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Mental speculation (CC and Other Books)

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 1.19, Purport:

Paṅgoḥ refers to one who cannot move independently by his own strength, and manda-mateḥ is one who is less intelligent because he is too absorbed in materialistic activities. It is best for such persons not to aspire for success in fruitive activities or mental speculation but instead simply to surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The perfection of life is simply to surrender to the Supreme.

CC Adi 1.91, Purport:

An empiric philosopher in search of spiritual knowledge may endeavor most laboriously for many, many births in mental speculation, but unless and until he reaches the stage of the purest quality of goodness—in other words, until he transcends the plane of material speculation—it is not possible for him to know that everything emanates from the Personality of Godhead Vāsudeva.

CC Adi 2.11, Purport:

Persons who are in knowledge of the truth know that one who tries to approach the Absolute simply by mental speculation will ultimately realize the impersonal Brahman, and one who tries to approach the Absolute through yoga practice will be able to realize Paramātmā, but one who has complete knowledge and spiritual understanding realizes the spiritual form of Bhagavān, the Personality of Godhead.

CC Adi 2.25, Purport:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has His eternal form, which cannot be seen by material eyes or mental speculation. Only by transcendental devotional service can one understand the transcendental form of the Lord. The comparison is made here to the qualifications for viewing the personal features of the sun-god.

CC Adi 2.26, Purport:

Those who are fond of mental speculation (jñāna-mārga) or want to meditate in mystic yoga to find the Absolute Truth must approach the impersonal effulgence of the Lord and His partial representation respectively. Such persons cannot realize the eternal form of the Lord.

CC Adi 4.21-22, Purport:

When devotional service is executed with some material purpose, involving fruitive activities, mental speculations or mystic yoga, it is called mixed or adulterated devotional service. Besides bhakti-yoga, the Bhagavad-gītā also describes karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga and dhyāna-yoga. Yoga means linking with the Supreme Lord, which is possible only through devotion.

CC Adi 7.39, Purport:

Theorizing as if devotional service were subject to their mental speculation, both kinds of Māyāvādī impersonalists conclude that the subject matter of bhakti-yoga is a creation of māyā and that Kṛṣṇa, devotional service and the devotee are also māyā. Therefore, as stated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, māyāvādī kṛṣṇe aparādhī: "All the Māyāvādīs are offenders to Lord Kṛṣṇa."

CC Adi 7.39, Purport:

However expert such quarrelsome impersonalists are in putting forward their so-called logic, we defeat them in every respect and go forward with our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Their imaginative mental speculation cannot deter the progress of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, which is completely spiritual and is never under the control of such Māyāvādīs.

CC Adi 7.101, Purport:

Accepting this system of philosophy as the pure understanding of the Vedānta-sūtra, they believe that Kṛṣṇa has a body made of material elements and that the activities of loving service to Kṛṣṇa are sentimentality. They are known as Māyāvādīs because according to their opinion Kṛṣṇa has a body made of māyā and the loving service of the Lord executed by devotees is also māyā. They consider such devotional service to be an aspect of fruitive activities (karma-kāṇḍa). According to their view, bhakti consists of mental speculation or sometimes meditation. This is the difference between the Māyāvādī and Vaiṣṇava philosophies.

CC Adi 7.143, Purport:

When a devotee develops in devotional service, however, he no longer has attachments to such philanthropic activities. He is simply inspired to serve the Lord, and he engages his entire life in such service. This is the difference between Vaiṣṇava and Māyāvādī philosophers. Devotional service, therefore, is practical, whereas Māyāvāda philosophy is merely mental speculation.

CC Adi 14.1, Purport:

The author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta takes shelter of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu to describe the pastimes of His appearance as a child because one cannot write such transcendental literature by mental speculation. One who writes about the Supreme Personality of Godhead must be especially favored by the Lord. Simply by academic qualifications it is not possible to write such literature.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 6.182, Purport:

Māyāvāda philosophy states that the Supreme Lord, the living entities and the cosmic manifestation are all transformations of illusory energy. To support this atheistic theory, the Māyāvādīs cite false scriptures, which make people bereft of transcendental knowledge and addicted to fruitive activities and mental speculation.

CC Madhya 6.255, Purport:

He appeared in order to teach the fallen souls in this material world, for in this Age of Kali almost everyone has become attached to fruitive and ritualistic activities and mental speculation. Consequently there was a great need to revive the system of devotional service. The Lord Himself personally came down disguised as a devotee so that the fallen populace might take advantage of the Lord's example.

CC Madhya 7.66, Purport:

The karmīs never agree to accept anything not directly perceived, and the jñānīs put forth only hypotheses. However, the Vaiṣṇavas, the unalloyed devotees of the Lord, do not follow the process of acquiring knowledge by direct sense perception or mental speculation. Because they are servants of the Supreme Lord, devotees receive knowledge directly from the Supreme Personality of Godhead as He speaks it in the Bhagavad-gītā, or sometimes as He imparts it from within as the caittya-guru.

CC Madhya 8.66, Purport:

As soon as there is some conception of materialistic thought—be it positive or negative—the service is not spiritual. It may be free from material contamination, but because there is mental speculation the devotional service is not pure and freed from the contamination of material life.

CC Madhya 8.83, Purport:

All of this is mental speculation. None of these things can be compared to unalloyed devotional service. No one can compare unalloyed devotional service, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, to mundane activities. There are many unauthorized parties pretending to belong to the Śrī Caitanya cult, and some are known as āula, bāula, kartābhajā, neḍā, daraveśa, sāṅi, sahajiyā, sakhībhekī, smārta, jāta-gosāñi, ativāḍī, cūḍādhārī and gaurāṅga-nāgari.

CC Madhya 8.90, Purport:

Fools and rascals say that the worship of Yogamāyā and the worship of Mahāmāyā are the same. This conclusion is simply the result of mental speculation, and it has no practical effect. In the material world, sometimes one gives an exalted title to an utterly worthless thing; in Bengal this is known as giving a blind child a name like Padmalocana, which means "lotus-eyed." One may foolishly call a blind child Padmalocana, but such an appellation does not bear any meaning.

CC Madhya 8.193, Purport:

Realization of the viśuddha-sattva platform is beyond the pale of the material world and is not perceived by bodily senses or mental speculation. Our identification with the gross body and subtle mind is different from spiritual understanding. Since the intelligence and mind are material, the loving affairs of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are beyond their perception.

CC Madhya 9.51, Purport:

These philosophers were all atheists, for they did not believe in the existence of God. Atheists may be very expert in mental speculation and may be so-called great philosophers, but they can be defeated by a Vaiṣṇava firmly situated in his conviction and God consciousness. Following in the footsteps of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, all the preachers engaged in the service of ISKCON should be very expert in putting forward strong arguments and defeating all types of atheists.

CC Madhya 12.61, Purport:

As indicated by the technical words bhauma ijya-dhīḥ (SB 10.84.13), materialistic Māyāvādīs imagine the form of God in matter, although according to their imagination, God is ultimately formless. This is simply mental speculation. Even though Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He placed Himself in the position of a gopī.

CC Madhya 13.139, Purport:

A devotee constantly engaged in Deity worship according to the rules and regulations laid down in the śāstras and given by the spiritual master realizes gradually that he is in direct contact with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus he loses all interest in so-called meditation, yoga practice and mental speculation.

CC Madhya 15.83, Purport:

On the transcendental platform there is no higher or lower, pure or impure. On the material platform, distinction is made between good and bad, but on the spiritual platform everything is of the same quality.

"dvaite" bhadrābhadra-jñāna, saba—"manodharma"

"ei bhāla, ei manda",—ei saba "bhrama"

"In the material world, conceptions of good and bad are all mental speculations. Therefore, saying "This is good and that is bad" is all a mistake."

CC Madhya 15.163, Purport:

Due to being illusioned by the external energy and due to a poor fund of knowledge, people tend to envy one another. Because of this they are entangled in fruitive activity, and they try to escape this fruitive activity by mental speculation. Consequently neither karmīs nor jñānīs are purified.

CC Madhya 16.72, Purport:

A pure devotee, therefore, should have no desire other than to serve Kṛṣṇa. He should be above fruitive activity and speculative knowledge. In his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11), Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says:

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā
(CC Madhya 19.167)

This is the platform of pure devotional service. One should not be motivated by fruitive activity or mental speculation but should simply serve Kṛṣṇa favorably. That is first-class devotion.

CC Madhya 17.185, Purport:

In this material world a person may be famous as a karma-vīra, a successful fruitive worker, or he may be very successful in performing religious duties, or he may be known as a hero in mental speculation (jñāna-vīra), or he may be a very famous renunciant. In any case, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.23.56) gives the following opinion in this matter.

CC Madhya 19.50, Translation:

“(Lord Kṛṣṇa said:) ‘Even though a person is a very learned scholar of the Sanskrit Vedic literatures, he is not accepted as My devotee unless he is pure in devotional service. Even though a person is born in a family of dog-eaters, he is very dear to Me if he is a pure devotee who has no motive to enjoy fruitive activities or mental speculation. Indeed, all respects should be given to him, and whatever he offers should be accepted. Such devotees are as worshipable as I am.”’

CC Madhya 20.58, Translation:

“(Lord Kṛṣṇa said:) "Even though a person is a very learned scholar of the Sanskrit Vedic literatures, he is not accepted as My devotee unless he is pure in devotional service. However, even though a person is born in a family of dog-eaters, he is very dear to Me if he is a pure devotee who has no motive to enjoy fruitive activity or mental speculation. Indeed, all respects should be given to him, and whatever he offers should be accepted. Such devotees are as worshipable as I am.""

CC Madhya 20.122, Purport:

He becomes the servant of lust, anger, greed and envy. In this way one totally becomes a servant of the illusory energy. Later, the bewildered soul becomes a servant of mental speculation, but in any case he is simply covered by the illusory energy. Out of His causeless mercy and compassion, Kṛṣṇa has compiled various Vedic literatures in His incarnation as Vyāsadeva.

CC Madhya 20.135, Purport:

The eastern side represents devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa. The southern side represents the process of fruitive activity (karma-kāṇḍa), which ends in material gain. The western side represents jñāna-kāṇḍa, the process of mental speculation, sometimes called siddhi-kāṇḍa. The northern side represents the speculative method, sometimes known as the mystic yoga system. It is only the eastern side, devotional service, that enables one to attain life's real goal.

CC Madhya 22 Summary:

In the beginning He describes the truth about the living entity and the superexcellence of devotional service. He then describes the uselessness of mental speculation and mystic yoga. In all circumstances the living entity is recommended to accept the path of devotional service as personally explained by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

CC Madhya 22 Summary:

If one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness fully, even though he may sometimes be agitated due to having previously practiced mental speculation and yogic mysticism, he will be saved by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself. The fact is that devotional service is bestowed by the blessings of a pure devotee (sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ). A pure devotee is the supreme transcendentalist, and one has to receive his mercy for one's dormant Kṛṣṇa consciousness to be awakened.

CC Madhya 22.20, Translation:

“"Those who perform severe austerities and penances, those who give away all their possessions out of charity, those who are very famous for their auspicious activity, those who are engaged in meditation and mental speculation, and even those who are very expert in reciting the Vedic mantras are not able to obtain any auspicious results, although they are engaged in auspicious activities, if they do not dedicate their activities to the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I therefore repeatedly offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose glories are always auspicious.""

CC Madhya 24.165, Translation:

“The word "ātmā" sometimes means "the mind." In this case the word "ātmārāma" means "a person who is satisfied by mental speculation." When such a person associates with a pure devotee, he takes to devotional service at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa."

CC Madhya 25.273, Translation:

Devotional service to Kṛṣṇa is exactly like a pleasing, jubilant forest of lotus flowers wherein there is ample honey. I request everyone to taste this honey. If all the mental speculators bring the bees of their minds into this forest of lotus flowers and jubilantly enjoy ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa day and night, their mental speculation will be completely transcendentally satisfied.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 4.176, Translation:

“In the material world, conceptions of good and bad are all mental speculations. Therefore, saying "This is good" and "This is bad" is all a mistake."

CC Antya 4.176, Purport:

Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the Absolute Truth, ever existing with different varieties of energies. When one is absorbed in the illusory energy of Kṛṣṇa and cannot understand Kṛṣṇa, one cannot ascertain what is good for him and what is bad. Conceptions of good and bad are all imaginations or mental speculations. When one forgets that he is an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, he wants to enjoy the material world through different plans. At that time he distinguishes between material plans that are good and those that are bad. Actually, however, they are all false.

CC Antya 7.12, Purport:

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura explains that unless one is directly empowered by the causeless mercy of Kṛṣṇa, one cannot become the spiritual master of the entire world (jagad-guru). One cannot become an ācārya simply by mental speculation. The true ācārya presents Kṛṣṇa to everyone by preaching the holy name of the Lord throughout the world.

CC Antya 14.53, Purport:

"At Akrūra's request, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma left the house of Nanda Mahārāja for Mathurā. At that time the mind of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī was disrupted, and She became almost mad because of extreme separation from Kṛṣṇa. She experienced great mental pain and agitation, which caused Her to drown in mental speculation in the river of anxiety. She thought, "Now I am going to die, and when I die, Kṛṣṇa will surely come back to see Me again. But when He hears of My death from the people of Vṛndāvana, He will certainly be very unhappy. Therefore I shall not die.""

CC Antya 16.25, Translation:

“"Even though one is a very learned scholar in Sanskrit literature, if he is not engaged in pure devotional service, he is not accepted as My devotee. But if someone born in a family of dog-eaters is a pure devotee with no motives for enjoyment through fruitive activity or mental speculation, he is very dear to Me. All respect should be given to him, and whatever he offers should be accepted, for such devotees are indeed as worshipable as I am.""

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 4:

The astrologer Sarvajña further advised the poor man: "Don't dig on the southern side of your house to find the treasure, for if you do so you will be attacked by a poisonous wasp and will be baffled. The search should be conducted on the eastern side where there is actual light, which is called devotional service or Kṛṣṇa consciousness. On the southern side there are Vedic rituals, and on the western side there is mental speculation, and on the northern side there is meditational yoga."

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 18:

As long as one is within the limited jurisdiction of fruitive activities or is involved in mental speculation, he may perhaps be eligible to study or teach the theoretical knowledge of Vedānta-sūtra, but he cannot understand the supreme, eternal, transcendental (completely liberated) vibration of Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 20:

One who considers Him to be a material demigod is a great offender and blasphemer. Lord Viṣṇu is not subject to perception by material senses, nor can He be realized by mental speculation. There is no difference between the body and soul of the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu, although in the material world there is always a difference between the body and the soul.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 20:

The living entities cannot attain knowledge of Viṣṇu by enjoying their habits of mental speculation. The infinitesimal living entities are not the enjoyers of Viṣṇu, but they are enjoyed by Viṣṇu. Only the greatest offender thinks that Viṣṇu is enjoyed. The greatest blasphemy is to consider Viṣṇu and the living entity on the same level.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 22:

He said that no one can understand the constitutional position of the Supreme Lord—His situation, His transcendental qualities, His transcendental activities and His six opulences. These cannot be understood by mental speculation or academic education; they can only be understood by the mercy of the Lord. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, one who is fortunate enough to receive the Lord's favor can understand all these explanations by the mercy of the Lord.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 28:

After his fourth proposal was rejected, Rāmānanda Rāya said that devotional service rendered without any attempt at cultivation of knowledge or mental speculation is the highest stage of perfection. To support this view, he gave evidence from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.3) wherein Lord Brahmā tells the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 29:

It is not a fact that everyone and anyone can reach the Supreme Personality of Godhead by worshiping material demigods. It is therefore surprising that a man can imagine that he will become perfect by worshiping the demigods. The results of devotional service rendered in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot be compared to the results of demigod worship, fruitive activity or mental speculation. By the results of fruitive activities, one can either go to the heavenly planets or the hellish ones.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 31:

Material activities are manifested either for the gross body or the subtle mind, but this exchange of feelings between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa is beyond such manifestations and beyond intellectual mental speculation. It can only be understood by purified senses freed from all the designations of the material world.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 31:

Those who are elevated by virtue of experimental knowledge can only satisfy their blunt material senses either by gross bodily activities or by mental speculation. Everything generated from the body or the mind is always imperfect and perishable, but transcendental spiritual activities are always bright and wonderful. Pure love on the transcendental platform is the paragon of purity devoid of material affection and completely spiritual.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 31:

One cannot attain that position simply by following the regulative principles. Rather, one must seriously follow the principles of the gopīs. This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.9.21) wherein it is stated that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the son of Śrīmatī Yaśodā, is not easily available to those following the principles of mental speculation but is easily available to all kinds of living beings who follow the path of devotional service.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 2:

In this way there is always a continuity. But even if there is no continuity, if only by chance a person takes interest in a pure devotee's instruction, he can be accepted and can advance in devotional service. Anyway, for persons who have a natural taste for understanding books like Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, devotional service is easier than for those who are simply accustomed to mental speculation and argumentative processes.

Nectar of Devotion 12:

So Śukadeva Gosvāmī especially stresses that it has already been concluded that one who has come to the stage of chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra with determination and steadiness must be considered to have already passed the trials of fruitive activities, mental speculation and mystic yoga.

Nectar of Devotion 14:

It is the opinion of expert devotees that mental speculation and the artificial austerities of yoga practice may be favorable for becoming liberated from material contamination, but they will also make one's heart harder and harder. They will not help at all in the progress of devotional service.

Nectar of Devotion 18:

This attachment is very confidentially kept by Kṛṣṇa and is bestowed only upon pure devotees. Even ordinary devotees cannot have such pure attachment for Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, how is it possible for success to be achieved by persons whose hearts are contaminated by the actions and reactions of fruitive activities and who are entangled by various types of mental speculation?

Nectar of Instruction

Nectar of Instruction 3, Purport:

It is further recommended in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet: (MU 1.2.12) "To understand that transcendental science, one must approach a bona fide spiritual master." Thus this method of submissively receiving transcendental confidential knowledge is not merely based on mental speculation.

Nectar of Instruction 3, Purport:

It is the desired goal and supreme perfection of human life. One has to become confident about this, and one also has to be confident that all activities other than devotional service—such as mental speculation, fruitive work or mystic endeavor—will never yield any enduring benefit.

Nectar of Instruction 6, Purport:

A surrendered soul serves Kṛṣṇa without material considerations (anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11)). Jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam: unalloyed devotional service, which is transcendental to the activities of the body and mind, such as jñāna (mental speculation) and karma (fruitive work), is called pure bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yoga is the proper activity of the soul, and when one actually engages in unalloyed, uncontaminated devotional service, he is already liberated (sa guṇān samatītyaitān (BG 14.26)).

Easy Journey to Other Planets

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

The individual living being can very easily enter the antimaterial world by practicing antimaterial activities while residing in the material world. But those who are truly gross materialists, who depend on the limited strength of experimental thought, mental speculation and materialistic science, find great difficulty in entering the antimaterial worlds.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 2:

"Our dear Lord, the way of understanding is not to study Your absolute nature, form and activities by mental speculation. One must engage himself in devotional service; then one can understand Your absolute nature and Your transcendental form, name and qualities. Actually, only a person who has a little taste for the service of Your lotus feet can understand Your transcendental nature or form and qualities. Others may go on speculating for millions of years, but it is not possible for them to understand even a single part of Your actual position."

Krsna Book 14:

One should not uselessly labor in mental speculation to estimate the Lord's qualities. There is no need of adopting the speculative method or exercising the body to attain mystic yoga perfection. One should simply understand that the distress and happiness of this body are predestined; there is no need to try to avoid the distress of this bodily existence or to attempt to achieve happiness by different types of exercises.

Krsna Book 70:

“ ‘Dear Lord, You are the eternal form of transcendental bliss and knowledge. As such, You are beyond the reach of the mental speculation or vocal description of any materialistic man within this world. A slight portion of Your glories can be known by persons fully surrendered unto Your lotus feet, and, by Your grace only, such persons become freed from all material anxieties."

Krsna Book 87:

Lord Kṛṣṇa has therefore advised in the Bhagavad-gītā that only a person who has lost his sense takes to the worship of demigods. And regarding persons attached to the impersonal Brahman, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says, “My dear Lord, those who think of themselves as liberated by mental speculation are not yet purified of the contamination of material nature because of their inability to find the shelter of Your lotus feet.

Krsna Book 87:

The materialistic civilization is primarily situated in these three stages, anna-maya, prāṇa-maya and mano-maya. The first concern of civilized persons is economic development, the next concern is defense against being annihilated, and the next consciousness is mental speculation, the philosophical approach to the values of life.

Krsna Book 87:

There are different kinds of philosophers who have tried to understand the supreme source by their mental speculation. There are generally six kinds of mental speculators, whose speculations are called ṣaḍ-darśana. All these philosophers are impersonalists and are known as Māyāvādīs.

Krsna Book 87:

The personified Vedas continued: “Mystic yogīs who still have contaminated desires for sense gratification are never successful in their attempt, nor can they realize the Supersoul within the individual self. As such, the so-called yogīs and jñānīs who are simply wasting their time in different types of sense gratification, either by mental speculation or by exhibition of limited mystic powers, will never be liberated from conditioned life and will continue to go through repeated births and deaths.

Krsna Book 87:

Avāṅ-mānasa-gocara: to understand the length and breadth of God is beyond the jurisdiction of our mental speculation. Therefore, a person who is actually learned and sane does not claim to be God but tries to understand God, making distinctions between spirit and matter.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.6:

Everyone, regardless of race, caste, sex, or other material designation, can give up mental speculation, fruitive actions, and yoga practice and take complete shelter of Lord Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet without deviation. The word nitya means "daily," "regularly," or "constantly." Those who meditate constantly on Lord Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet can easily attain Him.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.13:

One should not engage in fruitive activity or cultivate knowledge by mental speculation. One who is devoted to the Supreme Lord, Nārāyaṇa, can attain all the benefits derived from other processes, such as yoga, mental speculation, rituals, sacrifices, and charity. That is the specific benediction of devotional service.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 3.2:

On the other hand, a person devoid of devotional service and engaged in material activities has no good qualities. Even if he is adept at the practice of mystic yoga or the honest endeavor of maintaining his family and relatives, he must be driven by his own mental speculations and must engage in the service of the lord's external energy. How can there be any good qualities in such a man?

Renunciation Through Wisdom 5.1:

This is how the nondual principle comes alive: our mind, heart, consciousness, and activities become nondifferent from the Supreme Lord, the Absolute Truth. We consider ourselves the Lord's property, surrendered at His lotus feet, His unalloyed, eternal slaves. Rejecting all mental speculation and mundane desire, with a serene mind we experience incessant spiritual bliss in rendering Him loving service.

Sri Isopanisad

Sri Isopanisad 4, Purport:

Through mental speculation, even the greatest philosopher cannot know the Supreme Lord, who is the Absolute Personality of Godhead. He can be known only by His devotees through His mercy. In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.34) it is stated that even if a nondevotee philosopher travels through space at the speed of the wind or the mind for hundreds of millions of years, he will still find that the Absolute Truth is far, far away from him.

Sri Isopanisad 4, Purport:

Under the influence of material nature, foolish and ignorant living beings who are but parts and parcels of the Lord try to conjecture about the Lord's transcendental position. Śrī Īśopaniṣad warns of the futility of trying to establish the identity of the Lord through mental speculation. One should try to learn of the Transcendence from the Lord Himself, the supreme source of the Vedas, for the Lord alone has full knowledge of the Transcendence.

Sri Isopanisad 17, Purport:

The facilities of devotional service are denied the impersonalists because they are attached to the brahmajyoti feature of the Lord. As suggested in the previous mantras, they cannot penetrate the brahma-jyoti because they do not believe in the Personality of Godhead. Their business is mostly word jugglery and mental speculation. Consequently the impersonalists pursue a fruitless labor, as confirmed in the Twelfth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā (12.5).

Narada-bhakti-sutra (sutras 1 to 8 only)

Narada Bhakti Sutra 2, Purport:

The next stage in the process of elevation to love of God is sādhu-saṅga (CC Madhya 22.83), association with persons already in the highest stage of love of God. One who avoids such association and simply engages in mental speculation or so-called meditation cannot be raised to the perfectional platform. But one who associates with pure devotees or an elevated devotional society goes to the next stage—bhajana-kriyā, or acceptance of the regulative principles of worshiping the Supreme Lord.

Page Title:Mental speculation (CC and Other Books)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, Serene
Created:22 of Dec, 2010
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=39, OB=34, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:73