Chapter Seven

Everyone can offer, and then take the food with friends. And chant before the picture of Kṛṣṇa, and lead a pure life. Just see the result—the whole world will become Vaikuṇṭha, where there is no anxiety. All is anxious with us because we have accepted this material life. Just the opposite is so in the spiritual world. No one, however, knows how to get out of the material concept. Taking an intoxicant doesn’t help; the same anxieties are there when you are finished being drunk. If you want to be free and want life eternal with bliss and knowledge, take to Kṛṣṇa. No one can know God, but there is this way:. the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that no one can conquer Him or approach Him, but He becomes conquered. How? Let people remain in their own positions, but let them give up nonsense speculation through volumes of books. Thousands of books are printed and read, and after six months thrown away. This way and that—how can you know the Supreme by speculation on the information supplied by your blunt senses? Give up research—throw it away—just become submissive; acknowledge that you are limited and subordinate to material nature and to God. No one can be equal to or greater than God. So be submissive. Try to hear about the glories of the Supreme Lord from authorized sources. Such authority is handed over by disciplic succession. If we can understand by the same authority as Arjuna, that is real authority. God is always ready to reveal; you just become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Follow the path traversed by the great ācāryas, the devoted teachers, and then everything will be known. Although He is unconquerable and unknowable, He can be known in your home.

If you take to this process and follow the principles, what will be the result? As soon as you understand, you will know that the Supreme Lord is the cause of all causes, but that He is not caused by any other cause. And He is the master of all planets. This is not accepting blindly. God has given you the power of reason, the power of arguing—but don’t argue falsely. If you want to know the transcendental science you must surrender. Surrender to authority and know Him by signs. Don’t surrender to a fool or a rascal. Find one who is coming in disciplic succession, one who is fully convinced about the Supreme Absolute Truth. If you find such a person, surrender and try to please him, serve him and question him. Surrender unto Him is surrender to God. Question to learn, not to waste time.

The process is there, but if we waste time by intoxication we will never see Him, the unconquerable Lord. Follow the principles and slowly but surely, without doubt, you will know. “Yes, I’m making progress,” you’ll say. And it is very easy, and you can execute it and be in a happy mood. Study, take part with music, eat prasādam. And no one can cheat you by this process. But if you want to be cheated—go to the cheaters.

Try to understand it from the authoritative source and apply it in your life. Amongst the dying mortals, you will become the most intelligent because you are freed from sinful actions. If you act only for Kṛṣṇa, then you are freed from all reactions. You will have no anxiety over what is auspicious or inauspicious because you will be in touch with the most auspicious. This is the process. Ultimately, we can get in touch with Kṛṣṇa. Life will be successful. Anyone can adopt it, because it is very simple.

Here is a nice formula presented by Kṛṣṇa Himself: one should understand the position of Kṛṣṇa. He is unborn and without any cause. We have experience, all of us, that we are born, and we have a cause; our father is our cause. If someone poses himself as God, he has to prove that he is unborn and uncaused. Our practical experience is that we are born. Kṛṣṇa is not born. We have to understand this. Understanding this is to be firmly convinced He is the cause, but is not caused; and since He is not caused He is the proprietor of all manifestation. One who understands this simple philosophy is not illusioned.

We are generally illusioned. We are claiming ownership of the land. But before my birth the land was here, and after my death it will still be here. How long will I go on claiming, in body after body, “This is my land! This is my land!”? Is it not nonsense? One has to be out of illusion. We should know that whatever we are doing in the material concept of life is illusion. We have to understand whether we are illusioned or not. And all conditioned souls are illusioned. He who learns to be disillusioned gets free of all encumbrances. If we want freedom from all bonds, then we have to understand God. There is no neglecting this; it is our prime duty.

Out of millions of entities, one may be enlightened. Generally we are all born fools. As soon as I take birth I am nurtured by parents and educated to falsely claim a land as my own. National education means to make you more foolish. Am I not foolish? I am changing my body like a dress life after life. You have so many minds, so many dresses—why do you claim this one? Why don’t you understand: “This dress is nice, but next moment I may be in another.” You are in the grip of nature. You cannot say what dress you will have: “Nature, make me American.” No; material nature controls. If you live like a dog—here, take a dog’s dress. If you live a godly life-here, take God.

Out of many fools someone tries to understand what I actually am. Dog? American? Russian? This real inquiry goes on. If you inquire, you have to ask someone, not just yourself. When crossing the street in a place you don’t know, you have to ask the policeman or some gentleman. For “what I am” you have to go to an authority also. What is a spiritual master? He is a person conversant with the science of Kṛṣṇa. Ordinarily nobody inquires; but if a man does, he can make progress and come to this understanding: Kṛṣṇa is the cause of all causes.

Four kinds of people, followers of scripture and higher authority, inquire about Kṛṣṇa. Those addicted to sinful activities can’t inquire. They go on in intoxication. The righteous, pious man inquires and goes to God. Facility is given to people in this process by the authority—to make people happy, not to exploit people. The purpose of ISKCON is, in this way, to understand the science of God. You want happiness. Here it is. You are distressed by sinful reactions. But if there is no sinful reaction there is no suffering. One who knows Kṛṣṇa without doubt is relieved of all reactions. Kṛṣṇa says, “Come to Me, and I will give you freedom from all reactions.” Don’t disbelieve it. He can give you shelter; He has all power. If I give you such a promise, because I have no such power I may break the promise.

If you associate yourself with Kṛṣṇa consciousness your dormant relationship with Kṛṣṇa will be evoked. You have a relationship with Him. There is no question of disbelieving; it is simply foolishness. The dormant relationship is there. You want to serve Kṛṣṇa, but simply by the spell of illusion we think we have no connection with Kṛṣṇa. We go on doing all “independent” nonsense and we are always anxious. When we associate with these dormant feelings for Kṛṣṇa, however, we will become engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

“God is unborn” indicates that He is different from the material world. We have no such experience of the unborn. This city was born—history is filled with dates. Spiritual nature, however, is unborn, and at once we can see the difference. The material nature is born. You have to understand; if Kṛṣṇa is unborn then He is spiritual, not like one of us. Kṛṣṇa is not some “extraordinary person who was also born.” He is not born. So how can I decide He is an ordinary man? “Those who are fools and rascals think of Me as an ordinary man,” Kṛṣṇa says in the Gītā. He is different from everything in this world. He is anādi, without cause.

Kṛṣṇa may be spiritual, but there are other spiritual bodies. We have spiritual bodies like Kṛṣṇa’s, but they are born. They are not exactly born; it is like the sparks of the fire. The sparks are not born from the fire; they are actually there. We are also not born; we are sparks that come out of the original form. Even if we are not born, the spark comes out of Kṛṣṇa, so we are different; the sparks of the fire are fire, but they are not the original fire. As for quality, we are the same as Kṛṣṇa. It is like the difference between father and son. Father and son are different and nondifferent at the same time. The son is an expansion of the father, but he cannot claim that he is the father; that would be nonsense.

Because Kṛṣṇa is declaring Himself supreme proprietor, He is therefore different from anything. If I am the proprietor of New York State, I am still not New York State. In every step there is duality. No one can say we are completely one with God.

When you can understand Kṛṣṇa’s and your own position in a nice analytical way, then at once you become free from sinful reactions. This process will help you. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and cleanse your mind, and you will receive the message. One has to be qualified. If you chant and hear, for no payment, you will approach God. All things will become clear and illuminated.