The Nectar of Instruction - Text 02: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 00:28, 7 July 2017
Pages in category "The Nectar of Instruction - Text 02"
The following 98 pages are in this category, out of 98 total.
A
- Accepting some of the scriptural rules & regulations for immediate benefit, as utilitarians advocate, is called niyama-agraha, and neglecting the rules and regulations of the sastras, which are meant for spiritual development, is called niyama-agraha
- According to nature's arrangement, living entities lower on the evolutionary scale do not eat or collect more than necessary. Consequently in the animal kingdom there is generally no economic problem or scarcity of necessities
- According to scriptures, this collecting of more than necessary (atyahara) is prohibited. Now the entire world is suffering because of it
- According to Srimad-Bhagavatam, the endeavor of philosophical speculators to write volumes of books on dry philosophy devoid of Krsna consciousness is entirely futile
- Actually all this is extended sense gratification, from personal to communal to social. This may all be very good from the material point of view, but such activities have no spiritual value
- All attempts to acquire such material benefits or so-called spiritual advancement are impediments on the path of Krsna consciousness
- Always anxious to fulfill their unlimited desires for sense gratification, they (materialists) are conspicuous by their ability to exploit their fellow living beings
- Another man may see the money and decide to let it remain there, thinking that he should not touch another's property. Although this second man does not steal the money for his own purposes, he is unaware of its proper use
- Associating with worldly-minded persons who are not interested in Krsna consciousness
- Association with those engaged in a similar line of business is very conducive to advancement in that business. Consequently materialistic persons form various associations and clubs to enhance their endeavors
B
- Being subordinate as eternal servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the jivatmas, or atomic living entities, must remain under the control of either the internal or external potency
- Bhagavad-Gita says, "O son of Prtha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the S P of Godhead, original and inexhaustible"
- Bhukti-kamis, who are interested in material happiness, mukti-kamis, who desire liberation by merging in the existence of the formless Absolute (Brahman), and siddhi-kamis, who desire the perfection of mystic yoga practice, are classified as atyaharis
- By God's arrangement there is sufficient scope for the production of milk and grains for human beings all over the world
- By taking such instructions from higher authorities, one can actually become situated in perfect knowledge and give real meaning to life
C
- Collecting and eating more than necessary also causes prayasa, or unnecessary endeavor. By God's arrangement, anyone in any part of the world can live very peacefully if he has some land and a milk cow
- Cripple-minded persons, always engaged in satisfying their senses, sometimes expand their activities in order to do good for others through some "ism" like nationalism, humanitarianism or altruism
E
- Even though we require economic development, true religion allows it only for supplying the bare necessities of material existence
- Every intelligent man should purify his consciousness and rid himself of the above-mentioned six hindrances to devotional service by taking wholehearted shelter of this Krsna consciousness movement
- Everyone requires possessions such as food grains, clothing, money and other things necessary for the maintenance of the body, but one should not collect more than necessary for his actual basic needs
- Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord
F
- For example, in the business world we find such institutions as the stock exchange and chamber of commerce
- Fortunately, man has been given higher intelligence for the cultivation of Krsna consciousness, or the understanding of God, one's relationship with Him, and the ultimate goal of life, love of God
- Furthermore, one who is engaged in the ultimate occupational service should never use material gain to cultivate sense gratification
H
- Human life is meant for God realization, and the human being is given higher intelligence for this purpose. Those who believe that this higher intelligence is meant to attain a higher state should follow the instructions of the Vedic literatures
- Human life is meant for plain living and high thinking. Since all conditioned living beings are under the control of the Lord's third energy, this material world is designed so that one is obliged to work
I
- If a bag of rice is placed in a public place, birds will come to eat a few grains and go away. A human being, however, will take away the whole bag. He will eat all his stomach can hold and then try to keep the rest in storage
- If our endeavor (prayasa) is not to inquire about the Absolute Truth, we will simply increase our endeavor to satisfy our artificial needs. A spiritual aspirant should avoid mundane endeavor
- If people are advised not to collect too many goods, eat too much or work unnecessarily to possess artificial amenities, they think they are being advised to return to a primitive way of life
- If this natural principle is followed, there will be no difficulty in maintaining the body
- In addition, all problems of economic or political maladjustment and instability will be solved
- In human society there are various religious conceptions characterized as Hindu, Christian, Hebrew, Mohammedan, Buddhist and so on, for without religion, human society is no better than animal society
- In the above-quoted verse from Bhagavad-gita, the words daivim prakrtim refer to the control of the internal potency, or pleasure potency, of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- In the material world one has to work for the maintenance of the body and soul, but how can one perform such work in a way that is favorable for the execution of Krsna consciousness
- In the Western countries old men, retired from active life, play cards, fish, watch television and debate about useless socio-political schemes. All these and other frivolous activities are included in the prajalpa category
- Indeed, all living entities within this material world are under the control of mahamaya, whose business is to subject them to the influence of threefold miseries
- Instead of using his higher intelligence to cultivate God consciousness, so-called intelligent men misuse their intelligence to produce many unnecessary and unwanted things
- Intelligent persons interested in Krsna consciousness should never take part in such activities
- Interested only in getting more and more money for their sons and grandsons, such foolish persons do not even know what their position is going to be in the next life. There are many incidents that illustrate this point
- It so happened that when this very cobbler came to his former house, his former sons and grandsons beat him with shoes. Unless the karmis and jnanis become interested in KC, they will simply continue to waste their life in fruitless activities
J
- Jana-sanga refers to associating with persons not interested in Krsna consciousness. One should strictly avoid such association. Srila Narottama dasa Thakura has therefore advised us to live only in the association of Krsna conscious devotees
- Jivasya tattva jijnasa: the real purpose of life is to inquire about the Absolute Truth
K
- Karmis labor to accumulate more and more money for future generations only because they do not know their future position
- Krsna conscious devotees know very well that this material world is designed by the complete arrangement of the Lord to fulfill all the necessities of life for all living beings, without their having to encroach upon the life or rights of one another
M
O
- Once a great karmi accumulated a vast fortune for his sons and grandsons, but later, according to his karma, he took his birth in a cobbler's house located near the building which in his previous life he had constructed for his children
- One should also avoid association with Mayavadis, who simply blaspheme Vaisnavas
- One should always engage in the service of the Lord in the association of the Lord's devotees
- One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong
- One's devotional service is spoiled when he becomes too entangled in overendeavoring for mundane things that are very difficult to obtain
- One's devotional service is spoiled when he becomes too entangled in the following six activities: eating more than necessary or collecting more funds than required
R
- Religion entails understanding the laws of God because the proper execution of these laws ultimately leads one out of material entanglement. That is the true purpose of religion
- Religion is meant for attaining emancipation, not for getting bread. Sometimes human society manufactures a system of so-called religion aimed at material advancement, but that is far from the purpose of true dharma
S
- Simply transferring wealth from capitalists to communists cannot solve the problem of modern politics, for it has been demonstrated that when a communist gets money, he uses it for his own sense gratification
- So-called civilized man, not caring for God realization, utilizes his intelligence to get more than necessary and simply eat to satisfy the tongue
- Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura writes in his Anuvrtti commentary that too much endeavor to acquire knowledge on the part of mental speculators or dry philosophers falls within the category of atyahara
T
- The basis of such activity is sense gratification, either personal or extended. Only when a person gratifies the senses of the Supreme Lord can he be called a mahatma, or broadminded person
- The conditioned souls, subjected to these three miseries by the control of the external energy, suffer various difficulties
- The first step in human civilization consists of occupational engagements performed according to the scriptural injunctions. The higher intelligence of a human being should be trained to understand basic dharma
- The Krsna conscious ideology states that all wealth belongs to Krsna. Thus unless all wealth comes under the administration of Krsna, there can be no solution to the economic problem of mankind
- The living entities constitute the marginal potency, and they are situated between the internal and external Potencies
- The main problem confronting the conditioned souls is the repetition of birth, old age, disease and death
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead has three primary energies, or potencies. The first is called antaranga-sakti, or the internal potency. The second is called tatastha-sakti, or the marginal potency
- The third man does not steal the money to spend for himself, nor does he neglect it and let it lie in the street. By taking it and delivering it to the man who has lost it, this man is both honest and wise
- The third man who sees the hundred-dollar bill may pick it up, find the man who lost it and deliver it to him
- The wealth of the world actually belongs to Krsna, and every living entity, man and animal, has the birthright to use God's property for his maintenance
- The wealth of the world should be used for the welfare of all living entities, for that is the plan of Mother Nature. Everyone has the right to live by utilizing the wealth of the Lord
- The word agraha means "eagerness to accept," and agraha means "failure to accept." By the addition of either of these two words to the word niyama ("rules and regulations"), the word niyamagraha is formed
- The word mahatma refers to those who are broadminded, not cripple-minded
- The work of karmis who write volumes of books on economic development also falls within the category of atyahara
- There is no need for man to move from one place to another to earn a livelihood, for one can produce food grains locally and get milk from cows. That can solve all economic problems
- They (cripple-minded persons) may reject personal sense gratification for the sense gratification of others, like the members of their family, community or society - either national or international
- They (materialists) devise many systems - such as capitalism and materialistic communism - to advance their material position. They are not interested in the laws of God or in a higher goal
- They should strictly follow the regulative principles by avoiding illicit sex, meat-eating, gambling and intoxication
- This complete arrangement affords the proper quota of wealth for everyone according to his real needs, and thus everyone may live peacefully according to the principle of plain living and high thinking
- This is the position of a mahatma. If one is not a mahatma, he is a duratma, or a cripple-minded person. Such mentally crippled duratmas are put under the control of the Lord's external potency, mahamaya
- This Krsna consciousness movement offers a spiritual community that can bring about a peaceful condition in the world
- This pleasure potency is manifested as Srimati Radharani, or Her expansion Laksmi, the goddess of fortune. When the individual jiva souls are under the control of the internal energy, their only engagement is the satisfaction of Krsna, or Visnu
- This pure consciousness is awakened by the proper spiritual education and practice offered scientifically by the Krsna consciousness movement
- Those interested in Krsna consciousness should not be eager to accept rules and regulations for economic advancement, yet they should very faithfully accept scriptural rules and regulations for the advancement of Krsna consciousness
- Those outside of the Krsna consciousness movement are interested in reading heaps of newspapers, magazines and novels, solving crossword puzzles and doing many other nonsensical things
- Those who have no desire for Krsna consciousness and who are simply interested in possessing more and more material things - either in the shape of scientific knowledge or monetary gain - are all included under the control of atyahara
- Thus niyamagraha has a twofold meaning that is understood according to the particular combination of words
- True religion, however, instructs people to be satisfied with the bare necessities of life while cultivating Krsna consciousness
U
- Unfortunately people accept religion for material prosperity because of atyahara, or an excessive desire for such prosperity
- Unfortunately the communists do not know how to solve the problem of wealth and its distribution. Consequently when the wealth of the capitalists falls into the hands of the communists, no solution results
- Unfortunately, materialists who have neither faith in the plan of God nor any aspiration for higher spiritual development misuse their God-given intelligence only to augment their material possessions
W
- We have established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to give people an opportunity to associate with those who have not forgotten Krsna. This spiritual association offered by our ISKCON movement is increasing day by day
- When human society gives up these elementary faults enumerated by Srila Rupa Gosvami (atyahara, etc.), all enmity will cease between men and animals, capitalists and communists, and so forth
- When one takes more than his maintenance requires-be he a capitalist or a communist-he is a thief, and as such he is liable to be punished by the laws of nature
- When people learn the art of scientifically utilizing the Lord's property, they will no longer encroach upon one another's rights. Then an ideal society can be formed
- When they (the jivatmas) are under the control of the internal potency, they display their natural, constitutional activity - namely, constant engagement in the devotional service of the Lord
- When we mix with a few friends, we immediately begin unnecessary talking, sounding just like croaking toads. If we must talk, we should talk about the Krsna consciousness movement