the Supreme Lord as received through the disciplic

succession:

 

"If one has unflinching faith in the Supreme Lord and the spiritual master,

the essence of all Vedic knowledge is revealed to him." (Bhag. 5.1.6)

 

This path of success is easy and sublime yet due to misuse of independence,

some people engage in devotional service and later give it up:

 

"A living entity misuses his little independence when he wants to lord it over

material nature. This misuse of independence, which is called maya, is ALWAYS

AVAILABLE, otherwise there would be no independence. Independence implies

that one can use it properly or improperly. IT IS NOT STATIC; IT IS DYNAMIC.

Therefore, misuse of independence is the cause of being influenced by maya."

(Bhag. 3.31.15)

 

So when one is VOLUNTARILY engaged in devotional service, he is a devotee;

when he is NOT engaged in devotional service, he is a nondevotee and is forced

to be in maya. It's one or the other. We already discussed in the previous

articles how this judgement cannot be made on the basis of dress, name, color,

sex, etc. Devotional service is the function of the dynamic conscious desire

of the living entity. So some person can engage in devotional service and

later give it up. So what happens to the devotional service that he performed

if he leaves his devotional service?

 

"Service rendered to the Supreme Lord, knowingly or unknowingly, never goes in

vain." (Bhag. 8.24.15)

 

Sometimes people join the Krsna consciousness movement and, after engaging in

devotional service for many years, go back to their material ways of life.

This should be no reason to mock such personalities since all their devotional

service-- chanting, hearing, preaching, etc.-- is an eternal asset.

 

"Somehow or other, if one is attracted to Krsna, whatever he does in

devotional service is a permanent asset. Even if one falls down due to

immaturity or bad association, his devotional assets are never lost." (Bhag.

5.14.43)

 

In the July 1999 newsletter, we proved how a disciple is one who is

surrendered [committed] to the instructions of the spiritual master. This is

the basis of devotional service. So if one has received the instructions of

the Supreme Lord through a personality who at the time was engaged in

devotional service, the instructions are STILL VALID although the personality

may no longer be engaged in devotional service! Of course, the sadhus and the

principles of the Bhagavatam are there to confirm such instructions are

in-line with devotional service:

 

"Without personal service, one would go on speculating like the impersonalists

and dry speculators life after life and would be unable to reach the final

conclusion. By following the instructions of the bona fide spiritual master

in CONJUNCTION with the principles of revealed scriptures, the student will

rise to the plane of complete knowledge, which will be exhibited by

development of detachment from the world of sense gratification." (Bhag.

2.9.37)

 

Since the instructions of the bona fide spiritual master are actually Krsna's

instructions and not some mortal's concoctions, the instructions are divine.

So one should feel appreciation and/or indebtedness to the person who has

imparted and explained the divine instructions and thus cleared away our path

of spiritual life or brought us from the material platform to the spiritual

platform. Although the person may not be physically present or EVEN no longer

engaged in devotional service, one should continue to follow his divine

instructions [that were imparted while he was engaged in devotional service]:

 

"When the braahmana asked the woman who the man lying on the floor was, she

answered that he was her spiritual master and that she was perplexed about

what to do in his absence. At such a time the Supersoul immediately appears,

provided the devotee is purified in heart by following the directions of the

spiritual master. A sincere devotee who follows the instructions of the

spiritual master certainly gets direct instructions from his heart from the

Supersoul . Thus a sincere devotee is always helped directly or indirectly by

the spiritual master and the Supersoul . This is confirmed in

Caitanya-caritaamrta: guru-krsna-prasaade paaya bhakti-lataa-biija. If the

devotee serves his spiritual master sincerely, Krsna automatically becomes

pleased . Yasya prasaadaad bhagavad-prasaadah. By satisfying the spiritual

master, one automatically satisfies Krsna." (Bhag. 4.28.52)

 

Therefore, in the beginning of the Bhagavatam cover, it is said, "He lives

forever by his divine instructions and the follower lives with him." To

accept a bona fide spiritual master means to accept his divine instructions.

One can pay off the debt to such a personality by following his instructions

and going back to Godhead because this guarantees even the deliverance of the

spiritual master:

 

"This incident proves that the siksa- or diksa-guru who has a disciple who

strongly executes devotional service like Dhruva Maharaja can be carried by

the disciple even though the instructor is not as advanced. Although Suniiti

was an instructor to Dhruva Mahaaraaja, she could not go to the forest because

she was a woman, nor could she execute austerities and penances as Dhruva

Maharaja did. Still, Dhruva Maharaja was able to take his mother with him.

Similarly, Prahlaada Maharaja also delivered his atheistic father,

Hiranyakasipu. The conclusion is that a disciple or an offspring who is a very

strong devotee can carry with him to Vaikunthaloka either his father, mother

or siksa- or diksa-guru." (Bhag. 4.12.33)

 

Some people speculate that one should "RESURRENDER" to another spiritual

master and get newer instructions, names, vows, etc. but this is pure mental

speculation and can be highly offensive depending on the nature of the "new"

instructions received. This idea of "resurrender" is not mentioned anywhere

in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Since Srimad-Bhagavatam is the Absolute Truth

(complete and nothing lacking), if some principle is not mentioned, it is NOT

NEEDED. Krsna does not play games in such serious matters; whatever

principles Lord Krsna wants us to follow are in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. For

clarification of the same principle, one can refer to Bhagavad-gita and

Caitanya-caritamrta which also do not support such a bogus idea:

 

"The expert spiritual master knows well how to engage his disciple's energy in

the transcendental loving service of the Lord, and thus he engages a devotee

in specific devotional service according to his special tendency. A devotee

must have ONLY ONE initiating spiritual master because in the scriptures

acceptance of more than one is always forbidden. There is no limit, however,

to the number of instructing spiritual masters one may accept. Generally a

spiritual master who constantly INSTRUCTS a disciple in spiritual science

becomes his initiating spiritual master later on.... There is no difference

between the spiritual master's instructions and the spiritual master himself.

IN HIS ABSENCE, THEREFORE, HIS WORDS OF DIRECTION SHOULD BE THE PRIDE OF THE

DISCIPLE." (CC Adi 1.35)

 

Some people speculate that if a person stops engaging in devotional service,

he was never a Vaisnava, but we see from the Bhagavatam that the state of a

devotee is a dynamic condition. To mock the devotional service rendered by a

personality no longer engaged in devotional service is very offensive. For

example, if a cow is giving us milk to nourish our body and later if the cow

becomes diseased and stops giving good milk, that is no excuse to reason that

the cow was always bad. Another example is if a teacher instructs you about

some subject matter but later gives up the teaching field or becomes unfit to

teach, that does not mean all of the students' knowledge will disappear or the

teacher's instructions are invalid:

 

"A devotee's achievement, however is never lost by the influence of time.

Even if a devotee cannot completely execute devotional service, in his next

life he begins from the point where he left off." (Bhag. 4.24.56)

 

"In other words, devotional service which is rendered by the devotee in this

lifetime can never be destroyed by time. Such spiritual assets remain

unchanged, being beyond the influence of time." (Bhag. 4.24.56)

 

Therefore, all the x-devotees who did devotional service such as artwork, book

distribution, book editing, chanting, dancing, Bhakta-training, explaining

divine instructions, and Deity worship have not lost anything. Instead, their

devotional service has protected them from the most dangerous conditions of

the material world and will give them the opportunities to once again take up

devotional service and go back to Godhead.

 

 

2. KRSNA CONSCIOUSNESS IS EXTREMELY SIMPLE!

 

Actually, Krsna consciousness is a VERY SIMPLE process but due to the

various crocodile theories formed by mental speculations the process appears

difficult. Here's the essence of Krsna consciousness:

 

(1) We are struggling/suffering in the material world because we are engaged

in service to matter rather than service to the Supreme Personality of

Godhead, Lord Krsna.

(2) By re-engaging in our natural function of loving devotional service to the

Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna, we are correctly situated and

become happy and blissful.

(3) Devotional Service transcends matter-- earth, water, fire, air, ether,

mind, intelligence, and false ego. [so mental speculators (jnanis), yogis,

frutive workers, mayavadis, etc. cannot help you.]

(4) The only way we can engage in devotional service is to meet someone who is

already engaged in such service and FULLY ASSIST him by serving his

instructions. [in rare cases, Krsna Himself gives us our devotional service.]

(5) Once we receive this devotional service by the mercy of the spiritual

master and Lord Krsna, we should become fixed in carrying out this service;

thus we transcend matter (including mind) and are on our way back to Godhead.

 

QED. That's it. The sastras are propounding these principles in various ways

by many examples and also giving us the knowledge to defeat all the various

theories that deviate from these principles. The difficulties are caused by

various mental speculators and sahajiyas:

 

"There are many big leaders, yogis, svamis and so-called incarnations who are

very much addicted to mental speculation and who advertise themselves as

perfect personalities, but they are not ultimately successful. The path of

devotional service is undoubtedly very difficult to follow, but it becomes

very easy if the candidate actually wants to follow the path of the mahajana."

(Bhag. 5.14.42)

 

"I offer my obeisances to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by whose mercy even an

ignorant child can swim across the ocean of conclusive truth, which is full of

the crocodiles of various theories." (CC Adi 2.1)

 

 

3. EXPIRED TIME VERSUS EXPERIENCED TIME

 

The philosophy of Krsna consciousness is very simple and at the same time

because it is coming from the supremely intelligent person in the universe,

Lord Krsna, it can only be understood by paramahamsas who have SUPER

intelligence:

 

"By ardent love and devotional service to the Lord, or in other words by

spiritual contact with the Lord, everything becomes spiritually reddened like

the conchshell in the grip of the Lord, and the paramahamsa, or the SUPREMELY

INTELLIGENT PERSON, plays the part of the ducking swan in the water of

spiritual bliss, eternally decorated by the lotus flower of the Lord's feet."

(Bhag. 1.11.2)

 

No ordinary person can actually equal or exceed the intelligence of Lord

Krsna, but Lord Krsna REVEALS Himself to the devotees (BG 10.10) and thus they

are able to understand Him. So it's not by mental speculation but by

devotional service that the devotees become SUPER intelligent and can defeat

all the puffed-up scientists and scholars propagating fallacious theories.

 

So, the best thing is to engage in devotional service and accept Lord Krsna's

inconceivable energy to reveal everything to us:

 

"Lord Brahma stressed herein that without accepting the inconceivable energy

of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, ONE CANNOT EXPLAIN THINGS AS THEY ARE."

(Krsna book, chapter 14)

 

For example, here's an example of a statement of the Bhagavatam which may seem

unbelievable for some mental speculators to accept simulataneously with other

statements:

 

"The material activity of the living being is beginningless, but it can be

rectified by transferral into the spiritual quality." (Bhag. 1.15.27)

 

How does one understand such a statement with the millions of references

elsewhere to our original home being Vaikuntha like:

 

"My dear gentle friend, both you and I are exactly like two swans. We live

together in the same heart, which is just like the Manasa Lake. Although we

have been living together for many thousands of years, we are still far away

from our original home." (Bhag. 4.28.54)

 

Devotees accept both statements literally: our original home is Vaikuntha AND

our material activity is beginningless. The goal is to go back from where we

came, back to Godhead. Krsna is all-powerful and He can do anything. Mental

speculators find it inconceivable to their tiny brains how Krsna can do both

because they try to bring Krsna within their mental grasp which is impossible.

These mental speculators go as far as trying to juggle words and reinterpret

the sastras to make the words fit their theory but the sastras are

self-evident:

 

"The Vedic injunctions are self-authorized, and if some mundane creature

adjusts the interpretations of the Vedas, he defies their

authority....[Vyasadeva's] work, the Vedanta-sutra, is as dazzling as the

midday sun, and when someone tries to give his own interpretations on the

self-effulgent sunlike Vedanta-sutra, he attempts to cover this sun with the

cloud of his imagination." (Bhag. Intro)

 

One has to accept the entire sastra LITERALLY. Some sahajiyas claim that the

author of the text is trying to trick us but this is due to their lack of

realization and poor fund of knowledge. There are no tricks or words of

jugglery in the sastra; everything must be understood AS IT IS and repeated AS

IT IS:

 

"The guru, or the bona fide spiritual master, is competent to teach the

disciple in the right path with reference to the context of all authentic

Vedic literature. HE DOES NOT ATTEMPT TO JUGGLE WORDS to bewilder the

student." (Bhag. 2.9.37)

 

The words "material activity is beginningless" is given within the reference

of time but the Supreme Lord is the controller of time:

 

"O my Lord, everything within material nature is limited by time, space and

thought . Your characteristics, however, being unequaled and unsurpassed, are

always transcendental to such limitations . You sometimes cover such

characteristics by Your own energy, but nevertheless Your unalloyed devotees

are always able to see You under all circumstances ." (CC Adi 3.89)

 

So the time we experience and the time that expires is under Lord Krsna's

control:

 

"In one night, therefore, they enjoyed the company of Krsna as their beloved

husband, but that night was not an ordinary night. It was a night of Brahma,

and lasted millions nad millions of years. Everything is possible for Krsna,

for He is the supreme controller." (Krsna book, chapter 32)

 

Once Lord Brahma stole the calves and cowherd boys from Vrndavana but within a

moment when he returned, all the calves and cowherd boys were still there as

before playing with Lord Krsna. However, one year had expired in Vrndavana.

Bhagavad-gita states that 1000*4,320,000 years is equal to 12 hours of Lord

Brahma. There are other examples in Vedic literature where the experienced

time in the material world is insignificant in comparison to the expired time:

 

"I worship Govinda, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all

causes, whose plenary portion is Maha-Visnu. All the heads of the

innumberable universes [the Brahmas] live only by taking shelter of the time

occupied by one of His breaths." (Bhag. 3.11.38)

 

Even on Brahmaloka, Lord Brahma lives only for the duration of time occupied

by one breath of Mahavisnu. Mental speculators cannot accept this

inconceivable potency of Lord Krsna. For them, we will give one simple

example in mathematics how beginningless material activity within time can all

be experienced by the living entity within a short time:

 

Let F(t) be a function defining the relationship between the the expired time

t to the fractional experienced time.

 

Our history of beginningless material activity then means that time t goes

from -infinity (-inf) to -1 (zero being our present).

 

The total experience in the material world of the living entity is then the

sum of F(t) for all t from -inf..-1. In calculus this is defined as the

integral from -inf..-1 of F(t).

 

But there are many functions, F(t), with infinite values for t that don't sum

to infinity. For example,

 

F(t) = 1/(t*t), t = -inf..-1

 

[Note: F(t)>0 for all t, -inf..-1, which is required since there's no such

thing as negative experienced time (time machine)].

 

INTEGRAL(F(t)) = INTEGRAL(1/(t*t)) = -1/t + C

 

Plugging in the range, t = -inf...-1:

 

-1/-1 - (-1/-inf) = 1 - 0 = 1

 

So this is an example where the total experience is equal to one although

expired time t is BEGINNINGLESS.

 

 

4. FEEDBACK: THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE ABSOLUTE TRUTH!

 

[Here's some feedback from last month's newsletter:]

 

> I am enlivened by your faith. Can you help to erradicate my doubts? Why can

 

>there not be more than one truth?

 

Because Absolute Truth means the ultimate truth about objective reality.

Either reality works as described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam or it works

according to some other description. Some people may have some facts about

reality (like other religions, science, etc.) but unless you have the complete

picture, it is NOT a presentation of the Absolute Truth. So if a person has

two different Bhagavatams, only one can be the Absolute Truth. Atheists say

neither but this [is] due to their lack of realizations or ever having

attempted to follow any process. For example, either Kalki-avatar is coming

or He is not. What is the reality? When you start searching for reality-

athata-brahma-jijnasa, then you have started on the path of self-realization.

When you have found the Absolute Truth (janmadya-asya-yatah), there is NO NEED

TO CONSIDER ANYTHING ELSE. Either everything else agrees with it or it's

bogus/incomplete. Take it logically, if there is more than one Absolute Truth

that differ from each other, it follows that the delta between them is either

right or wrong (part of the Absolute Truth or not).

 

> Do you believe all in Srimad Bhagavatam as literaly true? A lot of it

>sounds like tall tales and even though everything is inconceivable when

>broken down, there is little evidence to substantiate that such an advanced

>society existed 5000 years ago.

 

Everything is conceivable in the Srimad-Bhagavatam in devotional service;

everything is inconceivable for the mental speculators. Lord Krsna has the

right not to expose Himself to those who have no attitude of loving service

toward Him. So one learns the Srimad-Bhagavatam only by devotional service

and by hearing from those engaged in devotional service (sadhu-sanga). The

revelation is proportional to our degree of surrender. Those who are not

surrendered just see contradictions everywhere and ultimately become

frustrated and give up. Bhaktya-maam abhijanati. "Only by devotional

service, can I be understood as I am."

 

>There were various questions about our real home being Vaikuntha or if we

have always been in the

>material world:

 

Vaikuntha is our real original home as directly stated in so many ways

throughout the Srimad-Bhagavatam by using the words "Back to Godhead",

"revert", "revive", "back home", "original", etc. It's just that some people

take a few words out of context and speculate on them and then try to fit

everything else into their speculations. We have to accept all the statements

simultaneously and since Krsna is inconceivably great, He can do anything, but

we can only understand what He reveals to us by rendering devotional service

to Him. So follow/explain what you understand and just repeat everything else

AS IT IS because although we may not presently realize how it's all true,

someone else may. We were originally in the spiritual world AND our material

activity in the material world is beginningless! We have shown in this

newsletter how these statements are not necessarily contradictory. Here's

another reference using the word "lost":

 

"The human form of life is a chance to get out of this imprisoned life, and as

such the only occupation of the human being is to REESTABLISH his LOST

RELATIONSHIP with God." (Bhag. 1.5.15)

 

 

5. EDITORIAL POLICY AND PRODUCT LIST

 

Krishna Software Inc. is dedicated to help people become peaceful and happy

via spiritual science presented using modern multimedia technology. Our

editorial policy as well as our mission is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam

(10.2.37 Purport):

 

"One should engage in practical service to the Lord. In our Krsna

consciousness movement, *ALL* our activities are concentrated upon

distributing Krsna literature. This is very important. One may approach any

person and induce him to read Krsna literature so that in the future he also

may become a devotee.... By fully concentrating on distributing books for

Krsna, one is fully absorbed in Krsna."

 

Our newsletters are geared to show you the benefits of the instructions

contained in the transcendental books of Srila Prabhupada so you can judge for

yourself the value of these books and obtain them in book or CDROM format.

 

Krishna Software Inc. has produced some multimedia CDROMs and all the details

of these CDROMs can be found at our website http://www.krishnasoft.com. Here

is our current list of products:

 

(a) Multimedia Bhagavad-gita As It Is CD: Lord Krsna's eternal instructions to

Arjuna and the rest of the world about Isvara (Supreme Lord), jiva (the soul),

karma (activities), kala (time), and prakrti (nature). This is a 30-hour

audio-visual CDROM.

 

(b) Multimedia Bhagavad-gita As It Is Hindi CD: Same as (a) but with Hindi and

English translations; currently available on CD-R only.

 

© Multimedia Krsna CD w/Vedic Astronomy game: This is a 51-hour audio-visual

presentation of the Krsna book and a Vedic Astronomy game based on the Fifth

Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. All on a single CDROM. Free sample demo

downloadable.

 

(d) Multilingual Word Processor CD [version 4.00]: Type in diacritics, Hindi,

Sanskrit, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, and Assamese without knowing the

alphabet. This is for those who want to write articles using multiple

languages. Free demo downloadable.

 

All of the above software was tested on various Intel 486 and Pentium

processors running Windows 3.1, Windows '95, Windows '98, and Windows NT

(client and server).

 

Latest pricing and ordering information is at our web site:

http://www.krishnasoft.com.

------

End of Newsletter- written and edited by KSI staff; © 1998-1999 Krishna

Software Inc.

Our staff consists of: Hari Rama Dasa, Rajni Dayal, Virender Dayal and a few

part-time volunteers.

 

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All glories to Lord Sri Krsna and His transcendental potencies! All glories

to the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the literary incarnation of Lord Sri Krsna!