Inquiries Into the Absolute: Digest 192: What is the point of livingif there is death? How do we know if God is real and Lord Krishna'spastimes are real?

[Guest guest]

Digest 192, October 31st 2006. Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami Maharaja

You are welcome to send in your questions to His Holiness Romapada Swami at

iskcondc with the word "Question" included in the subject line.?

 

Why live if there is death?

***************************

 

Question: I have been wondering about a lot a issues related to religion. I

wonder if you can help me find some answers and direction. I sometimes feel

confused.

 

Knowing that we are going to die, what is the point of living?

 

Answer:[NOTE: This question was presented by a 13 year old. The language within

the answer has been chosen accordingly.]

 

Thank you for your very thoughtful questions. In answering your questions, I

will share with you the timeless wisdom as found in the Bhagavad-Gita, which

systematically addresses all these vital questions about the meaning and

purpose of our life.

 

According to Bhagavad-Gita's teachings, we are eternal living beings -- we are

not this body but eternal spirit souls residing in this body. Our real self,

the spirit soul, is never subject to death. The body is just like an outer

garment, or a vehicle, and it is the soul only that animates the body. When the

body becomes old or useless, the soul leaves that body and takes on a new body,

just like a person changing his dress, or giving up an old car and getting a

new one. Death, therefore, is not an end as it seems to us, but merely a

changing of body.

 

This present life and body, of course, are temporary and will come to an end,

and therefore too much absorption in accumulating material knowledge, wealth,

position, or superficial bodily relations in one sense does not have any

lasting value and thus are futile, because they will all be taken away at

death. And yet, whatever we do in our present life *IS* quite important in

another sense, because it decides what kind of future we are going to have.

Therefore it behooves us to live our life responsibly and in proper knowledge.

 

At death, we acquire a new body based on our previous activities (karma) and

desires, taking birth in any of 8.4 million species of life in any planet

within the universe! This continues in repeated cycles of birth, death and

transmigration. The human form of life is a very special opportunity in this

cycle, because in this human body alone, unlike those of animals, we are

endowed with intelligence to inquire into the purpose of this repeated cycle,

just as you are inquiring now. Unless one comes to this point of inquiry, his

human life is considered to be wasted, or lived in vain.

 

Because we are eternal, the prospect of death and changing bodies is very

unnatural, unpleasant and depressing. But the reason we find ourselves subject

to the unpleasantness of birth, death, diseases or old age or any other misery

of this world is only due to our having forgotten our real spiritual nature and

our relationship with God. Just like if you turn the lights off in your room

one night, you would neither be able to see yourself, nor the objects around

you, in the same way, God, Krishna is compared to the Sun and when we forget

Him or turn away from Him, then we are subject to a type of darkness called

ignorance or the illusory energy called Maya. Under its influence, people think

themselves to be identical with the body and think life as having no ultimate

goal or meaning, and abruptly ending in death. But as soon as we turn our

attention back to God, this illusion is removed.

 

The real purpose of this life then is to understand our real spiritual nature

and transfer our desires from matter to spirit, turn our attention back to God.

When we start acting in our relation with God, then even the ordinary

activities and relationships that we pursue in this life take on new meaning

and significance, instead of being temporary and illusory. Moreover, ultimately

it will put an end to this cycle of birth and death and enable us to go back to

our eternal home, where we can eternally engage in blissful loving service to

the Supreme Lord, without being subjected to the stringent laws of birth,

death, old age, disease and suffering.

 

This message, in effect, is the essence of any true religious system.

Bhagavad-Gita gives us very detailed, scientific descriptions of how we can

understand God, ourselves and our place in this material world. It also teaches

us the methods by which we can revive our forgotten relationship with God, the

best process being bhakti yoga, or performing devotional service to God and

calling upon His Holy Names, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare

Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

 

How do we know if God is real?

******************************

 

Question:>> How do we know if God is real?

 

Answer: One way we can come to understand or verify the existence of God is

simply by studying the meticulous organization of this universe and all the

things happening around us. There is such precise design, order and control in

the way everything in nature functions, from the gigantic planetary movements

down to the intricate workings of a cell. Is it not illogical to propose that

this vast universe is conducted so meticulously just by chance and for no

purpose?

 

>From our practical experience, we know that without much laborious planning,

organization and maintenance, everything quickly degrades to chaos. So who has

planned, organized and is maintaining the universe? Consider how is it that the

sun rises every morning without fail or why there isn't a tsunami or earthquake

every week, consider who has supplied all our necessities like fresh water, air

and food? Scientists would try to explain that away as natural laws which have

come by blind chance, but law means there must be a law-maker. Nothing in our

experience works automatically or by chance. A child may be amazed to see a

remote-controlled car and conclude that it is moving by itself, but an

intelligent person knows that somebody is operating it from behind the scenes.

Just because we cannot see the operator does not mean he doesn't exist!

 

Not just in the physical laws governing the universe, but there is order even

in subtler laws that govern human interactions. It is hardly rational or

meaningful to suppose that someone is born rich and another poor for no reason,

some are endowed with brilliant intelligence, and others are born blind or

crippled. There is reason and justice behind all these and there is a

Controller or law-maker -- we can come to this conclusion simply with a little

introspection, although our modern ways of education and artificial living

styles often rob us of opportunities for such introspection.

 

How do we know Lord Krishna's pastimes are real?

************************************************

 

Question:

>> How do we know if the stories of Krishna or of any other god ever

>> happened? Are they real? If you could answer these questions, I

>> would very much appreciate it.

 

Answer: By logic and reasoning, like we just did, we can come to the conclusion

that there must be God, or a Supreme Controller behind everything. But in order

to conclusively know Him and understand more about Him, what His name is, what

He looks like, what are His qualities - to know these we need to take the help

of scriptures and realized souls who already know Him. In this way, we come to

know that one of His principal name is Krishna, and of His various activities

and pastimes, because they are revealed in the Vedic scriptures. On their

authority, we accept Krishna.

 

How can we know for sure about anything at all, which is beyond the reach of

our sense perception? Only by hearing from proper authorities. How does someone

who has never been to Australia know that there really is such a continent on

the other side of the globe? By hearing from someone who has been there -

either in words or pictures or some such form. Similarly, if one wants to know

who his father is, the only way to be sure is to take the authority of the

mother. In the same way, we can be positively sure of God's existence and

particularly of the descriptions of Krishna being that Supreme Personality of

Godhead because of the fact that so many saintly personalities, with such

remarkable personal characters, have come throughout the ages and taught us the

science of God.

 

If you study the characters, credibility and conviction of these saintly

representatives of Krishna, it is one surely compelling reason which will

strengthen our faith in God. If you have not already had a chance, you might

appreciate acquiring a copy of the biography of Srila Prabhupada and studying

it. You will come to admire what an incredibly qualified individual he was -

his humility, compassion, concern for entire humanity and the sacrifices he

made, his deep faith and inner stability in the face of all kinds of

adversities and challenges, these are equally matched by his deep scholarly

knowledge, the brilliance of his logic and penetrating insight into all aspects

of life, even his astuteness in business, organization and leadership -- surely

such a person was not going to believe in some fairy tales and dedicate his

life for propogating them and worship Him, nor did he have any personal

motivation to mislead us with unverifiable facts. It would be hard to favorably

compare the caliber of such a person

with the personal lives & character of any other authorities in science or

philosophy that we so commonly tend to believe but rarely know. And this was

not just some individual's self-styled ideas, but that of an entire parampara,

generations of such highly qualified teachers striving to pass down these

messages to us intact and without any corruption, for the welfare all. In fact,

there were many such disciplic lines, all over the world and most certainly at

least in India, dedicated to purely worshiping Krishna for thousands of years.

 

We can also meditate and reflect upon the gravity and seriousness of the

setting in which the messages of Krishna are spoken. It was narrated by

Sukadeva Goswami while instructing King Pariksit, the emperor of the world at

that time, on the verge of his predicted death, to enable the king to fix his

mind on the transcendental activities of Krishna. At this most crucial time, in

the context of discussing one's duty at the time of death and other such

profound topics, we would not suppose that they would have discussed some

fictional stories which have no reality or substance.

 

Another very compelling proof is to study the lives of those who are, even

today, sincerely taking to hearing about Krishna regularly and living by these

messages. They are left with not just a few minutes of feelings of peace or

sense of well-being, but it brings about a total transformation of their lives

and character, making them very sober, compassionate and responsible

individuals developing all godly qualities. This is the potency of chanting

Krishna's holy names and hearing about His pastimes. Is it possible that any

ordinary person's name & activities, what to speak of a fictional character,

have such potencies that can bring about such transformations in the hearts of

people?

 

The merit of something is known by the result it produces. Or we could say, the

proof of the pudding is in eating. Of course, one who does not follow quite

faithfully, or due to misfortune follows an unauthorized person who is not

representing Krishna purely, these changes do not manifest for them, as in the

case of many so-called religious followers today. But those who do apply

themselves by proper means, the difference in their person is self-evident. And

you yourself can also personally not only verify but get to know God, Krishna,

personally and feel His reciprocation in your life by following these messages

given by Him and coming through His devotees in disciplic succession.

 

I hope this brings some clarity to you. I would be more than happy to try to

answer any further questions you may have.

 

 

**************************

Past Questions and Answers: All previous digests with responses to about 485

questions can be accessed at http://www.romapadaswami.com/Inquiries/

 

Related Sites: http://www.romapadaswami.com

Lectures: http://www.caitanya.com (username: guest password: caitanyacom)

Brief biography of His Holiness Romapada Swami:

http://www.romapadaswami.com/bio.html

**************************

 

Receiving Messages: To , change/add your email address please send

email to iskcondcr Please reply to this email at iskcondcr

if you choose to discontinue receiving these digests. If you have received the

"Inquiries Into the Absolute" digests despite requesting removal in the past,

please let us know immediately by emailing us at iskcondcr . If you

happen to be receiving these messages at multiple email addresses or your work

address, please let us know which email address you prefer to keep for the

longest time and let us know which ones we should delete.

 

Contact information for the purpose of "Inquiries Into the Absolute":

Email: iskcondcr

Postal Address: 10310 Oaklyn Drive, Potomac, MD 20854-3932