Part I: Forever Jung

A primordial swamp of sexually charged soup that Sigmund Freud called ‘psychoanalysis’, was the beginning of popular psychology. This seething cauldron of repression, guilt, and daddy issues has since its inception been the platform by which, either through edification or denunciation, all other personality theories are measured.

Freud propounded the idea that the cause of behavior for any given human is largely unbeknownst to that individual. Freud saw that we wander through life stabbing in the proverbial dark; and for what, we are really not sure – but Freud was. Sex. Freud defined the ‘id’ as an underlying primitive sexual impulse; man’s motor as Sigmund defined it. As he explains, the id is single purposed, “only striving to bring about the satisfaction of the instinctual needs subject to the observance of the pleasure principle.”

In stark contrast to the id stands the ‘super-ego’, essentially a giant buzz kill, which imposes upon us feelings of guilt, shame, and remorse for getting our sensual jollies. This influence develops from habitual interaction with parents, and then is supplemented by teachers, bosses, meter maids, and the rest.

Sandwiched uncomfortably between these two extremes is the ‘ego’, which serves the id by maintaining the appearance of decorum. If the whole world knows you are only in it for yourself, no one will ever let you get close enough to take anything. So by maintaining the auspice of morality, the ego lulls our environment into a false security in order to preserve our sense enjoyment. See American History for a more detailed explanation of this principle. As Freud saw it, all behaviors are caused by our repressed sexual urges. The good doctor laments, “Much of our highly valued cultural heritage has been acquired at the cost of sexuality.”

Srila Prabhupada, Founder of The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), confirmed Freud’s theories in a conversation about the philosopher/psychologist. Prabhupada said that “as soon as there is an embodied living being he must have hunger, he must have sex impulse.” In fact, Prabhupada’s impetus for founding ISKCON, and encouraging the chanting of Hare Krishna around the world was to free man of a ‘cat and dog society’ built around sex desire. The structures of the super-ego are losing out to the collective cravings of the id. We can all agree on this point, including Prabhupada and Freud. Being ‘googoo for GaGa’ or not, the knowledge of her existence makes our use of the word ‘society’ dubious at best.

The Vedas, India’s ancient spiritual canon, and Prabhupada’s own source for knowledge warned of this degradation years ago. In Canto 12 of the Srimad Bhagavatam, titled ‘The Age of Deterioration’, it is explained that our time in history will be a depraved one. It says, “wealth alone will be considered the sign of a man’s good birth, proper behavior and fine qualities. And law and justice will be applied only on the basis of one’s power.” The text goes on to say, “Men and women will live together merely because of superficial attraction, and success in business will depend on deceit. Womanliness and manliness will be judged according to one’s expertise in sex ….”

So by the Vedic standard Freud was on to something. He offered few solutions though, and the inability of his therapies to produce any positive effects has left his reputation on thin ice in today’s Prozac world. One commentator writes, “even applying his own indulgent criteria, with no allowance for placebo factors and no systematic follow-up to check for relapses, Freud was unable to document a single unambiguously efficacious treatment”.

So intuitively Freud’s conclusions seem right, though his methodology was dicey. He also, as our critic points out, offers no tangible solutions. The Vedas offer a sophisticated structure for human society that is meant to harness and dovetail this latent sex desire in order to advance each individual’s consciousness. Through a miraculously intuitive process of speculation and soul searching, one of Freud’s protegé’s, Carl Jung, was able to do the same.

Carl Jung (that’s Jung like Brigham) is a man whose work is the true foundation of all substantive personality theory today. He also happened to be for some time a student of Dr. Freud. Jung had this to say about his guru, “Sexuality evidently meant more to Freud than to other people. For him it was something to be religiously observed.”

The more sophisticated Jung did appreciate his teacher’s explanation of the apparently erratic actions of humans as symptoms of each individual’s ‘subconscious’. Spring boarding off this theory, Jung wrote his prescient book “Psychologische Typen” (Psychological Types). The Swiss man asserts that there are two ways in which the mind could be working at any given moment, either taking in information or processing information already obtained. Both of these functions could be done in two ways. One could take in, or as Jung called it ‘perceive’ information either by sensing or intuiting. Then, one could process, or as Jung noted humans do, ‘judge’, the information by thinking or feeling.

This hodge-podge of possible packages could then be wrapped in an extroverted or introverted mood, rounding out our system, and creating eight possible types as Jung saw them. These types give a clearer explanation for the way different id’s, ego’s and false ego’s dance together. Jung addressed more of the how than the why and became famous for it.

Though Freud’s work of establishing sex as a driving factor in human behavior was essential, Jung’s elaborate explanation of the mental tango between super-ego, ego, and id gave psychologists and lay people alike a way to understand themselves more completely. This is the intention of the varnasrama system offered in the Vedas. By understanding the four classes, or we might say ‘types’, society can curtail the counter-productive ‘tale chasing’ we might otherwise revert back to, and instead elevate our consciousness by engaging in service conducive to our mood.

It is true Jung’s original work had 8 types, but only the indebted servants of graduate level psychology degree programs know of them. The common understanding of psychological types has been narrowed to mirror the varnasrama system thanks to a few more white people we will briefly discuss below.

Indeed, ‘Typen’ was an eso’terrifying monster of a work. For a public understanding of Jung we can partially thank two American women, Isabell-Briggs Myers and her mother Katharine Cook Briggs, whom according to their web-site (www.myersbriggs.org) “set out to find an easier way for people to use Jung’s ideas in everyday life.” These kind women “wanted people to be able to identify their psychological types without having to sift through Jung’s academic theory.” Proving that one’s consciousness can have its cake and eat it too, these ladies standardized Jung’s work by developing a set of questions that indicate where on the scale of taking in and organizing information one falls.

But the cherry on top of this neuro-Neapolitan sundae came in 1984 when David Keirsey published his book Please Understand Me II. In doing so, he provided the most accessible version of Jung’s work. Used by everyone from McDonalds to the United States Army, over 40 million people have been ‘sorted’ into one of Keirsey’s four types. By knowing whether one is an idealist, rational, artisan, or guardian, Keirsey claims that ‘The more you know about yourself, your strengths, your dreams, and your options, the better choices you can make.’

One might ask the question, ‘why do we have such a hard time knowing about us in the first place?’ Jung posits, “the attitude-type regarded as a general phenomenon having an apparent random distribution, can be no affair of conscious judgment or intention, its existence must be due to some unconscious instinctive cause. Therefore, the contrast of types as a universal psychological phenomenon must in some way or other have its biological precursor.”

Jung’s explanation of ‘biological precursors’ is affirmed in the Bhagavad Gita, a seminal text within the Vedic canon. Krishna explains in the Gita, “Everyone is forced to act helplessly according to the qualities he has acquired from the modes of material nature[…]”. Indeed, most people do seem to have their lives planned out for them whether they would like it that way or not. What Jung called ‘biological precursors’, Krishna calls ‘modes of material nature’. What Krishna goes on to explain is that though afflicted by the material nature, people are actually spiritual beings.

The Gita is a conversation between Krishna, or God, and a great king. The subject of this dialogue addresses the very ills Freud, Jung, Keirsey, and the rest speculate to assuage: mainly human kind’s enslavement by sentimental sensuality. As spiritual beings trapped in a material body, we are like Red Sox fans living in Manhattan.

Jung himself, especially in his later years, wrote openly about his realization that humans are of a spiritual nature, and that the soul is something distinct from the body. Though Jung was, as far as we can tell, relying only on his own intuition, he perceived that the laws governing the transcendent soul, specifically karma and reincarnation, are ever-present. It began to dawn on Jung in his later years that the accumulated experiences of past lives by a given soul were responsible for latent subconscious behavior patterns. He commented that “I can only gaze with wonder and awe at the depths and heights of our psychic nature. Its nonspatial universe conceals an untold abundance of images which have accumulated over millions of years.”

So if these images and traits have been accumulating for millions of years, why is it that we only seem to remember the experiences of this life? God says to Arjuna in the fourth chapter of Gita, “Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot ….” As souls, we are drops in the ocean of the cosmic manifestation, tiny parts of an enormous whole. Most people have difficulty remembering to mail back their Netflix, what to speak of recalling previous lives. So what is a soul to do?

As good Americans, we will say ‘whatever you want’. A comparison of the four Keirsey Temperaments alongside the four classes within the varnashrama system will help us weigh our options. The Vedic texts explain the society as a whole by using the metaphor of an individual’s body. The four classes (brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya, and sudra) make up the head, hands, stomach, and legs, respectively. The Keirsey parallels are idealists, rationals, artisans, and guardians.

The Vedas posit that the goal of human life is liberation from the material world. A person studying and progressing in the yoga systems ascribed in the Vedas endeavors to reach the highest system of bhakti yoga, by which they can rekindle their own exclusive relationship with God. Per our example, you might say a bhakti yogi wants to put on their brightest red, head back to Fenway, and cheer with uncontrollable fervor in the glorious shadow of the Big Green Monster forever more.

Conversely, while still being a Red Sox fan, it can be assumed someone more interested in their Keirsey temperament is simply trying to find a Jeter jersey that fits them. Take the brahmanas and idealists for instance. Brahmanas, in the Vedic system, are meant to uphold the highest standards of morality and justice. They see the essence of each individual as a spirit soul and for that reason can respect all members of society, and the contribution they have to share. The Keirsey explanation of an idealist’s mood is a natural parallel that says the “idealists pride themselves on being loving, kindhearted, and authentic. Idealists tend to be giving, trusting, spiritual, and they are focused on personal journeys and human potentials.”

In the Keirsey paradigm, teachers and counselors are two different sub-categories of idealist. In the Vedic system, brahmanas are the ‘head’, and are meant to guide the rest of the body on how best to act. Similarly, kshatriya means ‘warrior’ and Keirsey’s rationals are often referred to as ‘field marshals.’ Kshatriyas are meant to be the pragmatists that implement the lofty ideals of the brahmanas, and rationals are characterized as individuals best suited for strategic planning and long term organizational leadership.

The sudra and vaishya classes, said to be more controlled by the senses, are matched by their analogs. Like their aforementioned counterparts, Keirsey explains guardians and artisans take in information more so with the five senses than by intuition. Vaishyas are the business people of the Vedic system, responsible for making sure the society has adequate material goods, and they distribute these goods evenly to ensure the proper functioning of society. Keirsey calls artisans passionate “about the ‘art of the deal’ in business.”

Here, in a comparison of these two ‘Typen’s', we can see the stark difference between the system offered in the Vedas, and all other personality theories. Vaishyas have a purpose in Vedic society, and their abilities to craft a deal are checked by the kshatriyas and brahmanas who serve that purpose. Another well known western psycho-philosopher, Maslow, explained with his hierarchy of needs that food, water, shelter, et cetera, must all be secured by an individual before he can begin the process of self-actualization. So the Vedic varnashrama system engages vaishyas to use their talents as businessmen in the service of providing everyone with these basic necessities. Thus freed from animalistic anxieties generated by wondering ‘what’s for dinner’, a person is free to pontificate on the higher reality of things.

In the Keirsey paradigm, which is simply a tool affirming Western materialism, vaishyas are expected, and in fact, encouraged to get what they can by any means, with no regard to how their actions affect others. Donald Trump is an archetypal artisan that the Keirsey sight makes note of. Enough said?

God says in the Gita that “According to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society are crated by Me ….” God’s goal is that we use our free will to realize our eternal relationship with Him. Yet, like a fourth grader could not be expected to pass a test on derivatives, so too a person with a bodily state of conscious can not be expected to realize his position as an eternal spiritual soul overnight. So God has made nice divisions within society to help each of us gradually ascend to the highest levels of realization.

It is a fair criticism to mention that the class system of the Vedas is implemented as the caste system of India, and causes arguably more suffering than the gross materialism of the West. This is an article about archetypes though, and such discussions are befitting an article of their own.

For now we will note that some, like Donald Trump, might say that the raising of enormous sky scrapers is what life is all about, but another famous artisan once sang that ‘castles made of sand, fall in the sea’; and so Krishna says you will come ‘to Me’…eventually.

Since the creation of the physical world, everyone has been yearning to attain a permanent life, but the laws of nature are so cruel that no one has been able to avoid the hand of death. No one wants to die, nor does anyone want to become old or diseased. The law of nature, however, does not allow anyone immunity from old age, disease or death. Nor has the advancement of material knowledge solved these problems. Material science can discover the nuclear bomb to accelerate the process of death, but it cannot discover anything that can protect people from the cruel hands of old age, disease, and death.

Sri Isopanisad instructs us not to make one-sided attempts to win the struggle for existence. Everyone is struggling hard for existence, but the laws of material nature are so hard and fast that they do not allow anyone to surpass them. In order to attain a permanent life, one must be prepared for a spiritual journey.

The process by which one goes back to Godhead is a peculiar branch of knowledge. To become happy in this life and attain a permanent blissful life after leaving this material body, one must study sacred literature, in this case Sri Isopanisad, and obtain transcendental knowledge. The conditioned living being has forgotten his eternal relationship with God and has mistakenly accepted the temporary place of his birth as all in all. We have kindly been delivered the sacred scriptures in India and other scriptures in other countries to remind the forgetful human being that his home is not here in this material world. The living being is a spiritual entity, and he can be happy only by returning to his spiritual home.

Birth and death apply to the outward covering of the spirit soul, the body. Death is compared to the taking off and birth to the putting on of outward garments.

The miseries of this material world serve to indirectly remind us of our incompatibility with dead matter. Intelligent living entities generally take note of these reminders and engage themselves in the culture of transcendental knowledge. Human life is the best opportunity for the culture of spiritual knowledge, and a human being who does not take advantage of this opportunity is unfortunate.

The path of advancement of material knowledge for sense gratification, is the path of repeated birth and death. As he exists spiritually, the living entity has no birth or death. Birth and death apply to the outward covering of the spirit soul, the body. Death is compared to the taking off and birth to the putting on of outward garments. Foolish human beings who are grossly absorbed in the culture of nescience do not mind this cruel process. Enamored with the beauty of the illusory energy, they undergo the same miseries repeatedly and do not learn any lessons from the laws of nature.

Therefore the culture of transcendental knowledge is essential for the human being. Sense enjoyment in the diseased material condition must be restricted as far as possible. Unrestricted sense enjoyment in this bodily condition is the path of ignorance and death. The living entities are not without spiritual senses; every living being in his original, spiritual form has all the senses, which are now materially manifested, being covered by the material body and mind.

The activities of the material senses are perverted reflections of the activities of the original, spiritual senses. In his diseased condition, the spirit soul engages in material activities under the material covering. Real sense enjoyment is possible only when the disease of materialism is removed. In our pure spiritual form, free from all material contamination, real enjoyment of the senses is possible. A patient must regain his health before he can truly enjoy sense pleasure again. Thus the aim of human life should not be to enjoy perverted sense enjoyment but to cure the material disease. Aggravation of the material disease is no sign of knowledge, but a sign of ignorance. For good health, a person should not increase his fever from 105 degrees to 107 degrees but should reduce his temperature to the normal 98.6. That should be the aim of human life. The modern trend of material civilization is to increase the temperature of the feverish material condition. Meanwhile, the foolish politicians are crying that at any moment the world may go to hell. That is the result of the advancement of material knowledge and the neglect of the most important part of life, the culture of spiritual knowledge. Sri Isopanisad herein warns that we must not follow this dangerous path leading to death. On the contrary, we must develop the culture of spiritual knowledge so that we may become completely free from the cruel hands of death.

The modern trend of material civilization is to increase the temperature of the feverish material condition. Meanwhile, the foolish politicians are crying that at any moment the world may go to hell.

This does not mean that all activities for the maintenance of the body should be stopped. There is no question of stopping activities, just as there is no question of wiping out one’s temperature altogether when trying to recover from a disease. “To make the best use of a bad bargain” is the appropriate expression. The culture of spiritual knowledge necessitates the help of the body and mind; therefore maintenance of the body and mind is required if we are to reach our goal. The normal temperature should be maintained at 98.6 degrees, and the great sages and saints of India have attempted to do this by a balanced program of spiritual and material knowledge. They never allow the misuse of human intelligence for diseased sense gratification.

Human activities diseased by a tendency toward sense gratification have been regulated in the Vedas. This system employs religion, economic development, sense gratification, and spiritual liberation, but at the present moment people have no interest in religion or spirituality. They have only one aim in life- sense gratification- and in order to achieve this end they make plans for economic development. Misguided pople think that religion should be maintained if, or, because it contributes to economic development, which is required for sense gratification. Thus, in order to guarantee further sense gratification after death, in heaven, there is some system of religious observance. But this is not the purpose of religion. The path of religion is actually meant for self-realization, and economic development is required just to maintain the body in a sound, healthy condition. One should lead a healthy life with a sound mind just to realize true knowledge, which is the aim of human life. This life is not meant for working hard like an ass or for culturing ignorance for sense gratification.

Five thousand years ago, Sri Isopanisad was studied all over the world. Concealed for centuries in the Sanskrit language of India, this ancient spiritual gem is now revealed in the first authorized English edition ever published. This masterwork of the long forgotten Vedic culture is here presented by the most venerated descendant of the culture, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. Sri Isopanisad is the book to ignite a spiritual revolution in the mind of a modern Westerner. Sri Isopanisad- $1.96 at store.krishna.com.

EXCLUSIVENESS is the greatest feature of love. The very idea of recieving exclusive love makes our soul tingle. When love is made exclusive it makes it possible for the lover to love their beloved on the deepest level you can imagine, thus giving the word “love” it’s actual substance. The perfection of all yoga paths is to reach Samadhi; Samadhi means that the mind is always cent-per-cent in concentration on the supreme object of meditation.

Recently, some of my friends came back from Bhakti Fest 2010, which was held in Joshua Tree, CA. I really enjoyed hearing of their experiences. It’s so nice that people are finally coming in contact with many of the spiritual methodologies outlined in the traditional Vedic texts – the same ancient Vedic hymns which shout, “Shanti Shanti Shanti.” It means “Let there be peace for all living beings in the upper, middle, and lower worlds.”

I’m thankful for such an event, which can help lift modern materialistic American culture from the clutches of corporate slavery and the embarrassment of accepting our human existence as nothing more than a soul-less conglomeration of insentient chemicals firing in the brain. This conception we partly gain due to our exposing the same brain to mainstream media outlets and thus gleaning the doctrines of the latest avant-garde atheists of our time.

But, one thing boggles my mind completely!

First of all, it’s well known that Americans as a whole are cursed with the mentality of trying to get satisfaction for the lowest possible price. (Witness the success of fast-food and other similar industries.)

THE REALLY SAD THING TO ME IS….that many of the leaders of our recent bhakti trend teach a very perverted idea of what bhakti-yoga really is.

Unfortunately, because we often carry that same ‘fast-food-America’ mentality into spiritual life, we end up relegating spiritual practice to the category of hobbies and side interests so we can maximize our time for DEVOTION to some very un-spiritual and unnecessary materialistic activities.

Bhakti-yoga is a science like all other yoga paths. Hatha-yoga, for example, is not some whimsical practice where you can throw on a pair of spandex and act like you’re BKS Iyengar himself.

Some will say that bhakti is what you feel inside, it’s all your own opinion and path; no one can tell you what bhakti is for you; it’s you who have to define it, create it all by yourself, without the help of any dogmatic religious priests, books, or disciplinary guidelines.

Well, to that I say, if that’s your philosophy, then that rule should apply in the real world. Could that mentality fly in the real world of action and reaction? We should understand that Bhakti-yoga is an actual science like all other yoga paths. Hatha-yoga, for example, is not some whimsical practice where you can throw on a pair of spandex and act like you’re BKS Iyengar himself. Furthermore, in most states if you want to teach yoga you FIRST must be CERTIFIED. Is it not so?

What happens when you go to a hatha-yoga teacher who is not certified? You may break your back, pull a hamstring, or even worse.

So, you have to know who is qualified to be a teacher of that science. And bhakti-yoga is no less a science than hatha-yoga. In fact, it’s the most advanced science of all the yoga paths. It’s an ancient art, a spiritual craft in a league of its own. There are universal, time-tested, validated, scientific ways to cultivate that devotion within. But before you get there you have to have a basic road map of some kind.

EXACTLY WHO OR WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE DEVOTED TO WHEN YOU PRACTICE BHAKTI-YOGA, THE YOGA OF DEVOTION?

Is it to Shiva, Kali, Krishna, or none of them? Are they symbolic images, real higher living beings, or just mythological symbols we use to access greater aspects of our own self through meditation?

Well, you can begin to see what I mean.

Again, we should know that there are actually very detailed road maps that show the bhakti path, and there are also universities (ashramas), professors (gurus), and textbooks (ancient Sanskrit manuscripts) to guide us on the way.

But again, if you want cheap fast food instead of the real thing, then unfortunately that is what you’re going to end up with: a cheap, watered-down version of the real thing.

I’m not a fighter, I’m a lover, but I will fight for what I love, and it’s gonna be for the truest and purest definition of love.

Now regardless who your teacher is (your guru), or regardless how you are feeling today, we can all agree on one thing. Bhakti is supposed to be the ultimate expression of love of the soul. IT IS CALLED “THE YOGA OF DIVINE LOVE”. Now, I don’t think too many people will disagree with this interpretation of the Sanskrit word bhakti.

All I know is that when I looked up a particular famous Kirtan singer’s webpage and read what his philosophy of life is and what he taught his fans, it clearly said that it is the path of bhakti-yoga. Okay, fair enough. So, when I looked up this one main headliner at the BHAKTI FEST, it stated that though he teaches bhakti-yoga he is also initiated into a sect of Buddhism in India. Furthermore, he claims that his teacher appointed him as the leader of a temple of the Hindu Goddess Durga, and moreover he quotes the Bhagavad-gita, a book containing the teachings of Sri Krishna, in such a way that you would assume he fully abides by it.

Now once again, I don’t hate, but I have a brain and an intellect, and they tell me that many things are amiss in this picture. Let’s see if you agree.

First of all, Orthodox Buddhism teaches “anatma,” which is a philosophy that says we don’t have a soul and that we’re just a mind reincarnating. The goal of this path is to end one’s personal existence by stopping all thought and merging into what is called Nirvana — the big, black, empty void. This is a doctrine completely different from that of Durga worship, which is rooted in the Advaita school of thought. This school teaches that we’re not matter but spirit and that this spirit is undivided, although it appears to be divided into individual persons, whom we see as each other in this world. Then there is the Bhagavad-gita philosophy, which clearly teaches that the Supreme Truth is a Personal God, Krishna, who is the origin of all things material and spiritual, and that the perfection of all yoga systems is to constantly remember Him in devotion through bhakti-yoga. To follow this path properly one should, as Krishna says, “give up all other dharmas, or methods of worship, and take exclusive shelter of Me in devotion.”

The Bhagavad-gita is the main text of the bhakti school, which teaches that God is an individual person, as are we, but that He is in the supreme position as the controller and origin of all that be. In other words, it wouldn’t make sense for someone who truly accepts the Gita’s teachings to take a break from this path and worship Durga or any other god or goddess or object. If you truly accept what the Gita is saying – that Krishna is the origin of all things and that all things are emanating from Him and contained within Him – what would be the point of worshiping any other person or object?

So if you do sometimes worship someone or something else, that proves that underneath all your external public display of heartfelt “bhakti” you don’t really think that Krishna is the supreme goal of meditation. In other words, you don’t really accept as true Krishna’s teachings in the Bhagavad-gita. Right?

How can a person follow all three extremely contradictory spiritual paths simultaneously? This unfortunately sounds to me like a most bogus kind of “bhakti”. It’s like a guy offering “respect” to a priest by touching his foot with one hand while beating him over the head with a shoe held in the other hand! Following the teachings of a voidist path like Buddhism or an impersonal path like advaitism while trying to cultivate devotion to a personal Supreme Truth through a theistic path like bhakti is like trying to start a fire while simultaneously pouring water on it. It just doesn’t work. In other words, there can be no real bhakti potency in such chanting of mantras. It must be a farce.

“If you are married to a person and you tell that person “I love you. My love is completely devoted to you” and then you are constantly calling another person, talking about them, singing to them, how do you think your spouse is going to feel?”

Maybe you think that one who is advanced spiritually can see the divine in all things. But then again, what is your position: is there a soul, or isn’t there one? Do you devote your being to Durga, or do you actually worship Krishna/Vishnu? Which is it? Shouldn’t we want to know?

What is the meaning of a guru’s giving you a name such as Govinda Das if you regularly chant the name of Durga or Kali? It’s as if I’m married to a woman named Patty but I’m always calling Sherry on the phone. Are you really devoted to the person whose name you’re calling out repeatedly? Or do you do so solely for entertainment purposes and recognition?!

Someone may argue that if you love God then do you not love everything and everyone? Sure, but what would be the point of bhakti-yoga practice unless you’re trying to direct all your love and action to watering the root? Unless you’re trying to give it all back to God, the place where it all comes from? And if we can chant any name, then why do I have to go to a yoga studio and try to bend up like a pretzel and look all spiritual, when I can just chant my girlfriend’s name in the back of my Cadillac on Mount Solidad and make profuse amounts of “love” and call it “divine bhakti.”

In other words, what is the actual substance of bhakti that makes it bhakti? We should understand this science and investigate ALL of these different philosophical doctrines. We should continue to go deeper and deeper in the ocean of knowledge of life and reject obvious contradictions and misinterpretations of those doctrines. We should not follow anything blindly. Question Everything; Know for yourself.

Anyways, it’s clear to me that spiritual prostitution exists. And it’s a fact that there are these modern kirtan gurus popping up who will prostitute themselves philosophically to gain access to a greater demographic of consumers, and you should know that they are alive and doing well, very well.

FINAL THOUGHT:

If you are married to a person and you tell that person “I love you. My love is completely devoted to you.” and then you are constantly calling another person, talking about them, singing to them, how do you think your spouse is going to feel?

In conclusion, real love is exclusive. “Love” that is not exclusive is prostitution — it’s not love at all. This kind of “love” is self-serving and cannot truly satisfy the self. If you think that sex with multiple partners is an advanced form of bhakti-yoga, then you’re not even on the spiritual path at all, because the spiritual path means knowing that you are not the body made of flesh and blood but that we should actually endeavor to realize and nourish the eternal spirit within. This is not a criticism of the search for genuine love; it’s just a criticism of the modern materialistic mindset of making the most valuable things in life cheap and simulated.

May all those sincere seekers who wish to experience the true depth of the heart of the bhakti-yoga science find such guidance and shelter in the teachings of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who taught the complete science of bhakti and wrote it all down in numerous books, especially The Nectar of Devotion. (See www.nectarofdevotion.com)

OM TAT SAT

“The purpose of food is to increase the duration of life, purify the mind and aid bodily strength.This is its only purpose.” — His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

You have the freedom to think, the freedom to choose,and the freedom to evaluate as many possibilities as you can!. Your mind can be your own best friend or worst enemy.The beauty of your life is that you can align with the blessings that are already in your life, honor them, and expand them with your good use of them.What blessings in your life are you aware of right now for which you can consciously be 100% grateful?

One such blessing you are offered is food.Now, the purpose of food, you should remember, is to give you energy.And, energy for what? For walking, for riding your bike, for going to work, for playing sports? Ultimately, the energy is for living your spiritual purpose.And, as a principle, everyone’s spiritual purpose is to love God (called Krishna in the yoga tradition).

Just as you want your car performing in optimal condition while you are driving, you want your body to be in optimal health while you are in it.There is no denying that your health is your wealth.To have the healthiest life you can have, you should know what to do to create this for yourself. Food enlightenment is about you knowing how to nourish yourself in the healthiest way possible such that you have more energy, longevity, and strength.And ultimately, the purpose of increasing these qualities is to help you awaken your inner qualities of spiritual love.

Intellectually, consider that you are part of something bigger than just yourself.You are a part of the whole of life.Everything and everyone is in relationship with one another.Inherently, everything you do has an effect on the whole.Therefore, you should endeavor to treat yourself in the best, most loving, and compassionate way possible, thus projecting this experience of enlightened love onto the world.In terms of Food Enlightenment, this means to consume only the highest energy foods that are most positive for your health.As you awaken greater energy in yourself, greater positivity in yourself, you awaken these qualities in everyone.The whole world becomes naturally uplifted by your choices and behavior.

Here is a high-energy recipe for a snack or dessert:

Bali Orange Bliss Balls -

2 cups of raw cashews, 2 tbsp coconut oil, 10 soaked dates, 1 tsp cardamom, 1 orange, 1 tsp cinnamon, pinch of vanilla, 2″ piece orange peel, pinch of Himalayan salt. Mix all ingredients in Food processor.Stir in chopped almonds, roll into blissballs.

Speaking in Boston before the International Student Societ, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada provides a practical, simple, and profound solution for world peace and harmony.  Noting the increasing number of flags at the United Nations building in New York, he states that inter-nationalism is failing because “your international feeling and my international feeling are overlapping and conflicting.  We have to find the proper center for our loving feelings.”

Right Center of Affection

Your society is known as the Inter­national Student Society. There are many other international societies, such as the United Nations. The idea of an international society is very nice, but we must try to understand what should be the central idea of an international society. If you throw a stone into the middle of a pool of water, a circle will expand to the limit of the bank. Similarly, radio waves expand in a circle, and when you capture the waves with your radio you can hear the message. In the same way, our loving feeling can also expand. At the beginning of our life, we simply want to eat. Whatever a small child grabs, he wants to eat. Then, as he grows a little, he tries to participate with his brothers and sisters. This is an increase in the feeling of fellowship. Then, as he grows up, he begins to feel love for his parents, then for his community, for his country, and at last for all nations. But unless the center is right, that expansion of feeling—even if it is national or international—is not perfect.

You feel for other Americans because they are born in this country. You may even sacrifice your life for your countrymen. But there is a defect. If the definition of national is “one who is born in a particular country,” then why are the animals born in America not considered Americans? We are not expanding our feelings beyond the human society because we don’t think animals are our countrymen; we send them to the slaughterhouse.

The center of our national or international feeling is not fixed on the proper object. If the center is right, then you can draw any number of circles around that center and they will never overlap. They will simply keep growing, growing, growing. They will not intersect with one another if the center is all right. Unfortunately, although everyone is feeling nationally or internationally, the center is missing. Therefore your international feeling and my international feeling, your national feeling and my national feeling, are overlapping and conflicting. So we have to find the proper center for our loving feelings. Then we can expand our circle of feelings and it will not overlap or conflict with others’. That center is Krishna.

Mahatma – A Great Soul

Our society, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, is teaching the people of all countries that the center of their affection should be Krishna. In other words, we are teaching people to be mahatmas. You may have heard this word mahatma before. It is a Sanskrit word that is applied to a person whose mind is expanded, whose circle of feelings is very much expanded. He is a mahatma. Maha means big or great, and atma means soul. He who has expanded his soul is called a mahatma.

The Bhagavad-gita, an ancient Indian spiritual text, gives a description of the person who has widely expanded his feelings:

bahunam janmanam ante

jnanavan mam prapadyate

vasudevah sarvam iti

sa mahatma su-surlabhah

The first idea in this mantra is that one can become a mahatma only after many births. The soul is transmigrating through many bodies, one after another. There are 8,400,000 different species of life, and we evolve through them until at last we come to the human form. Only then can we become a mahatma. This is why Krishna says “After many, many births one may become a mahatma.”

A similar mantra is labdhva su-durlabham idam bahu-sambhavante: “After many births you have achieved a human body, which is difficult to get.” This human form of life is not cheap. After being born in at least 8,000,000 different species, we get this human form.

Highest Spiritual Platform

If one is actually cultivating spiritual knowledge—not in one, but in many lives—one eventually comes to the highest platform of knowledge and is called jnanavan, or the possessor of true knowledge. Then, Krishna says, “He turns toward Me, Krishna, the all-attractive Supreme Personality.”

Now, why does a man in knowledge turn toward Krishna? Because he knows that Krishna is the central point of all loving feelings. After cultivating knowledge for many births, a person who expands his consciousness up to the point of loving God—he is a mahatma, a great soul. God is great, and His devotee is also great. But, Krishna says, sa mahatma su-durlabhah: “That great soul is rarely to be seen.”

Now, we have expanded our feelings of love to various objects. We may love our country, our community, our family, our cats and dogs. In any case, we expand our love according to our knowledge. And when our knowledge is perfect, we come to the point of loving Krishna. That is the perfection. Love of Krishna is the aim of all activities, the aim of life.

Symptoms of a Great Soul

Now, suppose a man says, “I have expanded my feelings of love widely.” That is all right, but he must show the symptoms of how his feelings of love are expanded. As Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita:

vidya-vinaya-sampanne
brahmane gavi hastini
suni caiva svapake ca
panditah sama-darsinah

If one is actually a pundit, someone who is elevated to the stage of perfect wisdom, then he must see everyone on an equal platform. Because the vision of a pundit is no longer absorbed simply with the physical body, he sees a learned brahmin as a spirit soul, he sees a dog as a spirit soul, he sees an elephant as a spirit soul. There are many social classes in human society, but if a man is really learned he sees everyone, every living entity, on the same level. That is the stage of true learning.

We are trying to expand our feelings socially, communally, nationally, internationally, or universally. That is our natural function—to expand our consciousness. But my point is that if we actually want to expand our consciousness to the utmost, we must find out the real center of existence. That center is Krishna.

Whatever we see is made up of various energies of God. It is said, “The Supreme Absolute Truth has many varieties of energies.” And these energies are acting so nicely that it appears they are working automatically. For example, we have all seen a blooming flower. We may think that it has automatically blossomed and become so beautiful. But no, the material energy of God is acting. Similarly, Krishna has a spiritual energy, and a mahatma, one who is broad-minded, is under the protection of that spiritual energy; he is not under the spell of the material energy. What is the symptom of that protection? “A mahatma is always engaged in devotional service to Me.” That is the main symptom of a mahatma. Does he engage in this devotional service blindly? No. Krishna says “He knows perfectly that I am the source of everything.”

First Enlightenment, Then Unity

The nations are trying to be united. In your country there is the United Nations. Unfortunately, instead of the nations becoming united, the flags are increasing. Similarly, India was once one country, Hindustan. Now there is also Pakistan. And some time in the future there will be Sikhistan and then some other “stan.” Instead of becoming united we are becoming disunited, because we are missing the center. Therefore, my request is that you please try to find out the real center of your international movement. Then your international movement will be perfect.

In the Fourteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita it is said,

sarva-yonisu kaunteya
murtayah sambhavanti yah
tasam brahma mahad yonir
aham bija-pradah pita

Here Krishna says, “I am the father of all forms of life. The material nature is the mother, and I am the seed-giving father.” Without a father and mother, no one can be born. The father gives the seed, and the mother supplies the body. In this material world the mother of every one of us—from the highest being down to the ant—is the material nature. Our body is matter; therefore it is a gift of the material nature, our mother. But I, the spirit soul, am part and parcel of the supreme father, Krishna.

If you want to broaden your feelings of fellowship to the utmost limit, please try to understand this teaching of the Bhagavad-gita. You will get enlightenment; you will become a real mahatma. You will feel affection even for the cats and dogs and reptiles. We cannot become enlightened unless we come to the point of understanding Krishna. Therefore we are teaching Krishna consciousness all over the world. The Krishna consciousness movement is not new. It is based on the principles of the Bhagavad-gita, an ancient scripture. Try to understand Bhagavad-gita as it is. The words of the Bhagavad-gita are sufficient to give you enlightenment.

Srila Prabhupada is interviewed by a news reporter.