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People do not understand the direct link between the brutal treatment of animals in slaughterhouses and our present wars. Srila Prabhupada, the founder of Hare Krishna movement explains in these two quotes how the law of karma connects the two. "In this age of Kali the propensity for mercy is almost nil. Consequently there is always fighting and wars between men and nations. Men do not understand that because they unrestrictedly kill so many animals, they also must be slaughtered like animals in big wars. This is very much evident in the Western countries. In the West, slaughterhouses are maintained without restriction, and therefore every fifth or tenth year there is a big war in which countless people are slaughtered even more cruelly than the animals. Sometimes during war, soldiers keep their enemies in concentration camps and kill them in very cruel ways. These are reactions brought about by unrestricted animal-killing in the slaughterhouse and by hunters in the forest. Proud, demoniac persons do not know the laws of nature, or the laws of God. Consequently, they unrestrictedly kill poor animals, not caring for them at all. In the Krsna consciousness movement, animal-killing is completely prohibited. One is not accepted as a bona fide student in this movement unless he promises to follow the four regulative principles: no animal-killing, no intoxication, no illicit sex and no gambling. This Krsna consciousness movement is the only means by which the sinful activities of men in this Kali-yuga can be counteracted." SB 4.26.6 purport "You are maintaining so many slaughterhouses, and when it will be mature, there will be war, the wholesale murder. Finished. One atom bomb -- finished. You'll have to suffer. Don't think that "Innocent animals, they cannot protest. Let us kill and eat." No. You'll be also punished. Wait for accumulation of your sinful activities, and there will be war, and the America will drop the atom bomb, and Russia will be finished. Both will be finished. Go on now enjoying. It takes time. Just like even if you infect some disease, it takes time. Not that immediately you infect, and immediately the disease is there. No. It takes a week's time or so." Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.32 -- Honolulu, May 31, 1976

Although the vegetarian and vegan diets have become somehow popular in the last few decades, not everyone can become a vegan or a vegetarian and change his lifestyle. Is it therefore possible to eat meat and yet avoid contributing to the massive slaughterhouse culture of today where poor animals are mercifully killed simply for the gratification of someone’s tongue? Srila Prabhupada, the founder of the Hare Krishna movement explains how this is actually possible. Tamala Krsna: Cow is going to die naturally, anyway. Prabhupada: Yes. Then, if you want flesh, take that dead body and eat. Tamala Krsna: Why don't they see this, that just by killing a cow you don't get more cows. They're going to die anyway. Prabhupada: Yes. Everyone is going to die, but they are so voracious, they do not wait up to the death, and they have theorized that "Dead animal is dangerous to health. Now kill while it is in life." Harikesa: Yes, they think like that. Prabhupada: Yes, but... They have got so many nonsense philosophy. But if that philosophy is supported, when you kill the animal, he becomes dead. (laughter) Sudama: Yes, they call it "fresh meat." Prabhupada: Just see. "Fresh dead." Just see. The rascals are so fools that unless you make him dead, you cannot eat. So why do you theorize that a dead animal is not good? Harikesa: Well, 'cause he had to die from some cause, and that cause is... Prabhupada: Cause, all right. It is also cause. You are killing, that's all. Harikesa: The knife is clean, whereas the germs are... Prabhupada: That's all right. Formerly the Hindus, they used to purchase meat and cook it in Ganges water. (laughter) Tamala Krsna: Oh, boy. Harikesa: Purify it. Prabhupada: They thought, "Now it is..." And you will still find in Calcutta, "Hindu butcher." That Hindu butcher is pure. You have been in Calcutta? So they are going on. Tamala Krsna: The Jews have that, "Kosher butcher." Prabhupada: "Mother's prasadam." The rascals say, "It is mother's prasadam." Tamala Krsna: Durga, Kali-prasadam. Prabhupada: Yes. The Ramakrishna Mission, they take mother's prasadam. And they call... Tamala Krsna: And you will also be mother's prasadam. Prabhupada: Yes. Sudama: Even they kill fresh, Srila Prabhupada, sometimes they will kill a cow who has some disease in liver, and then they will eat and they will all die... Prabhupada: Well, they manufacture so many ways. That does not mean we have to support it. We accept that these are animals, that's all. Morning Walks -- January 22-23, 1976, Mayapura Pusta Krsna: What we've been doing with the dead cows is burying them, there's no..., everything's wasted. Srila Prabhupada is proposing that why not the butcher take, we give free, he simply returns us the skin of the cow, and with the cow hide we properly tan it, we can make mrdanga heads for the khol, and shoes, straps, whatever may be needed. The idea being that in the Western countries especially, people are accustomed to eating animals, animal flesh. So we have no objection. Prabhupada: Beef, especially beef. Pusta Krsna: Especially cows and beef. So we have no objection, but they should at least wait until it dies naturally. What is the harm? They still get the same thing, and one devotee, Kirtanananda, I think, was saying that when they slaughter an animal even in the slaughterhouse, it has to sit some time, some number of days before they distribute it. So I proposed that the Westerners, they consider that this is superstitious, this protection of the cow. Prabhupada says Why superstitious? The cow is providing milk. Every child knows that he's getting milk from the cow, the cow is mother. So why in the old age we should slaughter mother? Is this a good argument that like, for example, they say, in India, how so many people are starving, why don't they eat the cows? So Prabhupada proposed that "If you're starving, does it mean that you eat your mother and father?" Prabhupada: If you want to eat, let the father and mother die, then eat. (laughter) Who has objection? Pusta Krsna: It's so reasonable. At least, Prabhupada says, for the saner section, they will accept. Hari-sauri: The thing is, people are mad after meat. Prabhupada: Madman... Pusta Krsna: But they still get it. Prabhupada: But he'll get meat. Hari-sauri: But then their argument is that if we don't have big, big slaughterhouses, then there won't be enough supply. Prabhupada: No why should...? After all, the animal is going to die. It is not for..., he's permanently. Why should you kill? Pusta Krsna: But they kill the animal first in the slaughterhouse and then do whatever they have to do. Dhrstadyumna: But we are killing when they are young, when their meat is fresh. When the body is old, the meat is... Prabhupada: That you have to change. Fresh or dead, you're eating flesh, that's all. You wait till the death. Dhrstadyumna: But the old flesh is not... Prabhupada: Anyway, you do not..., you do whatever you like. So at least you can take free of charges a dead cow from us, and you can give us only the skin, and you eat. Dhrstadyumna: This should be the system. Pusta Krsna: It's so reasonable. Prabhupada: Yes. We don't want anything from you; you take it, the whole flesh. You take free. You simply give us the skin, we can utilize it. Pusta Krsna: Even if people would do this, it would be such an advancement. Prabhupada: Oh, yes. Because a class of men will demand to eat the flesh. You cannot stop it. So we are giving free: you eat. And from economic point of view, we require the skin for our mrdanga making. So give us the skin. That's all. Pusta Krsna: Prabhupada says the butcher, even, he can sell the meat cheaply, make profit. He's getting it free of charge. Hari-sauri: Maybe some time in the future this could happen when Krsna consciousness becomes very powerful influence in the country, but unless we could actually close the slaughterhouse... Prabhupada: No, but now by imploring, we are requesting him that "You can take this cow and sell in your shop, butcher shop, you give us the skin. And you can tell the customer that it is as good, it is cheaper. So whatever money you get, that is your profit. You haven't got to invest anything." Dhrstadyumna: Do you propose that we should do this now, Srila Prabhupada? Prabhupada: (laughs) No, no, this is... Think over. Hari-sauri: Yes, the proposition is very good, that's a fact. Prabhupada: First of all, you try one butcher, that "Why not make this advantage?" How does he react, see. Dhrstadyumna: Yes, that he will not pay anything... Prabhupada: He's not going to pay us. You simply take it and sell it. Pusta Krsna: They sell meat..., for one pound of meat, they can get sometimes two dollars, three dollars, four dollars. So much money... Dhrstadyumna: But the government has inspectors, a team of inspectors. No meat can be sold unless it is inspected, and then they want to examine the conditions. Prabhupada: So let them inspect. What is the wrong there? It should be open. If the inspection, there is nothing wrong, then they can do this business. Hari-sauri: Generally, though, their inspection is when the animal is alive, they check to see that he has no disease. Then they can be killed. But if an animal dies naturally, then generally it is to be supposed that it dies from some malfunction within the body, that there may be some diseases or whatever. So then... Prabhupada: That is artificial. Hari-sauri: But that is their rules and regulations they have. Prabhupada: They'll change. When they, by chemical analysis, they don't find any fault, then they can change. From economic point of view, why this body should be wasted? Let it be utilized. Those that are eating, let them eat. And economic point of view, we save the skin. We require it for our purpose. That is the agreement. After all, we require the skin for our khol making. Dhrstadyumna: For the farm straps? Pusta Krsna: Shoes, slippers, so many things. I think Kirtanananda Swami has done that with some of the cows. They have taken the hide for making things, straps. Hari-sauri: They're not doing it now, though. Prabhupada: But we should not do it ourselves. Dhrstadyumna: Yes, that's for the mucis. Prabhupada: That is not our business. Dhrstadyumna: Give it to the butcher. He will get the skin and give it to us. Prabhupada: Not that everything we have to do. No. That will deteriorate. Those who are doing, let it be done by them. Hari-sauri: It seems like it will be a long time before we can implement something like that. Prabhupada: I am proposing, think over it. Because it is a fact that in spite our vigorous propaganda, we cannot stop meat-eating. That is not possible. People will eat. So those who are eating, let us make some arrangement that "You take it free of charges." From economic point of view, they get it free. They can make good profit. And we are interested with the skin. So why not make some arrangement? It is practical. Hari-sauri: That's very good. Prabhupada: Instead of the thing being wasted for nothing, let us devise some means, that you are eating, you can eat. And we want the skin, let us give him. What is the wrong there? Pusta Krsna: Perfect economics. Prabhupada: Yes. We require the skin, that's a fact. And you want to eat, all right, eat. Pusta Krsna: Could such a thing be done today in India also? Prabhupada: No, why it will be done? Everywhere it should be. That is the... Who does not eat meat? First of all, you try this. From economic point of view, why one thing should be wasted? Dhrstadyumna: Practical preaching. Hari-sauri: We can't stop meat-eating, but we can stop the unnecessary slaughter of animals. Pusta Krsna: That would be a great step forward. Prabhupada: So our business is to stop slaughter. Meat-eating we cannot stop. Certain persons, they must eat. They are fourth-class, and then fifth-class men. There are four classifications—brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra and candala. Candalas, they will remain, and they are eating. Let them eat meat. That is the system in India still. It is not that in India nobody's eating meat. The cobbler class, they eat; the candala class, they eat. Pusta Krsna: Even cows, cow flesh. Prabhupada: Dead. This cow killing has been introduced by these Britishers. Dhrstadyumna: Christian. Prabhupada: Christians. Hari-sauri: Even they're exporting beef from India. Prabhupada: Yes. They can do anything, take the dead cows. I do not know if there is any chemical composition change. They are eating so many dead animals. Take for fish. The fish is never killed alive, because as soon as you take it out from water, it is dead, after few minutes. Pusta Krsna: And they don't consider whether it's a young fish or an old fish. Dhrstadyumna: If that was the system, people will not get sick. They will not get sick from eating old animals. Prabhupada: No, no. This is all wrong conception. Dhrstadyumna: They will say..., simply think the taste there is too tough, the skin may be older. Prabhupada: They are eating so many rotten things. Dhrstadyumna: Yes. And they are burning it, cooking it. Prabhupada: Lobster, it is simply pus. They eat. I've seen it. From whiteness it has become yellow. Puslike. They eat it, what is called that soup? Lobster soup? Pusta Krsna: Clam chowder? So many things. Prabhupada: But they like very much that lobster soup. In the plane, one Englishman was doing "What is this? I asked after lobster soup." Pusta Krsna: In England? Oysters? Prabhupada: No, lobsters. Pusta Krsna: With the big pinchers. Hari-sauri: They get the lobsters sometimes alive, and they throw them in boiling water, and they can hear them screaming. But now they're speculating whether it's actually the lobsters screaming because it's being boiled alive or whether it's just air that's coming out from its body and making a squeaking noise. Prabhupada: No, that is, apart from that, they import lobster from India, Cochin. They are exporting lobster alive. I have seen. The same ship, they load it with lobster fat, and black creepers, and cashews, they exported. The big, big business firms are exporting. So these lobster, although they are kept in ice and so on, so on, they become decomposed. I've seen in the port, that Commonwealth Pier. There is store of lobster, and the lobster has become yellow and almost melted by decomposing. They are selling that. Hari-sauri: When it starts to fall apart, that's when they consider it's the best. Prabhupada: Hmm? Hari-sauri: When it starts to fall apart, that's when they think it's the best. I think I mentioned before, in England, the gentry, the British gentry, when they used to go hunting, shooting pheasants and partridges, afterwards they would get the dead birds and hang them in a shed outside, and then after some days, when all the skin and feathers were literally falling off, that's when they would eat it. That's when it was considered rich. Prabhupada: There are so many kadarya things. In Burma, they have got a system, Burmese family. In the door, there is a pot, a big pot. So whatever animal dies, put it in there and cover it. So in this way, after some years, they're decomposed, and it becomes liquid, and then it is so decomposed that if you open it, within three miles they smell. So that is mature. Then they take out the liquid and keep it in bottles. That is called naphi. And they stock it, and when there is some feast at home they'll give little that naphi, and they'll relish it. Pusta Krsna: Barbers? Prabhupada: Burma. Pusta Krsna: That's the most... Prabhupada: And when you fry luci, all the other tenants will come "What you are cooking?" This is practical because we opened..., my Guru Maharaja opened a branch in Burma in an apartment. So that Gauranga who was my servant in family life, he was there. He said like this, that "When I fry puri, the ghee smell is there, so many people will come from other apartments, (whispers) "Oh, what you are cooking? What you are cooking?" And the naphi, they relish it in feast. So it is a question of taste. Pusta Krsna: That's the ultimate. Dhrstadyumna: I remember as a child in Hong Kong, in the village they would keep big glass jars of snakes, they would put the snakes in jars. And after they were many times soaking in liquid, then they would eat it. Hari-sauri: Pickled snakes. Prabhupada: Snakes. Dhrstadyumna: Yes, keep it in a jar in liquid. Prabhupada: They put in the jar alive? Dhrstadyumna: No, they catch it, kill it, put it in the jar. Hari-sauri: It's like a pickle, they pickle it. And when they want to eat it, they take. Prabhupada: So there is poison in the mouth, they cut it? Dhrstadyumna: They cut off the head, flesh. Prabhupada: Snake they eat. Even in India there is a class, they eat snake. Chinese, they eat. They are Chinese? Dhrstadyumna: Yes. Prabhupada: They eat anything. Room Conversation -- June 29, 1976, New Vrindaban

His Grace Purujit Prabhu explains the importance of accepting and respecting a bona-fide spiritual master in order to perfect one's life.

And how it fits into the Hare Krishna lifestyle.

And how to solve it for good.

Imagine, you wake up in bed one day, and things are just as normal. To your surprise however, upon removing the covers, the first thing you notice is you are in a different body. You have woken up in a different body to your own. You yourself are still there, but you're completely trapped in another person's body. You're inside a house you don't belong, with a family that isn't yours. There's no explanation as to why it's happened and you certainly can't remember how you ended up like this. You can't remember who you are, and if you tell the others around you, you'll be sent to an asylum. No-one can understand your position. After some time you begin to feel like you are that body. You can't neglect it because you run the risk of dying along with that body, you can't ascertain your survival. Attachment has developed at this point because the consciousness of the body you're trapped in takes immediate priority. If this body dies you don't know what'll happen to you. Going along with the whole thing out of desperation, you prepare food painstakingly and then feed your "body" while you, unable to taste the food, feel no pleasure. Your existence is becoming dependent on the survival of the external body, and you have lost hope of getting back to your normal life. The body you woke up in is related to other bodies, and you feel obliged to maintain said relationships. As you continue to work for the body in varieties of ways, you gradually lose consciousness of your self completely, and the concern for your so-called "body" has taken over entirely. You are dissatisfied and frustrated. No matter how much you care to the whims of the imposed senses of the body, you, the controller of the body, can never feel fulfilled. The thing is, you don't have to imagine this scenario because you have regular, everyday and lifelong experience of it. You are currently in whatever status of body you have, be it of a young man or woman, an older body, or a childish body, but that body you have now is different than the one you had in your childhood, youth-hood, or early adulthood respectively. The blood corpuscles, bones, muscles, cells, everything, all have changed. Not a single element of the body you have now is the same as what you had even as recently as one month ago. The body, comprised of five gross elements: earth, water, fire, air and sound are recycling into the atmosphere every second. The breath is going out, transforming from oxygen to carbon dioxide, the skin cells are falling off the body and food is being digested to create new ones. Water is being sweated out, and then drunk back in throughout the day. So the gross elements are coming and going all the time. Right now, in fact, you have a body made of someone else's recycled elements. The material elements of their body are recycled in the same way yours do, and by various processes of nature those same elements are now constituting your body. Although this body is constantly refreshing and dying however, you are always remaining, observing and remembering. You are steadfast throughout the changing of bodies just like you change your clothes everyday. You take the clothes off, put them in the wash, sometimes even throw them away, but your body doesn't get thrown out with those clothes. In the same way, you, the consciousness, are ever present, an undying principle that the material elements are forming around, but because we cannot see that person inside the various bodies, we think he doesn't exist and we take the body as all in all. This is nicely pointed out by Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the Bhagavad-gita as follows: "As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A self-realized person is not bewildered by such a change." (BG 2.13) You might reply that, "That's okay, I'm not the body, as you have factually proven, but I'm the mind, or the intelligence! You can't see the mind or the intelligence, but they are still there, so that's what I am." No, you are also the controller and the possessor of the mind, just like you control the body, but you are not the mind, neither the body. No one says "You intelligence." It doesn't make sense. We say "you have intelligence", or "you have a great mind". We observe and use the mind and intelligence. For example, you can observe your mind right now. You can hear and see varieties of thoughts racing through it. But you don't identify with those thoughts. You might be thinking, "should I keep on reading this article?" You, the person possessing the mind, can choose between the two options: To read or not to read. If you were the mind, you would automatically go with whatever thought came up first. Actually, you would say whatever is on your mind all the time, walking down the street blurting whatever nonsense thoughts are spinning around up there. But you don't, you have some discretion: you choose who to talk to, when to talk and what to say. That is also the use of your intelligence, which you use to control the mind. It's like any tool you find in a toolbox. You don't identify with the screwdriver just because you are using it, saying "I am screwdriver, I am simply metal and plastic" like a madman. In addition, sometimes the mind takes us somewhere we don't want to go, and then we lament, "Why did I do that?", "why did I say that?". Then the mind bombards you with negative thoughts. You may have the experience that you feel like a prisoner within your own mind and you can't get out of thought-loops. You find yourself limited by the mind: Sometimes you want to do something, but then your mind isn't strong enough to carry it out and you become frustrated. If you were the mind, then none of these circumstances would occur, you would have absolute determination, whatever you wanted could be done immediately and you wouldn't have the limitations the mind ordinarily imposes. But that is not the case. Instead, you are caged inside this mind and body. The soul, being eternal, is going through different bodies within this material world just like one is changing his dress when it becomes worn out. He throws it away and buys a new one. When our present material body becomes unusable, we throw it away, and take another body in which we try to enjoy life. A living entity tries to enjoy life in varieties of bodies, sometimes manifesting as an animal, an ordinary man or a higher celestial being known as a demigod. But in all the different forms of body, of which here are 8,400,000, the common feature of all bodies is a set of senses. This is explained very clearly in the Bhagavad-gita: "The living entity, thus taking another gross body, obtains a certain type of ear, eye, tongue, nose and sense of touch, which are grouped about the mind. He thus enjoys a particular set of sense objects." (BG 15.9) The eternal soul also has a set of senses that are eternal, and therefore, whatever form of body manifests for the living being to live within also has senses. Just like when a coat or a pair of trousers are cut from a certain fabric by a tailor, they have arms and legs according to the shape of the wearer. Similarly, the material nature creates a set of senses encapsulated in a form of body comprised of the five aforementioned elements ie. Earth and water etc. to fit over the spirit soul. If the spirit soul was impersonal and did not have senses, it would not make sense that all forms manifested within the material world, i.e animal and man etc. have a set of senses. Therefore the spirit soul has senses and that is why both the body has senses and the senses can operate in the material body. Just like if you were trapped in another's body, you would be able to control it because you had senses by which you can operate the senses of that body. You would have some previous experience and your senses could fit those senses like a hand fits a glove. Now, the senses require some engagement to be satisfied. The basis for existence and the activity of the soul, which is executed by his senses, is service. Everywhere you look, there is service going on, and no-one can escape this ever-present reality. The soul's eternal activity of service is covered by material nature and manifests as service to the body for sense gratification. Therefore, in pursuit of satisfaction, one living entity serves another as his boss, his friends, children, wife and even his dog. No matter however apparently esteemed his position may be within the material world, his obligatory duty is to serve. Even the president of the most powerful country serves the people. Someone might be very rich and might not be servant to any particular person, but he is certainly the servant of his senses, at least his belly, which is always being filled. In the material sphere, all these relativities of service, man to man, man to woman, man to animal and man to nature are all frustrated because they only serve the body. The body is temporary and we are eternal. Therefore, whatever mentally concocted satisfaction and little accolades we acquire from the service in the material world, is finished at the destruction of the body. The eternal spirit soul within the body can, of course, not be satisfied with such a proposition. Trying to enjoy the materially covered senses is just like trying to enjoy a nice sweet while you have a cloth over your tongue: The sweetness, texture and taste are all taken away. Just like in our imagined proposition at the beginning of this article, the person within the body can't be satisfied by service that pertains only to the external body by which he is covered. All the pleasure only touches the surface like a knight is unaffected by weapons on account of his armor. The soul requires an eternal engagement. That kind of service, which has to be spiritual, reaches the soul, and that only can satisfy the eternal soul. How the soul proper, the eternal self within the body, can be happy is explained in the Srimad-Bhagavatam: "The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self." [SB 1.2.6] The basis for existence is service because you, as spirit soul, are eternally part and parcel of the supreme spirit whole. The position of the part is to serve the whole, just like a finger serves the stomach or a cog in a machine serves the whole machine. When the finger tries to enjoy food separately from the stomach, he is malnourished and has no facility for such enjoyment, (He cannot digest the food) therefore he suffers. In the same way, a minute living entity can only suffer when he wants to be the enjoyer of service, the served. Transcendental devotional service to Krsna, on the other hand, is fully satisfying for the self because it is the natural function of the self. As soon as the finger supplies foodstuffs to the stomach, he is in the healthy state. When the minute part of God serves God, he is happy. Service in the spiritual world is based on pure love, not conditional so-called love, on the basis of the body. In the material world we try to enjoy the body through various avenues of service: we serve the opposite sex, for example, in order to enjoy each others bodies. That is not love, and being that the soul cannot be affected by anything material, that enjoyment is illusory. In addition, said relationship is temporary, whereas service to the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna is eternal, and therefore blissful. Because the current senses are covered, however, they cannot be engaged in the spiritual service of the supreme spirit, the supreme pure. The material senses are conditioned to enjoy the temporary sense objects for one's own pleasure, always at the expense of others. Such an impure consciousness is not fit for the spiritual world, wherein all living entities serve Krsna the Godhead in pure and unmotivated love, free from envy. In the Padma Purana this is affirmed thus: “‘Therefore material senses cannot appreciate Krsna’s holy name, form, qualities and pastimes. When a conditioned soul is awakened to Krsna consciousness and renders service by using his tongue to chant the Lord’s holy name and taste the remnants of the Lord’s food, the tongue is purified, and one gradually comes to understand who Krsna really is.’ [Padma Purana] Take our imagined scenario for an easy reference. If you, embodied within a body that was not your own, started doing all the things you used to in your original body, you would start to remember who you actually are, and consequently you would be gradually free from the illusory attachment to that unnecessary body. When we perform the same activities that are eternally happening in the spiritual world, we are acting in the same way our eternal self is always acting, and therefore our dormant and original consciousness, Krsna consciousness, can be awakened. How can we learn this loving service to God, which is transcendental, if we ourselves are conditioned? No ordinary person can teach us such a science. A bound man cannot help another bound man. In the situation of a person being trapped within a body, no other person can help, for they themselves are in the same situation. Therefore one requires a spiritual master. A spiritual master can see that you are trapped. He has the vision of transcendental knowledge, and therefore he is the only one who can help you. "The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal vision a learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcast]." [BG 5.18] He knows exactly your original position in the spiritual world, how you came into this temporary existence, and how you can get out of it according to your ability within the body. Because he sees the soul within the body, not the body itself, he can help the person within the body rather than simply the body. The proposed situation of being trapped within a body other than one's own is terrifying, because we all want to be happy. If such a situation presented itself before us, we would all look for the solution. But the problem is actually our reality. We are an eternal individual consciousness, who desires pleasure. It is stated in the Vedanta-sutra that the living entity is pleasure seeking by nature. But being in this temporary, imposed material body, our avenue of real, self-satisfaction is nonexistent. The real pleasure of the self, the soul, is not service to anything temporary and material, but to the Supreme, eternal spirit, Krsna.

No religion will deny if we say that the aim of human life is to love God. However, if we want to love God, we must know Him. The Vedic literatures give us full information about the name, form, pastimes, personality of God and if we receive such information from the channel of bona fide disciplic succession then we can know God in detail and thus develop our dormant love for Him. Krsna was very pleased with the atmosphere of the forest where flowers bloomed and bees and drones hummed very jubilantly. While the birds, trees and branches were all looking very happy, Krsna, tending the cows, accompanied by Sri Balarama and the cowherd boys, began to vibrate His transcendental flute. After hearing the vibration of the flute of Krsna, the gopis in Vrndavana remembered Him and began to talk amongst themselves about how nicely Krsna was playing His flute. When the gopis were describing the sweet vibration of Krsna's flute, they also remembered their pastimes with Him; thus their minds became disturbed, and they were unable to describe completely the beautiful vibrations. While discussing the transcendental vibration, they remembered also how Krsna dressed, decorated with a peacock feather on His head, just like a dancing actor, and with blue flowers pushed over His ear. His garment glowed yellow-gold, and He was garlanded with a vaijayanti necklace. Dressed in such an attractive way, Krsna filled up the holes of His flute with the nectar emanating from His lips. So they remembered Him, entering the forest of Vrndavana, which is always glorified by the footprints of Krsna and His companions. KB 1970-1-21 / The Gopis Attracted by the Flute

Is there such a thing as perfection? Do you want a perfect answer? Yes? If yes, then there must be perfection. If my answer is imperfect then there is no need to answer. If whatever answer you have is imperfect then it's not valid. Is there such a thing as perfection? Do you want a perfect answer? Yes? If yes, then there must be perfection. If my answer is imperfect then there is no need to answer. If whatever answer you have is imperfect then it's not valid. When you say there is no perfection, that means your answer is imperfect and thus it has no value. To make your statement valuable there must be perfection. Then your statement can make sense. In order to be spiritually perfect there are many requirements: one has to completely give up meat eating, illicit sex, gambling, intoxication and sleeping, basically any kind of sense gratification. You have to give up everything for Krishna, you have to give one hundred percent of everything to Him and nothing for yourself. Whatever you do, eat or even think of, everything you do for Him only: "Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform—do that, O son of Kunti, as an offering to Me." [BG 9.27] When you read all these regulations, initially it seems impossible to do that. What? No eating and sleeping? Are you crazy? Well yes, I am crazy, that is the qualification. Of course you don't do that artificially, but by acquiring higher taste which makes you overcome all these lesser enjoyments, like it says in the Bhagavad-Gita, "The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness." [BG 2.59]. Just like when you are in love with somebody, you don't feel distressed or even hungry, because you are fully absorbed in thought of that person. This simple, material example gives you a hint that it is possible to overcome. Another example is when you play video-games like I used to do; I hardly thought of eating, being tired or even going to have a pee. But can we achieve all that? Take this example: you are doing a test. In order to reach one hundred percent you must get 10 marks. The first time, you only do 7 marks. "Okay, Let me improve." So then you do 9 marks. Great, Just one point from achieving the perfect result. And finally... 10 marks. So your score is perfect. Then you have a bigger test where 100 marks is the perfect full score. So you do the same. Bingo, again you get one hundred percent. Then there is a test with 1000 marks, 10,000 marks or 1,000,000 marks etc. Each time you can get a perfect score. It's just relative. Perfection is possible In any of those cases. And what's the process? To give up the lower taste and achieve the higher one. How? Chant Hare Krishna! It sounds odd, all this simply by chanting? Some things might sound simple, but can have a big impact. Sometimes one sentence or even one word can change our whole life. You say one bad word to your brother and it can completely change your relationship forever, in bad way. But the Hare Krishna maha-mantra - Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare - can change your whole life in good way. Even though bad things might happen while chanting and practicing this maha-mantra: if done sincerely, Krishna will guide you and help you in such a way that you spiritually progress. Even bad things can make you progress. Never mind how simple it sounds, just try it out and Krishna and Srila Prabhupada will help you.

Digital Sankirtan is an online spiritual revolution

In Sanskrit language the syllable ma means "not" and ya means "that". The word maya refers to "that, which is not". It signifies illusion, a state of consciousness when things are not perceived for what they are, but for what they are not. Various philosophies and viewpoints attribute different volumes of illusion to the world that surrounds us, to our perception of that world and ultimately to the consciousness itself. According to the Vedas, the multitude of God's energies is categorized into three main divisions. These are called internal potency (antaranga-sakti), external potency (bahiranga-sakti) and marginal potency (taṭastha-sakti). The internal potency of God is His pleasure potency by which He manifests the spiritual world and the external potency are His separated material energies: earth (bhumi), water (apa), fire (anala), air (vayu), ether (akasa), material mind (manah), intelligence (buddhi) and false ego (ahankara), which make up the fabric of material manifestation, under the influence of time. The marginal potency is the jiva - the living entity. Our position as that of living entities is marginal in a sense, that we are, by constitution, eternally covered; either by the internal or by the external energy. Just like when the land meets the ocean. There is a portion known as the "beach" which is on the margin. Sometimes the beach is covered by water and sometimes it is open land, we can say, covered by air. God's energy, either internal or external, that covers our consciousness is called maya. And thus we have two types of maya: yoga-maya and maha-maya. We shall discuss these concepts here along with few insights into how philosophies other than Vedic see the phenomenon of "illusion". The most extreme outlook on maya is represented by Buddhism. In sanskrit language, their philosophy is also called "sunya-vada". Sunya means "zero" and vada means "conclusion" or "truth". Their conclusion is that everything is an illusion and nothing really exists. We also call it voidism. The three basic characteristics of existence according to the Buddhist doctrine are dukkha - suffering or, more precisely, the unsatisfying nature of the world, anicca - the impermanence of all things and anatta - the no-self. They maintain that there is no eternal soul in any living entity and no essence in any thing. We may thus deduct from the Buddhist teaching that our own consciousness, as manifestation of temporary combination of chemicals (not the eternal self), is illusory and whatever is perceived by that consciousness is also an illusion. The ultimate reality is that of "nothing" and this realization is the panacea for the living being's suffering. Why the suffering needs a solution if it is also temporary and actually non-existent in its essence? Why should we be compassionate to other living beings and not cause them harm, if ultimately there is no self to perceive pain which is illusory anyway? Why should we care for our deeds if even the samsara - the cycle of repeated birth and death in which we want to elevate our position by good karma is just a flickering manifestation of ignorance in perception? And why try for liberation (extinguishing the consciousness) by any kind of practice if everything is already void of any self or essence? These questions are difficult to answer for the supposed practitioners of Buddhist teaching and it is of no surprise. The reason is that Lord Buddha appeared specifically for the purpose of bewildering the atheists as it is prophesized in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, 2,600 years before His appearance: tatah kalau sampravrtte sammohaya sura-dvisam buddho namnanjana-sutah kikaṭesu bhavisyati "Then, in the beginning of Kali-yuga, the Lord will appear as Lord Buddha, the son of Anjana, in the province of Gaya, just for the purpose of deluding those who are envious of the faithful theist." (SB 1.3.24) There were people, and Lord Buddha appeared for their sake, who would not accept the existence of the soul and God as the Vedas propose, but who were misusing portions of the Vedas dealing with animal sacrifices and on their pretext were killing and eating innocent animals. They became bewildered by Lord Buddha, the empowered incarnation of Godhead to accept at least the preliminary, sub-religious principles of ahimsa - non-violence, principles of cleanliness, meditation etc. This was the purpose of Buddhist teaching - to stop animal-killing at a particular time, place and circumstance. This philosophy of void as the ultimate (non)reality and denial of one's own consciousness and the whole world as illusory cannot satisfy the hankering and ever-active soul. If we specifically look into the "Buddhist" circles in the West these days, their members tend to theoretically propose all these doctrines, especially the no-self idea, but they are unable to live up to their tenets. Srila Prabhupada nails them in one of his purports. He says: "The demonic conclude that the world is a phantasmagoria. There is no cause and effect, no controller, no purpose: everything is unreal. They say that this cosmic manifestation arises due to chance material actions and reactions. They do not think that the world was created by God for a certain purpose. They have their own theory: that the world has come about in its own way and that there is no reason to believe that there is a God behind it. For them, there is no difference between spirit and matter, and they do not accept the Supreme Spirit. Everything is matter only, and the whole cosmos is supposed to be a mass of ignorance. According to them, everything is void, and whatever manifestation exists is due to our ignorance in perception. They take it for granted that all manifestation of diversity is a display of ignorance, just as in a dream we may create so many things which actually have no existence. Then when we are awake we shall see that everything is simply a dream. But factually, although the demons say that life is a dream, they are very expert in enjoying this dream. And so, instead of acquiring knowledge, they become more and more implicated in their dreamland." (Bg 16.8) Everything is an illusion, but they enjoy it. That is what makes them even more foolish and more illusioned, although they are supposed to strive for enlightenment. From this Buddhist nihilistic concept of complete negation rose the philosophy of Mayavada, taught by Sripada Sankaracarya. The fundamental principles of Mayavada philosophy, very similar to Buddhism, are that: 1) name, form, individuality, thoughts, desires and words arise from maya or illusion, not God; 2) maya cannot be rationally explained since the very idea that anything needs explaining is itself maya; 3) the individual self or soul is not eternal, because upon liberation it ceases to exist; 4) like maya, the state of liberation is beyond all explanation. The difference between Buddhism and Mayavada is that Buddha ultimately denied the existence of everything, while Sankara says that beyond the maya, the illusion of this manifested world, there actually exists an eternal impersonal monistic reality, Brahman, the nature of which is the self. That reality is the non-differentiated, formless, impersonal Self, the One. Brahma satyam jagan mithya. Brahman, the spirit is truth and this world, jagat is false. As in Buddhism, one's individual consciousness is an illusion and in fact, there is no separate ego. After liberation, though, the consciousness doesn't cease to be but merges with Brahman. The most relished idea of the Mayavadis is "I am God, you are God, everyone is God. There is no God outside of myself. All is one." Again, like Buddhists, the Mayavadis cannot answer simple questions such as "how did an illusory individual ego become separate from the One by maya? If Brahman is absolute oneness without duality, how did it became separated into fragmental illusory egos? Is maya outside of Brahman to separate parts of it into "individuals"? Where is the monism there?" "How does the Absolute forget its absoluteness to become an illusioned living entity subject to misery in the mithya jagat - illusory universe? Is forgetfulness more powerful than God?" "How does the illusory universe come from the real Brahman?" "If everything is an illusion, then whatever you say is also an illusion. Why should I hear from you then?" "If you are me and I am you, then your pocket is my pocket and my pocket is your pocket. Can you transfer the money from your pocket (which is my pocket) to my pocket (which is your pocket)?" Srila Prabhupada, again, summarized this standpoint very nicely: "The philosophy of the Mayavadis is defective because it maintains that everything is maya but the nonsense they speak." Sankaracarya is an incarnation of Lord Siva, the greatest of Vaisnavas and his, as well as Buddha's, delusional propaganda had a particular purpose. At the end of the day, he proclaimed Narayana the Supreme and beyond the manifested and unmanifested, but his so-called followers do not comply with his statements. His last words were: bhaja govindam bhaja govindam bhaja govindam mudha-mate samprapte sannihite kale marane na hi na hi raksati dukrn-karane He instructed his disciples: "You fools! Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, worship Govinda! At the time of death, your grammar and word jugglery will not save you!" So what is maya, actually, according to the Vedas and devotees of Krsna? The answer is multi-faceted and truthful to the all-encompassing Vaisnava philosophy of acintya-bheda abheda-tattva - simultaneous oneness and difference. Technicalities of these explanations can go very deep, but we will try to put forward the basic understanding. There are various ways how to approach maya for our understanding. She may be approached as energy or matter, she can be approached as a person - Mayadevi, the superintending agent of Krsna, keeping rebellious souls out of His eternal blissful pastimes or she can be approached as an attitude of the living entity towards his own existence. And the best is to understand her as all of these at once. Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita: bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh kham mano buddhir eva ca ahankara itiyam me bhinna prakrtir astadha "Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—all together these eight constitute My separated material energies." (Bg.7.4) These energies cover the living entity with a subtle and gross material body and they also constitute the ingredients for the universe in which the living entity embodies himself. The material energy, maya, acts as a filter, a condition through which the jiva's pure consciousness is adulterated into forgetfulness of his original position in spiritual nature (because of his desire to enjoy separately). Thus maya, under the superintendence of the Lord, acts as a shadow representation of the original spiritual world to facilitate the shadow enjoyment of the bewildered jiva. In the Brahma-samhita it is stated: srsṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sadhana-saktir eka chayeva yasya bhuvanani vibharti durga [Bs. 5.44]. Maya is Durga. She creates, maintains and dissolves the whole universe and has a tight grip over the jivas embodied within it. Goddess Durga is depicted with ten hands, piercing a demon with her trident. In each hand she carries a weapon. Durga means "fortress". Duh means "difficult," and ga means "going." It is very difficult, basically impossible for the jiva to leave this fortress on its own. The ten arms of Durga signify the ten directions: north, south, east, west, the four corners, up and down. In any direction we move, there is an armed hand of Durga vigilant to check us. The three spikes of the trident pressed against the chest of the fellow are the threefold misery inflicted constantly on the embodied living entity. They are known as adhyatmika - originating in our own bodies and minds (such as bodily disease or mental difficulty), adhibhautika - caused by other living beings (biting mosquitoes or a nasty boss), and adhidaivika - caused by natural phenomena (excessive heat or cold, earthquakes, hurricanes etc.). It is a fact, that every one of us finds one, two or all three of these constantly bugging him, more or less, and no one can deny that. Thus the living entity finds itself in a situation of constant harassment by the material energy while being completely enamoured by and absorbed in the temporary forms of the same energy, which mimics the original beauty and pleasure of the spiritual world. It's like an abused wife unable to leave her tyrant-husband because she loves him and depends on him despite being tortured by him. It's a Stockholm syndrome when the hostage develops affection towards his captor. Such is the power of maya. She makes us feel happy and pleasurable time to time, enough to hook us up, while we constantly suffer under her stringent grip. One very important thing to understand is that material nature or her elements have no separate power of their own to act or to create. Materialistic scientists are on their way to comprehend nature's wonderful potencies, but the scientist's attribution of the potencies' source is mistaken. They observe the wonderful workings of the universe and forces within it, but they seek the source of these potencies and activity in matter, which is inert. Just like the woman cannot give birth to a child unless impregnated by a potent man, similarly, matter cannot give rise to all the various forms of manifestation on its own, without being activated by the Purusa - the Supreme Person. There must be consciousness behind a working systematic nature, just like there is a conscious mind on the background of any organized happening. In physics, the second law of thermodynamics hints towards this understanding as it states that in closed systems (like the universe) energy in time doesn't concentrate, but disperses, which leads to loss of the differentials required for work even though the total energy remains constant in accordance with the law of conservation of energy. In other words, matter doesn't have the potency to organize itself from simple to complex forms in time, but quite the opposite - complex structures degrade into simple ones, although the amount of matter and energy is changeless. The natural force of material time pushes everything towards disintegration and the only force able to work against this current is a conscious living entity manipulating the elements (matter & energy) and integrating them into and maintaining them in more complex structures. The laptop on which I'm writing didn't come along on its own. It was assembled by people or by machines programmed by people - conscious beings. The only thing that will happen "on its own" with this laptop after a conscious being withdraws its influence will be that in due course of time it will disintegrate into the basic elements. Matter on its own is like the skin-flesh nipples hanging from the goat's neck. One who pulls and squeezes them in order to get some milk is certainly a fool, as the actual udder is somewhere else. In this way, the materialistic scientists are seeking the source of animation within the universe in matter, while all the movement and life comes from the Supreme Animator, God or Krsna. Concerning Maya in her personal feature, she is simply another servant of the Supreme Lord. Her thankless task is to chastise the living entities, who decide to exist on an inappropriate platform of illusory material sense enjoyment. This chastisement is not malicious, just like when a mother slaps a child, not out of malice, but to protect him from harming himself further. Our suffering in the material world, the impermanence of any of our hard-earned achievements and our ultimate frustration through the agency of death is a constant reminder of our incompatible position in the world of maya. The proof of this incompatibility is our innate desire to perpetuate existence, perception, bliss and relationships. Maya's duty is to facilitate the jiva's desire to separate himself from Krsna and to enjoy separately, so under her influence the living entity identifies himself with the covering of material elements and material senses. Maya also serves as Krsna's doorman so no one, who is still contaminated by separatist desires can enter His transcendental association. From this point of view, Maya has two potencies: the covering influence and the throwing influence. The covering influence covers the living entity with material elements while throwing influence throws the living entity out from Krsna's circle and facilitates the desired forgetfulness of Krsna and entering the realm of matter. In the course of their devotional service devotees are being tested by maya, whether they are really serious to return to Krsna's association. Maya comes with different kinds of allurements and aspiring devotees are confronted with their egos, minds and senses (superimposed on the soul by maya herself). From an old friend with a fat joint or a beautiful girl making moves to more subtle forms of illusion such as greed, desire for being worshipped by others or thinking oneself to be the best devotee in the whole universe. The last snare of maya is to think of oneself as God. Devotees sometimes fail to pass the test and many times they hate maya for doing this, but that is also not a correct attitude. Krsna says: daivi hy esa guna-mayi mama maya duratyaya mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te [Bg. 7.14] It is very difficult, practically impossible to overcome this energy of Krsna, maya. But one who surrenders unto the lotus feet of the Lord can jump over the ocean of illusion as if it would be a puddle of water contained in a hoofprint of a calf. Krsna orders maya to release the surrendered soul and then the chastising energy of the Lord becomes the most obedient servant of the advanced devotee to facilitate his pure devotional service. And lastly, maya simply means forgetfulness of Krsna, as above mentioned. When we see ourselves as nonrelated or separate from Krsna, that is maya - that which is not. We are eternally related to Krsna and never separate. When we see ourselves as ultimate controllers and enjoyers, that is maya, because we are controlled and enjoyed by Krsna. When we consider the temporary body to be the self, that is maya, because the body is changing but the self remains the same, and when we consider the manifested universe to be the ultimate reality, that is also maya, because there is a world beyond this universe. It is a question of consciousness. That's the reason why our movement is called Krsna consciousness movement, because at the end of the day, "matter" as the representation of illusion is created by one's attitude towards the energy emanating from God, Krsna. The powerhouse (run by an engineer) emanates one energy - electricity. But on the other side of the wire, the consumer has a variety of options: he can cool things down in the fridge or he can heat them up on a cooker. The energy running both the machines is the same, but its usage is different. Similarly, we can see the energy of Krsna as an agent for our illusory sense gratification - then it is matter, or we can see it as an object of service to give Krsna pleasure - then it is spirit. The same flower, the same laptop, the same sex life, the same eating, the same dancing, the same hearing, the same talking... everything remains the same, only our attitude changes and that decides which maya are we covered by: maha-maya or yoga-maya. The jiva is always covered by a type of maya. Our free will is to decide the covering we'll put ourselves under. In the material world we are covered by maha-maya, we forgot about Krsna, about our position, we falsely identify with the inert, dead material body and we're trying to serve the alien material senses to derive pleasure from them. In the spiritual world, we are covered by yoga-maya. We always remember Krsna, we identify as His eternal blissful servants and we serve to satisfy His senses. Under the influence of yoga-maya, the devotee also forgets that Krsna is God and sometimes he forgets his position as a servant of Krsna. But that only happens so that the devotee and Krsna can enjoy the taste of their particular relationship, called rasa. Krsna, God, is not a boring guy, simply sitting on a throne and ruling over. That is also there, but there is so much more to it. Krsna wants to enjoy friendship, His own submission to someone seemingly superior to Him and ultimately conjugal love. In order to have this exchanges with His devotees, they must forget about His position as the Supreme Lord and this forgetfulness is enacted under the influence of yoga-maya. The science of rasa is a very elaborate one and we may touch upon it in some of the future articles. To summarize the Vaisnava viewpoint on maya: nothing false can come from the Truth. Krsna is the Absolute Truth and all His emanations are factual. Therefore devotees consider the world and the energy creating it as factual. It is not false, but its manifestation is temporary. The body we have is not false, it is temporary. For a devotee, the world is Vaikunṭha - the spiritual world, because he sees everything in relationship with Krsna. Therefore everything is real and by his service, the devotee turns everything from matter back to spirit. As Lord Brahma, the creator agent of this universe said in one of his prayers to Lord Krsna: "Actually, when one mistakes a rope for a snake, the existence of the snake is only within the mind. The existence of maya, similarly, is only within the mind. Maya is nothing but ignorance of Your personality. When one forgets Your personality, that is the conditioned state of maya. Therefore one who is fixed upon You both internally and externally is not illusioned" A devotee never thinks "I am God" and because this crooked idea is "that, which is not", he is always fixed in Reality. #illusion #reality #maya #krishna #universe #material #nature #buddhism #mayavada #impersonalism #devotional #service

Krsna is God. We are His servants. When we want to become God, we are put into the material world where we can have an illusion of being Krsna, or being the Supreme purusa -enjoyer. God however cannot become God. Krsna is God eternally. As soon as God becomes subjected to change, he cannot be considered the Supreme. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu says that the actual position of the living entity is that of eternal servant of the Supreme Lord. Forgetting this principle, the living entity becomes conditioned by material nature, but in serving the Supreme Lord, he becomes the liberated servant of God. The living entity’s constitutional position is to be servitor; he either has to serve the illusory māyā or the Supreme Lord. If he serves the Supreme Lord, he is in his normal condition, but if he prefers to serve the illusory external energy, then certainly he will be in bondage. In illusion the living entity is serving in this material world. He is bound by his lust and desires, yet he thinks of himself as the master of the world. This is called illusion. When a person is liberated, his illusion is over, and he voluntarily surrenders unto the Supreme to act according to His desires. The last illusion, the last snare of māyā to trap the living entity, is the proposition that he is God. The living entity thinks that he is no longer a conditioned soul, but God. He is so unintelligent that he does not think that if he were God, then how could he be in doubt? That he does not consider. For God, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna is Absolute. Krsna contains everything what is within our exprience and everything what is beyond our experience. This involves His all-cognizant feature. In other words, Krsna is supremely conscious. We might be conscious of pains and pleasures of our body, but we are never conscious of pains and pleasures of other's bodies. But Krsna, being all-cognizant, is aware of all the psychological movements of everything conscious in all the universes of His creation and His spiritual abode. Therefore He knows everything. Not just that. Because Krsna is not subjected to material energy and therefore not subjected to material time, which divides eternal time into past, present and future, He also knows what is going to happen in the future and knows everything what has happened in the past. Doubt means ignorance and although Krsna also allows Himself to be illusioned or subjected to transcendental ignorance by His yoga maya potency, He never looses His all-cognizant nature. In other words, He's simultaneously ignorant and all-cognizant if He wishes to. Who is that rascal who can still think after considering all these different points that He has become God?

A new episode of the BLISS PODCAST: Chatting with the Hare Krishnas discusses the American president candidate Tulsi Gabbard and her devotion to Lord Krishna.