‘’Do Spiritualists are Escapists??’’

He was a nice fellow, did hard work, took care of everything, felt responsible for dependents but as soon as he started practicing spirituality or started following some baba he became weird, he stopped doing things as before even he neglected his work and engaged in something which is truly unproductive. Why? does spirituality taught him to leave everything aside? If is it so then I wont even dream to follow spiritual path…these are few thoughts arise in mind when we see renunciates or sadhus or celibates. But are they really irresponsible guys?

Bhagavad-Gita answers our query. Gita is the book of action, When Arjuna wanted to give up his duty as a fighter to become a beggar on the name of being non-violent spiritualist, he was actually chastised by Krishna. Lord told him, ‘’till the time one is influenced by material energy and gunas one cannot remain away from acting and even if you abstain from your work you will get reaction. Because you have born in material world, your material mind unless fully purified cannot give up thinking about sense enjoyment, so even if you externally give up your duty as a fighter and accept the robes of a sanyasi your mind will run towards the senses, that’s the pretension and very dangerous. So, the conclusion is to keep yourself engaged in your duties thinking they are an offering unto me then you can be ideal spiritualist while being a King.’’  

In conclusion Lord doesn’t approve the escapism at all, he himself perfectly performed his roles as a parent, a king, protector, a husband etc.  The people who have renounced the activities are not escapists or work haters but they are engaged in fulfilling the higher responsibilities towards humanity and world at large. Their main work is to aware the people about their own real, spiritual identity, to inform them about the real problems and solution, educate them in the spiritual matters etc, and when one understands these matters his aimless life gets true direction for living and leading.

 

Rupesh Gauranga Das

‘’Start wondering about creation to stop wandering in creation’’

Recently I had a chance to visit Devbhumi, UttaraKhand. I was simply mesmerised by seeing the beauty of the mountains and flow of Ganges.  And while enjoying the nature’s grace I started reflecting on the cause of this mind-boggling creation which included not only rivers and mountains but also birds, beasts, humans and much more which is beyond our scope of experience. Who made this all and why?

Bhagavad-Gita answers this aptly, Krishna says, I am the source of everything and everything is made to give you a chance to return back to Me in the permanent spiritual world. I had seen most of the scientists, philosophers were also thoughtful and tried to search answers in this regard but they never came to any conclusion, they were and still they are confused about the creation and its purpose.

When we accept the creator behind the creation and appreciate his acts we naturally get humbled in front of him, we offer ourselves for his service accepting the creator as our true well-wisher. When we do so we actually begin our spirituality and stop our materiality. The problem with the scientist is that they don’t want to accept higher authority like Vedas or wisdom of the realised souls, thus remain stuck up in their own speculative ideas of creation and keep evolving newer and newer theories. Thus, they keep revolving in the world of birth and death.

In conclusion when we see the things from the eyes of the scriptures we experience Krishna’s presence everywhere, simple things also charm us, pleases us and then when we glorify and appreciate Krishna for his gifts that’s the start of our devotional service which actually takes us beyond this temporary world to a place which is eternal, filled with knowledge and happiness.

‘’Does spirituality is an impediment for your ambition?’’

Competition is bad, I should be humbly serving others, I should focus on my spiritual activities and neglect my other or material activities, I had very strong ambition to do such and such thing but now I am not bothered about fulfilling those because they are anyways temporary and not going to help me for my next life, now I want to kill my all desires…. these are few thoughts which start coming in mind when we practice spirituality immaturely or without any guidance.

    

Actually, speaking ambition is not bad but intention of ambition can be bad unless it is properly directed. Just like Arjuna and his brothers pandavas were very ambitious, they wanted to rule the world but during war he was grief-stricken, few things happened and he changed his plan, now he was ready to live life like a beggar. He also started thinking why should I involve in this, rather I will spend time practicing spirituality. But Lord guided him, he told, ‘’there is nothing called as material, everything is sustained by my spiritual energy, if you see and experience my all-pervasive form and energy and serve that you are on spiritual platform (BG 6.30), you need not to do extra effort or special things for practicing spirituality, your regular actions will become devotional service when you offer them to me.’’

Again, and again Krishna told Arjuna that don’t give up your duty of fighting considering its not spiritual, just act for my pleasure, offer your results without being attached then it’s as good as spirituality. He told as a king you should fight and win your share, establish good governance and teach for the future generations to come by your own example. Krishna ordered, ‘’Jitwa shatru- kill the enemies and enjoy earthly and later heavenly opulence.’’(BG 11.33)

In conclusion spirituality under proper guidance will not obstruct our goals at all, in fact it will give direction and meaning to our aimless, purposeless life thus fostering our journey to ultimate goal that is devotional service.  

‘’Our devotional intensity will reduce our sinful propensity’’

I really don’t want to do that but still I don’t know why every time I end up doing the same thing, I am frustrated, hopeless, what should I do now… What not I did to stop this but each time I failed and committed the same mistake… Why do we do which we hate to do? These are the exact words uttered by us when we do, practice, commit unethical, unlawful or wrong activity.

We have to understand that we are made to do something or act in certain way but these actions are fueled by state of our mind. As our mind dictates we follow without hesitation because we are habituated to do that, we hardly use our intelligence, our discriminating power and agree go with the nasty mind to repent again later.

Not only us but the mighty Arjuna was also confused, he asked almighty Krishna that why I am doing which I am not supposed to do? who is that within me which is propelling me to act in certain way? Lord replied it’s a mind which is polluted by lust, it’s a sinful enemy of the world. He stated that this all devouring lust covers the intelligence by different degrees. Thus, passionate mind subjugates the senses and make them work for the fulfillment of its unending desires. Soul’s condition becomes like a prisoner. That’s why it becomes utmost important to curb this restless enemy with the help of higher powers.

When one practices spirituality, he tries to engages himself in the service of Krishna who is the master of senses, He thinks of various ways to serve Krishna thus his passion to enjoy gets transformed into passion to serve, in other words idea for sense gratification slowly gets off from the mind leading to the purification of it. The more we give ourselves to Krishna the lesser the idea of selfishness becomes which is the root cause of sinful propensity!!

Rupesh Gauranga Das

Does committing suicide foster our path of seeing The Lord?

a very disheartening incidence took place in Delhi few days ago, not one or two but total 11 people from same family committed suicide for getting liberation and to see lord face to face.

Now a day’s people hardly read and follow authentic scriptures thus create their own path for unlimited sufferings by following speculative instructions. Yes, our goal is moksha or the liberation from the world of sufferings but that doesn’t mean we should do it by speculative or wrong way.

an incidence comes in scripture Sri Chaitanya charitamrita, a great devotee named Sanatan wanted to commit suicide because he considered himself to be very sinful and un-useful for the service of the lord. when his thought was understood by Sri Chaitanya deva he chastised Sanatan Goswami by saying, ‘’you don't have any right to kill your body because this body is given by me and it has to be used according to my will, you dint have any right to destroy it’’. He also Told that if it was so easy to see the lord by committing suicide then I could have committed it Long ago. So simple but profound explanation, if the suicide was the way to see Lord then why the scriptures and great authorities of Vedas like saints would, gurus from disciplic succession didn’t speak about it, that means they doesn’t approve it, that’s it. 

we understand from above pastime that body, mind, soul and everything belongs to the God and we don’t have any authority to misuse it, overuse or exploit it or kill it, all these activities will simply bring sufferings for the conditioned souls. The best way is to use it as told by God himself. Just like we use electronic gadgets, kitchen appliances as told by manufacturer for best results. One is considered criminal for destroying the property of Lord which is very serious offence and he has to go through severe punishments.

If someone commits suicide or kills himself his condition becomes very dangerous. Just take the example of a person who is living in rented home but suddenly destroys the home without the permission of owner, what will happen to him? will owner offer him new home? No.. absolutely not, owner would have offered him new home with new agreement for specific tenure if he would have taken care of the previous home nicely. Same thing happens with the soul who commits suicide, he comes out of the body before finishing agreement of stay. He has to just be without body-

less till he gets new body. He has to accept the body of the ghost, that means the soul with desires but no faculty for any enjoyment, he sees, smells, hears everything but can’t do anything. Such a pitiable state!!

In conclusion suicide is not a solution for your problems but it’s a doorway for severe reactions.

*Spiritual lessons from driving* 

Since last few years I had strong desire to have the bike and When I purchased brand new Jupiter scooter I was on the seventh sky. This happiness lasted until I banged onto another vehicle while driving, that accident was minute but it gave several scratches to me as well as to new bike which taught me few lessons for my healthy spiritual life. Hope these lessons will help you too!

1)Drive while your are driving- after contemplating on this mishap I realised that for fraction of seconds I had lost my focus on driving due to which I applied front brakes instead of rear thus my vehicle slipped and banged on another vehicle which was parked aside. In spiritual life also focus is most essential, one thing at one time, eg if you are chanting get involved 100% into it. (BG 2.41 and 12.13)

2)Overcome the Overconfidence- I had not fully learned the vehicle, I was unaware of proper application of front brakes but still I dared to drive on busiest street of the city and rest is the history. Similarly a neophyte may think himself to be the pure and experienced devotee and execute the task just like pure devotee does but he may get slipped away from the position. 

3)Purpose - the purpose of vehicle is to drive you or to take you to your destination earliest. So when someone rather than using it for proper purpose keeps it at home as antic piece for show off then it’s a shear waste of money. Similarly human body is also considered as a machine(18.61) which can help us to reach our goal earliest, that’s the prime purpose, and if we miss that then it’s a waste of our fortune. 

4)Company(association) matters- it’s said if you want to walk fast walk alone but if you want to walk far walk together. With whom are you walking that’s also matters a lot. If the person siting behind you is distracted or disturbed then you may also loose your focus on driving which may again lead to mishap. Similarly in spiritual life our progress depends on the association which we keep, the real sadhus will inspire us to continue our driving. Healthy association is like lubricant which strengthens the engine, the impure association will again drag us to impurity. 

5)Adulterated fuel- vehicle needs pure fuel a minute adulteration will cause serious problem in engine. Similarly our soul is for seeking pure devotion unto Sri Krishna if we mix that with karmakanda and jnankand  and other philosophies the desired effect of Krishnaprem is prolonged. We need to fill the fuel tank of our spiritual life regularly with The topics only related to Krishna that will energise our engine. 

6)Who is your guide- I had heard if you know how to do cycling you can drive your vehicle and I tried, I was successful but for very short time. After banging onto another vehicle while driving I came to know that I don’t know many things. So in spiritual life also choose your teacher learn minute details from him, don’t just hear here and there and practice but sit in front of proper guru serve, ask and then experiment.(4.34) 

7)Where is your helmet? - helmet and seatbelt helps us to protect the vital parts of body. Similarly we should be careful in wearing helmet against vaishnavninda, just close your eyes, ears and tongue wherever  and whenever blasphemy is going on that will protect the most vital part where Krishnaprem is developing gradually, that is our heart. 

8)Servicing- for the well functioning of the vehicle for the long duration servicing is mandatory similarly service to the Vaishnavas is like the servicing for the spiritual practitioner. 

From comfort zone to effort zone

It's easy to be in comfortable walls where we face fewer problems, we receive predictable happiness and mental security. But by avoiding venturing out of our comfort zone we limit ourselves to vast opportunities for growth and varieties of experiences. By nature, every jivatma is very active but when he accepts the garb of a material body he is captivated and bound by mode of ignorance.  Unless one is very much inspired, under the spell of ignorance he tends to avoid responsibilities and always seek comforts for body and mind. Gita wakes us up to our real nature by its wisdom. 

As we see that even Arjuna wanted to avoid his duty of fighting and for that he was presenting convincing reasons in front of the lord.  Lord understood that Arjuna just wanted to be comfortable with becoming beggar so he didn't  allow him to do so. Rather by various means, again and again, he pushed Arjuna to take up to this war, effort. He says, Tasmad uttistha kaunteya yuddhaya krta-niscayah, Therefore get up and fight with determination (2.37), similarly we find  tasmat tvam uttistha yaso labhasva, Therefore get up Arjuna, and prepare to fight(11.33) etc. 

Krishna explains the importance of efforts and hard work, especially in the 3rd chapter. He says, do not avoid duties because without work you can't even maintain your body. He asks us to carry out our responsibilities without getting attached to it just like he himself carries out his duties although he is the supreme lord. Similar verse we find in subhashit mala where it says that, "उद्यमेन हि सिध्यन्ति कार्याणि न मनोरथैः । न हि सुप्तस्य सिंहस्य प्रविशन्ति मुखे मृगाः" work gets accomplished by effort, industry, not merely by wishing. the animals don't enter a sleeping lion's mouth.

Not only in material life but also in our spiritual life we need to have this kind of attitude of taking efforts and not giving up easily for some cheap benefits. Generally, it happens that we tend to think, now because I have come to spirituality everything will be taken care by the God and I need not do anything, I will simply rest. But no, just like we see in Gita that Arjuna had to fight the war and then Krishna stood along his side helping him, making him victorious. Similarly, we all have our own wars and Warfield to deal with, when we become courageous and responsible like Arjuna then Krishna can provide his help in multifarious ways. Simply by sitting in one place and doing nothing won't help in any way neither it will attract Krishna, this is the essence of Gita.

Dusshera meditations

Our festivals are not only meant to be celebrated externally with pomp but also internally with introspection. We burn statue of Ravana on the day of Dusshera signifying destruction of the evil tendencies within. The character of Ravana teaches us multiple lessons to meditate upon.

1) *Power tends to corrupts*
When Ravana pleased Lord Shiva with his austerities, lord blessed him with all boons. By getting puffed up by powers he overpowered his own brother and snatched his kingdom and famous Pushpak Vimaan. Not only that he also started obstructing the religious acts of the saints and holy kings. He considered himself to be the centre of the universe thus he treated universal controllers like Surya, Chandra, Agni as his personal servants. He forgot their position and offended them.
Similarly when we get some authority we start considering others to be lower and insignificant than us, we disrespect them forgetting their contributions in our lives that begins our doom. The last stage of this mentality is that we start considering ourselves to be greater than God. Using this power, authority in the service of the supreme is the only solution for such disease.

2) *Lust deafens the ears*
It all started with the obsession to have Sita as his wife. What not Ravana did to have her. His cravings corrupted his intelligence and that's why he couldn't act properly even after repeated warnings by his near and dear ones'. Although being the controller of the many planets a thought of not having Sita as his wife made him incomplete he gave up all moral codes to obtain her. Similarly when we get obsessed with certain things we forget about the things which we own, making our life more miserable and frustrating.

3) *Time changes everything*
Position in this world is very transient, today's king is tomorrow's bagger. So one shouldn't be so proud of his positions. Ravana who had sovereignty all over universe was destroyed within matter of seconds by the mighty bow of Lord Ram and his monkey soldiers. However great, powerful we may become but time eventually snatches everything from us better use everything in the service of the real possessor.

4) *Morality stands higher than birth, skills and knowledge*
Born in high class Brahmin family Ravana learned all the scriptures thoroughly not only that but he compiled several verses glorifying Lord Shiva. His mastery over music was unparalleled, He had invented the ancestor of bow violin called the Ravanhatha which is played widely in Rajasthan even today. It's said he has written a book named Kumar tantra which describes about causes, symptoms and treatments of over 100 diseases pertaining to motherhood and pediatrics. But Ravana used this knowledge for his own selfish purposes. So rather than getting benefitted people were exploited by Ravana. Likewise we must understand that world won't get benefited by our knowledge unless we use it for their welfare. Also the same knowledge same skills can cause our destruction if used immorally.

5) *Nothing can help you if you are against the Lord*
Being puffed by boons given by Brahma and Shiva, Ravana started misusing his powers to go against the will of the Lord. He wanted to build the staircase for heaven so that anyone without performing sacrifices can enter into it. He was backed by the mighty Indrajita, Kumbhakarna and many others from the golden Lanka but they couldn't help him, rather they go destroyed while supporting his evil deeds. We also many times try to find out pleasures and peace while taking support of others but avoiding the Lord but that can't help. So we must fold ourselves in such a way that Lord becomes the centre and his service becomes the aim of life because that's the way to gain peace and bliss.

*Are you a diver, or a surfer?*

Scuba Diving and surfing are water sports played especially in ocean waters, the main difference between them is that one is played deep in the ocean while the other is on the surface. The surfer, sometimes, might be able to surf above or in the barrel of the wave, but eventually, he gets hit and thrashed by the waves again and again; whereas the diver swims peacefully. Just as the waves incessantly agitate the ocean, similarly various sorrows, miseries, issues, hankerings and other emotions constantly keep agitating and disturbing our life. 

Gita says that there is no end to this anxiety for materialists because they are like surfers, who want to enjoy and play with material nature, they make multiple plans, devise various schemes to exploit the world to become happy (BG 16.11-12). With a false hope that these tides will stop or will become smooth one day, they are busy making plans to acquire the flickering pleasures of this world, forgetting that these tides are not meant to stop and are meant to be here for eternity, that's the nature of the ocean.

Divers are those who swim deep into the ocean, they hardly get affected by the waves, where water is not just calm but also compose & one can even find tranquility. Diver is like a spiritual practitioner who understands that "these tides of the material ocean are never going stop, so let me change my approach of playing in this ocean". Diving deep also means going deeper into thoughts of understanding our purpose of existence, introspecting, enquiring, practicing and trying to achieve the goal of life ordained in scriptures. Just as one can find precious Pearls, Gems & stones in the deep waters, Similarly if one dives deep down into the Ocean of spirituality he finds valuable essence of human life, we find that Gita tells us that: we are not meant to just act according to our desires and emotions but we are meant to control them, direct them towards our ultimate benefit, that will make us blissful and happy. One who just keeps fulfilling his wants and moves according to his drives remains unsatisfied because wants never end, but one who tolerates and controls them understanding their true nature attains everlasting peace(2.70).

Arjuna and other Pandavas have not just survived but also won over the internal as well as an external battle because they learned the art of diving. Whereas Kauravas got thrashed and swayed away by the tides of Material nature. In conclusion, Gita's philosophy doesn't teach us materialism nor escapism, it guides us how to be in this world but not of the world. With the regular spiritual guidance and practice, this becomes possible. 

*Happiness Demystified*

Few incidents which had taken place in the past few days shook my heart and made me ponder "Where does Happiness actually lie?". Happiness seemed like a mystery for me after hearing about such incidents. One person was born with silver spoon, while the other had attained the height of his career and another who had received everything which he wanted throughout his life, but all of them were frustrated and ended up their lives unnaturally. For most of us, we can hardly dream of the luxuries, comforts and achievements they had possessed. They had everything in life, yet they were unhappy. What was lacking? What could be the reason? What made them take such extreme decisions?

When every other knowledge fails to resolve this query, then our last resort is 'The Bhagavad Gita', which answers all of them. It not only demystifies Happiness by revealing the root cause of our misery but also gives us the perfect remedy for it. In summary, Gita talks about the following two concepts of Happiness.

*We seek pleasure from those who/which can not give us pleasure.*
Seeking pleasure is not wrong but seeking pleasure at the wrong place is very wrong and that's the first mistake we do. We think happiness lies outside of us, may be in objects, places or in other people. We live in a misconception that "when I get something that I seek, I will be happy forever". Thus we plan, we contemplate, we endeavor, we put our mental and physical energy to obtain those things or relationships but after sometime we realize that the real pleasure doesn't exist in that particular object, place or person. We again start our search mission expecting some new results at the same old place in different ways or sometimes by same old tactics in different places or things. When we  fail and get frustrated, again we start searching for happiness, it becomes a vicious cycle in one's life, unless one puts efforts to break it.

*We neglect those who/which can give us pleasure*
We immerse ourselves so much in the false happiness of this world that we tend to forget the real happiness and its sources. Gita describes ourselves that we are eternal part of the Supreme, Who is embodiment of Bliss, Knowledge and Eternity. Just as a son of a rich father becomes miserable when gets separated and forgetful of his father, similarly, 'we', the souls embrace the misery as soon as we become forgetful of  God. As described in Gita, by re-establishing the lost connection again with Him by various means we can again experience that lost joy & bliss deep within our hearts. This bliss can be felt irrespective of material riches, wealth and things because it is the matter of heart, thus it can be experienced by the richest as well as the poorest too.