Genunine Service for Sri Krishna

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Hare Krishna,

"Genuine Service for Sri Krishna

The normal conception that people have about becoming renounced is that one goes off into the wilderness, an ashram, or a monastery and spends the remainder of one’s life in meditation and prayer. They think that renunciation means that you have to completely abandon the material society and live a cloistered life of seclusion. This, however, is in an imperfect and incomplete understanding of renunciation.

If someone walks into the Bank of America with a gun to rob the bank, he is considered to be not good because he is a thief. Similarly, if someone walks into the Bank of America and declares, “I renounce this bank,” he is also considered to be not good because he is a madman. The bank is not his to renounce. Both the positions, namely robbing the bank and renouncing the bank are artificial. Neither position is good.

Since we come to this world with no possessions and we also leave with no possessions we see clearly that our position is that we are possessionless. The only thing we possess is the false conception that we are the owners of this world. The actual owner is that person from whom everything has come. That is Sri Krishna, the Supreme Godhead. Therefore the real meaning of renunciation is simply to give up the false conception that we are the owners of anything.How do we make this a practical reality and not just a theoretical abstraction? That is the system known as bhakti yoga or Krishna consciousness. This amazingly easy and effective system brings one quickly to transcendental platform on which one can see everything in relationship with Bhagavan Krishna and engage everything in His service. When we are factually situated on this transcendental platform, Rupa Goswami calls this yukta vairagya, genuine renunciation. How do we solidly situate ourselves on this platform? Krishna tells us how in the Bhagavad-gita. He says, “Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, as well as whatever penances and austerities you may perform, should all be done as an offering unto Me.” This program of engaging everything in Krishna’s service can be practiced in all times, places, and circumstances. We can always think about Krishna and we can always, as far as possible, talk about Krishna. By offering

the results of all of our activities in His service we can do everything for Krishna in all times and in all situations. If I am writer, I can write about Krishna. If I am a singer, I can sing about Krishna. If I am a parent, I can raise my children to be devotees of Krishna. If I am earning money, I can donate that money for Krishna’s service. In this way everything becomes connected with Krishna and we become perfect yogis, perfect renunciates .

True renunciation is simply a matter of seeing things in the proper way and then acting always in harmony with that vision. Mere theoretical renunciation is not sufficient. Unless we practice what we’ve realized, our realization will remain incomplete and will eventually fade away. In Sanskrit language there are two terms given: jnana and vijnana. Jnana (pronounced gyana) means theoretical knowledge and vijnana (pronounced vigyana) is practical realization. I can say that I am not my body, but if I continue to think, speak, and act as if I am my body, I have obviously not realized that I am not my body. If I have actually realized that I am not my body, then I must always think, speak, and act as if I am not my body. This is one of the symptoms of someone who is genuinely self-realized, who is not merely a show-bottle pretender. Unfortunately nowadays the pretender bogus ‘gurus’ are everywhere. We have to be careful to find the bona fide spiritual master who can properly guide us in both jnana and vijana. He must give us the proper knowledge, and then he must also give us a practical system to perfectly implement that knowledge.

The Krishna consciousness system of renunciation is very practical and most genuine. It is not something bogus or concocted. It has been very carefully handed down through an unbroken succession of spiritual masters going back for thousands of years to the time when Lord Krishna was on this planet and even before that. When Krishna was speaking to Arjuna 5,000 years ago He referred to this as the very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme. If it was described as ancient 5,000 years ago, we can just imagine how far back in history it must go.

This system is very practical. It can be adopted by every man, woman, and child on the face of this planet. The government leader can see that the country or nation he is governing is the property of Krishna, and therefore must be managed in such a way that is pleasing to Krishna. The teacher can understand that his or her students are constitutionally the servants of Krishna, who have forgotten their original identities, and that therefore they have to be educated in such a way that their now dormant Krishna consciousness becomes revived. The parents can have a similar vision in regards to their children. The writers, the thinkers, the businessmen, the workers, and everyone on all levels throughout the society can see that everything is the property of Krishna and should therefore be fully utilized in His service. If this is taught and practiced throughout the

world, then immediate peace and prosperity will be the worldwide result. This is why Sri Krishna’ servants have fully dedicated their lives for spreading Krishna consciousness to every town and village. Our humble request is that you kindly join this mission to spread Sri Krishna’s glory to as many people as possible. This will make your life perfect .

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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