In answering King Parīkṣit's question, Śukadeva Gosvāmī replied that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has created the mind, senses and living force of the living entity for the purpose of sense gratification and transmigration from one kind of body to another, as well as for the purpose of allowing liberation from the material conditions. In other words, one can utilize the senses, mind and living force for sense gratification and transmigration from one body to another or for the matter of liberation. The Vedic injunctions are there just to give the conditioned souls the chance for sense gratification under regulative principles, and thereby also to give them the chance for promotion to higher conditions of life; ultimately, if the consciousness is purified, one comes to his original position and goes back home, back to Godhead.
If our consciousness is...
Expressions researched:
"if his consciousness"
|"if my consciousness"
|"if our consciousness"
|"if that consciousness"
|"if the consciousness"
|"if this consciousness"
|"if your consciousness"
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 13 - 18
The living entity, thus taking another gross body, obtains a certain type of ear, eye, tongue, nose and sense of touch, which are grouped about the mind. He thus enjoys a particular set of sense objects.
In other words, if the living entity adulterates his consciousness with the qualities of cats and dogs, in his next life he gets a cat or dog body and enjoys. Consciousness is originally pure, like water. But if we mix water with a certain color, it changes. Similarly, consciousness is pure, for the spirit soul is pure. But consciousness is changed according to the association of the material qualities. Real consciousness is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When, therefore, one is situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is in his pure life. But if his consciousness is adulterated by some type of material mentality, in the next life he gets a corresponding body. He does not necessarily get a human body again; he can get the body of a cat, dog, hog, demigod or one of many other forms, for there are 8,400,000 species.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 7
The advice of experienced transcendentalists, therefore, is that the body be fully engaged for achieving the ultimate goal of life (svārtha-gatim). The real interest or goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead. To enable one to fulfill this purpose, there are so many Vedic literatures, including Vedānta-sūtra, the Upaniṣads, Bhagavad-gītā, Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa. One should take lessons from these Vedic literatures and learn how to practice nivṛtti-mārga. Then one's life will be perfect. The body is important as long as it has consciousness. Without consciousness, the body is merely a lump of matter. Therefore, to return home, back to Godhead, one must change his consciousness from material consciousness to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One's consciousness is the cause of material bondage, but if this consciousness is purified by bhakti-yoga, one can then understand the falsity of his upādhi, his designations as Indian, American, Hindu, Muslim, Christian and so on. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam (CC Madhya 19.170). One must forget these designations and use this consciousness only for the service of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore if one takes advantage of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, his life is certainly successful.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Lord Buddha says that consciousness is a production of this combination of matter. So therefore if, if you dismantle this material body, then there will be no consciousness and thus there will be no feeling of distress or happiness. That is called nirvāṇa, stopping, stopping the feelings of... It is just like a patient suffering from some disease, and the doctor gives him some pill so that he dies and there is no more feeling. Oh. Then he sees it is all right. If by stopping feeling like that, that a... "Doctor, my son is having hundred and seven degree temperature." "All right. I stop it. Give him some injection, poisonous." The child dies. Now there is no fever. Now the father says, "My child does not move." "Oh, whether this fever is stopped or not?" "Yes, there is no fever also." "That's all right. My business finished." That sort of foolish doctor will not do. (laughs) We should not stop consciousness. No. That is the... That is the, I mean to say, secret of philosophy. If my consciousness is stopped altogether, then what do I gain? That means my death. My whole existence finished. No. Then comes... I am shortly giving the substance of different philosophers.
Means that if you simply try to understand what is Kṛṣṇa, why does He appear in this material world, what are His actual activities—if these three things you can understand, then after giving up this body, you don't accept any more material body, but in your spiritual body go back to home, back to Godhead. Of course, it is very difficult task to understand Kṛṣṇa, but it is due to our misunderstanding or uncleanliness of the consciousness. If the consciousness is cleansed, then you can very easily understand what is Kṛṣṇa. This cleanliness of the consciousness can be effected by chanting the transcendental vibration, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. It is open to all. It is not a secret thing. We are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra very loudly. Everyone can hear it and chant it. If you regularly chant this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, then gradually your consciousness will be cleansed.
Yasya sarve samārambhāḥ. You are not forbidden to execute your duties. We are not after stopping the general process of material activities. That is not our mission. The whole thing is that we have to act everything in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Just like... It is very easy to understand. Everybody has got some vocation of his life. But what is their consciousness? Their consciousness is that "I am engaged in this business, I am engaged in this service, because I have to maintain my family," "I have to maintain myself," or "I have to satisfy the government," or "I have to satisfy somebody else." This is our consciousness. Nobody is free from such consciousness.
Everybody must have some consciousness. Without consciousness, nothing can be done. One who has no consciousness, he cannot do anything nicely. If his consciousness is disturbed, then his work cannot be... Just like a madman. A madman cannot do anything nicely because his consciousness is disturbed. So we, similarly, if we change the process only, that "I am, to satisfy Kṛṣṇa..." Just like we are doing everything, with that idea, to satisfy somebody else, or at least myself, for my satisfaction. This process has to be changed to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That should be done. This process has to be changed into Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa says, yasya sarve samārambhāḥ.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Spirit is described... We have already discussed on this point that the spirit is eternal. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre: (BG 2.20) "Even after the destruction of this body, the consciousness is not destroyed." That continues. Rather, consciousness transferred to another type of body makes me again alive to the material conception of life. And that is also described in the Bhagavad-gītā. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). At the time of death, if our consciousness is pure, then it is sure that next life is not material. Next life's pure spiritual life. But if our consciousness is not pure at the point of the verge of death, just leaving this body, then we have to take again this material body. That is the process going on by nature's law. We have got our finer body. This is gross body. The body which you are seeing, which I am seeing, this is gross body. Just like shirt and coat. Within your coat, there is shirt, and within your shirt, there is a body. Similarly, the pure soul is covered by shirt and coat. The shirt is mind, intelligence and false ego.
This is māyā. Actually... If I take, "It is Kṛṣṇa's," then I am liberated. Just try to understand. You are sitting here. You know that this apartment or this loft belongs to somebody. So there is no harm sitting here, hearing here. But if you think that "This is mine," and if you want you take something out of this, then there is trouble. Similarly, this world belongs to Kṛṣṇa. If you have always that consciousness that it belongs to Kṛṣṇa... Just like a bank cashier. He knows that millions of dollars is coming to him, but he knows that "This is belonging to the bank. I am simply cashier." Similarly, you can deal with all the worldly things, but if your consciousness is Kṛṣṇa then you are free. Nikhileṣv apy avasthāsu jīvan muktaḥ sa ucyate. In any condition of life if one is Kṛṣṇa conscious, he's always liberated. He's not affected. So that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not teach you to become a false renouncer. What is the use of becoming a renouncer? After all, you have got this body. How can you renounce it? Either you cover it with underwear or either you cover it with costly dress, you have to cover it. So that covering also belongs to Kṛṣṇa.
General Lectures
Prabhupāda: But actually at the ultimate end, as we have cited the quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, good or bad means satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the Lord. If any action is approved or gives satisfaction to the Lord, that is good. If any action gives dissatisfaction to the Lord, it is bad. That is the general. Now you have to adopt yourself in the service of the Lord in such a way that you can know that this action is giving satisfaction and this action is not giving satisfaction. Then your life is all right.
Viṣṇujana: Then all our faculties of perception will be purified by adopting this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and we can understand.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means purification of all faculties. Because the faculties work on the basis of consciousness. If your consciousness is pure... Just like I am seeing. I am not seeing; my mind is seeing. So if my mind is pure, then my seeing is pure. Similarly, if my consciousness is pure, my mind is pure. It is superficial. I am moving my hand. I am not moving; my mind is moving. So all the senses, ten senses... And the central sense is mind. And behind mind, there is intelligence, and behind intelligence, there is consciousness. This consciousness, if purified, then whole thing is purified. If this consciousness is polluted, then the whole thing is polluted. So we have to purify the consciousness. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Three into three into nine, nine into nine equal to eighty-one. There are so many mixture of qualities and different kinds of men, because they are within the material qualities. But as soon as you engage yourself in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, you are no more within these qualities; therefore you are freed from designation. Just like these boys, they are not thinking that they are American. I am not thinking "I am not Indian," "I am Indian." Actually, our platform is Kṛṣṇa. We are loving each other. So we have forgotten our designation. Otherwise, how they can work so nicely? Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam (CC Madhya 19.170). They are now thinking in terms of Kṛṣṇa, that's all. Similarly, if this consciousness is spread, so simple, then they will lose designation, there will be no more distinction, "Oh, I am Chinese," "I am Russian," "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am this," "I am that." The fighting is on the platform of designation. But if you say that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is also a designation, but that is not designation, because in the Vedic literature it is said that ahaṁ brahmāsmi. This is pure consciousness. Asmi, my identification, shall continue because I am an individual soul. That cannot be abolished. So when I am thinking that "I am God's," that is my designation-free stage. And when I think that I belong to this family, this country, this society, this group, so many things, then I am designated.
Philosophy Discussions
Prabhupāda: Soul is eternal. Soul is ever-existing. There is no question of evolution or..., that it is according to the body. So long he is in the material existence and bodily concept of life, he is thinking that a better body is evolution and a lower body... But if his consciousness is changed, then there is no chance of changing, different bodies. He remains in his eternal body.
Hayagrīva: Well the basic contradiction, it seems, between Bergson and the Vedic version is that of the evolution of the universe.
Prabhupāda: Evolution of universe means, I have already explained, that anything material, it goes under six changes. So this universe, since its birth, it is increasing in volume. So that is material change. It is nothing to the, to do with the spiritual. Spirit, the soul, as we have got soul within this body, similarly ākāra, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is the soul of this universe. He is not changing; the universe is changing, the body is changing.
Hayagrīva: Bergson's theory seems to be that there's greater harmony being realized the further life advances or the further the universe goes on.
Prabhupāda: Harmony is there, certainly. That harmony, just like the child's body is harmonically changing into boy's body, harmonical changes, there is harmony. But the change is there.
Śyāmasundara: He says that after a period of childhood indulgence in these sexual appetites, he begins to learn that by giving up satisfaction he can please and influence others so as to gain more adult favors, just like (indistinct) and (indistinct) you were talking about. So the pleasure principle becomes replaced by the reality principle.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is stated in Bhagavad-gītā, (indistinct). If your consciousness is changed, if you become Kṛṣṇa conscious, then there is a verse by Yamunācārya, he says,
- yad-avadhi mama cetaḥ kṛṣṇa-pādāravinde
- nava-nava-rasa-dhāmany udyataṁ rantum āsīt
- tad-avadhi bata nārī-saṅgame smaryamāne
- bhavati mukha-vikāraḥ suṣṭhu niṣṭhīvanaṁ ca
(indistinct), he was emperor. So he said, "Since I am taking pleasure in the service of Lord Kṛṣṇa, nava-nava-rasa-dhāmany udyataṁ rantum āsīt, since I have engaged my life to enjoy the transcendental bliss by serving the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa, yad-avadhi mama cetaḥ kṛṣṇa-pādāravinde. (indistinct), "I am getting newer and newer pleasures. And because," he said, "and at that time when I think of sex pleasure," bhavati mukha-vikāraḥ suṣṭhu niṣṭhīvanaṁ ca. He was king. He had under his command (indistinct), but he said, "when I think of that sex pleasure, my mouth becomes deformed and I spit." That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Prabhupāda: This in not only pessimism, but due to poor fund of knowledge. He has no perfect knowledge, neither is he trained up by any perfect man. So he is talking all nonsense.
Śyāmasundara: His conclusion was that it was impossible to be happy in this material world, but we can alleviate some of the conflicts through this psychoanalysis. You can try and make the path as smooth as possible, but it is always...
Prabhupāda: That is one (indistinct) that you cannot be happy in this material world, but if you are spiritually elevated, spiritually trained up, then you will be happy. The same example. Just like iron is not fire, but you put it in the fire, it will act like fire. Similarly, although there is no possibility of happiness in this material world, if you are spiritually trained up, if your consciousness is changed into Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then you will be happy. (end)
Conversations and Morning Walks
1973 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: But the real problem is that we are eternal soul, we are changing our body one after another, birth and death. Apart from worldly happiness and distress, this birth and death, that is not very good process. At death time we have to suffer so much that we give up this body. And then again we enter into the womb of a mother. That is not very good situation. Then when come out there are so many tribulations, disease, then again old age. So people do not understand that he is passing... Especially when we are in other than human life. There are 8,400,000 species of life. Aquatics, then birds, trees, plants, insects, then beasts. In this way we come to human form of life. This is evolution. So in this human form of life there is chance of understanding the problems of life. In other forms of life it is not possible.
Graham Hill: (indistinct)
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is consciousness. Full consciousness. But if that consciousness is developed into Kṛṣṇa consciousness then his life is success.
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: No, no. For him it is all right. And anyone, sva-dharma... He is a vaiśya, He should believe like that. A politician should act like that, that... para-dharmabhāvaḥ. One should not imitate. Just like a physician is operating. I should not imitate, to take the knife and operate. That is not my business.
Girirāja: "After this incident, when Yaśodā was once nursing..."
Prabhupāda: But one thing is that Vasudeva was also thinking of Kṛṣṇa and he is also thinking of Kṛṣṇa. As a simple agriculturist, he is also thinking of Kṛṣṇa. And Vasudeva also, when he was asking him, "Go and take care of your children there," that was thinking of Kṛṣṇa. If the thinking of Kṛṣṇa is there, then either kṣatriya or vaiśya or brāhmaṇa, it doesn't matter. Everyone gets the same benefit.
- ya eṣaṁ puruṣaṁ sākṣād
- ātma-prābhavam īśvaram
- na bhajanty avajānānti
- sthānāṁ bhraṣṭāḥ patanty adhaḥ
Everyone should understand that "Whatever I may be, I am eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa." So if this consciousness is maintained and everyone is engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa by his work and by his occupational duty, then he is perfect.
Prabhupāda: So this is our... because we are developing a different consciousness... Different... Consciousness is one, but it is being colored under different circumstances. And therefore we have to accept a similar type of body. So if our consciousness is cleansed, then we do not undergo the circumstantial changes by different species of life. That is required. In the human form of life we can do that, not to associate with the modes of material nature, but associate with God. That we can do. And if we associate with God, then we become liberated from the clutches of māyā. Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te. And our real business is how to get out of the clutches of māyā.
Guest: Give up this staying here?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Guest: How?
Prabhupāda: We have to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness because such consciousness will help us to be free from the contamination of these different types of material consciousness and save us from transmigrating from one body to another. So we accept this different association on account of our strong propensity for sense gratification. Therefore we have to purify the senses so that the senses may be engaged in the service of the master of the senses. Hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Anyway, that... It is coming out of that egg, so there is life. We do not recommend prohibition of eggs because living entity. It is not very good food. It agitates the senses. Therefore we prohibit. Yes?
Bahulāśva: Śrīla Prabhupāda, the doctor's first question that he brought up that although we are conscious, our consciousness seems to be affected by different material arrangements. There's one philosopher William James, who is like the father of psychology. He says the same thing that consciousness can be affected by removing the material elements. So that is simply the arrangement of the modes of nature?
Prabhupāda: Yes. The same three guṇas. If you contact with tamo-guṇa, then your consciousness is tamo-guṇa. Tamo-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, sattva-guṇa, and if your consciousness is always with Kṛṣṇa, then Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Prabhupāda: No, no, we are not talking of foster; we are talking of real father. How do you know your real father?
Dr. Crossley: You've grown up with him. You've known him since you were a little child. It's part of your consciousness.
Prabhupāda: So if my consciousness is not right, then I may select a wrong father.
Dr. Crossley: Well, just because you know he's your father, there's still more to know about him. There's more and more to understand.
Prabhupāda: It is... Very simple answer is: when the mother certifies, "He is your father," that's all. You don't have to make research. That is futile. By research, you cannot understand who is your real father. You can understand your real father only by the certificate of your mother. That's all. Therefore our Vedic mantra says that religion and God cannot be manufactured by speculation. Acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvā na tāṁs tarkena yojayet. Just like this example, father. Father was existing before my birth. So after my birth, with limited knowledge I make research who is my father—you will never find your father. But if you take the certificate of your mother, that is there.
Correspondence
1967 Correspondence
The mayavadi sannyasins are frustrated beings in their attempt to enjoy the world, therefore they say the world is fake or the grapes are sour, the world is not false, Krishna is the supreme truth and the world is His energy therefore the energy of the supreme truth cannot be false; but we must know that this energy is inferior to His spiritual energy. As there are hairs and nails on the body and sometimes we separate these parts from the body similarly when the the material energy is separated from the service of the Lord it is inferior energy. Inferior energy is not false but temporary. The same temporary energy when surcharged with Krishna Consciousness it transforms into supreme energy by the supreme will. By this will any energy can be transformed into another just like electronic energy in a refrigerator or in a heater, to an ordinary layman, he sees cold and hot but to an electrician, he sees electricity. So when one is engaged in the service of the Lord that person is already in the spiritual energy, and a sannyasi and the real purpose of a sannyasi is to transform himself from the inferior to the superior, spiritual energy. If your consciousness is absorbed in Krishna you are always a sannyasi.
1975 Correspondence
Regarding your question, There is really a place as Vaikuntha, beyond this dark material universe. In the material world if our consciousness is changed to Krishna then even here is vaikuntha consciousness. This is very easy to understand. Suppose one is a foreigner in India, but still he can continue his European or American consciousness. The process for doing this is bhakti yoga and the beginning of that process is hearing and chanting the Holy Name of Krishna, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Please chant Hare Krishna and be always in Krishna consciousness.
| Page Title: | If our consciousness is... |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Matea, Surabhi |
| Created: | 29 of Sep, 2010 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=1, SB=1, CC=0, OB=1, Lec=10, Con=5, Let=2 |
| No. of Quotes: | 20 |