Everything depends on practice

Expressions researched:
"everything depends on practice"

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

The Kṛṣṇa conscious person is sleeping, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. This can be done. If you practice this Hare Kṛṣṇa, even in sleeping you'll chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Everything depends on practice. Everything we acquire by spiritual practice.

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Boston, April 28, 1969:

Material enjoyment means eating, sleeping, mating and defending. You can make these four principles in different varieties or different grades, but these are the principles of material enjoyment. A dog is eating; you are also eating. So your eating and dog's eating, difference is that a dog can eat even stool, but you cannot. But you cannot. You have to arrange for palatable dishes just befitting human consumption. So there, there are different kinds of eating. But the eating principle is there, that's all. One is satisfied with stool-eating, and one is satisfied by eating kṛṣṇa-prasādam. That is the difference. And between the stool and kṛṣṇa-prasādam there are many varieties and grades, according to different kinds of... Similarly, sleeping. Sleeping also, the dog is also sleeping on the side of a street without any difficulty. And the king is sleeping on the palace, very nice apartment. And a Kṛṣṇa conscious person, he's also sleeping. But there are different grades. The Kṛṣṇa conscious person is sleeping, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. This can be done. If you practice this Hare Kṛṣṇa, even in sleeping you'll chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Everything depends on practice. Abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena cetasā nānya-gāminā (BG 8.8). Everything we acquire by spiritual practice. Now, this dancing, this dancing... There is another kind of dancing also in the hotels. The same boys and girls are dancing. Here the boys and girls are dancing. But that two different kinds of dancing, there is much difference.

So activities of the living entity within this material world, there are different kinds, not that one kind of activity, one kind of eating, one kind of sleeping, no. According to the different kinds of consciousness, there are different kinds of activities: eating, sleeping, mating and defending. The last meeting we discussed that we have all these demands because we have got this body, but the demands must be very nicely adjusted, not that, because I have got demand of this body, therefore I'll have to imitate like cats and dogs and hogs. No. That is not civilization. The dog has also got body, and the dog has got also bodily demands. Similarly, a Kṛṣṇa conscious person, he has got this body and he has got also bodily demands, but the, I mean to say, standard is different. That standard you have to change.

1968 Conversations and Morning Walks

Practically everything depends on practice. So this whole Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to practice transferring from one kind of consciousness to another. So we require practice.

Morning Walk at Stow Lake -- March 23, 1968, San Francisco:

Devotee (1): Sometimes, well, if you (we) slept less, we could do more for Kṛṣṇa, but at the same time you (we) would be very tired. I mean, you could be... Well, you could regulate that.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Practically everything depends on practice. Abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena cetasā nānya-gāminā (BG 8.8). Abhyāsa-yoga. Abhyāsa-yoga means yoga practice... Practice it. So this whole Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to practice transferring from one kind of consciousness to another. So we require practice. Just like one man can run few miles. I cannot run even one mile. He has practiced. We see some boys, they run, run on. They practice. Practice it. Strength of the heart increasing by practice. And if I run, my heart will be palpitating. Because I have no practice. So by practice, everything can be attained.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

The sex pleasure is foremost here in this material world. They have got so much transcendental spiritual pleasure, this sex pleasure—they are astonished: is that pleasure? (Makes spitting sound) Phu! Yad-avadhi mama cetaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravinde nava-nava-rasa-dhāma... That stage is possible. Still there are so many brahmacārīs. So everything depends on practice. Abhyāsa yoga-yuktena (BG 8.8). That requires determination.

Garden Conversation -- June 23, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Kulādri: Rūpa Gosvāmī says bhajana-kriyā and then anārtha-nivṛtti. Then all the unwanted things go away.

Prabhupāda: First of all, beginning with kṛṣṇe bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya. So bhakti, beginning is ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅga bhajana-kriyā anartha-nivṛttiḥ (Cc. Madhya 23.14-15). The material world means simply creating unnecessary duties. Simply anartha. Any material activities, you take, analyze, it is simply useless. Therefore we have called anartha. Anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt. Take for example we say no meat-eating. So what is the difficulty there? I have seen in the airplane, they eat meat, a little piece, not a lump. But because everyone is eating little, little, we require huge number of slaughterhouses. But if one decides, "I have got so many preparations to eat, so why shall I eat little meat?" (indistinct) I shall forego. Immediately he is saved from so many sinful activities. It is not that he will die if he does not eat a little piece of meat, he will die. He'll not die. We are not dying, and we don't take. So similarly everyone, without eating meat, he can live very nicely. In the whole principle, there is no difficulty. So on this principle this whole world is merged into sinful activity. (Sanskrit), unnecessary. That is material position-unnecessarily creating trouble. There is no necessity. But on account of ignorance, foolish association, sinful life, more and more and more and more going on. Andhā yathāndhair upagīyamānāḥ. And the deed is encouraged: "Yes, you do this. Enjoy life." What is his enjoyment? If anyone sees slaughterhouse, will he enjoy? Eh? What is...? He visits a slaughterhouse, is it enjoyment? But he takes as enjoyment. (Sanskrit), unnecessary, without any meaning. Mad, just like a madman acts, without any meaning. The monkey acts without any meaning. (Sanskrit), unnecessarily creating disturbance. (Sanskrit) sākṣād bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje. If you take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then all (Sanskrit) is finished. (Sanskrit) We are no more interested in unnecessary things. Illicit sex—one side they are encouraging contraceptive method, so why they'll not stop illicit sex, then automatically there is contraceptive method? So one side there is encouraged, contraceptive method, another, unlimited, unrestricted sex. This is their civilization. Why not teach him not to practice illicit sex? Then everything is done automatically. There's no need of contraceptive method. If one is trained up to indulge in sex only for begetting nice children, there is already contraceptive method. There is no necessity of unnecessarily producing cats and dogs children. So that requires training, determination. The śāstra says you should not become father if you cannot train up your children to save him from death. Who is the father who's training? To save him from the cycle of birth and death means to make him Kṛṣṇa conscious. So if you are not yourself Kṛṣṇa conscious, how you can train up your children to become Kṛṣṇa conscious? This is determination, that "If I cannot train my children to become Kṛṣṇa conscious and thus avoid the botheration of birth and death, I shall not have sex." That determination will save so many troubles. That can be done by practice. By engaging the mind in Kṛṣṇa, it is possible. The more you advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you'll lose interest in this sex life. In Vaikuṇṭha there is no sex life because the sex pleasure is not the foremost pleasure in the Vaikuṇṭhaloka. The sex pleasure is foremost here in this material world. They have got so much transcendental spiritual pleasure, this sex pleasure—they are astonished: is that pleasure? (Makes spitting sound) Phu! Yad-avadhi mama cetaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravinde nava-nava-rasa-dhāma... That stage is possible. Still there are so many brahmacārīs. So everything depends on practice. Abhyāsa yoga-yuktena (BG 8.8). That requires determination.