

The Meaning of Life

Vimal Sehgal

B.Tech IIT Delhi

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 1998 Vimal Sehgal

"This is a very good book." \- Swami B.H.Mangal Maharaj, Secretary, Chaitanya Gaudiya Ashrams, India.

"In 'The Meaning of Life', Shri Vimal Sehgal has brought complex wisdom into simple, rational language. He has applied ancient secrets and insights to modern dilemmas. This is a book for everyone from the young seeker to the seasoned spiritual practitioner.

The author has shown divine love to be at the core of our existence, and he explains how to bring this pure, spiritual love into our everyday lives. I recommend this book for everyone who is looking for more meaning, more understanding and more love in their lives."

\- Swami Chidanand Saraswati, President, Parmarth Niketan, India Heritage Research Foundation, Rishikesh.

"This book eloquently addresses issues raised by most spiritual aspirants and novices who commence the study of Hinduism from the spiritual perspective. Whilst it focuses on the complex issues such as reincarnation, karma, peace, meditation and the role of love and devotion in Hinduism, it does so in a 'very reader friendly' manner."

\- Swami Satyamitranand giri, ex-Shankaracharya, President, Bharat Mata Mandir, Haridwar.

"Our editor has found this work very interesting. The chapters are very well organised and are logically sequenced with a smooth reading flow."

\- UBS Publishers' Distributors Ltd., New Delhi.

Table of contents

Preface

The meaning of life

What is Life? – Life vs. Matter

Healthy life vs. diseased life - Immortality and bliss

Reincarnation

introduction

the role of desire

the process of reincarnation

the significance of reincarnation

evolution

evolution of consciousness : the Vedic paradigm

the story of Maharaj Bharat's reincarnation

reincarnation explains genius

Life is but a dream

Proof of God's existence

Morality, karma and peace

morality and it's basis

the law of karma

why does evil exist

moral and spiritual education

the study of life, consciousness and desire

the Vedic model of life

modern ethical issues

Head transplant - location of soul

the peace formulae

Love is the ultimate reality

Love is divine – the trinity

relationships in reality

love vs. lust

personal and impersonal philosophy

Meditation

the mind - theory

meditation by spiritual sound – bhakti yoga

the liberation of Ajamil \- a tale from Purana

The art of dying

References

Shrimad Bhagvat Mahapuran ( Srimad Bhagvatam )

Bhagvad Gita

Sri Chaitanya Charitamrta

Sri Chaitanya Bhagvat

Brahma Samhita

Ishopanishad, Mundak, Shvetashvatar Upanishads

Padam Puran

Garud Puran

Ramcharitmanasa

Ramayan

Mahabharat

Brahmcharya and Sandhya - Gita press, Gorukhpur.

Life after life - R. Moody jr.

Life comes from life – by A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami

Preface

Everyone has some desire to know the meaning of life. Everyone wants happiness, love, pleasure and immortality, and though these seem elusive I have described how everyone can attain these in the human form of life. This is the importance of human life - to attain divine love, immortality and bliss permanently. In this world we are going through birth, old age, disease and death. This is not our normal healthy condition of life. We need to reinstate ourselves in our normal healthy life which is one of immortality and bliss.

I have made an attempt to present the meaning of life and related knowledge in a rational, systematic and comprehensive yet concise manner in easy to comprehend language so that anyone without prior knowledge of the subject may easily understand it. The book also presents a synthesis of science and spirituality by giving explanations of the phenomena of consciousness and presenting the distinction between life and matter by describing their characteristics.

I realise my limitations in presenting this knowledge but considering the importance of this subject matter to humanity, I have nevertheless made an attempt to present the essence of the Vedic philosophy in this book which I hope will contribute towards a meaningful life for mankind. The inspiration for writing this book comes from the super-soul (param-atma). As stated in the Bhagvad Gita,

"I am seated in everyone's heart and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness."

The book is divided into ten chapters.

Chapter 1 & 8 (The meaning of life, Love is the ultimate reality) describe the meaning of life.

Chapters 2 through 7 contain essential spiritual and moral knowledge which gives us the impetus to aim for the reality. These chapters give a unified system of knowledge so that one can understand his existing position relative to the reality and the significance of human life.

Chapter 9 - Meditation - describes the theory of mind and meditation, and Meditation by spiritual sound describes the means of attaining divine love and happiness and thus fulfilling the meaning of life.

Acknowledgements

Jai Om Vishnupad Shri Shrimat Bhakti Hirday Mangal Maharaj ji ki jai.

I would like to thank my mother, Laj Sehgal, for her encouragement and support, and my father, Dina Nath Sehgal, for his goodwill, in writing this book.

I would like to thank A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami ji for his invaluable teachings and excellent translations of the Bhagvad Gita, Srimad Bhagvatam and Shri Chaitanya Charitamrta.

I would like to especially thank my guru ji, Swami B.H.Mangal Maharaj, (secretary, Shri Chaitanya Gaudiya Ashrams, India) for his invaluable guidance and teachings.

I would like to thank Shri Virendra Bhanot for his technical assistance in publishing this book.

1. The meaning of life

As we arrive in the twenty first century we see that man has made great strides in science and technology. We have many material comforts yet something is wanting. We have many traditional religions based on faith but these have failed to give us solace as is evident from the general breakdown in ethics and morality. This is so because man is a rational being. Faith alone will not do. Most religions demand blind faith which is unacceptable to the rational mind. And science has provided only a mechanistic view of life which is cold comfort to man's emotional needs. The Vedas, Puranas and Upanishads however contain a comprehensive philosophy of life. What man needs is a philosophy of life that appeals to his head as well as his heart. For man needs rational answers that appeal to his intelligence and reason, and satisfy his emotional needs also. People need to know: what is the meaning of life? That is the ultimate question. After all what is the use of living a meaningless life?

These days science is considered the answer to all knowledge. However one should remember that science is only a tiny part of knowledge which is vast. Knowledge has many branches of which science is but a part. One who wishes to acquire ultimate knowledge should not limit himself to mere material science but should extend his study to the knowledge of life and consciousness. Science has provided some answers to material problems but in the study of life and consciousness, science has not made much progress. Life and consciousness is more important than mere material science. But presently because of lack of knowledge on subjects such as life, consciousness, the purpose and meaning of life, morality and the aim of human life, mankind is dissatisfied. Progress in science and technology has brought us some material comforts but no inner satisfaction, and with our advanced science and technology we have manufactured sophisticated weapons and nuclear bombs which threaten our very existence because we are bereft of the meaning of life. Morally and spiritually mankind is bankrupt. What we have now is guided missiles in the hands of misguided man!

Einstein once said that he received many queries from people asking him: what is the meaning of life? He remarked that he didn't know what answer to give them. Since he was a renowned scientist and people respected him, they obviously wanted his opinion on this most important question. Does science have an answer to this query? After all what is the point in living if one doesn't know or make a query as to what is it all about. What is the meaning of life?

So in this book I will deal with the meaning of life so that any layman may understand it clearly. The purpose of this book is to get this message across clearly and not to confound anyone with vague philosophy. The purpose of explaining knowledge is to explain it with clarity and simplicity. I will make an attempt to this end in this book.

Before I get into a deep analysis of life and its meaning I will give an answer to this question partially and briefly and the book will deal with it in detail later, expanding and giving a more complete answer.

So what is the meaning of life? The answer to this all important question is:

The meaning of life is love. For therein lies the happiness of the individual. Everywhere in the hearts of all people in all times is the great yearning for love. Whether one is a man, woman or child, old or young, a bird, beast, aquatic or whatever species of life, everyone is looking for love fully consciously or on various levels of awareness. From our childhood this is our experience. A child wants love. If his parents or substitutes do not love him by holding or cuddling him he will be unhappy and cry. In the beginning a child is basically interested in himself. Gradually as he grows up his love may extend to mother, father then friends, society and nation. In the heart of everyone there is love. People give expression to their love in various ways by serving others and their society, nation and mankind. Thus they seek fulfilment of their loving propensity by reaching out to others by their words and deeds.

A child may not be fully developed in awareness but automatically his yearning for love is there. Even a pet bird or dog will love his master and demand love. In school, children seek love and often say he or she is my best friend. The teenagers are all searching for true love. They want to find that person who has loveable qualities, who they can love with all their heart and soul and who in turn will reciprocate their love. All of us want to have that true love which will forever grow more and more will be ever fresh and never wither. O what will we not be willing to give for that ecstatic experience of love which will never end, where there is no heart break and which is an ever lasting love affair not subject to break, decay or boredom. You may ask any man or woman how much they value love. Ask them if they would want to live if they had everything but no love. No one would want a life without love. For love is life and life is love.

There is no meaning to life without love for the meaning of life is love. That is why you see poets writing poems about love and writers writing love stories and romance novels; film makers producing love stories wholly or as part of some plot and singers singing love songs. Love songs are so popular. Everyone is crazy about love, for it is love only that makes the world go round. Men and women seek each other for love. Without the element of love all relationships seem stale and intimacy is unpalatable without some ingredient of love. We go to see our friends and relatives hoping for loving exchanges on various levels such as sharing of thoughts, sweet words, gifts, compliments, embracing etc. Need I say more! It is love only that makes the world go round; that makes our hearts beat in anticipation. It is love only that cheers a soul, a child, man, woman or pet. The whole world is singing about love and the glories of love only. Whether we fully understand love or not is a different matter. But love is it. Whatever may be our conception of love yet love is the central force of our life.

Freud explained everything in terms of sex or lust. But the basis of lust is also love only. Without love, lust cannot exist. Just as coloured water exists on the basis of pure water only, similarly lusty desire is only pure desire coloured or contaminated by the propensity to enjoy the senses. Lust is the perverted reflection of love. Lusty desires are perverted and dangerous and lead to anger and quarrel. Yet lusty desires originate from the contamination of pure desire only.

So from our own experience we can understand that love is the meaning of life. I want to love and be loved. This desire and thought is operative on a conscious or subconscious level because to love is our nature.

Everyone wants true love. However knowledge of how to find true love is required. Knowledge in itself is not the aim but is only a means to achieve one's goal. By mere knowledge alone one cannot attain true love but by application of such knowledge one can achieve the goal of true love so that one's heart is fulfilled. So I will be covering some fundamentals of such knowledge that will aid the reader in attaining true love. I assure you that achieving true love is no trivial pursuit. It requires a thorough application of oneself but the results are so rewarding and so beyond one's wildest imaginations and dreams that one who achieves true love thinks the endeavour worth no trouble. Reality is far more pleasing than fiction. One who has the most precious diamond has no use for imitations.

I will elaborate further on the meaning of life in a later chapter titled Love is the ultimate reality. To understand the meaning of life let us first understand what life is.

2. What is Life? – Life vs. Matter

What is Life? What are the characteristics of life? Is life an evolved form of matter or is it distinct from matter? Is life simply a product of or combination of material elements? Is it possible for material elements that have no life at all to combine to give rise to life? Life is characterised by consciousness. Matter is devoid of consciousness. How can matter which is devoid of consciousness give rise to life which is conscious? The effect must exist in the cause as well. These are some pertinent questions to ask when we analyse what life is. These questions are the basis of a scientific analysis of life and the debate: creation vs. evolution. It is essential to first define the fundamentals of life namely what life is and what its characteristics are before we can speculate on the origin of life.

In schools and universities we have been studying science which is so far generally limited to the study of matter only in the form of atoms, molecules and chemicals. Whatever study of life is done also presumes that matter combined to form life. But such an assumption that matter combines to form life is not only an erroneous assumption but is also a reprehensible theory with evil connotations and dangerous and destructive moral, physical and spiritual consequences for mankind. So far our study is limited to the study of matter in science. But what is of more importance to us? Life or matter? After all we are all living beings. I am far more important to me than all the matter surrounding me, even though I may presently be dependent on matter to some extent. Therefore our primary emphasis should be on the study of life and not exclusively on the study of matter. We should study life, its characteristics and its relation and interaction with matter. In the words of one Nobel laureate who studied chemistry, "In my search for life I ended up with studying molecules and chemicals only, which have no life at all. Now in my old age I am retracing my steps, for life seems to have slipped through my fingers somewhere along the line."

Generally in science we deal with matter, time and activity. Some biologists speak of dead matter and living matter without realising that to speak of living matter is a contradiction. Matter is not living. Matter is insentient as opposed to life which is sentient. Life displays the capacity to be, to will and to act whereas matter only exists without the capacity to will or to act.

Life has the characteristic that a living being has desires and is conscious. Desire and consciousness are the chief characteristics of life. Matter is unconscious and devoid of desire. Therefore the Vedic model of the universe includes both life and matter as two distinct energies emanating from a single source that being the cause of both of them must also be conscious since the effect must exist in the cause as well.

The two potencies of God in this universe are:

1. Life - the conscious living beings i.e. the souls. The souls are fundamental units of life. The souls are indivisible, irreducible and eternal. They cannot be added together or subdivided.

Life is not a product of matter. Life does not arise from a combination of material elements. Life is non-material.

2. Matter which is devoid of consciousness but is pervaded by the consciousness of God who directs every particle of matter according to his laws.

Matter is constituted of eight basic material elements:

1. There are three subtle elements namely: Mind, intelligence and false ego.

2. There are five basic elements in varying proportions in each atom which form gross matter. These are: bhumih (earth), apah (water), analah (fire), vayuh (air) and kham (ether). These Sanskrit terms refer to the characteristic of the elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether. Every atom is constituted of these five basic elements. These may be known by the following characteristics:

1. Earth - particles like neutrons and protons that form the nucleus of the atom.

2. Water – the cohesive force between various particles within the atom?

3. Fire – the latent energy which is released on fission of atom.

4. Air – the movement of the electrons around the nucleus.

5. Ether – the space within an atom in which the movement of electrons takes place.

The Vedic model of the universe stresses the unity of all life. Life is defined as the marginal potency of the supreme life, and matter is defined as his external potency. Both of these potencies, Life and Matter are actually distinct from each other. Just as sunshine and heat are the energies of the sun, similarly matter and the living beings are the potencies of the Supreme Being. Just as when we speak of the sunshine we refer to the sun similarly the identity of the living beings is with reference to their origin, the Supreme. Living beings have an identity dependent on the Supreme.

By marginal potency is meant that living beings are on the margin and have the capacity to choose whether to be under the influence of matter or under the direct influence of the Supreme Person. Those living beings who violate the laws governing life, that is, whose desires are not in harmony with those of the Supreme Person, are ensnared and entrapped by the glare of the external potency consisting of matter which is inert and thus they lose their capacity for a full display of their consciousness whereas those who are in harmony with the laws governing life enjoy full freedom of their consciousness. The consciousness of those averse to God thus becomes stunted due to bondage within matter and is exhibited in the three phases - wakefulness, dreaming and deep sleep; whereas those who love God live with full consciousness unimpeded by matter.

We should understand that life is a superior potency because it displays consciousness and that matter which is inert is an inferior potency. Nevertheless life can be covered by matter if the living being asserts an independent identity as an enjoyer of his senses. The chief function of matter is to act as a curtain between the living being and reality by covering the living being and thus curb his freedom by putting him under the influence of matter. The living being covered by matter in the shape of a material body thus forgets his actual spiritual identity as the separated potency of the Supreme meant for his pleasure and is allowed to pursue his own dream of an independent enjoyer of his sense. Thus he assumes a false identity and tries to be the lord by lording it over matter through his senses. But since this is based on a false conception of his identity as an enjoyer it leads to misery only. Thus matter acts as a curtain between the living being and Reality. The Reality is that there is only one supreme and we are meant to serve His senses for His pleasure. In that natural state of loving service to the Supreme the living beings live in harmony with His will and enjoy the bliss of love with Him. But those living beings who deny this Reality are allowed to pursue their false desire by making them forgetful of Reality by the agency or covering of matter. Thus the living being falls into a dream state as an enjoyer of his senses, which because it is a false proposition, is never to be fulfilled. Covered by a material body he forgets his real identity and identifying his self with the body he pursues bodily sense pleasures which never fulfil his real spiritual self and instead award him all misery since bodily sense pleasures are by nature transient like a dream. How can the eternal living being find any satisfaction in a temporary dream based on a false bodily conception of his self? His desire for gratifying his senses is the cause of his separation from the Supreme. So long as the living being persists in lording it over matter by gratification of his senses he denies the real Lord and remains apparently separated from him by the curtain of matter. He thus remains entrapped and embodied in a material body that befits his mentality. Actually the living being should not have taken on a material body. The natural healthy condition of life is to live in a spiritual body without the covering of a material body.

Therefore it is important to note that life and matter are actually two separate and distinct potencies. In this world the living being is trapped within a material body and therefore he seems indistinguishable from the material body but the fact is that the living being is actually completely distinct from the material body. He is only residing within the body. The living being within the body is like a passenger sitting in a car. He is not the body anymore than a passenger is the car. The basic understanding of spiritual knowledge is that I am not this body. I am the spiritual person residing within this body. I am not made up of matter. I belong to the category of life because I am conscious. That means that I have awareness. Everyone knows that consciousness exists. All around us we see matter which has no consciousness since it is by nature inert. Matter is not living. No matter how you combine matter you cannot create life or consciousness. You may take all the ingredients such as different chemicals, DNA or amino acids etc. but you cannot create life out of matter. Sometimes scientists speak of these chemicals as the basic building blocks of life. But that is a totally erroneous and misleading theory. Matter, in any arrangement of different chemicals, can never be the basic building block of life, because life is a higher order potency than matter and is not made up of matter. It is absurd to speak of life as made up of such and such chemicals or material elements. Life is not a product of matter. Rather matter and life both come from the Supreme life. Life is distinct from matter.

Sometimes scientists speculate whether life exists on other planets and they look for certain material ingredients in the form of Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen etc. to conjecture if there could be life there. But the fact is that material ingredients do not give rise to or form life. And just because on earth certain material elements are present in material bodies does not mean that the same material elements or combinations should be found elsewhere in the material bodies on other planets. The material bodies in other planets could be constituted of the material elements found there which are suitable for habitation in those atmospheres. Or else they could have bodies made up of subtle matter consisting of mind, intelligence and false ego. However material elements do not constitute life and therefore simply to seek material elements or their combinations seems like an erroneous method of detecting life. According to the Vedas, life exists everywhere. Life is transcendental to matter and exists everywhere on land, in air, water, fire, ether and beyond the material world as well. The majority of life exists in the world of life where matter is absent.

If we wish to detect the presence of life then we have to devise some method of detecting consciousness and desire. There are two types of consciousness. One is the consciousness of the Supreme Being and his consciousness is present everywhere and pervades even the smallest particle. He is omniscient. The other consciousness is that of living beings like us. So we have to distinguish between these two types of consciousness. The consciousness of the Supreme Being is all pervasive whereas our consciousness is limited to our individual body. For detecting life we need to detect and identify the consciousness of the minute living beings like us.

"Just as the sun spreads sunshine all over the universe, similarly the living being residing within the body spreads consciousness throughout the body." - Bhagvad Gita.

The chief characteristics of life are consciousness and desire. Consciousness is our primary experience. Everyone is conscious or aware that they are conscious. Consciousness is not the experience of matter and does not arise out of matter. Consciousness is the primary experience and characteristic of every living being. It is only through the medium of consciousness that I am aware of myself, my body, my desires, thoughts, words, actions and my surroundings and environment. It is only through the medium of consciousness that I can observe, study and manipulate matter. Therefore consciousness is my primary experience. Without being conscious I cannot know my self, others or matter. Matter is unconscious and can never observe or study itself or anything else. So if I was made up of matter then how could I be conscious and observe anything?

Therefore the conclusion is that since I am not made up of matter, I am distinct from my body which is made up of matter. I am the conscious living being residing within this material body. And that is the difference between a living body and a dead body. The dead body displays no consciousness unlike the living body which exhibits consciousness. The difference is that when the living being or life leaves the body the body drops dead and stops exhibiting consciousness. The fact is that the body was always made up of inert matter but because of the presence of life i.e. the soul, it exhibited the traits of consciousness. Just as energy or matter cannot be destroyed but may be transformed into other forms such as the conversion of heat to light or matter to atomic energy, similarly life can also never be destroyed though it can become covered by matter in the form of a material body.

According to the principle of conservation of energy, matter cannot be destroyed but may be converted into energy. Energy is conserved though it may change from one form to another. Similarly life is also conserved. It is never created or destroyed. Life cannot die. Death only means that life has left the body made up of matter and will continue in a different environment by acquiring another material body or else be liberated from matter altogether. In any case the principle of conservation of life is always maintained. Life can never be annihilated.

Life is permanent. It can never be created or destroyed. It may get covered up by matter in the shape of a material body but it can never be destroyed. Through different bodily changes in one's life one can see one's body changing gradually from childhood to youth, youth to middle age, and finally to old age but one can remember that he is the same person even though the body is changing. For example I remember that I once was a child. That means that I, the owner of the body once had a child's body but now the same I has an adult body. That means that though the body is slowly changing, I am unchanging. My identity is the same as before. I once resided in a child's body and now the same 'I' am residing in an adult body. From common usage and experience also we can see that if I was not the same person, my parents would no longer consider me their son; my childhood friends when they meet me would not consider me the same person. Everyone recognises the fact that I am the same person. My identity is unchanging. Even though the contents of my body and my mind have changed, my experiences have become wider and the contents of my memory have grown or changed yet I am the same person because I am unchanging and am distinct from my mind and my body. My remembrance of my childhood body, youthful body and the different stages of my body is proof that I am the same unchanging person. Otherwise if I were to become a different person through my gradual bodily changes then how could I remember these changes as happening to my body? Therefore the conclusion is that the living being is eternal and unchanging even though the body is changing. In support of this the Bhagvad Gita says,

"As the embodied soul continually passes in this body from boyhood to youth and then to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realised soul is not bewildered by such a change."

By soul is meant, the actual person, the living being. The soul means the spiritual person. The actual person is never the body. He is the spiritual person residing in the body, though some people have the false notion that they are this body and they have a soul. Actual knowledge is: "I am not my body. I am the soul resident in my body. I am an eternal spiritual person presently residing in this temporary material body."

To stress the permanence or eternality of life, the Bhagvad Gita says: "For the soul there is never birth or death. He is unborn, eternal, ever existing and undying. The soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon, nor can he be burned by fire nor killed by water or wind. The individual soul is unbreakable, insoluble, everlasting, unchangeable immutable and eternally the same."

If I am eternal then why am I accepting the imposition of birth, disease, old age and death which pertain to the body, upon me? These are undesirable and are imposed upon me because of false ego only. Though these experiences can never actually kill the living being and are like a bad dream only, yet they put the living being in an unhappy state. I am eternal and I should be living my eternal life free from the clutches of birth, disease, old age and death. Therefore in this rare human body we should endeavour to regain our healthy life which is one of immortality and bliss.

In this chapter we have discussed the distinction between life and matter. It has also been discussed that life is not a product or combination of matter. Life is an independent entity. Life and matter both originate from the Supreme Life. The following table summarises the main attributes of distinction and similarity between life and matter:

1. Life displays the characteristics of consciousness and desire. Living beings are sentient.

1. Matter is devoid of consciousness and desire. Matter is insentient.

2. Life is endowed with minute freewill. Thinking, feeling and willing are the traits of life.

2. Matter is devoid of thinking, feeling or willing.

3. Life cannot be destroyed but may be covered by matter in the shape of a material body.

3. Matter cannot be destroyed but may be transformed into other shapes or converted into energy.

4. The principle of conservation of life always holds true. Life is eternal.

4. The principle of conservation of matter or equivalent energy always holds true. Matter in the form of mass or energy is eternal.

5. Life is indivisible and irreducible to sub-components. Each living being is eternally a person irreducible to other sub-components and is not made up of two or more persons and cannot be merged with other persons. The identity and individuality of every person is eternally spiritual and unchangeable.

5. Matter is divisible indeterminately and is reducible to its sub constituents.

6. The number of living beings is infinite.

6. The number of material particles is infinite.

7. Each living being is a unique person with his personality traits. He is the basic unit of life and is not constituted of any sub-components.

7. The basic constituents of material particles are the same everywhere. Each atom is constituted of the same five basic elements in varying proportions.

8. The function of life is to love the supreme living being and to render loving service unto him and thus live blissfully. However those averse to God, by misuse of their freewill, get covered by a material body and forget reality. The function of life is to live blissfully in divine love.

8. The function of matter is to cover the rebellious living beings who are averse to loving God, and thereby act as a curtain between them and the reality, God, thus making them forgetful of reality. The function of matter is to imprison those averse to God.

There are an infinite number of souls and each soul is a unique person with his different personality traits. The Vedas describe the spiritual dimensions of the soul as one ten thousandth the size of the tip of a hair. The heart is described as the seat of the soul. In case of a heart transplant the soul gets a new seat i.e. the soul changes his seat from the old to the new heart, but stays in the same body. The soul supplies energy (which can be perceived as electric pulses) to make the heart beat and supplies consciousness to the blood which carries consciousness to the brain and all other parts of the body. Thus the soul permeates the whole body by consciousness. If the supply of blood and thereby the consciousness it carries is choked to any part of the body that part becomes numb and paralysed. The soul being spiritual transcends matter and cannot be seen by our material eyes but its presence can be understood by the presence of consciousness in the body.

When, why and where from does the soul come to this material world? Since life does not originate from matter therefore it stands to reason that life does not come from the material world. Then where do the souls i.e. the living beings come from? The soul is embodied within a material body here but why?

Life originates from God but if the living beings had seen God who is all attractive then his all attractive personality with his beauty, charms and activities would have attracted the living beings and there would have been no question of their being ensnared by the material world which is but a pale shadow of reality. How can a person who has seen the captivating beauty of God be attracted to this material world? So obviously the souls in this material world have not seen God otherwise they would not have fallen to this material world. If they had seen God they would have been attracted to Him and would be living in His abode. In the Bhagvad Gita, Lord Krishna says that one who goes to his eternal abode of bliss never returns to this material world so full of suffering. The living beings in the spiritual planets love God and are therefore infallible and not prone to falling to the material world. There is no influence of the material potency in the spiritual planets because the living beings there love God. However those living beings who are in the brahmjyoti, the brilliant effulgence of God, who are free of material desire but have not yet manifested their natural love for God are prone to be afflicted with material desire and consequent fall down because one who has not taken shelter of love of God is liable to seek relationships elsewhere and fall down to this mortal world since no one can live without relationships for long.

So then where did we come from? It is said that the living beings originate from God into the brilliant effulgence which covers the person of God. God is covered by his brilliant effulgence (called the brahmjyoti) and he is visible only by his grace to those who love him. At their very origin in eternity the souls, exercising their minute free will, either go to God if they are humble; or else out of false pride get ensnared by the material world which presents to them the opportunity to lord it over matter through their senses and exploit and enjoy it. The souls being infinitesimal are prone to false pride and misuse of their free will, unlike the lord who being infinite is infallible. Instead of being humble and acknowledging the only real lord, God, the souls get trapped in matter because they desire to be the lord themselves. Real freedom and bliss come to those who love God but those who misuse their free will and desire to be the lord themselves end up being imprisoned in this mortal world of birth and death.

The jeev-atma (Sanskrit term for the living being or the soul) in his pure state has a pure consciousness which is characterised by complete serenity, clarity and freedom from distraction. The fall down of the jeev-atma begins with false ego which arises due to the soul's desire to be the lord himself or in other words due to false pride. False ego is the false conception of one's identity as a separate lord. Ego means identity. True ego is that I am a spiritual person (soul) meant to serve God. This false ego causes a person to acquire a false conception of one's identity as one's mind or body. God's material potency is invested with the three modes of material nature viz. goodness, passion and ignorance which regulate the workings of the material nature and the diversity within it. This false ego is characterised as serene, active or dull according to how it is influenced by the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance respectively. It is from these three classifications of false ego that the mind, the senses of perception, the organs of action and the gross elements evolve.

From false ego under the influence of the mode of goodness arises the material mind; form false ego in the mode of passion comes the material intelligence, the senses for acquiring knowledge and the senses of action. Impelled by the energy of God, false ego under the influence of the mode of ignorance gives rise to all the elements and the sense objects beginning with the subtle element sound. From sound come the ethereal sky and the sense of hearing. Thus from the subtle element sound, progressing gradually all the elements - ethereal sky, air, fire, water and earth respectively and the corresponding objects of the senses - sound, touch, form, taste and smell and the respective senses of hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell become manifest. The jeev-atma first gets a covering of subtle matter in the form of false ego, material mind and intelligence. From this subtle body consisting of false ego, mind and intelligence develops his physical body in a species of life befitting his mentality. This subject matter of the manifestation of the material world and the embodiment of the soul (jeev-atma) within a material body is expounded in detail in the Sankhya philosophy of Lord Kapil in Srimad Bhagvatam.

Sound is the beginning of the elements of the material world and conversely spiritual sound is the means of liberation of the soul (jeev-atma) from matter. The Vedas emphasise sound as a most potent energy. Presently modern technology is using various forms of energy such as nuclear, chemical and biological. Similarly in ancient times, mantras consisting of different combinations of sound were used as energy. Weapons and guided missiles were launched using sound mantras to hit specific targets. The epics of Mahabharat and Ramayan mention the use of sound mantras with weapons some of which such as the Brahmastra is said to be capable of unimaginable destruction. The liberation of the jeev-atma from the bondage of matter can be effected by means of spiritual sound and this is described in the chapter titled meditation by spiritual sound of this book.

3. Healthy life vs. diseased life - Immortality and bliss

Disease means contact with unhappiness. The normal healthy condition of life is to be happy. Unhappiness is an abnormal diseased condition of life. Healthy life is happy. Healthy normal life is life which is not in contact with matter. Life and matter are two distinct and separate potencies. As soon as life contacts matter the misery of life begins because contact with matter i.e. the acquisition of a material body by life is a diseased abnormal condition of life. Healthy life is not covered by a material body but is independent of matter. Not covered by a material body healthy life is happy, fully conscious and eternal i.e. he is not subject to birth and death which pertain to a material body only. Thus the pure healthy life is blissful, not subject to any pains and is unrestricted by time, space or matter. He, the liberated living being, is free and is subtler and faster than the mind. The mind has tremendous speed but life or the living being is even subtler and faster when free from the influence of matter. In this world all life is in a diseased condition since all living beings in all species of life in the material world are covered by a material body which is subject to birth, growth, decay and death. Life and matter are actually distinct and separate. Healthy life has no contact with a material body or matter. However, because our experience is limited to seeing life covered by a material body we consider this abnormal diseased condition of life to be normal, though actually it is abnormal and diseased. We have no conception of healthy life which is free, blissful, and eternal and without a material body. Life does not need a material body to live. Rather life is healthy only when it is not covered by a material body. However, because of our limited experience, we think otherwise. We, the living beings, who are spiritual are trapped and imprisoned within this material body.

In the previous chapter I have discussed that life is eternal. No one ever dies but the body made up of matter in any species of life be it human, animal, bird, aquatic, reptile, plant, insect or germ is subject to decay and death. Since life is eternal the most important question one should ask is:

I am eternal. So I should live in my eternal life. Why am I accepting this life of birth, struggle, disease, old age and death? How can I reinstate myself in my eternal life free from the clutches of death? Only because of material conditioning and lack of knowledge we are accepting this life culminating in death as normal. In reality this is abnormal. Death is contrary and alien to life.

We are all seeking our true nature. And what is our real nature? We are the potency of God. God is eternal and so is his living potency. God has a spiritual form which is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge i.e. he is omniscient. Similarly we are also eternal, blissful and fully conscious in his association though not omniscient since the living being is infinitesimal and God is unlimited. We are totally dependent upon Him.

We are seeking our nature. Everyone wants to be happy, blissful. We seek pleasure because in our natural relationship of love with God we enjoy immense pleasure being attached to the source, the reservoir of all pleasure - God.

We want bliss. That is our nature. Everyone seeks pleasure. In this world we seek pleasure through our various senses namely the sense of sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing. We seek pleasure by desiring to see beauty, by hearing melodious music, by eating delicious foods, by smelling fragrances and by touching sensuous objects. The chief of these pleasures is sexual pleasure. Thus by our attempts to seek pleasure through our senses we experience fleeting pleasures only which disappear soon after we experience them because they are of the nature of dreams and have no permanence. At any rate, our nature is to seek pleasure, bliss. So if we want permanent bliss then we must ask where and who is the source of all pleasure?

That source of bliss is the original absolute truth from whom everything has emanated. He is an ocean of pleasure and he is also the source of the fleeting pleasures we are experiencing. But if we attach ourselves to Him directly then we will always experience real unlimited pleasure. Unlike the momentary sensual pleasures, real pleasures do not disappear but rather build up and, when situated in reality, one floats in an ocean of ever increasing pleasure in ones loving relationship with God. There is no need then to derive a drop of fleeting pleasure by the contact or rub of skins as in sex. Dreams on the material sensual platform disappear but reality and real pleasure experienced through our spiritual senses is permanent and stays in us. It does not disappear. How can reality disappear? Real pleasure, reality is indestructible. Only dreams vanish. Those who are seers of the truth say that of the real there is no cessation and of the unreal there is no endurance.

The dream of sensual enjoyment has to be renounced if one wishes to wake up to reality. The yogic situation is that of detachment from all sensual pleasures. The yogis are enjoying unlimited pleasure through their transcendental spiritual senses and such pleasures transcend all material dreams.

Everyone in this world is thirsty for pleasure. Pleasure is a most precious commodity. But, alas, where is pleasure in this world of matter? Our hearts are hankering for an ocean of real pleasure. Then how will a drop of fleeting perverted pleasure of the senses in contact with inert matter satisfy our hearts? There is anxiety in our hearts because of contact with sense gratification. Covered by a material body, the living being does not perceive the pleasure within and instead misled by his senses vainly searches for pleasure in the outside world. Pleasure in the material world is akin to a mirage of water in the desert. One simply goes after this mirage in vain. Where is water in the desert? Where is pleasure in the jurisdiction of matter? Pleasure can only be relished in the jurisdiction of life. Life's real pleasures have to be relished in association with the Supreme Life who is the reservoir of all pleasure. This world is an imitation world made up of matter and it is only a perverted reflection of the real spiritual world. This perverted reflection i.e. our material world is situated in the mirror of lusty desire. It appears to be real but reality cannot be perceived here unless one renounces sense gratification.

All of us wish to live happily forever. No one wants to die. Only misery sometimes makes a person want to end himself but the actual truth is that no one wants to die. That is so because by nature we are eternal. Our actual nature is that we cannot die but death is artificially imposed upon us in the form of death of the body. But as explained before, we do not die; only the body is cast aside like an old worn out cloth. We fear the annihilation of our self and thinking that we will be finished, we are afraid of death. The instinct for self-preservation is there because of one's love for the supreme whole to which the self belongs. In any case we should protect our body because the body can serve our purpose of propelling us back to reality and our eternal life. The human body is invaluable because of the aforementioned reason only. To protect ourselves from disease and death we take great pains including going to doctors and hospitals. So it is a fact that not only humanity but all species of life resist death.

Why do we resist death? Because actually we are eternal and death is alien to our nature. We will fully experience our nature when our relationship with God is fully perceived by us. That is called self-realisation. Self realisation means to realise my love of God. I cannot realise my self independently of God. My identity can only be realised by me in my relationship with God because I am his potency, just as the rays of the sun are identified in relation with the sun because the sun is their source. Though I cannot die, yet bodily death imposes pain, misery and the fear of annihilation in me though I am never actually annihilated. I am seeking my true nature and that can only be experienced when I realise my self. Just as when the sun rises, darkness disappears and everything becomes visible similarly when I realise my loving relation with God, all ignorance will disappear and I will realise my true nature. Presently I am in ignorance. This body is a product of ignorance and is imposed on me because of my impure desires. Ignorance means forgetfulness of ones loving relation with God.

So we need knowledge of our healthy normal life. We have no conception of healthy life because we are removed from it, but by examining our nature as discussed above we can understand it. We are meant to live eternally, blissfully, without any pains and in full consciousness. That is our real nature which we are seeking.

This world of destructible matter is actually foreign to the eternal soul. The living being in his healthy life does not have a material body and lives untouched by and independently of matter. He is situated in his spiritual form which is identical with his self. In this world, the self and the body are different. Here the self is trapped in a material body. This entrapment of the self in a material body is because of our diseased mentality. Thus we are suffering birth, disease, old age and death which pertain to the material body.

What is the function of pain or misery? Pain is a signal by nature to warn us that something is wrong with our natural condition. For example if a person's finger is cut he will experience pain. Pain warns him of something wrong so that he may take action to correct it by bandaging it; otherwise if there was no pain he may not notice the cut and bleed on.

Pain warns us that something is wrong with our condition and we should take corrective action. Similarly the pain and misery we experience in this world is constantly warning us that we are not in our healthy condition of life and we should therefore take corrective action to come to our healthy condition.

This corrective action requires correcting our diseased mentality. Our mind presently has the false ego that I am the enjoyer of the senses. But our true ego is that we are meant to serve God's senses. We have become the servants of our bodily senses. So long as a person wants to enjoy his senses he will experience only inert matter and the limit of his pleasure will be to experience only momentary pleasures such as sex and these momentary perverted pleasures will be all fleeting and elusive like a dream and will fade away like a phantasmagoria. The senses demand enjoyment and cannot remain inactive. So if he serves God's senses then he can experience life, and when he is established in self realisation he can relish real pleasures and bliss being attached to the reservoir of all pleasure - God.

By realising the faultiness of our desire to lord it over matter through our senses and by therefore giving up this faulty desire, we can experience our actual healthy life. This desire to enjoy our senses is the cause of our diseased condition of life. Therefore one who wants to enjoy peace and happiness has to renounce this lusty mentality. Lusty desires are the cause of our suffering.

As Krishna says in the Bhagvad Gita, it is lust only born of contact with the mode of passion and later transformed into anger which is the all devouring sinful enemy of this world. The senses, the mind and intelligence are the sitting places of this lust and by control and regulation of the senses one must slay lust which bewilders us by covering our knowledge and is the enemy of self realisation. Lusty desires arise from the mode of passion and when these do not find satisfaction they turn into anger in the mode of ignorance.

The senses need to be controlled by the mind. By knowledge and intelligence one can direct the mind. The mind is attached to the idea of enjoying through the senses. So by detachment from sense gratification and by practice of meditation on God by chanting God's name and by hearing and thinking of God's qualities and pastimes, the mind can be trained to give up this diseased mentality of enjoying the senses.

When the consciousness is pure, life is situated in healthy condition; otherwise if consciousness is contaminated by any material mentality then life is situated in a diseased condition and the manifestation of consciousness is proportionately stunted. Healthy life is eternal, fully conscious and blissful. In healthy life we live eternally, free from the influence of death because healthy life has no material body which is subject to death. When our consciousness is situated in love of God then we will be in our healthy life. This necessitates renouncing the lusty impure desires and cultivating the pure desire of love of God. So if we wish to be happy and relish pleasure and live permanently then we should cultivate love of God and renounce lusty desires. We will never experience peace in our hearts if we persist in sense gratification under the sway of lust and the insignificant perverted pleasure we experience will disappear in a moment.

This world is known as Mrtyulok or the world of death. Here we are all sentenced to death. Reason implies justice which may be tempered with mercy, forgiveness etc. depending on the person and circumstances. Our world is based on cause and effect. Whatever happens has a cause. When a man is sentenced to death he naturally must have committed a heinous crime. So we should also inquire. Why am I sentenced to death? What wrong have I done or am I doing? And how can I correct it? Is there a remedy or a solution for my misery and death? I want to be happy and I want to live eternally because that is my nature. I do not want a life of misery culminating in death.

In the Vedas, this material world called Maya is represented by the goddess Durga who holds a trident in her hand and rides on a lion. Durga means a fortress or in other words, this material world is a fortress, a prison, for the rebellious souls who are within the bondage of matter. The trident Durga holds in her hand represents the three type of miseries that we are subject to viz. miseries caused by our own mind and body due to disease; miseries inflicted upon us by other living beings; and miseries suffered due to natural calamities like floods, earthquakes etc. No sane man wishes to live under the conditions of these threefold miseries under the jurisdiction of death. The material body is also our teacher because it is subject to various diseases, which inflict misery on us, and it always comes to a miserable end. So we should learn to become mentally detached from it. If one falls into an ocean, one will taste only salty water everywhere. Similarly this mortal world of ours is an ocean of miseries. Despite all our attempts at tasting pleasure we only taste misery in this ocean. Lord Buddha said, "Everything in this world is miserable and temporary ('sarva dukham dukham, sarva kshinikam ksinikam')". In the Bhagvad Gita also, God Himself certifies the material world as a place of misery where repeated birth and death take place. All our plans for happiness here are like a mad man's dream. Any attempt at sensual pleasures is followed by a host of miseries. All our attempts here to find happiness and pleasure culminate in death.

We are like goats in a slaughter house condemned to death. And like goats we want to enjoy sex even though we are in the mouth of death. This material world is called the shackles of sex life where everyone in all species of life is enchanted by sex and thus remains a secure prisoner in this world of birth and death. From the attraction between man and woman come attachment, children and the chase for finance to maintain the family. Thus one remains entangled and absorbed in family affairs. Freud had also explained the psyche of man in terms of the sexual drive and had concluded correctly that this is a world of misery, but he could find no solution for man's predicament.

The solution is to cure our diseased mentality by renouncing our desire for enjoying sensual pleasures. This requires engaging our senses and mind in the positive activity of cultivation of love of God. We are not the lords meant to lord over matter through our senses. Rather our senses are meant for serving the actual supreme lord, God. That is our healthy consciousness. To consider oneself the lord by desiring senses gratification is a diseased mentality. We are not the lords. There is only one Lord who owns all of us and all that exists and we are meant to please him. By serving him we will automatically experience bliss.

A diseased mentality means madness. Everyone in this material world is more or less a madman. When a person because of delusion forgets his real identity and starts thinking that he is someone else, people will say that he has become mad. For example, if I say that I am the king of England, people will say that I am mad and am suffering from delusion because I have forgotten my actual identity. Similarly the living being has actually forgotten his identity. The soul is the servant of God but has taken the identity of servant of his bodily senses and worldly attachments. Thus the pure soul has taken on a false identity and is appearing in this world in the garb of man, woman, child, bird, beast, aquatic, insect etc. and is behaving according to the body imposed on him by his impure desires. Every person is a soul yet takes on a false identity as a man, woman, dog, bird, fish etc. due to the madness caused by false pride. Under the spell of the impure mind he has forgotten his real identity. Therefore the soul is overcome by madness because of the deluded mind. The mind is like a ghost that has overpowered the soul and is dictating to him. The desires arising in the mind are not our desires. The soul has no desire other than love of God but being overpowered by the mind which borrows energy from the soul, we mistake the desires of the mind as our own.

Actually I am not the mind. The mind has many desires according to the mental and physical urges and the sense objects we contact. But the mind's desires are not my desires. I am simply deluded by the mind and am accepting its dictation. The soul has no worldly desires or attachments such as sex, family, children, money etc. The soul's sole desire is love of God but under the ghostly spell of the impure mind we forget our real desire and identity. The impure mind is conducted according to the permutation and combination of the three modes of material nature viz. goodness, passion and ignorance. According to their mixture we have different people with different mentalities and many different species of life.

This world is not only under the control of death, it is also the world of the apparent dead when seen in the context of the actual living and reality. Let me explain this further. The soul here is buried or imprisoned within matter. He is therefore as good as buried alive within a body made up of matter. He is surrounded by matter in the form of a body which consists of flesh, blood, bones all packed up within skin and hair to give it a semblance of reality and we are deluded into thinking that we are this body which may look so pretty when young but that it is symptomatic of our diseased condition becomes apparent when the body becomes old and the hair turn grey, the skin becomes loose, the teeth fall and the body decays and dies. Actually, though we cannot die, we are as good as dead in this world of matter because we are buried alive in this body. We do not need a body made up of matter to live. These are simply our prisons. We are imprisoned is these bodies. To experience real life we need to be released from the clutches of the material body and live untouched by matter in the spiritual realm which is our natural abode. We are like fish outside of water in this material world. Life belongs to the world of life and not to this world of matter. Here we are simply trying to grab some pleasure through the senses. The eyes, ears, nose, mouth, genitals and rectum are the nine holes in this body and the soul packed inside matter is trying to gather some pleasure through the skin and these nine holes in this bodily cage. We cannot see our self nor can we see others with our eyes made up of matter. For these eyes made up of matter can only see matter. They are incapable of seeing the soul. All we can see is our body and the bodies of others. These bodies are like mannequins moving around and acting due to the presence of the person inside but these bodies are not our self. They are just like breakable dummies. Only through the medium of our consciousness can we understand by our intelligence that the person exists within the body because the soul permeates the body with consciousness. Consciousness is proof of the presence of the soul.

Our present condition is aptly described by Pingla, the prostitute, in a story in Srimad Bhagvatam. Pingla desired sex and money intensely from her customers. However one night despite her best efforts on the street she could not lure any man. Due to anxiety and unfulfilled desire, her throat dried up and felt parched. She felt great misery and frustration in her disappointment. However her great suffering because of her disappointment in her abominable profession led her to a feeling of detachment from her situation. The prostitute Pingla felt disgusted with her situation and thus became indifferent to it. Indeed, detachment acts as a sword which cuts the knots of bondage of material hopes and desires, and it induced happiness in her mind. Lusty desires are the cause of great misery and freedom from such desires bestows peace and happiness.

Thus she spoke as follows:

"Just see how greatly I am illusioned. Because I am unable to control my mind, just like a fool I desire lusty pleasure from insignificant men. I am such a fool that I have relinquished the service of that person who, being eternally situated within my heart is actually most dear to me. That most dear one is the lord of the universe, who bestows real love and happiness and is the source of all opulence. Although he is within my heart, I have completely neglected him. Instead I have ignorantly served insignificant men who can never satisfy my real desires and who have simply brought me unhappiness, fear, anxiety, lamentation and illusion. How uselessly I have tortured my own soul! I have sold my body to lusty men who themselves are objects of pity. Thus practising the abominable profession of a prostitute I hoped to get money and sex pleasure.

This material body is like a house in which I, the soul, am living. The bones forming my spine, ribs, arms and legs are like the beams, crossbeams and pillars of the house, and the whole structure, which is full of stool and urine, is covered by skin, hair and nails. The nine doors leading into this body (the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, genitals and rectum) are constantly excreting foul substances. Besides me, what woman could be so foolish as to devote herself to this material body, thinking that she might find love and pleasure in this contraption?"

The above lines describe our situation in our bodily existence. The nine doors of the body mentioned above refer to the two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth, genitals and rectum through which the living being tries to gather pleasure. Buried alive in our corpse like bodies we are moving around thinking that this is life. Life is subtler than mind and intelligence. How can one packed in matter know anything of or experience life and Reality? We are blind to reality, for with these material eyes only matter can be seen and not reality. One who is cut off from reality is called insane. All of us in this world are cut off from Reality and are therefore insane. Whatever a madman haunted by the ghost of Maya (sense-gratification) plans for happiness is only nonsense. Actually there is no happiness in this world. One cannot be happy in a false conception of the self thinking that I am this body, but if one comes to one's true ego (identity), realising in practice (and not merely knowing theoretically) that I am a spiritual person, then one can be happy.

Therefore everyone under the influence of matter is like a person haunted by the ghost of Maya, the material potency, which induces ignorance or forgetfulness of one's identity and reality. This world is created for forgetfulness of reality, God, for those who turn away from God and wish to forget him. In the presence of God they cannot try to be the lord. Therefore God is fulfilling their desire to be the lord in a world where God, the Reality, is invisible.

All species of life in this world are in total forgetfulness of God and their own identity. All are oblivious of reality. Everyone here is covered by ignorance but is not aware that he is in ignorance. We have to wake up to reality for we are sleeping in the bondage of matter. Our position is no different from that of the other species because we are also packed up in material bodies like them, but with our developed brain we have the rare opportunity to decide whether to leave our delusion of sense gratification and wake up to reality. In the rare human body, the soul is given the special facility of developed intelligence to remember God, the reality, if he so chooses. This is an invaluable opportunity to develop our love of God and thus attain our eternal life of bliss which is our natural healthy state of life. Can we afford to fritter it away in the trivial pursuits of momentary and transitory pleasures, attachments and thoughts of this world?

4. Reincarnation

Introduction

Reincarnation has been a subject of considerable interest to mankind through the ages and though it is well understood by those who have studied the revealed Vedic scriptures such as the Bhagvad Gita and the Puranas, the general mass of people hold only belief or disbelief regarding reincarnation in the absence of their knowledge of a proper explanation or evidence regarding the phenomena of reincarnation. In the Sanskrit language reincarnation is generally referred to as re-birth (punar-janam). In India people have traditionally known about reincarnation and the learned sages who are well versed in the revealed scriptures have detailed knowledge of it. From his teachings it is clear that Socrates, the great philosopher, was also knowledgeable about reincarnation. The Vedic scriptures are replete with references to reincarnation. Reincarnation i.e. transmigration of the soul according to ones karma into various species of life in successive re-births is an integral part of the Vedic philosophy.

In this chapter I wish to present to the reader a coherent theory and explanation of reincarnation with reasoning, available research and scriptural evidence. The implications of reincarnation with regard to morality and the meaning of life will also become evident to the reader as he examines this theory with his rationality and intelligence. Rational people want theory, explanation and proof. That will be presented in this chapter. However some people regard only seeing as proof. They want to limit proof to sight. But proof may also be through other senses such as hearing, touch, smell and taste along with sight. And above the senses such as sight is the mind and intelligence. Proof may consist of observation, logical deduction, knowledge based on experience and scriptural evidence.

The term reincarnation means that the dead person is born in flesh again, with a new body. Reincarnated in his new body he will not be recognised as the person who had died since his new bodily features will be different. He will have a new young body with new features acquired according to his mentality at the time of death. This new body is not necessarily a human body again. In fact the human body is a rarely obtained precious gift from God. The new body in which the person reincarnates i.e. the new body he acquires could be from any species of life such as the beasts, aquatics, plants, birds, insects etc. Reincarnated in a new body he generally forgets what he was in his previous life and it's happenings except in some special cases.

The term reincarnation would have no meaning unless life i.e. the living being, the person or the self survives death. It has already been discussed in the previous chapters that life is eternal. If death meant the annihilation of the self (the person), then who would reincarnate again. Therefore to understand "reincarnation" we must first understand what life is, and how life is different from matter. This has already been discussed in the earlier chapters of this book. So far as the dead body is concerned it will not reincarnate since it is burnt or buried resulting in putrefaction and is lost into dust forever.

Life is originally pure soul without a material body. The body is subject to birth, growth, decay and death, but the living being is eternal. He is without birth or death. Every person is an individual and the terms person, life, soul, the living being also called the jeev-atma in Sanskrit are synonymous. To the question what is life or soul, the answer is that the soul is the real person with all the senses and intelligence and personality and in his healthy life the jeev-atma (soul) is untouched by matter and not covered by matter in the shape of a material body. The jeev-atma is the real life, the living being, with personality, feelings, consciousness and desires. He has full spiritual senses. All the senses manifest in the material body have their basis in their spiritual counterpart. In this material world we are used to seeing people with a material body and in our ignorance we think of a person as a material body but the material body is only an external acquired thing and unwanted and unnecessary for life. The difference between the body and the living being, the soul, may be understood by the example of a car and the passenger in the car. The body is a machine like a car. The soul in the body is like the passenger in the car. The soul is not the body just as the passenger is not the car. With the demise of the car the passenger can buy another car. The passenger does not die if the car breaks down. Similarly when the body dies the soul, the living being, acquires another body. The soul is the actual person. The body is only a machine in which the soul is sitting. He does not die or take birth. He is eternal. The body is continuously changing through one's life but the owner of the body is the same person, the same individual, through all his bodily changes.

"As the embodied soul continually passes in this body from boyhood to youth and then to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death."

The bodily changes from birth to death can be seen but the movement of the soul into another body after death cannot be perceived. When the soul sheds the physical body at death, he is carried by the subtle body consisting of mind, intelligence and false ego into a new body which gradually develops and thus the person takes birth again. The person remains unchanged. The soul is an eternal individual person and the bodily changes do not pertain to him. Under no conditions or circumstances can the living being be annihilated or transformed. Although he may unfortunately be covered by a material body; and then he behaves according to the manifestation of the body. For example we behave as children when we have a child's body and as our body grows up our behaviour also changes. The contents of the mind, the memory etc. may all change but the owner of the body remains the same person. The owner of the body is different from the body just as the passenger in a car is different from the car in which he rides. The body is like a garment that the soul wears and periodically changes as the body gets worn out or unusable.

By virtue of presence of the soul the body is permeated by consciousness. Otherwise the material body like all matter is always dead. When the soul leaves the body, the body drops dead and no longer exhibits consciousness.

Life is of the same quality in any species of life be it the body of a man, woman, child, beast, aquatic, worm, germ, reptile, plant or a bird etc. The presence of consciousness or desire indicates the presence of life. All these different bodies in different species of life are like different machines. The behaviour will vary according to the body acquired by the soul but the quality of the soul or life is the same in all species. For example a person with a child's body will behave like a child and when he grows up and has an adult's body he will behave like an adult. It is not that the quality of the life or soul has changed from childhood to adulthood. Only the body has changed. Similarly the quality of the soul is the same whether one is a man or a woman. Only the behaviour or characteristics of the body are different. The machine may differ but the quality of life is the same. Similarly if one acquires the body of a dog he will simply bark. Only the machine is different. So far as life is concerned the dog also displays consciousness and desire. The manifestation of the brain or nervous system in the human species is more elegant perhaps but that is only an external material arrangement. So far as the presence of life or soul is concerned, he is present in any species of life. And the proof of that is consciousness. Like human beings, the beasts also display consciousness and desire. They also have sex and children; they also eat and sleep, and experience pain and suffering like us. If you attack or hit any beast his cries of pain can be heard loud. Like people, dogs also fight pitched battles in the streets for sex, food and territory. So how are they any different from man? It is not that there is a child-soul, a woman-soul, a man-soul, a dog-soul or a bird-soul. The soul is of the same quality everywhere irrespective of the species.

The soul is of the same quality in any embodiment of matter. He is a fully conscious person with desires, feelings, thinking and senses. His subtle nature can be compared with that of the sky. Clouds and so many things may pass through the sky but the sky because of its subtle nature remains unchanged. Similarly the soul is untouched by matter even when entrapped in it. He is finer than the senses, mind and intelligence and is beyond time and space. He is unborn, eternal, undying and neither fire nor water or wind or weapons can touch him. He is an eternal person in all circumstances and conditions. Each one of us is an individual person, a soul, who is now bound because of false ego in a body made up of matter.

The soul or life is of the same quality in any species and he is characterised by consciousness. The manifestation or display of his consciousness will vary according to the body he has acquired just as a person sitting in a machine such as a bicycle, car, scooter, train, aeroplane or a sputnik will exhibit varying capacity to travel according to the acquired machine. If we say that we human beings only have life or soul and the beasts and other species don't, then how do we explain the presence of consciousness and desire in them and the exhibition of common traits such as eating, sleeping, mating, reproduction etc. Admittedly we may be more intelligent than animals but that is so because of our more developed brain compared to that of the beasts. But then an adult's brain is also more developed than a child's brain, Does that mean that a child or a retarded person has no soul and the normal adult does? There are those who are killing children with this argument saying that the child in the womb has no soul and therefore we may kill him by abortion. A convenient argument indeed to justify one's heinous deeds! Without the presence of the soul, the egg cannot develop into a body and the body cannot develop. The sperm carries the soul into the egg during sex and once the sperm lodges the soul into the egg, the egg develops into a child because of the presence of the soul. Similarly despite the presence of consciousness and other similarities, those who wish to kill animals for eating their flesh, also want to deny them a soul. Without the presence of the soul, the life, how is the beast running around, displaying consciousness and having sex and children? According to logic, the analogy of consciousness, desire and other commonalties is proof that the soul, the life, is of the same quality in all species, irrespective of the body and the brain.

The role of desire

"Be very careful what you set your heart on for surely you will get it." – R.L.Emerson.

Now the question may be asked: "What is it that determines which species of life one takes birth in out of the various species such as humans, beasts, birds, aquatics, insects and plants?"

Desire is the principle governing factor that determines what kind of body we will get. Everything is happening on the basis of desire only. Desires determine destiny. These different bodily machines are all offered to the soul according to his desires, the mentality he has cultivated. His mental desires will dictate his mentality and actions and he will then be offered a body in a particular species and gender according to his desires and karma (deeds). Just as the machine such as different bicycles, scooters, cars or aeroplanes that a person acquires depends upon his desires and acquired wealth, similarly our acquired body depends upon our desires i.e. our mentality and our wealth in terms of karma i.e. good or bad deeds that we have performed. Desire is destiny. Desires impel us to various karmas. Therefore cultivation of pure desire or at least pious desires is of utmost importance. The quality of our desires should be purified by conscious effort. We are entrapped in these bodies only because of our impure desires.

God has created the spiritual world for the play of the pure desire of love and He has created the material world for the play of the impure desires of the rebellious souls.

It has already been discussed that life is eternal. Since we are eternal we have to ask what our destiny is after our bodily demise. Death only pertains to destruction of the material body and not to the living being.

As opposed to our world of dead matter there is a world of life where no matter exists. Matter is dead per se but because the living beings are entrapped within matter in the form of material bodies, it appears to be alive. Anyway the presence of life within material bodies and the subsequent display of consciousness and activity here give us an idea of the fully conscious world of life when there in no contamination of matter. In the spiritual world everything, everyone is fully conscious. Matter does not exist there. Therefore life is unimpeded by matter, time or space. Everyone lives eternally there with a full display of consciousness. In our material world we are experiencing three states of consciousness - deep sleep, dreaming and wakefulness. Here we are unable to experience our full consciousness and are simply alternating between the aforesaid three states. These three states of consciousness we are experiencing are different levels of dreaming where we are oblivious of Reality and our undivided state of full consciousness.

Since we are eternal, after the demise of our body we must continue living somewhere. Either we remain in some form in the material world, or we are liberated from the bondage of a material body and go to the spiritual world. Our destiny is dependent on the desires we have cultivated which are the basis of the kind of mentality we have formed. If we have a material mentality we will remain in the material world and if we have cultivated a pure spiritual mentality then we will go to the spiritual world. A material mentality means the desire to enjoy our senses, and a spiritual mentality means to renounce all desires to enjoy our senses and instead desire to serve the senses of God out of pure love for him.

Those who are infected with the material desire to enjoy their senses remain in the material atmosphere. God is kind and he gives everyone a place according to their desires. Therefore those with pure love for him go to him and those with material desire are given a suitable body befitting their desires so that they can pursue their desires. Those with pious desires whose minds are in the mode of goodness, which is characterised by peacefulness, clarity of thought and concentration of mind and memory, acquire the bodies of devtas (demigods) and go to the upper material heavenly planets. Those whose minds are in the mode of passion characterised by lusty desires, passionate activity and struggle to achieve material objectives, stay in the middle planets and those who die in the mode of ignorance which is characterised by mean and petty desires, depression, laziness and madness take birth in the animal kingdom.

Though some people believe in reincarnation, they think that they come back as a man or woman only, but according to the Vedic scriptures one may reincarnate in any one of the 8.4 million species of life such as the beasts, birds, aquatics, plants or insects. This knowledge is traditionally known to the people in India.

Some people say that God is not cruel; therefore they say he cannot make us an animal after we have attained a human body. It is undoubtedly true that God is not cruel; He is merciful. Therefore out of his kindness he grants us our desire. His love and kindness mean that he does not impose by force contrary to our desire. If we cultivate beastly desires then he will grant us a beastly body so that we can satisfy our beastly desires. The body accorded matches the desires of the person.

If we look around us we can see that so many living beings have already been granted beastly bodies according to their desires. There are an infinite number of souls. To accommodate the myriad of permutation and combination of desires of an infinite number of living beings, God has created 8.4 million species of life in the material universe. This is the information given in the Vedic scriptures. These species are but different housings awarded according to the varied desires of different persons so that their body is suited for the pursuit of their desires. The senses of the body are the instruments for the fulfilment of our varied desires. Out of these, 400000 are different human forms of life with varying capacity and characteristics in different planets. The numbers of various species in the universe are given in the Padam Purana as follows:

Humans: 0.4 million

Beasts: 3 m

Birds: 1 m

Insects and reptiles: 1.1 m

Aquatics: 0.9 m

Plants and trees: 2 m

Total number of species: 8.4 m

Out of the 400000 human forms, some exist on earth and some reside on other planets. According to their mentality and karma people are born into different races on earth as mentioned in the scriptures such as the Malaechhs (white race) in Europe, the Rakshas (black race) in Africa, the Chandaals (yellow race) in the far east, the Yavans in the middle east, and the Aryans in India etc. Similarly there are human forms on other planets with different bodily materials, qualities, capacities and powers of the body and mind. There are the Gandharvs who are celestial musicians, the Siddhas who are highly developed spiritually and have extraordinary powers of the mind, the Apsaras who are heavenly beauties, the devtas (demigods) on material heavenly planets, and the daityas who are enemies of the devtas. The eternal spiritual worlds are beyond the material worlds. All the heavenly and hellish planets are temporary like everything material. The moon is also among the heavenly planets. Only people with godly qualities reside in the heavenly planets and enjoy heavenly sensual delights. They attain to heaven not by means of spaceships but by dint of pious deeds, good conduct and qualities such as benevolence, non-violence, truthfulness. Once a person understands that life is transcendental to matter and can exist in any atmosphere with any temperature, then it is easy to understand that life can exist in bodies made up of elements found on the moon, the sun and all other planets since those elements can form bodies suitable for the encasement of life on those planets. Fire or the sun cannot burn the eternal soul nor can anything under any circumstances annihilate or damage the soul in anyway. The scriptures say that life exists everywhere.

The other 8 million species of life also exist on various planets including the earth. Each of the classifications such as the fish, the snakes, the worms and insects etc. are further classified into various species. For example among the fish there are the dolphins, the whales, the trout, prawns and so on and each of these is counted as a species among the classification 'fish'. Similarly there are so many different breeds of dogs, cats, big cats (such as the tigers, lions, leopards, cheetah etc.), snakes (cobra, rattle snake etc.), insects, birds etc. and the sub classifications are also counted as a species. All together including the 400000 human forms on various planets, the total number of species is 8.4 million according to the Vedas.

So, for us to think that we cannot be degraded to bodies in lower species of life is contrary to perceived facts as we can see that most living beings are already awarded beastly bodies in various species of life. Indeed the Vedic scriptures emphasise that the human body is rarely obtained. The human body is a rare jewel that is given to a living being after his sojourn and transmigration through various species out of the 8.4 million species of life in which he remains forgetful of reality and suffers repeated birth and death. The cycle of birth, growth, decay and death may be compared to the repetitive cycle of various seasons such as spring, summer, autumn and winter and to the natural cycle of morning, day, evening and night. The soul transmigrates into one body after another after successive bodily deaths to endlessly repeat the cycle of birth, growth, decay and death till he takes shelter of God. After remaining in total forgetfulness of reality in various species, the living being is awarded a human body by the mercy of God, so that he may choose again whether he desires to remember God, the reality, or whether he wishes to remain in a make believe world of the senses in forgetfulness of reality.

All species of life are created for those who have turned away from God, the reality. They live in forgetfulness and ignorance only. If we again choose to turn away from God towards sense enjoyment then surely we lose this rare opportunity of the gift of our human body because only in this human body we can remember and desire God. This human body is a rare juncture from where we can propel ourselves back to reality and our natural blissful eternal life. All around us we see the lower species of life. If we are not very careful in our desires, thoughts, words and deeds we could easily be degraded to a body in a lower species. Seeing that others around us are already suffering as beasts, germs, worms, reptiles, aquatics etc. we should take it as evidence that these persons have received bodies in lower species. The process may not be visible to our eyes but surely the result is visible to our eyes and our intelligence. All around us we see beasts, birds, worms, germs and plants. This is proof that some persons have already received these bodies and so can others. Let us examine the process of reincarnation as explained in the scriptures so as to understand this phenomena and how it takes place.

The Process of Reincarnation

Some modern researchers such as Moody and others have conducted research into near death experiences of many people of various cultural and religious backgrounds. These people had either died or were near death and were later revived and narrated their experiences of their brush with death. Many narrated that they continued to be conscious after they had left their material body and while they were out of their earthly physical body they experienced being in a subtle body. While endowed with their subtle body they could still see, hear and think. They could see their physical body that they had left. They could pass through metal and concrete but though they could hear us they could not speak to or communicate with earthly beings. Moody has documented that many people who had died or were near death and were revived spoke of being in a subtle body while they were out of their physical body.

The Vedic scriptures describe in detail what this subtle body is. This subtle body is the covering of the subtle matter of mind, intelligence and false ego over the soul, the living being. The subtle body is endowed with sixteen constituents which are the five knowledge acquiring senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell), the five working senses (speech, hands and legs, rectum for evacuation and genitals for procreation), the five objects of sense gratification (sense objects for sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell) and the chief constituent, the mind.

The five working senses become functional only on acquiring the physical earthly body, though the faculty to see and hear is functional in the subtle body which can fly like the mind. The physical body grows as an effect of the subtle body. The subtle body is an effect of very strong desires and causes the living being to transmigrate to different bodies in different species of life in a cycle of birth, growth, decay and death. This transmigration of the soul into different bodies is called reincarnation. On the demise of the physical body, the subtle body continues and carries the soul into an appropriate womb to develop a demigod's body or a human body or a beastly body depending on his mentality of goodness, passion or ignorance respectively. Those whose mind is situated in the mode of goodness go to the heavenly planets and obtain the body of demigods, those whose minds are in the mode of passion stay in the middle planets among human beings and those who die under the influence of the mode of ignorance take birth in various beastly species of life.

"Whatever mental state of being one remembers at the time of death that same state of being he will attain to in his next life." - Bhagvad Gita

It means that the mental state is continuous from one life to the next. The mental state at the time of death decides what kind of body is suited to continue that mental state and its constituent desires. The cravings at the time of death is the decisive factor of what species a person will take birth in, in his next life. The process is very subtle and is invisible to our eyes. Just as a caterpillar contacts the next leaf before giving up the present one, similarly at death the soul by the action of the subtle body mentally contacts his next body before quitting the present one.

The soul is carried by the subtle body of mind, intelligence and false ego into an appropriate womb in a particular species depending upon the mental state at the time of death. False ego is our false identification with our mind and body. True ego means our true identity which is that I am a spiritual person and I am not this mind or body in which I am entrapped. Our mind is the reservoir of all our desires, thoughts and deeds and our mentality will decide our next body. The physical is only a manifestation of the subtle mental. For example the idea of a painting first appears in the mind of the painter. Then as the idea develops in his mind he gives it a physical shape as the painting. The origin of things is in the mind and from the subtle mental level it is given a shape on the physical level. So it is with our bodies. Our physical body and senses grow about our mind only. The mind is the centre and controller of all the senses. From the subtle level of our mind i.e. from our mentality our next physical body will be formed.

Our subtle body of mind and intelligence contains a record of our deeds and our desires, and after our physical death the subtle body carries us into a suitable womb through the agency of the male sperm to develop a physical body befitting our mentality. We thus obtain a particular type of ear, eyes, nose, tongue and sense of touch centred around the mind to enjoy a certain type of sense objects. The womb we are carried to could be a demigod, human or animal womb or any species of life and we obtain a body correspondingly. All our thoughts, desires and deeds are recorded in our subtle body. If ordinary human beings can record so much data and retrieve and manipulate it using computers then it should not surprise us to learn that all our past deeds are recorded in multidimensional graphical detail. As humans God has given us choice and how we choose our desires and consequent deeds will decide our destiny. Our choices could affect us for a very long time to come through millions of repeated births and deaths in various species since a human birth is rarely obtained.

Those who cultivate the pure desire of love of God shed this subtle body also and go to the spiritual world in a spiritual body. The spiritual body is identical with the self unlike the material body which is different form the self. Those who cultivate pious desires by doing good deeds get human or demigods bodies. Those who cultivate impious desires by doing evil deeds get beastly bodies after a term in hell. The length of the term could be very long or short and the punishment befits the sins. There is no eternal hell but even a moment in hell seems like eternity because it is so painful. God the supreme father has created this world of cause and effect, and punishment is only according to extent of our sins and not beyond that. That is reasonable. The idea of an eternal hell is irrational. God is merciful. Even an ordinary father does not like to punish his children except as a duty for correcting them. After punishment in hell the living being gets a beastly body befitting his mentality. The demigods in material heavens enjoy great sensual delights and afterwards generally fall down to earth since cultivation of God consciousness is difficult among heavenly sensual temptations. The soul comes down to earth in rain drops to enter herbs, creepers, vegetables and food grains. These are eaten by different species of life, including man, and turned to semen, which is discharged into various wombs in various species and thus one takes birth again and again according to one's karma. The human body on earth is ideally suited for and meant for remembrance of God. Those human beings who are overly sexually indulgent and cultivate beastly desires by sensual indulgence acquire beastly bodies such as those of pigeons, hogs and dogs, monkeys and donkeys etc. so that they can happily pursue their desires without having to bother about planning, discrimination or morality. After all, sexual pleasure is available to all these beasts. One does not need the precious human body, meant for cultivating God consciousness, for sexual indulgence.

Those whose consciousness is overly covered by lust take birth in species such as the trees which are almost void of consciousness. Those people who are envious and poisonous by nature take birth as snakes, scorpions etc. Those who are biting other people and sucking their blood take birth as mosquitoes, leeches. The overly sinful, mean and vicious people take birth in species such as the worms, germs and reptiles. Those people who indulge in eating meat may take birth in the species of carnivores such as dogs, tigers, wolves and vultures so that they can feed on carcasses and chew on bones as they desire. According to their desire, God bestows them with suitable bodily instruments like claws and fangs so that they can pounce upon their prey to satisfy their beastly desire for eating flesh.

After all, the bodily senses are merely instruments for the fulfilment of our desires. "Ask and you shall receive." As R. L. Emerson put it, "Be very careful what you set your heart on for surely you will get it." As we desire and think so we become. That is the principle of desire. Indeed one's mind takes the form of things one desires and meditates on. The more one desires within his heart a lusty or degraded way of life, the more one falls into the abominable species of life so that one can pursue one's abominable desires. Desire is very subtle yet very potent. Desire is the ruler of our destiny. Our varied material bodies that we have received are due to our variegated desires only. The subtle body of mind, intelligence and false ego is called the body of desire ('ling shareer'). The physical body is formed on the basis of desires in the subtle body.

By desire is meant the quality of one's desires - pious or evil. It is not that by desiring money I will get money or by desiring a human birth again in my next life I will get it. The determining factor of destiny is the subtle desire which I wish to fulfil with money. Similarly I must have the quality of desires befitting a human being to get a human birth again. It is the quality of desire, the subtle desire within the heart that will decide what one gets or becomes. God is in the heart of all living beings who are seated in the body as on a machine made of the material energy and he is directing their wanderings according to their desires and karma. If one has pious desires one will get the facility to execute these and if one has evil desires he will be lead to evil ways. If one cultivates beastly desires he will become a beast in his next life, so that he can satisfy his beastly desires, no matter how much he asks for a human birth again. Lust, anger, greed, malice and other mean traits in one's personality cause one to take birth among the lower species of life such as the beasts, birds, aquatics or insects.

Man is given a set of teeth for eating vegetarian food in contrast to the powerful teeth of carnivores. Our intestines are long like that of herbivores unlike the carnivores that have short intestines for quick evacuation of the toxins generated by eating flesh. Unlike the beasts whose nature dictates what they eat we have a more sophisticated brain and thinking which we can use to become peaceful and non-violent or minimise violence by eating vegetarian food only. The beasts can not think on a higher level and they are not held responsible. They are simply suffering their beastly life because of their deeds in a past life. But we are held responsible for our deeds. If we still act like beasts then surely we are destined to get a beastly body in our next life. What use is the human body to us if our desires and deeds are beastly? Our deeds (karma) are performed in three ways - by thoughts, words and actions and the impetus to our karma is desire. So we should cultivate pure and pious desires by cultivating pure and pious thoughts. Love and not lust should be the basis of our action. It is unfortunate that sex and lust is advertised as love in movies and novels these days. Activities for our sensual enjoyment are lusty and activities meant for the satisfaction of the supreme whole, God, are based on love.

There is a scripture named Garud Puran which is customarily read in India, when a person dies, for the benefit of the departed soul as well as the gathered relatives and friends. Garud Puran gives specific information as to which deed and desire cause one to be born in which species of life. The Vedic scriptures are replete with references to reincarnation. I am only writing the philosophy and some general guidelines. There are varieties of desires generated within our minds. Desire is very subtle and is intimately connected with thought and gives impetus to our words and action. Our deeds are labelled as karma which is constituted of our thoughts, words and action. Our desires and karma form the quality of our mind. Different people have different mentalities and to accommodate the varieties of desires there are 8.4 million species of life. What species of body we get in our next life depends upon our desires at the time of death. The soul is independent of all designations such as gender or species. A man may reincarnate as a woman if while dying he desires a woman, and similarly a woman may reincarnate as a man if she is much attached to a man. Generally what we have been meditating on and desiring through our life will be the dominant thought and desire at the time of our death and that mental state will beget us our next body matching our mentality at the time of death. The mind enters the form it desires and meditates on, and the next body in a particular species is formed according to the state of the mind at the time of death. From the human species one can take birth in any species depending upon one's mentality. The human body is rarely obtained.

The significance of reincarnation

If we look all around us, the number of living being with beastly bodies such as worms, germs, insects, plants, aquatics, birds, reptiles, beasts is infinite where as the number of human beings is barely 6 billion. Even within a single human body there are trillions of living beings who have bodies such as those of red and white blood corpuscles etc. They are all living in a world of their own experiencing the consciousness of a cell. They fight wars when bacteria or virus attack us and thus our body temperature rises due to fever. Only one person within one human body i.e., I, am experiencing human consciousness. There are an infinite number of living beings with physical bodies and the human body is relatively rare. Once wasted it could be numerous births and deaths in various species, according to our desires and karma, before we could get the chance of getting a human body again. Impelled by the impure desires arising in the mind, the soul is transmigrating through various species of life suffering the cycle of birth, growth, old age and death. When he gets the precious human birth he can choose whether to continue his lusty desires or to cultivate the pure desire of love of God. The human body alone is our chance for escaping out of this repetitive cycle of birth and death. That is the special importance of the human body and the significance of understanding the phenomena of reincarnation. So we must utilise our human birth for developing our love of God and thus propel ourselves to reality, bliss and eternal life.

The mind is the designation of the soul and the cause of all his tribulations in the material world. So long as the embodied soul does not know this he has to accept the miserable condition of the material body and wander within the universe in various species endlessly suffering the repetitive cycle of birth and death. Because the mind is affected by lust, greed, anger, lamentation, illusion and attachment, it creates bondage and a false sense of intimacy within this material world. As long as a person is not freed from the desire for sense enjoyment and as long as he does not conquer his six enemies namely lust, greed, anger, attachment, lamentation and illusion and come to the platform of self-realisation, he has to remain in the mortal world under the jurisdiction of death. The impure and uncontrolled mind is the greatest enemy of the living being. The power of the mind is awesome. If one does not control it carefully, it will grow more powerful and will become victorious over the intelligence. Although the mind is inert matter yet it has become active due to its contact with the living soul which gives energy to the mind and body. One should purify and conquer this mind by meditation on God.

The human body is the ideal boat, the bona fide guru is the expert captain to guide us, and the teachings of God in the revealed divine scriptures are the favourable winds, for crossing over this ocean of birth and death to the shores of eternal life.

Evolution

Darwin had theorised that life started in the sea from material elements which combined by chance under certain material conditions to form the basic cells of living organisms. These further evolved when the necessity arose into higher aquatic forms and the evolution further proceeded onto reptiles, birds, beasts and finally to monkey. According to Darwin the monkey evolved itself to man with intermediate links which have remained missing. A fanciful tale indeed that the monkey evolved into a man! Who would believe that his forefathers were monkeys? Experience shows that human beings beget humans as their off spring and monkeys beget monkeys as their offspring. Every man and woman knows that their parents were human beings and not monkeys and similarly their parents know that their parents were humans too. So if you go back into the past like that it is clear by logical deduction that humans were born of humans always. The terms gradual evolution of monkeys to man is only an unproved irrational theory based on blind faith since it has no proof and is contrary to common experience. Then why aren't the present day monkeys evolving into man? Darwin had assumed that there were intermediate missing links during this evolution but further research by scientists has revealed no such missing intermediate links. Darwin himself has written that if these missing links are not there then his theory of evolution breaks down. Further Darwin speaks of life arising by chance and evolving according to necessity. Chance is contrary to reason. Things happen by reason i.e. cause and effect and not by chance. The term chance or accident is only used when we can offer no explanation. If everything was happening by chance then how did the question of necessity arise? Actually everything is happening according to the subtle laws of karma (deeds performed by thoughts, words and action). All that we are reaping is simply the fruit of our past good or bad karma.

Once when I was writing a computer program for someone who believed in evolution I was asked when it will be ready, to which I replied in jest that it is evolving and will be ready in due course of natural evolution. The point I was making was that everything is designed and created by someone. Things animate or inanimate don't just evolve by themselves. Everyone and everything is made by conscious intelligence. Every organ and part of our body reveals an intricate design of the designer and creator. Someone has created the genes and programmed the genetic codes. It is not that the programme of the genetic code evolved by itself. Every event has a cause to it and is not by chance or accident. The terms chance or accident are used when we do not know the cause to explain an incident. Sometimes we can see the gross cause but the subtle causes are not always known to us.

The theory of evolution implies a denial of God. It is based on chance and necessity and not on the use of intelligence whereas we can see from our everyday experience that we create everything by the use of our intelligence. Therefore I have given proof of God so as to establish that God exists and He is the creator because His supreme intelligence and mystic power is required for the intelligent design of various species and the universe. Without intelligence nothing can be designed and without the mystic power of God not even the ingredients required for the creation of the universe can be produced.

The theory of evolution relies on the automatic evolution of species over a million billion years. This is a completely false proposition that is contrary to reason. Simply the use of the alibi of Time does not prove anything and make it scientific. Science means observation, theory and proof. Without proof a theory remains in the realm of faith only.

Monkeys give birth to monkeys, donkeys to donkeys and swans to swans. This is a universal fact and rule for all species. Has anyone seen a monkey give birth to a man or the missing links? To say that monkeys gradually evolved to man over a period of Time when no one was looking is the biggest joke on the intelligence of man! The use of the alibi of Time is without any evidence and therefore invalid.

There is a fundamental flaw in theories, such as Darwin's, which postulate that material elements combined somehow to form life. When the fundamentals of a theory are wrong the theory is obviously wrong. No matter how you combine matter in the form of material ingredients like H, N, O, C etc. to form DNA molecules but material elements can never combine to produce life. All material elements and their combinations are devoid of consciousness. Consciousness and desire are the primary symptoms of life and these symptoms are absent in material elements and their combinations as well. Since consciousness is absent in material elements how can their combinations give rise to consciousness? The effect must exist in the cause as well. So how can material elements give rise to life whose primary symptom is consciousness?

Matter is insentient, unconscious and lifeless. Matter cannot give rise to life, which is conscious and has desires and feelings. Such theories which claim that matter combined to form life are based on blind faith only and are contrary to evidence. It is unfortunate that these theories are propagated as scientific theories. Where is the proof that material elements can be combined to give rise to life and consciousness? The fundamental material sciences such as quantum physics also point to the existence of a conscious observer separate from the observed material system. Life is transcendental to matter and is of a higher order than matter. Life and matter are distinct and separate. Life is not a product of matter. Life is an independent entity and is not a product or combination of matter.

Science means theory and evidence or demonstration by experiment. If life can be produced by the combination of material elements without using life for such production then let the scientist who claims that life originated from material elements demonstrate it. Actually life does not arise out of matter or its combination. Life comes from life. All life and matter originate from the supreme life.

That life comes from life is seen in our everyday experience. Experience shows that a living man and woman unite sexually to produce a baby. The sperm which carries life is injected into the egg and then only the egg starts developing into an embryo. The egg has all the material ingredients but only when the living being, the soul, residing within the sperm gets injected into the egg does it start to develop and grow. Without the presence of life, the egg remains dormant and gets discarded eventually.

Without the aid of life no further life can be produced. You can take all the material ingredients and combine then in any which way into DNA molecules etc. but without using life, no life, not even a single living cell, can be produced. Amino acids and DNA are not life or the basic building blocks of life. They are simply a material covering for certain life forms but by themselves do not constitute life. Life is not a combination of matter but is an independent entity. Hence all theories regarding the evolution of matter into life simply fall in the realm of dogma and blind faith contrary to reason and evidence.

These theories have an evil connotation also since if life was made up of matter then there would be no use of morality or respect for life. After all what morality is required for a bunch of matter? If life was made up of matter then it would not matter how we treated each other being made up of matter. Morality rests on respect for life and the continuity of life beyond death and the subsequent accountability of our good or bad deeds.

Evolution of Consciousness: The Vedic paradigm

Rather than the evolution of bodies as per Darwin, the Vedic theory refers to the evolution of consciousness of the individual by the process of transmigration of the soul through the various species of life which are designed by the creator. This transmigration of the soul into another body after death is termed as reincarnation. The old dead body is lost altogether to dust, but the individual person, the soul, acquires a new body which then develops from re-birth onwards.

The subtle body of mind, intelligence and false ego carries the soul into another body at death. Every individual remains the same person and the continuity of his life and individuality is assured but the body changes from one life time to another. The body is like a garment for the soul.

"As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from childhood to youth and then to old age, similarly the soul passes into another body at death."

"As a person puts on new clothes discarding the old worn out ones similarly the soul discards the old body and acquires a new one."

The mentality of the individual changes with time as he desires and contacts different sense objects within his mind but the individual remains the same person. As the air carries different aromas so the mind of the individual carries different conceptions and desires, giving rise to different gross bodies after the demise of one body after another. The mind is the director of the individual soul's destiny. Therefore if he wishes to stop this artificial imposition of the cycle of birth, growth, decay and death pertaining to the body upon himself then he needs to purify his mind of all desires of gratification of his senses and come to his pure desire of love of God.

Consciousness is originally pure like water but becomes coloured and contaminated by some type of material mentality due to contact with sensual desires arising in the mind. We have to come to our pure consciousness so as to become situated in our natural permanent life relieved of the miseries of the cycle of birth and death.

Other species of life have no choice. But in the human form the consciousness can evolve both upwards and downwards because humans have freewill and can exercise choice in the use or misuse of their will. It is not that our mind will automatically be elevated. Elevation of the mind requires effort through various processes such as pious work, restrain of the senses and the mind, meditation on God, whereas it is easy for the mind to become degraded because the natural tendency of man is towards sensual pleasures. It is easy to fall prey to sense objects and thus fall to the animal level. The gate to hell through lust, greed, anger etc. is wide open whereas the gate to heaven is narrow. Only those situated in the mode of goodness go to heaven. And narrower still is the path of liberation of the soul from material bondage; only those with a pure mind are liberated. Hell and heaven are ephemeral just like everything material that we experience here and after lives in suitable bodies in hell or heaven, the journey of the soul through various species continues until one can liberate oneself from material bondage by complete purification of the mind. Therefore hell and heaven that are both temporary are not our interest. Our real interest lies in liberation of the soul from material bondage altogether.

Though life is of the same quality in all species be they insects, birds, beasts or humans yet there is differentiation in the evolution of consciousness on the material platform. The consciousness evolves as life transmigrates through various species according to one's past karma till one acquires a human body. Once the human body is acquired then the person has free will and developed faculty for thinking and he can mould his consciousness according to his desire. He can upgrade or degrade his mentality as he chooses and this will decide his future destiny during and after this life. From the human body he can go to any species of life or liberate himself from the bondage of matter altogether.

Of the two manifest potencies [life and matter] living beings are superior to dull matter. Living beings who have developed sense perception are superior to those who have no sense perception. Among those with sense perception, those with the sense of taste are superior to those who have only the sense of touch. Superior to these are those with the sense of smell and superior still are those with the sense of hearing and more superior are those with the sense of sight. For example it is said that the trees have the sense of touch, and the fish have the sense of taste also. Therefore the fish is more evolved than the trees. The bees have the sense of smell also; therefore the bees are higher in the evolution of consciousness than the fish. And the serpents have the sense of hearing also; therefore they are higher than the bees. The snake can hear the frog's croaking and thus locate and eat him. Material sound is like the croaking of frogs. It only invites the snake of death. If one wishes to live in his natural eternal life beyond the influence of death, then one should approach spiritual sound. Consciousness becomes increasingly manifest as the various senses are manifested. The senses in order of increasing development of consciousness are the sense of touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight.

Better than those who can hear are those who can see and distinguish between forms. Better than them are those who have developed upper and lower sets of teeth, and better still are those who have many legs. For example, living beings with many legs like the worms and centipedes are superior to grass and plants. The four legged animals are more evolved than the many legged living beings; and the humans are more evolved than all these.

The quality of mind among human beings distinguishes the development of their consciousness. The mind functions according to the influence of the three modes of nature viz. goodness, passion and ignorance that are manifest within the minds of everyone in combination in different proportions.

The mode of goodness is illuminating and clarity of mind, knowledge, happiness, virtue and good qualities develop in the mind because of it. One predominantly in the mode of goodness is peaceful and self-controlled. The mode of passion is characterized by intense lusty desires and activity to enjoy one's senses and causes anxiety and struggle. When the mode of ignorance is predominant in the mind the person experiences lamentation, illusion, depression and madness. The mode of ignorance covers one's consciousness and makes one foolish and dull and the person displays anger, violence and wickedness and indulges in false hopes and excessive sleep.

The mode of goodness endows one with great concentration and memory; the mode of passion distorts the intelligence due to unhealthy contact of the senses with sense objects and the mode of ignorance ruins the mind by madness, inability to concentrate and dullness.

The quality of passion is superior to that of ignorance and the quality of goodness is superior to that of passion. Therefore those who are predominantly influenced by the mode of passion are superior to those whose minds manifest the predominance of the mode of ignorance. And those whose minds are predominated by the mode of goodness are superior to those who are mainly under the influence of the modes of passion and ignorance.

Among those who are predominantly in the mode of goodness called the brahmans, one who is learned in the scriptures (the Vedas) is the best. The word Veda means knowledge. And among those who have studied the Vedas the one who knows the purpose of the Vedas is the best. Among these, the one who can explain the knowledge of the Vedas and dissipate all doubts is the best. And better still is one who follows the real religious principles. Better than him is one who is free from all material contamination and is situated in pure consciousness. Such a person is a liberated soul. And the most highly evolved is the person who has dedicated his life to serving God and who has no interest other than God. The person in whose heart love of God is manifest is fully developed in consciousness. Such a person knows that the supreme spirit resides in the hearts of all living beings in all species of life and seeing the essential unity of all life in all its diversity, he respects all life.

The story of Maharaj Bharat's reincarnation

There is an interesting case history described in the Shrimad Bhagvat Mahapuran which illustrates the phenomena of reincarnation. This story illustrates the role of mind and our desires in the process of reincarnation. Desire is very subtle yet very potent. In fact desire is the principle factor which determines our destiny. Pure desire of love of God liberates us from the bondage of matter. Desire other than love of God i.e. material desires take us into various species of life and our desires shape our destiny. Desires and thoughts arise in the mind. Desire is intimately connected with thought and gives impetus to our words and action. Therefore our mind is paramount in shaping our destiny. Desires and karma shape the quality of our mind.

Here is the life story of Maharaj Bharat and his reincarnation as a deer. Bharat was the eldest son of Lord Rshabdev, a plenary expansion of God. Lord Rshabdev imparted spiritual knowledge and by his own example taught people how to practice it. His eldest son Bharat was spiritually well qualified and so Lord Rshabdev coronated him on the throne of India, which since then is also known as Bharat Varsh ( the kingdom of Bharat ) after Maharaj Bharat.

The citizens of Maharaj Bharat lived happily and the king ruled the kingdom justly according to religious principles. He was very famous because of his good qualities and noble character. He had five noble sons from his wife. He ruled for a long time and then handing over the kingdom to his sons he renounced family life and worldly attachments and went to live alone in Pulah ashram in Haridwar on the bank of river Gandaki to devote himself exclusively to a life of meditation and devotion to God.

Maharaj Bharat would rise early in the morning and sing the name and glories of Lord Vasudeva, Krishna. He would collect simple Tulsi leaves, herbs, vegetable and fruit and offer to God and eat moderately. He spent all his time in serving the lord and remembering the lord's glorious activities and forms. Thus meditating constantly on God his heart became fully cleansed and satisfied. All sensual desires vanished from his heart and his heart melted due to ecstatic love of God. Tears of love and joy flowed from his eyes due to his intense feeling and his body manifested symptoms of such divine love.

One morning after finishing his bath, Maharaj Bharat sat down on the bank of river Gandaki and began meditating by chanting his mantra beginning with the word OM, which is the sound representation of God. While Bharat was thus meditating, a doe being thirsty came there to the river to drink water. While the doe was drinking, a lion in the vicinity roared very loudly. This was very frightful to all and the doe hearing the tumultuous roar of the lion was very frightened. By nature the doe was always afraid of being killed by other beasts. Although she had not yet quenched her thirst, out of fright she suddenly leaped across the river. The doe was pregnant and when she jumped out of fear, the baby deer fell from her womb into the flowing waters of the river. The black doe crossed the river but was very distressed because of her miscarriage due to her sudden fright. She fell down in a cave nearby and died.

The saintly Maharaj Bharat while sitting on the bank of the river saw the baby deer floating down the river. Out of compassion he lifted the baby deer out of the waters and knowing him to be motherless he brought him to his own ashram.

Maharaj Bharat gave shelter to the baby deer knowing that the deer knew no one else. He began to raise the deer by giving grass and by protecting him from the attack of wild carnivorous beasts. When the deer itched Bharat petted him and tried to make him comfortable. He sometimes kissed the deer out of love, for the activities of the baby deer seemed so loveable to him much like the activities of babies. Gradually Bharat's affection for the deer grew so much so that he began to neglect his own practice of worship and devotion to God. He had renounced his own family, wife and kingdom to meditate exclusively on God but after a few days as his attachment to the deer grew he forgot everything about his own spiritual advancement.

The soft hearted Maharaj Bharat began to think, "This helpless baby deer has lost his mother and relatives by the force of time and has taken refuge with me. He knows no one else but me. I have thus become his mother, father and friend. Since the deer has full faith in me I should take care of him by feeding, protecting and loving him. I should not think my own spiritual pursuit more important and out of envy or selfishness neglect the baby deer. Admittedly the deer disturbs my meditation but how can I neglect this helpless baby. That would be improper."

Even though Bharat was so spiritually advanced his affection for the deer deluded him from his real self interest. He forgot that material affection is contrary to spiritual advancement and that without detachment from sense desire and material affection one can not advance spiritually. Out of false ego only he began to think of himself as the mother, father and friend of the deer forgetting that God is the supreme friend, mother and father of everyone. Our heart is a most valuable bedstead and we should always remember that our heart is meant for the remembrance and love of God. If we are feeble minded and allow ourselves to be deluded into attachment with someone else then suffering only will be our lot. Only one free from worldly desires can find peace and happiness. We should carry out our duties with a spirit of detachment. Deluded by affection for the deer, Maharaj Bharat continued to think thus, "Even though one has renounced the world one who is civilised feels compassion for the sufferings of other living beings. One should care for others who need it even at the cost of one's interests."

Bharat forgot that all suffering and happiness is under the control of God according to one's karma. Elevation to spiritual consciousness is the only permanent solution for ending our sufferings. Bharat's attachment to the deer grew with their association. He bathed the deer, walked about with it ate with it and lay down with it. Thus his heart became bound to the deer in affection. Wherever Bharat went whether to collect wood, fruit, flower or water he would take the deer with him to protect it and he took great delight in the innocent activities of the deer. Sometimes Bharat would carry the deer on his shoulder out of affection. His heart was so filled with great desire and attachment for the deer that he would sometimes keep it on his lap and pet it or while sleeping keep it upon his chest. He thus felt great pleasure in fondling the deer.

Even while worshipping God, Bharat would continually interrupt his worship to go and see that the deer was comfortable and would bless the deer as one would his own son.

The deer became so dear to Bharat that if he could not see the deer his mind would become very agitated. He would become unhappy like a miser who after having obtained some riches had lost them. When the deer was gone Bharat would be filled with anxiety and lament due to separation. Thus out of attachment and illusion be would speak as follows:

"Alas, due to my neglect the deer has gone away. I am unworthy of the noble deer who is like a prince. He put his faith and love in me yet I did not fully reciprocate because of my selfishness and cheating mind. I would feign meditation on God while the deer was playing with me like a trusting friend. Will he forgive me and return back to me."

"I am filled with anxiety that the ferocious animals in the forest may not attack the poor deer who is by nature incapable of harming others. Will I again see the deer safely wandering in the garden eating soft grass?

When the sun rises all auspicious activity begins. Yet for me nothing seems auspicious in the absence of my dear friend. I am now bereft of my beloved deer. Where has he gone? Will he again come back to me and display his personal activities which are so pleasing to behold. When will he come back and pacify my wounded heart. In his absence my heart is burning due to separation from him. I always delighted in watching him play."

His heart pained with separation from the deer, Bharat became more and more agitated and he became mad with lamentation. He got up and went outside. Seeing the footprints of the deer on the ground he praised the footprints out of love saying, "O unlucky Bharat, your pious assets are insignificant compared to the planet earth's because the earth is fortunate to be imprinted with the small beautiful soft and auspicious footprints of the deer. These footprints show the way to the deer who is my wealth and because of whose separation I am feeling so bereaved. Who can understand my agony of separation from my beloved deer?"

Maharaj Bharat continued to speak like a crazy person. Seeing the dark marks on the rising moon which resembled a deer he said, "Could it be that the moon out of his kindness to an unhappy man has given my beloved deer shelter near itself to protect him from the attack of lions. The deer was so submissive and dear to me that I am feeling the pangs of separation from him as if separated from my own son. Due to the burning fever of this separation, my heart is burning and I am suffering as if engulfed by a forest fire. The moon is trying to soothe me by it's effulgence but I am unable to bear this separation."

In this way Bharat was overwhelmed by a burning desire which was manifest in his mind in the form of a deer. Bharat had renounced everything including his own family and kingdom for advancing in spiritual life yet now he had become crazy about a deer. Thus he fell down from his spiritual platform being engrossed in petting and caring for the deer. This was certainly due to his past karma. No one escape the results of one's past karma and even when one is self-realised one must cautiously remain detached and engaged in spiritual activity. In due course of time inescapable death approached Bharat.

At the time of death, Bharat saw that the deer was lamenting his death. In fact Bharat's mind was absorbed in the body of the deer due to his inordinate affection. Therefore because of his mind's desire of the deer he passed away and his mind carried him into the womb of a doe to take birth as a deer according to the situation of his mind at the time of death. Our mind makes us follow our desires and attachments. Thus Maharaj Bharat, the great king, now became a deer. Like all those who die bereft of love of God he acquired a body according to his mentality at the time of death. Although he acquired the body of a deer yet he remembered the incidents of his past life due to his past worship of God. He had received a deer's body according to his desires and he could understand the reason for it. Therefore he began to lament his misfortune, "Alas I have fallen from the path of the self-realised. I achieved control of my mind and being constantly engaged in the devotional service of Lord Keshav by hearing, chanting and remembering the lord's holy name and activities I became self-realised by being absorbed in love of God yet due to my foolishness I became attached to a deer. Therefore I have now been endowed with a deer's body and have fallen far from my devotional activities." Even as a deer, Bharat constantly repented his past folly and his wilful neglect of spiritual practices. He left his mother deer and again went near his ashram in Pulaha. He remained detached from all sensual activities and ate and lived in the body of a deer waiting for death because a deer's body is unsuitable for spiritual advancement. After some years he finally gave up the body of a deer.

Then Maharaj Bharat took birth in a pious religious family and lived a life of renunciation and devotion. He was named Jada Bharat and he was very careful to avoid all materialistic association. As Jada Bharat he gave enlightening discourses to king Rahugana and his fascinating discourses on psychology, the mind and self-realisation are written in Shrimad Bhagvatam. In his life as Jada Bharat he achieved self-realisation and liberation.

The story of Maharaj Bharat and his being degraded to a deer's form is an illustrative story revealing the subtle role of desire and the mind in the phenomena of reincarnation. This mystical tale of Maharaj Bharat is not a mythical story but a factual scriptural story narrated for our understanding and instruction.

Maharaj Bharat was a great pious king endowed with all good qualities, yet he had to take birth as a deer due to his attachment to a deer. One may be a king or a president; the laws of nature apply equally to everyone irrespective of material status. The mentality one cultivates during one's life determines which species one will take birth in, in one's next life. The subtle body of mind, intelligence and false ego which covers the soul will carry us into a species befitting our mentality. Even though the material mind has originated from the soul, since the soul is the basis of the subtle and physical body, yet the mind borrows the energy and activity of the soul and overpowers the soul himself. The mind is greater than the greatest and the power of the mind is awesome. It can bewilder anyone. The desires arising in the mind are not our desires because the soul's sole desire is love of God; yet we are misled by the mind into mistaking its desires as our own because of our misidentification with the mind.

No force other than the impurities within our mind such as lust, greed, anger, envy, attachments is the cause of our material bondage. Our own impure mind is our enemy because it binds us to the mortal world and forces us to suffer through repeated births and deaths in innumerable species of life, sometimes of higher species and sometimes of lower species, on earth or through material heavenly or hellish planets. Therefore it is imperative for us to purify our mind. A pure mind liberates the soul from the mortal world.

Those people who are much attached to their pets should note this as a warning lest they might also be degraded. Compassion and care is fine but in the spirit of detachment. They may also note that the pets in their homes could be people who like Bharat were attached to their pets in their past life. In his present condition the pet would not remember his past life though. In any case pets are persons even though their bodily garment looks different than ours much as the body of a man and a woman also differ in looks from each other but the essential person is the soul within any bodily dress. That Bharat, even as a deer, remembered his past life was only due to God's mercy upon him for his past devotional activities.

Though generally we forget our past lives there are some people living who remember their past life. Some of these stories have been verified and found to be true. Some researchers have documented these case histories in books. Some of my friends have told me about their living relatives who remember their past life and had as children gone and visited their house in other cities and met their relatives of their previous life. These children knew the way to their previous life's home in some other city which they had never visited in their present life. They not only recognised their relatives of their previous life but also demonstrated much affection towards them due to their attachments to them in the previous life.

Reincarnation explains genius

The process of birth and death is so painful that the living being generally forgets all the events of his previous life. Birth involves being locked up in the womb for nine months without movement and the conditions within the womb are so painful for the living being that when he comes to consciousness within the womb in about six months he prays to God that this time when he comes out, he will renounce his sensual desires and serve God, but as soon as he comes out, the influence of Maya, the material potency covers his spiritual knowledge and remaining in ignorance he continues his lusty ways.

Just as we forget the activities of our dream at night performed by our mental dream body so also the living being forgets his past lives when he acquires a new body except in some special cases. However the mind of a person is continuous from one life to the next and the qualities, capabilities and capacity of his mind continue on to the next life even though he forgets the events. As has been explained before, in the process of transmigration of the soul i.e. reincarnation, the subtle body consisting of mind, intelligence and false ego carries the living being at death to his next womb and thus the next body develops. So the same mind continues on with the soul. The person remains the same and retains the same mind with its qualities. Only the gross body is shed at death and a new body is accorded the soul according to the state of the subtle body consisting of mind, intelligence and false ego.

This explains the differences in the quality of the minds of different people from birth and why some people are born musicians or painters or geniuses etc. Whatever development of the mind had taken place in the previous lives, the same mind we are born with in this life so that everyone is born with different mentalities, mental qualities and capacities. Our physical structure, bodily appearance and looks, and gender are all acquired according to our mentality at the time of death in our previous life. The face is the index of the mind. Our emotions of joy, sorrow or anger are all visible on the face. A person loses all bodily lustre and becomes pale faced due to sinful activity. When the mind is relatively pure the lustre and beauty of the soul shine through one's appearance. Our previous life's bank account is forgotten but our mind continues with us and carries the reactions i.e. fruits of our previous lives' karma (deeds) with us which is why everyone has different destinies and is born in different situations with varying degrees of intelligence and different talents etc. Rich or poor, ugly or beautiful, genius, talented in certain skills or ordinary all depends on the mind and the fruits of our karma we are carrying from our previous lives. The mind is continuous from one life to the next and our karmic account is contained in it.

On march 30,1997, I saw on TV DD, India, the news of a five year old child prodigy and her exhibition of paintings. Her parents had given her the paints and brush a year or so ago just to keep her occupied in some activity, and without any formal training the little girl has produced very beautiful paintings. She has especially done many paintings depicting the pastimes of Krishna such as his showing of the universe in his mouth as a baby to his mother Yashoda; and his pastimes taking the cows for grazing in the fields and his pranks with the gopis, the village maids. When asked about it the little girl who did these paintings said that she likes Krishna. Obviously this girl has not learnt to paint in this life. The theory of reincarnation explains her talent. She has developed her talent for painting in her previous life and therefore she is born with the talent for painting in this life. The same mind continues with the soul from one life to another and the talents and spiritual consciousness a person develops in one life continue after death into the next life.

Another real life story that I saw on TV was during the mid 1980's in Ottawa in Canada. This was about a chimpanzee who works as a bartender around New York. They showed his daily routine. He lives in an apartment and sleeps in a bed. He gets up from his bed and wears his clothes himself. He opens his refrigerator door, takes out the milk and pours it in his cereal bowl and eats. Then he goes to work in a bar where he works as a bartender. The customers give him the orders for drinks. He pours and mixes the correct drinks such as rum and coke etc. as asked and gives it to the customers. In short he works as a regular bartender.

He didn't learn to be a bartender as a chimpanzee. How does one explain his behaviour? The theory of reincarnation explains it as follows: He was a human bartender in his previous life. He may have passed away while he was under the influence of alcohol, which acts as a depressant on the nervous system thereby promoting the mode of ignorance. Those who die while predominantly under the influence of the mode of ignorance take birth in the lower species. So the former human bartender has taken his birth as a chimpanzee as a result of the mode of ignorance predominant in his mind at the time of his death in his previous body. Since the same mind continues with the soul from one body to another, his skills as a bartender that he acquired in his previous life are still manifest in his mind. Therefore even as a chimpanzee he is functioning as a bartender without having been trained for it in this life.

5. Life is but a dream

Poets and writers have in their musings sometimes said that life is but a dream. Though life in reality is not a dream yet, as is stated in the Srimad Bhagvatam, the soul's material experience is actually only a dream.

"Just as a sleeping person acts according to the body manifested in his dreams and accepts it to be himself, similarly during wakefulness one accepts his physical body to be oneself because of false identification with the body even though the self is different from the body."

Thus one accepts the actions of his physical body to be his own actions. Actually the living being is only a witness to the actions of his subtle mental body during dreaming and the physical body during wakefulness. The soul sitting in the heart is not doing anything. He is simply the witness of the actions performed by the mind and the body but because he accepts the mind and the body to be identical with him he thinks that these actions are performed by him. In the Bhagvad Gita it is said:

"The soul bewildered due to false ego thinks himself to be the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the modes of material nature."

All that is happening in this world is simply an interaction of the three modes of material nature and the enjoying soul. The flow of intelligence is divided by the modes of nature into three states namely wakefulness, dreaming and deep sleep arising out of the modes of material nature namely goodness, passion and ignorance respectively.

During deep sleep, the living being is unaware of external experiences. On waking up, his only remembrance of his experience of deep sleep is that "I slept soundly". His identity remains intact and this experience of himself when his senses are retracted from sense objects rejuvenates him. During deep sleep, he is unaware of any sufferings, joys and anxieties but on waking up he remembers these things again.

During dreaming, the living being is witness to the activities of his subtle body consisting of mind, intelligence and false ego. The living being is not doing anything yet during dreaming he thinks that he is doing all these activities of his dreams and he accepts his dream as reality while dreaming. Actually he is only a witness of his dream. Only on waking up does he realise that it was only a dream and that he himself was not doing anything but was lying in bed all along.

Similarly during the day during his period of wakefulness, the living being is simply sitting within the heart as the witness of the activities of his physical body. He is not doing anything yet he accepts the actions of his body as being performed by him because of his misidentification of himself as the body. But just as in dreams he is simply the witness during wakefulness also.

While sleeping, when we are dreaming, we are being carried away by material nature and because of misidentification of our self with the mind we think that we are doing all these things in our dream. Similarly during the day the same mind is being carried away by material nature and we misidentify our self with our physical body and accept its activities as being performed by us. Thus we alternate between the night dream and the day dream. While dreaming at night we accept that as reality; and during the day we think this to be real. Which of these is real? Actually we are dreaming in both these temporary situations created by the material nature. The reality is unchanging, eternal and is experienced as one undivided state of full consciousness (called turiya) beyond these alternating stages of limited consciousness.

A dream becomes known as a dream only when a person wakes up. During dreaming the person accepts it as real. Similarly these alternating stages of deep sleep, dreaming and wakefulness that we are experiencing will become evident to us as dreams only, when we wake up to our essential spiritual reality.

While acting on the plane of sense enjoyment in this world of matter we are unable to comprehend that we are simply dreaming in this world and during dreaming we are apparently affected by sufferings such as birth, struggle, pain, disease, old age and death but on waking up to reality we will be relieved of all these and come to realise that we are eternal and will become happy. The soul is suffering due to false ego but actually he is transcendental to this material experience and on waking up to reality he will realise that nothing actually happened to him; that he was only dreaming all along. Just as during a nightmare we are distressed, but on waking up we feel relieved on realising that it was only a bad dream, similarly when we wake up to our spiritual reality we will be relieved of this material dream and become happy.

When we realise that all sense enjoyment is only a meaningless dream without any essence and that this world is full of miseries only, then we will have the impetus to wake up to reality. Misery is an impetus to correcting our state. If the dream is blissful why would we want to wake up? One cannot dream and be awake to reality simultaneously because the two states - dream and wakefulness are mutually exclusive. Therefore the dream of sense enjoyment, which is the cause of all our misery, has to be renounced if we wish to wake up to our real spiritual nature. The reality cannot be perceived with an agitated mind and senses. The senses have to be regulated and the mind purified for perceiving reality.

In the material world the conception of the living being is reversed. He regards the eternal reality God as mythical and he regards his temporary body as the reality even though it will disappear in course of time. But just as all darkness vanishes when the sun rises and one can see oneself and the world, similarly all ignorance and dreams will disappear when the reality arises in our hearts and our actual identity as a soul who is an eternal servitor of God is revealed to us.

Let me further illustrate how our worldly existence is only a dream. Suppose I am sleeping in bed and I dream that a tiger is attacking me. I am afraid and in the dream I try to run but the tiger pounces on me and eats me. I wake up now from my dream perspiring all over. On waking up I realise that there is no tiger; that no tiger attacked me or ate me and I was only dreaming. It was simply a nightmare and I feel relieved.

Now let us further suppose that during the day, when I am awake, a tiger actually attacks me and actually eats me up. But when my physical body is eaten up and I am thinking that I am dying and finished and to others in the world also I appear to be dead since the tiger has eaten my body, then after the demise of my physical body I will still be alive since, as has been discussed in earlier chapters, life is eternal. The soul cannot be eaten or killed by anyone. The living being is an eternal person.

The body is destroyed but the living being, though he may think that he is being annihilated, discovers that he does not die but survives the physical demise of the body.

During dreaming, the soul is only a witness to the activities of his mind and during wakefulness he is witness to the activities of the body through the mind. But he is not doing anything; he is simply watching this material dream of his. This example of the drama of death by the attack of the tiger during dreaming or wakefulness is enacted on the platform of subtle or gross matter respectively. In either case during dreaming or wakefulness I do not die by the attack of the tiger. I survive in either case because both, the dream while sleeping and the happening during wakefulness, are actually a dream in reality. Both of these are dreams and are false and this is proved by my survival in either case.

Everything that is happening within the jurisdiction of time - past, present and future, on the platform of subtle or gross matter as in dreams or wakefulness respectively, is a dream. It is transitory and will disappear in due course of time like a dream.

In the material world, the flow of intelligence is divided by the modes of nature into the three states of deep sleep, dreaming and wakefulness. The reality is beyond these three states and is experienced as an undivided state of full consciousness without the divisions imposed by the modes of nature.

Our concept of past, present and future are due to our body. We are thinking in terms of past, present and future with reference to our body which has a beginning and progresses in time towards an end. The perception of time is different on different planets. In the material world things have a beginning and an end. But in eternity everything is in present tense. Time does not exert its influence in eternity as past or future. In the material world our past is presenting itself as our future which means that we are simply reaping the joys or sorrows of our past good or bad deeds as their fruits unfold. Present tense in its real sense cannot be experienced here since the 'present' moment becomes the 'past' in the very next moment. Here only past and future are presenting themselves on the axle of present. There is no past or future in the spiritual sphere but only the present tense exists there. Time is actually eternal and the present is experienced in its true sense in the eternal reality only.

When through knowledge one realises that this material life of ours is only a dream and therefore without essence then by dint of one's reason one can become unconcerned with it. Thus one can give up one's anxiety to enjoy this dream. Knowing that all sensual pleasures are without essence one should meditate on the inner reality instead. Sensual pleasures disappear because they are of the nature of dreams. Unlike sensual pleasures which disappear, spiritual pleasures do not disappear because they are real. They are permanent and stay in us and build up and one floats in an ocean of increasing bliss in reality. The sages have concluded that the real is eternal and the unreal is transitory. Our world is but a perverted reflection and a pale shadow of the reality.

All one's life one chases the dream of pleasure and happiness in this world of matter, where there is no happiness, only to be disappointed. Happiness in the material world is like the mirage of water in the desert; it is only an illusion. Much promise but no substance! Happiness retreats like a mirage as we approach it and the chase is never ending without the catch of happiness. Hoping against hope, the living being seeks to become happy in this world where there is only struggle, trouble, misery, disease, old age and finally death but he is stubborn and will not easily abandon his futile search for happiness in this world. Instead of seeking happiness outside, one should seek it in the inner reality. One who loves God is always happy within his heart. For the lover of God there is no misery, but for those who have not realised their sweet loving relationship with God how can there be any happiness? There is no greater punishment than to deprive oneself of the loving relationship with God.

God has created this world of matter for the rebellious souls who wish to dream that they are the lords meant to enjoy their senses instead of serving the senses of the real lord, and this is the cause of our material existence. Thus God has simply awarded us our desire to forget reality. The living beings in all species of life are dreaming here because this world is created to satisfy their desire for forgetfulness of reality. But the rarely obtained human body has the special opportunity that in this temporary body we can use our developed brain and intelligence to remember reality and thus attain the blissful state of our eternal life.

Just as a person who is dreaming, on waking up finds that he was only dreaming and was lying in bed all along and nothing was actually happening to him, similarly when we wake up to our essential spiritual reality we will know that our material experience was only a dream. The influence of this dream will vanish then and will not trouble us anymore.

No force other than one's own mental confusion is the cause of one's material existence. All of one's friends, relatives, society etc. are a creation of dreams and ignorance only. In a dream we create all this as a creation of our mind but on waking up to our eternal spiritual reality this dream will disappear. While dreaming the soul experiences joys or sorrows due to false ego but actually the soul is transcendental to material existence and remains untouched by this dream. The subtle nature of the soul may be compared to that of the sky. Clouds and many things may pass through the sky but the sky remains undivided and unaffected by their passage; similarly the soul while experiencing material existence remains essentially untouched by this dream and on waking up to reality is not troubled by it's happenings any more.
6. Proof of God's existence

As regards belief in God there are three categories of people – the theists, atheists and agnostics. The debate whether God exists or not is still on especially among the young. Rational people want proof that is convincing to their reason and intelligence. And rightly so! Blind faith is dangerous and may turn one into a fanatic and a lunatic. Simply because someone has blind faith in a false concept is not going to make the false concept true. Faith should be based on reason and should not merely be an accident of birth, whims or irrationality. A man should not abandon his reason and take to blind faith. God has bestowed man with intelligence so that we may use our reason to understand the truth. All knowledge including faith should be subjected to the scrutiny of reason. Our intelligence and reason should be the guides in our faith, beliefs and actions.

I was an agnostic when I was young. I wanted proof but I could not find it in books or from other people. Nor could I come to any conclusion on my own because of lack of knowledge. And there was no subject in school on spirituality. So I remained an agnostic until I found convincing evidence for God's existence. This chapter is for the inquisitive man of reason who wants proof of God's existence.

Some people say, "Show me God." They want to limit proof to sight. But sight is not the only proof. Proof may also be through other senses such as hearing, touch, smell and taste along with sight. And above the senses such as sight is the mind and intelligence. Proof may consist of observation, logical deduction, knowledge based on experience and scriptural evidence.

Before we argue the existence of God, let us first consider what proof there is for the existence of the soul.

"Just as the sun spreads sunshine throughout the universe, similarly the soul dwelling within the body spreads consciousness throughout the body." - Bhagvad Gita.

The soul cannot be seen by material instruments or eyes because of its subtle nature but we can infer its presence by the presence of consciousness in the body, just as we cannot see the electron but we can infer its existence by the streak of light across our electronic oscilloscope.

Similarly we can observe the existence of an all pervading consciousness everywhere and from this we can infer the existence of God.

How do we observe the existence of the all pervading consciousness?

We can observe that matter is subject to certain laws of science such as the law of gravitation. Every material particle is subject to these laws which means that a consciousness exists enforcing these laws on every particle of matter. Otherwise why should matter which is inert and insentient follow any law at all since matter by itself has no consciousness or awareness of anything or any law? Without consciousness no law can be enforced. The Vedas describe that God has expanded himself everywhere so that he is present within every material particle also and thus imposes his laws everywhere.

What is a law of science?

Law is a rule imposed by a force exerted directly or indirectly by a conscious person. Without the consciousness of a person who will impose the law? It is the force exerted by a conscious person, God, on material particles in conformity with his will which we know as the laws of science. These laws are consistent and this is the reason why we have been able to observe and formulate them. Without a conscious person exerting a calculated force these laws cannot be imposed. Matter is unconscious and insentient and cannot even know, much less follow and act, according to a law. Take, for example, the law of gravitation. How would matter know how much attractive force should there be between two bodies of mass? Only a conscious person whose consciousness pervades every material particle can know and exert these forces. This all pervading consciousness is the consciousness of God who is present in even the smallest particle of matter and makes it obey his laws? Law implies a lawmaker and enforcer. It is not that the laws exist and work of their own accord. And if one says that the law is made by nature then we have to ask who made this nature.

Otherwise also, we can observe God's consciousness in the creation, order and management of the universe. Newton once created a model system of the sun and the various planets rotating around it. One of his atheistic friends praised the model and asked Newton who made it? To this Newton replied, 'No one." The friend objected to this and said how that could be possible. At this, Newton pointed to the skies and said, "When I show you the real universe, the sun and the stars and the planets and say that someone made these, you say that no one made these. But when you see this tiny model of the planetary system you insist that someone made this."

Thus Newton pointed out to his atheistic friend that someone made all this. Everyone and every thing has a creator. Things do not create themselves. It requires intelligence to design and create and intelligence pertains to a conscious person. Science and philosophy mean that there is a reason for everything including creation which implies a creator.

When we see a painting we know someone painted it though we may not know who the painter is and we may not have seen him painting it. If we look at the flowers we can therefore say that someone created and painted them. God's consciousness is at work everywhere and his work is proof of his existence though we cannot see him directly because of our limited vision. We may not be able to see him with our eyes but we can understand his existence with our intelligence. All around us we can see his creation in the form of the universe, the fruits, the vegetables, the birds, beasts, mankind and so many other species of life.

If we just examine the variety of fruits such as orange, mango, pomegranate, pineapple, peach, banana, strawberry, cherry, coconut, grapes etc. and look at the various dry fruits such as almond, cashew nut, pistachio, peanut we can appreciate the mystic power and intelligence of God. He has created these wonderful fruits and nuts and packed them up so nicely. Or shall we deny him and say that no one created all this! Yet if someone makes an artificial model of a cherry, banana or an orange we would be loathe to believing that it got created by itself.

Similarly the variety of voices produced by various species such as the birds, beasts and humans is fascinating. The koyal (cuckoo bird) sings; the ghugee bird produces a flute's sound; the lions roar and the humans speak in a wide repertoire of ways. Someone has obviously designed and created this immense variety of voice instruments, the vocal chords, of various species.

If we examine how the embryo in the womb of a mother grows to become a baby we can appreciate the ingenuity of the designer. The mother does not know how the baby is growing. The mechanical arrangement of the genetic code etc. is not sufficient in itself. The growth of the baby requires the presence of a conscious supervisor who imposes his laws on the mechanical arrangement.

If we observe how a cow eats grass and produces milk we can appreciate this wonder. The cow does not know how she produces milk. Everything in nature indicates the presence of an all pervading consciousness. Einstein therefore remarked that by studying science he could appreciate the existence of a supreme intelligence in the face of which we must feel humble.

The creation, order and management of the universe and all the wondrous things in it point to the existence of a supremely intelligent being. If we examine any organ of ours such as our eyes we can understand how wonderful and intricate is the design of this auto-focus camera, the eye. Or are we to say that our eyes were not designed or created by anyone. That they just evolved on their own because Darwin says so! It is a pity that such blind faith as the dogma of evolution which is contrary to reason is passed off as a scientific theory.

Again the unity in the scheme of the universe, as also the fact that two or more persons cannot be supreme, point to the existence of one Supreme Being.

Finally the question may be put that since everything and everyone is created and caused by someone, then who created God? All the living beings such as us and the various species are caused by God. The souls are caused by God just as the rays of the sun are said to be caused by the sun. But who is the cause of God?

To get an answer to this question we refer to the Vedic scriptures i.e. the Vedas, Upanishads and the Puranas which are revealed scriptures given by God and are therefore flawless. The Vedic scriptures are eternal yet Vyasdev, the literary avatar (the word avatar means God's descent in this world), spoke while Shri Ganesh wrote them 5000 years ago. Among these the Bhagvad Gita is the brief and the Srimad Bhagwatam Mahapurana is the detailed topmost spiritual knowledge. The Vedas are like the original documentation of the system 'universe' in which the creation and the purpose of the system is described so that man is not left in darkness or ignorance. The Vedas urge us "Tamaso ma jyotir gamya" which means: "Do not stay in the darkness (of ignorance). Come to the light (of knowledge)." We are in darkness and ignorance in this material world. The Vedas advise us to seek the Absolute Truth having received this rare human body and not to live and die like the beasts without inquiring about the meaning of life.

To know who the cause of God is let us first find out from the scriptures who God is. It is described in the Brahma Samhita:

"Ishvarah param Krishna, sachidanand vigraha;

anadir adir Govinda, sarva karana karanam."

"Krishna who is known as Govinda is the supreme Godhead. He has an eternal omniscient blissful spiritual body. He is without beginning and He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes."

The Srimad Bhagvatam also, starts with the verse," O my Lord Krishna, son of Vasudeva, O all pervading Personality of God, I offer my respectful obeisance unto You. I meditate upon Lord Krishna because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifest universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him."

So He is God who is not caused or created by anyone. He is the prime cause of all causes. He is the cause of all His potencies of which we are but a part. Although our normal experience is that of things created and caused by someone yet there is an original person who is not created or caused. He is the Absolute Truth and the cause of all that be.

Addendum:

For one who wants to know more about God there is plenty of scriptural and historical evidence available in India. For scriptural evidence one may read the Bhagvad Gita and Srimad Bhagvatam in which the visits of God on earth along with his teachings, his qualities and activities are described. The Ramayan and Mahabharat are also replete with pastimes of God. And the historical evidence is available in various pilgrimages such as Mathura-Vrindavan, Dwarka, Ayodhya, Chitrakoot, Rameshvaram etc. in India and the Ashok Vatika and other places in Sri Lanka where the battle between Bhagvan Raam and Ravana was fought.

7. Morality, karma and peace

Morality and its basis

Morality is a subject that has always drawn the attention of man. Indeed why should we be moral at all? Why should we try to do good and refrain from doing evil? Since superficially it seems that I stand to gain by cheating, stealing, stabbing others in the back for my advancement and lying to cover my evil deeds or to satisfy my lusty desires, then why should I not act immorally? It seems that I can get what I want more easily by immoral means than by moral means. Then why should I care about morality? Indeed all around us we see that evil flourishes and many people abandon morality.

So let us examine this issue of morality. Unless man addresses the question "why morality?" with knowledge and reasoning, immorality threatens our peaceful coexistence.

The basis of morality is spirituality only. Morality has no locus standing without spirituality. The relative exists only on the basis of the absolute. The relative good or bad of this world is on the basis of the absolute good, God, and His will. Morality rests primarily on the following premises:

That life is eternal and continues beyond bodily death.

That God exists and imposes the fruit of our good or evil deeds upon us in the form of happiness or sorrow respectively. That is to say that justice is administered upon us according to our deeds and that is possible only if the administrator of justice i.e. God exists.

Morality rests on these two premises of continuity of life after death, and the existence of God. Both these premises have been discussed and justified in the earlier chapters of this book. If God did not exist then there would be no one to administer justice. We cannot escape the justice of God and the fruit of our actions. Also, if life was not continuous and was annihilated with bodily death then there is no question of reaping after death the fruit of our deeds be they good or evil. Then we could do whatever nonsense and get away with it, if we could evade the man made guardians of law. But as I have discussed earlier, life is eternal and continues beyond bodily death.

The law of karma

Karma means actions that we perform by our thoughts, words and deeds. Desire is the impetus to karma. By our karma we are sowing two types of seeds - pious or sinful. When the fruits of these seeds mature we reap corresponding happiness or sorrow. That is the law of karma - cause and effect. As you sow so shall you reap. This is a world of cause and effect, of reason. Reason implies justice. One who thinks that life ends with death may think that his evil deeds have no consequence for him if he can evade the police, but he errs, for life is eternal. The justice of God is infallible. No one can escape the justice of God who is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient and the fruits of our deeds will manifest themselves either here or here after in due course of time. All that we do is recorded and known in full graphical detail including our desires, thoughts and motives, words and deeds. That God has all information should not surprise us since even man records a phenomenal amount of information on memory storage devices accessible instantly on computers.

We are accountable for our actions of this life even beyond death. Since life is eternal, this life is not the beginning or the end of us. In this life we are reaping the fruits of our karma of our previous lives and this is called fate. Fate is simply the unfolding of the fruits of one's past good or bad karma. What is a person's fate? It is simply the reward or punishment of his past good or bad karma being presented to him. That is why you see that people are born in different situations and become poor or rich. They are endowed differently with wealth, physique, knowledge, intelligence, strength and destiny. The happiness or sorrows vary from person to person. All this is a result of their karma in their past lives. After all, there must be a cause for these differences since a cause is essential. Our karma in this life are like seeds and they will bear fruit when they fructify in due time either here or hereafter. No one can escape the fruits of his actions. Karma is neutralised only after the person has suffered or enjoyed its fruit. We may not remember our deeds of our past lives but God knows everything. We tend to forget things even in this life and we generally forget our past lives. The eternal soul embraced by the subtle body of mind, intelligence and false ego continues on to acquire a new material body so as to reap the fruit of his past karma.

Tulsi Das Ji, the revered devotee of Lord Raam, writes very succinctly in his popular scripture Ramcharitmanas.

"Tulsi yeh tan khet hai, Mun, vach, karam kissan,

pap punya do beej hain, Jo jaane so sujan"

"In the above verse, Tulsi Das says that this human body is a field. Our thoughts, words and action are the farmers by which we perform deeds (karma). These farmers sow two types of seeds - pious or sinful (which bear fruit later). One who understands this has knowledge."

In Bhagvad Gita also, this human body is described as the field of activity for the soul. The material bodies and senses are simply instruments for the fulfilment of our varied lusty desires. In the Bhagvad Gita, karma is defined as actions pertaining to the development of our material bodies. All self-centred activities are called karma (thoughts, words or deeds) and these produce a reaction. To enjoy or suffer the fruit of one's karma, the living being is awarded a suitable body. However activities meant for the satisfaction of the supreme whole purify and liberate the soul and do not produce any reaction.

Morality applies only to the human species of life which is therefore called 'Karam-yoni' (deed-species) i.e. we are held accountable for our karma because God has endowed us with developed brains. The other species of life such as the insects, reptiles, aquatics, birds and beasts are called 'bhog-yoni' (reap-species) i.e. they are simply reaping the fruits of their desires and past karma. They are not held accountable for the deeds they perform in the non-human species of life.

What is moral? This is an intricate question. What is moral in normal circumstances may become immoral in a certain situation since morality is relative. For example, the normal moral code is to speak truthfully but if one has to tell a lie to save one's life or other people's lives or property from criminals or aggressors, then telling a lie is the moral way. In such a situation speaking the truth could be a sin. However the normal moral codes of truthfulness, non-violence, mercy and other moral laws as given in scriptures are to be practised in general except in accentuating circumstances.

Rationality is a great asset along with scriptural guidance in deciding moral issues. Irrationality or faith without reason is simply fanaticism. Blind faith is dangerous. We should use all our faculties of reason and intelligence to understand philosophy correctly so that we can find intellectual and emotional fulfilment. A philosophy that when practised does not lead one to love and emotional fulfilment is simply a dry exercise in futility.

Morality has to be judged against the criteria of spirituality i.e. spiritual love since morality exists on the basis of spirituality only. Our actions should be in harmony with the will of God and should show respect to all life since all living beings in all species of life belong to God. Morality implies that we should refrain from hurting others. Rather we should act for the welfare of others. Therein lies our happiness. What we do unto others, the same will happen to us. Understanding the unity of all life in all species, our actions should be based on the principle of love. However, material differences according to common sense need to be recognised and maintained. One does not embrace a snake out of love even though spiritually all of us are equal and belong to the same one family of God.

The principle of love does not however preclude the use of force when necessary as for example in the administration of justice towards criminals for the protection and harmony of society or against aggressor enemies. Violence has to be minimised but in this world violence cannot be eliminated altogether. Violence is sometimes necessary for self-defence and for maintaining law and order and the security of citizens. Otherwise criminals and aggressors will take over and there would be chaos in society. Complete non-violence is not a viable option in this world desirable as it may be. Force is a necessary option against force.

For self-preservation also, we have to commit violence. However we should limit it to vegetarian food. Violence against animals is sinful. Though life is equal in all species and plants also have life, there is material differentiation on earth. There is evolution of consciousness in species as the senses of touch taste smell hearing and sight develop. The development of brain also leads to higher consciousness. For example, a beast's life is not considered equal to that of man. Similarly a plant is not equal to a beast. According to Vedic philosophy, eating plants also incurs some sin unless first offered to God. God accepts our offering of vegetarian food and no sin is incurred when we eat this food accepting it as God's mercy. However, God does not accept the offerings of non-vegetarian foods.

Morality is essential for peace and harmony in society. A moral society aids the development of spirituality and that is the chief purpose of morality. Morality provides the base and environment in which to develop spiritually. Morality is a prerequisite for making spiritual progress and conversely, immorality is detrimental to spiritual development. A person engaged in wilful sinful activity cannot make any spiritual progress. One must determine to reform oneself. The self-realised souls act in harmony with the will of God automatically, and not because they are thinking in terms of good and evil. Even though the liberated self-realised souls are beyond the realm of ordinary morality yet they do not ordinarily transgress moral codes so as not to cause disturbance in society.

Why does evil exist?

If God is all good then why does evil exist? This question has plagued philosophers for a long time. Since God is supreme and is the cause of all causes and the origin of everything, therefore the origin of evil must also be in God, since nothing can exist without being willed and caused by God. However since God is absolutely all good, merciful and endowed with innumerable spiritual qualities and God is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent then why does He allow evil to exist? By His mere desire, anything can be done so why doesn't He just abolish all evil for good instead of allowing it to harass us?

Whereas we are completely dependent on Him for the fulfilment of our desires, He is completely independent. God's desires come to pass merely by desiring and are fulfilled. God's desires, thinking and willing is perfect. Since God is perfect then where does the scope of the existence of evil arise from?

In order to answer the question: "Why does evil exist?" , let us first define and understand "What is evil?"

Evil is our forgetfulness of God and good is remembrance of God. Actions performed in forgetfulness of God in disharmony with Him are therefore evil, and those performed in consciousness of God in harmony with Him are good. God is situated in the hearts of all living beings as the supreme soul and is giving everyone remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness according to their desires and past karma.

Just as darkness is only the absence of light, similarly evil is only our forgetfulness of God. Just as darkness automatically vanishes in the presence of sun, similarly evil disappears as we become conscious of God.

Now that we have defined what evil is, we can address the question: 'why does evil exist?' despite the existence of God who is absolutely all good.

We are all conscious living beings with minute free will. Since God is our origin, the origin of our minute free will is also in God who has complete free will. Life implies consciousness, desire and free will. So it is our free will whether we love God or not. God does not interfere with our minute freewill to love or not to love. Love is by free will and not by imposition. If we love God, automatically we are conscious of Him; and if we choose to turn away from Him and not love Him, then he allows us to forget Him by the agency of matter which entraps us in a material body and puts us in this imitation world of matter which is a perverted reflection of the spiritual reality. Because of contact with matter the living being becomes fearful because matter is subject to decay and destruction and the material body being subject to death and destruction instils fear in us even though we are eternal. God is absolute good and for God everything is good, but our forgetfulness of God is evil and makes us experience evil and good on the relative platform of matter. Our perception of evil is only due to our forgetfulness of God. For one who is fully conscious of God there is no evil just as there is no darkness for one who is in light. Our experience of good and evil is like a dream arising due to our forgetfulness of God, the reality, and we can get rid of this dream only by waking up to reality by becoming fully conscious of God.

Evil therefore necessarily arises out of our free will to love God or not to love Him i.e. to remember God or to forget Him. As discussed earlier free will is an inherent characteristic of life. Without consciousness, desire and minute free will, we would be like dead stone. As we become conscious of God evil vanishes, just as darkness vanishes when the light of the sun appears.

Moral and spiritual education

There is a serious erosion of moral values in society today. Therefore it is imperative that the important task of imparting moral and spiritual knowledge to all students of all disciplines should be taken up by the education system in schools and universities. Besides, students go to school daily for education and not to religious institutions. What is needed is that religious education should be taught in a systematic manner from fundamentals. The students will be receptive only if religious education catches their interest and fascination. The Vedic scriptures offer just such an alternative to the whole world, and the education professionals should examine and consider these for introduction into the curricula. This will provide the essential moral and spiritual dimension to our education.

Our present education system does not teach students the meaning of life. The tragedy of life is that, consequently, a person may go through life without ever knowing the meaning of life or why he came to this world in the first place. An education system that does not teach students the meaning of life and how to live a life fulfilling the purpose of life is incomplete.

The primary aim of education is to develop the mind. There is a latent consciousness of God in everyone even as a child. When one gets a human birth one can strive to become fully conscious of God. Development of the mind means to cultivate one's consciousness of God. Strengthening the mode of goodness in the mind is integral to the process of becoming conscious of God.

The word Veda means knowledge. The Veda is one originally but has been divided into four parts along with allied scriptures. The four Vedas are - Rig, Saam, Yajur and Atharva Vedas dealing with diverse fields of knowledge. The Saam Veda contains knowledge of classical music and hymns extolling the qualities of God.

These days holistic medicine is catching the interests of many people. The ancient system of medicine in India uses herbal medicines and is called Ayur-veda. The Ayurveda system of medicine has both preventive and curative parts to it and is taught in certain institutes in India. This should be introduced all over the world for the benefit of mankind. Ayurveda teaches one how to live a balanced life and maintain physical, mental and spiritual well being. All students should be taught the basics of Ayurveda so as to help them live a healthy life.

Some of the books that could be introduced are: Shrimad Bhagvat Mahapuran, The Bhagvad Gita, Chaitanya Charitamrata, Isha Upanishad and Brahma Samhita for the high schools and universities. For the primary levels Ramayan, Mahabharat and stories from various Puranas could be introduced. These stories will not only fascinate the children but will also impart moral and spiritual teachings to them. It is the task of the educators to ensure that interesting and rational material is chosen for teaching the students. The only result of boring sermons is to turn the students away from religion for good. If the children and young adults hear interesting education stories and rational explanations from religious scriptures, this will catch their fancy and give them a positive attitude towards life's values. Recently when the epics 'Ramayan' and 'Mahabharat' were shown as TV serials in India, everyone including children were glued to their TV sets watching these religious epics. Ramayan is the description of Lord Raam's descent on earth more than a million and a half years ago, and his pastimes and qualities and the great war in which Lord Raam killed Raavan, the demoniac king of Lanka. And Mahabharat is the epic description of politics, intrigue and the great battle at Kuruksehtra in India, which took place five thousand years ago in the presence of Lord Krishna.

For spiritual knowledge, Lord Chaitanya has recommended Shrimad Bhagvat Mahapuran as the jewel among all scriptures and topmost of the eighteen Puranas. This scripture, now translated into many languages including English, contains twelve cantos and is originally composed in about eighteen thousand verses in the Sanskrit language. And Bhagvad Gita consisting of some seven hundred verses is chief of the one hundred and eight Upanishads ( such as the Isha, Kain, Kath, Prashan, Mundaka, Mandukya, Aitraiya, Taitriya, Shvetashvatar - Upanishads ). The Shrimad Bhagvat Mahapuran and the Bhagvad Gita are ideal for teaching in the high schools and universities. The Sanskrit language, which is rich with scriptural knowledge, could also be taught so that students can better appreciate the poetic verses. Sanskrit is the language of celestial beings and has logical rules of grammar.

There is a treasure full of knowledge available in the Vedas and allied scriptures, and mankind should take advantage of these. It is no use being biased in terms of religion, race or nationality etc., since these are merely bodily designations whereas knowledge is universal. For the vast majority, religion is decided by birth, and sometimes by bribery, coercion or by the sword! However, in societies which allow basic freedoms, one may think, discuss freely and choose one's philosophy, religious or otherwise, by oneself.

The eternal religion of a thing is that which is its inseparable innate inherent nature. For example the nature of fire is to possess heat and light. Similarly the eternal religion (sanatan dharma) or nature of the soul is consciousness and desire, since these are its inseparable inherent traits. When this desire is pure, it is manifest as love of God. Our service to God is an expression of this love. Because our desire is adulterated by some material mentality in this world we serve various objects of the senses under the dictates of false ego and take on different flags of nationality and religion etc. but these are all temporary and will fade away like a dream. The soul is not Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Jew or Muslim, or black or white, or Indian, Japanese or American. The soul is free of all such designations, being the potency of God and all the souls belong to the one family of God, irrespective of temporary designations such as caste, race, religion, nationality, gender or species and therefore we should live in peace and love because we are all children of one father namely God. God is free of all material designations. Sometimes pseudo scholars refer to Krishna as the Hindu God. Do we refer to the sun as Japanese, Indian or American sun, or Buddhist, Hindu or Christian sun? Just as these designations do not apply to the sun, similarly material designations do not apply to God irrespective of where He appears. And the souls being eternal fragmental parts of God are also free of all material names and designations of religion, race, nationality or species etc. Our eternal nature or religion (dharma) is to render loving service unto God.

The proof that Krishna is God is provided by the revealed scriptures. There is ample proof of Krishna's divinity in the Vedic scriptures such as the Bhagvad Gita, Srimad Bhagvad Mahapuran, Brahma Samhita, Mahabharat and other Puranas. In India, where Krishna appeared around 5000 years ago in the land of Mathura \- Vrindavan, Krishna is worshipped all over the country by the people. All the great sages also testify Krishna's divinity. There are Krishna temples all over India and Krishna is worshipped in his various manifestations and Avatars, from Jagannath Puri in the east to Dvarka Puri in the west; from Badrinath in the north to Balaji in Tirumala in the south to Ramashvaram where Lord Raam performed his pastimes. The land around Vrindavan shows the various places where He performed his early uncommon pastimes such as the lifting of the Govardhan hill. The conclusion of the revealed scriptures is that Krishna is the original Godhead - "Krishnas tu bhagvan svayam." Krishna is the origin of all His avatars who are non different from God.

I have already discussed certain theories namely the theory of evolution and its invalidity in previous chapters. I commented on these theories mainly because of their bearing on mankind and its course. It is reprehensible that such irrational theories are taught in the name of science. These theories have an evil connotation to them and make the young impressionable students view life as simply a combination of matter which therefore deserves no considerations of morality or spirituality. Thus life seems meaningless. The theory of evolution of man from the monkeys or the theory of evolution of life from matter has contributed directly to the breakdown of ethics and theism. After all, if man is simply a descendant of the monkey then what need is there for morality for monkeys or their descendants? Shall we teach our children that they are descendants of the monkeys and then expect them to behave like human beings! And also what morality is required for life if life were simply a combination of matter? No one need respect life or grieve at death if life was simply an evolved form of matter. Where is the place of feelings or the quest for a meaning in life if living beings are simply made up of dust?

If life was made up of matter then it would not matter how we treated each other being made up of matter. Morality rests on respect for life and the continuity of life beyond death and the subsequent accountability of our good or bad deeds. The theory of evolution negates morality whereas the theory that God created us upholds morality. The creationist emulates the Supreme Father knowing God to be his creator and ideal. The evolutionist apes the ape, his ancestor and forefather.

The study of life, consciousness and desire

Apart from teaching job skills, logic and other subjects, education has to focus on the aspect of fulfilment and management of desires, the study of life and consciousness, and the development of the mind. Life and consciousness as well as their interaction with matter should be studied as suggested in an earlier chapter - The distinction between life and matter. For this purpose Lord Kapil's Sankhya philosophy as given in the Srimad Bhagvat Mahapuran as well the Bhagvad Gita can be studied. The importance of observing celibacy for the development of the mind; moderation and regulation of sensual indulgence; and management, fulfilment and purification of desires are important aspects of education that should be taught in schools. Man is a victim of his impure desires only which bind him to the mortal world. The cultivation of proper desires is important so that the desires and thoughts of a person are in accordance with his words and actions for the harmonious functioning of the individual; otherwise there will be discord in his mind and personality.

Desire is the innate nature of the soul. Everyone wishes to fulfil their desires. Why do we have this body? This body consists of senses which are instruments for the satisfaction of our desires. If man wishes to be happy then we should fulfil our desires while living in harmony with God's will. There is no possibility of lasting happiness if we defy the will of God. Therefore moral codes are given in various scriptures to regulate the individuals in society and restrain their indulgence in the senses.

The subject of Desire is a most important field of study. The study of desire may entail the following: Studying the psychic influence of our desires upon us; the role of desire in our destiny; the management and fulfilment of desires; the distinction between pure and impure desires; the purification of desire; the fulfilment of desires within the tenets of religion; and the consequence of indulgence in desires in violation of the tenets of religion; sublimation, channelling, suppression or repression of desires and it's consequences for the individual.

The Vedic model of life is suggested in the scriptures keeping in view the desires and welfare of man. It classifies the pursuits of man into the following four aspects : dharma (religion), artha (economic development), kama (satisfaction of sensual desires) and moksha (liberation from the mortal world's cycle of birth and death).

Both artha and kama are to be guided by dharma in one's life and thus man should earn his livelihood and satisfy his lusty desires under the guidance of religion. But the real purpose of satisfying lusty desires is that so one can gradually come to the stage of renouncing them after having tasted them if one is unable to come to the stage of renunciation directly. There is no possibility of elevation to the spiritual pleasures without renunciation of sensual pleasures. The main aim of life is liberation (moksha).

For the fulfilment of the aim of life, God had created the system of the four castes and four spiritual orders called the varnashram system in the Aryan society in India. The four castes called varna are divisions of work according to the mentalities and qualities of people. The caste is decided by birth because God gives one birth in a particular caste and family according to one's qualities, mentality and one's karma, and then one can be trained accordingly so that the mentality is suited to the profession. The mind is not a clean slate at birth. The mind is continuous from one life to the next and its qualities also continue with it. The manifestation of the mind however depends on the acquired brain and therefore the species one is born in. Birth is according to one's mind which contains a record of one's desires and karma. Caste is according to one's qualities but birth is considered the determining factor of caste because birth is according to one's qualities and karma. The whole Hindu society has always followed the system of caste by birth. Just as the physical appearances of children resemble their parents, similarly their mentalities and qualities are also similar to their parents. Thus the castes, races and species are perpetuated. The four castes are:

1) Brahman, 2) Kshatriya, 3) Vaishya, 4) Shudra, which respectively correspond to 1) the scriptural teachers and religionists, 2) the kings, administrators and warriors, 3) the traders, agriculturists and maintainers of cows, and 4) the technicians, artisans, workers and labourers. There is a mixture of the three modes of nature in everyone's mind. The Brahmans are characterised by the predominance of the quality of goodness in their mind, the Kshatriyas by the predominance of the qualities of goodness and passion, the Vaishyas by the predominance of the qualities of passion and ignorance, and the Shudras by the predominance of the quality of ignorance. These qualities do not occur in isolation but in varying mixtures of the three qualities. Every section of society is guided, according to the tenets of religion, by the Brahmans for the harmonious functioning of society. The caste system is peculiar to the Aryans, also known as Hindus, and is part of the varnashram system.

According to the scriptures, the word 'Aryan' refers to the people of Bharat-varsh (India) who are traditionally followers of the Vedas. India has always been the habitat of the Aryans and the origin of the Aryans is India. It is a fallacy to think that the Aryans came to India from outside and drove the Dravidians southward. This myth is a missionary ploy propagated by them in pursuance of their policy of 'divide-and-convert' in order to create rift among the peace loving Aryans. It is reminiscent of the policy of 'divide-and-rule' that the British followed in India, which the Indian polity is also now following, after expanding it in scope, for their politics of 'divide-and-create vote banks' thus causing divisions and chaos in India. The followers of the Vedic culture are referred to as Aryans and since both north and south Indians follow Vedic culture they are both Aryans. The word 'Dravid' only refers to the regions of South India. The north Indians and the south Indians (Dravidians) are both Aryans who have always lived in India. In the Bhagvad Gita spoken five thousand years ago near the end of Dvapar-yug just prior to the beginning of Kali-yug, Lord Krishna addresses Arjun as Arya-putra, which means the son of an Aryan. Similarly in the epic Ramayan, which dates back to the times of Lord Raam more than a million years ago during Treta-yug, Lord Raam is also addressed as Arya-putra. This proves that the Aryans are original inhabitants of India and did not come to India from elsewhere.

The other aspect of the Vedic varnashram system divides the life of man into four stages called ashrams namely celibate student life ( brahmchari ), married life ( grahasth ), preparatory life for renunciation ( vanprasth ), and finally the life of an ascetic ( sannyas ). Each of these stages or ashrams is primarily considered a spiritual order. The idea is that while one may fulfil one's lusty desires during one's married life from the age of around 25 to 50, the other stages of life are exclusively for the cultivation of spiritual consciousness and observance of complete celibacy. Marriage being a religious ceremony is also for cultivating spiritual consciousness and living within the tenets of religion which give sanction for sex for the procreation of children. The whole aim of life is to develop one's spiritual consciousness so that ultimately one can attain liberation from the bondage of matter, and freedom from this mortal world's cycle of birth and death.

Celibacy is an integral part of spiritual life which is why revealed religions emphasise it. A sexually oriented culture is detrimental to spiritual progress. Sexuality titillates the senses and mind, whereas spirituality aims at achieving equanimity of mind. The aim of education should be to develop the mind by the purification of the mind of the impurities such as lust, greed, anger etc. One cannot meditate and purify the mind if the senses and the mind are agitated by lusty desires. Co-education and intermingling of the sexes are detrimental to purification, strengthening and development of the mind. These hinder the observance of celibacy which is essential for concentrating and purifying the mind. If one wishes to attain spiritual life then one has to renounce one's tendency to ejaculate semen.

Celibacy means to be celibate in one's desires, thoughts, words and actions. Physical celibacy is meaningless and harmful without mental celibacy. To desire a woman is akin to sleeping with her. Conservation of semen is essential for man's well-being and increases memory and mental strength. Excessive loss of semen leads to mental and physical weakness and various diseases. Masturbation is both physically and mentally detrimental to one's well being. One should use one's energy constructively in work, sports and meditation rather than dissipate it. Sexual fantasies degrade the quality of the mind and thus cause immense suffering. In the Srimad Bhagvatam, Uddhav asks Krishna, "What is real misery?" and Krishna replies, "Real misery is to search for or think of sexual pleasure." A person afflicted with sexual desire is miserable. Celibacy requires refraining from all sexual desire, thoughts or activity. It is unfortunate that students are not taught the great importance of celibacy and its proper observance. The observance of celibacy requires that one should not desire, think of, hear about, speak with freely, look at or touch any girl, woman or sexual object or indulge in any sexual activity of any type or read such literature or see such pictures. If one cannot refrain then one should exercise restraint in the aforementioned activities. This should not be misconstrued as a statement to belittle women or to be anti-woman. Rather it acknowledges the charms of woman and therefore celibacy requires restraint in intermingling of the sexes because of their natural mutual attraction lest they should fall victim to the arrows of Kamdev ( Cupid ) i.e. lust. The sense objects enter as lusty desire within the mind when a person contacts them through the various senses (of sight, touch, hearing, taste or smell), and / or contemplates them within the mind. The intent of observance of celibacy is to abstain from sexual desire, which requires detachment from sense objects.

Man is compared to butter and woman to fire. Butter will surely melt in the association of fire. Therefore in Vedic culture there is no co-education, and intermingling of the sexes is restrained because these result in illicit sex, contraception and abortions. Co-education and intermingling of men and women or adolescent boys and girls is an uncivilised way of life which is fraught with problems and heartaches. However, due to ignorance of the spiritual values of life, lusty people favour this mode of life. The basic principle of human civilisation is segregation of the sexes. In the United Society of Animals there are no restrictions and the sexes intermingle freely and sexual flirtation and promiscuity is the norm. But in Vedic culture, men and women are brought together in social settings or approach each other directly for the purpose of marriage only. A girl lives with her father until marriage; then with her husband; and if in old age the husband becomes an ascetic or is not there she lives with her sons. Girls are trained to be chaste and faithful to their husbands, without any contact with men prior to marriage and even after marriage men and women intermingle little. This is essential for a stable marriage, society and spiritual culture where the aim is to have a peaceful mind. A young girl blooms with her beloved husband. Without a husband, a young girl is mortified and withers like a flower without sunshine, or else her desires may lead her astray into illicit relations. So when a girl is around sixteen she marries a suitable man so that they can live together with the aim of helping each other in spiritual development while fulfilling and regulating their sensual desires. When the main aim in marriage is not spiritual development but sensual satisfaction alone, discord and divorce ensue as soon as the senses are dissatisfied.

In Vedic culture, young men are trained in controlling their mind and senses as part of their spiritual education, along with learning their respective professions. They do not associate with women and observe complete celibacy for the development of the mind until their early to mid twenties. They are spared the burden of man-woman relationships and its attendant responsibilities in terms of providing for the family until they are mature adults. After the completion of their education some marry while others take the vow of celibacy for life, depending on their desire. It is better to marry than burn with lusty desire. Though celibacy is the desired spiritual objective yet considering the social environment these days, which makes complete celibacy difficult, marriage is the recommended norm so that man may regulate his sensuality and gradually come to the stage of renunciation of sensuality after the strong waves of youthful desires have subsided. Thus one's lusty desires can be satisfied without creating disturbance, and the mind and body saved from the ravages of the onslaught of sensual desires. The qualities of non-violence, truthfulness, mercy and forgiveness are taught and these come easily to one who observes celibacy and learns to control his mind and senses.

Liberation means to liberate oneself from the bondage of matter and to thus attain freedom from the mortal world's cycle of birth and death. Liberation does not mean freedom to be nude like animals or to dress scantily or provocatively. Sexual liberation is contrary to spiritual liberation. Sexual liberation is actually bondage to the mortal world of birth and death. Actual liberation is to be free of all sexual desire. Sexual pleasures are available even to the stool-eating dogs and hogs, monkeys and donkeys. If we want to attain permanent unlimited pleasures of high intensity then we have to renounce the desire for insignificant sexual pleasures. The pigeons, monkeys and dogs indulge themselves without restraint. Do we wish to emulate them? It is easy to become a dog led by one's senses. The dogs, monkeys and pigeons we see around us are evidence that these persons succumbed to their senses to this pitiful extent in their past life that they have now taken birth as these beasts and birds. Man has both the animal and the spiritual aspects. The natural tendency of the senses is to lead one to indulgence in animal pleasures. The spiritual aspect has to be cultivated by using one's intellect and knowledge for guidance and thus renounce animal tendencies. For spiritual development one needs to learn mental and sensual discipline. One should wear clothes in a conservative manner so as not to flaunt sexuality. Even though in Vedic culture women wear colourful attractive clothes yet they cover themselves properly. These days the youth wear clothes meant to reveal rather than conceal. Such provocative dressing or behaviour agitates the mind with lusty desires and how can there be peace of mind when the mind is agitated by lusty desires. Unbridled passion leads to many crimes as evidenced in the society.

Desire is our innate nature. Since suppression or repression of desire though essential at times may be harmful so we should channel our desire and energy in spiritual pursuits rather than sensual pursuits. Energy can be positively channelled into work and sports and our desires can be purified by glorifying God. The aim is to organise society for the cultivation of spiritual consciousness. Apart from earning livelihood, our propensity for work can also be used in God's service by building temples; by sculpting God's deities and depicting his fascinating pastimes; by painting His pastimes; by enacting His pastimes through dance and drama such as the Kathak dance depicting Lord Krishna's pastime of dancing on the hoods of the serpent Kaliya and dramas such as Krishna-leela ( the pastimes of Lord Krishna ) and Raam-leela as depicted in the epic Ramayan; by composing poetry and prose in His praise for depicting His qualities, activities and teachings. We can hear and sing His name, qualities and pastimes. With God as the centre of our life we can channel our energy into serving Him and purify our desire. Our pure desire is love of God but our mind is reflecting it in a perverted manner. The mind generates many desires but these are not our desires. We have to make a distinction between these and our pure desire. The only desire of the soul is love of God which is inherent in us but is forgotten due to the influence of the impure mind. This pure desire of love of God is to be cultivated by service to God and meditation on God.

For the purpose of development of the mind, the mode of goodness should be strengthened in the mind. The mode of goodness is strengthened in the mind by meditation and service to God and gradually one rises to the pure desire of love of God. The mode of goodness is also aided by associating with things in the mode of goodness, moderating the activities of passion and shunning the modes of ignorance. The sages have praised the mode of goodness, shown indifference to the mode of passion and criticised the mode of ignorance. For example, to strengthen the mode of goodness in one's mind one should eat foods in the mode of goodness such as fresh fruits, vegetables, milk, cereals, nuts, lentils and beans etc. after offering them to God; limit foods in the mode of passion such as hot chillies and hot spicy food; and abstain from foods that induce the mode of ignorance such as non-vegetarian foods. One should arise at least an hour and a half before sunrise and meditate. This early morning period of time known as Brahm-muhurat begins an hour and a half before sunrise and is especially conducive to the mode of goodness and favourable for spiritual practices and concentration of mind.

When Lord Krishna took birth in Mathura-Vrindavan in India around five thousand years ago, He showed by his personal example that our life's basic necessities can be met by living a simple life by maintaining plenty of cows and by agriculture. The cow gives us milk which is beneficial for our physical and mental health because it is good for the brain. From milk so many required products can be made such as yoghurt, cheese, butter, ghee (clarified butter) and many sweets. Ghee is excellent as a cooking medium and is traditionally used instead of oils. The cow is considered a pure animal according to the Vedas. Not only does the cow give us milk like a mother, even her urine and cow dung contains antiseptic properties and is smeared on the floors and walls as a disinfectant. These days the energy department in India has devised gas plants which have been implemented in some villages by which the cow dung is used for generating bio-gas used as a cooking fuel thus saving precious wood and our forests which form our environment. The residual cow dung is an excellent fertiliser for agriculture. Where is the need for dumping chemical fertiliser in the fields and polluting the earth and water if we maintain plenty of cows? The cow's body may be used for various purposes once she dies a natural death but the cow should be maintained humanely even in old age and should never be killed. The killing of cow is a grievous sin. She gives us milk like our own mother and should be treated as such. She provides us milk and so many other economic benefits for which we should be grateful. The bull can be used for tilling the fields for agriculture and for pulling water out of wells, as an alternative to consuming petrol or diesel by using tractors or pumps. Thus many people can find employment in agricultural activities.

The Neem tree purifies the air and the leaves of the Neem tree are an excellent pesticide and can replace many existing chemical pesticides which pollute the earth and water. These trees are common and can be easily grown in plenty. Neem is also a blood purifier and cures many diseases, prevents malaria and its oil can be used to treat various skin diseases. Its branches make an excellent tooth brush that needs no paste. Putrefied cow dung and leaves of Neem tree are excellent natural substitutes for use as fertiliser and pesticide respectively in agriculture.

Modern ethical issues

Science and technology need to be guided by ethics. Technology is a potent tool and it must be subservient to moral concerns. Just look at the environmental degradation and the air, water and noise pollution around us caused by our misuse of technology, and the proliferation of lethal weapons of mass destruction which threaten our existence!

Progress in science and technology has also raised new issues of ethical concern in many fields such as genetic engineering, cloning, experiments on animals and more recently head transplants. Each of these issues needs to be individually examined closely and addressed by moral concerns. It is beyond the scope of this book to discuss each issue. However I would like to make the following observations on the experiments being done in the field of head transplant mainly because this discussion is relevant to location of soul.

Head transplant – location of soul

Recently I read in a newspaper article in The Times of India that experiments are being done on monkeys' head transplants, and the possibility of human head transplants is being examined and these were reported in an American scientific journal by Robert White, professor of neurosurgery at Case Western Reserve University of Cleveland, Ohio. It was reported in the newspaper that the Pope is among the influential figures to have taken interest in the project and that White has been appointed to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and been invited to several audiences to keep John Paul II abreast of the work. The newspaper further quotes White as saying: "There will be a lot of ethical and moral arguments, but I think they are inappropriate. What we are trying to do here is prolong life. The human spirit or soul is within the physical structure of the brain. I don't think it is in your left arm or anywhere else."

On one hand, White says that he is trying to prolong life which is related to ethics and on the other he says moral and ethical arguments are inappropriate here. Further, White is proceeding with these experiments assuming that the soul obviously resides in the head and nowhere else. Now in science one cannot proceed with assumptions that may seem obvious to Mr. White but which may be fallacious. Science means giving theory, giving reasons for your theory and reasons for your assumptions, and proof by varied means such as logic or validation of theory by experiment, observation and demonstration.

The assumption that the soul resides in the head is a very grave assumption and to make such an assumption with the thinking that it is obvious is very risky. This is a matter of life and death and if the assumption that the soul resides in the head turns out to be wrong then such experiments of head transplants would only result in murders. In Europe, during the middle ages it was assumed that the earth is flat and the sun goes around the earth because it seemed obvious. People believed it because they could see it daily. And the church was there to burn anyone, who questioned it, as a heretic! But when thinkers and scientists conducted further investigation, what seemed obvious proved to be wrong. So I think it is prudent to be wary of this so called obvious assumption that the soul resides in the head, for we are dealing with life and death and if experiments are being conducted on the basis of this assumption and this assumption turns out to be wrong then the recipient of the new body would have actually been murdered.

After all, the head is only one part of the body. The soul could very well reside in some other part of the body. Just because the brain, which is part of the system for thinking, is in the head does not mean that the soul is in the head too. It appears that the soul resides in the head because our thinking is done in the brain but that is so because the mind connects the brain to the soul. The soul is the conscious person residing in the body and by virtue of the presence of the soul the body is permeated with consciousness. The brain residing in the head is part of the system involved in the thinking process but is by no means the only part. The mind is doing the thinking at a subtle level and these thoughts are perceived by the soul.

According to the Ayurvedic system of medicine, the soul resides in the heart of the body. The heart is described as the seat of the soul in the Vedas. In case of a heart transplant the soul changes its seat from the old heart to the transplanted heart in the same body but does not change bodies along with the heart. The soul spreads consciousness in the whole body by means of blood. If the supply of blood to any limb is cut off, that limb becomes numb and dies. The mind covers the soul and being subtle matter extends into the brain also. The brain picks up information from the various senses and this information is perceived by the soul via the mind which acts as a link between the brain and the soul. The mind conveys the information from the brain to the soul.

The heart is the only organ in the body whose muscles work independently whereas all other muscles get their directions from the brain via nerves. The heart works by means of the energy of the soul which generates electrical pulses that make the heart beat. The soul is the actual living being, the life and the actual person and is the source of consciousness in the body. The heart supplies consciousness to all parts of the body including the brain by pumping blood which carries consciousness from the soul. There are many cases of patients who are brain dead and lying in coma for many days and even years but their body is still alive because the heart is still beating. If the heart stops neither the body nor the brain would survive for long. This should make us pause to think: Is the soul in the head or the heart? With a dead brain the body can still be kept alive but with a dead heart the body including the brain would soon be dead. Therefore we should consider seriously the Vedic knowledge that the soul resides in the heart. It is said that organ transplants used to be performed in ancient times and the Ayurvedic doctors had medicines with which to ensure acceptance of the transplanted organ. Even head transplant is mentioned in Ayurveda.

Another important point to consider is that when the sperm fertilises the egg in the womb, the electrical pulse generated is the same as the electrocardiogram of a man or woman. The electrical life pulse at inception is the same as the electrical heart wave ecg (electrocardiogram) and not the same as the brain waves eeg (electroencephalogram) of a man. This indicates that the soul resides in the heart and not the head.

Now let us consider what would happen in the scenario of head transplants as are being suggested by the modern experimenter. Let us say Mr R ( recipient ) is the patient who we wish to keep alive and Mr D ( donor ) is the dead donor of organ. Now the modern experimenter Mr Jassumer assumes that the soul is in the head. So he cuts up D into two parts viz. D's head and D's body. Then he divides R into R's head and R's body. The soul of R is in the body in the heart but Jassumer thinks the soul is in the head. Jassumer discards R's body containing the soul. He then connects R's head to D's body both of which have no soul since Mr D was already dead, the soul of D having departed prior to becoming a donor and both D's head and D's body were lifeless. Jassumer then tries to revive D's body now connected to R's head, hoping to make Mr R alive. But actually Mr R's soul was not in R's head but in R's body's heart which Jassumer has discarded after severing it from R's head. In effect he has murdered Mr R, the recipient, by making the wrong assumption that the soul is in the head and therefore preserving R's head and discarding R's body.

The correct experiment to keep Mr R alive would have been to connect D's head to R's body to keep Mr R alive since the soul is in the heart and not the head. Then Mr R's soul which is in the heart would have Mr R's body with a new transplanted head of the dead donor D. The donor D would remain dead but the recipient of D's head, Mr R would become alive with D's head.

The Vedic scriptures also mention head transplants. Shri Ganesh deva (demi-god), who people worship, is said to have a transplanted head. He had a human form of head when he was born of mother Parvati but his head was cut off by Mahadev Shiva. Later he was revived by transplanting the head of an elephant on his body.

Case 1 - Assume the soul is in the head.

Now if the soul of Ganesh ji was in his cut-off head then the soul of the elephant which should have been in the elephant head would have come into Ganesh's body after transplant. In this case it is really the elephant's soul which would have come alive in Ganesh's body. But such was not the case because Ganesh ji lives on as a deva personality and not as an elephant personality.

Also if Ganesh's soul was in his head and not the heart, then to keep Ganesh alive they should have taken Ganesh's head and kept him alive by giving him the elephant's body rather than taking Ganesh's body and giving him an elephant head which they did. Thus Ganesh lives on because the soul is in the heart. If the soul was in the head then the elephant head with the elephant's soul would have caused the elephant's survival instead in the body of Ganesh, but the real Ganesh would be dead.

Case 2 - Assume the soul is in the heart.

If the soul is in the heart then Ganesh's soul is in the heart and with the new head of the elephant it is still Ganesh ji who became alive again and not the elephant whose head was taken and transplanted on to Ganesh's body. Such is actually the case because Ganesh ji is very much still the same deva ( demi-god ), and not an elephant. The scriptures he wrote after assimilating them, as Vyasdev spoke them, are testimony to his brilliance.

The Srimad Bhagvat Mahapuran also describes the incident where Prajapati Daksha's ( the progenitor of various species ) head was severed from his body and burnt by the servants of Mahadev Shiv, but later on Daksha was revived by transplanting a goat's head on Daksha's body. Daksha continued to function as his old self with the goat's head. His memory of his life, prior to the acquisition of the goat's head, remained intact. This shows that though the brain has its physical role in memory recall functions, the actual memory is supplied in the mind. In the Bhagvad Gita, Lord Krishna says, "I am seated in everyone's heart and from Me (God) come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness." The brain is a tool, much like a computer, which is used by the mind. Though for the common man the brain is a limiting factor, demi-gods such as Ganesh ji and Prajapati Daksha have such exalted minds that they function normally even with the transplanted brain of an animal not allowing it to impose any restrictions on them. Actually the mind can think independently of the brain but once we are embodied, our thinking becomes dependent on and limited by the type of brain we acquire in various species. The ghosts can think, see and hear even though they have no physical body. Those who had out-of-body experiences have testified that they could think see and hear while they were out of their physical body. One can observe that the lower species of life can think less because their mind is functioning within the limitations of their brain, whereas man can think better because his brain is better designed.

The Vedic scriptures are revealed, and the learned give due regard to the knowledge contained in them. I hope that the people conducting experiments of head transplants will read this and give it due consideration; otherwise I am afraid ignorance will lead to murders only. I am not against organ transplants, but I am concerned if murders are committed due to ignorance especially when the intentions are otherwise. A thorough study should be conducted as to where the soul resides before conducting such experiments based on dubious assumptions. One cannot, in the name of science, make blind assumptions just because they seem obvious. Science means reason, theory, observation and proof - not fatal obvious assumptions.

The peace formulae

Everyone is anxious for peace on earth. For this purpose the United Nations has been set up. Political leaders negotiate and sign peace treaties, and different peace groups meet and carry different slogans for peace. Man has been signing peace treaties for ages but history proves that wars are waged despite all these signed peace treaties. Mankind has tried all these things but to no avail. No amount of peace slogans, marches or treaties will bring peace unless we get to the root cause of the problem of war, calamity and suffering.

For the root cause we should understand clearly the subtle law of karma which is that we perform karma (deeds) in three ways viz. by thoughts, speech and action. Karma is like a seed that we sow. In due course of time karma fructifies and bears us two types of fruit - sorrow or happiness. Good karma brings us happiness and evil karma brings us sorrow. There is reason and therefore justice in the universe. This world is one of cause and effect. Nothing happens by chance or accident for that would negate reason. We say that something happened by chance or accident because we can offer no explanation. We can only see a part of the picture of events. We don't have access to the complete picture because we are limited and we may not understand that beyond the gross cause and effect which we may see, there lies the subtle unseen cause and effect of karma. We can not see or remember our past lives and what actions we performed then, whose effects we are reaping now in this life. Karma is individual. Everyone is responsible for his own karma.

So if we want peace we have to reform our individual karma i.e. our desires, thoughts, speech and actions. We cannot attain peace by signing treaties or raising slogans or peace marches. For peace, we have to address the root cause of all suffering and wars, and the root cause is our sinful karma which is due to the impurities such as lust, anger, greed and ignorance that lie within our hearts and impel us to sinful actions. If we think that by signing treaties we will obtain peace and that there is no need to reform ourselves and give up our sinful ways, then we are only fooling ourselves. No one can hide anywhere from the fruits of his karma. God will dispense his justice as he deems fit. God is all perfect, almighty and omniscient. He rewards the good child and punishes the evil doers.

The four main sinful activities are:

1. To eat non-vegetarian foods such as meat, fish and eggs etc.

2. illicit sex

3. intoxication

4. gambling

1. "Animals are my friends and I don't eat my friends." – G.B.Shaw.

Eating meat and fish etc. entails killing of animals, fish and aquatics, which is reprehensible in the eyes of God. All life belongs to God. Understanding the unity of all life in its diversity, we should desist from killing animals and minimise violence by eating only vegetarian foods like vegetables, fruits, nuts, grain and milk etc. which are meant as food for man and can first be offered to God. If we slaughter animals then we will also be slaughtered in a like manner in this life or our future lives as a result of our sin. One may ask where the proof of this is. The proof is there for those who have the eyes of intelligence to see. Just visit a slaughter house. The animals being slaughtered there are those people who in their previous life as human beings killed or ate animals. Now they have taken birth as animals and are being subjected to the same treatment that they had in their past life meted out to other creatures. That is the infallible inescapable justice of God. In accordance with the law of karma, from the effect one can deduce its cause; and from the cause (deed or karma) one can surmise what its effect will be. All creatures belong to God. God has given them life and we have no right to kill them. Our violence upon animals begets violence upon us and thus we unleash wars upon each other due to sinful karmic reaction. The meat industry is responsible for 20% of global warming contributed by methane gas on earth and killing of animals is mainly responsible for wars which are unleashed because of the sinful reaction of our violence upon animals. Sin is the cause of war and calamity. All calamities such as disease, war and natural disaster are under God's absolute control and even an atom or a particle moves only according to His will.

In a civilised society the cow is worshipped like a mother who gives us milk, but savages slit her throat and eat her up. This is modern civilisation! Killing of cows is a most heinous sin. Those who kill the cow or eat her meat do not know what awaits them in hell! It does not need any scripture to understand that if I am killed I feel pain. So why should I kill others be they human or animals? That is just common sense. As G.B.Shaw, the British playwright, remarked," We gorge ourselves upon the flesh of the dead all week, and on Sunday pray for peace!" With the poor animals' blood upon our hands and their meat in our mouth we say our thanks giving and pray to God for peace and blessings! If we want the mercy of God then we should be merciful to all his creatures. Whether I kill the animal myself or pay the butcher to kill for me, I am responsible for the killing as also is the butcher, the salesman and the cook.

The great saint Kabeer writes: "Know the one who eats meat to be the devil incarnate." The merciless meat eaters are contributing substantially to destroying this planet through global warming due to methane produced by the animals, pollution and waste of water used to cleanse the blood and excreta of animals, and misuse of land which if put to use for agriculture could feed millions of hungry people. They are also responsible for wars and violence on earth because the violence they commit upon animals unleashes these wars upon humanity as karmic reaction. Violence begets violence and perpetuates violence.

2. God has put pleasure in the act of sex for the purpose of procreation. Pleasure is a most precious commodity. If we want the pleasure we must pay the price and not stop procreation by any means such as contraception or abortion etc. By contraception we deny the soul, which is there in each sperm, the right to get a human body; and by abortion we are killing the human body in its early stages of infancy. Religious sex is for procreation and taking responsibility for the upbringing of children. Otherwise it is illicit. Contraception and abortion are both sinful. Celibacy is the religious way for family planning.

3. Intoxication (such as drinking and smoking etc.) pollutes the air, damages health, causes loss of mental control with harmful consequences, and is detrimental to spiritual progress.

4. And gambling fosters greed and crime.

There is a crisis of consciousness today. The external world is a reflection of our internal consciousness. We project in the world outside what is within our hearts. Because our hearts are polluted with lust and greed, the same is visible in the form of air, water, noise and environmental pollution and destruction outside, and in the race for arms and ammunition for dominating the resources of the world. God has given man developed intelligence for the purpose of living a life for the cultivation of his spiritual consciousness, and not for the purpose of material aggrandisement without consideration of its consequences. As M.K.Gandhi said, "There is enough for man's needs but not enough for his greed." Unless the greed in man's heart is checked the planet earth is doomed. Five thousand years ago there was one Kaliya serpent poisoning river Yamuna who Bhagwan Krishna banished, but now there are innumerable serpents with the poison of greed in their hearts who are spewing poison into the air, water, rivers, oceans and earth. By our lust and greed and disregard for life of all species we have polluted and ruined earth through exploitation of its resources. It is due to lust and greed that men fight over the control of various resources. If we want peace and happiness then we should cultivate our spiritual consciousness and function within the framework of God's laws and act in harmony and obedience to his will. We are only fooling ourselves if we want peace and happiness by defying God. By our sinful activities of eating meat by killing animals, illicit sex using contraception, and abortion, we are incurring God's displeasure. What is the use of our modern civilisation that defeats the purpose of God's creation? God has created us for spiritual progress and not for creating the ghastly bloody scene of slaughter houses for killing animals, contraception and abortion clinics, liquor houses and gambling casinos. Such a sinful civilisation is condemned. If we want peace then we must shut down the abortion clinics and the animal slaughter houses. The slaughter of cows and babies by abortion must be stopped. The enormous sinful karmic reaction of these sins cannot be imagined. The bitter fruit of these sins is now ripe and is about to be unleashed upon mankind. The nuclear missiles and bombs are all targeted like swords hanging upon our heads.

Global warming, depletion of the ozone layer and destruction of our environment in the form of air, water, noise and environmental pollution and destruction is all too visible. Earthquakes, floods, droughts and famines are occurring all too often. There is a need for individual reformation by dispelling ignorance through the dissemination of moral and spiritual knowledge in the society at large. It is incumbent upon everyone to reform oneself. Man has built an enormous arsenal of weapons and is on the brink of war. The proliferation of nuclear weapons and missiles does not augur well for peace. All other means of peace have failed. The only way to avert war and all other calamities is through the individual reformation of our mentality by chanting the holy name of God. Only God can save us now, for mankind is on a disaster course. So we should take shelter of God by chanting his holy name, and give up our sinful ways today for tomorrow may be too late. Ravana, the demon king of Lanka and the arch enemy of Lord Raam in the epic Ramayan, while dying having been shot by Lord Raam, imparted this wisdom to Lakshman, the younger brother of Lord Raam. His parting words of wisdom to Lakshman were:

"kal kare so aaj kar ; aaj kare so ub.

pal main parlay ayegee ; phir kare ga kab".

It means:

"What you want to do tomorrow, do it today;

And what you want to do today, do it now.

In a moment, devastation may come;

When will you do it then?"

All war and calamity is a result of sin. The trigger of war or nuclear bombs is not in the hand of man but in the hand of God. God has absolute control over everything including war, disease and natural disasters. God is merciful and there would be no need to punish a child who is willing to reform. We should not force the hand of the all merciful Lord. The need to punish arises only because modern man is incorrigible. There is a saying in Hindi:"laton kay bhoot baton say nahin maantay." which means that words cannot convince those who listen only to kicks. This aptly describes modern man whose ignorance of life's values is only matched by his arrogance.

In conclusion, the peace formulae is simply this: We should chant the holy name of God and give up the four pillars of sinful activity namely eating meat, indulging in illicit sex, intoxication and gambling. Wars and all suffering is a direct consequence of sinful activity. We can only see the gross cause (such as the political reasons and who ordered the bombing) which in actuality is only the effect of karma. The unseen subtle cause of all suffering is the sinful reactions of karma. This subtle cause is the actual cause. The gross effect (such as war and suffering) cannot be changed without changing the subtle cause (sinful karma). We need to reform our mentality by sincerely repenting and giving up our sinful ways. Our hearts will be purified of lust and greed by hearing the glories and pastimes of God. Our environment is our common valued asset and its preservation is our joint responsibility. The root cause of pollution is greed and if we want a clean external environment then we have to cleanse our hearts of greed. Instead of opening industries meant for exploiting and polluting earth to satisfy greed, we should adopt a simple agricultural way of life for peaceful living and sustainable economy. Nation, race, religion and species etc. are all merely temporary bodily designations. Man is limited and mentalities varied. So our conception, knowledge and understanding of God and life may differ but live and let live is essential for peace. Actually everyone is a living soul of the same quality and all of us belong to the one family of one God. That is universal brotherhood. Understanding the unity of all life in all its diversity, irrespective of all external bodily designations, we can learn to live in co-operation and peace, with God as the centre of our lives. Because everyone in this world has his separate interest therefore there is strife and quarrel as everyone competes for his interest. With God as the common centre of interest for everyone there is mutual co-operation, harmony and peace. This precious human life is meant for developing our humility, love and spiritual consciousness and not for a rat race.

The holy name of God is omnipotent. The individual chanting as well as congregational singing and hearing of the holy name, form, qualities and pastimes of God destroys all sin and will usher in the era of peace and happiness that we long for.

8. Love is the ultimate reality

Love is divine

Love is the highest value. From our experience we can surmise that the feeling of love is the most pleasing and gives us pleasure and ecstasy. The feeling of love is cherished by all and the exchange of feelings of love is remembered fondly within our hearts. Love nourishes us and really love is our life. Without love life is meaningless. Indeed the meaning of life is love.

Love is the ultimate feeling and feelings pertain to a person. In the transcendental realm there is no distinction between the object and its qualities. In the absolute world the feelings are personified and love personified is the supreme person, God.

Love is divine and Divinity is love personified. Love is the ultimate reality and God is the deity of love. God, the personality of love is the embodiment of love, the most valued and cherished feeling and he is the meaning of our life. We are seeking eternal true love. That true love of ours is the personality of love, God. He is our heart's real desire. Indeed he is within our hearts though we cannot perceive him now because of our material mentality.

Our material eyes are capable of seeing matter only. But if we develop our love for God we will be able to see Him with our eyes of love. Those devotees, who love God, see Him always within their hearts. God, the ultimate reality can be seen only by love.

So if we develop our love for Him then our hearts will dance in love and ecstasy to his tune in an eternal love affair which can never be broken. In marriage people vow till death do us part. But death has no jurisdiction over true love. True love is indestructible and as a by product of our love for God we are propelled into eternity and established in Reality where everyone is existing eternally and there is no influence of matter, time, death or decay.

The reality is absolute and so love and the deity of love, God, are non different. God is pure unblemished and without any material fault. His body is eternal, omniscient and full of bliss. He remains eternally in the full bloom of youth. His body is not like our material body which is subject to decay destruction or ignorance. Everyone wishes to love someone attractive with all good qualities. God is imbued with innumerable, inconceivable transcendental qualities. He is the ultimate in strength, wisdom, fame, opulence, renunciation and beauty.

The meaning of our life is to love God. He is our heart and soul. People are searching for love but they do not know that our true love is God who is residing with us within our hearts and can be embraced within our heart by pure love. God is manifest in the heart of his devotee and the devotee resides in the heart of God because of their mutual love.

He is the original source of all our pleasures. Our hearts are always hankering for an ocean of pleasure. So if we turn to him, our desire for pleasure will be satiated. How will a drop of fleeting pleasure of the senses satisfy us? This vain attempt at deriving sensual pleasure has to be abandoned if we wish to achieve real pleasure.

God is without any material qualities (nirguna) i.e. he is uncontaminated by any material quality. But he is full of spiritual qualities (saguna). He does not have a material form (nirakar). But he is the most beautiful with a spiritual form (saakar). The Upanishads establish that he is untainted by material qualities but beyond this understanding it is established in the Bhagvad Gita, the Srimad Bhagvat Mahapuran and Brahma Samhita that he is the reservoir of all spiritual qualities such as beauty and pleasure. The exquisite beauty of his face and every feature and limb is described in detail. He has a body which is in the full bloom of youth eternally and never grows old. His eyes are like lotus petals. His nose is raised and his lips are reddish. He wears a peacock feather in his black hair and his complexion is a lustrous spiritual blue colour resembling that of dark clouds. Therefore he is known as Shyamsunder meaning beautiful with a dark complexion. He wears an amber yellow dress and his broad chest is very attractive. He has many names according to his qualities, pastimes and relations. He is known as Krishna which means the all attractive person. He plays a flute and the magic music of his flute captures the hearts of all by love. He is also known as Raam the reservoir of all pleasure. He is the reservoir, origin and source of all pleasure and bliss. In a verse in Brahma-Samhita, the beauty of Krishna, who is also known as Govind, is eulogised as follows:

" I worship Govind, the primeval Lord, who is adept in playing His flute, with blooming eyes like lotus petals, with head bedecked with peacock's feather, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of Cupids."

People generally think of God as an opulent being but beyond opulence lie His charms which attract the hearts of his devotee with love. Krishna is the most charming person. Krishna's unparalleled beauty, his enchanting smile, his sonorous speech, his magnanimous character and love charm all. His cowherd girl friends, the gopis, are mesmerised by his charming beauty and forever yearn to see him without even blinking their eyes. His beauty is the topmost sweetness. The gopis are so smitten with Krishna's charms that they have lost their hearts to him and can think of nothing else. Therefore he is known as Gopinath - the lord of the gopis. When Krishna visited Mathura, the women of Mathura were enraptured on seeing his beauty and swooned when they saw his enchanting smile. He is completely relaxed and bereft of any anxiety. Everything is under his absolute control and his energies automatically execute his desires. He himself is always engaged in loving pastimes with his beloved devotees. He is dominant everywhere. Indeed love is dominant everywhere - both in the spiritual and material worlds.

All of God's creation is created for the manifestation, demonstration and interplay of love only. God's creation is for his loving pastimes only. Though God, Krishna is atmaram i.e. he is fully satisfied and blissful in himself yet to enjoy bliss he has manifested his pastimes of love by expanding himself by his potencies of which the living beings are a part. God expands himself by his potencies so as to enjoy by sharing love. God is unlimited and he has unlimited expansions and relationships with an infinite number of living beings. His enjoyment is enhanced by sharing with us rather than by being alone. Love is not by oneself alone but is given expression between the lover and beloved.

The ultimate reality is divine love personified. As love charms all, so love is the absolute charmer known as Krishna. In Love or Krishna two functions are vividly seen - one who attracts and the other who is attracted. The attracted one is inseparable from the one who attracts at all times and in all circumstances. The attracted one is forever considered part and parcel of the omnipotent Lord who attracts. Thus Love may be deduced as Love-dominating and Love-dominated. One is the enjoyer and the other is the enjoyed aspect of Love respectively. The love dominating is the omnipotent lord Krishna and love dominated is His complete potency known as Radha. The function of the potency is to render service to the omnipotent lord so as to give Him pleasure by His pastimes of love. We may conclude that Krishna always lives along with His undivided Love dominated potency Radha, the exclusive servitor of the Lord. So the ultimate reality is shaped as the conjugal form 'Radha-lingit vigraha' meaning Radha is always embraced by Krishna in His eternal pastimes.

In the spiritual world everyone loves God, and is in harmony with his will; so love is manifest there in its purity. Love implies free will. Love is not by imposition. The material world is for those who have misused their free will and turned away from God and have thus, of their own accord, chosen to forget reality, and this is made possible by the covering of matter which acts as a curtain between us, the rebellious souls, and God thus allowing us to forget Reality. It is our choice whether we wish to come under the spell of His internal pleasure potency Radha by serving God, or whether we wish to remain under the spell of His external (material) potency Durga by rebelling against God. God reserves the right not to be exposed to anyone except by his own sweet will. Being merciful upon his devotees, He reveals himself to them because of their love for Him. A verse translated from the Brahma-Samhita sung by Brahma reads as follows:

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Shyamsunder, Krishna Himself with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love."

God's potencies are meant to serve him and enhance his pleasure. We are meant to love him and our service to him is an expression of our love for him. If we serve Krishna, in co-operation with His potency Radha, then we can also enjoy the bliss of love. Service to God is even sweeter than direct union with him. The direct scriptural evidence is that of Lakshmi devi who though she resides on the chest of Lord Narayan desires to serve his lotus feet. By serving the omnipotent God the potency nourishes God's pastimes and enhances his pleasure. Naturally the potency also derives great pleasure by pleasing the Lord.

In Chaitanya Charitamrta, it is described that ecstatic love of Krishna makes Krishna and his devotees dance and also dances personally. In this way the trinity - Krishna, the devotee of Krishna, and Love personified - all three dance together in the ecstasy of love.

The relationships in reality

The relationships of this world serve as an introduction to the concept of relationship and give us an idea of the relationships that exist in reality. The relationships of this world should not be taken as the reality in themselves since all relationships of this world are transitory only and are destroyed by the passage of time. They are but a pale shadow of reality but nevertheless they give us an idea of what relationship means. In Reality the relationships can be experienced eternally in their true form with the full intensity of feeling which is not subject to decay, but in the material world the relationships are reflected in a perverted manner as a pale shadow of reality on the plane of matter which is nothing but the mirror of lusty desires to enjoy the senses. In Reality, the relationships are eternal and love is ever fresh and intense. One who grasps at the transitory thinking it to be Real, instead of aiming for the Reality, misses the Real. One should let go of the transitory and seek the eternal.

From our relationships here we have some experience of love. We have an idea of what love of a mother or beloved is. So God's love is all encompassing and overwhelming and is millions of times more than that of any beloved or mother and father. In our scriptures God is described as everyone's mother, father, relative and best friend. In the concept where we consider God as the supreme father, we are asking for so many things from him but beyond this concept is the relationship where the devotee wishes to serve God with love and give to him. Of course God does not need anything from us since he is complete in himself but out of his loving nature he is pleased to accept our offering made with love. Without love he cannot be induced to accept anything.

In the spiritual world these relationships with God are manifest in different ways according to the different propensities and desires of the living beings. Though all relationships of love of God are absolute and pure yet one can analyse the progressive elevation in these relationships which may be broadly categorised as: peaceful shanta), servitorship (dasya), friendship (sakha), parental (vatsalya) and conjugal love (madhurya). The living beings are completely happy in their particular relationship of love with God.

The stage of loving God in awe and admiration is known as peaceful (shanta) stage in which the devotee of God is waiting with love to serve God. The devotee awaits an opportunity to serve God according to the desire of God. The devotee is fully conscious of God and God's position.

In the next stage called servitorship (dasya) the devotee has initiative added in rendering loving service to God. He takes initiative in serving the lord in harmony with God's desires without always waiting to receive God's command, yet he is fully conscious of God's position as his master.

In the friendship (sakha) stage the devotee considers the lord his beloved friend and intimacy is more developed as between friends. This is a very exalted relationship of love where the idea of God as master is absent. By the lord's Yoga Maya potency he forgets that the lord is God. The yoga Maya potency aids the loving relationship in that the devotee treats God as a friend and not as the high and almighty. This is evident in Lord Krishna's pastimes with his cowherd friends. They love Krishna and play with him and sometimes jump on his shoulders and ride on him during play. Sometimes they defeat God while playing some competitive game with him and Krishna then has to carry the winner on his back to reward him. Their love is centred totally on Krishna and they offer him every thing and share their meals with him.

The devotees situated in the parenthood (vatsalya) stage of relationship with God love him as a father or mother love their child. For them God presents himself as a child and the mother and father devotees dote on him. This is fully evident in Lord Krishna's pastimes with his mother Yashoda and father Nanda Maharaja. Krishna is their baby, and baby Krishna sucks his mother' breast milk while lying in her lap. This is a very intimate and exalted relationship between God and his devotee. The devotee considers God to be his or her child and by the influence of the yoga maya potency of God forgets that he has God for his child. This is essential for a full interplay of the parent-child relationship.

The spiritual world is not a dull place but rather it is a world full of love, life and activity. If even in our dull world of matter where life is practically buried alive within material bodies one sees so much activity then one can only imagine the display of life and activity in the spiritual world which is unhindered by matter and beyond the influence of time. The spiritual world is the world of life which is lit by the effulgence emanating from God's body. In the kingdom of God all speech is song and all walking is dancing. The soul is dimensionally the size of one ten thousandth the size of the tip of a hair but he expands into a spiritual body which is identical with his self, unlike in the material world where the self is different from the body in which he is imprisoned. This spiritual body facilitates the soul's rendering of loving service to God.

The ultimate relationship of the devotee with God is in conjugal love (madhurya) stage. There is progressive increase of intimacy and disclosure of one's heart from the shanta, dasya, sakha to vatsalya relationships but the madhurya relationship is the ultimate in the sweetness of love where the intimacy and love is total and all heart is disclosed to one's beloved. The madhurya relationship is all inclusive of the complete mellows of love. In this relationship the devotee is the beloved girl friend of God. The pastimes of Lord Krishna describe these loving affairs of his with his gopis (his village maid lovers). The gopis are so smitten with Krishna's charms and beauty that they cannot think of anything else. They are forever singing his praises and Krishna is always indulging in amorous affairs with them. The crown jewel of these gopis is Radharani whose heart is the ultimate in the experience of loving Krishna. Krishna is the omnipotent lord and Radharani is Krishna's complete pleasure potency. In the participation of loving affairs, the living beings and God both experience bliss. Though Krishna is the only dominator and his potencies are all subordinate to him yet in loving exchanges this distinction is obliterated.

There is variety in the spiritual world and even though objectively one can see different grades of relationships and mellows of love existing yet every person is fully blissful in his particular loving relationship with Krishna. The gopis, the topmost devotees of God, describe the following scene from Vrindavan which is really the Kingdom of God descended with him on earth. Vrindavan is in India near Mathura about one hundred kilometres south of New Delhi. Vrindavan is spiritual and is revealed only by the mercy of God to his devotees. It cannot be seen with material vision.

Krishna, the lord of the gopis has gone to the grazing pastures with his friends and the cows. There he plays his magic flute. On hearing the music of the flute the hearts of the gopis are overwhelmed with love remembering their beloved Krishna. They begin to speak describing Krishna's beauty, qualities and pastimes but their voice is choked up with emotion and they are drawn irresistibly to Krishna. After embracing him within their hearts they speak thus,

"How wonderful is Krishna's beauty. Our hearts wish to go on seeing Krishna always, for to see Krishna's beauty is the ultimate sweetness of love. To see him is the perfection of the eyes and our hearts are completely enchanted by his beauty. His charming and matchless beauty is ever fresh and indescribable."

"Look at these fortunate doe who run to Krishna on hearing his flute. They are smelling him, licking him, looking at his beauty and offering their very life to him. They are fortunate that unlike husbands their husbands, the deer, do not obstruct their way to Krishna. Charmed by Krishna the deer have also come to see Krishna."

"Blessed is the flute of Krishna, who is being kissed by Krishna's very own lips and is drinking the nectar from Krishna's reddish lips. We always yearn for this nectar which is meant for us. This flute is so fortunate that he is drinking it in abundance and may not leave any for us."

Who can imagine the ecstasy of being kissed by the supreme Lord Krishna, the deity of love, himself! The gopis continue speaking,

"The rivers are so moved and by their waves are offering flower garlands to Krishna. The birds have become still and are looking intently at Krishna with deep love. These birds are really great sages and devotees. On hearing the flute the cows raise their ears and stop munching grass. Remembering Krishna they are shedding tears of love, out of motherly love, for Krishna drinks their milk."

There is the story when Krishna expanded himself into many calves and the cows were licking him while he sucked their milk. Even God treats the cows affectionately and regards her as mother and therefore in civilised societies the cow is regarded as a mother who gives us milk, unlike the modern society where they eat mother cow's flesh.

"These calves have stopped drinking the milk on hearing Krishna's flute. They are remembering their friend Krishna and tears of love are falling from their eyes."

"The wives of the demigods in their flying machines on hearing Krishna's flute forget themselves and their dresses loosen and when they see Krishna' unsurpassable beauty they swoon."

"The tribal women smear the dust from Krishna's lotus feet on themselves and thus feel satisfaction."

"These peacocks are dancing around Krishna moved by the ecstasy of love." Thus the gopis describe the super excellent love of the residents of Vrindavan for Krishna. When Krishna had gone away from Vrindavan the gopis used to call daily on his parents Yashoda ma and Nand Maharaja.

In the land of Vrindavan, the abode of God, no one desires sensual gratification. They are so immersed in love of Krishna that they only want to please their beloved Krishna and are blissful in serving and praising Him, for Krishna is their very life. All the cows, calves, the flute, birds, peacocks, gopis, are all spiritual beings of Vrindavan.

The Srimad Bhagvat Mahapurana describes the pastimes of Krishna in detail. Krishna is unlimited and has unlimited expansions and a relationship with every living being. He is present in everyone's heart. Yet he remains one undivided person even though present everywhere. When he danced with his beloved gopis he expanded himself so that he was dancing with each gopi simultaneously. Similarly when he married 16108 wives and lived in Dvarka, he was living with each wife simultaneously in each palace by his expansions. Krishna has many names, according to his qualities, pastimes and relations, such as:

Gopinath - the lord of the gopis;

Govinda—the pleasure of the senses;

Gopal—the protector of the cows;

Keshav—the slayer of the Keshi horse shaped demon;

Yashoda nandan- the darling son of Yashoda ma;

Govardhan Giridhari—the lifter of the Govardhan hill;

Shyamsunder—the beautiful youth with a lustrous complexion resembling that of dark clouds;

Krishna's qualities, pastimes and names are described in detail in Srimad Bhagvat Mahapuran.

Love vs. lust

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the apostle of love, taught that "The desire to enjoy one's senses is lust. And the desire to please God's senses is love."

The pure desire of the living being is love for God. The living being has no other desire than to please God. He only desires to please God out of his love. But when the living being is gripped by a material mind he forgets his real desire and comes under the dictation of the mind. He mistakenly thinks that the desires arising in the mind are his own, although he has nothing to do with these desires. The mind though it is inert subtle matter becomes active because of its contact with the living soul, just as iron becomes hot like fire when placed in contact with fire. The mental desire to enjoy one's senses is called lust.

The basis of lust is love only. Without love, lust can have no existence. Lust is the perverted reflection of love through the material mind and senses. Lust is the perverted desire to enjoy one's senses. But the basis of perverted desire is pure desire only. Just as coloured water exists on the basis of pure water only, similarly contaminated or lusty consciousness is only pure consciousness coloured by the desire to enjoy the senses.

Love means love of God. Love is adorable and exalted but lust is dangerous and leads to the degradation of the soul. Unfortunately the lusty affairs of this world between man and woman are projected in stories, novels and movies as love. These are but lust only. Lust burns like fire and a person afflicted with lusty desires can have no peace. And without peace how can there be any happiness? Under the influence of the senses and mind, a person becomes lusty. Lust leads to anger, jealousy, quarrel and lamentation. While contemplating the objects of the senses one develops attachment for them and from this attachment comes lust - the desire to enjoy the sense objects. One should beware of this most formidable enemy lust, for lust ruins one's self. The mind, intelligence and the senses are the sitting places of this lust.

Individually one may try to love a person, a family, a society or a nation but we are limited and we can not love everyone individually and our love cannot extend universally. Sometimes people ask why we should love God. Why not exclude God and love each other only? The answer is that He is the central root of all life and the supreme whole. God is the deity of love. All living beings are but part of His potency only and the potency is meant for loving the omnipotent. God is the centre of all relationships. The leaves of a tree when connected to the tree are automatically related to each other but become dissociated from each other if they fall off the tree. By watering the root of a tree all the leaves and branches of the tree receive the benefit. By placing our love in the root, the source of everyone, God, we become full in loving, our love becomes universal and our consciousness becomes fully developed.

Actions meant for the satisfaction of one's senses are based on lust whereas actions meant for the satisfaction of the supreme whole are based on love. Social service, welfare activities and pious deeds will expand one's love and purify one since these tend towards satisfaction of the supreme whole yet these do not compare to love of God. How to cultivate love of God through the process of Bhakti-yoga beginning with chanting, hearing and remembrance of God's holy name and pastimes is discussed in the chapter titled Meditation by spiritual sound.

Lord Chaitanya appeared in India five hundred years ago to relish and distribute the sweet mellows of love of God. Lord Chaitanya is God, Krishna, Himself who, assuming the sentiments of Radharani, appeared in the role of His own devotee to teach us by His personal example how to cultivate love of God. He has taught the standard of pure desire i.e. love of God in His prayers as follows:

" Dhan jan nahi mangu, na kavita sundari ;

shudh bhakti deho moray, Krishna kripa kori ;

Prem dhan bina, vyartha daridra jeevan ;

das kori vetan moray, deho prem dhan. "

"I do not desire wealth, fame or beautiful women. Please be merciful unto me, O Krishna, and engage me in your loving service. Without the treasure of love of God, my life is poor and useless. O lord, please accept me as your servant and as salary bestow upon me love for you."

As salary He prayed for love of God and not for money, fame, women or daily bread. We feed our bodies bread daily but the soul is starved for love. Lord Chaitanya further prayed that he did not even desire liberation from the cycle of birth and death. All he wants is to render loving service to Krishna birth after birth.

Lord Chaitanya spread love of God all over India by the congregational chanting ( keertan ) of the holy name, and as predicted by Him, the gospel of the holy name Krishna has now been preached all over the world. Lord Chaitanya had predicted five hundred years ago that the chanting of the holy name Krishna will be preached in every town and village on earth.

May the merciful Lord Krishna release me from the knot of lusty desires that torment the heart, and grant me pure love. Krishna is the adorable deity of love and I, a worshipper of love.

I adore Krishna whose inconceivable charms and unparalleled beauty has smitten the hearts of the gopis. May the lord of my heart let me love Him in complete abandon without reservations for now and evermore!

Personal and impersonal philosophy:

- comparison and synthesis

The Brahma Samhita starts with the verse:

" Ishvarah param Krishna, sacchidanand vigraha ;

anadir adir Govinda, sarva karana karanam ;

Govindam adih purusham tamaham bhajami."

The translation of the above sanskrit verse reads as:

"The supreme controller is Krishna. He has an omniscient eternal and blissful form. Govinda ( Krishna ) has no cause to Him. He is the cause of all causes. I worship Govinda who is the original person."

It is stated in the above verse that God has a form. He is not formless. His form is blissful, eternal and omniscient. His form is completely spiritual and not subject to decay or destruction unlike our forms which are temporary and are subject to misery and decay. In the material conception, the self though within the body is different from the body. But God is identical with his form. There is no difference between God and his body.

The personal philosophy is that God is the original supreme person and he is the cause of everything including all of us who are also persons. Since we are persons, therefore our cause must also have personality. Unless the cause i.e. God has personality, how can personality be manifest in us?

But the impersonal philosophy, also known as the Mayavad philosophy, denies the personality of God. It adheres to the view that God is not a person; that God is without form, without qualities and without personality.

Therefore the synthesis of these differing view points is that though the scriptures say that God is without a material form ( niraakar ) yet they also say that He has a spiritual form ( saakar ) which is blissful, omniscient and eternal. The scriptures only deny that God has a material form but they all along say that He has a spiritual form. Similarly the scriptural reference to God as being without qualities ( nirguna ) refers to material qualities only. God is untainted by the three modes of material nature namely goodness, passion and ignorance. The scriptures simultaneously say that God is full of spiritual qualities ( saguna ). It should therefore be understood that the scriptural denial of form, qualities or personality of God refers to material attributes only; they are not a denial of his spiritual attributes. The scriptures all along sing the praises of God's form, beauty, qualities and personality as spiritual attributes of His which are not tinged or tainted by material aspects.

The impersonalists say that God is not a person. However only persons are living since life implies personality. Therefore their belief that God is not a person really implies that God is not a living person i.e. that God is dead. The impersonalists further say that though God is without form, qualities or personality yet he assumes these out of His will to appear before us when He comes to the material world. If God is without qualities then where does the quality of His will arise from? Further if God is without any quality then where does the quality to appear with qualities come from? Therefore the statement that God is without any qualities is full of contradictions and therefore irrational. Lord Chaitanya has explained that although God is not infected with any material quality yet He is imbued with innumerable spiritual qualities. This is what is meant by without quality ( nirguna ), yet simultaneously with qualities ( saguna ).

The impersonalist denies that God is a person and says that God is only a power and assumes a personality when He appears. But power or potency implies the potent since power or potency is only an attribute of the potent. Power implies the owner of power - the powerful. It is not that some power assumes a personality since personality is of a higher order than power. Potency is always subordinate to the potent. Further God does not assume personality. God is the reality and the eternal truth. He is not some assumed feature. God is omnipotent and is the owner of all potencies. He does not take His origin from some power or potency; rather all potencies have their origin in Him. The Bhagvad Gita is standard revealed scripture which is accepted universally. In the Bhagvad Gita, Krishna says that He is the Absolute Truth and everything rests on Him as pearls are strung on a thread. And Arjun acknowledges Krishna as the original Supreme God, the ultimate, the supreme abode, the Absolute truth and the eternal divine person. But the impersonalists, though they quote Bhagvad Gita to corroborate their statements, deny His personality and say that Krishna comes from some higher power despite Krishna's assertion that there is no higher truth than Him.

The impersonalist wants to become one with God and merge into His existence. Shankaracharya preached this impersonal philosophy of absolute monism which says that the living being is the same as God. When impersonalists meet they address each other as Narayan meaning God. Their belief is that everyone is God but has temporarily come under the influence of matter and is suffering birth and death. God is omnipotent. Everything including matter and death is under God's absolute control, so their belief that God has come under the jurisdiction of death is irrational. God is infallible. He never falls down (achyutam). Their slogan is: "jiva is shiva" meaning that the soul is God. The impersonalist says that the soul has forgotten that the soul is God. This is an irrational idea. How can God forget anything? God is omniscient. To believe that we are God is the limit of false pride. In comparison with God, the soul is insignificant and the theory that the soul is God or will become God is laughable. If I say that I am God, people will call it lunacy. Yet the world is falling prey to the bane of impersonalism because of the word jugglery used in propounding such philosophy. Because God also resides in everyone, the impersonalist says that everyone is therefore God. This is most misleading. It is true that God resides in the heart of all living beings but this should not be misinterpreted to mean that the living beings are therefore God.

It is explained in the scriptures that God and the living being, the soul, are situated in the heart as two persons. They are compared to two birds residing in the same tree called the body. One is the jeev-atma (the soul), and the other is the param-atma (the supreme soul). We, the jeev-atmas, are eternally the servitors of the param-atma, God. The embodied jeev-atma is suffering or enjoying the fruits of this tree according to his past karma but the param-atma is transcendental to material existence. The param-atma is simply directing the jeev-atma according to the jeev-atma's karma and desires. When the jeev-atma renounces his desire to enjoy the fruits of this tree (the material body) through sensual pursuits, and instead takes shelter of the param-atma, then the jeev-atma can also become transcendental to material existence and become happy.

Since the living being has his origin in God, it is true that he partakes of some but not all of God's qualities in a minute way but the living being is minute and God is infinite. Therefore though the soul has some of God's qualities in a minute way, yet the soul can never be accepted to be the same as God in extent. Lord Chaitanya has clearly stated that the living being is eternally the servant of God. However the impersonalist wants to merge in God and thereby lose his own individuality. Basically the impersonalist wants to become God by his attempt to merge in God. But no one can become God. God is God eternally and there is no question of anyone becoming God by any means. It is not a matter of promotion to a higher post! The statement that the living being becomes one with God is an absurd statement because two persons cannot merge and become one person. Let us assume that Mr. Patel and Mr. Gupta merge and become one. Then who will survive this merger of persons. Will the resultant person of this merger be Patel or Gupta? Will Patel remain or will Gupta remain or will both of them be annihilated and a new person emerge from this merger? What will be the identity of this resultant person? Sometimes the impersonalists give the example of a river merging into another river to become one river. But, unlike rivers, persons cannot be merged together to form one person. Or the impersonalists give the example of a drop of water comparing it to a soul, and the ocean comparing it to God, and say that the drop of water merges into the ocean to become the ocean. (Though even this example is erroneous since the ocean already exists and though the drop becomes part of the ocean it is not that the drop becomes the ocean). But examples do not prove a theory. The purpose of an example is to illustrate a theory; examples do not constitute proof. Besides water is inanimate where as persons are living. If I merge into God and become one with Him, then what will happen to me? Will I remain or will God remain after this merger. The whole idea of merging into God is based on fallacious examples of merger of inanimate objects. Persons are not inanimate objects and can never be merged. Persons are eternal, irreducible and cannot be added, subtracted or merged together like inanimate objects such as water or numbers of arithmetic. The merger is only of interest and not of identity. For example when a man and a woman unite in marriage their interests may merge but they retain their identity as two separate persons and do not become one person. The pure soul has only the interest of God at heart and no separate interest. This is the proper explanation of being one with God - unity in diversity. Each person is eternally a separate individual person. That is the meaning of the statement of the Bhagvad Gita that the soul is eternal. This fundamental teaching of the Gita would be contradicted if the individuality of a person could be obliterated. It is not that two persons join and become one person or that the jeev-atma (soul) joins with param-atma (God) and becomes param-atma (God). The impersonalists desire to merge into God. So God fulfils their desire by allowing them to merge into God's brilliant effulgence called the brahmjyoti which emanates from God and covers His personal feature. But the impersonalists do not enter into a loving relationship with God since they deny that God is a person. God reciprocates with a person according to the person's desire. Being devoid of love of God they cannot see God. For them, God is covered by his brilliant effulgence. Thus the impersonalist who is free of material desire can be situated in the brahmjyoti, the effulgence of God, and thus attain eternal life, but because he has not manifested his natural love for God and lacks the bliss experienced by love of God, he is prone to fall down. One who has not taken shelter of a loving relationship with God is liable to seek relationships elsewhere and fall down to this mortal world because no one can live without relationship for long.

Because the impersonalist associates the suffering of this material world with being a person he wants to deny or eliminate personality in the reality altogether. But personality cannot be eliminated since we are all eternal persons. If a person is diseased it is not required to eliminate him. It is the disease that needs to be eliminated and not the person himself. Similarly the material conception of personality needs to be cured and the real conception of spiritual personality established. We possess energy as a trait of our personality because each person has energy; it is not that we are simply energy to be merged in other energies as in the impersonalist conception.

Lord Chaitanya has established the philosophy of personalism which upholds the personality of God and also that of the souls. Each soul is a different person with unique personality traits just as each man is unique. Lord Chaitanya has taught the philosophy of "achintya bhed-abhed tattva" which means inconceivable difference and non-difference between God and His potencies. It means that the potencies of God are from God and with God and have no existence separately of God yet the potency is not God. The living beings may be counted among the potencies of God. The living beings partake of some but not all of God's qualities in a minute way and that is the aspect of non-difference; but simultaneously the aspect of difference is that the souls are minute and God is infinite. It is God only who has expanded Himself by His potencies everywhere. There is nothing existing independently of God. For example gold may be transformed into many ornaments yet the essential reality in all these ornaments is gold itself. Similarly God Himself is orienting Himself through His various potencies for His pastimes and ornamentation. The potency is always subordinate to God and the function of the potency is to serve and nourish God's pastimes of love. God has His direct expansions and He also expands Himself by His potencies. The direct expansions are His parts but these parts are not fragmented but remain integrated with God. Any part of gold is gold. Similarly any part of God is God and these are called the Deities of Vishnu. The origin of all Deities of Vishnu is known as Krishna. When God descends to this material world He is called Avatar. God is also present as the param-atma with the living being (jeev-atma) within their hearts. Though expanded unlimitedly, everywhere and within the hearts of all living beings yet the supreme spirit, God, remains undivided and is situated as one person, not many.

The divine potencies of God who maintains and sustains them are not even a meagre part of God. Even the complete pleasure potency Radha who sees Krishna only within her and outside of her and wherever she casts her glance, even she is not even a meagre part of the unlimited God. So many potencies or fragmental parts may emanate from God yet God is never diminished like the supreme infinity. From the supreme infinity so many infinities may be taken yet the supreme infinity remains the supreme infinity. Similarly so many emanations may come from the supreme person yet the supreme person remains undiminished as stated in the Ishopanishad:

"Om purnam adah purnam idam purnat purnamudachyate

purnasya purnam adaya purnam evavshishyate"

The idea that we, the eternal servants of God, are somehow mini-gods or might one day become God or be merged with God is called Mayavad or the impersonal philosophy. These false ideas are a hindrance to the cultivation of love of God. The jeev-atmas (souls) are the fragmented parts (vibhinn-ansh) of God but this should not be equated to mean an integrated part (svansh) of God. Any integrated part of God is God Himself manifesting His different pastimes. Though the jeev-atmas may be counted among the potencies of God, yet strictly speaking the jeev-atma is a separated fragmental part of God as stated in the Gita. The jeev-atma is an eternal fragmented part of God and his individuality is eternally assured and he can never be annihilated or merged into anyone including God.

The personal philosophy propounds that the souls live in a loving relationship with God in the ultimate reality. Loving relation means that both God and the soul exist with mutual love between them. Love implies the existence of two - the lover and beloved. The living beings do not merge into God's personality and lose their own individuality. If the living being merged and was annihilated or if the living being lost his own individuality then he would lose his enjoyment, happiness and love, since he will not exist. Who would be left to enjoy if the living being merged and was thus annihilated? There is no question of love if all is one only as in the impersonal conception. And what use is life without love? In fact the concept of merging of one's individuality is false. The living being retains his individuality and identity. Exchange of love or loving relation means that God and His devotee both exist and enjoy bliss in loving exchanges. Love implies that the lover and his beloved both exist with loving exchanges between them. The living beings are eternally the servitors of the supreme person, Krishna and are meant for His orientation and ornamentation only. This is the essence of Lord Chaitanya's philosophy of love.

We should be careful not to fall victim to the philosophy of monism as it is an impediment to love. Lord Chaitanya has warned that one who follows Shankaracharya's philosophy of monism will have his spiritual life doomed. ("Shankar bhasha shunile hoy sarva nash"). There is no possibility of love if one adheres to the impersonal i.e. Mayavad philosophy. Divine teachers come and teach according to the time, circumstances and the capacity of the people to understand. But the real purpose of their teaching is to raise people to love of God. Lord Buddha preached non-violence and for this purpose He denied the Vedas since people were killing animals by misinterpreting the Vedas. He taught negation of material desires and attachments but He did not teach the positive activity of cultivation of the pure desire of love of God. Desire cannot be extinguished because desire is our innate nature. Without desire, we would be like dead stone. Complete negation of material desires is possible only if one cultivates the pure desire of love of God. Lord Buddha did not teach about God or love of God. Later Shankaracharya appeared and, acting under the instruction of God to re-establish the authority of the Vedas, he preached the philosophy of monism and an impersonal God since the atheists were incapable of accepting the idea of a personal God. And once the authority of the scriptures was re-established among the masses again then Lord Chaitanya appeared and preached the ultimate truth of a personal God and love of God, thereby re-establishing the real import of the eternal teachings of the Bhagvad Gita and Srimad Bhagvat. Thus these divine personalities raised the people step by step to love of God.

9. Meditation

The mind - theory

The mind plays a vital role in shaping our destiny because we function with the help of our mind. The mind is made of subtle matter and though matter is inert yet the mind becomes active and acts as though it is living because of its contact with the living soul, just as iron becomes hot and acts like fire when in contact with fire. Our senses pick up information through our sense of hearing, sight, taste, touch and smell and relay this information to our brain. The mind conveys the information from the brain to the person (soul). The soul is seated in the heart of the body. The mind is the subtle material via link between the brain and the soul. The mind is also our instrument for thinking. All our thoughts originate in the mind. According to the quality of the mind the thoughts differ from person to person. Therefore the quality of mind is important because our functioning is influenced by the quality of our mind. One can easily observe that different people have different mental capacities, abilities and qualities.

The mind is functioning according to the influence of the three modes of nature viz. goodness, passion and ignorance that are manifest within the minds of everyone in combination in different proportions.

The mode of goodness is illuminating and clarity of mind, knowledge, happiness, virtue and good qualities develop in the mind because of it. One predominantly in the mode of goodness is peaceful and self-controlled.

The mode of passion is characterised by intense lusty desires and activity to enjoy one's senses and causes anxiety and struggle.

When the mode of ignorance is predominant in the mind, the person experiences lamentation and illusion, depression and madness. The mode of ignorance covers one's consciousness and makes one foolish and dull and the person displays anger, violence and wickedness and indulges in false hopes and excessive sleep.

The mode of goodness endows one with great concentration and memory; the mode of passion distorts the intelligence due to unhealthy contact of the senses with the sense objects and the mode of ignorance ruins the mind by the inability to concentrate, madness and dullness.

Happiness or sorrow is a state of the mind and felt due to the mind's attachments and desires. If we become detached from sensual desires, our mind will become peaceful. Jubilation, excitement, affection, sadness, envy, anger, depression or pain are all felt by us according to the state of our mind which is affected by the onslaught of our senses and body and our thoughts. So if we change the quality of our mind, our perception of happiness or sorrow will also change. If we improve and elevate the quality of our mind by strengthening the mode of goodness we will become peaceful and happy; and if we degrade the quality of our mind by fostering the baser modes of passion and ignorance we will become restless, anxious and dissatisfied due to passionate desires; or morose, depressed and angry due to the ignoble mode of ignorance. The preponderance of the mode of goodness in the mind is heaven and that of the mode of ignorance is hell.

The mind is subject to agitation by its very nature and many external reasons seemingly appear of their own accord to agitate the mind. The quivering of the mind is there in all of us but those whose minds are more concentrated and who control this agitation remain calmer whereas others become unhappy due to the attack of anger, sorrow or lamentation. Life is a losing proposition in this material world because everything that we possess and all our relatives and even our very own body will be lost with the passage of time; so why lament over anything? We can be happy by seeking the happiness within because to be happy is our innate spiritual nature. Because the body is material, our tendency is to seek pleasure outside through the bodily senses which thus mislead us. If we consciously practice concentration of the mind by meditation, we can gradually through sustained effort become concentrated in mind, calmer and happier. It is very easy to degrade the quality of our mind through lust, greed, anger, excitement and jealousy which arise due to contemplation of the objects of the senses. Going down the hill is quick and easy but the climb up is gradual and requires sustained effort.

Elevation of the mind requires that we regulate our senses and sensual indulgence and practice meditation daily. Then as the mind becomes concentrated we can gradually renounce sensual indulgence. Titillation of mind and senses agitates the mind and will hinder meditation.

Also it is imperative not to agitate the mind by dwelling upon past memories of sorrow. Thoughts of the past painful memories make a person relive that past. This only disturbs the mind. The mind and the brain interact with each other in both directions. The thoughts and desires in the mind which is made of subtle matter affect the brain. If the mind is affected by a certain emotion it affects the chemicals in the brain and the chemicals in the brain also affect the mind. Psychoanalysis techniques and hypnosis dig up past memories for healing the mind but the result is quite contrary and can even trigger past physical symptoms.

The aim of meditation is to concentrate and purify the mind. Meditation means to think constantly about a particular subject. Meditation is meant for thinking constantly about God, his qualities and pastimes. In meditation, the mind is healed by purification through concentrating the mind on thoughts of God. This increases the mode of goodness and removes the various impurities such as lust, greed, anger, lamentation, depression etc. that afflict the mind. Happiness derived from meditation on God is in the mode of goodness. The happiness which is obtained from the contact of the senses with their objects is like nectar in the beginning but becomes like poison later, arises from the mode of passion; and the happiness which is blind to self-realisation and arises from delusion, sleep and laziness is born of the mode of ignorance. By meditation, as the mind becomes purer and more concentrated, a person can strengthen the mode of goodness in his mind and lessen the influence of the modes of passion and ignorance. Meditation gradually cleans the impurities such as lust, anger and greed etc. and thus one becomes happy and peaceful and is relieved of anxiety due to passion, and depression, madness or criminal tendencies which may arise from the mode of ignorance.

Meditation requires regulation of the senses and mind. One should observe celibacy of the mind, speech and body. Sex meant for procreation and the acceptance of the consequent responsibility of bringing up children is also accepted as religious. So far as sexual pleasures are concerned they are available even to the stool eating dogs and hogs also. The standard of sexual pleasures is meant for the beasts and we should gradually overcome these tendencies. One should understand that we are eternal and we have been enjoying sex while we transmigrated through various species of life but we have forgotten. In the human form of life one can raise himself to the higher spiritual pleasures by meditation and the observance of celibacy.

The mind has become manifest from false ego under the mode of goodness. The basis of false ego and hence the basis of the mind is the soul only, yet the mind has overpowered the soul. The impure mind is like a ghost that has captured the soul and is dictating to us. Under the influence of the impure mind, which may be contaminated by impurities such as lust, greed, anger, jealousy etc., people are bewildered into impure and sinful actions and some people even commit heinous crimes like robbery and murder under the dictation of the impure mind. The impure mind is like a madman. One should not listen to a madman. However since we function with the co-operation of our mind, because the mind is our instrument for thinking, we need a good sane instrument (mind) for our use so that we can function well. Just as we like efficient instruments for other usage, similarly we need to maintain and upgrade the quality of our mind to bring it to complete purity for concentration of mind, memory and happiness.

Therefore it is imperative for us to control and purify our mind. We are the owners of our mind. We should be its master and not be its slave. Therefore we ought to control the mind and not allow the mind to control us. We should understand that the desires arising in our minds are not our desires. The soul has no worldly desires but we are mistaking the desires of the mind as our own. The desire of the soul is only for love of God which we have forgotten. We can engage the mind in good thoughts, words and deeds and reject its evil tendencies by knowledge, detachment and meditation. The mind has a fickle nature and it can be very obstinate and strong and it can overpower the intelligence. Undoubtedly it is very difficult to control the mind but it can be controlled by constant practice of meditation and by detachment from sense objects.

The body is compared to a chariot in which the five senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch are like the horses. The mind is the rein with which we have to control these horses (the senses), and intelligence is the driver. The living being, the soul, is the passenger in this chariot called the body. The rein ( mind ) has to be controlled and directed by the driver ( intelligence ) so as to control the five horses ( the senses ) which are attracted to their respective sense objects and may run amuck unless controlled properly by the mind. The horses ( senses ) are always running after and tasting senses objects but there is no progress because the living being does not know his destination. In fact the living being seated in various chariots in various species has been running after and enjoying sense objects life after life since time immemorial but there is no progress. He does not know his destination and simply runs here and there all his life to satisfy the desires arising in his ghostly mind without any final aim and then dies, only to repeat the cycle of birth and death in various species endlessly. He has forgotten his real desire of love of God, his loving relationship with God and his actual destination in the abode of God. Pious and sinful karma are the two wheels of this chariot and the living being is enjoying or suffering the results of his past karma, in the association of the mind and the senses.

The purpose of religion, knowledge and meditation is to purify the mind. "Mun jeeta, jug jeeta." which means if one conquers the mind the world is conquered. If one's mind remains lost in the ignorance of worldly thoughts, instead of being absorbed in thoughts of God, then all progress is ignorance only. One may go to the Himalayas, or reach Mars or Moon by sputnik, or win a Nobel prize for research but if one's mind is not purified, then all one's progress is a fool's paradise, because no matter where we go, or what we achieve, our actual residence is our mind only.

In Bhagvad Gita, Krishna says, "A man must elevate himself by his own mind and not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the embodied soul and his enemy as well. For one, who has conquered his mind, the mind is the best of friends but for one whose mind is uncontrolled his own mind is his worst enemy."

If one's mind is impure and uncontrolled, then one is living with the greatest enemy. The impure mind has a great army of soldiers such as lust, anger, greed, jealousy, attachment and illusion which are all our powerful enemies residing in the mind and will undoubtedly attack and ruin us if not checked. Some people look for the devil outside little realising that it is their own impure and uncontrolled mind who is the real devil. If one does not control and purify this mind and gives it a chance, it will grow more powerful and defeat the intelligence and the soul. The real enemy is within. It is our own impure mind who is our real enemy. An impure mind causes one suffering, anxiety and depression because it is agitated by lust, greed, anger etc., but when the same mind is purified, one becomes joyful, just as the wick of a lamp when agitated blackens the lamp causing darkness, but when the flame is steady it burns brightly giving illumination. Our impure mind is the cause of our misery but the same mind when purified is the cause of our happiness.

Mind is the cause of our bondage and mind is the cause of our liberation. Mind absorbed in thinking of i.e. meditating on sense objects is the cause of bondage and degradation of the soul, and mind detached from sense objects is the cause of liberation of the soul. Since the mind cannot be void of thoughts for long, the mind meditating on thoughts of God is the cause of blissful liberation of the soul from the bondage of matter.

Various people campaign for various liberation movements. But real liberation means to liberate the soul from the bondage of the material body and liberation from the mortal world's cycle of birth and death.

History is witness to the fact that all the great conquerors of the world now bite the dust. The earth they thought they had conquered is still here but they are no more. They failed to know that the only worthwhile object of conquer is one's own mind which is misled by the senses. Only he is a hero who conquers his own mind by detachment from sense objects and attachment to God by meditation.

The mind may be compared to a mirror on which there is the dust of material impurities such as lust, greed and anger which are the three gateways to hell. These cause the degradation of the soul. As we cleanse a mirror we can see our own reflection. Similarly as we purify our mind through meditation on God, the mind will become clearer and when it is completely pure we will be able to perceive our real spiritual self in the mirror of the mind and become joyful.

In the words of Bhagvad Gita, "The stage of perfection is called trance or samadhi, when one's mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. This is characterised by one's ability to see the self by the pure mind and to rejoice in the self. In that state one is situated in unlimited spiritual bliss derived through spiritual senses. This is real liberation from all miseries which arise from material contact."

The above verse from Bhagvad Gita indicates that we, the souls, have spiritual senses through which we can relish unlimited bliss by meditation. However these spiritual senses are covered now and are manifest in the subtle body which consists of the mind, intelligence and false ego; and then are manifested in our physical body. The basis of our mind, intelligence and the physical senses is their corresponding spiritual existence in the soul. So long as the mind is functioning under the modes of nature viz. goodness, passion and ignorance, happiness or sorrow are felt according to the mental state. When by mature meditation the mind becomes situated in spiritual consciousness the effect of the modes of nature will diminish and gradually cease altogether and we will relish bliss through the soul's actual spiritual senses. The soul is the real person with mind, intelligence and senses but these are covered up presently and are manifesting themselves through their material counterparts whose basis is the soul only. One who is established in his self enjoys unlimited bliss through his spiritual senses by virtue of his meditation on God who is the source and reservoir of bliss. Such a person has no interest in the flickering meagre pleasures of the bodily senses. Knowing the pleasures of the senses to be without essence, he concentrates on the inner reality instead.

The yoga meditation system recommended in Bhagvad Gita consists of eight limbs namely: abstention from doing evil (yama), the various spiritual observances (niyama), the posture (asana), control of life airs (pranayama), withdrawal of the mind from sense objects (pratyahara), concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana) and realisation of God (samadhi). In samadhi, which is the state of perfection of yoga meditation, the mind transcends the modes of nature. The mind ceases to function under the influence of the modes of material nature but it does not cease to function; rather it functions spiritually in harmony with the mind of God. One who wishes to practice the above meditation yoga system consisting of the eight steps should give up all anxiety to enjoy the senses and all desire for gain and safety, and renounce all desires which are merely born out of false ego and mental imagination. One should be fearless and completely free from sexual desire and meditate on God who is situated in everyone's heart along with the self. This eight step system of yoga is performed in complete isolation under strict regulation and is difficult to execute fully these days because in our times the people are always disturbed by anxiety in their minds. However this yoga system is useful in maintaining a healthy mind and body and it is a good idea to practice yoga daily but for complete spiritual success meditation by means of spiritual sound is recommended for the present times.

Meditation by spiritual sound

\- practice of bhakti yoga

In Kali-yuga, our present age of quarrel and degradation, the scriptures declare that the chanting of the holy names of God is the only means of achieving love of God. The Vedic scriptures proclaim,

"Harer naam harer naam harer naam eva kevalam,

kalau nastaev nastaev nastaev gatir anayatha."

which means that the only means of achieving spiritual success in this age is to chant the holy names of the Lord Hari ( Hari naam, Keshav, Krishna ). For emphasis, it is repeated three times that other than chanting Hari Naam, there is no other method of complete success in this Kali-yuga, our present times. God is a title indicating the supreme person but is not the holy name itself. The holy name of God is revealed by God when he descends to this world and is mentioned in the scriptures. All the great devotees of the Lord, such as Namacharya Haridas, Bilvamangal Thakur who composed the "Govind Damodar Stotrum", Jaidev Goswami who composed "Geet Govinda", Soordas and Meera, both of whom composed and sang the glories of Krishna, stressed the chanting of the holy name. Shankaracharya, in his famous couplets "Bhaj Govindam", stresses the chanting of the holy name of Govind ( Krishna ) as only Krishna can liberate us. Therefore it is recommended that we should always chant the holy name of God. This gradually brings one to the stage of perfection of meditation called samadhi in which the mind is exclusively concentrated on God. The chanting of the holy name of God, his glories, qualities and pastimes and hearing them attentively brings one into direct association with God. God is unlimited and He has many names pertaining to His qualities, relations and pastimes. Chaitanya Mahapraphu has specifically propagated the chanting of the 'Haray Krishna' mantra :

Haray Krishna haray Krishna Krishna Krishna haray haray

Haray Raam haray Raam Raam Raam haray haray.

This 'Haray Krishna' mantra liberates the mind of all material anxieties and conceptions and awards love of God. Presently we are under the illusion of false ego by which we think that I am this body and I am a product of matter. But as we chant this mantra repetitively the material impurities will be cleansed away from our mind and we will practically realise our true ego that I am a soul and not this body or the mind.

Haray is an address to God's spiritual pleasure potency, Radharani, to engage us in the loving service of the Supreme God, Krishna. Krishna means all attractive and Raam means full of pleasure. Krishna and Raam are the holy names of God.

We should sing this mantra in a congregation with others, and also we should specifically chant it on beads continuously. A round string of 108 beads with one extra central bead is made and it is recommended for beginners to chant at least 16 rounds on this daily for meditation. The complete 'Haray Krishna' mantra is chanted on each bead except the big central bead. That means the mantra is chanted 16 * 108 times to regulate our meditation. The stringed beads are kept in a small cloth bag and each bead is held by the thumb and middle finger while chanting the mantra before proceeding on to the next bead, and the index finger is kept outside the bag.

While chanting, the mind is to be kept on hearing the sound of the mantra. One may chant softly or loudly repeating the Haray Krishna mantra rapidly. The holy name of God is God himself and thus we associate with God by keeping our mind on hearing the sound. The mind is fickle by nature but we should consciously pull it back from stray thoughts and keep it on the sound. Also our lives should be detached from sensuality. In the Bhagvad Gita, Arjun says that the mind is fickle and very difficult to control. Krishna responds that this is indeed true but the mind can be controlled by detachment from sensuality and by constant practice of meditation. One should be moderate in one's habits of eating, sleeping, working and recreation. The quality of one's mind is influenced by what one eats. One cannot expect to have peace of mind if one eats foods obtained by violent means such as meat. To strengthen the mode of goodness in one's mind one should eat foods in the mode of goodness such as fresh fruits, vegetables, milk, cereals, nuts, lentils and beans etc. after offering them to God; limit foods in the mode of passion such as hot spices and chillies; and abstain from non-vegetarian foods because these induce the mode of ignorance. One should rise early in the morning at least an hour and a half before sunrise and meditate during the brahma-muhurta, the time beginning an hour and a half before sunrise, which is most auspicious for meditation; and meditate again during sunset. It is stated in the Srimad Bhagvatam:

"shabda brahm param brahm mamobhe shashvati tanu."

which means that God has two bodies. One is the body of sound ('shabda brahm') of the holy name Krishna. The other is the deity form of his body ('param brahm') which is spiritual, eternal, omniscient and full of bliss. These two bodies are not different from each other. We cannot perceive his spiritual deity form of unparalleled beauty with our material eyes and impure mind. With our eyes of matter we can only see matter, not spirit. But by chanting His name we can associate with Him and relish love and bliss. By continuous chanting we will experience God's association and thus our mind will be purified. The chanting of God's name will satisfy us emotionally and gradually our attraction for God will increase to attachment which will increase further to intense love of God.

The holy name of God is the same as God. The name is the same as the named object or person in the absolute world. In our world of duality, the name of an object or person is not the same as the named object or person. The material name of an object only indicates or refers to the named object, but it is not the object itself. The name of a person only indicates the person but is not the person himself. But the special importance of the holy name of God is that the name of God is God himself, because there is no duality in God. He is absolute.

In our world of duality the person or object is not present in the name itself. The material sound is empty in the sense that it does not contain the person himself. But spiritual sound is not an empty sound. Spiritual sound is the real substance. The holy name of God is not an empty material sound but is the real substance God himself. The holy name of God is an absolute spiritual sound and is not different from God. All the potencies of God are contained in the holy name. The chanting of the holy name of God is transcendental meditation and is above all religious principles and moral codes which function under the modes of nature. The holy name of God is completely independent and anyone may chant it free of cost. It does not depend upon initiation by a guru. One who controls his senses and chants the holy name experiences peace and bliss.

In the Bhagvad Gita, Krishna says that one may physically restrain the senses from the sense objects of enjoyment but the desire for sensual enjoyment remains. One cannot give up the desire for pleasure. By experiencing the higher pleasures one becomes fixed in consciousness and thus one can renounce the baser pleasures of the senses. How insignificant is the pleasure derived from contact with a woman's body in comparison with the reservoir of all pleasure, the all pervading supreme person who is easily contacted by remembering and chanting His holy name. By experiencing the pleasure of chanting the holy name one will lose the desire for sensual pleasures. As soon as one chants the holy name Krishna and hears it with an attentive mind, one is contacting Krishna who is the reservoir of all pleasure. One simply has to keep the mind on hearing the sound of the holy name. There is no need to picture some form in the mind while chanting.

If you chant any material sound repeatedly you will soon be bored; but spiritual sound is not like that. The more you chant the holy name, the Haray Krishna mantra, while hearing attentively, the more you will relish the bliss of love of Krishna.

The full import of chanting the holy name is known to Radharani. She is Krishna's pleasure potency and chief consort and is the crown jewel representing love of God. She says to her friends," O Lalita, O Vishakha, I cannot express to you in words the indescribable love and pleasure I experience when I chant the holy name Krishna consisting of the two syllables 'Krish' and 'na'." 'Krish' means all attractive and 'na' means full of pleasure. The holy name Krishna is the reservoir of the ecstasy of love.

By following in the footsteps of Radharani and her friends, the gopis ( milk maids who are always in the ecstasy of conjugal love for Krishna ), we will also, by the mercy of Radharani, experience the bliss of the nectar of love for Krishna, the most precious and desirable substance and the ultimate meaning of our life.

God is the deity of love and he can be perceived by love only and by no other means because the fundamental meaning of life is love. Some people speculate that God can be known by knowledge or pious deeds but though progressive, without the glorification of God, these cannot in themselves award love of God. God is fully satisfied in himself and he needs no one's knowledge or pious karma but out of his loving nature he reciprocates our love. The deity of love is approachable only by love and by no other means. By constant meditation on God by chanting his holy name, our love of God will become manifest within our heart.

Love for Krishna is not an artificial or external imposition on us; rather it is the innate nature of the soul. Love is there within our heart but it is covered by the impurities of our mind in the form of lust, greed, anger etc. But by hearing the holy name, qualities and activities of God and by remembering them, we will gradually be purified. Since the holy name of God is God himself, when we hear the holy name attentively we are associating with God and we will feel emotionally satisfied. When the soul is healthy, the mind and the body, within its material limitations, are healthy too. The chanting of the holy name destroys all sins regardless of their magnitude and as we chant and hear with intense concentration we will relish increasing pleasure in chanting the holy name.

One who is inimical to others can not please God. One should see that God is seated in the heart of everyone and is accompanying them. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has advised that one should be humbler than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree and should offer all respect unto others without seeking respect in return. In such a humble state of the mind one should chant the holy name of the lord constantly.

There are nine processes in the system called bhakti yoga, which means rendering loving service to God, beginning with the chanting and hearing of the holy name, qualities and pastimes of God, for developing our love of God. These nine items of Bhakti yoga are:

shravan, keertan, smaran, vandan, pad sevan, dasya rae, poojan, sakhi jan, atma nivedan;

which mean hearing, chanting, remembering, worshipping the deity of the Lord, offering prayers, serving the lotus feet of the lord, becoming the lord's servant, and on a more spontaneous level to become the lord's friend and completely offering oneself to God due to overwhelming love for Him.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has included the above mentioned nine items of bhakti yoga in the following five items:

sadhu sanga, Hari naam keertan, Bhagvat shravan, Mathura vaas, Shri vigraha archana which mean:

1. association with saintly persons.

2. chanting of the holy names of Krishna.

3. hearing and reading Srimad Bhagvat Mahapurana daily.

4. residing in Mathura-Vrindavan or a holy place.

5. worship of the deity of God such as Radha-Krishna, Sita-Raam, Lakshmi-Narayan in his various manifestations pertaining only to the deities of Lord Vishnu along with His pleasure potency.

The supreme lord is one only, though expanded unlimitedly, and all his potencies and demigods and goddesses are never his equals. Every one is meant for serving lord Krishna, the origin of all his expansions, whose unlimited forms are known as the deities of lord Vishnu. Krishna is worshipped along with his pleasure potency Radharani, as Radha-Krishna or in his other manifestations or avatars as Sita-Raam or Lakshmi-Narayan. Worship of the deity form is not to be confused with idol worship. The deities are made according to the direction of the scriptures to facilitate our devotional service to God. One can install the deity or a picture of the deity at an altar at one's home or in a temple and worship. We cannot see God in his spiritual form with our material eyes but He is kind enough to appear as the deity made out of material substances to accept our devotion and bless us. One should rise early in the morning and attend Deity worship ( mangal arati ) and see the charming forms of the deities. We wish to see beauty. By seeing the charming beauty of the lord we will lose the taste for seeing material beauty. The family should gather at home or in temple and sing together the holy names especially the 'Haray Krishna' mantra. The habit of meditation on God and other habits in the mode of goodness should be cultivated in the children from childhood. Habit is second nature and with age it becomes difficult to mould one's habits once formed. The chanting of the holy name Krishna - the Haray Krishna mantra - should be practised from childhood so as to utilise one's life meaningfully. It is no use wasting one's life and waiting till old age. In old age, one's mental habits are already formed and one may be overcome with anxiety, infirmity or the disease of old age. However old age is no bar to chanting the holy name. Better early than late, but better late than never! Old age should be an impetus to meditation knowing that everyone's days are numbered.

Whenever wherever whosoever may chant the holy name. Of the above five items, the chanting of the holy name and reading or hearing Shrimad Bhagvat Mahapuran daily are most important and of these, the chanting of the holy names is all encompassing and most important. One may chant while sitting, walking or doing chores. The chanting of the 'Haray Krishna' mantra using beads is recommended as it facilitates concentration and regulation. The holy name should always be chanted, with or without beads, and has no restrictions in terms of the individual, time, place, posture or circumstance.

One should avoid offences against the holy name while chanting. Some of these offences are: to act sinfully on the strength of chanting the holy name; to blaspheme the devotees of the lord; to maintain material attachments even after hearing the glories of the holy name; to commit sinful activity with the intention of counteracting it by the strength of chanting the holy name; to consider the holy name of God to be equal to that of demigods such as Brahma, Shiva or Durga. The worship of demigods is recommended only for people who want to fulfil some material desires, and not for spiritualists. The holy name Krishna is supreme and should be chanted and heard attentively.

If we wish to cultivate love of God then we should want to know His name, appearance, qualities and pastimes. We can hear and meditate on the glories of the holy name, wonderful qualities and activities of the lord by reading the Srimad Bhagvatam daily. Srila Vyasdev has presented this nectar to us in the Srimad Bhagvatam which delivers the philosophy of life, set amidst the drama of mystical tales and the uncommon and fascinating pastimes of Krishna and his various avatars ( descents of God in different forms ). Since Krishna is absolute, Krishna means Krishna's name, qualities and pastimes which are non-different from Krishna. As we hear and read these from Srimad Bhagvatam, we can then remember and meditate on these. Desire and thought are intimately connected. As we think about these, our desire for Krishna will increase. We can also sing the various hymns glorifying God which the Vaishnav ( devotees of Vishnu ) saints have composed. The congregational singing ( known as keertan ) of the holy name is spiritual bliss; however the loud clanging of multiple metal cymbals ( kartals ) and bells played during keertan are simply deafening jarring noises and are a manifestation of the modes of passion and ignorance so prevalent in this Kali-yuga. Bells played softly have their appropriate traditional use during Deity worship ( arati ) and the proper singular use of metal cymbals (kartals) during keertan may be learnt from hymns (bhajans) by Indian classical musicians. The classical music of Saam Veda arises from spiritual goodness or the mode of goodness; pop music comes from the mode of passion; and hard rock music and metallic clanging come from the modes of ignorance.

God, though omnipresent, is not manifest where noisy radios and loudspeakers, greed and fanaticism abound. Noise pollution is already a serious problem and a health hazard, and it is compounded by religious zealots joining the fray by clanging their metal cymbals and blaring of loudspeakers etc. thus setting a bad example and precedent besides being a nuisance to other people. It is ironic that these noise makers, who obviously have no conception of a peaceful atmosphere or melodious keertan and hence religion, purport to teach religion.

Proper rule and regulations should be framed and implemented to conduct keertan otherwise the hooligans cannot be checked from clanging their metal cymbals. This will attract people to the spiritual sound of keertan. The government should enact and implement laws against noise pollution and ban the use of loudspeakers and blaring of radios. It is a misconception that this will hurt religious sentiments, since no religion sanctions or condones noise in the name of religion or otherwise. There is no bar to people praying but why use loudspeakers? As the sage Kabeer, in one of his couplets, mockingly asks, "Is God deaf?" It is not volume but the sincerity of one's prayers that counts. Noise is a hindrance to meditation. India, the land of meditation and spiritualism, has now been turned into a land of noise. The religious principle is that one should not disturb the peace of others and should live in peaceful coexistence.

It is said that a man is known by the company he keeps. Association is important because the kind of people we associate with influences our mind. It is better to be isolated than keep bad company because bad thoughts ruin our mind. Lord Chaitanya has advised that if a man wishes to cultivate love of God then he should observe celibacy and shun the company of women and lusty men, and instead seek the association of those devotees whose only interest is glorifying the lord. Our mind will be purified by hearing the pure thoughts of glories of God by the association of devotees, but if we associate with women or lusty people our hearts will also become lusty by their association. Attraction and attachment between man and woman is the greatest impediment to spiritual progress. Lord Chaitanya has advised that one should renounce company of the worldly ('asat sung tyag'). We should associate with the saintly devotees of the Lord by hearing them and imbibe their thoughts. The stories and the philosophy in the Srimad Bhagvat and other Vedic scriptures are very interesting to read and one is fortunate if one can hear these from a genuine devotee of God. The revealed scriptures are standard knowledge and the genuine devotee explains them in pursuance of the spirit of the scripture without deviation.

A saintly person is known by his nature and not by any dress code. In the epic Ramayan, Ravana, the demoniac king of Lanka, fooled Sita Devi, the wife of Lord Raam, by dressing in the saffron dress code of the saintly and kidnapped her. One can identify saintly persons by their characteristics. They are rational, humble, gentle, tolerant and merciful. They abide by the teachings of the revealed scriptures and all their characteristics are sublime. They are not interested in worldly thoughts or sensual pursuits and their lives are dedicated to glorifying God. Association with the saintly does not mean making them your ordinary friends to engage them in worldly talks. It means to hear the glories and uncommon pastimes of God from them and imbibe their thoughts, and practice their teachings. One should discuss spiritual knowledge with reason and humility.

God is manifest in the heart of those who feel love for God within their heart. Where the saintly devotees gather, there are pleasing discourses and discussions of spiritual knowledge and the glorification of God's names, qualities and pastimes. Thoughts are our destiny. We reside in our thoughts and the level of our existence is determined by the quality of our mind which is affected by our thoughts. Worldly thoughts and attachments cause our bondage to this mortal world of birth and death and make us transmigrate through various species of life; but if we cultivate thoughts of God and assimilate the thoughts of the saints, this will lead us to bliss in love of God. By cultivating godly thoughts one becomes godly, but by cultivating dog-like thoughts one takes birth as a dog. By worldly thoughts one takes birth in various species of life befitting one's mentality so as to facilitate the fulfilment of the kind of desires one has. The mind is the designation of the soul and the director of our destiny. Bodily appearance, looks, gender and the species of life one takes birth in are all according to one's mentality that one cultivated in one's previous life.

One should chant the holy name of God constantly, rather than run to hippies turned guru or to baba avatars! No one can be accepted as avatar without reference to the revealed scriptures. Avatar means God. No man, baba black sheep or swami can be God. God is always God eternally. No man can ever become God by any means or under any circumstances.

These days people are worshipping men called babas as God. The Bhagvad Gita says that the worship of demigods is in the mode of goodness, worship of men (babas) is in the mode of passion and the worship of ghosts and spirits is in the mode of ignorance. The recommended worship of God i.e. Lord Vishnu, Krishna, Raam is transcendental to the modes of nature namely goodness, passion and ignorance.

When God becomes manifest in the material world, He is known as avatar. The Vedas (the revealed scriptures) were spoken by Vyasdev who is empowered by God. God (Avatar) has special symbols of (dhvaja, kamal, vajra, ankush) a flag, lotus flower, trident, and thunderbolt on his feet. All His appearances in the material world are mentioned in the scriptures and He performs uncommon activities such as the lifting of Govardhan hill by Krishna. All modern day avatars are frauds without exception according to the descriptions in scriptures. The Srimad Bhagvat in the twelfth canto, second chapter, eighteenth verse mentions that the next avatar known as the Kalki avatar is scheduled to descend on earth near the end of this age of degradation, Kali-yuga, around four hundred thousand years from now, in the village named Shambhal-gram and His father's name will be Vishnu-yash, who will be a pure brahman with a heart full of love for God. The Kalki avatar will kill all the degenerates and by His purifying influence He will usher in the era of Satya-yuga, the age of truth, peace and religion.

The chanting of the holy name of God will lead us to the bona fide guru who imparts knowledge of our relationship with God. The bona fide guru is from one of the following four Vaishnav disciplic successions - Madhav-Gaudiya-Chaitanya, Vishnuswami, Nimbark or Ramanuj sampradayas. Lord Chaitanya has said that regardless of material considerations such as caste, married or ascetic order of life, he is a guru who has realised the absolute truth, Krishna. Lord Chaitanya says:

"brahmand bhramite kon bhagyavan jeev ,

guru Krishna prasade paaye bhakti lata beej ."

which means: "The living beings are rotating up and down in this universe in various planets and transmigrating through various species of life. By the mercy of Krishna one gets a bona fide guru from whom one receives the seed of loving devotion ( bhakti ) to God." By continuously executing the process of bhakti-yoga consisting of chanting, hearing and remembering etc. of the holy name, qualities and pastimes of God, this seed of bhakti will grow into a plant and in due course of time give us the fruit of love of God.

Since everyone is conscious of their own feelings, one can test one's spiritual progress oneself. One who is situated in spiritual i.e. pure consciousness is joyful. He is free from worldly lamentation and hankering. As one progresses spiritually, one is increasingly attracted to hearing and speaking about God's qualities and pastimes and relishes the chanting of the holy name more and more.

The preliminary test of progress is that one becomes detached from sensual and worldly pursuits and dedicates one's life to God, and the litmus test is that one feels love of God within one's heart and misses and hankers for God within one's heart. When you love someone you miss him when separated. One may claim any religious affiliation but what use is one's religion if it's practice does not gradually lead one to the stage of feeling love of God within one's heart? A mere external show or designation of religion is a waste of one's life. When you love someone you always think lovingly of that person within your heart. So when you love Krishna you will always think of Him within your heart with love, and remember His wonderful qualities and fascinating pastimes. This is the supreme process of meditation that Lord Krishna's beloved girl friends, the village maids called gopis, being situated in love of Krishna spontaneously followed. The highest meditation is to meditate on Krishna which means to think of Krishna's name, form, qualities and pastimes. Chanting and hearing about Krishna will lead to remembrance of Krishna and His pastimes within one's heart which will gradually become spontaneous when love of God matures and fructifies within one's heart.

9.3 The liberation of Ajamil - a tale from Purana

In the Srimad Bhagvat Mahapuran which is a revealed scripture, Shukdev Goswami, the perfected sage and son of Vyasdev, narrates to Maharaj Parikshit the factual history of the life of Ajamil and his near death experience, to illustrate the glories of chanting of the holy name. There are various methods recommended in the scriptures for atonement of one's sins. These methods of atonement only neutralise the reactions of our committed sins but they do not purify the sinful desires in our heart. Unless one is purified of these sinful desires one is prone to act sinfully again. For example, a criminal may be punished yet he continues his criminal ways even afterwards because his mind is impure. To alter his criminal behaviour his mind needs to be purified. The chanting of the holy name purifies the mind of all sinful desires and negates all sins and is therefore recommended as the process for our ultimate good. However one cannot fool the Lord and act sinfully with the intention that one will counteract one's sins by chanting the holy name. Such tricks do not work.

Ajamil was a gentle brahman youth belonging to a cultured religious family of the city of Kanyakubja in India. He had studied the Vedic scriptures and was endowed with good character, qualities and conduct. He was benevolent to others, without envy, controlled in his mind and senses and knew how to chant the Vedic mantras. He was married to a girl of the brahman caste ( the religious priestly order ).

Once Ajamil went to the forest to collect fruit, flowers and grass as asked by his father. On his way back to home he came upon a lusty shameless man belonging to the shudra caste who was embracing and kissing a maid servant openly and smiling, singing and enjoying with her as if this was proper behaviour in public. Lusty behaviour such as embracing and kissing in the streets or public is taboo in the Vedic culture of the Aryans in India. Both the man and the maid were drunk and her dress had become loose.

When Ajamil saw her thus, the dormant lusty desires in his heart awakened and in illusion he fell under their control. Ajamil patiently tried to remember the teachings of the scriptures not to even look at a woman and especially avoid seeing sexually provocative scenes. With his knowledge and intellect he tried to control his lusty desires but because of the powerful force of Cupid ( Kamdev ) within his heart he failed to control his mind.

Even though Ajamil was an exalted brahman yet lust had arisen within his heart and he always thought of the maid and soon hired her as a servant in his home and abandoned all religious principles. He no longer cared for his old dependent parents and he ignored his chaste wife. He was so lusty after the maid that satisfying her became his sole concern. He spent all his inherited money to buy her gifts to keep her pleased. He cheated, stole and plundered others all his life to maintain the maid and his many children of her. Thus eighty eight years of his life passed by while he was engaged in sinful activity. The old Ajamil had ten sons of whom the youngest was a baby named Narayan which is also the holy name of God. Since Narayan was the youngest child he was very dear to his mother and father. Ajamil was very much attached to the baby Narayan and he enjoyed the child's baby talk and awkward movements. When Ajamil ate he would call Narayan to come eat with him and when he drank he called Narayan. Thus deeply attached to his child Narayan and calling him he was unknowingly always chanting the holy name Narayan, Narayan, Narayan. Like most people he was busy in family and worldly affairs and thoughts instead of remembering God. Petting and caring for the child Narayan, Ajamil had forgotten that his own time was now up and that death was upon him.

When the time of death arrived for Ajamil, he began thinking exclusively of his son Narayan. Everyone thinks of their attachments at death. Then Ajamil saw three fierce looking persons with deformed bodily features, twisted faces and hair standing erect on their bodies. These were the messengers of death known as the Yumdoots, the servants of Yumraj. The three Yumdoots correspond to our three means of sinful activity - sins performed by thoughts, words and actions. With ropes made of subtle matter they had come to take the sinful Ajamil to the abode of Yumraj, who is the lord of death and is in charge of administering justice according to the piety and sins of a person.

When Ajamil saw the ferocious Yumdoots he was terrified and because of attachment to his child Narayan who was playing nearby, he began to call Narayan loudly by his name. With tears in his eyes and fear in his heart he somehow or other chanted the holy name Narayan.

The Yumdoots were arresting the soul from the heart of Ajamil but behold his good fortune the order carriers of Lord Vishnu, the Vishnudoots, on hearing the holy name of their master Narayan from the mouth of the dying Ajamil arrived to save him. Ajamil had certainly chanted 'Narayan' without offence and in great anxiety.

The holy name of God is the ultimate reality, the Lord himself, and whosoever, however sinful he may have been, takes shelter of the holy name by chanting it is protected by the Lord. With resounding voices the Vishnudoots forbade the Yumdoots from taking Ajamil. When the servants of Yumraj, the son of the sun god, were thus forbidden, they were surprised because no where has it been heard that the order of Yumraj in these mortal worlds has ever been foiled. The following conversation illuminating the real principles of religion then ensued between the Yumdoots and the Vishnudoots.

The Yumdoots said: "Who are you sirs that have the audacity to challenge the jurisdiction of Yumraj? Sirs, whose servants are you, where have you come from and why are you obstructing us from taking the sinful Ajamil? Are you demigods from heavenly planets or perfected beings?

Your eyes are like the petals of lotus flowers and your effulgence has dissipated the darkness of this place with intense illumination. All of you appear fresh and youthful dressed in yellow silken clothes garlanded with lotus flowers and wearing bright helmets and earrings. Your four long arms are decorated with bows and quivers of arrows, swords, clubs, discs, conch shells and lotus flowers. Tell us sirs why are you obstructing us?"

Being thus addressed by the servants of Yumraj, the Vishnudoots smiled and in voices as deep as the sound of rumbling clouds they replied: "If you are really the servants of Yumraj, who administers justice according to the principles of religion, then kindly explain to us the meaning of religious principles and the symptoms of irreligion.

What is the criterion for punishment? Who are the recipients of punishment? Is everyone engaged in activity with a desire for its fruit punishable or only some of them?"

The Yumdoots replied, "We have heard from Yumraj that the Vedas are directly Lord Narayan and are self born scriptures. Actions in accordance with the directions of the Vedas are religious and the contrary actions are irreligious. The supreme cause of all causes Narayan is situated in his own abode and everything is automatically controlled by his mere will. He conducts the material world according to the three modes of material nature viz. goodness, passion and ignorance which manifest in varying degrees in the minds of the living beings. According to the modes of nature the living beings manifest different qualities, race, bodies and species. The deities of sun, fire, air, moon, evening, day, night, directions, water, earth, demigods and the supreme soul, God himself within the heart of all, witness the activities of the living beings. The living being sometimes acts sinfully thinking that no one will know and he can get away with his evil deed but he does not know that God is seated along with him within his heart and witnesses everything. Those who violate religious principles as enunciated in the Vedas are subject to punishment in hell according to the extent of their sins (and not eternally).

O inhabitants of Vaikuntha ( the spiritual planets which are free of all anxiety ), you are sinless, but those within these material worlds are contaminated by the three modes of nature and must act according to their nature. Both pious and sinful action is possible for those who are embodied in a material body and therefore according to their sins they are punishable.

In proportion to one's religious or irreligious actions in this life one has to enjoy or suffer the reactions of his karma in the next life.

We can see three different varieties of life which are due to the contamination of the three modes of nature. The living beings are thus peaceful, restless and foolish; as happy, unhappy or in-between; or as religious, irreligious or semi-religious. We may deduce that these three modes of nature will act similarly in the next life.

Just as the existing springtime indicates the nature of spring times in the past and future, similarly this life of happiness, distress or their mixture indicates the religious or sinful activities of one's past and future lives.

Yumraj has the co-operation of the supreme soul in everyone's heart and thus he mentally observes the living being's activities and understands how he will act in future lives.

As a sleeping person acts according to the body manifested in his dreams and accepts this dream body to be himself, so does one identify with his present body which he acquired because of past pious or sinful actions and is unable to know his past or future lives in different bodies.

Above the five senses of perception (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin), the five working senses (hands, legs, mouth, genitals and rectum), and the five objects of the senses (form, sound, smell, taste and touch) is the mind which is the sixteenth element. Above the mind is the soul, the living being himself, who in co-operation with the above sixteen elements enjoys the material world alone and experiences happiness, distress or their mixture.

The subtle body is endowed with sixteen parts - the five knowledge acquiring senses, the five working senses, the five objects of senses gratification and the mind. (The senses of the physical body have their respective basis in the subtle body.) This subtle body is an effect of the three modes of material nature viz. goodness, passion and ignorance. It is composed of insurmountable intense desires and therefore it cause the living being to transmigrate from one body to another in various species - human, animal and demigod. When the soul gets the body of a demigod he is jubilant; when he gets a human body he is always lamenting and when he gets an animal's birth he is always afraid. In all these conditions however he is actually miserable. His miserable condition is called samsrti or transmigration in various species in material life.

The ignorant embodied living being, unable at controlling his senses and mind, is impelled by the influence of the modes of nature to act against his desires. He is like a silkworm that uses its own saliva to create a cocoon and then gets entrapped in it without any exit. The soul entraps himself in a network of his own karma with its accompanying fruits and then can find no way to release himself. Thus he is always bewildered and repeatedly he dies.

No living being can remain without engagement even for a moment. One is forced to act in a particular way according to the influence of the modes of nature on him.

The karma a living being performs whether pious or sinful is the unseen cause for the fulfilment of his desires and awards him different bodies. Because of his intense desires the living being is born in a particular family in a particular species and receives a body similar to that of his mother or father. The subtle or gross bodies are created according to his desires.

The living being, who is spiritual, is in an awkward diseased condition because of his embodiment in a material body due to his forgetfulness of God. But his condition can be cured if he associates with God or his devotee ( by hearing, chanting and remembering the holy name, qualities and activities of God ).

In the beginning of his life this brahman named Ajamil studied the Vedic scriptures and he was endowed with good qualities, character and conduct. He was gentle, well behaved and benevolent to others and kept his mind and senses under control. But due to the association of the maid prostitute he became thoroughly sinful and degraded. (Association has a powerful influence on the mind. By lusty sinful association and thoughts one becomes degraded and miserable; but the association of the saintly devotees of God can liberate one from sin, and by imbibing their thoughts one becomes happy). This Ajamil, though born in a religious brahman family ruined his religious culture. He stole, plundered and spent his lifetime violating the moral codes of the holy scriptures. He lived extravagantly beyond his means and ate food prepared by the prostitute maid. Therefore he is full of sin. ( The food we eat influences our mind. ) He is unclean and addicted to sinful activity. This man Ajamil did not atone for his sins. Therefore because of his sinful life we must take him into the presence of Yumraj for punishment. There, according to the gravity of his sins, he will be punished and thus purified."

Shukdev Goswami continued: "My dear King Parikshit, the Vishnudoots, the devotees of Lord Vishnu, are expert in logic and know the essence of religion. After hearing the statements of the Yumdoots, the messengers of death for the sinful, they replied as follows."

The Vishnudoots said: "Alas, it is regrettable that irreligion is creeping into an assembly where religion should be upheld. Indeed, those in charge of maintaining religious principles are unnecessarily punishing a sinless person.

A king or government minister should be so endowed with good qualities that he acts as father, maintainer and protector of the citizens out of affection. He should be equal to all citizens and give them good advice and instructions according to standard scriptures. Yumraj, the lord of death and supreme master of justice does this and so do those who are his followers. However if such persons become polluted and exhibit partiality by punishing an innocent sinless person then where will the citizens go to take shelter for their maintenance and security?

The mass of people follow the example of a leader in society and accept as evidence what their leader accepts. People in general are not advanced in knowledge by which to discriminate between religion and irreligion. The unenlightened citizen is like an ignorant animal sleeping in peace with it's head on the lap of its master faithfully believing in the master's protection. If a leader is actually kind hearted and deserves a person's faith how can he punish an ignorant person who has surrendered in good faith and friendship?"

The Vishnudoots continued: "Ajamil has already atoned for all his sinful actions. Indeed he has atoned not only for sins performed in one life but for those performed in millions of lives, for in a helpless condition he chanted the holy name of Narayan. Even though he did not chant purely, he chanted without offense, and therefore he is now pure and eligible for liberation.

Even previously, while eating and at other times, this Ajamil would call his son, saying," My dear Narayan, please come here." Although calling the name of his son, he nevertheless uttered the four syllables na-ra-ya-na. Simply by chanting the name of Narayan in this way, he sufficiently atoned for the sinful reactions of millions of lives. The chanting of the holy name of Lord Vishnu is the best process of atonement for a thief of gold or other valuables, for a drunkard, for one who betrays a friend or relative, for one who kills a brahman, or for one who indulges in sex with the wife of his guru or another superior. It is also the best method of atonement for one who murders women, the king or his father, for one who slaughters cows, and for all other sinful men. Simply by chanting the holy name of Lord Vishnu such persons attract the attention of God who gives shelter even to the lowest of sinners if they chant his holy name.

By following the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies or undergoing atonement, sinful men do not become as purified as by chanting once the holy name of Lord Hari ( one among many of the holy names of the unlimited God ). Although ritualistic atonement may free one from sinful reaction, it does not awaken loving service to the lord unlike the chanting of the Lord's names which reminds one of the Lord's fame, qualities, attributes, pastimes and paraphernalia. The ritualistic ceremonies of atonement recommended in the religious scriptures are insufficient to cleanse the heart absolutely because after atonement one's mind again runs towards sensual activities. Consequently for one who wants liberation from the reactions of his karma, the chanting of the holy names, glorification of the name, fame, qualities and pastimes of the Lord is recommended as the most perfect means of atonement because such chanting eradicates the sinful desires from one's heart completely.

While dying, Ajamil chanted the holy name of the Lord, Narayan. This chanting alone has already freed him from the reactions of all sinful life. Therefore, O Yumdoots, do not try to take him to your master Yumraj for punishment in hellish conditions.

One who chants the holy name of God is immediately freed from the reactions of unlimited sins, even if he chants indirectly to indicate something else, jokingly, for musical entertainment, or even neglectfully. This is accepted by all those learned in the scriptures.

Anyone, even a sinful person, who chants the holy name of the Lord Hari while dying due to an accident, or falling from a height, slipping and suffering broken bones, bitten by a snake, being afflicted with pain and fever or injured by a weapon, is immediately absolved from having to enter hellish life.

The great sages have prescribed that one should atone for the heavy sins by a heavy process of atonement and for the lighter sins by lighter atonement. However chanting the holy names of God, the Haray Krishna mantra, vanquishes all the effects of sinful activities regardless of the magnitude of the sins.

Although one may neutralise the reactions of sinful life through austerity, charity, vows and other methods, these pious activities do not uproot the material desires in one's heart. However if one serves the lotus feet of the Lord by chanting, hearing or remembering his holy name, qualities and activities, he is freed from all sins and sinful desires.

As fire burns dry grass to ashes, so the holy name of the Lord, whether chanted knowingly or unknowingly, burns to ashes, without fail, all the reactions of one's sinful activities.

If a person or a child unaware of the effective potency of a certain medicine takes that medicine or is forced to take it, it will act even without his knowledge because its potency does not depend upon the patient's understanding. Similarly, even though one does not know the value of chanting the holy name, if one chants knowingly or unknowingly, the chanting will be very effective."

Shukdev Goswami continued: "My dear King, having thus perfectly judged the real religious principles in terms of loving service to the Lord with reason and knowledge, the Vishnudoots released the brahman Ajamil from the bondage of the Yumdoots and saved him from imminent death.

My dear Maharaj Parikshit, after the Yumdoots had thus been answered by the Vishnudoots, they went to their master Yumraj to tell him everything that had happened. Yumraj, the lord of death, then explained to his servants that he himself is not the supreme but has been given charge of administering justice unto those who reside in the material worlds, but at the same time he forbade his servants from approaching those who are chanting the holy name and glorifying the supreme Lord. The Vaishnavs ( Vishnudoots, devotees of Lord Vishnu ) are beyond the jurisdiction of Yumraj because they have taken shelter of the lotus feet of God.

Having been released from the nooses of Yumraj's servants, the brahman Ajamil, now free from fear, came to his senses and offered his obeisance to the Vishnudoots by bowing his head at their lotus feet. He was very pleased by their presence for he had seen them save his life from the hands of the Yumdoots, the messengers of death.

O sinless Maharaj Parikshit, the devotees of Lord Vishnu, the Vishnudoots, saw that Ajamil was attempting to speak, and thus they suddenly disappeared from his presence.

After hearing the discourses between the Yumdoots and the Vishnudoots, Ajamil could understand the religious principles mentioned in the three Vedas that act under the three modes of material nature. He could also understand the transcendental religious principles, which are above the modes of material nature, and which concern the relationship between the living being and God. Ajamil had also heard the glories of the holy name, fame, qualities and pastimes of God from the mouth of the Vaishnav devotees of God. He thus became a pure devotee of Lord Vishnu. He could remember his past sinful activities and he greatly regretted them. Such repentance is essential for purification and our reformation.

Ajamil said: "Alas being a servant of my senses, how degraded I became. I fell down from my position as a qualified brahman and begot children in the womb of a loose maidservant. All condemnation upon me! I acted so sinfully and degraded my family tradition. Indeed I gave up my chaste and beautiful young wife because of my lust for a prostitute accustomed to drinking wine.

I gave up my old parents who had no one else and so they struggled in great difficulty in their old age. Alas, like an abominable low class person, I ungratefully left them in that condition.

It is now clear that because of such sinful activities I was destined to go to hell, to suffer extreme miseries, which is the destiny of those who indulge in sinful activity violating religious principles.

Was this a dream I saw or was it reality? I saw three fearsome persons ( the Yumdoots ) with ropes in their hands coming to arrest me and drag me away to hell. Where have they gone?

And where have those four liberated and very beautiful persons gone who released me from arrest and saved me from being dragged to the hellish worlds?

I am certainly most abominable and unfortunate to have led a sinful life. Nevertheless, because of chanting the holy name of Narayan I was rescued by those four exalted personalities. I feel extremely happy because of their visit.

Were it not for my past devotional service how could I, a most lusty woman-hunter and prostitute keeper, chant the holy name of the master of the spiritual abode, Vaikuntha, when I was about to die?"

Ajamil continued: "I am a shameless cheater who has killed his religious brahman culture. Indeed I am sin personified. How fallen am I in comparison to the chanting of the all auspicious holy name of Lord Narayan.

I am such a sinful person, but since I have now gotten this opportunity I must completely control my mind, life and senses and always engage in the loving service of the lord so that I may not fall down again into the deep darkness and ignorance that material life is.

Because of identifying oneself with the body, one is subjected to desires for sense gratification, and thus one engages in many different types of pious and impious activity. This is what constitutes material bondage. Now I shall disentangle myself from my material bondage, which is caused by the lord's illusory energy in the form of a woman. Being a most fallen soul I became a victim of the illusory energy and have become like a dancing dog led around by a woman's hand. Indeed this material world is the shackles of sex life where everyone in all species of life is enchanted by sex. Now I shall give up all lusty desires and free myself from this illusion. I will be a merciful and well wishing friend to all living beings and always absorb my consciousness in thoughts of the supreme lord Krishna.

Simply because I chanted the holy name and associated with the devotees of Lord Vishnu by hearing them, my heart is now becoming purified. Therefore I shall not fall victim again to the false lures of the senses. Henceforth I will not identify myself with my body. I will give up false conceptions of "I' and "mine" and fix my mind on the lotus feet of Krishna."

Because of a moment's association with the devotees of Lord Vishnu, Ajamil detached himself from the material conception of life with determination. Thus freed from all material association Ajamil immediately started for Haridwar.

In Haridwar, Ajamil took shelter at a Vishnu temple where he executed the process of Bhakti-yoga consisting of chanting, hearing and remembering the name, qualities and pastimes of the Lord. He controlled his senses and fully applied his mind to the service of the Lord.

Ajamil engaged himself exclusively in Bhakti-yoga (loving service to God). Thus he detached his mind from the process of sense gratification and became fully absorbed in thinking of the form of the Lord.

When his meditation had matured and his mind and intelligence were fixed upon the form of the Lord, the brahman Ajamil once again saw before him the four celestial persons who had previously saved his life and so he offered them his obeisance by bowing down before them.

Upon seeing the Vishnudoots, Ajamil gave up his material body at Hardwar on the bank of the holy river Ganga and resplendent in his original spiritual body fit for an associate of the Lord and accompanied by the order carriers of Lord Vishnu, Ajamil boarded an aeroplane made of spiritual gold. Passing through the skies he went directly to the spiritual abode of Lord Vishnu, the husband of the goddess of fortune.

Ajamil was a brahman who because of bad association had given up all religious culture and principles. Becoming most degraded, he stole, drank and performed other abominable acts and kept a prostitute, neglecting his chaste wife and parents. Ajamil did no pious works in his life nor did he give charity or cultivate knowledge. A lusty no good sinner, he was destined to be taken to hell by the fierce Yumdoots but he was immediately rescued simply by chanting the holy name, Narayan, while dying.

Therefore one who desires freedom from material bondage and miseries should adopt the process of chanting and glorifying the name, fame, form and pastimes of the Lord, at whose feet all the holy places are situated. This is the ultimate religious principle which bestows love of God thus establishing the living being's natural relationship of love with the Lord. Without glorification of the Lord, one cannot derive such benefit from other methods such as pious works, speculative knowledge and meditation in mystic yoga because even after following these methods one takes to selfish activities again unable to control his mind which is contaminated by the base qualities of nature namely passion and ignorance.

Because this very confidential historical narration has the potency to vanquish all sinful reactions, one who hears or describes it with faith and devotion is no longer doomed to hellish life, regardless of how sinful he may have been in the past. Indeed, the Yumdoots, who carry out the orders of Yumraj, do not approach him even to see him. After giving up his body he returns home to the kingdom of God where he is warmly welcomed.

While dying and headed for destination 'hell' because of his sinful life, Ajamil, although he meant to call his son, Narayan, chanted the holy name of the Lord, Narayan, without knowing its potency. He was thus saved and eventually returned home back to Godhead. Therefore if one faithfully chants the holy name of the Lord without offence, where is the doubt that he will return to Godhead?"

Knowing all sensual pleasures to be dreams, without any essence, one should give up one's anxiety to enjoy them and thus become peaceful. Just as we experience misery without seeking it, similarly happiness will also come to us without endeavour according to our destiny as a result of the fruits of our past karma. Therefore one should not waste one's time in chasing happiness which is allotted as per one's destiny. A lusty or greedy person knows no peace of mind. The more one desires sensual pleasures within one's heart the more miserable one becomes. A satisfied mind is a great asset. Under all circumstances, adverse or favourable, one should remain satisfied and utilise his precious time in chanting and attentively hearing, with the application of the mind, the holy name of the Lord. Thoughts of this world will make us miserable but by cultivating thoughts of God we will become blissful in love of God.

Love for Krishna is a priceless substance. All wealth of this world is temporary. The true wealth of a person is love for Krishna. The chanting of the holy name Krishna bestows the priceless treasure of love of God within our hearts and this is the desired aim of life.
10. The art of dying

In the epic Mahabharat, there is narrated an interesting episode in which an extraterrestrial being, a Yaksha, poses some intriguing questions to Maharaj Yudhishtar, the eldest among the Pandavs. One of his queries is:

O Pandav, what is the most amazing thing in this world?

Maharaj Yudhishtar replies, "The most amazing thing in this world is that though everyone who has taken birth is sure to die and we know that there is no exception to this rule, and we see and hear of other people's deaths everyday, yet those who live, live as if there is no death for them. They live as if they are going to live for ever, and do not utilise their precious life to prepare themselves for death so that before they meet with their death they should cross over this mortal world's repetitive cycle of birth and death."

Just as there are laws of science governing matter, similarly there are laws of life and consciousness. In the renowned scripture, the Bhagvad Gita, which is a treatise on life and consciousness, Krishna says,

"Whatever state of mental being one remembers at the time of death that same state he will certainly attain in his next life."

"And whosoever at the time of death remembers Me (God) alone, he will come to Me and attain his eternal spiritual nature."

So by remembering God at the time of death we can go to him. However this is not as simple as it may seem. Indeed to remember God at the time of death is very difficult and is possible only by the mercy of God. For one whose mind is not pure it is not possible. At the time of death all bodily functions fall apart and one is helpless. Whether one can remember God or not at the time of death depends on God's mercy. In the Bhagvad Gita, Lord Krishna says, "I am seated in everyone's heart and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness." God is the giver of memory. It is by his mercy alone that we can remember him at the time of death. Only one who has a pure mind attained by full devotion and love for God can remember him at the time of death. If we sincerely cultivate love of God during our life then by his mercy alone, we can remember him while dying. All of us have to meet with our death alone one day. It is one's individual duty to reform one's mentality since everyone is individually responsible for his life.

"Sansar chinta chitta samaan ; Hari chintan amrit paan" (Hindi language) which means: "Anxieties of this world are like the flames of pyre, whereas thoughts of God are the nectar of immortality." Thoughts of sensual enjoyment and worldly worries simply burn our hearts. Therefore one should give up all anxiety to enjoy the senses and cultivate thoughts of God. Thus established in the self one can become peaceful. Thoughts and desires are paramount in shaping one's destiny. Our desires at the time of death decide where we will go and what type of body we will get in our next life. The impressions our minds have are of our desires and the karma we performed during our life and these are visible to us on the platform of the mind while dying. One who has not practised devotion to God during his life will find it difficult to remember God at the time of death. Therefore it is essential that we practice remembrance of and devotion to God from the beginning of our life continuously. Death is certain. But it is uncertain when it will be upon us. One should live his life cultivating love of God so that when death comes one can remember God and thus one will not have to look back at his life with regret. If one dedicates his life to cultivating thoughts of God avoiding sinful life then one can depart remembering God chanting his holy names - 'Haray Krishna haray Raam' - to enter liberated blissful life. Otherwise if one wastes his life in trivial worldly pursuits then there is only regret in the end because death will drag one away to reap the fruit of one's karma in a repetition of the painful cycle of birth and death in a species of life befitting one' mentality. So we should prepare now so that we are prepared for death which may come at any time. The yogic situation is that of complete detachment from sensual engagements. Yoga means to link with God in love while retaining one's individuality.

Death does not necessarily give a prior notice. It can come at any age - to the young or old. It is the final examination of our life. So we should live a life practising devotion to God so that our life is meaningful and we can remember him at the time of death and thus go to him. For one who practices remembrance of God, even if he is not fully successful, will retain his spiritual development and will be given an opportunity to further develop his love for God in his next life.

In Bhagvad Gita, Lord Krishna says, "For one who always remembers me, I am the swift deliver from this world of birth and death." Meditation means to think constantly about a particular subject. For one who remembers Krishna always this remembrance leads to attraction, attachment and gradually love for Krishna. A person who loves God has attained eternal life.

The art of remembrance at end is exemplified by the account of Maharaj Parikshit's life and death as given in the Shrimad Bhagvat Mahapurana which is the spotless Vedic scripture containing the glories and pastimes of God with detailed spiritual knowledge. It begins with the story of Maharaja Parikshit, a saintly king of India, the son of Abhimanyu and Uttara, and the grandson of the famous Pandava, Arjun to whom Krishna spoke the Bhagvad Gita.

Maharaj Parikshit was cursed by the son of a Brahman to die of snake bite in one week's time. At that time the great sages of the universe gathered at the bank of the holy river Ganga and the liberated self-realised sage Shukdev Goswami spoke the Srimad Bhagvat to Maharaj Parikshit as he was questioned by the king.

Maharaj Parikshit worshipped Shukdev Goswami and inquired, "O holy sage, kindly show the way to perfection in life for everyone, and especially for one who is about to die. What should he speak, hear, remember, worship and meditate on? How should he utilise his limited time? "

The Shrimad Bhagvat Mahapuran containing some 18000 verses is spoken in response to this query. Shukdev Goswami answered that one should hear and chant the glories of God's name, fame, qualities and pastimes. Thus he should fix his mind without deviation on God. He then described the various Avtars (descents) of God and their teachings and pastimes when they appeared in the material universe. He described the origin and meaning of life, the creation, nature and purpose of the material world. He described the reason for bondage of the soul in the material world and the formation of false ego, material mind and intelligence and the senses. He described reincarnation and the journey of the soul in various species of life and the heavenly and hellish material worlds; the glories of the holy name and many related topics with factual stories. He further gave elaborate treatise on psychology describing the mind as the director of our destiny. Desire is the principal ruler of our destiny. The soul has embraced the material mind due to false ego and is thus misled into following the mind's desires and dictates which are not our own. If we cleanse our mind of lusty desire then we will be able to see our self and recognise our real nature. The soul's sole desire is love of God. If we realise and cultivate this pure desire then our mind will liberate us from the clutches of the cycle of birth and death. The glories of God's descents (Avatars) namely Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Nrsimha, Vaman, Parshuram, Raam, Balram, Buddha and Kalki avatars should all be heard and remembered. When God descends to this world in one of his eternal forms he is called an avatar. Further Shukdev Goswami described the ultimate loving pastimes of God in his original form Krishna - the origin of all his avatars and expansions. Krishna's glories and pastimes are nectar for everyone and one should hear, read and remember these daily. These are the ultimate pastimes of God and thus we can know about God's qualities and activities. By hearing these our attraction for Krishna will grow and we will wake up to the reality. Srimad Bhagvatam is written in twelve Cantos each containing many parts.

Lord Chaitanya has recommended reading and hearing of the scripture Shrimad Bhagvat Mahapurana daily, and constant chanting of the holy names especially continuous repetitive chanting of the mantra:

Haray Krishna Haray Krishna Krishna Krishna Haray Haray

Haray Raam Haray Raam Raam Raam Haray Haray.

Srimad Bhagvatam is an incomparable scripture par excellence. By reading and hearing it, we can understand life and its meaning and develop our love of God. If we want to develop our love for God then we should know who he is, his name, activities and qualities and our relationship with Him. Though he loves all, yet he is especially inclined to those who love him. His loving relationships are described in the Srimad Bhagvatam. As we remember his wonderful qualities and uncommon pastimes, our attraction for him will grow. Gradually this attraction will lead to increasing attachment and ultimately intense love of God within our hearts.

Maharaj Parikshit did not waste a single moment. He detached himself completely from all sensual and temporary engagements of this world such as family, society, entertainment and news etc. of this world. For one who has understood himself to be eternal these are meaningless. He concentrates on the Reality. Society, family, friends are merely passing dreams. Other than God, our best friend, who can help us? The human life time is like a flash in eternity but it can be used as a springboard to propel oneself to eternal life. Maharaj Parikshit continuously heard the glories of Krishna and His various Avatars the whole week. He was already a saintly king. When the time for his death due to snake bite arrived, he was situated in remembrance and meditation on Krishna, Krishna's name, fame, qualities and activities and so he was not pained by death. Rather he was liberated from this material tabernacle since he was a self-realised soul.

When the cat catches a rat in her mouth, the rat is crushed by death but when the cat picks up her kitten with the mouth for nursing, the kitten is not pained. Similarly broadly speaking death also awards two different types of results.

The first type of death is that of the ordinary mortal who is of impure mind and has not cultivated love of God. For him death simply means to continue in the jurisdiction of the cycle of birth and death in the material world. At death the subtle body of mind, intelligence and false ego carries the soul into another womb befitting his mentality. The mortals range from the pious, in-between to the sinful ones. The pious die peacefully and are promoted to the temporary heavenly planets for enjoyment and later return as human beings among the pious, to our mortal world. The in-between ones remain in the middle planetary systems in various species. And the sinful die horribly and go to the hellish worlds for punishment after which they transmigrate through various beastly species of life according to their karma till they get a human birth among the sinful who are accustomed to eating non-vegetarian foods and intoxication.

Ordinarily those who commit suicide reject the precious human body which is a gift from God and become ghosts. Suicide is a grievous sin and an unfortunate act which instead of solving any problem only increases the suffering of the person. Ghosts have the subtle body of mind, intelligence and false ego covering the soul. While it is possible to satisfy one's material desires with one's physical body using the working senses, the ghosts do not have the physical body for doing so and consequently they create only disturbance out of frustration at being unable to satisfy their desires. Thus they suffer being trapped in an unfortunate predicament till they can again get a physical body in some species of life according to their karma.

The second type of death is that of the person who has achieved love of God and is therefore of a pure mind. For such a person death is a celebration. He is not pained by death. Rather he is liberated from the bondage of a material body which is subject to birth, growth, decay and death. The liberated soul sheds the subtle body of mind, intelligence and false ego also, and achieves an eternal life of bliss in loving relationship with God. He goes to the immortal spiritual world where everyone is eternally youthful, free of all anxiety, and where decay disease and death do not exist. That is the world of life which is uncontaminated by matter.

We are presently residing in the world of matter in which living beings are entrapped in material bodies. But this world of matter is a foreign atmosphere for the spiritual living beings. The living beings' natural habitat is the world of life which is full of love and pleasure and is lit by the effulgence emanating from the body of God, unlike our dark material worlds which are lit by the light of the sun or moon. All of God's appearances in the material universe such as Raam, Krishna, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, have taught that this temporary material world is not our actual home. Our actual home is our father's abode - the kingdom of God. All of us - the ordinary, the saints or the devils, the rich or the poor - are all sons of God only. He is the original cause of all causes. The humble sons, who are in harmony with God's will, live in freedom with him; and the rebellious sons who are misled by false ego are encased in material bodies and live imprisoned in the material world. This material world is required only for the rebellious souls, just as a prison is required only for the criminals. The only wise policy is to reform our mentality so that we may be released from this prison of death. God made us for love. Our desires will find complete fulfilment in loving Krishna. This world is only a lunatic asylum created for the mad whose desires have gone astray being deviated from loving God. Those who dance to Krishna's tune live in harmony and love with him. But those who want to create discord and blow their own trumpet live imprisoned within these material bodies unable to experience the loving bliss of reality. God has created different species of life to house different persons according to their varied desires. Every soul is a person encased within these bodies in different species. All species of life - the humans, the beasts, birds, aquatics, reptiles, plants, insects etc. are all God's children only, loitering around in ignorance in different garbs in the material world oblivious of their identity and forgetful of reality and their sweet loving relationship with God. What need is there for God's children to suffer and struggle in the material world? What need is there for a prince to labour or beg in the street when his loving father, the king, wants him to live happily in the palace with him? If we only turn to our supreme father, God, who is sorry to see us suffer and who is eager to have us back in his kingdom, we will become happy. What can God do if we rebel against him? Love is by choice and not by force. He does not interfere with our free will to love him or not. Yet out of His compassion, He accompanies the living beings seated within their heart and gives good counsel to those who turn to Him. He also personally descends Himself or sends His devotees to this world to tell us to come back to Him and be happy. And He has also given us scriptures such as the Srimad Bhagvat Mahapurana and Bhagvad Gita to give us knowledge about the absolute truth; but unfortunately some people regard these scriptures and the eternal soul as mythology yet they regard as reality their perishable corpse like bodies which death will relegate to mythology in due course of time.

In this rare human birth we can cultivate our love for God. That is the only worthwhile use of this human body and the desired aim of life. What is the use of our life without loving God? He is our love and life and without loving Him our life is but an empty meaningless existence.

There is no success in this world. Our life here is much ado about nothing. Because of worldly attachments and lusty desires only, one is sentenced to death and condemned to live in this mortal world of birth and death. The noose of desires is the noose of death around our necks. One must renounce all desires to enjoy the senses if one wishes to be released from this Mrtyulok - the world of death. Our desire is properly reposed by loving God and thus we can be released from all impure desires by His mercy. This material world is the perverted reflection of reality and is situated in the mirror of our lusty desires. The aim of life is to eliminate misery and find happiness. Life is meant for happiness but what happiness can one find while in the mouth of death?

The movement of Time is imperceptible and everyone, including great kings, conquerors or scientists, is dragged away by death when the time is up. Cruel death does not even care for darling princesses. Everyone leaves empty handed and helplessly. Only the fruits of their good or bad deeds go with them. One who has achieved love of God, however, is no longer subject to the fruits of his past good or bad karma. The only success is to attain eternal life by loving God. He alone can give us shelter and save us from the inexorable onslaught of his invincible material nature. One should not die like the beasts or insects without attempting to cross over this ocean of birth and death. The hedonistic idea that we are not here for a long time, we are here for a good time; or as they say in Bengali language: " khabo, dabo aur morae jao ", which means - to indulge in eating, do some sensual nonsense and then die - is simply a short sighted animalistic idea which is contrary to one's eternal self interest. Those with impure minds must continue their life in some material body subject to birth and inevitable death. Thus it causes fear of annihilation in us even though we are eternal.

One who loves God steps on the head of death and achieves bliss and eternal life by the mercy of God. If one practices remembrance of God before death arrives and fixes his mind without deviation on God while quitting his body he will certainly attain the shelter of God. So let us practice this chanting, hearing and remembrance of God's name, fame, qualities and pastimes. This will deliver us from this world of birth and death which is a hopeless pit of deep darkness and ignorance. Birth and death, which pertain to the body only, are artificial impositions upon us. Immortality is not a dream. Rather immortality is our reality and the human body gives us the rare opportunity to achieve it. This human life is the golden opportunity to chant the holy name and thus attain immortality. Let it not pass us by. What do I gain if I gain the whole world but lose my self - the immortal soul? When one faces the grim reality of death one realises that one's puny science and all material endeavours are without essence and illusory relative to the reality, but by then it is too late. There is a Hindi proverb - 'ub puchtaye hote kya, jab chidian chug gyin khet' \- which in the present context means - 'What use is regret now after having wasted one's life in material pursuits.' One renowned scientist who denied the existence of the soul all his life changed his opinion prior to his death and said to a friend of his, "For me, the only reality is the soul now."

The relatives of the departing soul should also chant the holy name of God - the Haray Krishna mantra, Krishna, Raam. Grief at bereavement is natural due to our attachments. However Lord Krishna himself advises: "One should lament neither for the living nor the dead". The living being is eternal and he can never be annihilated. Death simply means that he is leaving this body (which is like a garment that the living being wears) and will continue to live elsewhere according to his desires and karma. This knowledge may help one to cope with one's grief which is due to our attachment. One should try to check one's grief because, though natural, it is not good for us. Worldly attachments are the source of sorrow. Remembering God we should try to transfer our attachment to Him. All of us belong to His family and the departed soul also is living some place else, according to his desires, in the one common family of God. Actually we never saw the person when he was alive; we only saw his body which still lies with us even after the person has departed. The relatives of the departed soul should gather and chant the holy names - Krishna, Raam - and read from scriptures Srimad Bhagvat Mahapuran, Bhagvad Gita and Ramayan which contain the fascinating teachings, glories and pastimes of God. This will greatly benefit the departed soul and the relatives. It is especially recommended that the gathered relatives should hear from the scripture - Garud Puran.

I have often seen in India that when a person dies, his relatives carry his body on a palanquin to the crematorium to assign it to flames on a pyre. While going there, everyone chants: "Raam naam satt hai", which means: "The holy name of Lord Raam is the eternal Truth." Death affirms this Truth. Time is precious and nothing can buy back Time past. So why are we so busy in the idle pursuit of our dreams of happiness in this temporary world? Why don't we instead utilise our precious time in chanting the holy names Krishna, Raam and realise the Truth now while we have the rare and invaluable human life.

In Bhaktivinod Thakur's hymns in Gitavali, Lord Chaitanya, singing the names of Krishna in the ecstasy of love, says to the people, "You spend your life uselessly sleeping at night and decorating your bodies during day. Just chant the holy names of Krishna - Mukund, Madhav, Yadav, Hari. You have achieved this rare human body. Don't you care for this precious gift? Worship Krishna, the son of Yashoda, now otherwise only sorrow and regret will be your lot at the time of death. With every rising and setting of the sun, a day passes and is lost. Why then do you remain idle and not worship the lord of your heart? You should understand this essential fact - human life is temporary and filled with various miseries. So take shelter of the holy name and engage in your eternal occupation of service to Krishna. Desiring to bless all living beings, the sweet name of Krishna has descended to this material world and shines like the sun in the sky of the heart destroying the darkness of ignorance. Other than Krishna, who else is your friend? Drink the nectar of the holy name Krishna to satisfy the soul. There is nothing except the holy name in the whole universe."

The holy name Krishna is the ultimate Reality. All peace and the bliss of love, which is our heart's desire, reside in the holy name Krishna. Krishna is known as Rasraj - the reservoir of all mellows of love. Those who pass their life without relishing the chanting of the holy name, which bestows love of God, live in vain. To cultivate and achieve love of God is the summum bonum of the meaning of life.

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About the author

The author belongs to the Vaishnav Chaitanya Gaudiya spiritual tradition in India. Previously he worked as a systems analyst with Govt. of Canada after graduation in electrical engineering and computer sciences from IIT Delhi and University of Ottawa.
