Q1 :Is there more
to life then what I am currently experiencing?
How can I get more out of life? |
Ans
1: The Upanisads say, "Life
comes from the spirit self. Even as
a man casts a shadow, so the spirit
self casts the shadow of life, and,
as a shadow of former lives, a new
life comes to this body."
Getting more out of life means coming
to the spiritual platform. Most people
live in the shadow of their real self,
and thus in the shadow of their real
life. Therefore the Vedas call, '
tamasi mam jyotir gamma ' : "Come
out of the darkness into the light".
The shadow-life is the life of thinking
"I am the body". This pseudo-life
leads to old age, disease and death,
and then rebirth in other material
body. The real life, the life of light,
is knowing that I am not this body,
but am a spirit soul, a part of the
Supreme Spirit, Krishna, like a spark
is part of fire or a photon is part
of sunlight. You
-- the real self behind the role you
play -- are eternal. You should live
life to realize that truth. Not just
to believe it, but to see it yourself,
at all times, in all places, in all
circumstances. That's getting the
most out of life. |
| Q2 :There are so
many voices out there saying that
they're the one. Who knows? |
| Ans
2: If someone is attempting to purchase
gold and there are many sellers of
gold, some bona-fide and some who
are cheating, how can one know that
he is getting the real thing? There
is the saying, "Let the buyer
beware." According to Vedic understanding,
this means that it is the job of one
who is interested in purchasing gold
to become knowledgeable about what
gold is, what its qualities are, who
its authorized sales representatives
are, etc. In spiritual matters it
is the same thing. There are so many
voices, but if we ourselves do not
have a clear idea of what it is we
are looking for then it will be hard
to conduct an intelligent search.
Then in frustration we may throw up
our hands, declare that it is all
a matter of belief, and become our
own gurus, even though we must admit,
if we are honest, that there is one
thing we do know for sure -- that
we are not qualified for the job.
It is not important in the beginning
to worry about accepting a spiritual
master and surrendering to him, nor
is there any necessity of this in
the beginning. The main thing to do
is to become knowledgeable about the
nature of real spiritual life and
what a bona-fide spiritual master
is. This type of knowledge acquisition
can approach on purely theoretical
basis in order to make progress. We
propose that Srila Prabhupada's books
represents authorized information
about these subjects. Study his literatures
thoroughly and then draw your own
conclusions. If you make a sincere
and exhaustive study of his literatures,
you will understand who is a bona-fide
spiritual master and why it is important
to take guidance from him if you want
to make real and tangible spiritual
progress in this human form of life.
Try it.
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