Discovering the Self and its relationship with GOD!
A Definition of God
Modern man’s concepts of God are many and varied. Children tend to
imagine an old man with a white beard. Many adults regard God as an
invisible force or a mentul concept or as all humanity, the universe, or
even oneself.
Who are you?… Are you your body? Or your mind? Or are you something
higher? Do you know who you are, or do you merely think you know? And
does it really matter? Our materialistic society, with its unenlightened
leadership, has made it virtually taboo to inquire into our real, higher
self. Instead we use our valuable time maintaining, decorating, and
pampering the body for its own sake. Might there be an alternative?
We are not introducing the caste system, in which any rascal born
in a brahmana family is automatically a brahmana. He may have the habits
of a fifth-class man, but he is accepted as first class because of his
birth in a brahmana family. We don’t accept that. We recognize a man as
first class who is trained as a brahmana. It doesn’t matter whether he
is Indian, European, or American; lowborn or highborn–it doesn’t
matter. Any intelligent man can be trained to adopt first-class habits.
We want to stop the nonsensical idea that we are imposing the Indian
caste system on our disciples. We are simply picking out men with first-
class intelligence and training them how to become first class in every
respect.
There are certain movements which are meant to save
human society from spiritual death. At present human society is being
misled by leaders who are blind, for they do not know the aim and
objective of human life, which is self-realization and the
reestablishment of our lost relationship with the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. That is the missing point. These movements try to enlighten human society in this important matter.
According to Vedic civilization, the perfection of life is to
realize one’s relationship with God. In the Bhagavad-gita,
which is accepted by all authorities in transcendental science as the
basis of all Vedic knowledge, we understand that not only human beings
but all living entities are parts and parcels of God. The parts are
meant for serving the whole, just as the legs, hands, fingers, and ears
are meant for serving the total body. We living entities, being parts
and parcels of God, are duty-bound to serve Him.
Actually our position is that we are always rendering service to
someone, either to our family, country, or society. If we have no one to
serve, sometimes we keep a pet cat or dog and render service to it. All
these factors prove that we are constitutionally meant to render
service, yet in spite of serving to the best of our ability, we are not
satisfied. Nor is the person to whom we are rendering that service
satisfied. On the material platform, everyone is frustrated. The reason
for this is that the service being rendered is not properly directed.
For example, if we want to render service to a tree, we must water the
root. If we pour water on the leaves, branches, and twigs, there is
little benefit. If the Supreme Personality of Godhead is served, all
other parts and parcels will be automatically satisfied. Consequently
all welfare activities as well as service to society, family, and nation
are realized by serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
It is the duty of every human being to understand his
constitutional position with God and to act accordingly. If this is
possible, then our lives become successful. Sometimes, however, we feel
challenging and say, “There is no God,” or “I am God,” or even, “I don’t
care for God.” But in actuality this challenging spirit will not save
us. God is there, and we can see Him at every moment. If we refuse to
see God in our life, then He will be present before us as cruel death.
If we do not choose to see Him in one feature, we will see Him in
another. There are different features of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead because He is the original root of the entire cosmic
manifestation. In one sense, it is not possible for us to escape Him.
Why is a man given a better chance to live than swine or other
animals? Why is a highly posted government officer given better
facilities for a comfortable life than an ordinary clerk? The answer is
very simple: the important officer has to discharge duties of a more
responsible nature than those of an ordinary clerk. Similarly, the human
being has to discharge higher duties than the animals, who are always
busy with filling their hungry stomachs. But by the laws of nature, the
modern animalistic standard of civilization has only increased the
problems of filling the stomach. When we approach some of these polished
animals for spiritual life, they say that they only want to work for the
satisfaction of their stomachs and that there is no necessity of
inquiring about the Godhead. Yet despite their eagerness to work hard,
there is always the question of unemployment and so many other
impediments incurred by the laws of nature. Despite this, they still
denounce the necessity of acknowledging the Godhead.
We are given this human form of life not just to work hard like the
swine or dog, but to attain the highest perfection of life. If we do not
want that perfection, then we will have to work very hard, for we will
be forced to by the laws of nature. In the closing days of Kali-yuga
(this present age) men will have to work hard like asses for only a
scrap of bread. This process has already begun, and every year the
necessity for harder work for lesser wages will increase. Yet human
beings are not meant to work hard like animals, and if a man fails to
discharge his duties as a human being, he is forced to transmigrate to
the lower species of life by the laws of nature. The Bhagavad-gita very
vividly describes how a spirit soul, by the laws of nature, takes his
birth and gets a suitable body and sense organs for enjoying matter in
the material world.
Birth in a well-to-do family solves the problem of having to find
sufficient food from the beginning of life, and later a comparatively
easier and more comfortable way of life can be led. Being so situated,
one has a good chance to make progress in spiritual realization, but as
ill luck would have it, due to the influence of the present iron age
(which is full of machines and mechanical people) the sons of the
wealthy are misguided for sense enjoyment, and they forget the good
chance they have for spiritual enlightenment. Therefore nature, by her
laws, is setting fires in these golden homes. It was the golden city of
Lanka, under the regime of the demoniac Ravana, that was burned to
ashes. That is the law of nature.
The human body is an excellent vehicle by which we can reach
eternal life. It is a rare and very important boat for crossing over the
ocean of nescience which is material existence. On this boat there is
the service of an expert boatman, the spiritual master. By divine grace,
the boat plies the water in a favorable wind. With all these auspicious
factors, who would not take the opportunity to cross over the ocean of
nescience? If one neglects this good chance, it should be known that he
is simply committing suicide.
A religion teaches one how to love God without any
motive. If I serve God for some profit, that is business–not love. Real
love of God is ahaituky apratihata: it cannot be checked by any material
cause. It is unconditional. If one actually wants to love God, there is
no impediment. One can love Him whether one is poor or rich, young or
old, black or white.
We are not introducing the caste system, in which any rascal born
in a brahmana family is automatically a brahmana. He may have the habits
of a fifth-class man, but he is accepted as first class because of his
birth in a brahmana family. We don’t accept that. We recognize a man as
first class who is trained as a brahmana. It doesn’t matter whether he
is Indian, European, or American; lowborn or highborn–it doesn’t
matter. Any intelligent man can be trained to adopt first-class habits.
We want to stop the nonsensical idea that we are imposing the Indian
caste system on our disciples. We are simply picking out men with first-
class intelligence and training them how to become first class in every
respect.
Speculative knowledge of God will lead us nowhere. If a boy wants
to know who his father is, the simple process is to ask his mother. The
mother will then say, “This is your father.” This is the way of perfect
knowledge. Of course, one may speculate about one’s father, wondering if
this is the man or if that is the man, and one may wander over the whole
city, asking, “Are you my father? Are you my father?” The knowledge
derived from such a process, however, will always remain imperfect. One
will never find his father in this way. The simple process is to take
the knowledge from an authority–in this case, the mother. She simply
says, “My dear boy, here is your father.” In this way our knowledge is
perfect. Transcendental knowledge is similar. I was just previously
speaking of a spiritual world. This spiritual world is not subject to
our speculation. God says, “There is a spiritual world, and that is My
headquarters.” In this way we receive knowledge from Krsna, the best
authority. We may not be perfect, but our knowledge is perfect because
it is received from the perfect source.
The heart is a mirror. It is like a camera. Just as a camera takes all kinds of
pictures of days and nights, so also our heart takes pictures and keeps
them in an unconscious state. Psychologists know this. The heart takes
so many pictures, and therefore it becomes covered. We do not know when
it has begun, but it is a fact that because there is material contact,
our real identity is covered.
The gross materialists who ignore their relationship with God are
described in the Bhagavad-gita as mudhas. Mudha means “ass,” “donkey.”
Those who are working very, very hard to earn money are compared to the
donkey. They will eat the same four capatis [whole-wheat bread-patties]
daily, but they are unnecessarily working to earn thousands of dollars.
And others are described as naradhama. Naradhama means “the lowest of
mankind.” The human form of life is meant for God realization. It is the
right of man to try to realize God. One who understands Brahman, God, is
a brahmana, not others. So that is the duty of this human form of life.
In every human society there is some system that is called “religion”
and by which one may try to understand God. It doesn’t matter whether it
is the Christian religion, the Muhammadan religion, or the Hindu
religion. It doesn’t matter. The system is to understand God and our
relationship with Him. That’s all. This is the duty of the human beings,
and if this duty is ignored in human society, then it is animal society.
Animals have no power to understand what is God and their relationship
with God. Their only interests are eating, sleeping, mating, and
defending. If we are only concerned with these things, then what are we?
We are animals. Therefore the Bhagavad-gita says that those who ignore
this opportunity are the “lowest of mankind.” They got births and yet
did not utilize it for God realization but simply for the animal
propensities. Therefore they are naradhama, the lowest of mankind. And
there are other persons who are very proud of their knowledge. But what
is that knowledge? “There is no God. I am God.” Their actual knowledge
has been taken away by maya. If they are God, then how have they become
dog? There are so many arguments against them, but they simply defy God.
Atheism. Because they have taken to the process of atheism, their actual
knowledge is stolen away. Actual knowledge means to know what is God and
our relationship with God. If one does not know this, then it is to be
understood that his knowledge has been taken away by maya.
So in this way, if we try to understand our relationship with God,
there are ways and means. There are books, and there is knowledge, so
why not take advantage of them? Everyone should take advantage of this
knowledge. Try to understand that in the Bhagavad-gita and other Vedic
literatures, everywhere, it is said that God is great and that although
we are qualitatively one with God, we are minute. The ocean and the
minute particle of water have the same quality, but the quantity of salt
in the drop of water and the quantity of salt in the ocean are
different. They are qualitatively one but quantitatively different.
Similarly, God is all-powerful, and we have some power. God creates
everything, and we can create a small machine to fly, just like the
small machines with which children play. But God can create millions of
planets flying in the air. That is the qualification of God. You cannot
create any planets. Even if you can create a planet, what is the benefit
of that? There are millions of planets created by God. But you also have
the creative power. God has power, and you have power. But His is so
great that yours cannot compare to it. If you say, “I am God,” that is
foolishness. You can claim that you are God, but what acts have you
performed so extraordinary that you can claim that you are God? This is
ignorance. The knowledge of one who thinks himself God has been taken
away by the spell of maya. So our relationship is that God is great and
we are minute. In the Bhagavad-gita Krsna clearly says, “All living
entities are My parts and parcels. Qualitatively they are one with Me,
but quantitatively they are different.” So we are simultaneously one
with and different from God. That is our relationship. We are one
because we have the same qualities as God. But if we study ourselves
minutely, we will find that although we have some great qualities, God
has them all in greater quantities.
We cannot have anything that is not in God. That is not possible.
Therefore in the Vedanta-sutra it is said that everything that we have
is also found in God. It is emanating from God. So our relationship is
that because we are small, because we are minute, we are the eternal
servitors of God. In this material world also, in ordinary behavior, we
see that a man goes to serve another man because the other man is
greater than he and can pay him a nice salary. So naturally the
conclusion is that if we are small, our duty is to serve God. We have no
other business. We are all different parts and parcels of the original
entity.
A screw that is connected with a machine is valuable because it is
working with the whole machine. And if the screw is taken away from the
machine, or if it is faulty, it is worthless. My finger is worth
millions of dollars as long as it is attached to this body and is
serving the body. And if it is cut off from this body, then what is it
worth? Nothing. Similarly, our relationship is that we are very small
particles of God; therefore our duty is to dovetail our energies with
Him and cooperate with Him. That is our relationship. Otherwise we are
worthless. We are cut off. When the finger becomes useless the doctor
says, “Oh, amputate this finger. Otherwise the body will be poisoned.”
Similarly, when we become godless we are cut off from our relationship
with God and suffer in this material world. If we try to join again with
the Supreme Lord, then our relationship is revived.
As far as the individual soul is concerned, it is originally a part
and parcel of this pleasure potency, of the reservoir of pleasure
Himself. However, due to contact with material nature, the soul has
forgotten its actual position and has become trapped in the evolutionary
process of transmigration from one body to another. Thus one struggles
hard for existence. Now we must extricate ourselves from the sufferings
of the struggle, from the countless transmigrations that force us to
suffer the miseries of birth, old age, disease, and death, and come to
the point of our eternal life in Krsna consciousness. That eternal life
is possible. If one tries his best in this human form of life, in his
next life he will get a spiritual body. The spiritual body is already
within the gross material body, but it will develop only as soon as one
becomes free from the contamination of this material existence. That is
the aim of human life and the actual self-interest of all people. Self-
interest is actually realizing, “I am part and parcel of God. I have to
return to the kingdom of God and join with Him.” Just as we have a
social life here, God has a social life in the spiritual kingdom, and we
can join Him there. It is not that after finishing this body we become
void.
“Never was there a
time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings, nor in the
future shall any of us cease to be.” Our existence is therefore eternal,
and the changes of birth and death are simply the changes of the
temporary material bodies.
<<Note: The Contents of this page is a selected extract from one of the book named “The Science of Self Realization” published by ISKCON. [ This page is purely for knowledge sake and not intended to promote any religion ] I express my thanks and warm regards to ISKCON society >>
