BEYONS THE LAWS OF NATURE

February 6, 2008

In materialistic life we cannot control our senses and mind. The

mind is dictating, "Enjoy your senses in this way," and we are

enjoying our senses. Materialistic life means sense gratification. This sense

gratification process is going on life after life. In the many varieties of life there

are different standards of sense gratification. Krsna is so kind that He has

given us full liberty to gratify our senses. We are part and parcel of Krsna; we have small particles of all

the desires of Krsna. Our existence is a small particle of God's, just like a

small particle of gold which has all the qualities of the original gold. Krsna

has the propensity for sense gratification. He is the original sense

gratifier. It is stated in Bhagavad-gita that Krsna is the supreme enjoyer. Our

enjoying spirit exists because it exists originally in Krsna. The Vedanta-sutra says that everything originates from Krsna.

Param Brahman, or the Absolute Truth, means that from which everything is

generated. Therefore, our desire for sense gratification is coming from Krsna. Here is

the perfect sense gratification--Krsna and Radharani. Young boys and girls are

similarly trying to enjoy their senses, but where is this propensity coming

from? It is coming from Krsna. Because we are part and parcel of Krsna, the

quality of desire for sense gratification exists within us. But the

difference is that we are trying to gratify our senses in the material world; therefore

we are perverted. In Krsna consciousness one gratifies his senses in

association with Krsna. Then it is perfect. For example, if there is a nice sweetball or some nice foodstuff

and the finger picks it up, it cannot enjoy. The foodstuff has to be given

to the stomach, and then the finger can also enjoy. Similarly, we cannot

gratify our senses directly. But when we join with Krsna, when Krsna enjoys,

then we can enjoy. That is our position. The finger cannot eat anything

independently; it cannot enjoy the nice sweetball. The finger can pick it up and put

it in the stomach, and when the stomach enjoys, then the finger enjoys. We have to purify the propensity of material sense gratification.

That is Krsna consciousness. For Krsna consciousness we have to be

purified. What is that purification? We cannot enjoy anything directly, so we have

to enjoy through Krsna. For example, we take prasadam. The nice prasadam,

the foodstuff that is prepared, is not taken directly--we take it through Krsna.

First of all, we offer to Krsna, and then we take it. What is the difficulty? There is no difficulty, but you become

purified. The eating process is the same, but if you eat directly then you

become materialistically encumbered. If you offer to Krsna, however, and

then take it, then you become freed from all contamination of material life.

That is stated in Bhagavad-gita. Devotees take prasadam after offering it to Krsna.

That is called sacrifice. Whatever you offer to Krsna or Visnu is called sacrifice. Whatever we do here, within this material world, is some sort of sinful

activity, even if we do not know it. Killing is sinful activity, even if we do not kill

willingly. When you walk down the street you are killing many animals.

Whenever you drink water, you are also killing. Below a water pot there are many ants

and microbes that are being killed. Whenever you light a fire, there are many

small microbes that also burn in the fire. When you grind spices with a mortar

and pestle, many small microbes are killed. We are responsible for this. Willingly or unwillingly, we are

becoming entangled in many sinful activities. Therefore, Bhagavad-gita says

that if you take the remnants of foodstuff after offering sacrifice, you

become freed from all contamination. Otherwise, one who cooks to eat personally

without offering to Krsna is simply eating sinful reactions. This is our position.

Therefore, it is stated that because people generally cannot control their senses, they engage in the materialistic way of life in which repeated birth and death

in different species takes place. I do not know what is my next life, but the next life will come.

Before us there are many species of life; I can take birth in any one of

them. I can become a demigod, I can become a cat, I can become a dog, I can

become Brahma-- there are so many forms of life. In the next life I shall have to

accept one of these forms, even if I do not want to. Suppose someone asks,

"In your next life would you like to take the form of a dog or a hog?" I would

not like it. But the law of nature says that after giving up this body, when I am not

existing in this body any more, I will have to accept another body according

to my karma. That is in the hands of nature. It is arranged by superior

supervision. You cannot order, "Give me the body of Brahma, give me the body

of Indra or a king or something exalted." That is not in your hands or in my

hands; that will be judged by the superior agency of God, Krsna, and you will be given

a body. Therefore, it is our duty to prepare a body which will help us go

back to Krsna. That is Krsna consciousness. Prahlada Maharaja, a great authority, says that one must take

instruction from others. One must take instruction from a guru, a spiritual

master. One should not take instruction from anyone unless one accepts him as

a guru. But even one who has a nice guru cannot remain Krsna conscious if he

is determined to remain in this material world. If my determination is to remain

in this material world to enjoy material life, then for me Krsna

consciousness is impossible. Everyone in the material world is engaged in all kinds of

political, philanthropic and humanitarian activities to make material life

happy and prosperous, but this is not possible. One should understand that

in the material world, however one may try to make adjustments, he cannot be

happy. To cite an example I have given many times, if you take a fish out of water,

you can give it a very comfortable velvet bedstead, but still the fish cannot

be happy; it will die. Because the fish is an animal of the water, it cannot be

happy without water. Similarly, we are all spirit soul; unless we are in

spiritual life or in the spiritual world, we cannot be happy. That is our position. Everyone is trying for that spiritual realization. But we do not

know. Therefore, we are trying to be happy here, in material conditions.

We are becoming frustrated and confused. Therefore, we have to withdraw this understanding that we shall be very happy by making adjustments to

this material world. Then Krsna consciousness will be effective. The boys and girls who are our students have been very scornful of

the materialistic way of life. Their fathers and guardians are not

poor. There is no scarcity of food or material enjoyments. Why are they being

frustrated? You may say that because India is poverty-stricken the

people are frustrated, but why have American boys and girls been frustrated? That is the proof

that the materialistic way of life cannot make you happy. You may go on for

some time trying to become happy, but happiness will never come from

materialistic life. That is a fact. Those who are trying to be happy by making

material adjustments cannot take to Krsna consciousness. Frustration and confusion with

materialistic life is the qualification to come to Krsna consciousness. These

boys and girls have a good qualification; they are coming to Krsna consciousness.

There is a verse in Srimad-Bhagavatam which states that sometimes to show

special favor to His devotees Krsna takes away all one's material opulence. For

example, the Pandavas were bereft of their kingdom, although Krsna was present

there. Krsna was present as their friend, and still they were bereft of their

kingdom. They lost their property, their wife was insulted, and they were driven

away to the forest. This question was posed by Yudhisthira Maharaja to Krsna.

"How is it," he inquired indirectly, "that You are our friend and that we are

put into such difficulty?" Krsna replied to Yudhisthira Maharaja,

"This is My special favor." Sometimes we cannot understand the special favor of Krsna. So this frustration of the American and English boys with the

materialistic way of life is a good sign for accepting Krsna consciousness. Of

course, one does not need to become poor to take to Krsna consciousness. But

if anyone has the desire to become spiritually advanced while at the same time

enjoying material life, that is not possible. These are two contradictory

aspirations.One must become determined to be happy in spiritual life. That is

real happiness. This human form is especially meant for coming to that standard of

spiritual life by tapasya, by voluntarily rejecting the materialistic way of

life. In the history of India there were many great kings like Bharata Maharaja who even at a very young age practiced tapasya. Bharata Maharaja at the age of only twentyfour years left his young wife, young children and the whole empire

Bharatavarsa and went to the forest for meditation. There are many such

instances. Prahlada Maharaja was questioned by his father, Hiranyakasipu, "Who

has taught you this Krsna consciousness?" A king's son does not mix with anyone else; he simply takes lessons from the appointed teachers. How is it then that

this boy, who was only five years old, was so Krsna conscious? His father was

surprised, so he asked him, "How have you taken to Krsna consciousness?"

The answer was, "My dear father, Krsna consciousness cannot be achieved by a person like

you, whose job is always simply to enjoy this material world." Hiranya means

gold, and kasipu means softly cushioned bed. Materialistic life is spent chewing the chewed. Take, for

instance, a father. A father knows that he has responsibilities, so he works hard to

maintain his family. It is very difficult to keep the high standard of living

in this age, so one must work very hard and engage one's son in the same way. In

spite of very bad experience with materialistic life, still one engages his son

in the same way. This happens again and again, so it is like chewing chewed

things. Once I have chewed sugar cane and taken its juice, it is thrown out in

the street, and if someone wants to taste it to see how sweet it is, he is chewing

the chewed. Similarly, we don't have very good experience with this

materialistic life, this hard struggle for life, but human beings, as it is stated in the

Srimad- Bhagavatam, are born of the quality of passion. There are three

qualities in the material world: goodness, passion and ignorance. Because people

are in the mode of passion, they love to work very hard. That hard work is

considered happiness. In London you will see everyone engaged in hard work. In the

morning, all the buses and trucks travel with great speed, and people go to the

office or factory from morning until late at night. They work hard, and it is called

advancement of civilization. Some of them are frustrated; they don't want it.

There will be frustration--after all, it is hard work. Hogs, too, are working hard day and night, thinking, "Where is stool? Where is stool?"That

is their business. Therefore, in one sense this kind of civilization is a hog and dog

civilization. It is not human civilization. Human civilization means sobriety.

One should be inquisitive. A human being should be inquisitive to know these

things: Who am I? Why am I put into this condition of working very hard to get only

a few grains? Why am I in this uncomfortable situation? Where did I come from?

Where do I have to go? The Vedanta-sutra begins by stating that a human being

should be inquisitive to know who he is, where he comes from, and where he

has to go. Krsna consciousness is for those who have come to detest this

material world. They are good candidates for developing Krsna consciousness. They

will inquire why these men are working so hard and what their goal in life is. That is answered in Srimad-Bhagavatam. people are working so hard

because they do not actually know what the goal of life is. Everyone says

that he is looking after his self-interest, but he does not know what his

self-interest is. Na te viduh svartha-gatim hi visnu. He should know that his real

self-interest is to make progress toward Visnu, the Supreme Personality of

Godhead. They do not know this. Why don't they know it? Because they have hopes

which are very difficult to fulfill. I may hope for something which is possible;

that is good. But if I hope for something which is never possible, that is hope

which will never be fulfilled. We are a composition of the external and internal energies of God.

The gross external energy is this gross material body, and the subtle external

energy is the mind, ego and intelligence. Behind both energies--the gross

external energy and the subtle external energy--is the soul, the internal energy.

This body is made of earth, water, fire, air and ether. This is called gross

external energy, and there is also a subtle external energy of mind, intelligence

and false ego. And behind that, the soul is there. I am the proprietor of this body. Just as one is covered by a

shirt and coat which are external to his real body, similarly we are covered by

this gross body made up of earth, water, fire, air and ether, which is the gross

external energy of God, or Krsna, and the mind, ego and intelligence, which are

subtle. Thus we are covered. I may think that simply by having a nice shirt and coat I can be

happy, but is it possible? Unless you eat nicely, unless you sleep nicely,

unless you have your sense gratification, will you be happy simply by putting on a

costly shirt and coat? No. That is not possible. We want to be happy by

adjustment of this external energy. That cannot be. You are spirit soul--you must

have spiritual food, you must have a spiritual life, and then you can be happy.

As you cannot be happy simply by having a nice shirt and coat, similarly simply

by the materialistic way of life you cannot be happy. There is gross

matter and subtle matter. Gross matter includes high skyscraper buildings, machines,

factories, nice roads, good cars, etc. Subtle matter includes nice songs, poetry, philosophy, etc. People are trying to be happy with this gross and

subtle material existence. That cannot be. Why have people accepted this sort of civilization? Because they

are led by blind leaders. We are conducting this Krsna consciousness

movement, and very few are interested. But suppose we advertise some falsehood--"If

you follow this path, within six months you will become God, and you will be

all-powerful." Many people would come. This is actually one blind man leading other

blind men. Suppose one blind man says, "All right, come, follow me. I

shall help you crossing this busy Mulberry Street." He is blind, and the

followers are also blind. The result will be that they will be hit by some car or

truck and they will all die. We do not know that we are bound by the stringent laws of material

nature. How can we become free from this material bondage? We have to take

instruction from those who are not blind, whose eyes are opened and who are liberated from this material bondage. One must take instruction from such

persons, and then he will understand his self-interest. Otherwise, if one who is blind

takes instruction from a blind man, it will not be possible for him to

be liberated from material bondage. What is self-interest? What is the interest of a child when it is

crying? It is searching after the mother's breast. Anyone who knows this

immediately brings the child to its mother--"Take care of your child; he is

crying." The mother takes him to her breast, and the child is immediately happy. The

child cannot express what he wants, so he simply cries. But one who knows what

he is crying for helps him, and the child becomes happy. Similarly, because we

are part and parcel of Krsna, the Supreme Lord, the Supreme Personality of

Godhead, we are actually crying for Krsna. But these false leaders, these blind

leaders who do not know, are giving stone instead of bread. How can one be happy? I have already explained the gross external

energy and the subtle external energy. Those who are interested in this gross

and subtle external energy will never have their ambition of life fulfilled.

One who is interested in Visnu and in showing the path of Visnu is the real

friend. One who is giving Krsna consciousness is the real friend of the world. No

others can give happiness to human society. That is the explanation given by

Prahlada Maharaja. You cannot manufacture a process of happiness by tackling this

material energy. That is not possible because the material energy is not

under your control. It is controlled by the Supreme. How can you overpower

the material energy? It is not possible. That is explained in Bhagavad-gita. It

is not possible to overcome the stringent laws of material nature. Krsna

says, "It is My energy; I am the controller. But one can surrender unto

Me." All the material activities of the cosmic manifestation are going

on just to bring the rebellious souls back to Godhead. That is the situation.

Maya's stringent laws are there. Why? What is the purpose of the police

force or the military force? The purpose is to keep the citizens obedient to

the state. If a citizen is disobedient to the state law, he is immediately put

into police custody. Similarly, anyone who has rebelled against the

superiority of God is put under the stringent laws of material nature, and he must

suffer. That is the position. Therefore, his self-interest is to seek out the Supreme

Personality of Godhead and surrender unto Him. That will make him happy.

Otherwise, if he simply tries to accept material things and become happy, that is

not possible. Prahlada Maharaja gives a hint as to how one can seek out the path

of Visnu, or Krsna consciousness. He says that we have created so many

unnecessary things and become entangled by them. In the beginning of

Srimad-Bhagavatam it is stated that we should desire to get out of this unnecessary trouble and

to be free from the problems which are created. This morning I saw a picture of Berlin which was sent by one of my disciples. I have been to Berlin and to Moscow,

and both are very nice cities. Berlin is a very nice city and London is also a

very nice city, but why do the people engage in fighting and bombing every

other city? Why has this happened? Because they have lost their interest in Visnu,

God. Therefore, they are thinking, "You are my enemy; I am your

enemy," and they fight like cats and dogs. But as soon as we come to the Visnu

understanding, the Krsna understanding, these advanced cities, these advanced

civilizations, can be maintained very nicely. You'll be happy, you'll eat nicely, dance

nicely, live nicely and go back home, back to Godhead. Enjoy this life and the

next life. That is our request. Everyone should take the Krsna consciousness movement seriously

and try to understand it seriously. It is authorized on the Vedic principle;

it is not something manufactured or unauthorized. We are opening centers in

different parts of the world to give an opportunity for people to understand