Self Realization

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Attaining Perfection

 

By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 

Knowing the Purpose of Life

 

Every thoughtful human being asks the fundamental question,

" What is the purpose of life ? " Unfortunately, our

difficulty in finding ultimate meaning is compounded by the

fact that thousands of conflicting philosophies, religions,

and ideologies and their proponents compete for our

loyalty. Here Srila Prabhupada provides some simple and

enlightening guidance.

 

Today's subject matter is our relationship with God. That

is self-realization. The sankirta movement is the easiest

process for self-realization because it cleanses the heart.

Our misunderstanding of our identity is due to the dust

covering the mirror of the mind. In a mirror that is

covered with dust one cannot see himself. But if it is very

clear, then one can see himself. So meditation is a process

for cleansing the heart. Meditation means to try to

understand one's relationship with the Supreme.

 

With everything with which we come in contact there is a

relationship. Because I am now sitting on this cushion, the

relationship is that I shall sit and the cushion will hold

me. You have relationships. You are Englishmen or Indians,

so there is a relationship with your society, with your

family, with your friends. So what is our relationship with

God ?

 

If you ask everyone, very few people will be able to

explain their relationship with God. They say, " What is God

? God is dead. I don't believe in God, not to speak of a

relationship. " Because these dirty things are covering

their hearts, they cannot see. We have a relationship with

everything - why do we not try to understand our

relationship with God ? Is that very intelligent ? No. That

is ignorance. All the creatures in this material world are

covered by the three modes of material nature. Therefore

they cannot see God. They cannot understand God, nor do

they try to understand Him. But God is there. In England in

the morning there is mist, so you cannot see the sun behind

the fog. But does this means that there is no sun ? You

cannot see it because your eyes are covered. But if you

send a telegram to another part of the world, they will

say, " Yes, the sun is here. We can see it. It is very

dazzling, full of light. " So when you deny the existence of

God or you cannot ascertain your relationship with God that

means that you are lacking in knowledge. It is not that

there is no God. We are lacking. The sun is not covered.

The sun cannot be covered. The fog or the cloud or the mist

does not have the power to cover the sun. How big the sun

is! It is so many times bigger than this earth. And the

clouds can cover at most ten or twenty or a hundred miles.

So how can the clouds cover the sun ? No. The clouds cannot

cover the sun. They cover your eyes. When an enemy comes

and a rabbit cannot defend himself, the rabbit closes his

eyes and thinks, " My enemy is now gone. " Similarly, we are

covered by the external energy of God and are thinking,

" God is dead. "

 

The Lord had three kinds of energies. In the Visnu Purana

there are descriptions of the energy of the Supreme Lord.

And in the Vedas also, in the Upanisads, there are

descriptions of the energies of the Supreme Lord. Parasya

saktir vividhaiva sruyate [svetasvatara Upanisad 6.8].

Sakti means " energy. " The Lord has multi-energies. The

Vedas say, " God has nothing to do. " We have to work because

we have no other means to exist - we have to eat, we wish

to enjoy this, that - but why should God work ? God does

not have to work. Then how can we say that God created this

universe ? Is that not work ? No. Then how did it happen ?

His multifarious energies are so strong that they are

acting naturally and are full of knowledge. We can see how

a flower blooms and grows and systematically displays

multi-colors: one side a little spot, another side a little

spot, white on one side, more white on the other side. The

butterfly also exhibits such artistic symmetry. So this is

all being painted, but in such a perfect way and so swiftly

that we cannot see how. We cannot understand how it is

being done, but it is being done by the energy of the Lord.

 

It is due to a lack of knowledge that people say that God

is dead, that there is no God, and that we have no

relationship with God. These thoughts have been compared to

the thoughts of a man haunted by a ghost. Just as a haunted

man speaks all nonsense, when we become covered by the

illusory energy of God, we say that God is dead. But this

is not a fact. Therefore, we need this chanting process to

cleanse our heart. Take to this simple process of chanting

the Hare Krsna mantra. In that way, in your family life, in

your club, in your home, on the road - everywhere - chant

Hare Krsna, and this darkness covering your heart, covering

your real position, will be removed. Then you'll understand

your real constitutional position.

 

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu recommended: ceto-darpana

marjanam. Marjanam means " cleanse, " and darpanam means

" mirror. " The heart is a mirror. It is like a camera. Just

as a camera takes all kinds of pictures of days and nights,

so also our heart takes pictures and keeps them in an

unconscious state. psychologists know this. The heart takes

so many pictures, and therefore it be comes covered. We do

not know when it has begun, but is a fact that because the

re is material contact, our real identity is covered.

Therefore ceto-darpana -marjanam: one has to cleanse his

heart. There are different processes to c leanse the heart

- the jnana process, the yoga process, the medita tion

process, pious activities. Karma also cleanses the heart.

If one a cts very piously, his heart will gradually be

cleansed. But although these processes are recommended for

cleansing the heart, in this age they are all difficult. To

follow the path of philosophical knowledge one must become

a very learned scholar, one must read so many books, one

must go to learned professors and scholars and speculate.

One must search out a person who has seen the light. So

these are all philosophical processes. Meditation is also a

recommended process. One should question, " What am I ? "

Just consider: Am I this body? No. Am I this finger? No,

this is my finger. If you contemplate your leg, you will

see, " Oh, this is my leg. " Similarly, you will find

everything to be " mine. " And where is that " I " ? Everything

is mine, but where is that " I " . When one is searching for

that " I, " that is meditation. Real meditation means

concentrating all the senses in that way. But that

meditation process is very difficult. One must control the

senses. The senses are dragging one outward, and one has to

bring them inward for introspection. Therefore there are

eight processes in the yoga system. The first is

controlling the senses by regulative principles. Then

sitting postures - that will help to concentrate the mind.

If one sits leaning over, that will not help; if one sits

up straight, that will help. Then controlling the

breathing, then meditation, then samadhi. But today these

are very, very difficult processes. No one can immediately

perform them. The so-called yoga processes are fragmental -

only the sitting postures and a few breathing exercises are

practiced. But that cannot bring one to the perfectional

state. The actual yoga process, although a recommended

Vedic process, is very difficult in this age. Similarly one

can try to get knowledge by the speculative philosophical

process: " This is Brahman, this is not Brahman, so what is

Brahman ? What is spirit soul ? " Such empiric philosophical

discussion is also recommended, but it is useless in this

age.

 

Therefore Caintanya Mahaprabhu - not only Caitanya

Mahaprabhu but also the Vedic literature - says:

 

harer nama harer nama

harer namaiva kevalam

kalau nasty eva nasty eva

nasty eva gatir anyatha

 

 

Kalau means " in this age. " Nasty eva, nasty eva, nasty eva

- three times nasty eva. Eva means " certainly, " and nasti

means " not. " " Certainly not, certainly not, certainly not, "

What is that " certainly not " ? One cannot realize oneself

by karma. That is the first " certainly not. " One cannot

realize oneself by jnana. That is the second " certainly

not. " One cannot realize oneself by yoga. Certainly not.

Kalau. Kalau means " in this age. " Kalau nasty eva nasty eva

nasty eva gatir anyatha. In this age one certainly cannot

achieve success by any of these three methods. Then what is

the recommended process ? Harer nama harer nama harer

namaiva kevalam. Simply chant the Hare Krsna mantra.

Kevalam means " only. " Simply chant Hare Krsna. It is the

easiest and most sublime process. This is recommended,

practical, and authorized. So take it. Accept it in any

condition of life. Chant. There is no expenditure, there is

no loss. We are not chanting a secret. No. It is open. And

by chanting you will cleanse your heart.

 

In this material world no one wants misery, but it comes.

Unexpectedly, like a forest fire that starts without

anyone's striking a match, it comes. No one wants a war,

but war is fought. No one wants famine, but famine comes.

No one wants pestilence, but it comes. No one wants

fighting, but there is fighting. No one wants

misunderstanding, but there is. Why ? This is like a

blazing fire in the forest. And it cannot be extinguished

by fire engines. This blazing fire of problems cannot be

extinguished by our so-called advancement of knowledge. No.

That is not possible. Just as one cannot extinguish a

forest fire by sending a fire engine or by bringing some

water, the problems of our life cannot be solved by

material processes.

 

There are many examples. Prahlada Maharaja says, " My dear

Lord, the father and mother are not actually the protectors

of the children. " The father and mother take care of their

children; that is their duty. But they are not the ultimate

protectors. When nature's law calls the child, the father

and mother cannot protect him. Therefore although generally

it is considered a fact that the father and mother are the

protectors of the child, actually it is not a fact. If

someone is sailing the ocean and he thinks he has a very

nice seat, will that protect him ? No. Still he may drown.

A nice airplane is flying in the sky, everyone is safe, but

all of a sudden it crashes. Nothing material can protect

us. Suppose someone is diseased. He may engage a good

physician who gives good medicine, but that will not

guarantee that he will live. Then what is the ultimate

guarantee ? Prahlada Maharaja says, " My dear Lord, if You

neglect someone, nothing can protect him. "

 

This is our practical experience. We can invent so many

methods to solve the problems presented by the laws of

material nature, but they are not sufficient. They will

never solve all the problems, nor will they give actual

relief. This is the fact. Therefore Krsna says in the

Bhagavad-gita, " Maya, this external energy is very, very

strong. No one can surpass it. It is almost impossible. "

Then how can one get free from this material nature ? Krsna

says, " Simply by surrendering unto Me one can get relief

from the onslaught of material nature. " That is a fact. So

we have to cleanse the heart to learn what is our

relationship with God.

 

In the Katha Upanisad it is stated, nityo nityanam cetanas

cetananam. The Supreme Absolute Personality of Godhead, or

the Absolute Truth, is eternal. God is eternal, and we are

also eternal. But the Vedas indicate that He is the supreme

living creature. He is not dead. If He is not living, how

is this world working ? In the Bhagavad-gita Krsna says,

" under My supervision things are going on. " In the Bible

also it is said, " God created. " That is a fact. Not that at

one time there was a chuck and then this happened and then

that . No. The Vedas tell us the actual facts, but we have

to open our eyes to see. Ceto- darpana-marjanam. That is

the process of cleansing our hearts. When we cleanse our

hearts, then we will be able to understand what Krsna and

the Vedas say. We need to be purified. If a man is

suffering from jaundice and you give him a piece of sugar

candy, he will say that it is very bitter. But is sugar

candy bitter ? No, it is very sweet. And the medicine for

jaundice is that sugar. Modern science prescribes this, and

it is prescribed in the Vedic literature also. So if we

take a great quantity of this sugar candy, then we will be

relieved from jaundice. And when there is relief, then one

says, " Oh, this is very sweet. " So the modern jaundice of a

godless civilization can be cured by this chanting of Hare

Krsna. In the beginning it may appear bitter, but when one

advances, then he will see how pleasing it is.

 

As soon as one understands his identity, his relationship

with God, then immediately he becomes happy. We are so full

of miseries because we have identified ourselves with the

material world. Therefore we are unhappy. Anxieties and

fearfulness are due to our misidentifying with the material

world. The other day I was explaining that one who

identifies with this bag of bones and skin is like an

animal. So by chanting Hare Krsna this misunderstanding

will be cleansed. Cleansing of the heart means that one

will understand that he does not belong to this material

world. Aham brahmasmi: I am spirit soul. As long as one

identifies oneself with England, with India, or with

America, this is ignorance. Today you are an Englishman

because you were born in England; but in your next life you

many not take your birth in England; it may be in China or

Russia or some other country. Or you may not get this human

form of body. Today you are a nationalist, you are a very

great follower of your country, but tomorrow if you stay in

your country you may be a cow being taken to the

slaughterhouse.

 

So we have to thoroughly know our identity. Caitanya

Mahaprabhu says that the actual identity of every living

creature is that he is the eternal servant of God. If one

thinks like that - " I am no one else's servant; my business

is to serve God " - then he is liberated. His heart is

immediately cleansed, and he is liberated. And after one

had reached that, then all one's cares and anxieties in

this world are over because one knows, " I am a servant of

God. God will give me protection. Why should I worry about

anything ? " It is just like a child. A child knows that his

mother and father will take care of him. He is free. If he

should go to touch fire, his mother will take care of him:

" Oh, my dear child, don't touch. " The mother is always

looking after him. So why don't you put your trust in God ?

Actually, you are under the protection of God.

 

People go to church and say, " God, give us our daily

bread. " Actually, if He did not give it to us, we would not

be able to live. That is a fact. The Vedas also say that

the one Supreme Personality supplies all the necessities of

every other living creature. God is supplying food for

everyone. We human beings have our economic problem, but

what economic problem is there in societies other than

human society ? The bird society has no economic problem.

The beasts have no economic problem. There are 8,400,000

species of life, and out of that, human society is very,

very small. So they have created problems - what to eat,

where to sleep, how to mate, how to defend. These are a

problem to us, but the majority of creatures - the

aquatics, the fish, the plants, the insects, the birds, the

beasts, and the many millions upon millions of other living

creatures - do not have such a problem. They are also

living creatures. Don't think that they are different from

us. It is not true that we human beings are the only living

creatures and that all others are dead. No. And who is

providing their food and shelter ? It is God. The plants

and animals are not going to the office. They are not going

to the university to get technological education to earn

money. So how are they eating ? God is supplying. The

elephant eats hundreds of pounds of food. Who is supplying

? Are you making arrangements for the elephant ? There are

millions of elephants. Who is supplying ?

 

So the process of acknowledging that God is supplying is

better than thinking, " God is dead. Why should we go to

church and pray to God for bread ? " In the Bhagavad-gita it

is said, " Four kinds of people come to Krsna: the

distressed, those who are in need of money, the wise, and

the inquisitive. " One who is inquisitive, one who is wise,

one who is in need of money - these four classes of men

approach God. " My dear God, I am very hungry. Give me my

daily bread. " That's nice. Those who approach God in this

way are recommended as sukrtinah. Sukrti means " pious. "

They are pious. Although they are asking for money, for

food, they are considered pious because they are

approaching God. And others are just the opposite. They are

duskrtinah, impious. Krti means " very meritorious, " but the

word duskrti indicates that their energy is being misused

to create havoc. Just like the man who invented atomic

weapons. He has a brain, but it has been misused. He has

created something that is dreadful. Create something that

will insure that man will no longer have to die. What is

the use of creating something so that millions of people

will immediately die ? They will die today or tomorrow or

after a hundred years. So what have the scientists done ?

Create something so that man will not die immediately, so

that there will be no more disease, so that there will be

no more old age. Then you will have done something. But the

duskrtinas never go to God. They never try to understand

God. Therefore their energy is misdirected.

 

The gross materialists who ignore their relationship with

God are described i n the Bhagavad-gita as mudhas. Mudha

means " ass, " " donkey. " Those who are working very, very

hard to earn money are compared to the donkey. They will

eat the same four capatis [whole-wheat bread-patties]

daily, but they are unnecessarily working to earn thousands

of dollars. And others are described as naradhama.

Naradhama means " the lowest of mankind. " The human form of

life is meant for God realization. It is the right of man

to try to realize God. One who understands Brahman, God, is

a brahmana, not others. So that is the duty of this human

form of life. In every human society there is some system

that is called " religion " and by which one may try to

understand God. It doesn't matter whether it is the

Christian religion, the Muhammadan religion, or the Hindu

religion. It doesn't matter. The system is to understand

God and our relationship with Him. That's all. This is the

duty of the human beings, and if this duty is ignored in

human society, then it is animal society. Animals have no

power to understand what is God and their relationship with

God. Their only interests are eating, sleeping, mating, and

defending. If we are only concerned with these things, then

what are we ? We are animals. Therefore the Bhagavad-gita

says that those who ignore this opportunity are the " lowest

of mankind. " They got this human form of life after

evolving through 8,400,000 births and yet did not utilize

it for God realization but simply for the animal

propensities. Therefore they are naradhama, the lowest of

mankind. And there are other persons who are very proud of

their knowledge. But what is that knowledge ? " There is no

God. I am God. " Their actual knowledge has been taken away

by maya. If they are God, then how have they become dog ?

There are so many arguments against them, but they simply

defy God. Atheism. Because they have taken to the process

of atheism, their actual knowledge is stolen away. Actual

knowledge means to know what is God and our relationship

with God. If one does not know this, then it is to be

understood that his knowledge has been taken away by maya.

 

So in this way, if we try to understand our relationship

with God, there are ways and means. There are books, and

there is knowledge, so why not take advantage of them ?

Everyone should take advantage of this knowledge. Try to

understand that in the Bhagavad-gita and other Vedic

literatures, everywhere, it is said that God is great and

that although we are qualitatively one with God, we are

minute. The ocean and the minute particle of water have the

same quality, but the quantity of salt in the drop of water

and the quantity of salt in the ocean are different. They

are qualitatively one but quantitatively different.

Similarly, God is all-powerful, and we have some power. God

creates everything, and we can create a small machine to

fly, just like the small machines with which children play.

But God can create millions of planets flying in the air.

That is the qualification of God. You cannot create any

planets. Even if you can create a planet, what is the

benefit of that ? There are millions of planets created by

God. But you also have the creative power. God has power,

and you have power. But His is so great that yours cannot

compare to it. if you say, " I am God, " that is foolishness.

You can claim that you are God, but what acts have you

performed so extraordinary that you can claim that you are

God ? This is ignorance. The knowledge of one who thinks

himself God has been taken away by the spell of maya. So

our relationship is that God is great and we are minute. In

the Bhagavad-gita Krsna clearly says, " All living entities

are My parts and parcels. Qualitatively they are one with

Me, but quantitatively they are different. " So we are

simultaneously one with and different from God. That is our

relationship. We are one because we have the same qualities

as God. But if we study ourselves minutely, we will find

that although we have some great qualities, God has them

all in greater quantities.

 

We cannot have anything that is not in God. That is not

possible. Therefore in the Vedanta-sutra it is stated that

everything that we have is also found in God. It is

emanating form God. So our relationship is that because we

are small, because we are minute, we are the eternal

servitors of God. In this material world also, in ordinary

behavior, we see that a man goes to serve another man

because the other man is greater than him and can pay him a

nice salary. So naturally the conclusion is that if we are

small, our duty is to serve God. We have no other business.

We are all different parts and parcels of the original

entity.

 

A screw that is connected with a machine is valuable

because it is working with the whole machine. And if the

screw is taken away from the machine, or if it is faulty,

it is worthless. My finger is worth millions of dollars as

long it is attached to this body and is serving the body.

And if it is cut off from this body, then what is it's

worth ? Nothing. Similarly, our relationship is that we are

very small particles of God; therefore our duty is to

dovetail our energies with Him and cooperate with Him. That

is our relationship. Otherwise we are worthless. We are cut

off. When the finger becomes useless the doctor says, " Oh,

amputate this finger. Otherwise the body will be poisoned. "

Similarly, when we become godless we are cut off from our

relationship with God and suffer in this material world. If

we try to join again with the Supreme Lord, then our

relationship is revived.

 

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