Authentic Sprituality vs. Scholarly Presentation: The Truth can be Unpopular

Authentic spirituality, and especially pure devotional service to God, is not about gathering information from scriptures (authentic or dubious), interpreting it in different ways independently, and presenting the various interpretations in an entertaining or scholarly way. This is what many popular personalities in society do. They speak publicly, write books, and so on. Ignorant fools, no matter how academically educated they are, get impressed by such people.

On the contrary, authentic spirituality is about applying unchanging timeless specific principles that are clearly presented in authentic time tested scriptures; principles that are demonstrated time and again by the pure devotees of God in different circumstances of life. These same specific principles are taught carefully and with precision by pure devotees of God as a service to God and compassion for all. They don't feel the need to present something different in order to be popular amongst ignorant fools. Instead they forcefully present the Truth, sometimes going against populist notions, to enlighten ignorant people about their true benefit.

Edit

Spirituality without God is a waste of time

Spirituality without God is popular today. It's a waste of time. Without accepting God as the one Supreme Person, nothing else has any intrinsic meaning. Everything else, no matter whether so-called material or so-called spiritual, is all material because it's all relative truth. An unbiased thoughtful person will definitely come to the conclusion that the Absolute Truth must be the one Supreme Person who is the ultimate source and controller of all that exists. Spirituality is about reviving one's own and helping others revive their eternal, evermore blissful, loving, reciprocal relationship with him.

The Sun or the Sunlight?

There is a common misconception that the absolute truth is impersonal energy because if it were a person it would have a form which by definition is limited. Since the absolute truth is unlimited, it must be impersonal formless energy.

Yes, a finite form is limited in space. But an impersonal all-pervading energy is limited in functions of intelligence, control, personality, and reciprocation. One cannot talk to energy, nor exchange affection with it. Energy in itself cannot control things, and so on. Therefore the absolute truth must have both personal and impersonal aspects.

The sun has a form, but its energies pervade much more space than it's form. That doesn't mean that the energies of the sun are more important than the sun. The sun and sunlight have no meaning without each other, in other words, they together are the sun, but the sun is clearly the basis.

Instead of being one or the other, the absolute truth is a person along with his unlimited energies together. The absolute truth person is the source, basis, and the ultimate controller of all energies.

It's Now Time to Enquire

Atheists write volumes of books explaining how or why God does not exist. But they cannot even explain why or how things that they believe exist exist; unless of course you consider chance as a logical, reasonable, and convincing explanation.

Due to some reason the atheists have got estranged from God. So much so that they are willing to be dogmatic about their chance explanation rather than allowing even a possibility of God.

Science was initially hailed as the search for truth but now it has become more of a rigid institution that is stifling free enquiry into the nature of truth. If trying to prove that there is nothing beyond matter is encouraged, then trying to prove otherwise should be equally encouraged.

What is the goal of humanity? To spread happiness and joy by harmonizing with the truth or to stop further fundamental enquiries about truth and try to be happy in potential ignorance?

The whole world is more or less is ignorant of the spiritual dimension of life. More research into matter is not bringing any fundamentally new knowledge to mankind.

It is now time to enquire into the spiritual dimension of life, individually and collectively. 

The Basis of all Existence

Creation, with all its orderly systems and intriguing intricacies reasonably points to an intelligent creator. To avoid acknowledging an intelligent creator, some scientists, philosophers, and even spiritualists propagate many imaginative theories. One of them states that nothing was created, everything just exists.

Even this attempt of keeping intelligence at bay fails. Because intelligence is a prominent feature of existence. Intelligence exists, and it controls other features of existence. For example, a dog is intelligent enough to circumvent uintelligent physical obstacles to  find the source of a scent. Similarly humans are intelligent enough to pick up an unintelligent instrument to pen down imaginative theories about how the pen originally came about.

If everything just exists, then intelligence also just exists; it's not a product of chance. Intelligence is a personality trait. If intelligence just exists, so does personality; personality is not a product of chance.

Personality is a manifestation of consciousness. Thus consciousness just exists. It's a fundamental feature of existence, not a product of chance. Since the posessor of consciousnesses can control unconscious objects and even other less powerful conscious elements, it's highly reasonable to argue that one supreme person exists who controls all else.

Yes, the Supreme Person exists without requiring anything else to explain his existence. The process of spiritual life is to discover that supreme person who, being most powerful, is the very basis of all existence.

The Golden Promise

Appeared in the March 2013 issue of Back To Godhead (India).

The Golden Promise

During this festive season, let us make ourselves fortunate by becoming
a part of the glorious mission of the golden incarnation.

Around 5000 years ago, Lord Çré Kåñëa appeared in Våndävana, near Mathurä City. He established the principles of religion by killing great demons like Kaàsa and by speaking the superlative knowledge of the Bhagavad-gétä. That was in Dväpara-yuga, but the yuga has since changed; we are now in Kali-yuga – the age of rapid decline of spiritual standards. To re-establish the highest religious principles, just around 500 years ago, the Supreme Lord Çré Kåñëa once again descended to this world, this time appearing in Mäyäpur, West Bengal, in His eternal golden form of ÇréCaitanyaMahäprabhu. Çrémad-Bhägavatam(11.5.32) glorifies this most loving avatära of the Lord as follows:

kåñëa-varëaà tviñäkåñëaà

säìgopäìgästra-pärñadam

yajïaiù saìkértana-präyair

yajanti hi su-medhasaù

“In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Kåñëa. Although His complexion is not blackish[His complexion is the color of molten gold and therefore His name is Gauräìga], He is Kåñëa Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons, and confidential companions.”

The Absolute Truth – Subjects and Predicates

But who is Kåñëa? Without understanding this it is not possible to fully appreciate the significance of His descent in the form of Lord Caitanya. Kåñëa, His pastimes, and His teachings are so famous that we can take Him for granted. But Kåñëa is not just one part of our limited reality; He is the Absolute Truth.

The Vedic literature frequently mentions Brahman, Paramätmä, and Bhagavän. These three terms are widely known as the subjects of transcendental understanding. The ultimate aim of all Vedic literature is the Absolute Truth. The Çrémad-Bhägavatam(1.2.11) describes the Absolute Truth as follows:

vadanti tat tattva-vidas

tattvaà yaj jïänamadvayam

brahmetiparamätmeti

bhagavän iti çabdyate

“Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth say that it is nondual knowledge and is called impersonal Brahman, the localized Paramätmä, and the Personality of Godhead.”

The beginning of spiritual enlightenment is realization of impersonal Brahman. Such realization is effected by gradual negation of material variegation. However, in this realization of the Absolute Truth, spiritual variegation is also absent. This experience is therefore called advaita-väda, or realization of the oneness of the Absolute. The Supersoul in everyone’s heart, which is called the Paramätmä, is the controller of all living entities. He is present everywhere, within the heart of every living entity and within each and every atom as well. Thus by this feature, the Supersoul, the Lord is all-pervading. Mystic yogis realize this feature of the Absolute truth by meditation. The personal aspect of the Absolute Truth, who is complete in every respect, full in all opulences, is known as Bhagavän. Pure devotees of the Lord realize Him to be the Absolute Truth. This realization of the Absolute Truth includes the other two as well. All incarnations of the Absolute Truth, commonly known as incarnations of Viñëu, are the various forms of Bhagavän.

The three subjects – Brahman, Paramätmä,and Bhagavän – are widely discussed in Vedic literature. What is less widely known is that impersonal Brahman is the effulgence of Çré Kåñëa’s transcendental body and that the Paramätmä is only a partial representation of Lord Kåñëa. It is even less widely known that Lord Caitanya is identical with Lord Kåñëa. In Çré Caitanya-caritämåta (Ädi-lélä,chapter 2), Çréla Kåñëadäsa Kaviräja Gosvämé cites conclusive evidence from authoritative Vedic sources to prove the above claims. The Gosvämé likens this analysis to the structure of a sentence. In a sentence, the subject is mentioned first because the reader already knows the subject. And then something pertaining to the subject – known as the predicate – is added to make an informative statement. Since Brahman, Paramätmä, or Bhagavän are well known to students of the Vedas, they are compared to the subject in this analysis. The less known facts mentioned above are compared to predicates.

Kaviräja Gosvämé uses the same logic to further analyze the position of Lord Kåñëa, based on the following verse from Çrémad-Bhägavatam (1.3.28):

ete cäàça-kaläù puàsaù

kåñëas tu bhagavän svayam

indräri-vyäkulaà lokaà

måòayanti yuge yuge

“All these incarnations of Godhead are either plenary portions or parts of the plenary portions of the puruña-avatäras. But Kåñëa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. In every age He protects the world through His different features when the world is disturbed by the enemies of Indra.”

This verse comes at the end of a series of verses that describe the appearance and activities of various incarnations of Bhagavän. This list includes Kåñëa as an incarnation of Bhagavän. Citing the logic pertaining to a subject and its predicate, Kaviräja Gosvämé explains as follows:

“In the same way, all these incarnations were known, but whose incarnations they are was unknown. First the word ete [“these”] establishes the subject [the incarnations]. Then “plenary portions of the puruña-avatäras” follows as the predicate. In the same way, when Kåñëa was first counted among the incarnations, specific knowledge about Him was still unknown. Therefore first the word kåñëa appears as the subject, followed by the predicate, describing Him as the original Personality of Godhead.” (Caitanya-caritämåta, Ädi-lélä 2.80–83)

In this way Kaviräja Gosvämé proves Krishna’s supreme position as the original Personality of Godhead, the source of all incarnations of Bhagavän. Since Lord Chaitanya is directly Lord Krishna Himself, Lord Chaitanya is that same Absolute Truth. Who would not want to be part of His mission?

The Golden Mission

In this age of Kali there is no way of achieving spiritual perfection other than loudly chanting the holy names of Çré Kåñëa in saëkértana. Even though He is all powerful, as Gauräìga the Lord doesn’t kill the demons but rather kills the demonic tendencies present in their hearts by giving them the holy name. Lord Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, as the yuga-avatära, appeared in this world for the express purpose of spreading the harinäma-saìkértana movement far and wide, even outside the land of India. The following verse from one of the authoritative biographies of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, Çré Caitanya-bhägavata (Antya 4.126), reveals His golden promise in unambiguous words: påthivéte äche yata nagarädi gräma sarvatra pracära haibe mora näma. “In every town and village of the world, the chanting of My name will be heard.”

Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu persuaded the highly learned non-devotional scholars like the great Särvabhauma Bhaööäcärya and Prakäçänanda Sarasvaté with His unparalleled scriptural and philosophical acumen. And he persuaded the masses with the all-conquering weapon of the sweet uproarious chanting of the holy name in saëkértana. Be it the philosophy or the holy name, by both methods hearts were transformed, and everyone who came in contact began chanting the holy names of Kåñëa and experienced the divine bliss of love of God. Even the most wretched and infamous evil brothers Jagäi and Mädhäi, who had left no sin uncommitted, weren’t spared by the all-merciful Çré Caitanya. Indeed, after converting even them to superlative Vaiñëavas, Lord Caitanya’s fame knew no bounds.

Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu appointed one of His most trusted servants to carry out the unprecedented and monumental task of spreading His mission all over the world. His prediction of such a personality is recorded in the Caitanya-maìgala as follows (paraphrased): If sinful people get away by being in distant countries where my personal preaching will not reach, I will send my devotee commander-in-chief (senäpati-bhakta) to deliver them.”

Carrying the divine grace of Lord Gauräìga, to execute His golden promise, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupäda – the senäpati-bhakta – ventured into uncharted territories, outside the safety of his peaceful dwelling in Våndävana, to carry out the mission of the Supreme Lord. In 1965, at the ripe old age of 70, Çréla Prabhupäda found himself alone on the streets of New York with unflinching faith in Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu’s mercy as his only shelter. But what is impossible for the Lord? In 1966, Çréla Prabhupäda founded the International Society for Kåñëa Consciousness (ISKCON) as the medium through which he would spread Lord Caitanya’s message. He expanded Lord Chiatanya’s mission by bringing harinäma-saìkértana to the streets all over the world. In the short span of twelve years “Hare Kåñëa” became a household word all over the world.Despite his busy schedule, which included opening temples, giving discourses, and managing the world wide movement single handedly, he wrote volumes of authoritative philosophical literature based on the teachings of Lord Chaitanya and His intimate associates.

Even today, as the number of Lord Caitanya’s devotees and well-wishers grows, the mercy of Mahäprabhu continues to reach thousands through the medium of Çréla Prabhupäda’s ISKCON. On this most auspicious occasion of Gaura-pürëimä, the appearance anniversary of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, we look back in amazement at the limitless mercy of Lord Gauräìga, the astounding accomplishments of Çréla Prabhupäda, and the unimaginable potential that this movement holds. The future is golden.

The Eternally Limitless And Me

This article appeared in the September-October 2011 issue of Back To Godhead International.

The Eternally Limitless and Me

A mental journey leading to the conclusion that existence is unlimited finds support in the Vedic scriptures.

From early childhood I wondered where the limit of the universe might be. At night, as the stars twinkled enigmatically overhead and the moon majestically presided over the celestial assembly, I pondered what lies beyond this universe.

Suppose I ventured out into the enchanting night sky and some fine hour reached its limit. What would I find beyond it? If I ever found the boundary, I'd be able to distinguish between the two sides of it: inside the boundary, and beyond it. With the spirit of adventure and the anticipation of new discoveries, I would continue my journey. But then I might come across another boundary, and another, and another. Either I'd keep finding boundaries, or after a certain number of boundaries, I'd never find the next one. In either case, I concluded, I would never find a boundary beyond which existence ceased. Existence is unlimited. That idea seemed incomprehensible to me, but undeniable.

My childhood mental journeys were all but forgotten till I came across the profound Vedic wisdom, which addresses the fundamental questions whose perplexity discourages many from all but token enquiry. We read in the Vedic scriptures that existence is indeed unlimited, even though the universe we live in has a boundary. The universe is shaped like a sphere and covered by layers of material elements, like earth, water, fire, and air. The sky we see at night is inside this universe and can be called the material sky. But beyond this limited universe is the unlimited existence of the spiritual sky, which has no limits. In one corner of that spiritual sky rests the whole material creation, with countless material universes, one of which we presently live in. In the unlimited spiritual sky are innumerable unlimited spiritual planets, called Vaikuçõhas, on which the Supreme Lord resides in His unlimited all-powerful forms along with His uncountable loving devotees. There they enjoy unlimited loving pastimes, experiencing ever increasing and ever fresh happiness.

Lord Brahma to Sri Krishna: "What am I, a small creature measuring seven spans of my own hand? I am enclosed in a potlike universe composed of material nature, the total material energy, false ego, ether, air, water, and earth. And what is Your glory? Unlimited universes pass through the pores of Your body just as particles of dust pass through the openings of a screened window. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.11)

Caitanya Mahaprabhu explains: "The spiritual sky, which is full in all six opulences, is the intermediate residence of Lord KRsça. It is there that an unlimited number of forms of KRsça enjoy Their pastimes. Innumerable Vaikuçõha planets, which are just like different rooms of a treasure-house, are all there, filled with all opulences. Those unlimited planets house the Lord's eternal associates, who are also enriched with the six opulences." (CaitanyacaritamRta, Madhya 21.48.49)

In today's scientific age, there is a strong emphasis on gaining knowledge through experiments whose results are tangible to the gross senses. If something is beyond direct sense perception, then we try to come to logical conclusions based on the data we obtain through our senses. However, since the senses are inherently imperfect (e.g., we can experience only the light within a certain band of frequencies), any knowledge they can provide is imperfect. In the face of this, one is left with no option but to accept and follow some higher authority that promises knowledge unapproachable by mere gross senses. The holy scriptures are one such authority. While our mental excursions can lead us to some conclusions, they can never give us any details about the nature of the transcendent Absolute Truth. On the other hand, the revealed scriptures, such as the Vedic literature quoted above, have not only acknowledged the fundamental questions, such as those about existence, but have authoritatively provided answers to them in great detail and clarity. Such deep insight is possible only because Vedic literature is not of mundane origin but is apauruseya, of divine origin. As stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.1.1), at the beginning of the creation of the universe, the perfect authority, Lord Sri Krishna, imparted the complete Vedic knowledge to Brahma from within his heart.

Looking for the Source

Another question I wondered about as a child is the origin of everything. Each thing in our experience has a source, but what is the source of everything? And when did everything start coming into being? I did some thought experiments and arrived at this: For there to be an instant in time when existence came into being, there would have to be a time when existence was absent. That is, at time t, there was non-existence.nothing existed. And then, out of nowhere, literally, at time t + dt, voila! There was existence! Existence came out of nonexistence. This, I was convinced beyond doubt, is not possible. So, what's the alternative explanation? The only alternative is that there is existence eternally, for all time instants t. Since we are certain that there is existence, and that existence cannot crop out of nonexistence, existence is eternal.

The source of everything, Lord Sri Krishna, exists eternally and doesn't depend on anything else for His existence. He says in the Bhagavad-gita (10.8), "I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts."

So, existence is not only unlimited, but also eternal. Eternally unlimited existence. Again, incomprehensible, but undeniable. The Vedic scriptures confirm this as follows. The Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna, and His energies exist eternally and simultaneously. Just as the sun and sunlight exist simultaneously (the sun being the source), so the Lord and His energies exist simultaneously (the Lord being their source). One of the Lord's energies is the material energy, of which the material universes are made. This energy is also eternal, but its different manifestations are temporary. Therefore, everything inside this universe and the universe itself is temporary, being temporary manifestations of the eternal material energy of the Lord. The time scales might vary astronomically; some manifestations exist for a few minutes, while some, like this universe, exist for millions of years. But in any case, all are temporary. And they are hopelessly insignificant in size and duration when compared to the eternally unlimited nature of existence.

Is My Existence Limited?

The next question I pondered, especially after finding myself lost inside eternal limitlessness, was about my own existence. If my existence is limited to the eighty-odd years of the existence of my body, then nothing of this world is of any significance at all. What is eighty years compared to eternity? All human endeavors, philosophy, morality, achievement, emotions, aspirations, philanthropy.everything.is just plain insignificant. All discussions on any matter whatsoever are insignificant. Right and wrong, justice and injustice, independence and slavery, this philosophy or that, sports, politics, showbiz, likes and dislikes, virtue and sin, nothing is any more significant than an invisible harmless speck of dust compared to the vast desert. And therefore, I could resign myself to doing whatever I like for the hopelessly limited expanse of my existence.

But what about the other possibility? What if my existence is not limited to just this one lifetime? What if it extends to many lifetimes? What if it is eternal? If so, then how I lead my life becomes an important question because I don't want to be uncomfortable for any significant length of time. How should I act so that my existence is comfortable and happy?

The Vedic scriptures assert, and base their teachings on, the fundamental understanding that life is eternal. All living beings, called souls (atman), have existed eternally and will continue to exist eternally.

Lord Krishna says, "For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain." (Bhagavad-gita 2.20)

Forgetful Souls

The souls' original home is one of the spiritual planets, and they have an eternal relationship of love with the Lord. The souls are thus meant for an eternal life of happiness and enjoyment experienced through spiritual senses by lovingly serving the Lord in the spiritual planets. The souls who desired an existence independent of the Lord were kindly provided by the Lord with this material world, with a material body to interact with the material world, and with the forgetfulness of their true identity. Thus, typically, the souls in the material universes are forgetful of their original position as an eternal loving associate of the Supreme Lord. However, because the souls have known sublime love and happiness in the spiritual world, they seek the same experience in the material world. Averse to serving anyone else, they develop the notion that they can achieve happiness only by gratifying their own mind and senses. Thus, in the quest for unlimited happiness through the temporary and limited material senses, they either resign to frustration (tolerating it or venting it), or they start exploiting others for their own selfish desires. In any case, the temporary and limited material senses, by interaction with the objects of this material world, can never taste the happiness the soul tastes through spiritual senses by loving service to the Lord. This situation is, in a nutshell, the cause of all the ills of this material world.

Lord Krishna says, "The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind." (Bhagavad-gita 15.7)

Thus, the root cause of all misery is that we are, of our own volition, looking for happiness in the wrong place. Unless we engage our mind and senses in the loving service of the Lord, the unlimited happiness we seek will never be ours. Nothing in the material world can give us that, as we can easily see by observing the lives of the richest and most materially successful people. What is the source of all lasting happiness? The Bhagavad-gita (2.65.66) answers: "For one thus satisfied [in KRsça consciousness], the threefold miseries of material existence exist no longer; in such satisfied consciousness, one's intelligence is soon well established. One who is not connected with the Supreme [in KRsça consciousness] can have neither transcendental intelligence nor a steady mind, without which there is no possibility of peace. And how can there be any happiness without peace?"

Peace and Happiness Through Selfless Service

A satisfied and peaceful mind is the basis of lasting happiness. How do we keep our minds satisfied, especially in an age where glittering promises of instant pleasures surround us? Many of us might have found that helping others brings a sense of satisfaction to our lives. Why? The Vedic scriptures explain that the very nature of the soul is selfless service to the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna. Thus, because serving someone other than Krishna resembles service to Him, it delivers a drop of the ocean of satisfaction and happiness in store for us when we start lovingly serving Krishna directly. When we start serving KRsça, very shortly we start experiencing a deep sense of satisfaction and happiness. And naturally we want to share with others our good fortune of discovering real happiness.

People sometimes ask, What's the use of serving God, who doesn't really need our help, instead of serving the needy and unfortunate of this world? The answer, which you've likely figured out by now, is that every soul needs to serve God. Only by serving God can souls be as happy as they want to be. Therefore, we should serve God for our own benefit. Moreover, having understood this fundamental truth, we would naturally want to serve others by encouraging them to also serve God and thus find true happiness in their lives. This is the only real service one can render to others; all else will just be a mere semblance of service, with no lasting positive impact, because nothing else tries to cure the root cause of all maladies. Thus, let all types of social workers carry on their good work, but also add this most important factor of spreading God consciousness.into their list of activities. With that, their endeavors will be truly successful; without that, all their endeavors are but utter failures. In the words of Prahlada Maharaja, an exemplary devotee of the Lord: "Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader or guru a similar blind man attached to external sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Visçu. As blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound by the ropes of fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, and they continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold miseries." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.31)

The scriptures inform those seeking happiness away from God that unlimited happiness is found only in serving Him. Thus, by knowing that one's true self-interest lies in serving God, the typically selfish soul of this world starts serving Him. And by serving God, even just for one's own benefit, one's dormant love for God awakens, transforming actions of self-interest into selfless actions of love. The soul's nature is to love and serve God, and once reinstated in that natural original consciousness, the soul just wants to serve God out of pure love. A pure devotee of God does not consider whether he himself is happy or not; his only concern is how to serve and please the Lord. The devotee's love moves Krishna, who is all-loving, and Krishna reciprocates in such a way that the devotee's happiness knows no bounds. Still, the pure devotee's actions are motivated not by Krishna's reciprocation but only out of pure love. The pure devotee never seeks his own happiness; he always seeks Krishna's service. Indeed, this is the very definition of pure love, and pure love for Krishna is the very essence of the existence of the soul.

"This is the natural result of intense love of Godhead. The devotee does not consider personal inconveniences or impediments. In all circumstances he wants to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead." (Chaitanya-Charitamrta, Madhya 4.186)

Thus, the journey that started from the terrace of my house as I gazed into the lovely night sky led me beyond the boundaries of the material world into the limitless expanse of the spiritual sky. It further led me into the eternally limitless existence of the Lord and His energies. Discovering such incomprehensible vastness made me wonder about the significance of my own existence. Further excursions led me to discover the eternity of my own existence, and of my natural eternal state as a loving servant of God.

What's more, I now find myself on an even more fascinating journey - a journey from  selfishness to self-interestedness to selflessness. The incomprehensible but undeniable eternal limitlessness of existence out there has led me to discover myself in here.

Truth about the Absolute Truth

Today’s world is characterized by freedom of expression. Gradually all kind of censoring is going away, subtly at first, blatantly later. All notions of right and wrong are becoming personalized – What I like is good. Period. No other consideration. I don’t poke my nose in others’ life, so I expect that no one should poke theirs in mine. Such freedom of expression has also made its way into notions about spirituality. Spirituality is about the Absolute Truth, which does not depend on personal preferences. However, today, even spiritual conclusions have become a matter of choice, rather than a matter of fact.

In such a relativistic environment, when some spiritual organization asserts their path to be superior to that of others, it’s seen as a clear case of blatant fundamentalism. But, one would do well by taking a step back and evaluating a spiritual path on its profoundness rather than on how it fits into ones current lifestyle. Since spirituality talks about the unchanging Absolute Truth, it’s up to the human beings to align themselves to that unchangeable Absolute Truth, rather than making the foolish and imaginary attempt at changing the unchangeable.

The understanding that spirituality talks about an Absolute Truth which is independent of all personal preferences should make a sincere seeker seek out for that Truth, rather than trying to just reason about it. What’s the guarantee that whatever conclusion his reasoning takes him to is actually the Absolute Truth? Therefore, the scriptures tell about another procedure to approach the Absolute Truth. It does not preclude logic and reasoning, but gives it a particular direction. We will talk about that procedure a little later (look for *).

The scriptures of all wisdom-traditions point us to the Absolute Truth. Not all of them describe the Absolute Truth to the same degree. And sometimes, their conclusions seem to differ. The difference can be understood to be one of two types. Either one conclusion is higher than the lower, and therefore includes the lower one; or one conclusion is actually incompatible with other. Now, if we make a hierarchy of the various conclusions of the different spiritual paths, we must end up with one topmost path which includes the conclusions of all others in that hierarchy. The conclusion of this topmost path thus will most closely represent the Absolute Truth. However, it’s possible that there might still be some other paths whose conclusions are not compatible with the highest in the hierarchy we just described. This means that this left out path neither includes all the conclusions of the others, nor are all its conclusions included in any other.

Since the Absolute Truth must include all conclusions, if we have more than one conclusion claiming to be the Absolute Truth, then only one of them is actually the Absolute Truth, and all others are either bogus, or included in the actual Absolute Truth.

(*) The procedure talked about in the scriptures is one of sincerely following the instructions of the scriptures under the guidance of one who has realized their conclusions. Since the conclusions of any spiritual path are well-known before hand, a practitioner can clearly verify whether his practice is leading him to the same realizations as those claimed by the path.

Now, one may wonder, that by following any one of the scriptures, one can only reach up to the realizations mentioned by that particular scripture. What if there are even higher realizations than that offered by the particular path he is following? This natural question clearly supports the notion that there can be different scriptures which proffer different levels of spiritual realizations to the practitioner and that one path can definitely be higher than the other.

This discussion might prompt one to hastily declare that since there is a possibility of realizations higher than those offered by even the highest conclusions known yet, why not leave aside the scriptures and try one’s own way? This is certainly an intelligent enquiry, but one which is easily answered when one hears the nature of the Absolute Truth from highly elevated souls who have realized the Absolute Truth as the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna.

The Absolute Truth is defined as the source of everything, and of whom there is no source. The Absolute Truth is the supremely independent entity who does not depend on anything else for His existence; on the contrary, everything else depends on Him for its existence. The Absolute Truth is the fountainhead and the supreme controller of everything, including the power of reasoning. No other definition of the Absolute Truth can better this one, and hence, any path that leads one to the realization of such an Absolute Truth can be considered the highest of all.

The Vaishnavas realize this Absolute Truth as the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna. The Vedic scriptures, especially the Bhagavad Gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam, declare Sri Krishna as the Absolute Truth (param satya). No other scripture of the world describes the Absolute Truth in such detail and clarity as do the Vedic scriptures. At the same time, the theistic conclusions of all theistic wisdom-traditions are included in the spiritual path of the Vaishnavas, known as the Bhagavat Dharma.

Even the conclusions of the impersonalist spiritual paths (who claim the Absolute Truth to be an undifferentiated entity with no attributes) are included in the Vaishnava conclusion of the Supreme Person as the Absolute Truth. This is because the Vaishnavas don’t deny the impersonal undifferentiated entity which is the goal of the impersonalist, but on the contrary describe it as an emanation from the Supreme Person, just like sunrays are an emanation of the sun. The sun is clearly superior to the sunrays, being their source.

But what about the non-theistic conclusions of some of the popular wisdom-traditions like Buddhism? The Buddhist conclusion is that ultimately there is nothing. Since the Absolute Truth is the source of everything, and surely something exists (at least the power of reasoning that “nothing exists” exists), and that nothing can come out of “nothing”, the Absolute Truth must surely not be “nothing”. Moreover, the Vaishnavas have positively realized the Absolute Truth as Sri Krishna, and they don’t have to go into a long philosophical debate to convince themselves of that. A man who can see does not have to prove to himself that the sun exists, and the blind man with his own ability can only reach up to the conclusion that there is no such thing as light. On the other hand, how can one realize that actually there is “nothing”? Similarly, some others might claim that actually there is no God. But again, on what grounds can one insist that an entity does not exist when someone else has actually realized the existence of that entity?

By exercising ones mental muscles, one can only reach up to the understanding of impersonalism. This is because material mind and senses cannot conceive of a personality as Supremely powerful as Sri Krishna. Impersonalism essentially boils down to saying that ultimately everything just exists and there is no one supreme entity independent and superior to all other existence. In other words, all entities that exist must just be manifestations and parts of the sum total of everything that exists. And this sum total of everything that exists is the Absolute Truth. Even though voidism (e.g. Buddhism) sounds a bit different in its conclusion, as far as comparison with Vaishnavism goes, for all practical purposes, it’s the same as impersonalism. This is because it doesn’t allow for the existence of a Supreme entity who is the source of everything, and of whom there is no source. In fact, voidism doesn’t allow for the existence of anything! Thus, both impersonalism and voidism are a result of not being able to reach the conclusion of a Supreme Person being the Absolute Truth. Since its not possible to reach the Vaishnav conclusion by one’s own mental speculation, what possibility is there of reaching a higher conclusion than Vaishnavism just by the power of logic and reasoning?

The Vaishnavas have realized the Absolute Truth to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna, and therefore, any other conclusion about the nature of the Absolute Truth must either include the Vaishnava conclusion, or be included by it. If not, we can safely reject it as bogus. One has no right (and means) to deny that the Vaishnavas have actually realized the Absolute Truth to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna. One can only judge one’s own conclusion against the Vaishnav one. And better still, one can give up ones mental speculation and accept the lofty Vaishnav conclusion and earn a chance to someday come face to face with the Absolute Truth, who is not an unreciprocating impersonal entity, nor is who “nothing”, but who is the supremely beautiful and loving Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna.

Modes of Nature – The Plight and the Extrication

(When Krishna and His friends were threatened by a forest fire, Krishna swallowed the fire.)

December 30, 2007

Dear All,

Yesterday, I was transferred back in time to the days when I was very much entangled and harassed by the modes of nature. The eternity of the soul’s existence can be easily divided into two types of phases of existence – the ones in which the soul is not Krishna Conscious, and the ones in which it is. The former is an existence full of plight and the latter is the existence leading to the extrication from such plight and to the eventual establishment of the self beyond the dualities associated with the modes of nature into the realm of the eternal and blissful existence of the Kingdom of God. Before coming to Krishna Consciousness, making such an analysis would not have been possible. In that state of ignorance, all attempts at rationalizing the observations around are baffled by that unrelenting foe known as the Duality of material existence. This duality is characterized essentially by the personal definitions of the favorable and the unfavorable, and by the dissension caused between different individuals because of conflicting definitions of the same.

We were talking yesterday about different kinds of music – Indian Classical, Western Classical, Jazz, Rock, Metal, and so on… Three of us were there and initially I too was trying to establish by likes and dislikes as the “correct” ones. And inevitably, there was some disagreement amongst us. Since one always wants to be “correct”, a disagreement of this kind suddenly gives rise to at least a slight discomfort in the heart. And as soon as that happened I fearfully realized that I had been gullible and had been sucked into the world of duality once again by the stealthy forces of Maya -- that illusion-causing potency of the Lord which keeps everyone bound to this material world! After this, I lost interest in the discussion and while physically present there I was intellectually trying to get to the essence of what Krishna wants to teach me using this particular situation.

That feeling of discomfort immediately reminded me of the same feeling I used to get before coming to Krishna Consciousness. I remember how I cherished my likes and dislikes and maintained that I was the wisest of all by having those particular ones. That how liking Indian Classical music is better than liking Hard Rock. How tennis was a better sport than cricket. How the sporting heroes I loved were better than their sporting rivals. How the political views I harbored (though I was never really into politics ever) are better than those opposing them. Fortunately, I never cared too much about too many worldly things but of the few I did care for, I was quite strong about it. And of course, those were the ones that gave me most misery.

What is that misery? When one harbors strong likes and dislikes in this world of duality, inevitably one encounters opposing forces in the form of opposing ideologies, fans of other sports stars, patrons of another genre of music, readers of another kinds of books, and so on. In the face of such opposition, one tries to somehow establish within ones mind that what one is doing is the best. Such a mental adjustment is flimsy and once agitated it takes a long time for the mind to again get settled into a calm state. Unfortunately, the time it takes is so long that the probability of having a calm mind for a considerable duration of time is quite low, almost nil. All this eventually leads to the classic heinous philosophical conclusion that is the root cause of all sorts of nonsense that prevails in the modern world – “You do what you like, I do what I like. There is no absolute right and no absolute wrong.” This way everyone can freely do whatever one likes to do without worrying about what others think about it and more particularly, whether it is right or wrong.

This conclusion never ever satisfied my heart. But nevertheless, I had no other option but to accept it in the absence of a better answer. Given all the evidence around me, and without any understanding of the transcendental, this conclusion was all that I had. I even wrote a mail to one of my highly intelligent acquaintances that I accept that “Everything is Relative. There is nothing Absolute”. I was never happy about this philosophical conclusion… but I had no other option.

Truth alone satisfies the heart. If one is not satisfied with the Truth then it means either that what one thinks as Truth is not the Truth or that it is the Truth but that one is not harmonizing oneself with it. If harmonizing oneself with the Truth doesn’t satisfy the heart, then how will anything else for any considerable duration of time? Can building ones life on a flimsy foundation of untruth ever lead to prolonged satisfaction of the heart? Won’t one be harassed by unsuspected harsh surprises if one does not understand what is Truth and what not?

The Truth is that everyone in this material world has acquired a certain combination of the modes of nature based on their activities and desires from their past lives. Everything in this material world, including likes and dislikes, depends on the modes of nature acquired. So its not surprising that different people think different things to be right. The Truth also is that there exists a Supreme Person Krishna (God) who is the source of everything, from whom everything emanates, whose existence depends on nothing else, and on whom everything else depends. He is the supreme cause of all causes and is inexhaustible and unlimited. Krishna is thus the Supreme Absolute Truth. The Truth is also that we are all souls, eternal parts of that Supreme Absolute Truth Krishna and can be happy only if we base our existence on this knowledge. Unless one builds ones life on the foundation of this Truth, one is bound to be unhappy. Not only that, the ignorance of this knowledge of Truth gives room for other partial truths or even blatant untruths to take birth from imaginative brains and become known as truths. And this in turn gives rise to the popular ignorant conclusion that “You do your thing, I will do my thing.”

But, your thing and my thing can not be fundamentally different because you and I have the same fundamental identity (in Truth) as a part of the Supreme Lord Krishna. And thus your thing and my thing should be fundamentally same – to serve Krishna. This is the Absolute Law. Whatever be your material likes and dislikes, mould them in such a way so as to please Krishna! Then, despite your likings being different from mine on a material relative platform, they will be the same on the spiritual absolute platform. Both of us will like to serve Krishna but perhaps according to our different ways. Such is the unifying nature of the Supreme Absolute Truth Lord Krishna! Under Him all contradictions are resolved and hence all philosophical questions answered while completely satisfying the heart.

In fact, by working on such a spiritual platform, ones activities will cease being material. They will be transcendental to the modes of nature because by working only for the pleasure of Krishna, one can cut the strong ropes of the modes of material nature that bind one to this material world. Thus, one who is in the plight of being bound by these ropes can be extricated by using all his activities in the service of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. Thus he will gradually transcend the modes of nature and eventually achieve that supreme abode of the Lord in which there are not contradictions and everything is perfect and where once gone, no one returns back to this miserable existence of duality in this material world.

The ISKCON movement of Srila Prabhupada is facilitating such dovetailing of all resources in Krishna’s service all over the world and is thus doing the world the greatest welfare. Let us all join hands and help spread this movement all over the world like wild fire and please Srila Prabhupada and Lord Sri Krishna!

Yours in the service of Krishna,
Abhijit.

Sincerely In Search Of Truth!

Dear All,

I have a very intense desire to know the Truth. I am ready to take it even if it is painful to digest. I wont say that I am not hurt by pain, but I will surely say that I would welcome that pain if that’s what is required to know the truth. All my childhood life, I had been subconsciously searching out for the truth and after that in my youthhood, I have been very consciously searching out for the Truth. I just have to know the Truth! Perhaps such a quest is termed as philosophical, but I don’t really care what it is termed as by others. All I know is “I want to know the Truth”.

With this background, perhaps my readers can now appreciate why I painstakingly right logical arguments in a lot of articles. However, I would like to add that understanding God is by definition of God, beyond logic. This statement suddenly seems to deflate all the high sounding things I have written in the first para.. but if you think deep enough, it just gets us back to the question “am I ready to accept the truth even though it doesn’t make sense to me at this moment?” Note that we are talking about truth, that which exists without any other support. Truth is truth whether one likes it or not.

However, it also does not mean that one cannot understand anything about God. Saying that it is beyond logic does not mean that there are no other means. The other means we will come to later once there is an honest acceptance of the limitations of logic to understand or express something beyond its domain. Any elementary logician will accept that. One cannot prove properties on fractions in a logical system that defines only integers and transformations on them. Similarly, one cannot prove properties of the inconceivable potencies of God with a logical system that only defines conceivable things and their conceivable transformations. Unless one accepts the limitations of contemporary scientific logic, how can one wholeheartedly focus on a superior logic that explains God quite easily. Why? Because that logic is based on the axiom that God exists and has inconceivable qualities!

No logician can logically argue against an axiomatic system for the simple reason that all practical logical systems are axiomatic. The number theory (who has not heard about it?) is based on the undefined axiom of the point. So, does that mean arithmetic is not a valid truth? In fact, throughout the (quite short) history of modern science, the observations have come first, the hypothesis next, and then the logical systems that were built around the observations so as to mathematically model the perceivable observations. And remember, these logical systems are all based on unverifiable or undefined assumptions which are called axioms!

Modern science accepts (should accept) a theory (or a logical system) only when that theory explains all observable events in that particular domain. Even if the theory is based on axioms (which it always is), as long as it can explain all observations in the particular domain, that theory has some merit. However, as soon as the theory falls short in explaining an event in that domain, the theory is no longer valid and has to be either totally rejected or modified to incorporate the new observation while still able to retain the other observations in its provables. A well known example of how well established logical and mathematical systems can prove ineffective in certain circumstances is how the laws of linear geometry don’t apply in curved spaces. For example, in curved spaces, parallel lines can meet!

But truth, by definition, is unchangeable.

What this means is that a theory constructed by a human being does not represent the truth. It represents a mathmatization (or philosophization) of the observations so far in a limited domain of human perception. And what to speak of the realm of the imperceptible? No scientist or philosopher can claim that his theory or philosophy is the last word in realizing the truth. Any theory or philosophy has to always by definition lag the truth!

This is what I want to establish by this article. That a theory or a system of logic coming out of the human brain can never claim that it is perfect. In fact such a theory will kill the modern understanding of scientific research! How will scientists earn a living if the perfect scientific theory is discovered? Perhaps this is one of the concerns of modern scientists in not accepting the perfect science of God as it is given by the spiritual masters (scientists) of the ancient times. The truth never changes and thus the science given by them is equally valid even today and will always be valid in the future eternally.

So then, is scientific research or philosophical research a waste of time? Yes and No. Yes, if one is concocting a hypothesis based on observations made by undoubtedly limited and imperfect senses, and then constructing a scientific theory or philosophy around it just to satisfy ones intellectual hankering and/or perhaps to get some fame. No, if the scientific research and philosophical understanding is directed towards trying to better understand the already well known and universally accepted Absolute Truth – The Supreme Personality of Godhead!

Having said this, I want to assert that the intent of this particular article is not to prove that God exists or to get into an argument with those who believe otherwise. As I have already mentioned clearly earlier in this article, any theory, whether proposing the existence of God or proposing His non-existence, coming from the limited human intellect, is bound to be imperfect. However, the truth remains irrespective of whether we have a theory that supports it or not. And the human endeavor should be to find out what it is!

Once reaching this mutual understanding that there in no evidence that any theory coming from human intellect can possibly explain all that exists, all the parties involved will be forced to think of alternative ways to find out the truth. This I am saying assuming that all parties are really interested in the truth and not in personal fame and/or in gratifying their own intellectual hankerings.

So, what is the way to get perfect knowledge? The Bhagavad Gita comes to our rescue! Just ask someone who knows it, a bona fide spiritual master, because he has seen the truth! He has seen it because he followed the instructions of his own spiritual master. And so on.. And the original spiritual master is? Yes, you guessed it – God! In the absence of any evidence contrary to this, one has no choice but to accept this method. It saves time too! For a person eager to know the Truth, this is exactly the method. If one carefully analyses this system of ways and means and the ultimate goal (achieving love of God), and carefully studies under the guidance of the bona fide spiritual master, then that person will no doubt realize that this system is more robust than any that has ever been built by modern science. He will realize that this is as scientific (or even more so) than the so called scientific theories of modern science.

But, that initial step forward is required. One has to start following the process to appreciate the system and the philosophy. Any sincere seeker of the truth will take this step, but not those who are not really looking for the truth.

Let me conclude with this : I am not against science. But I am also very much eager to know the truth. And I rather take it from a source that has never got amended (Vedic literature) as instructed by a pure saintly person than from a source that has always proven to be inadequate (modern science with its innumerable amendments) practiced by people full of desires for personal fame and glory and who would not hesitate to change their experimental observations just to prove a theory that they have proposed.

Thank you,
Abhijit.

Meaning of Absolute Truth : H H Romapada Swami Maharaj

Hare Krishna.

A few months ago I had asked H H Romapada Swami Maharaj some questions regarding the meaning of "Absolute Truth". He kindly replied to me. I am pasting that reply below.

Your servant, Abhijit.

Q: How can we understand the Absolute nature of Lord Sri Krishna? What do we mean by "Absolute Truth" and in what sense is Lord Sri Krishna the Absolute Truth? This question came to my mind when I overheard someone saying that all qualities in the material world are relative, i.e. to say someone is tall doesn't suffice because a person considered tall in India would be considered average height in USA.

Answer: Just as in the example you have given, everything in this material world is relative or dependent on something for its existence and definition. Similarly, conceptions such as darkness, coldness or pain are irrelevant without the opposite conceptions of light, heat or pleasure -- there is no absolute pain or absolute pleasure in our experience, it is only a question of relative perception. Another example: there is no meaning to the word or the concept of father independent of the existence of the relationship with a son/daughter and vice versa - therefore it is relative.

In contrast, Absolute Truth is that which does not depend upon anything or anyone else for Its existence. The definition of Absolute Truth (param satyam) is given in the first sloka of Srimad Bhagavatam - as the source everything in creation (janmady asya yatha), as being Completely Independent and fully Cognizant of everything both directly and indirectly. This Absolute Truth is Vaasudeva, Krishna and He is beyond the illusion of duality. Another way of understanding Absolute Truth is that all varieties are included and all contradictions are resolved within Him.

In this world, there is duality of matter and spirit - matter which is temporary, a source of misery and full of ignorance, and spirit which is trying to exploit this material energy. But there is no such duality in Krishna; He is Absolute Spirit, sat-cit-ananda vigraha. And His abode, the Vaikuntha planets in the spiritual sky, is also of the same Absolute nature, because there is no duality of matter and spirit. Everything there is also of the nature of sac-cid-ananda.

Ques Part 2: In this context, how are things absolute in the spiritual world? Even in the spiritual realm, the gopis are dearer to Krishna than anyone else, and even amongst the gopis, Radharani is most dear to Him. So, therefore there is relativity in the spiritual realm too.

Answer: There is certainly variety in the spiritual world, but not relativity as we speak of it in the mundane realm. As we have discussed in previous digests, Absolute is quite so often confused, by beginning transcendentalists, with some sort of homogeneous entity without any variegatedness, but this is not so. Those who are impersonalists have difficulty accommodating this because of their frustrated experience in the material world. Here, variety or multiplicity almost always brings quarrel, discrimination and misery, and so out of frustration and a poor fund of knowledge, they conclude that the Absolute must be devoid of any kind of variety or hierarchy.

But Krishna enjoys varieties of pleasures, and they are all of the same absolute nature - sat, cit and ananda. There are hierarchies in the spiritual world, as well - perfect, more perfect, and most perfect; pure, purer, purest, and even further ever-expanding degrees of purity and intensities of love. But they are all pure, and in that sense absolute. There is even so-called separation and lamentation in spiritual world, and even day and night, but these are all just different varieties of absolute pleasure.

The variegatedness of the Absolute is *VERY DIFFICULT* to understand from our present conditioned nature, and with a materially conditioned mind, but it is possible to understand by adopting a humble mood of service to the Absolute Supreme and by submissively hearing from those who know Him, the tattva-darshis. (BG 4.34)