Those in the bodily concept of life are only dying at every step. They are simply approaching death, Their Final Destination. If one renders even a small amount of sincere devotional Service, Krishna becomes obliged to elevate such person and what to speak of one whose entire life and soul has been dedicated to Krishnas service. Without devotional service, all other methods for spiritual self-realization are weak and insignificant. Unless one comes to the devotional service of Lord Krishna, jnana yoga cannot give the desired results. Gita wisdom frequently surprises us by taking us beyond surface to the substance of things. Few things illustrate this as graphically as the Bhagavad-gita (17.19) declaration that an activity which seems so obviously religious – austerity – can be in the mode of ignorance, meaning thereby that it is far removed from real spirituality. Why would austerity be called ignorant? Because what makes a thing spiritual is not just the action, but also the motivation. When austerity is performed without understanding its purpose and meant only to hurt oneself or worse still to hurt others, then it perpetuates even aggravates our spiritual blindness. True austerity is meant to purify and rectify us – and to seek the grace of Krishna for gaining the inner strength required for this project of individual reform. Such austerity is essentially supplicative. Though doing any form of austerity requires willpower, the focus of devotional austerity is not on exhibiting or expanding our own willpower but on strengthening our connection with Krishna by closing ourselves to distracting forms of worldly engagements and enjoyments, and thereby opening ourselves to begging and receiving his grace. The end goal of this deepened relationship with Krishna is to become even more devoted to him, to return to his world of love and to delight forever in our natural and eternal position as his beloved servitor. Austerity in the mode of ignorance, however, is not supplicative, but manipulative. Those doing such austerities are driven by the desire to fulfill their own ulterior motives by any means possible – including accessing any higher power that may exist. They see austerity as a means to manipulate that higher power to fulfill their agenda. As their interest are no higher than the interests of people ignorant of life’s higher realities, Gita wisdom guides us to sees beyond their religious pretentiousness. Bhagavad Gita Chapter 17 Text 19 mūḍha-grāheṇātmano yat pīḍayā kriyate tapaḥ parasyotsādanārthaṁ vā tat tāmasam udāhṛtam “Lord Krishna Said: Penance performed out of foolishness, with self-torture or to destroy or injure others, is said to be in the mode of ignorance.” There are instances of foolish penance undertaken by demons like Hiraṇyakaśipu, who performed austere penances to become immortal and kill the demigods. He prayed to Brahmā for such things, but ultimately he was killed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. To undergo penances for something which is impossible is certainly in the mode of ignorance. When we understand our relationship with God then we all will be happy. It is an essential factor for establishing peace in the world. Joy can only be experienced when we offer our love to Krishna. Please accept my humble obeisances All glories to Srila Gurudeva ... All glories to Srila Prabhupada ... Always think of the Lotus Feet of Lord Krishna and you will find no difficulties in executing the tasks allotted to you by Krishna. As you clap your hands in praise for success, similarly clap your hands in Sankirtan movement of Holy Names. Living beings who are entangled in the complicated meshes of birth and death can be freed immediately by even unconsciously chanting the holy name of Krishna, which is feared by fear personified. — Srimad Bhagavatam, 01.01.15. Chant these names with love and you will feel the ecstasy: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare ... हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे || हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे|| Hare Krishna ... Jay Jagannath ... ~~ Bhakta Sanjay https://facebook/groups/harekrishnaharerama/
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 01:05:38 +0000
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