18 pearls, siddhaswarupananda

[mahak]

Haribol. The owner of this site published mantra one of this work by Sriman Siddhaswarupananda a few months ago. Since there is no TV program, perhaps this will help. I will try to update occasionally. Hare Krsna, ys, mahaksadasa

 

......

 

 

 

Sri Ishopanishad: Mantra One

 

“Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord

One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself; which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.”

 

 

One of the definitions of God is that He is the origin of everything, the original cause of all causes. Everything animate (living) and inanimate (nonliving) comes from Him. All energies emanate from Him. In the Bhagavad-gita the Supreme Lord states:

“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego -altogether these eight comprise My separated material energies. Besides this inferior nature, 0 mighty-armed Arjuna, there is a superior energy of Mine, which is all living entities who are struggling with material nature and are sustaining the universe.” -BHAGAVAD-GITA: 7:4-5

Since all energies emanate from the Supreme Lord, everything -both living and nonliving-is His. In this world, people are always fighting over property. They want to stake their claims of ownership on both the living and the nonliving. According to the Sri Ishopanishad, these people are like thieves fighting over stolen loot. If we look at the question from the relatively short- term view, we may find it hard to accept that no one is really an owner of anything. But if we adopt the point of view of the Sri Ishopanishad-which sees the universe not in terms of decades, centuries, or even thousands of years, but in terms of many millions of years-then we can understand this point. For example, who owns the moon? Both the Americans and the Russians, for instance, have contemplated mining the moon in order to build artificial planets called space colonies. According to the Sri Ishopanishad it is God who owns outer space, the earth, and, all living beings. A piece of God's property may be controlled to a limited extent by a temporarily powerful man or nation, but in due course-whether over hundreds of years or hundreds of thousands of years-such men die and such nations dissolve.

The fight over God's property causes living beings great distress. If people could only recognize the truth of this first mantra- that everything and everyone belongs to God, and that as His children all living beings have a right to the necessities of their existence -then the world would be at peace. There is enough in the world to fulfill everyone's needs, but not enough to fulfill everyone's greed. In some parts of the world people are dying from severe undernourishment, while in other parts of the world people are dying from obesity. By nature's arrangement, a person can eat only a certain amount; this amount depends upon the size of his stomach, his ability to digest the food, and so on. An elephant's quota is fixed at a hundred pounds or so of hay a day; a bird's quota is fixed at a few seeds, or a little bit of fruit. A human being's quota also is fixed.

A man's stomach is limited in size; thus, how much he can digest is limited. To eat more than can be digested is sinful.

Some people in the West try to get around this natural limit by artificial means. Their desire for sense gratification is so great that it drives them to all kinds of crazy actions. In order to eat as much as they desire (rather than as much as they need), they have resorted to such things as shortening the length of their intestines so that fewer nutrients are absorbed from the food that they eat, and to taking pills that keep food from being digested. One of today's more popular methods was quite popular in ancient Rome as well-"vomiting. A person eats to his fullest, induces vomiting, and then fills his belly again. Some people spend all day like this, eating and vomiting. Another way in which people take more than their quota is by accumulating vast amounts of money and property-far more than anyone could possibly use in a single lifetime. Nelson Rockefeller, for instance, was so wealthy that he had dozens of huge houses, and in each of his houses he had huge golden beds. But he had only one body, and so he could sleep only in one bed at a time, under the roof of one house at a time. Greedy, wealthy people also have huge bank accounts that contain far more money than they could ever really need. This is another manifestation of greed. Such hoarding runs directly counter to the teachings of the Sri Ishopanishad.

Why does a person claim ownership of a thing or of another person? To control it or them. And why does he want to control it? Usually because he wants to be the enjoyer of it. For example, a child claims ownership of a piece of candy so he can control it. Why does he want to control it? So he can enjoy the taste of it. He can't enjoy the taste unless he has control over it-unless he can pick it up and put it in his mouth. To "buy" a piece of candy from a store is to transfer the ownership from the store to the customer. After a customer has paid for the candy, he is given control over it. He isn't allowed to control it until he owns it; only then can he do with it as he pleases. If you walked into a store and started eating food off the shelves without paying for it, you might be prosecuted. You would be told you couldn't do what you wanted with the food until you became the owner of it. The owner of something is considered its rightful enjoyer.

Seen in this light, the first mantra's declaration that the Supreme Lord is the ultimate owner and controller also declares Him to be the ultimate rightful enjoyer of everything and everyone. Everything that exists is meant to please Him. He is the center around which everything revolves.

Unfortunately, a person who is materialistic, greedy, and self-worshipping wants to take the place of God; he sees himself as the center of the universe. He sees everything and everyone-the world, people, his family, animals, plants, the environment-as revolving around him. He sees everything and everyone as meant for his enjoyment. The world is full of such exploitative people, and they cause so many problems. If a person sees himself as the Supreme Enjoyer, he will automatically live a life of exploitation. He will not respect others or the environment, nor will he care for the well-being of others. He will lead a hedonistic life of unrestricted sense enjoyment, lording over everything and everyone. Although human in form, he will be no more than an animal who lives by the philosophy, "might makes right." However, serious students of the Sri Ishopanishad will know these truths:

1. I am spirit soul, not matter. I am a spark of God.

2. Although my essence is non-different from God's (i.e., spirit), I am not the Supreme Spirit. I am the dominated part and parcel of God. I am not God.

3. As a dominated part and parcel of the Supreme Spirit, my natural function is to be engaged in loving service to Him. I cannot find complete happiness in material sense gratification because I am spirit, not matter. I need spiritual food-loving service to God. Since my position is dominated-I am not the supreme controller-my natural activity is to render loving service to the Supreme Lord. To try to be the lord and enjoyer is unnatural and leads only to frustration and misery.

On a practical level, if people lived by the first mantra of the Sri Ishopanishad, the effect would be great. These enlightened people would live as caretakers, not exploiters. Since they would see everyone as God's children, they would see the inalienable right of all God's children to partake in God's bounties. God's property is rightfully meant for the well-being and sustenance of all His children. Once individuals understand this, they will not see their private property-including their own bodies -as really theirs. They will see themselves as caretakers, not owners, of God's property. They will use what is in their possession in a manner that is consistent with the Absolute Truth of God's ownership.

It is not that individual "ownership" of anything and everything must be, or even could be, banned. As children of God, each of us can possess His property and use it both for our own sustenance and for the welfare of our family, neighborhood, society, state, nation, and world. It is not that a theocracy of self-appointed "servants of God" should control all property. Indeed, nothing could be more dangerous and more against the meaning of the first mantra of the Sri Ishopanishad. So-called religious leaders who seek political power in order to control all properties and people deny the fact that all people are children of God, and that therefore all people have the right to possess and use His property for their sustenance and in His service. There is nothing more dangerous to real religion than fanatics who seek to lord over others by force in the name of God.

Nor is false renunciation desirable. You may say, "God owns everything, therefore I am going to give up ownership of my watch. I'll throw it away." But how can you give up what is not yours in the first place? It's not possible. To say "I'm going to give away my watch" shows that you think you own the watch. Obviously you couldn't give away the watch if it wasn't yours. For example, if the watch belonged to your father, who merely lent it to you for a short while, you would not say, "I'm going to give up my watch." To give up what is in one's possession, to think "I'm going to give up all my things," is based on the illusion of ownership. Real renunciation is different. Real renunciation means to understand that everything in your possession isn't really yours-it is God's. The practical application of this understanding is the change in use of one's things. Instead of using possessions for your sense enjoyment only, if you are enlightened, you will use them for the glorification of God and the welfare of the people, who are all God's children. An individual, a family, or a government that understands the first mantra of the Sri Ishopanishad sees itself in the role of caretaker, not owner or exploiter.

 

 

-END-

 

 

[Bebot]

Hey Mahak, do you know if the author is planning to publushed the rest of the mantras in this site. It would be good even if it would mean just posting them one by one. I find Srila Siddha Swarup's simple yet direct explaination very helpfull which is a great blessing indeed specially in these day and age.

Are there any kirtan held at Port Angeles? I've drove a couple of time thru here, thats going to Victoria I mean.

My well wishes...

[mahak]

Haribol. I am posting these articles without contact nor permission from the author. I have no idea as to His whereabouts or agenda, but like so many folks, I find His works nothing short of amazing. I will try to post these mantras here as I receive them. Hare Krsna, ys, mahaksadasa

 

PS PA? not to my knowledge.

[mahak]

Sri Isopanisad Mantra Two

 

"A person may desire to live for hundreds of years if he works according to this truth [of the first mantra], because that sort of work will not bind him to the law of karma. And there is no alternative to this way for man."

 

The second mantra of the Sri Ishopanishad refers to karma-yoga, or devotional service. If a person understands the first mantra of the Sri Ishopanishad-that everything belongs to God, including one's body, possessions, and very self-and lives according to this truth by dovetailing his life in the loving service of God, then he is engaged in what is called karma-yoga. "Karma" means "action," and "yoga" means-"united with God" or "united with the Absolute Truth."

 

Everyone is engaged in action. The law of karma means that there are reactions to every action and that a person must endure the reactions to his actions. As Jesus Christ taught, "As you sow, so shall you reap."

 

A person is not the body; he is eternal spirit soul, residing only temporarily in the body. The particular body a person has is due to his past activities, his past life. No one chooses where they will be born, or even in what species of life they will be born. Some living entities are in dog and cat bodies, others are in bird bodies, and so on. So many different types of bodies are provided by material nature, and the particular type of body given to the spirit soul depends on his past karma and his desires at the time of death. The eternal spirit soul is bound up on an endless wheel of repeated birth and death caused by reaping the fruit of the seeds he has sown by his actions. Everyone is struggling for a long life, not caring that this will simply cause accumulation of karma and thus rebirths.

 

Every action, good or bad, produces some karmic reaction. Actions that are "bad" create bad karmic reactions. A person who engages in heinous criminal actions or who lives simply like an animal, exploiting others, will have to eat the bitter fruit of such actions in the future.

 

Actions that are described in scripture as "good" or "pious" create good karma. A person who wishes, after the death of his body, to enjoy a more pleasurable material life in some heavenly planet or on earth, is often very careful to engage in pious actions. His aim is increased sensual pleasure, both now and in the future. Thus, both "bad" and "good" karma create karmic reaction, which forces a person to take on another material body-even if it is in the heavenly material planets. And wherever there is matter, there is birth and death. As the Lord states in the jewel of the Vedas, the Bhagavad-gita:

 

"For one who is born, death is certain; and for one who dies, birth is certain." -BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:27

 

The yogi or transcendentalist does not want to be born again in the material world. He wants to transcend the wheel of birth and death, which is full of suffering. Thus he does not want to create either bad or good karmic reaction. Must he then simply sit down and meditate silently until his body dies? Will any action create karmic reaction? Does he have to stop all actions, and if so, is this even possible?

 

The second mantra is intended for serious yogis and transcendentalists. It says that if a person's life, his work-that is, his actions-are based on the understanding that God is the owner, controller, and enjoyer, then such actions will create neither bad nor good karmic reaction. Actions engaged in for the pleasure of God cause no karmic reaction. So one who dovetails his life in the loving service of God, who works in the Lord's service, creates no new karmic reaction. Such activity in devotional service is called akarma, or naiskarma. Because a person engaged in devotional service produces no karmic reaction from his activities, he does not need to take on any more material bodies. At the death of his body he returns to the spiritual world, and engages there in further loving service to the Supreme Lord.

 

Mantra Two makes it clear that one who lives for the Lord's pleasure, who makes God the center of his life's work, can aspire to live for a long time in this world without any negative consequences. A long life will not bind him to the wheel of karmic reaction. He will not incur any karmic reaction no matter how long he remains here. Although appearing to live in the world of matter, the transcendentalist engaged in the loving service of the Lord, is not really in the material world; he is in the spiritual world. There is a primary difference between the material world and the spiritual dimension. In the spiritual world God is the central enjoying agent and the living beings are enjoying serving Him; whereas in the material world the living entities reject God's Lordship and struggle to be the lords and enjoyers.

 

A pure loving servant of God-one who is conscious of the spiritual realm, yet who appears before those of us in the material world- is an ambassador or representative of the spiritual world. In other words, the Supreme Lord and His pure devotees can appear to exist in this material world without really being in it. To be in the material world means to be dominated by the illusory energy, maya. It means being under the laws of material nature- specifically the laws of karma. This mantra makes it absolutely clear that you can live in this world and not be under the laws of karma. By surrendering to the Supreme Lord, by serving Him out of love, you can be freed from the bondage of the illusory energy.

 

Indeed, you, the jiva, the individual soul, have been placed under maya and the laws of material nature specifically because of your enviousness of the Lord. As soon as you give up such envy and want to be engaged in the Lord's loving service there is no need to be under maya's domination. So you are released. Remember, maya is the illusory energy of God. It is God's energy and is controlled by Him. Ultimately everyone is controlled by God and surrendered to God directly or indirectly. If a person wants to be the loving servant of the Supreme Lord, then he gets that. But if a person wants to be the Supreme Lord-master and enjoyer-then he is placed under the control of God's illusory energy. In this condition he is in the illusion of lordship but is in fact under the strict laws of material nature.

 

By following this mantra a person changes his service-instead of serving maya he serves the Lord. A bona fide spiritual master, a fully realized soul, is not someone who has become master or Lord. A spiritual master is not someone who has defeated the power of maya. No. A spiritual master serves God instead of maya-but he is still serving. Everyone is dominated. Everyone serves. Our only choice is: do we serve God or maya? Do we surrender to and be dominated by God or by maya? To choose to serve God results in life, happiness and freedom. To choose to serve maya results in death, misery and slavery.

 

© Copyright, 1999, Science of Identitiy Foundation

 

 

[mahak]

Sri Isopanisad Mantra Three

 

"The killer of the soul, whoever he may be, must enter into the planets known as the worlds of the faithless, full of darkness and ignorance."

 

The human form of life is a life of great responsibility. There are 8,400,000 species of life, and the spirit soul-or self-transmigrates from one species to the next. The human form differs from the lower forms of life in one most important aspect: in the human form of life, the spirit soul has the facility to achieve self-realization-that is, a perfect understanding of his relationship with God. If a person perfectly understands his relationship with God, if he develops his love for God, then he can get off the wheel of birth and death.

 

So the human form of life actually is meant to be the take-off point to the spiritual world, where there is no birth or death. Therefore, when a person comes to the human form of life, not only does he have the facilities that all animals have-sleeping, eating, mating, and defending-but also a higher facility. He has the ability to question: "Who am I? Why am I suffering? Why am I here? Is there a cause to all of this? Is there a purpose to my existence?" The third mantra says that a person who fails to utilize his human form of life for spiritual realization ends up, after this human body is finished, taking on a lower species of life. In other words, if a person lives like an animal-interested only in those things that interest animals (eating, sleeping, sex, and, defending) and not in spiritual development-then his next life will be as an animal or some other lower form of life. A person has no need of a human form if he won't use it to its fullest potential. Why have a human form and then live like an animal?

 

To possess five muscles but use only four doesn't make sense. A person who uses only four muscles even though he's been given five will receive only four the next time around. In a large corporation or in government, the higher a person's office, the more facilities he's provided. A person in a high government office usually has at least one secretary, often more. He has telephones, automobiles, a nice, comfortable office, money at his disposal, and so on. A person in a lower position in the same company or organization does not have this kind of facility. Why? Because he does not have as much responsibility. So the more responsibility a person has, the more facility he has to work with in order to carry out his duties. Now, if a person in a high government office has a great deal of facility but uses it incorrectly-if, for example, he squanders money, wastes time, and so on-then his irresponsible actions will cause him to soon be demoted.

 

By material nature's arrangement, at some time or other a person is automatically transferred to a human form of life-put into a higher office, with higher facility. This human form of life offers the facility to achieve spiritual perfection. If, however, a person neglects his responsibility and misuses his facility-misuses his time, his energy, his relatively comfortable position-then he will again descend to a lower species of life. Unfortunately, most people in the world do not appreciate that the human form of life is meant for more than just eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. Now, obviously economic development is necessary-people must have enough to eat; they must have the necessities of life to keep their bodies fit, healthy, and strong. And of course some defense is needed. But in today's society, human beings are interested in almost nothing but eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. For example, in the West sex is glorified to no end. But animals also have sex! Why does a human being have to spend so much time and energy around sex? It sometimes seems in the Western world that no one thinks of anything other than sex.

 

This preoccupation is a tragedy, a waste of the human form of life. And if people are not engaged in thinking of sex, trying to figure out how to get sex, or worrying about some disease that was caused by illicit sex, then they are sleeping. Or they are thinking about how they can increase their enjoyment of sleep by getting new beds, new styles of mattresses, and so on. And if they're not thinking of sex or sleeping, then they are thinking of eating: in the material world, many people don't eat to live-they live to eat. And then there is the interest in defense, both individual and national. On the national level, all the nations of the world spend more and more money every day on defense.

 

Some countries hardly have enough food for their people, yet they spend billions and billions of dollars every year on defense. Today, both as individuals and as societies, people in the world are almost exclusively concerned with these four things-eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. The dog eats, sleeps, mates, and defends. Every animal eats, sleeps, mates, and defends. How, then, are we different from any other animal? Some people would say that we're not different, but this is unacceptable. Human beings have the potential to understand their identity as spirit souls, parts and parcels of the Supreme Soul. And although we obviously need to take care of our eating, sleeping, mating, and defending, we must not make these activities our sole or primary interests. This is a great mistake. The third mantra says that a person who places all his interest on eating, sleeping, mating, and defending, kills his spiritual life and descends to a lower species in his next life. Unless people recognize the distinction between the body and the spirit soul and therefore the need for spiritual as well as material food-this world will become increasingly hellish. In his book Small is Beautiful, noted British economist E. F. Schumacher wrote:

 

"Wisdom enables us to see the hollowness and fundamental unsatisfactoriness of a life devoted primarily to the pursuit of material ends to the neglect of the spiritual. Such a life necessarily sets man against man and nation against nation, because man's needs are infinite, and infinitude can be achieved only in the spiritual realm, never in the material."

 

It is a fact that no matter how much sense gratification a person gets, he will never be satisfied. Material food, material things, material sense gratification cannot satisfy the spirit soul within the body. Just as the body needs material food, so the spirit soul needs spiritual food. To try to satisfy one's spiritual craving with material things leads to endless consumption, greed, envy, violence, and war. Western people have as much sense gratification as one could ever want, yet they are not satisfied. Why? Because they are spiritually empty. They live in a hell of their own creation, which is full of anxiety, lust, greed, and anger. They do not know who they are. They identify their bodies as themselves. Thus they try to find happiness in mere bodily sense gratification. And thus they end up suffering, and causing others to suffer. Although such people are living, they are actually dead. And after their present bodies die, they will not take on other human bodies but will continue to remain dead: they will take on the bodies of lower species of life.

 

© Copyright, 1999, Science of Identitiy Foundation

 

 

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

Hare Krishna Mahaksha prabhu,

 

Thank you for reminding me about these wonderful articles. I was planning on putting them all online but never got to it. I will add the second verse to the front page today.

[Bebot]

to jndas, thanks for the great favor. Srila Siddha Swarup's work is a great inspiration and helps remind me that I have this spiritual aspiration than just surviving my day to day affair in this material capital of the world - here in the US of A.

[mahak]

EIGTHEEN PEARLS OF VEDIC WISDOM

(Commentary on Sri Ishopanishad)

By Siddhaswarupanda Paramahamsa

 

 

Sri Ishopanisad: Mantra Four

 

The Personality of Godhead, although fIxed in His abode, is more swift than the mind

and can overcome all others running.

The powerful demigods cannot approach Him. Although in one place,

He has control over those

who supply the air and rain. He surpasses all in excellence.

 

This mantra suggests many points of discussion. The first point is that the Supreme Lord is more swift than the mind. This means that a person cannot catch God with his mind. Sometimes people try to know the Absolute Troth by means of mental speculation. They think, "Maybe God is like this, maybe God is like that. Maybe the Absolute Troth is like this, maybe the Absolute Troth is like that." They try to achieve perfect realization of the Absolute Troth by following the ascending method. They try to use the power of their minds to ascend into the kingdom of God. But since God is swifter than the mind, no one can catch Him with his mind

 

Therefore, if a person wants to know the Personality of Godhead, he must give up the method of mental speculation. A person can come to know God perfectly only by submissively receiving the Lord. If God is pleased with a person, then He will increasingly reveal Himself to that person. It is useless to try to know God by the power of mental speculation. Only the process of humbly receiving God as He is, as He reveals Himself, leads to success. There is no other way.

 

Arrogance alone makes a person believe that he can understand God by the power of his mind. However, the power of the human mind is limited, and God-His potencies, qualities, characteristics, and so on-is unlimited. So the limited cannot contain the unlimited. The limited cannot catch the unlimited. The yogic or Vedic process of coming to know the Personality of Godhead is called the descending process. This means that a person receives information from God which descends from Him. And he receives this information with an attitude of humility. He doesn't feel that he's qualified to know God.

 

God reveals Himself to such a person in three ways:

 

1. Through scripture;

 

2. Through the Lord in the heart-the Paramatma. The Lord expands Himself and speaks to the heart of every living entity. So a person can receive information about the Lord from within his own heart;

 

3. Through guru, or the spiritual master, who is the representative of God.

 

“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth”. -BHAGAVAD-GITA 4:34

 

Guru does not mean an official, ecclesiastical representative of a particular church or faith, but rather means the self-realized, pure lover of God.

Thus if a person wants to know about God, he must receive God from these three sources-scripture, the Lord in the heart, and guru.

 

The second point made in Mantra Four is that the powerful demigods cannot approach the Lord. This mantra says that in the universe there are different living entities with different amounts of potency or power. Some are seen and some are unseen. This hierarchy, of course, is all relative: To an ant, a dog may seem to be a demigod; to a dog, a human being may seem a type of demigod. Actually, all living entities are spirit souls, equal parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, but due to their particular types of material bodies, some have more power and some have less.

 

In this mantra, "demigod" refers specifically to those living entities who, in the bureaucratic arrangement of the universe, are temporarily acting as directors of the rain, air, and so on. Demigods are actually nothing more than very powerful living entities. Some demigods are more powerful than others, but all demigods are under the supervision of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And not even these powerful demigods can catch the Supreme Lord. In fact, they cannot even approach Him. As described in this mantra, this refers not only to their lesser power in relation to the Lord's, but also to their lesser excellence in all aspects.

 

Nobody is as perfect as the Supreme Person. Someone may be very beautiful, wealthy, wise, kind, powerful, compassionate, and so on; but no one in this universe, not even any demigod, can compare to the Lord in such qualities.

 

This verse does not mean that God's business is simply to act as an administrator of the universe. That's what demigods are for. There are countless millions of universes, and anyone who imagines that the only business of the Supreme Lord is to administrate those universes has a very limited concept of Him. In fact, God exists in His own kingdom-the spiritual world-and simply by His potency alone He directs and controls the demigods, who are the actual administrators of the bureaucracy of the material universes.

 

In other words, every universe can be compared to a giant society or giant city. Every city needs a water department, a sanitation department, and so on. Demigods are like department heads- department gods-but they are not God; ultimately, they are under the domination of the Supreme Person.

Less intelligent people worship the demigods for some material gain. For example, they'll pray to certain demigods for rain, or they'll pray for a good harvest, or they'll pray for something else. Actual knowers of God do not worship the demigods, nor are they interested in demigod worship (although they accept the existence of demigods, just like they accept the existence of more powerful people in this world). But materialistic people who are interested simply in material gain, simply in improving their eating, sleeping, mating, and defending, are very attracted to worshipping demigods. In fact, some superstitious people worship anything that they think will help them in their life of material enjoyment. They'll worship trees, rocks, or whatever. And those who are ignorant will worship ghosts -they'll go to graveyards and worship there. This is all due to ignorance. Such persons have not been educated about bona fide spiritual life. Real spiritual life begins when a person accepts the existence of the Supreme Lord.

 

-END-

 

 

[Guest guest]

Haribol, Jahnava Nitai das, thank you very much for your presentation. These works are very nicely presented with a garland, and I have no flowers here on the forums. Seeing them front and center reminds me that Srila Prabhupada did not fail, that his disciples, indeed, have wonderful ideas as a result of His Divine Grace.

 

Hare Krsna, ys, mahaksadasa

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

Haribol,

 

Please post the rest of the series here. I would like to post them all to the website articles section one by one.

[mahak]

Sri Ishopanisad: Mantra Five

 

“The Supreme Lord walks

and He does not walk.

He is far away, but He is also very near.

He is within everything,

and yet He is outside of everything.”

 

 

With God, the inconceivable is conceivable. For a person with a limited fund of knowledge and a limited degree of faith in the inconceivable potency of the Supreme Lord. this mantra contains irreconcilable contradictions. It says "the Supreme Lord walks," yet says "the Supreme Lord does not walk." It declares that the Lord is "far away," then says "He is very near." It says "He is within everything," and then it declares that "He is outside of everything." A pure devotee of the Supreme Lord accepts the Lord's inconceivable potencies and therefore is not in any way doubtful that the inconceivable is conceivable with the Supreme Lord. In other words, a devotee faithfully accepts that all things are possible with God. There is an ancient story that illustrates this very point. One day Narada Muni-a famous, pure devotee of the Lord who has the power to travel at will anywhere within the material and spiritual worlds-was on his way to see the Supreme Person face to face in His kingdom. Before he left for God's kingdom, he came upon a mystic yogi who had been undergoing severe austerities and penances for many years, trying to achieve perfection in mystic yoga. Upon seeing Narada Muni, the yogi sensed that he was a great spiritual person, and asked Narada who he was. Narada Muni replied, "I am Narada Muni. I am on my way to see the Supreme Person" The yogi paid his respects and then asked Narada Muni, "Could you please do something for me? When you see the Lord. could you ask Him when I will be liberated from the wheel of birth and death?" Narada Muni agreed and went on his way. He then came upon a humble cobbler who lived under a tree. As soon as the cobbler saw Narada Muni, he stood up to pay his respects. He then asked Narada Muni, "You seem like a saintly person. Who are you? What is your business?" Narada Mum replied, "I am Narada Muni and I am on my way to see the Supreme Lord." The cobbler was very excited to hear this, and he asked Narada Muni, "Could you please do a favor for me? Could you ask Him when I will be liberated from the wheel of birth and death?" Narada Muni consented and went on his way. Narada Muni saw the Supreme Lord, and when he was just about ready to leave said. "Oh, yes, one more thing. There is a mystic yogi and there is a cobbler. Both of them want to know when they will be liberated." The Supreme Lord said. "You can tell the yogi that he will be liberated only after one hundred lifetimes. And you can tell the cobbler that his present body will be his last. He will be liberated because he is My pure devotee." Feeling very happy, Narada Muni was about to leave when the Lord said. "Oh, yes, one more thing-they will both ask you what I was doing when you saw Me. Tell them that I was threading elephants through the eye of a needle." Narada Muni then returned to the material world and first came upon the mystic yogi.

 

The mystic yogi immediately asked Narada, "Did you see the Supreme Lord, and did He say when I would be liberated from this miserable material world? I've been engaging in so many penances and austerities. Obviously I deserve to be liberated quite soon. After all, I'm a very advanced yogi now. I'm a great mystic." Narada Muni replied, "The Supreme Lord stated that you are very fortunate and you will be liberated after one hundred lifetimes." The mystic yogi, extremely angered, expressed his doubt that this could be possible, saying, "I can't believe you. I don't even know if you really are the great Narada Muni. Tell me, if you really saw the Supreme Lord what was He doing when you saw Him?" Narada Muni said, "He was threading elephants through the eye of a needle." The yogi then laughed, saying, "That's ridiculous. Now I know for sure that you are simply a charlatan, you never saw the Supreme Lord at all. No one can thread elephants through the eye of a needle. I should have known you weren't really Narada Muni." Narada Muni continued on his journey and came upon the cobbler, who very humbly, respectfully, and expectantly greeted Narada Muni. "Did you see the Lord? Did you see the Lord? When did He say I would be able to come to Him?" Narada replied, "The Supreme Lord said that this body will be your last. Upon leaving this body, you will go to Him. You will not-- have to take on any more material births because you are His pure devotee. Your love for Him is unflinching." The cobbler was very happy upon hearing this, and out of sincere inquiry, wanting to hear about the activity of the Person whom he loves, asked Narada, "When you saw my Lord, what was He doing?" Narada Muni replied, "He was threading elephants through the eye of a needle." Upon hearing this, the cobbler jumped with joy and began dancing and chanting the names of the Lord,

crying tears of love, sometimes falling on the ground, sometimes dancing. Astonished, Narada Muni asked him, "My dear friend, do you not consider that it is inconceivable that the Lord could be putting elephants through the eye of a needle?" And the cobbler, who lived under a banyan tree, picked a fruit off the ground, opened it, and said to Narada Muni, "My dear Narada, there are countless thousands of these little fruits that fall off this banyan tree. And in each of these fruits you will find there are hundreds and hundreds of little seeds. And in each of these little seeds the

Supreme Lord has placed a giant banyan tree. For the Supreme Lord. nothing is inconceivable. He is truly wonderful."

 

The Absolute Truth, the Supreme Lord, is both impersonal and personal, simultaneously. The impersonal feature of the Lord, known variously as the "Brahman effulgence," the "Void," the "ocean of effulgence," and so on, is without qualities or attributes. Because it is impersonal, obviously it does not contain the attribute of "walking." However, this impersonal feature of God is but an offspring of the eternal Personality of Godhead.

 

Many transcendentalists know about the impersonal feature of God, but they don't know the Personality of the Absolute Truth. God is not only impersonal; He is a person with His own eternal transcendental form. Being a person, He can walk.

 

The spiritual world is very far away. No spaceship can reach the outer limits of even the material world, much less the spiritual world. Even if a person traveled by spaceship for millions of years, he could not reach the spiritual world; and even if it were possible for a person to reach the "end" of the material universe in a spaceship, he would not be able to actually enter the spiritual world with his material spacecraft or his material body.

 

The outskirts of the kingdom of God-namely, the impersonal feature of the Lord, the Brahman effulgence-can be reached only after piercing through the various layers of material elements: earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego. Furthermore, even if one reaches the Brahman effulgence, he must go even further to reach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So it can truly be said that the Supreme Lord is very far away.

 

Yet the Supreme Lord is also very near. Since He is the source of all energies, nothing can be separated from Him. Furthermore, He knows our every thought, deed, and desire. He hears and responds to His devotees' heartfelt prayers. Although His kingdom is so far away, He can appear before His devotees in less than a second. The Supreme Lord also expands Himself as the Paramatma, or the Lord in the heart of every living entity. Yet His original personal form in His kingdom is not nullified or diminished in any way. The Brahma-samhita describes how the Lord enters not only the universe, but also every atom in the universe. So we can see how the Lord can be both within everything and yet outside of everything. He is in His kingdom; yet, by His diverse potencies, by His energy, He is also present within everything in the universe. There is nothing but God within and without. Everything is a manifestation of His different energies, like the heat and light of fire. This means there is oneness among the diverse energies of the Lord.

 

From time immemorial, practitioners of bhakti and karma-yoga have engaged in the practice of Deity worship. Deity worship is not idol worship, as the less educated sometimes contend. A person who looks upon and worships the Supreme Lord as He appears in matter (paintings, statues, and so forth) does not worship matter. He is not worshipping the statue. He does not worship wood, paint, paper, stone or gold. Rather, such a yogi fully appreciates the fifth mantra-that all energies are actually the Lord's energy, and that therefore He can appear in the form of matter without becoming material or coming under the laws of material nature. God is not wood or

stone, nor is wood or stone God. But these objects are made of His energy, and He can utilize that energy to appear before those living beings who are trapped in the world of matter. And similarly He can receive their worship via such forms. One should not think that God is a wooden statue or painting; but, one should also appreciate that because of His inconceivable potencies, God can reveal His transcendental form, qualities, compassion, love, and other attributes via such apparently "material" energy. In other words, God converts His material energy into spiritual energy for His devotee. For the materialist however, the wooden or marble statue remains just that. The purpose of meditation is to keep the mind on the Supreme Lord. Deity worship especially helps the neophyte devotees. Deity worship instills in a person the conviction that God is not simply void or impersonal, but is in fact a person. And one can have a personal loving relationship with Him. In the Bhagavad-gita (9:26), the Lord states that,

 

“If one offers Me with love and devotion

a leaf, a flower, fruit or water,

I will accept it.”

-BHAGAVAD-GIT A (9:26)

 

The person who engages in Deity worship is acting on this promise of the Lord as he meditates upon Him in his mind or externally, as He appears in the form of a statue, picture, and so forth. When such a devotee makes a little advancement he no longer sees paint or wood or stone when he looks at the Deity. He simply sees the Lord Himself and holds Him in the core of his heart.

 

This practice of Deity worship immensely helps a person cultivate his personal, loving relationship with God. It makes the practitioner aware that although the Lord is very far away, He is also very near. He is actually one's closest friend and companion.

 

In Mantras Four and Five we are being prodded to give up the teaching that God cannot do certain things. We are being taught to give up the habit of judging or trying to figure out God. If I could figure out God, then I would be greater than God. Therefore, God would not be God. For me to accept God as God, I must accept that His potencies are inconceivable-this is called faith.

 

 

-END-

 

[mahak]

Sri Ishopanisad: Mantra Six

 

“That person who sees everything in

relation to the Supreme Lord,

who sees all living entities as parts and

parcels of the Lord,

and who sees the Supreme Lord within

everything, never hates anything

nor does he hate any being.”

 

 

 

This sixth mantra is a description of a person who has achieved the highest level of spiritual perfection. Such a person is sometimes referred to as a mahabhagavat, or uttama-adhikari. The great disciple of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Rupa Goswami, commented in this connection that the real test of how advanced a person is spiritually, is how he feels toward others and how he treats them. This is a fact. If a person's love for the Supreme Lord is perfect, then it will have expanded to all living beings.

 

In a lower stage of spiritual advancement, a person may feel attraction and love for the form of the Deity in the temple. Indeed, he may be very respectful and dedicated to the Lord. But he does not respect or love others. Such a person is called a kanistha-adhikari. The late Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad, the modem world's foremost authority on the science of bhakti-yoga, describes the position of the kanistha-adhikari in this way:

 

The kanistha-adhikari is in the lower stage of realization. He goes to one place of worship, such as a temple, church or mosque, according to his religious faith, and worships there according to scriptural injunctions. Such a devotee considers the Lord to be present at the place of worship and nowhere else. He cannot ascertain who is in what position in devotional service, nor can he tell who has realized the Supreme Lord. Such devotees follow the routine formulas and sometimes quarrel amongst themselves, considering one type of devotion better than another. These kanistha-adhikaris are actually materialistic devotees who are simply trying to transcend the material boundaries in order to reach the spiritual plane.

 

While those who are in the lower stage of spiritual realization are called kanistha-adhikaris, those in the middle stage are called madhyam-adhikaris. Those in this stage of realization have the following characteristics:

 

1. They see the Supreme Lord, so they have no doubt about His existence. They dedicate their lives to His service out of love.

 

2. They see the devotees of the Lord.

 

3. They see those who are ignorant of the Lord but who are innocent and not inimical

toward the Lord.

 

 

4. They see the atheists-those who reject the existence of God and who hate devotees

of God.

 

The madhyam-adhikari behaves differently toward these different entities. He worships and serves the Lord with all his heart; he makes friends with and associates with those who are devoted to the Lord; he tries to enlighten those who are ignorant yet innocent; and although he is neither discourteous nor disrespectful to the atheists, he does not make close friendships with them or try to instruct or enlighten them.

 

The uttama-adhikari, who is in the highest stage of spiritual realization, sees no distinctions at all among different people. He does not discriminate between an atheist and a devotee of God. He sees all living entities as parts and parcels of the Supreme Living Entity, and thus tries to do good to all. The love of such an advanced yogi expands to all beings. His love is nondiscriminating and unconditional. Such a mahabhagavat or uttama-adhikari is not blind to the differences of bodies-for example, he recognizes differences among the bodies of cows, dogs, and humans-but he knows them to be external only. He sees that within the dog, cow, human, and other bodies is a spark of God, a spirit soul, an eternal person who is part and parcel of the Supreme Person. A spiritually perfect person does not see a "devotee" or a "demon," a "black" or a "white," a "Chinese" or an "American," a "general" or a "private," and so on. He sees through all such superficial designations to the person within, and he loves all persons. He sees all persons as parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord; and the same intense love that he has for God extends to all of God's parts and parcels. It is from such an uttama-adhikari that the world can learn real brotherhood. Such a spiritually advanced person is beyond sectarianism, fanaticism, and prejudice of any kind.

 

“The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge,

sees with equal vision a learned and gentle Brahman,

a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a dog-eater [out caste].”

- BHAGA VAD-GITA 5:18

 

A serious practitioner of bhakti-yoga should desire to one day become an uttama-adhikari. It is not a post or official position. It is the highest stage of spiritual consciousness. And it is the real goal of life. A person may achieve many goals, such as getting material wealth, fame, worldly knowledge, and so forth; but all such goals are illusory. They are temporary. Not only do they not bring satisfaction, but they must be left behind at the time of death. Thus, such illusory goals cannot be considered the real goal of life. The real goal of life is spiritual perfection; and spiritual perfection is described herein in the sixth mantra of the Sri Ishopanishad.

 

One last point: Never try to imitate the characteristics of an uttama-adhikari. Rather, engage in the bhakti-yoga process with determination, yet be realistic about your present position, either as a kanistha-adhikari or madhyam-adhikari. Whoever seriously follows the process of sadhana-bhakti can actually achieve spiritual perfection. Only the lazy and the faithless will follow the path of imitation. Honesty with oneself, God, and others is always the best policy. Sincerity is the key ingredient to success in spiritual life. Duplicity and hypocrisy have no place in the quest for spiritual perfection.

 

 

-END-

 

[mahak]

Sri Ishopanisad: Mantra Seven

 

“One who always sees all living entities as spiritual sparks,

in quality one with the Lord,

becomes a true knower of things.

What, then, can be illusion or anxiety for him?”

 

 

 

 

Who am I? What is my essence? This age-old question is answered in Mantra Seven. Your essence is not material; it is spiritual. The Bhagavad-gita explains that two distinct types of energy exist-material and spiritual. Both the Supreme Lord and all living beings are spirit in essence, not material. In the Bhagavad-gita, the Supreme Lord describes the spiritual quality or essence of the individual living beings as follows:

 

Know that which pervades the entire body is indestructible.

No one is able to destroy the imperishable self.

Only the material body of the indestructible, immeasurable,

and eternal living entity is subject to destruction.

Therefore, fight, 0 descendant of Bharata.

BHAGAVAD-GITA-2: 17-18

 

For the living entity there is never birth nor death.

Nor having once been, does he ever cease to be.

He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying, and primeval.

He is not slain when the body is slain.

-BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:20

 

The self can never be cut into pieces by any weapon,

nor can he be burned by fire,

nor moistened by water,

nor withered by the wind.

This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble,

and can be neither burned nor dried.

-BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:24-25

 

To realize one's eternal, spiritual nature is the first step in self-realization. Such a realized soul meditates, "Aham brahmasmi-I am Brahman, I am spirit. I am eternal, I am not matter, I am not this body."

 

All transcendentalists must first realize this point. A person who doesn't know that his essence is not matter, but spirit-who falsely identifies with his material body and mind-cannot be accepted as an enlightened person.

 

One who knows that he is spirit soul-eternal, not temporary-is relieved from anxiety. Such a person is no longer in the illusion that he is the body. Being free from this illusion, he is free from fears of death. Practically everyone in the world, consciously or unconsciously, fears death. They live out their whole life struggling to set up a permanent living situation, with permanent meaningful relationships; yet in their hearts they know that they cannot stay here forever. Thus, there is always anxiety.

 

Many people practice tai chi, chi gong, and so on (all of which derive from yoga) with the aim of keeping their bodies fit for a long time. There is certainly nothing wrong with keeping one's body fit-indeed, it is one of the aims of yoga-but unfortunately, many such people are trying to run away from the inevitable death of the body. Some mystic yogis strive to keep their bodies alive forever-but that is not possible. Even if one were the greatest yogi and could keep his body alive for thousands of years, that still is not forever.

 

The struggle for physical immortality is seen as a needless struggle by those truly enlightened yogis who know that their body is but an outer garment that they are using temporarily. Actually, a person who knows that he is not the body is not at all anxious to hold on to it; he knows that his existence does not depend on the existence of the body-that he will continue to exist even after the death of the body-and that the temporary body is the cause of all sorts of suffering. The great Chinese yogi, Lao Tzu wrote:

 

“The reason I have great trouble is that I have a body.

When I no longer have a body, what trouble have I?” 2

 

Knowing that the material body-the material world-is full of suffering, the yogi keeps his body only in order to use it in a way that benefits others. Unlike those in illusion, he doesn't see the world as his real home. He sees it as a place in which to live only for as long as the Supreme Lord wants him to-only for as long as he can render loving service. Since he doesn't see the world as his source of security or happiness, he doesn't see his body as essential to his security or happiness.

In terms of quantity, the individual spirit soul is not equal to the Supreme Soul. Just as a spark from a fire cannot be considered equal to the fire, or as a sun ray cannot be considered equal to the sun globe (despite the qualitative oneness) the individual spirit soul-the spark of the Supreme Spirit Soul-cannot be considered equal in all respects to the Supreme Lord.

 

Unfortunately, this truth has not been realized by countless yogis and transcendentalists. Such people try to equate the minute spark of God with God Himself and thus go off the path. They correctly appreciate that a person's real essence is spirit, not matter. They know that a person is not the body. But then they fall into the trap of believing that the individual spirit soul is the Supreme Spirit Soul Himself.

 

The chief historical proponent of such "I am God"ism philosophy was Sripad Shankaracharya. Shankaracharya lived and preached throughout India in the eighth century. The preaching of Shankaracharya and his followers was so strong that, practically speaking, it drove Buddhism out of India. Today, throughout India and the world, Shankaracharya's teachings (or slight variations of them) are still having a tremendous influence on people.

 

In Calcutta, India, for example, we can see the ridiculous sight of a starving, sore-infested man meditating on the side of the road, "I am God I am God." In America and Europe, you'll find many so-called yogis and gurus who are directly or indirectly in Shankaracharya's line of teachers. One man, Swami Muktananda, attracted thousands of disciples in America with his "I am God" teachings. Muktananda states:

 

“Honor yourself, love yourself, worship yourself. The God who is within you, is you.”3

 

 

 

Rajneesh, infamous for his advocation of "free sex" among his thousands of Western

disciples, writes:

 

“The word "brahmacharya" means that you have come to attain, you have come to

know that you are the Brahman, the ultimate, the divine, that you are God Himself.”4

 

Satya Sai Baba. India's most famous contemporary mystic and "holy" man, says:

 

“You have not heard me fully. I say I am God. I say also that you are God The only

difference is that I know that you and I are God, and you do not know it.” 5

 

The idea of the "I am God"ists is that each of us is actually the Supreme Spirit, but that somehow we forgot our true identity as God and came under the spell of ignorance. So you are supposedly God, the Supreme Being, but you are now caught under the laws of material nature. You are supposedly the Supreme Spirit, but you are now bound on the wheel of birth and death.

Swami Muktananda notes:

 

“. . . the highest consciousness becomes bound by limitations; its primal powers of omniscience, omnipotence, perfection, ever-lastingness and all-pervasiveness are experienced in a reduced condition. Although omniscient, He knows only a few things; though omnipotent, He feels helpless and acts effectively only in a small sphere. The Master of perfect bliss, He is ensnared in pleasure and pain, attachment and aversion. The Eternal Being cries aloud from fear of death, regarding Himself as mortal. Pervading all space and form, He grieves because He is tied to a particular place and a particular form. This is the condition of shakti poverty; it is the experience of all creatures caught in the transmigratory cycle.”6

 

So, according to the Mayavadi philosophers, God becomes bound up on the wheel of birth and death, and this is all due to His having forgotten that He is God. According to this theory, God needs to meditate and struggle against material nature to remember who He is. Being caught in ignorance and misery, God supposedly must then struggle to find Himself through "meditation."

 

Muktananda says:

 

“God forgets His own true nature and looks for God. God worships God. God meditates on God, and God is trying to find God.” 7

 

Such "I am God"ists fail to ask: "How can God forget who He is? How can God be overcome by ignorance and illusion? How can God, who is the Supreme Controller, lose control?" The fact is, God never forgets who He is. God never comes under the influence of the inferior, material energy. To say that God forgets who He is and that He must then meditate to remember is blasphemy. God by definition means "He who is the Supreme Controller, who is all-wise, all-powerful, the cause of all causes." God does not need to meditate to remember His identity. God knows who He is; He always has and He always will.

 

“0 Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead,

I know everything that has happened in the past,

all that is happening in the present

and all things that are yet to come.

I also know all living entities.

But Me no one knows”.

-BHAGAVAD-GITA 7:26

 

So there is no question of amnesia for the Supreme Lord. God never forgets His identity, nor anything else. He is not only unaffected by remembrance and forgetfulness, but He is actually their source.

 

“I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me comes remembrance, knowledge and

forgetfulness.”- .BHAGAVAD-GITA 15:15

 

God never becomes covered by maya or illusion. Ignorance can't cover God. It is one

of His energies and it acts under His direction.

 

“All states of being- be they of goodness, passion, or ignorance- are manifested by My energy. I am, in one sense, everything-but I am independent. I am not under the modes of material nature.”

-BHAGAVAD-GITA 7: 12

 

The Srimad-Bhagavatam confirms that Mayadevi, the personification of illusion, is afraid to show her face before the Lord.

 

“The illusory energy of the Lord cannot take precedence, being ashamed of her position, but those who are bewildered by her always talk nonsense, being absorbed in thoughts of "It is I" and "It is mine.” -SRIMAD-BHAGAVATAM 2:5:13

 

The Supreme Truth is light, and illusion is darkness. In the same way that darkness flees from the sun, ignorance flees from the Lord. Where there is Godhead-light-there can be no illusion. Just as there is no question of darkness on the sun, similarly there is no question of illusion or forgetfulness for God.

 

We living entities are spirit in essence, but because we are not all-powerful, we sometimes fall under maya-ignorance. For protection, we must take shelter in the Supreme Soul, surrender to the Supreme Soul. Surrender means loving. Naturally, one who loves the Supreme Person dovetails her will with His. This is called devotional service, or bhakti. It is the soul's natural function to be engaged in the loving service of the Supreme Soul. The spirit soul who tries to enjoy separately from God-the soul who wants to be God-ends up chained to the wheel of birth and death by the karmic reaction to her self-centered activities. But God is not chained to the wheel of birth and death, because He is the Supreme Controller. The "I am God" philosophers who declare otherwise are simply atheists-materialists in disguise. They see themselves as God, and since they are limited, they say God is limited. They can't stand the idea of someone being greater than them. And because they are envious of God, they don't want to serve Him. Thus they remain unqualified to enter the spiritual world.

 

Although the individual spirit soul or atma is of the same quality as the Supreme Lord-spirit in essence-this does not mean that the spirit soul is of the same quantity. The individual spirit soul is not all-powerful or all-wise. The spirit soul is controlled by so many natural and social forces that it is absurd to claim that such a dominated being is all-powerful. Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad writes:

 

“If the individual living being were equal to the Supreme Lord both qualitatively and quantitatively, there would re no question of his being under the influence of material energy.” 8

 

In the fifteenth century, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu condemned the "I am God"ism of Shankaracharya, saying:

 

“The impersonalist "I am God" philosophy is so degraded that it has taken the insignificant living entities to be the Lord, the Supreme Truth, thus covering the glory and supremacy of the Absolute Truth with monism.”

-CHAITANYA-CHARITAMRIT A, ADI-LILA 2:1: 120

 

To say that God gets covered by ignorance is to say that ignorance, illusion, is superior to God. To say that God comes under the laws of material nature and suffers from birth and death-being forced to take on the bodies of ants, hogs, and dogs, is to say that God is powerless-that He loses control of His own creation!

The individual spirit soul can come under the laws of material nature because he is not God. The individual spirit soul is not the Supreme Soul. The minute spark of God can come under the spell of illusion, but the Supreme Lord cannot. To claim that the individual soul is equal not only in essence but in position to the Supreme Lord is ludicrous.

 

Sometimes a person who practices mystic yoga or chi gong will take to the "I am God" philosophy. The combination of these two -namely, increased psychic or mystic powers and the relief that the individual spirit soul is actually God-is disastrous. Such people often use their powers to mislead less intelligent people to worship them as God. Mystic or psychic powers, whether inborn or developed through yoga, chi gong, or whatever, are not spiritual. They are subtle material powers-that's all. A person can have great mystic powers and be able to impress people; but if he is not a loving servant of the Supreme Lord-if he claims that he is God or that we're all God-then he is not enlightened. He is not to be followed, and he is not to be trusted. An actual spiritually realized soul is not interested in power-psychic or otherwise. He is interested in rendering loving service to the Lord; he is interested in relieving people from their suffering condition.

 

 

 

-END-

 

[Bebot]

other than the Vaishnava sect, what are the other personalist sects in India, as against the many impersonalist line nowadays. anybody wants to fill me in on this, thanks...

[Guest guest]

Are there more to post?

[Guest guest]

/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[mahak]

but Im short on time, ill get to it soon,

[mahak]

Haribol, folks, I am so sorry, I am missing mantra eight, but Ill continue anyway.

 

.........

 

Sri Ishopanisad: Mantra Nine

 

 

“People who are engaged in the culture of nescient activities shall enter into the darkest region of ignorance. Worse still are those engaged in the culture of so-called knowledge..”

 

 

 

Unfortunately, most of humanity spends the majority of its time in the culture of ignorance. We cultivate ignorance by serving our tongue, belly, genitals, and other senses like obedient slaves. The vast majority of our energy goes into this mad pursuit of sense pleasure. Left with frazzled nerves, frustration, anger, jealousy, envy, greed, hate, loneliness, and confusion; we seek an escape in alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and a myriad of other legal and illegal consciousness dimmers. This is the cultivation of ignorance.

 

Animals are in ignorance. They are only really interested in four things: eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. If a human being's life is also limited to the above four interests, then he is "human" in appearance only. In reality he's an animal; and after the death of his present body, he will be in a suitable body of ignorance. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita:

 

“The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas. The living entity, thus taking another gross body, obtains a certain type of ear, tongue, nose, and sense of touch, which are grouped about the mind He thus enjoys a particular set of sense objects.” -BHAGAVAD-GITA 15:8-9

 

A society of people who have no higher interest than sensual enjoyment is really a society of animals.

 

There are also those who cultivate their knowledge of the material world so that they can assist the animal-like people in their business of eating, sleeping, having sex, and defending. They spend much of their time cultivating their so-called knowledge so that they can better manipulate matter, and thus increase the sense enjoyment of the people. For example, modem Western society has many universities, colleges, and schools, all of which cultivate knowledge. But why? For the sole purpose of improving the eating, mating, sleeping, and defending-centered lives of the citizens. But has there really been any "improvement?" Can we call supermarkets filled with

foods that have more poisonous chemical additives than actual nutritional value an "improvement?" Can we call sex-mad, frustrated, venereal-diseased people an "improvement?" Can we call people who need pills to fall asleep an "improvement?" And can we call bigger and more efficient weapons an "improvement?"

 

 

 

But even if we concede that there has been some improvement in the facilities for eating, sleeping, mating, and defending, the question remains: Has the real purpose of life been missed? We may lead a long and relatively comfortable life of eating, sleeping, mating, and defending; but we still must die. Then where are we? What was really gained? We are again thrown into the lower species of life and continue to suffer birth, diseases, old age and death. In this human form of life we can be liberated from the wheel of birth and death. We waste an extremely important opportunity if we engage simply in "perfecting" those activities that are common to all species of life (eating, sleeping, mating, and defending.)

 

So according to the Sri Ishopanishad, people who cultivate so-called knowledge simply to "improve" or refine these four activities are worse off than people who spend all their time actually doing such activities. For example, persons who cultivate their knowledge of electronics, film. video, and so forth to produce pornographic movies or sexual stimulators are more condemned than those who watch such movies or use such machines. Similarly, highly educated people who

spend all their time researching ways to enable people to eat as much as they like (as opposed to eating as much as they need) without getting fat are more condemned than those who use such products. And scientists who spend their lives finding new and "improved" ways of killing people, such as those who invented the atom bomb and other sophisticated weapons, are at least as condemned as those who use them.

 

However, neither the Sri Ishopanishad nor any other Vedic literature recommends that we neglect bodily needs. The Lord states in the Bhagavad-gita:

 

“There is no possibility of one's becoming a yogi, 0 Arjuna, if one eats too much, or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough.” -BHAGAVAD-GIT A 6:16

 

Nor is sense gratification considered "bad.” Sense gratification comes and goes as a natural occurrence of the senses. For example, one cannot eat without tasting.

 

The point is that a life that is centered around sense enjoyment, that makes sense enjoyment the goal, is a wasted life. Economic development is necessary for the maintenance of the body; so therefore it cannot be neglected. But to seek economic development simply for the sake of endlessly increasing sensual pleasure is foolish. No amount of sensual pleasure will ever really satisfy a person, so no amount of economic development will ever be considered "enough." This is why people in modern Western societies are still not satisfied, even though they are so economically advanced and thus have so much facility for sense enjoyment. They always want more. As the late British economist E. F. Schumacher points out:

 

“Is there enough to go round? Immediately we encounter a serious difficulty: What is "enough?" Who can tell us? Certainly not the economist who pursues "economic growth" as the highest of all values, and therefore has no concept of "enough" There are poor societies which have too little; but where is the rich society that says: "Halt! We have enough?" There is none.2”

 

What's really needed is to recognize the need for spiritual as well as material happiness. A society that has great material prosperity but lacks spiritual purpose is really a poor society. A body without the soul is a dead body-even if it is nicely decorated with fancy ornaments.

 

Life in this world is temporary. No one will be here forever. Human beings can fully appreciate this fact; most animals cannot. So human beings can consider long-range spiritual goals. They can-and should-ask: What am I going to do when I leave this body? Where will I go?

 

 

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