Those who reduce misery to misfortune miss their potential for spiritual growth by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 01

When problems befall us for no apparent reason, we naturally get the question, “Why?”

Materialism, today’s ruling worldview, attributes such misery to bad luck. It urges us to persevere, assuring us that eventually lady luck will smile at us.

However, reducing misery to mere misfortune makes us miss our potential for metaphysical enquiry, potential that misery prompts us to activate. The Bhagavad-gita demonstrates such activation. At its start (01.27), the misery of fighting against relatives overwhelmed Arjuna. Krishna didn’t offer platitudes such as “misery is misfortune”, but illumined him about life’s fundamental questions regarding identity and destiny.

See misery not as an accidental misfortune, but as a purposeful reminder of the essential incompatibility between our spiritual core and our material shell.

Gita wisdom explains that we are eternal spiritual beings seeking pleasure in temporary material things. From this existential incompatibility arises all our misery. No matter how many material things we achieve, we can’t change their temporary nature, so we just can’t go beyond misery.

Does this analysis imply that we just passively accept all misery?

No.

The Gita urges us to actively counter misery but by pursuing spiritual development, not by obsessing over material improvement. As we are sat-cit-ananda (eternal enlightened ecstatic) souls, happiness is a part of our spiritual make-up. The more we realize that make-up by practicing bhakti-yoga, the more we relish inner joyfulness. But to get the impetus for practicing yoga diligently, we need to stop minimizing misery as an accidental misfortune. Instead, we need to see it as a purposeful reminder of the essential incompatibility between our spiritual core and our material shell.

Such reminders inspire us to raise our consciousness spiritually by practicing bhakti-yoga. When our consciousness rises, our perspective becomes clearer and calmer, helping us to not only find better ways for dealing with specific problems that befall us, but also experience the reality of spiritual shelter and satisfaction – the ultimate solution to all problems.

Inaction is no protection from reaction by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 03

If we find ourselves in an epidemic-hit area, we will be anxious to avoid getting infected or, if we have already been infected, to be treated. Similarly, when we become spiritually informed, we understand that we are in a world afflicted by the epidemic of materialism and are already infected. This infection comes in the form of germ-like material desires. Such desires impel us to material actions, which beget karmic reactions that come as the various miseries of material existence.

What causes reaction is not action per se, but the selfish materialistic motivation actuating that action, just as what causes the disease is not its external symptoms but the internal germs.

So, we may infer, as do many spiritual tyros, that because action causes reaction, giving up action will protect us from reaction. However, Gita wisdom reveals that what causes reaction is not action per se, but the selfish materialistic motivation actuating that action, just as what causes the disease is not its external symptoms but the internal germs. And what leads to liberation is not giving up action, but giving up that selfish motivation, just as what cures the disease is not suppressing the symptoms but removing the germs. Therefore, we can give up material motivation efficaciously not merely by giving up all action but by taking up spiritual action, specifically selfless action for serving the all-attractive Absolute Truth, Krishna. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (03.09) endorses working in a sacrificial spirit for his sake.

What is the rationale for such action?

Firstly, at our present materialistic level of consciousness all our actions are materially, selfishly motivated, so to give up such actions, we will have to give up all actions – a veritably impossible task, as the Gita (03.05) stresses.

Secondly because Krishna is the reservoir of all happiness, serving him brings spiritual fulfillment. Experiencing that fulfillment helps us realize that giving up selfish action is the path of not deprivation but of higher satisfaction, thereby making our journey to liberation easier, swifter and sweeter.

Biological hunger is need, but sensual hunger is greed by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02

Biological hunger refers to the body’s call for food, whereas sensual hunger refers to the senses’ craving for sense objects. TheBhagavad-gita (02.59: niraaharasya) uses the hunger metaphor for referring to such sensual craving. Just as when we don’t get food, we feel incomplete, agitated and restless, so too do we feel when we don’t get sense objects.

There’s, however, a significant difference between the two hungers. Biological hunger arises from need – food is necessary for survival. But sensual hunger arises from greed – sense objects seem necessary, but they aren’t; we won’t die without them. Thus, sensual hunger is a pseudo-hunger, so it can never be satisfied. When we try to satisfy it by indulging in sense gratification, we get a brief relief, even pleasure. But that feeling is misleading, akin to the temporary decline in a fire after the addition of fuel. Once the fuel starts burning, the fire grows bigger. Similarly, our indulgence acts like fuel for the fire of desire – pacification is soon overrun by aggravation, by the kindling of stronger desire for greater indulgence.

Pacification is soon overrun by aggravation, by the kindling of stronger desire for greater indulgence.

Thus sensual hunger can’t be satisfied, but it can’t the suppressed either. Why? Because it is a distorted expression of our innate need for happiness that can’t be permanently denied, for we can’t live without happiness. But that need can be permanently redirected from matter to spirit – the same Gita verse (02.59: param drshtva nivaratate) indicates that when we perceive higher spiritual reality, the craving gradually subsides and we get lasting peace.

For such spiritual redirection of consciousness, the Gita(02.61) recommends Krishna as the best object for contemplation. When we train ourselves to fix our consciousness on him, our senses become not just controlled (samyamya), but also conquered (vashe), thus letting us steadily march towards him for attaining everlasting spiritual fulfillment.

Be special above the ordinary, not among the ordinary by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02.

We all want to be special. Materialistic culture directs our longing for specialness towards material things. It makes us believe that we will stand out if we have special worldly possessions such as smarter phones, faster cars or bigger houses. Yet that is what everyone desires. So buying into this definition of specialness makes us not special, but just another one among the ordinary.

Someone may object, “But only a few get those things – that makes them special.”

Does it really?

Bhakti doesn’t ask us to reject the material talents and resources that make us special; it asks us to reject only the materialism that limits the scope of that specialness to material pursuits alone.

Winners in the rat race still remain rats. Even if we become special materially, we still remain at the same material level of consciousness as everyone else. So, we remain vulnerable to their machinations for taking over the trophies of our specialness. And even if we gallantly guard those trophies lifelong, we can’t guard them against time. Death takes us empty-handed to another body, where materialism sends us on another doomed search for specialness.

The Bhagavad-gita (02.69) shows a different way when it metaphorically conveys the drastic difference between materialists and spiritualists. It urges us to redirect our quest for specialness to the spiritual level, to the all-attractive, all-loving Supreme Person, Krishna. Each of us has a special, indeed unique, relationship with him, a relationship that we can develop by practicing bhakti-yoga.

Bhakti doesn’t ask us to reject the material talents and resources that make us special; it asks us to reject only the materialism that limits the scope of that specialness to material pursuits alone. By lovingly serving Krishna with our specialties, we raise our consciousness above the material level, thereby transcending the innate insecurity and ultimate futility of all material accomplishments. Bhakti redefines our longing for specialness as a pathway to the eternal, for attaining an imperishable relationship with Krishna – an attainment that makes us eternally special.

Cellular reception depends on position; transcendental reception, on disposition by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18

Just as an appropriate device, say a cellphone, gives us access to a cellular network, an appropriate device, a devotionally disposed heart, gives us access to the transcendental network of devotion, of spiritual emotions in relationship with Krishna and his devotees. The more we connect with this network by our sincere bhakti practice, the more we feel enriched by a profound non-material happiness.

Just as the cellular network exists even when there is no reception, so does the transcendental network.

However, we sometimes encounter phases of dryness, wherein while doing devotional activities we feel nothing except boredom. When such dry phases occur, it means that our consciousness has entered a low reception territory. Due to the influence of our past material conditionings, sometimes our craving for material things increases and our eagerness for Krishna decreases. When our disposition thus becomes non-devotional or even anti-devotional, we get low or no reception. Due to the resulting inner emptiness, we may even start doubting the reality of our past spiritual enrichment.

Just as the cellular network exists even when there is no reception, so does the transcendental network. The cellular network may be unreliable, but the transcendental network is supremely reliable, being powered by the supreme and supremely reliable person, Krishna himself. Just as we can get back cellular reception by changing our position, we can get back transcendental reception by changing our disposition. Moreover, the transcendental network offers the ultimate help service – the CEO himself, available round-the-clock in our own hearts, as the Bhagavad-gita (18.61) indicates.

If we prayerfully seek his help and determinedly persevere in our devotional practices, he appreciates our desire to be devotionally disposed even when we don’t feel thus disposed. Being supremely merciful, he soon counters the effect of our material conditionings and we get back the transcendental network, with our devotion not just restored but also reinforced due to having passed this test of faith.

Illusion drives us compulsively; Krishna draws us compassionately by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18

We all like to be free – we resent it when we are forced to do something. In fact, many people often hesitate to practice bhakti-yogabecause they fear that following Krishna’s instructions will mean losing their freedom.

However, Krishna’s instructions don’t take away our freedom; rather, they restore our freedom that has been stolen by illusion. Actually, illusion steals our freedom so seductively as to make us think of the loss of freedom as real freedom. Consider the contemporary notion of sexual freedom, wherein people want to indulge in lust in whatever way it dictates. Essentially, they consider abject slavery to lust as sexual freedom.

The actual pleasure in sex is monumentally anti-climactic, with fantasies fuelled for years going up into smoke in moments.

Someone may question, “But sex is enjoyable. Why call it slavery?”

Because the enjoyment is far more glamorized than actualized. The actual pleasure is monumentally anti-climactic, with fantasies fuelled for years going up into smoke in moments. Yet because lust drives us so compulsively and because we don’t know any alternative source of pleasure, we keep pursuing it ad infinitum. And in the process we get attached and bound to matter, suffering the miseries of material existence life after life.

To protect us from such bondage, scripture, the guidebook of Krishna’s instructions, enjoins sexual regulation. More importantly, scripture also outlines bhakti-yoga to help us attain higher spiritual happiness.

When we practice bhakti-yoga and prayerfully seek Krishna’s help, he compassionately raises our consciousness above the material level where it is tormented and enslaved by the unmerciful attacks of lust. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (18.58) declares that those who seek Krishna’s shelter rise above all obstacles, whereas those who don’t are lost. When our consciousness rises and we relish Krishna’s fulfilling shelter, we realize that sexual regulation is not deprivation, but liberation – not deprivation of something desirable, but liberation from something compulsive and into the arms of someone supremely compassionate.

Pure consciousness is not content-less, but contamination-less by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita

Pure consciousness is an oft-used term in spiritual circles, but impersonalists interpret it as content-less consciousness.

To understand the problem with such an interpretation, consider the three components of any conscious perception: the subject, the object and the stream of consciousness that links the two. For example, when you read this article, you are the subject, the article is the object and your stream of consciousness links you with the article. Content-less consciousness means that there exists only the stream of consciousness that has no content. There is nothing to perceive and no one to perceive because, according to impersonalists, the notions of subject and object are both illusions.

Without a perceiver and experiencer of consciousness, consciousness itself has no meaning or even existence.

Such content-less consciousness is, however, consciousness-less, for without a perceiver and experiencer of consciousness, consciousness itself has no meaning or even existence.

Scripture helps us understand the true import of pure-consciousness – it is not content-less, but contamination-less. It is free from any contamination that sullies its nature to perceive and relish pure spiritual reality, reality that manifests at its zenith as Krishna.

In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna (02.11) begins instructing Arjuna by reproaching him for behaving like one in illusion. Then (02.12) he asserts that all living beings – he himself, Arjuna and all the assembled kings – are eternal and eternally individual. Krishna being supremely enlightened is in pure consciousness, yet he perceives others as distinct individuals, who will stay that way eternally. Thus, his consciousness is not or will not become content-less.

And towards the end of the Gita (18.73), when Arjuna’s illusion is dissipated, he resolves to do Krishna’s will. He, the subject, becomes one with Krishna, the object, not in being, but in will. And that oneness is the essence of pure consciousness, which is not content-less, but contamination-less – it is purged of all desires other than the desire to serve Krishna.

We can’t replace the mind, but we can re-place it by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 06

Suppose we have a careless colleague who keeps making a mess of things, but whom we aren’t allowed to replace. The best way to deal with the situation is to train the colleague.

That is our position in material existence with the colleague being our mind. Rather than teaming with us to meet our responsibilities, the mind becomes our liability. When we want to do one thing, it wanders off to something else, something that is often unimportant and sometimes even stupid. And if we don’t keep our guard up, then it even drags us along on its frivolous and foolhardy schemes.

Re-placing the mind can be taxing but also transforming if we find the right object to place it on.

Though the mind is a tireless troublemaker, we can’t replace it – it’s going to be with us for as long as we are in material existence. How can we function effectively with such an unpredictable partner?

By rigorously re-placing it.

The Bhagavad-gita (06.26) urges that we bring the mind back under our control no matter wherever or whenever it wanders.

Won’t such constant labor be taxing?

Yes, but it can also be transforming if we find the right object to place the mind on. The Gita repeatedly recommends the all-pure Supreme, Krishna, as the best such object.

Why is Krishna the best object?

Because contact with the all-pure Supreme purifies the mind.

The mind is a perennial pleasure-seeker. Due to past impressions of materialistic pleasures, the mind goes off at every opportunity towards those pleasures. But when we consistently place it on Krishna by thinking of his glories, his pastimes, his service, the mind realizes gradually that such remembrance gives the best fulfillment, far better than that available through any of its quixotic schemes for worldly enjoyment.

By repeatedly re-placing the mind on Krishna, we reform it, realize the joyfulness of connection with him and rejoice therein eternally.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02, Chaitanya Charan Das , Gita Online

 Change recollection from selective to comprehensive and deceptive to protective by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02

Alcoholics, for a few moments of pleasure, undergo the indignity of slurred speech, incoherent behavior and overall foolishness that takes a heavy toll on time, money, health, love and life itself.

When alcoholics are sober, they are often painfully aware of this toll. But when the next urge to drink attacks them, their memory malfunctions, giving them vivid recollection of the fleeting initial pleasure and giving near-zero recollection of the lasting eventual misery. Such selective recollection is deceptive, dangerously deceptive, for it perpetuates their alcohol addiction.

To protect us from such deceptive recollection, scripture gives the full and unvarnished picture of worldly pleasures.

The Bhagavad-gita (02.63) states that such malfunctioning of the memory stems from delusion – the delusion that overwhelms those who unguardedly contemplate on tempting objects. The Gita (02.62-63) gives the eight-stage trajectory of thoughts that begins in contemplation and ends in self-destruction. So when alcoholics contemplate on drinking, the resulting desire snowballs into a delusion that pushes back the memories hostile to drinking and pushes forward memories conducive to drinking.

Such deceptive recollection entraps not just alcoholics, but all of us, according to our attachment. And the innate selectivity of our recollection is aggravated by today’s culture that depicts worldly pleasures selectively. The Gita (18.38) states that worldly pleasures are like nectar in the beginning, but poison in the end. The culture aggressively glamorizes the initial nectar and artfully conceals the eventual poison, , thus worsening the deception.

To protect us from such deceptive recollection, scripture gives the full and unvarnished picture of worldly pleasures. When we complement serious scriptural study with conscientious contemplation on how our own experiences with worldly pleasures ended in misery, our conviction about their overall miserable nature strengthens. Thereafter, whenever temptations attack us, we can fight it off with our scripture-based and experience-boosted recollection.

Thus serious scriptural study transforms our memory from selective to comprehensive and from deceptive to protective.

The soul is bulletproof, fireproof, waterproof, windproof – and time-proof by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02

“Waterproof!” Declares the ad of a trendy gadget. Ads like these tap our apprehension that such gadgets may get inadvertently damaged. These apprehensions stem from our deeper fear, conscious or subconscious, of the destructibility of all the things around us, even our bodies.

To counter this anxiety, we try to increase the durability and longevity of the things around us. This effort is coterminous with human existence. In the past, warriors sought armors, terrestrial and celestial, that were arrow-proof, the way soldiers today seek bulletproof armors. Yet no matter how well we boost the strength of material things, they still remain vulnerable to time. Nothing material can ever be time-proof.

No matter how well we boost the strength of material things, they can never become time-proof.

Yet this doesn’t mean that we need to abandon our natural search for security – we just need to redirect it from matter to spirit, more specifically from the material body to the spiritual soul that is the essence of our identity.

The Bhagavad-gita (02.24) underscores the utter indestructibility of the soul – phrased in contemporary terminology, the verse’s import is that the soul is bulletproof, fireproof, waterproof and windproof. This list is indicative, not exhaustive. That is, without exhaustively listing all the ways in which the soul is immune to destruction, the verse conveys through indicative examples the principle that the soul is indestructible. The universality of that principle is underscored by the verse’s next describer for the soul: eternality. The time that deteriorates and destroys everything material can’t wear down the soul – it is time-proof.

When we seek security in the eternality of our spiritual existence, we can stay unfazed amidst the most destructive of worldly calamities. And when we seek security in the love that brings purpose to existence, specifically the immortal love between us and Krishna, then our love attains perfect and perennial fulfillment – it becomes frustration-proof.

The Bhagavad-gita by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02

The greatest fear is the fear of losing the key to freedom  by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02

Material existence is like a prison, for it subjects us to multiple miseries, especially the ultimate agony of death. What imprisons us eternal spiritual beings is our desire to enjoy temporary material things.

The key out of this prison is the human form because it provides the soul with the advanced intelligence to perceive the eternal and to redirect desires from the temporary to the eternal. Our desires determine our destination. As long as we love the temporary, we stay trapped in the temporary; when we learn to love the eternal, we attain the eternal. So, when we use our human life to redirect our desires from the temporary to the eternal, we use the key to attain freedom.

 Just as an intoxicated prisoner doesn’t value the key, we don’t value the human form, being intoxicated with dreams of converting our prison into our kingdom – a fool’s errand.

For a prisoner who has been long incarcerated and has now got the key to get out, the greatest fear is losing the key. But just as an intoxicated prisoner doesn’t value the key, we don’t value the human form, being intoxicated with dreams and schemes of becoming happy in the material world, of converting our prison into our kingdom – a fool’s errand. However, when we become spiritually sober by studying Gita wisdom, we fear losing the key to freedom, that is, transmigrating downwards to the sub-human species.

The Bhagavad-gita  (02.40) assures that we can gain protection from this fear if we begin pursuing the eternal by even slight yoga practice. Nature and ultimately nature’s Lord, Krishna, appreciate our spiritual desire and ensure that we get human births in future to continue our spiritual pursuit.

Of course, if we use the key fully and learn to love Krishna during our lifetime, then we can become free not just from the greatest fear, but from all fear – we can attain Vaikuntha, the abode that is free from all fear.

The journey to realizing “I am not the body” begins with living “I am more than the body” by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02

The Bhagavad-gita’s fundamental teaching (02.13) is that we are not material bodies but are spiritual beings.

Even when we understand this intellectually, we can’t abruptly reject our bodily identity. Pertinently, the next verse (02.14) recommends that we stick to our dharmic duties by tolerating bodily stimuli like heat-cold or pleasure-pain. And the next verse (02.15) assures that such dutiful living, unswayed by bodily stimuli, will grant immortality. As the soul is known to be immortal, this verse’s assurance essentially means that we will realize our spiritual identity.

When we tolerate bodily inconveniences while practicing bhakti-yoga, we periodically relish a profound non-bodily fulfillment that vindicates the reality of our non-material side.

The Gita’s trajectory of thought suggests that we can progress towards realizing “I am not the body” by striving to live according to the understanding, “I am more than the body.” Living thus means that we don’t let the body’s needs and drives consume all our time. We give our non-bodily or spiritual side due attention by practicing diligently a process for self-realization. The best such process is bhakti-yoga because it engages the body in the service of Krishna, thereby transforming it into a tool for raising our consciousness to the spiritual level.

When we tolerate bodily inconveniences while practicing bhakti-yoga, we periodically relish a profound non-bodily fulfillment. This fulfillment vindicates for us the reality of our non-material side. We infer that since the fulfillment is obviously not coming from bodily gratification, it must be coming from our spiritual side that is being nourished by our devotional practices.

Such insights inspire us to intensify our devotional service, thereby triggering further insights. Gradually, our realization rises from “I have a non-material side” to “My non-material side is the real me. I am a spiritual part of Krishna meant to love him eternally.” This realization ultimately catapults us to the supreme liberation – ecstatic life with Krishna.

Surgery seems like violence, but is benevolence by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita

Some people claim, “The Bhagavad-gita teaches that killing is ok because the body is anyway going to die. Such a teaching licenses indiscriminate violence.”

This is a straw man argument – the Gita sanctions killing not because the body is destructible but because violence is sometimes necessary to protect dharma. The Gita teaches about the indestructibility of the soul and the destructibility of the body to ensure that Arjuna doesn’t deviate from his dharmic duty due to sentimentality.

The Kauravas’ incorrigible obstinacy in rejecting all peace proposals showed that their infection was incurable, making amputation the only way to save the social body.

Let’s understand the situation using an analogy of surgery. The straw man argument states that a surgeon’s cutting a patient is ok because the patient is anyway in pain. The Gita’s argument is that the surgeon’s amputating the patient is ok when it’s necessary to save the patient.

Applying the analogy to the Kurukshetra war, the patient was the social body and Arjuna, the surgeon. The Kauravas being infected by greed and envy were the diseased limb. As they had unscrupulously become heads of state and as people usually imitate their leaders, the Kauravas’ infection was likely to spread like an epidemic to all of society. The Kauravas’ incorrigible obstinacy in rejecting all peace proposals showed that their infection was incurable, making amputation the only way to save the social body.

Arjuna’s not fighting to avoid the resulting bloodshed was like a surgeon’s not operating to avoid the resulting bleeding. Krishna was like the surgeon’s mentor who encouraged the surgeon to overcome weak-heartedness. The Gita (02.02) indicated that such misguided weak-heartedness was unbecoming in a trained professional, be it a warrior or a surgeon. Hearing the Gita strengthened Arjuna. Thereafter, he (18.73) agreed not merely to fight but to do Krishna’s will. This indicates that he saw his impending duty not as violence, but as his role in manifesting Krishna’s benevolence for society’s long-term welfare.

The Gita calls not for emotionless living, but for purposeful living by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita

In cricket, the fielders sometimes use sledging to unsettle a batsman. If the batsman lets their nasty words agitate him, he will in a rush of blood play a rash shot that gets him out, thus unwittingly playing into the opponents’ hands. In contrast, a more mature batsman will by remembering the bigger purpose of winning the match keep his cool, play intelligently and thus relish the bigger emotions of good performance and victory.

To activate our spiritual sentience, we need to de-activate our material obsession that manifests in excessive emotional reactions to worldly ups and downs.

Thus, even in an activity like sports played primarily for entertainment, that is, for enjoying emotions, one needs to curb one’s immediate emotions to achieve a bigger purpose. This principle applies also to our spiritual life, wherein we want to relish spiritual emotions centered on love for Krishna. Such emotions are latent in our core, the soul. To activate our spiritual sentience, we need to de-activate our material obsession that manifests in excessive emotional reactions to worldly ups and downs. The Bhagavad-gita (12.17) assures that those who don’t get worked up by worldly emotions endear themselves to Krishna.

As worldly emotions are all that we have known for most of our life, emotional regulation may seem to us like emotional suppression. To persevere on the path to spiritual enrichment, we need to focus not on what seems less in our life – emotion, but what is full in our life – purpose. Whenever we feel the pull of worldly excitement, we can meditate on our spiritual purpose, the special opportunity we have to relish emotions far greater, richer and deeper than the mundane. If we keep our thoughts on Krishna instead of the world, we thus express our purposeful determination to attain him. Such determination will please him and he will mercifully grant us sublime spiritual enrichment, thereby helping us see worldly emotions as irrelevant and insignificant

Hell is never forever – God’s love is by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 01

In the Bhagavad-gita (01.43), Arjuna states that destroyers of dynasties will be condemned to live in hell forever. Is the Gita stating here the idea of eternal damnation present in some religions?

No, for this statement reveals a nuanced meaning appreciated only when seen in the broader context of the Gita’s worldview. The Gita (08.15) mentions that the whole material world is temporary. As hell is also a part of the world, it too is temporary. If hell itself doesn’t exist forever, how can anyone be condemned to hell forever? Further, the next verse (08.16) asserts that no place in this world offers everlasting residence – from all places, one has to come back, meaning that people come back from hell too.

Krishna is not a wrathful judge who casts the faithless to the fires of hell forever – he is a merciful guide who in his Supersoul manifestation accompanies all living beings, even the faithless, forever.

What, then, does ‘hell forever’ mean? It conveys the gravity of the misdeed of destroying dynasties and wrecking the world’s social and spiritual order. This misdeed is so terrible that its reaction – being condemned to hell – will seem unendingly long for the sufferer. The ‘hell forever’ usage is thus non-literal, similar to the scriptural usage of nitya-baddha (eternally conditioned) to refer to the duration of our stay in material existence, which though not eternal seems like that from our perspective.

The non-literality of the ‘hell forever’ statement stems, most importantly, from the Gita’s revelation of God’s nature. Krishna is not a wrathful judge who casts the faithless to the fires of hell forever – he is a merciful guide who in his Supersoul manifestation accompanies all living beings, even the faithless, forever. Far from casting people to hell, he accompanies them even when they due to their misdeeds go to hell. And he helps them there and everywhere to make right choices by which they can attain his eternal abode and become happy forever. So what is forever is not hell, but Krishna’s love.

We are the world’s purpose, but the world is not our purpose by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 07,

The Bhagavad-gita (07.05) makes the intriguing statement that the living entities sustain the world. The statement is intriguing because we know that we don’t control the things that sustain the world – the timely rising of the sun, the inexorable flowing of rivers or the cycling of the seasons, for example. Further, the Gita itself mentions at many places (e.g. 15.17) that Krishna is the sustainer of the world.

Then in what sense do we sustain the world?

Not in the sense that we are the cause of its existence, but in the sense that we are the purpose of its existence, similar to the way patients are the purpose for a hospital’s existence.

We sustain the world not in the sense that we are the cause of its existence, but in the sense that we are the purpose of its existence.

Just as patients don’t run the hospital, we don’t run the world. But just as the hospital exists as a facility to heal patients physically, the world exists as a facility to heal us spiritually – to help us redirect our love from matter to Krishna.

And though the hospital is meant for patients, the patients are not meant for the hospital. That is, they are not meant to live forever in the hospital – they are meant for healthy, happy living at home and they are meant to use their hospital stay to cure themselves. Similarly, though the world is meant for us, we are not meant for the world – we are meant not to seek permanent enjoyable shelter in this world, but to use our stay here to cure ourselves by practicing bhakti yoga and thus attain a spiritually healthy, eternally happy life with Krishna in the spiritual world. That’s why the same Gita later (08.15) labels this world as temporary and miserable, and glorifies as great souls those who by sustained devotional practice go beyond it to Krishna’s abode.

The heart of knowledge is the knowledge of the heart by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18.

Towards the end of the Bhagavad-gita (18.64), Krishna announces that he will share the most confidential knowledge (sarva guhyatama).

Confidential knowledge (guhya) refers to the knowledge of our actual identity as souls, knowledge that is unknown to most people. Krishna shares this knowledge in the Gita’s second chapter.

More confidential knowledge (guhya-tara) refers to the knowledge of the various processes for realizing the soul. This knowledge is more confidential because proper processes for self-realization are known only to a few among those who know about the soul. Krishna shares this knowledge from the second to the eighteenth chapters.

The most confidential knowledge is the knowledge of the best path for self-realization, bhakti-yoga. Krishna, after having shared it earlier, especially in the ninth chapter, emphatically repeats it in the Gita’s next two verses (18.65-66). Why is this knowledge the most confidential?

Let’s consider three reasons.

 Bhakti-yoga infuses our spiritual quest with the energy of love, our heart’s strongest and purest emotion, and the even greater energy of Krishna’s omnipotent mercy.

Firstly, it activates the innermost core of our being, the heart, which in its pure state expresses the divine emotions of the soul. In the pursuit of transcendence, karma-yoga engages primarily the body; jnana-yoga, primarily the intelligence; and dhyana-yoga, primarily the mind. But bhakti-yoga, by triggering the heart’s latent transcendental emotions, engages our entire being, because body, mind and intelligence all ultimately follow the heart.

Secondly, bhakti-yoga takes us beyond the impersonal Brahman and the neutral Supersoul to the all-loving Supreme Person, Krishna – the rarely realized zenith of transcendence.

Thirdly, bhakti-yoga stimulates the innermost human and divine emotions. It infuses our spiritual quest with the energy of love, our heart’s strongest and purest emotion, and the even greater energy of Krishna’s omnipotent mercy.

Thus the heart of knowledge – the most confidential knowledge – is the knowledge of the heart, the knowledge of establishing the most intense heart-to-heart connection between the human heart and the divine heart.

Frustration is unavoidable, but hopelessness isn’t by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02

We feel frustrated when things go wrong. While such frustrations are unavoidable for everyone, they become accentuated to the level of hopeless frustrations for those who hold a materialistic conception of life.

Such materialists may find some way ahead through life’s routine frustrations, but sooner or later life will force upon them frustrations that bring their life-journey to dead ends – unalterable, inescapable, imminent dead ends. For example, what can they do if they are diagnosed with a terminal disease? Not much, except watch helplessly as the body, which they have treasured as the be-all and the end-all of their existence, wastes away on its doomed journey to death.

Devotion redefines death as not a hopeless dead end, but as a doorway to move closer to Krishna, provided we raise our consciousness.

The Bhagavad-gita’s spiritual insight that we are eternal, indestructible souls helps us understand that our existence is not limited to our bodily lifespan. We realize that we don’t have to limit the scope of our activities to the body, but can expand it to the spiritual level and include activities of devotional service to Krishna. Devotion by expanding our conception of life protects us from hopeless frustration. It redefines death as not a hopeless dead end, but as a doorway to move closer to Krishna, provided we raise our consciousness. The Bhagavad-gita (02.15) declares that those who stay equipoised amidst life’s ups and downs become eligible to attain life eternal.

As devotee-seekers, we will still face frustration due to the body, because the body is by nature temporary. Nonetheless, we can find some way to serve Krishna, for such service doesn’t depend on anything, even the body. Even if our body falls apart and goes to the verge of death, we can still serve him just by remembering him. Of course, to remember him then, we need to cultivate a healthy attachment to him by serving him enthusiastically and sincerely with whatever facilities we have now.

Death for the devoted is not destruction, but discharge by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 08

Some people ask, “Devotees and non-devotees both have to die – so what’s the use of practicing spirituality with all its restrictions?”

That’s like asking: those who take treatment and those who don’t both have to go out of the hospital – so what’s the point of taking treatment?

The point is that the two will go to different destinations: those who take treatment will go back to normal healthy life, whereas those who don’t will go to the graveyard.

The world we live in is like a hospital. The disease we all suffer from is misdirection of our desires – though we are eternal spiritual beings, we are trying to enjoy temporary material things, getting in the process little pleasure and much suffering. Bhakti-yoga is the therapeutic process that cures our desires, redirecting them from matter to Krishna, who is the supreme eternal reality, the source of all happiness.

Death for non-devotees is not mere destruction; it is actually something scarier: total deprivation.

For those who reject the bhakti treatment, death is not mere destruction; it is actually something scarier: total deprivation. Destruction would mean the end of existence and with it the end of suffering. But non-devotees, like everyone else, are eternal souls. So at death they get separated from everything they have held dear. And unfortunately their misery doesn’t end with the deprivation – it extends to a post-mortem reaping of karmic consequences because in this life they usually seek pleasure through actions that comprise bad karma. Or in terms of our analogy they unwittingly complicate their disease and have to endure further suffering in their future bodies – till they finally take the bhakti treatment.

Devotees, on the other hand, get cured and attain the spiritually healthy state of eternal life with Krishna, as the Bhagavad-gita (08.15) indicates. Thus death for the devotees is not a scary destruction, but a happy discharge.

To understand God’s provision, first understand God’s vision by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 09

People sometimes ask, “If I devote myself to God, will he provide for my needs?”

Yes, definitely; but to understand his provision, we need to first understand his vision.

God shares his vision with us through scripture. TheBhagavad-gita expands our vision of ourselves beyond the temporary material body to the eternal spiritual essence – the soul. As we are eternal, we are meant for something far better than struggling for survival in a death-filled world or at best struggling for pleasure in a misery-filled world – which is what provision at the material level essentially boils down to.

Just as a doctor may temporarily restrict patients from some food to expedite treatment, sometimes Krishna may temporarily withhold some things from us to expedite our spiritual recovery.

Krishna’s provision for us is something much better – the provision of the means to attain life eternal and with it joy eternal. That means is the process of yoga, culminating in bhakti-yoga, which is the easiest way to rise from material consciousness to spiritual consciousness.

Additionally, while we are in material existence, he provides for our material needs too. When he provides heat, light, air, water and food for all living beings, even those not devoted to him, won’t he provide for his devotees? He definitely will, as the Bhagavad-gita (09.22) assures.

But just as a doctor may temporarily restrict patients from some food to expedite treatment, sometimes Krishna may temporarily withhold some things from us to expedite our spiritual recovery. But at such times he will make himself especially available through his remembrance, thereby enabling us to realize how such remembrance enables us to tolerate and transcend worldly miseries. When we thus take shelter of him, we realize that absorption in him is our most fundamental necessity, our greatest solace, our ultimate shelter.

When we thus learn to see Krishna’s provision through a holistic vision of our core identity and our core necessity, we will understand that he never leaves us without provision.

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But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form—to them I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have.

Doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 04

When we get doubts, the forces of illusion delude us further into thinking that our doubts are evidences of our intelligence: “I am not like all those gullible believers.”

Actually however, such thinking makes us a much more gullible believer. How? Because we end up believing our doubts – and believing them not just in a naïve way but also in a self-congratulatory way.

And believing our doubts makes us reject things as wrong, but it never reveals what is right – just as a patient who doubts every doctor rejects all prescriptions as wrong, but never knows the right treatment and stays sick.

Believing our doubts makes us reject things as wrong, but it never reveals what is right

If we want to learn what is right, we need to put faith somewhere. And the Bhagavad-gita is eminently faith-worthy. Firstly, it offers a coherent philosophy that answers life’s fundamental questions cogently. Secondly, it (04.39) also assures that if we put faith and mold our life according to its teachings, we will gain further, deeper knowledge. This knowledge refers not merely to intellectual knowledge but also to realized knowledge. That is, we will experience higher spiritual reality that is accessed by the purification and elevation of our consciousness brought about by yoga. The easiest and the most efficacious of all yogas is bhakti-yoga.

To successfully practice bhakti-yoga, we need to take the conscious and conscientious decision to believe our beliefs and doubt our doubts. Practically speaking, this means that we engage wholeheartedly in the things that nourish our faith and don’t dabble unnecessarily with the things that induce doubts. By such discerning practice, we will start relishing bhakti even during our seeker stage. Being buoyed by this taste, we will practice bhakti more enthusiastically till we become purified and ultimately realize the highest spiritual truth, Krishna – a realization that the Gita (07.01) states takes us beyond all doubts.

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A faithful man who is dedicated to transcendental knowledge and who subdues his senses is eligible to achieve such knowledge, and having achieved it he quickly attains the supreme spiritual peace.

Materialism makes the materialist non-existent and materialism meaningless by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 16

People sometimes object to spirituality, saying, “It requires so much faith.”

Actually, everything requires faith.  Even materialism requires faith – the faith that we ourselves don’t exist.

According to materialism, matter is all that exists. So there is no ‘I’ who is the observer and experiencer of matter. Our sense of I-ness is an illusion that has somehow arisen out of the electrochemical firings of brain cells. So, when we believe in materialism, we are required to disbelieve in our own existence. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (16.09:nashtaatmaano) indicates that materialists destroy their own soul.

As the philosophy of materialism is one such thought process that is nothing more than a meaningless stream of electrochemical signals, it is meaningless.

Significantly, the toll of materialism goes even further. If our sense of selfhood is an illusion, then our thought process is also an illusion – there is no I who is thinking; there’s just a series of electrochemical signals streaking through the brain. The results of that thought process being nothing more than just another electrochemical pattern are also meaningless. And as the philosophy of materialism is one such thought process, it too is meaningless.

Thus materialism requires us to believe in a self-destroying and meaning-destroying philosophy. Why don’t we realize these exorbitant faith demands of materialism? Because the masses today unthinkingly believe in materialism and we usually follow the masses with an uncritical herd mentality.

So if we have reservations about putting too much faith, then we shouldn’t put faith in materialism.

And though spirituality too requires faith, its faith demand is much more reasonable. Consciousness is categorically different from matter, being the experiencer of insentient matter. So positing that consciousness comes from a non-material source, the soul that is the ‘I’, is eminently reasonable. And Gita wisdom offers us yoga as a systematic process for elevating our consciousness and experientially verifying our spiritual identity, whereas materialism offers no such verifying process.

Therefore spirituality is much more faith-worthy than materialism

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Following such conclusions, the demoniac, who are lost to themselves and who have no intelligence, engage in unbeneficial, horrible works meant to destroy the world.