Ferris Wheel of Birth and Death

Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna! The nature of the spirit soul is Sat-Cit-Ananda i.e. the soul is eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss. In contrast, the body is temporary and full of ignorance and suffering. Because of this incompatibility between the two, the soul, who is meant to be happy in an eternal blissful spiritual atmosphere, is never happy in this temporary miserable body. The soul has to repeatedly experience birth, old age, disease and death in different bodies...

Hence Shri Shankaracharya has sung:

punarapi jananam punarapi maranam,
punarapi janani jathare shayanam
iha sansaare bahu dustaare kripayaa paare paahi muraare

"O Muraari, Lord Gauranga Krishna, I am repeatedly tossed in the waves of birth and death. I am forced to be born again and again and forced to die again and again. In this way I have been occupying the wombs of millions of mothers. Please kindly shower your merciful glance upon me and deliver me from this ocean of nescience and take me to Your spiritual world where there is no birth and death."

In this way, the soul sometimes is damned to occupy a dog's body or blessed to get a human or demigod body, depending on the soul's past de­sires and activities. This cycle of birth and death is like an infinite unfathomable Ferris wheel where sometimes you are at the top and sometimes at the bottom. Similarly the soul keeps on taking one body after another until he becomes completely purified and becomes a surrendered devotee of God by chanting His Holy Names of Nityananda, Gauranga and Hare Krishna. (Adapted and commented by Swami Gaurangapada from an article compiled by Radheshyama dasa.)

Identity Crisis: Are we worth 2 USD

The biggest problem is the identity crisis. Who am I? Am I this body, mind, intelligence, or the head, or the nose? If one can find out one's real identity, then he can work to­wards achieving lasting happi­ness. We are not these bodies; we are  pure spiritual souls (Atma). The existence of the soul is not based on the blind faith of a group of religious followers, as some people wrongly think. It can be proved through logic and understanding...

Once some scientists analyzed all the chemicals present in the body and after death the total "Market Value" of the chemical and other components of the body was just around $2 or Rs 110!!! Infact no one is willing to even pay that for the dead body and we have to infact pay get the dead body cremated or burnt. So what was it in the body which was of real value which is not there at the time of death? It is us!!! We are the soul, the spiritual spark living inside the body. We leave our body at the time of death and take on another body just like we give up our old clothes and put on new ones.

Know Who You Are Before You Know Your Mind!!!

Am I This Body?
Am I This Hair?
Am I This Hand?
Am I Thls Nose?
Am I This coat?
Who Am I ?

It Is Easy To Point To Your Eye Or Nose, But Can You Point to the actual Yourself?
Real Knowledge means to identify the actual You so that you can give happiness tto he real you not justto this chemical body.

Anybody who argues that this body is all in all, and that there is noth­ing as a soul of higher dimension within this body, has to ask himself whether his parents would sell him off for $2 or Rs 110?

If your friend travelling on his bicycle falls off it, what will you do? You will forget the bicycle worth $50 on the road and rush the body of your friend worth $2 to the near­est hospital. Even if your friend, riding in a Mercedes Benz, faces a head-on collision with another car, you'll anx­iously rush to the hospital with his $2 body, bothering the least about the $50,000 car lying on the road side. So it is not so difficult for a sane man to appreciate that there has to be something very special and supe­rior in a living body, which everyone values so much, even though one may not be in com­plete knowledge of the eternal soul. The soul is the real eternal personality residing in this temporary body. Yet the entire world, with all its advancement, is only learning to pamper this useless body worth $2, which is nothing more than a bag of chemicals.

The soul can be compared to a driver and the body to a vehicle. The soul is the spark of life that makes the body appear alive and when the soul leaves the body, we say the person is 'dead'. An analogy of a car can be given in this regard. There are headlights in the car to see the road, you also see with your eyes. The car produces sound with the horn, you also speak. The car has four wheels, you also have two hands and two legs. The car moves from place to place and you also do the same. But once the driver gets down from the car, the car cannot budge one inch on its own, even after 100 years. Similarly when a man dies, the body is exactly like a car with­out a driver. The body, which we see, is actually dead. It appears to be alive be­cause of the presence of the soul. When the soul leaves the body, the body be­comes inactive.

The body is also compared to a cage and the soul is compared to a parrot in the cage. So if someone takes very good care of the cage by polishing it very carefully and keeping it clean, but ignores the needs of the resident parrot, then the whole purpose of keeping the parrot in the cage is defeated. In today's society people are making all possible arrangements only for bodily comforts and luxuries, but spiritually ev­eryone is starving their soul (which is actually them), and hence everyone is un­happy and dissatisfied. Since the soul is spiritual, it requires spiritual nourishment in the form of the spiritual divine Mantras from the spiritual world which are the Nityananda and Gauranga Mantrarajas, and, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Raama Hare Raama Raama Raama Hare Hare! (Adapted and commented by Swami Gaurangapada from an article compiled by Raadheshyaama daasa.)

Economic Progress but Internal Disturbance

WHY ARE MANKIND'S PROBLEMS INCREASING DESPITE RAPID  GROWTH OF SCIENCE AND  TECHNOLOGY?   

As we move into the 21st Century, we see that Science and Technology have reached heights, which could not have been imagined a few hundred  years ago. There are so many modern amenities today like air-conditioners, vehicles, 5-star hotels, the finest of vehicles, a communication system due to which the en­tire earth has shrunk, etc. The purpose of Sciences is to either eliminate all miseries, or at best to reduce miseries, and thereby bring more and more happiness in the lives of the common people...

So what should we expect to find in the technologically most advanced countries? We should expect the most cherished qualities of love, peace and fraternity amongst the citizens. However, the present day scenario is just the opposite.

The world's leading eco­nomic giants although hundreds of times more scientifically and technologically advanced than developing countries, strangely show the high­est suicide rates amongst the young and rich citizens! People are somehow 'surviving' in these countries. They are always anxiety-rid­den, frustrated and very disturbed. We are not philosophizing — we are just stating facts. The divorce rate in some countries today is more than 75% in the first three years of mar­riage. More and more people (especially of the higher income class in the countries) are forced to take sleeping pills in order to sleep at night, and they also visit psychiatrists regularly. People are so terrified they have to screen their guests through a lens on their door, and for better safety they install several security systems. This 'culture' has now invaded the cities of the developing countries. People move ex­actly like rots or zombies with no emotions, or at best false emotions. In some places in the world, if one moves out of the house after dusk and comes back alive, successfully escaping the drugs and violence, he or she can be consid­ered exceptionally lucky.

WHAT IS MISSING  IN OUR MODERN SOCIETY?   

Shrila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada would often give an example, which illustrates the condition of modern society today. If we take a pack of dogs and put them in a locked room, what do you expect to happen? Would they be smiling at one another? Would they develop loving relationships amongst themselves? One would hardly expect that! In fact they would be bark­ing, screaming, biting, quarreling and killing one another. A very similar situation can be observed in some parts of today's society. If 'Knowledge is power', what are we doing with all our knowl­edge if we are unable to control the world situ­ation today?

One need not blame the government, politicians, bu­reaucrats, police officials, judiciary etc. for the prob­lems that the world faces to­day. We are INTERNALLY DISTURBED, so we create disturbances for others. We have to evaluate the nature of our mind to understand and practice the ART OF MIND CON­TROL by chanting the Nityananda and Gauranga Mantrarajas, and, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Raama Hare Raama Raama Raama Hare Hare! (Adapted from an article compiled by Raadheshyaama daasa.)