Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 38

Sutra 40

With the proper development of renunciation one attains active devotional service (sadhana), then ecstasy (bhava) and finally pure love (prema) for the Lord.

Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Here someone may ask: What are the different levels of advancement in devotional service? To answer this question the author speaks this sutra. By regular practice one makes advancement in renunciation and devotional service (sadhana), then ecstasy (bhava), and finally pure love (prema) for the Lord. Thus, with the proper development of renunciation, one makes advancement in devotional service, culminating in ecstasy and pure devotional love. The Supreme Personality of Godhead explains (Bhagavad-gita 9.9): "Follow the regular principles of bhakti-yoga. In this way you will develop a desire to attain Me."

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The physical body is made up of countless numbers of tiny material particles called molecules and atoms. These material particles are constantly being replaced by material particles from the outside environment (in the form of food, water, air, and so on). Over a period of five to seven years, this process of metabolism brings about a complete change of the matter that makes up your body.

Siddhaswarupananda - Chris Butler Speaks



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In Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.1-2) Srila Rupa Gosvami explains:
"The three categories of devotional service are: 1. devotional service in practice (sadhana), 2. devotional service in ecstasy (bhava) and 3. devotional service in pure love of Godhead (prema). When we wish to develop our innate capacity for devotional service, there are certain processes which, by our accepting and executing them, will cause that dormant capacity to be invoked. Such practice is called sadhana-bhakti."

In Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, Srila Rupa Gosvami again explains:
"With vibhava and the other features of ecstatic love, one experiences the greatest and most wonderful bliss."

In Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.4.15-16) Srila Rupa Gosvami again explains:
"In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service. Thereafter one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sadhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles. Gradually emotions intensify and finally there is an awakening of love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead for a devotee interested in Krsna consciousness."p>

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 37

Here someone may ask: Is it not so that if a person falls down from this path of devotional service, then a horrible fate awaits him?
Fearing that someone would ask this question, the author speaks the following sutra.

Sutra 39
A devotee will not fall down, even if he has not attained perfection in renunciation and devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
Even if he has not attained perfection in renunciation and devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, a devotee, unlike the materialists, will not fall down. Neither will a devotee take birth in a degraded situation. In Bhagavad-gita (6.40) the Supreme Personality of Godhead explains:
"O son of Prtha, a transcendentalist engaged in auspicious activities does not meet with destruction wither in this world or in the spiritual world. One who does good, My friend is never overcome by evil."

In Bhagavad-gita (6.25-26) the Supreme Personality of Godhead again explains:
"Gradually, step by step, with fill conviction, one should become situated in trance by means of intelligence, and thus the mind should be fixed on the Self alone, should think of nothing else."
"From whatever and wherever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature, one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the Self."

In Bhagavad-gita (6.44) the Supreme Personality of Godhead again explains:
"By virtue of the divine consciousness of his previous life, he automatically becomes attracted to the yogic principles, even without seeking them. Such an inquisitive transcendentalist , striving for yoga, stands always above the ritualistic principles of the scriptures."

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THREE SIMPLE QUESTIONS
Let me ask you a few simple questions: Do you exist at this moment? Did you exist five years ago? Are you your body? Most people would answer “yes” to all three questions. But if you identify your body as yourself, and simultaneously accept that you exist now and also existed five years ago, then you have a problem: The body you had five years ago does not exist today. There is a dynamic turnover of atoms and molecules which make up your body. There isn’t a single particle of matter—not one atom—present in your body today that was present five years ago. The body you have today is not the same body you had five years ago. It’s not that the body you had still exists but has now changed somewhat. No. The body you had is gone. That collection of atoms appearing as flesh, bone, blood, hair, and so on no longer exists. Yet you still exist.



Siddhaswarupananda - Jagad Guru Speaks



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In Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.261), Srila Rupa Gosvami explains:
"A Krsna conscious person, being naturally purified, has no need of developing any other purificatory process of thought or action. On account of his being highly elevated in Krsna consciousness, he has already acquired all the good qualities and is following the rules and regulations prescribed for the mystic yoga process."

In Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.3.43, 1.3.46 and 1.3.54), Srila Rupa Gosvami again explains:
"Even ordinary devotees cannot have such pure attachment for Krsna. Therefore, how is it possible for success to be achieved by persons whose hearts are contaminated by the actions and reactions of fruitive activities and who are entangled by various types of mental speculation?"

"Sometimes it is found that a person actually attached to material enjoyment or salvation has the good fortune to associate with pure devotees while they are engaged in chanting the holy name of the Lord. By the good grace of the Lord one may also co-operate and join in the chanting. At that time simply by the association of such pure devotees, the moonlike rays from their hearts reflect on him, and by the influence of the pure devotees, he may show some likeness of attachment caused by inquisitiveness."

"If one commits offenses at the lotus feet of a devotee one's shadow attachment or para attachment can be extinguished. This extinguishing is like the waning of the full moon, which gradually decreases and at last becomes dark."

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 36

In Bhagavad-gita (18.7-8) the Supreme Personality of Godhead explains:
"Prescribed duties should never be renounced. If, by illusion, one gives up his prescribed duties, such renunciation is said to be in the mode of ignorance.
"Anyone who gives up prescribed duties as troublesome, or out of fear, is said to be in the mode of passion. Such action never leads to the elevation of renunciation."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (11.12.1) the Supreme Personality of Godhead explains:
"My dear Uddhava, by associating with My pure devotees one can destroy one's attachment for all objects of material sense gratification. Such purifying associating brings Me under the control of My devotee. One may perform the astanga-yoga system, engage in philosophical analysis of the elements of material nature, practice non violence and other principles of ordinary piety, chant the Vedas, perform penances, take to the renounced order of life, execute sacrificial performances and dig wells, plant trees and perform other public welfare activities, give in charity, carry out severe vows, worship the demigods, chant confidential mantras, visit holy places, or accept major and minor disciplinary injunctions, but even by performing such activities one does not bring Me under his control."

In Bhagavad-gita (18.9 and 18.11) the Supreme Personality of Godhead again explains:
"But he who performs his prescribed duty only because it ought to be done, and renounces all attachment to the fruit, his renunciation is of the nature of goodness, O Arjuna."
"It is indeed impossible for an embodied being to give up all activities. Therefore it is said that he who renounces the fruits of action is one who has truly renounced."

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You are your body, right? You are chemical in essence ... right? At least, that’s what one of America’s most influential scientists claims:
I am a collection of water, calcium and organic molecules called Carl Sagan. You are a collection of almost identical molecules with a different collective label.*
Like Sagan, most people believe that they are their body. So if you ask them who they are, they think and respond in terms of bodily labels.
“I’m Susan. I’m blond, 29 years old, a mother, and still 36-24-36!”
“I’m Henry. I’m a white American male and proud of it!”
“I’m John. I’m a lawyer. I’m 40 years old and getting older every day.”
“I’m Alice. I’m a female student. I’m fat and I’m a Methodist.”
Name, race, age, sex, religion, nationality, occupation, height, weight, and so on—all these are bodily labels. Therefore if you consider your body to be yourself, you automatically identify yourself with such labels. If your body is fat and ugly, you think, “Woe is me! I am fat and ugly.” If your body is 60 years old and female, you think, ”I am a 60-year-old female.” If your body is black and beautiful, you think, “I am black and beautiful.”
But is the body really the self? Are you really your body?


Science of Identity Foundation - Siddhaswarupananda
*Carl Sagan, Cosmos (New York: Random House, 1980), p. 127.



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In Bhagavad-gita (4.20-21) the Supreme Personality of Godhead again explains:
"Abandoning all attachment to the results of his activities, ever satisfied and independent, he performs no fruitive action, although engaged in all kinds of undertakings.
"Such a man of understanding acts with mind and intelligence perfectly controlled, gives up all sense of proprietorship over his possessions, and acts only for the bare necessities of life. Thus working, he is not affected by sinful reactions."

In Bhagavad-gita (6.17 and 18), the Supreme Personality of Godhead again explains:
"He who is temperate in his habits of eating, sleeping, working, and recreation can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system.
"When the yogi, by practice of yoga, disciplines his mental activities and becomes situated in transcendental, devoid of all material desires, he is said to have attained yoga."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (1.2.8-10) Srila Suta Gosvami explains:
"The occupational activities a man performs according to his own position are only so much useless labour if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the Personality of Godhead.
"All occupational engagements are certainly meant for ultimate liberation. They should never be performed for material gain. Furthermore, according to sages, one who is engaged in the ultimate occupational service should never use material gain to cultivate sense gratification.
"Life's desires should never be directed toward sense gratification. One should desire only a healthy life, or self-preservation, since a human being is meant for inquiry about the Absolute Truth. Nothing else should be the goal of one's works."

In Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.255) Srila Rupa Gosvami explains:
"When one is not attached to anything but at the same time accepts anything in relation to Krsna, one is rightly situated above possessiveness. On the other hand, one who rejects everything without knowledge of its relationship to Krsna is not as complete in his renunciation."

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 35

In the next sutra the author explains the meaning of the word 'yukta' (appropriate) in the phrase 'yukta-vairagya' (appropriate renunciation).

Sutra 38
One kind of renunciation beings liberation, and another kind of renunciation brings bondage.

Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
In this sutra the author explains the meaning of the word 'yukta' (appropriate in the phrase 'yukta-vairagya' (appropriate renunciation). Renunciation is of two kinds: 1. yukta-vairagya (appropriate renunciation) and 2. phalgu-vairagya (false renunciation). Proper renunciation is performed when, without being attached to the results of one's work, and acting purely and in a saintly manner, one offers the results of his work to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This kind of renunciation brings liberation from the bondage of repeated birth and death. In Bhagavad-gita (6.1) the Supreme Personality of Godhead explains:
"One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic."

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“Who am I?” Maybe you’ve never even asked yourself this question. You might think you already know who you are. Unfortunately, however, it’s likely that you don’t know who you are at all. And if you don’t know your real identity, you’re in trouble. You’ll spend your life in a kind of dream state—you’ll falsely identify yourself as something or someone you aren’t. Then, on the basis of this false identification, you’ll determine the goals of your life and the purpose of your existence. You use these goals to gauge whether you are making “progress” in life, whether you are a “success.” And you are aided and abetted in this delusion by a complex network of relationships with other dreamers. Of course, at death (and sometimes before), the whole thing turns into a nightmare.
So knowing who you are is a very practical necessity. The question “Who am I?” is not a philosophical football meant to be kicked around coffeehouses by pseudo-intellectuals. It’s a real-life question. Nothing is more important and more relevant than to know who you are.


Siddhaswarupananda – Jagad Guru Speaks


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Other instructions like this may be seen in many verses of Bhagavad-gita. False renunciation, on the other hand, is dry, makes the heart hard, makes one proud, is petty, is likened to the renunciation practiced by monkeys living in the forest, and brings the sufferings of repeated birth and death in the material world as its true result. In the Sruti-sastra it is said:
"Not by mere renunciation does one attain liberation."

In Bhagavad-gita (18.8) the Supreme Personality of Godhead explains:
"Anyone who gives up prescribed duties as troublesome, or out of fear, is said to be in the mode of passion. Such action never leads to the elevation of renunciation."

In Bhagavad-gita (3.6) the Supreme Personality of Godhead again explains:
"One who restrains the senses and organs of action, but whose mind dwells on sense-objects, certainly deludes himself and is called a pretender."

In Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.256) Srila Rupa Gosvami explains:
"When one is not attached to anything, but at the same time accepts anything in relation to Krsna, one is rightly situated above possessiveness. On the other hand, one who rejects everything without knowledge of its relationship to Krsna is not as complete in his renunciation."

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 34

Here someone may protest: The dindima drum of the Vedic conclusion proclaims: "Knowledge brings liberation!" As for you, why do you emphasize the words 'spiritual knowledge?' Why must this knowledge be spiritual in its character?

To refute this objection, the author speaks the following words:
Sutra 37
One kind of knowledge brings liberation, and another kind of knowledge brings bondage.

Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
The first kind of knowledge here is spiritual knowledge, or knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The word 'muktih' here means 'liberation from material bondage'. The second kind of knowledge here is material knowledge, or also the dry theories of the impersonalists. The word 'bandhah' here means 'bondage in the cycle of repeated births and deaths'. In the following words the Supreme Personality of Godhead affirms that material knowledge binds one to the material world. He says (Bhagavad-gita 14.6):
"Those situated in that mode (goodness) develop knowledge, but they become conditioned by the concept of happiness."

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WHO ARE YOU? DISCOVERING YOUR REAL IDENTITY
What is your essence? Is it matter—a mere collection of material atoms and molecules? Or is it something else?



Siddhaswarupananda – Chris Butler Speaks


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The conclusion of the atheists and blasphemers is given in these words of the Vidvan-moda-tarangini:
"'What is action? Who is the seer of things? When and by whom are karmic reactions obtained? How does one attain another birth in this world?' If someone asks these questions, then I reply: These questions have no answers. There is no way anyone can find answers to these questions. The truth is that life is like a flowing river that brings sometimes pleasures and sometimes pains. The material body is temporary. It will die. The truth is that the entire world is unreal. It does not really exist. It is all an illusion."

In the Sri Caitanya-candrodaya-nataka (7.77), Srila Ramananda Raya explains:
"They who cannot taste sweetness will drink the bitter nimb juice of impersonal liberation. We, however, who know what is sweet, drink the dark, sweet nectar the amorous gopis drank through the corners of their eyes."

In response to Lord Caitanya's questions, Sri Ramananda Raya explained (Caitanya-candrodaya-nataka 7.61):
"They who love Krsna's lotus feet and do not love anything else, who delight in bhakti-yoga, the yoga of devotional service, and are not attracted to astanga-yoga or any other kind of yoga, and who place their love in the transcendental form of Lord Krsna, and not in their own external material body, are actually liberated and free from the material world. Non devotees who claim to be liberated are not so."

In Bhagavad-gita (18.64-66) the Supreme Personality of Godhead explains:
"Because you are My very dear friend, I am speaking to you the most confidential part of knowledge. Hear this from Me, for it is for your benefit.
"Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer Your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.
"Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear."

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 33

In Bhagavad-gita (6.20-21) the Supreme Personality of Godhead also says:
"The stage of perfection is called trance, or samadhi, when one's mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. This is characterised by one's ability to see the self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the self. In that joyous state one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness and enjoys himself through transcendental senses. Established thus, one never departs from the truth."

In Bhagavad-gita (6.28) the Supreme Personality of Godhead also says:
"Steady in the Self, being freed from all material contamination, the yogi achieves the highest perfectional stage of happiness in touch with the supreme consciousness."

In Bhagavad-gita (6.47) the Supreme Personality of Godhead also says:
"And of all yogis, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshipping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all."

In Bhagavad-gita (7.28) the Supreme Personality of Godhead also says:
"Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions are completely eradicated, and who are freed from the duality of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination."

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History has shown us that our tendency to colonize and exploit other regions has always backfired. This planet can be made a happier, more peaceful place to live in, but the change will have to come from within the hearts of all of us living here.



Science of Identity Foundation - Siddhaswarupananda


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In Bhagavad-gita (8.28) the Supreme Personality of Godhead gives His final opinion:
"A person who accepts the path of devotional service is not bereft of the results derived from studying the Vedas, performing austere sacrifices, giving charity, or pursuing philosophical and fruitive activities. At the end he reaches the supreme abode."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (12.5.11-12) Srila Sukadeva Gosvami gives his final instruction to Maharaja Pariksit:
"You should consider, 'I am non different from the Absolute Truth, the supreme abode, and that Absolute Truth, the supreme destination, is non different from Me'. Thus resigning yourself to the Supreme Soul, who is free from all material misidentifications, you will not even notice the snake-bird Taksaka when he approaches with his poison-filled fangs and bites your foot. Nor will you see your dying body or the material world around you, because you will have realise yourself to be separate from them."

In Bhagavad-gita (18.54) the Supreme Personality of Godhead explains:
"One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realises the Supreme Brahma. He never laments nor desires to have anything, He is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me."

In Bhagavad-gita (12.10-11) the Supreme Personality of Godhead tells Arjuna:
"If you cannot practice the regulations of bhakti-yoga, then just try to work for Me, because by working for Me you will come to the perfect stage.
"If however, you are unable to work in this consciousness, then try to act giving up all results of your work and try to be self-situated."

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 32

In the next verse the author describes the previously mentioned renunciation aspect of upaya-bhakti.

Sutra 36
From the path of the sense objects one should, employing spiritual knowledge and proper renunciation, gradually turn away the chariot of the body, the charioteer of the mind, and the horses of the senses. To do so is proper renunciation of the world.

Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
The body is here called the chariot because it is controlled by the mind. The mind is called the charioteer, because it controls the senses. The senses are called the horses because they pull the chariot of the body here and there. It is also said:
"The spirit soul is the passenger in the chariot."

In the Upanisads it is said:
"Please know that the spirit soul is the passenger in the chariot."
When a person, using spiritual knowledge and proper detachment, drives the chariot described in these words away from the path of the sense objects that action is called proper renunciation.

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In his book Small Is Beautiful, noted British economist E. F. Schumacher wrote:
Insights of wisdom … enable us to see the hollowness and fundamental unsatisfactoriness of a life devoted primarily to the pursuit of material ends, to the neglect of the spiritual. Such a life necessarily sets man against man and nation against nation, because man’s needs are infinite and infinitude can be achieved only in the spiritual realm, never in the material.*
It is a fact that no matter how much sense gratification a person gets, he will never be satisfied. Material food, material things, material sense gratification cannot satisfy the atma (spirit soul). Just as the body needs material food, so the spirit soul needs spiritual food. To try to satisfy one’s spiritual craving with material things leads to endless consumption, greed, envy, violence, and war. Western people have as much sense gratification as one could ever want, yet they are not satisfied. Why? Because they are spiritually empty.



Siddhaswarupananda - Chris Butler Speaks
* E. F. Schumacher, Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (New York: Harper and Row, 1973), p. 38.


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In Bhagavad-gita (6.26) the Supreme Personality of Godhead explains:
"Gradually, step by step, with full conviction, one should become situated in trance by means of intelligence, and thus the mind should be fixed on the Self alone and should think of nothing else."

In the Katha Upanisad (1.3.3,4,6 and 9) it is said:
"The individual is the passenger in the car of the material body, and intelligence is the driver. Mind is the driving instrument, and the senses are the horses. The self is thus the enjoyer or sufferer in the association of the mind and senses. So it is understood by great thinkers."
"A wise person appropriately uses his mind to control his senses. Thus his intelligence is a good charioteer and his senses are good horses."
"In this way, with his intelligence as the charioteer and his mind as the reins, a wise person drives his chariot to the supreme abode of Lord Visnu."

In Bhagavad-gita (5.5, 4.18, 5.2 and 5.6) the Supreme Personality of Godhead explains:
"One who knows that the position reached by means of renunciation can also be attained by works in devotional service and who therefore sees that the path of works and the path of renunciation are one, sees things as they are."
"One who sees inaction, in action, and action in inaction, is intelligent among men, and he is in the transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities."
"The renunciation of work and work in devotion are both good for liberation. But of the two, work in devotional service is better than renunciation of works."
"Unless one is engaged in devotional service of the Lord, mere renunciation of activities cannot make one happy. The sages, purified by works of devotion, achieve the Supreme without delay."

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 31

In Bhagavad-gita (6.29 and 31) the Supreme Personality of Godhead explains:
"A true yogi observes Me in all beings and also sees every being in Me. Indeed, the self-realised man sees Me everywhere.
"He is a perfect yogi who, by comparison with his own self, sees the true equality of all beings, both in their happiness and distress, O Arjuna."

In Bhagavad-gita (9.29) the Supreme Personality of Godhead again explains:
"I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him."

In the final passages of Bhagavad-gita (18.62-63) the Supreme Personality of Godhead declares:
"The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart. O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy."
"O scion of Bharata, surrender to Him utterly. By His grace you will attain transcendental peace and the supreme and eternal abode."

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There is enough in the world to fulfill everyone’s needs, but not enough to fulfill everyone’s greed. In some parts of the world, people are dying from severe undernourishment, while in other parts of the world people are dying from obesity.


Siddhaswarupananda - Jagad Guru Speaks


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In Srimad Bhagavatam (3.29-21-27), Lord Kapiladeva explains:
"I am present in every living entity as the Supersoul. If someone neglects or disregards that Supersoul everywhere and engages himself in the worship of the Deity in the temple, that is simple imitation.
"One who worships the Deity of Godhead in the temples but does not know that the Supreme Lord, as Paramatma is situated in every living entity's heart, must be in ignorance and is compared to one who offers oblations into the ashes.
"One who offers Me respect but is envious of the bodies of others and is therefore a separatist never attains peace of mind, because of his inimical behaviour towards other living entities.
"My dear mother, even if he worships with proper rituals and paraphernalia, a person who is ignorant of My presence in all living entities never pleases Me by the worship of My Deities in the temple.
"Performing his prescribed duties, one should worship the Deity of the Supreme Personality of Godhead until one realises My presence in his own heart and in the hearts of all other living entities as well.
"As the blazing fire of death, I cause great fear to whoever makes the least discrimination between himself and other living entities because of a differential outlook.
"Therefore, through charitable gifts and attention, as well as through friendly behaviour and by viewing all to be alike, one should propitiate Me, who abide in all creatures as their very self."*

In Sri Caitanya-candrodaya-nataka it is said:
"Devotional service to Lord Krsna pleases the heart, satisfies the senses, makes impersonal liberation seem very insignificant, fulfills all desires, and plunges all living entities into an ocean of bliss."

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 30

In Bhagavad-gita (9.13-14) the Supreme Personality of Godhead explains:
"O son of Prtha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.
"Always chanting My glories, endeavouring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion."

In Bhagavad-gita (10.8-11), the Supreme Personality of Godhead again explains:
"I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who know this perfectly engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts."
"The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are surrendered to Me, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss enlightening one another and conversing about Me."
"To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give them the understanding by which they can come to Me."
"Out of compassion for them, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance."

In the Mahabharata, Santi-parva, Moksa-dharma, it is said:
"O Sauta, neither following all the rules of varnasrama-dharma nor bathing in all holy rivers bring the same result one obtains by hearing and chanting the glories of Lord Narayana.

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An impersonalist yogi can be very dangerous because he may try to take the position of the Supreme Lord, believing himself to be the Supreme dominator and enjoyer of all that he surveys. This is the darkest region of ignorance. He may try to act on the illusion that he is God and that the world is his playground. He may become, in other words, a “super-hedonist.” One such “I am God”ist, Richard Alpert (Ram Dass), formerly a professor at Harvard University, declares that no one exists except oneself, and that after merging with the impersonal Brahman, one returns to the world and is the world and is everyone.
If you come back into form from having merged with God ... you fill the forms [bodies] though there is no one home, it is just more lila, the dance of God.1
The late Swami Muktananda, a well-known “I am God”ist who had thousands of followers, wrote:
Assuming physical bodies, He appears as separate entities.2
According to the “I am God”ist, the apparent existence of others is just a hallucination. And since you are God, you are the creator of the laws of the universe (or as Ram Dass puts it, “You are the laws of the universe!”).3 And since you are the laws of the universe—since you are God—then there is no higher person or law to which you must subject yourself. Your will, your desire, is God's desire—God's will—so there is no need whatsoever to check or control your desires or actions. As another “I am God”ist, Werner Erhard puts it:
What you're doing is what God wants you to do. Be happy.4
So according to the “I am God”ist, since you and I—each of us—is God, whatever you and I and others are doing is what God wants us to do. You can be engaging in the most illicit or the most heinous activities, but since you are God, you are doing the will of God. Your will is God's will. In other words, he believes his will is God's will because he wrongly believes he is God.



Science of Identity Foundation - Siddhaswarupananda
1Ram Dass, Grist for the Mill (Santa Cruz, CA: Unity Press, 1976), p. 166.
2Swami Muktananda, Siddha Meditation, p. 59.
3Ram Dass, Remember, Be Here Now (Albuquerque, NM: Lama Foundation, 1971), p. 86.
4Quoted in Adelaide Bry, est (Erhard Seminars Training): 60 Hours That Transform Your Life (New York: Harper and Row, 1976), p. 66.


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In the Visnu Purana it is said:
"O sage, a person who day and night remembers Lord Visnu will not go to hell, for he is already purified of all his sins."

In the Visnu Purana it is also said:
"The best atonement for sins is remembering Lord Hari."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (7.5.23) it is said:
"Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Visnu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words serving Him with the body, mind and words), these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (11.29.30) the Supreme Personality of Godhead explains:
"You should not share this instruction with anyone who is hypocritical, atheistic, or dishonest, or with anyone who will not listen faithfully, who is not a devotee, or who is simply not humble."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (3.21.31) the Supreme Personality of Godhead tells Kardama Muni:
"Showing compassion to all living entities, you will attain self-realisation. Giving assurance of safety to all, you will perceive your own self as well as all the universes in Me, and Myself in you."

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 29

In the next sutra the author reveals the truth of the various other limbs of this secondary kind of devotional service (upaya-bhakti).

Sutra 35
The secondary limbs of upaya-bhakti begin with hearing and chanting, for these activities help to increase intent devotion to the Lord.

Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
The secondary limbs of upaya-bhakti begin with hearing and chanting, for these activities help to increase intent devotion to the Lord. Hearing and chanting about the Lord are different ways to worship the Lord. In Bhagavad-gita (9.14) the Supreme Personality of Godhead declares:
"Always chanting My glories, endeavouring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion."

In the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.3.1 and 1.3.4) it is said:
"By the process of executing regulated devotional service, one is actually elevated onto the transcendental stage, beyond the material modes of nature. At that time one's heart becomes illuminated like the sun.
"After the outward appearance of these ecstatic symptoms, they stay within the mind and continuation of the ecstasy is called samadhi."

In the commentary on Sandilya's Bhakti-sutras it is said:
"Do fish not live in the Ganges? Do birds not perch on the roofs of temples? Still, they do not become overwhelmed with ecstatic love for the Lord. They do not obtain the spiritual benefits from the holy waters and the Lord's temple."

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There's a saying: “Misery likes company.” So-called religious fanatics are so miserable that they want to create as much havoc in society as possible. They want others to join them in their misery.


Science of Identity Foundation - Siddhaswarupananda


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Srila Rupa Gosvami (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.6) explains:
"When there is no attachment or spontaneous loving service to the Lord, and one is engaged in the service of the Lord simply out of obedience to the order of the spiritual master or in pursuance of the scriptures, such obligatory service is called vaidhi bhakti."


In Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.293) Srila Rupa Gosvami says:
"Therefore, in the beginning, everyone should strictly follow the regulative principles of devotional service according to the injunctions and the spiritual master. Only after the stage of liberation from material contamination can one actually aspire to follow in the footsteps of the devotees in Vrndavana.”

In the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.72) Srila Rupa Gosvami says:
"Hari-bhakti-vilasa was complied for the guidance of the Vaisnava and therein are mentioned many rules and regulations to be followed by Vaisnavas."

Srila Rupa Gosvami (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.264) again explains:
"There are nine different kinds of devotional service, which are listed as hearing, chanting, remembering, serving, worshipping the Deity in the temple, praying, carrying out orders, serving Krsna as friend, and sacrificing everything for Him. Each and every one of these processes is so powerful that if anyone follows even one single one of them, he can achieve the desired perfection without fail."

In Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.245) Srila Rupa Gosvami says:
"Some scholars argue that simply by following the principles of varna and asrama one can gradually rise to the perfections reached by practicing devotional service, but this argument is not accepted by the great authorities. The advancement of varna and asrama is merely external. There is a higher principle. The higher principle is ecstatic love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the most important attainment."

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 28

After thus describing the most exalted kind of devotional service, the author of the sutras now begins his description of upaya-bhakti. He says:

Sutra 34
Upaya-bhakti has as its parts: 1. intent devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and 2. renunciation of the material world.

Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
In Bhagavad-gita (18.65) the Supreme Personality of Godhead teaches:
"Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will become to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (2.10.6) it is said:
"Liberation is the permanent situation of the form of the living entity after he gives up the changeable gross and subtle material bodies.”

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There is nothing more dangerous to real religion than fanatics who seek to lord over others by force in the name of God.Narada is a perfect example of a bona fide disciple. Even though his guru, Lord Brahma, was immensely powerful, still Narada did not blindly accept him as the Supreme Lord Himself.


Siddhaswarupananda - Chris Butler Speaks


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In Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.3.49) it is said:
"At that time, simply by the association of such pure devotees, the moonlike rays from their hearts reflect on him, and by the influence of the pure devotees he may show some likeness of attachment caused by inquisitiveness, but this is very flickering. And if by the manifestation of such shadow attachment one feels the disappearance of all material pangs, then it is called para attachment."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (1.2.12) it is said:
"The seriously inquisitive student or sage, well equipped with knowledge and detachment, realises that Absolute Truth by rendering devotional service in terms of what he has heard from Vedanta-sruti."

Srila Rupa Gosvami (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.251 and 1.2.254) explains:
"By engaging in devotional service one naturally attains knowledge, renunciation, and other advantages as a by product of his service."
"Actually, a person who is developing Krsna consciousness and still has some attachment to material enjoyment will soon be freed from such a tendency by regularly discharging devotional service under the instruction of a bona fide spiritual master."

Srila Rupa Gosvami (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.3.25) also explains:
"When the seed of ecstatic emotion for Krsna fructifies, the following nine symptoms manifest in one's behaviour; forgiveness, concern that time should not be wasted, detachment, absence of false prestige, hope, eagerness, a taste for chanting the holy name of the Lord, attachment to descriptions of the transcendental qualities of the Lord and affection for those places where the Lord resides, that is, a temple or a holy place like Vrndavana. These are called anubhava, subordinate signs of ecstatic emotion. They are visible in a person whose heart the seed of love of God has begun to fructify."

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 27

In the next sutra the author describes the truth that pure devotional service is directed to the Supreme Personality of Godhead alone.

Sutra 33
There are no separate subdivisions of phala-bhakti devotional service, for it is one, undivided, and naturally perfect.

Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
Phala-bhakti has no separate subdivisions, because it has a single undivided nature, and because, consisting of activities of passionate love for the Lord, it is naturally perfect. In these ways it is not like sadhana-bhakti. The conclusion of devotional service is given in these words:
"At that time eternally perfect love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead is manifested in the heart."

In the Taittiriya Upanisad (2.4.1) it is said:
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead is naturally full of bliss."

In the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.246 and 1.2.248-249), Srila Rupa Gosvami explains:
"Some scholars argue that simply by following the principles of varna and asrama one can gradually rise to the perfections reached by practicing devotional service, but this argument is not accepted by the great authorities."

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Narada is a perfect example of a bona fide disciple. Even though his guru, Lord Brahma, was immensely powerful, still Narada did not blindly accept him as the Supreme Lord Himself.


Siddhaswarupananda - Jagad Guru Speaks


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"Some scholars recommend that knowledge and renunciation are important factors for elevating oneself to devotional service, but actually that is not a fact. Actually the cultivation of knowledge or renunciation, which are favourable for achieving a footing in Krsna consciousness, may be accepted in the beginning, but ultimately they may also come to be rejected, for devotional service is dependent on no other other then the sentiment or desire for such service. It requires nothing more than sincerity.

"It is the opinion of expert devotees that mental speculation and the artificial austerities of yoga practice may be favourable for becoming liberated from material contamination, but they will also make one's heart harder and harder. They will not help at all in the progress of devotional service. These processes are therefore not favourable for entering into the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Actually Krsna consciousness, devotional service itself, is the only way of advancing in devotional life. Devotional service is absolute. It is both the cause and the effect."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (1.2.12) it is said:
"The seriously inquisitive student or sage, well equipped with knowledge and detachment, realises that Absolute Truth by rendering devotional service in terms of what he has heard from the Vedanta-sruti."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (1.2.15), Srila Suta Gosvami explains:
"With sword in hand, intelligent men cut through the binding knots of reactionary work (karma) by remembering the Personality of Godhead. Therefore, who will not pay attention to His message?"

In Srimad Bhagavatam (1.2.16) it is also said:
"O twice born sages, by serving those devotees who are completely freed from all vice, great service is done. By such service one gains affinity for hearing the messages of Vasudeva."

In the Gopi-gita of Srimad Bhagavatam (10.31.14), the gopis explain:
"O hero, kindly distribute to us the nectar of Your lips, which enhances conjugal pleasure and vanquishes grief. That nectar is thoroughly relished by Your vibrating flute and makes people forget any other attachment."

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 26

This exalted kind of devotional service is not practiced by every devotee. Rather, there are different kinds of devotional service, as described in the following sutra:

Sutra 32
Devotional service has both a means and a result.

Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
The individual spirit souls are of two kinds: 1. the conditioned souls, and 2. the liberated souls, and the devotional service they perform is also of two kinds: 1. phala-bhakti (devotional service as a goal) and 2. upaya-bhakti devotional service as a means to attain a goal). The liberated souls engage in phala-bhakti which is the same as prema-bhakti, the perfect stage of love for Lord Krsna. The conditioned souls engage in upaya-bhakti, which is the same as sadhana-bhakti, and which is the means by which one attains the goal of phala-bhakti. It is said:
"Ghee equals long life".
This means that by eating foods cooked in ghee one attains a long life. As ghee and long life are equated, in the same way sadhana-bhakti is called devotional service because it leads to the final goal: the attainment of prema-bhakti.

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BRAHMA AND NARADA – BONAFIDE GURU, BONAFIDE DISCIPLE A fake guru wants his followers to believe that he is God Himself—that's why he tries to impress them with his mystic powers. If the disciple of a phony guru were to express doubts about his guru's lordship, the guru would surely be angered. So how did Brahma react when Narada asked the questions, “Under whose protection are you standing? And under whom are you working? What is your real position?” And how did he react when Narada asked, “Yet we are moved to wonder about the existence of someone more powerful than you when we think of your great austerities in perfect discipline”? In response, Brahmaji was not angry. In fact, he was extremely pleased.



Science of Identity Foundation - Siddhaswarupananda


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In Bhagavad-gita (9.14) the Supreme Personality of Godhead explains:
"Always chanting My glories, endeavouring with great determination, and bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion."
In this way chanting japa, offering obeisances, and other activities of sadhana bhakti are described.

In Bhagavad-gita (18.52-55) the Supreme Personality o Godhead again explains:
"One who lives in a secluded place, who eats little, and who controls the body and the tongue, and is always in trance, and is detached, who is without false ego, false strength, false pride, lust, anger, and who does not accept material things, such a person is certainly elevated to the position of self-realisation.
"One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realises the Supreme Brahman. He never laments nor desires to have anything. He is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me."
"One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God."

In the Narada-pancaratra, in the midst of a description of unwavering devotional service, Lord Sadasiva explains:
"These auspicious, blissful, and unselfish actions bring direct service to Lord Hari.

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 25

Chapter Four

Sambandha-prakarana
The Relationship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Individual Spirit Souls

Introduction by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
In order to show the way the individual spirit souls, who were described in the cit-prakarana chapter, may attain the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is perfect, complete, eternal and full of knowledge and bliss, in the beginning of this, the fourth chapter, the author describes devotional service and the natural and eternal relationship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the individual souls.

Sutra 31
Devotional service means unwavering love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura.
Here the word 'pare' means 'for the Supreme Personality of Godhead', and 'purna-anuraktih' means 'unwavering love'. The nature of devotional service is described in these words of Taittiriya Upanisad (2.7.1):
"When one understands the Personality of God, the reservoir of pleasure, Krsna, he actually becomes transcendentally blissful."

Bowing at the lotus feet of my master, I, trembling with bliss and love, carefully sprinkle these drops from the blissful ocean of devotional service.
I offer my respectful obeisances to Lord Nityananda, to Lord Advaita, who is the husband of Sita, to Haridasa Thakura, who is the best of Vaisnavas, to Gadadhara Pandita...
...To Sri Rupa Gosvami, to his brother Sri Sanatana Gosvami, and to all the exalted devotees of the Lord. Their mercy is the water that has nourished the vine of Lord Krsna's mercy upon me.
I offer my respectful obeisances to Narottama dasa Thakura and all the other preachers of loving devotional service to Lord Krsna. I offer my respectful obeisances to Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, Svarupa Damodara, Sri Govinda, and all the other dear associates of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
I offer my respectful obeisances to Valmiki Muni, Vasistha Muni, and Narada Muni, who all personally saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I offer my respectful obeisances to Sri Vyasa, Sri Sukadeva Gosvami, Suta Gosvami, Lord Siva, Prahlada Maharaja, Uddhava...
...the sages led by Sanaka-kumara, the sages led by Saunaka Rsi, noble hearted King Pariksit, Bhisma, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Kapila, Maharaja Dhruva, Maharaja Pracinabarhi...
...the great soul Maharaja Ambarisa, the nine yogendras and all the great devotees of ancient times, devotees expert in devotional service to the Lord.
I pray that by the dust from the feet of these great devotees, who are worshipped by all the worlds, my slow mind will become expert in describing the truth of devotional service.

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Mystic yogis, by the practice of mystic or psychic powers, can do things that ordinary people consider very wonderful and miraculous. Such yogis then exploit the people, claiming that they are God Himself. And millions of foolish people believe such charlatans and blindly follow them. This is very unfortunate.

Siddhaswarupananda - Chris Butler Speaks



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In the Kena Upanisad (4.6) it is said:
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the highest object of worship. All living beings yearn to attain Him."

In the Narada-pancaratra it is said:
"Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and, simply by being employed in the service of the Lord, one's senses are purified."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (3.29.12) it is said:
"Just as the water of the Ganges flows naturally down towards the ocean, such devotional ecstasy, uninterrupted by a material condition, flows towards the Supreme Lord."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (3.25.32) it is also said:
"The senses are symbolic representations of the demigods, and their natural inclination is to work under the direction of the Vedic injunctions. As the senses are representatives of the demigods, so the mind is the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The mind's natural duty is to serve. When that service spirit is engaged in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without any motive, that is far better even than salvation."

In Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.1.11) Srila Rupa Gosvami explains:
"When first-class devotional service develops, one must be devoid of all material desires, knowledge obtained by monistic philosophy and fruitive action. The devotee must constantly serve Krsna favourably, as Krsna desires."

In Sandilya's Bhakti-sutra (1.1.2) it is said:
"Devotional service means intense love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead."