SPRITUAL SCIENCE ABOUT CONSCIOUSNESS AND ENERGY

HARE KRISHNA

Albert Einstein had discovered that matter is energy. Today most of the scientists also say that –

Matter only appears; otherwise there is no such thing as matter and that nothing is solid. Even the solid rock is a pulsating energy. The solid rock is as much energy as the roaring ocean. The waves that are arising in the solid rock cannot be seen because they are very subtle, but the rock is waving, pulsating, breathing; it is alive. Modern day scientists say that Body, Mind and Consciousness are also energies. Scientists are involved in experiments to harness Consciousness the way they have done with energy. In fact they treat Consciousness as an invisible commodity like they are doing to electric energy. Their argument is that if we can create, store and use electric energy, the same can be done for Body, Mind and Consciousness also.

Let us see what Indian spiritual practitioners or Yogis have to say about Consciousness and Energy. After all they also were responsible and persevered. But many Yogis also tend to use the two words synonymously.   

The tendency to treat energy and Consciousness as one and the same is generally seen among spiritual Yogis who follow the Hatha Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, or Raja Yoga. In this category we can even include those doing pranayama or other breath control exercises. These Yogis experienced the Kundalini Shakti being aroused in their Body. In the course of Yoga the Consciousness in the Body stored in the Muladhara Chakra (located at the base of the spine) rises up and moves towards the Ajna Chakra (located in between the eye brows). They refer to this as Kundalini energy and not Consciousness. That was so because they felt the immense force of the rising Consciousness as it moved from Chakra to Chakra more than the Consciousness that was moving up. Thus under Kundalini Yoga or Chakra meditation, the energy was felt brilliantly, but not the Consciousness.

Now let us see what Yogis on the Bhakti Yoga path have to say. They would always refer to their experiences as Krishna Consciousness and not Kundalini awakening, Shakti or Energy. They called Consciousness as absolute bliss or nectar because the flow of energy was very delicate and soothing. They could feel the delicate flow of Consciousness down their Body but couldn’t feel its energy.

Even when the Divine Krishna Consciousness reversed and rose from the feet to the head, they never felt the energy. Not even when the Divine Krishna Consciousness pushed the energy stored in the Muladhar Chakra above the Spine towards his head. Here again they described it as a flow of Consciousness. Once again they never felt the immense energy of Consciousness.

The difference is so obvious. Under Bhakti Yoga, Yogis could feel the nectar like Consciousness, but not its powerful energy. Under Hatha Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, or Raja Yoga they could feel the powerful energy of Consciousness, but not the Consciousness.

When Consciousness stored in a capsule or a seed (called Muladhar Chakra) gets activated through Yogic techniques, the Consciousness stored there gushes upwards ferociously. In the process it can damage certain parts of our Body organs or the cause mental disturbances.

When Consciousness from an open source enters our Body or into any part of a Body or particle, it is relatively calm and serene.

The same principle is seen when consecrating an idol in a temple as per the Vedic science. A consecrated idol in a temple is a bundle of energy. As per Vedic science, deities are capable of releasing Consciousness in small or in huge volumes. Forcefully or delicately.   

Deities have powerful Consciousness stored in them. Consciousness can be very benevolent if appropriated properly and can be devastating if ignored, or misused. Deities are consecrated bodies.

If anyone tries to create, change, alter, amend, manipulate, destroy the Consciousness it will be a disaster. If the spiritual energy of Consciousness is unleashed improperly it can lead to lifelong sufferings for generations of the individual, place or country involved in such wanton destruction.

Similarly if the Consciousness in the atmosphere tends to accumulate, either under water, earth or in the atmosphere and if it is disturbed for any reason it could lead to cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes, plagues, etc.

Stored Consciousness will generate and spread powerful energy. But free Krishna Consciousness is controlled, Divine, Blissful and a very pleasant energy.

Modern day scientists say that Body, Mind and Consciousness are all energies. Bhagavan Krishna doesn’t say that Mind, Body and Consciousness are energies.

Bhagavan says in the Bhagavad Gita that everything in the Universe is Consciousness. This is Spiritual Science.

 

HARE KRISHNA

IS BHAKTI YOGA ONLY ABOUT EMOTIONS?

Hare Krishna. We find many reputed Yoga and Spiritual Gurus saying that Bhakti Yoga is only about emotions. So one can easily become spiritual through the process of emoting.

The point I am going to make here is that Bhakti Yoga is not so simple to identify it with mere emotions. In fact Bhakti Yoga is very different from other Yoga techniques. It involves not merely emotions. It includes the mind, senses and our physical body. Unlike other Yogas that involve only a part or area of our body, Bhakti Yoga is all inclusive. In other types of Yoga the involvement of emotions is for all purposes nil or negligible.

The other point to be noted is that emotions come naturally to women. Therefore most people in Bhakti Yoga path are women. In men, their intellect overrules their emotions. Men avoid emotions and treat emotions as an avoidable act. Their intellect also considers emoting as below dignity or shameful. Men are therefore also known to suppress emotions and suffer frequent depressions. If at all they get emotional it happens with great difficulty. Male Gurus, unlike female Gurus, naturally find it convenient to ignore Bhakti Yoga as merely emotion driven.  

As a substitute many Yogis recommend laughing instead of following Bhakti Yoga. This happens in centers called laughing clubs. In most Yoga centers, laughing loudly in a group forms a part of the daily session. Therefore we find several laughing clubs or assemblies mushrooming all over the world. Here people assemble and laugh aloud without any rhyme or reason. Naturally we can ask - Are the people really emoting or are they imagining a laughable situation? Is laughing loudly a substitute for doing joint kirtans or bhajans? In fact they force themselves into laughing artificially. 

There is a difference between reel and real life. We cannot emote any one of the following naturally and unknowingly unless we are putting up an act:

• Happiness. One of the first core emotions we all experience naturally is happiness. 
• Sadness.
• Anger.
• Anticipation.
• Fear.
• Loneliness.  
• Jealousy.  
• Disgust.
• Surprise.
• Trust.
• Suffering.
• Shame, etc.

An emotion should come genuinely from the heart. Some of the above emotions come naturally from the heart, while some come from the mind and also the heart. Therefore the members of the laughing club are merely acting without the involvement of the heart. It is artificial and imaginary.

In Bhakti Yoga there is a cause to become automatically happy without any inhibitions imposed by our intellect or our body. In the process one may even shed tears of happiness. Happiness happens in real and not in reel life. In Bhakti Yoga, happy emotions become a constant and a continuous process arising out of the activities we indulge in regularly. It also happens without our knowledge. It doesn’t come in fits and starts and does not involve our mind or the intellect. Happiness in us is never visible to an outsider. It happens within us and only we know the meaning and level of happiness. There is also no need for us to be outwardly expressive and shout, laugh, dance, sing, etc.  

Bhakti Yoga talks only about happiness and not the other emotions that are stated above. It says that happiness will follow if you do a series of certain specified acts. These actions are related to the Supreme Bhagavan or the Supreme Lord which are:  

1.     Chant the glorious name of Bhagavan as often as you can.

2.     Sing in praise of Bhagavan.

3.     Narrate the glorious deeds of Bhagavan and spread his teachings to all.

4.     Hear the glorious deeds of Bhagavan and songs in praise of Bhagavan.

5.     Serve the devotees of Bhagavan as much as you can.

6.     Do all the above in a selfless manner without expecting anything in return. This is known as seva. And

7.     This seva involves our body, mind, senses and our soul. It is not merely about emotions.

When we do all the above, a sense of continuous happiness arises in us. It can be felt by us because it happens due to our own deeds and not because of others. It happens because of our personal, continuous, one to one  and intimate relationship with Bhagavan. There is no exhibitionism involved in Bhakti Yoga. Our happiness can also spread to others around us like a benevolent virus.

In the process the Supreme Bhagavan blesses us by pouring His Divine Consciousness on us. These days this is popularly called KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS. These are extremely happy moments which will arise as and when we continue our actions for and on behalf of  the Supreme Bhagavan.

There can be moments when we suffer mentally and/or physically. But these are essentially Karma cleansing of our past and present lives. We will learn to live with Karma cleansing consequences without difficulty. Additionally our permanent state of happiness will easily overwhelm our sufferings. Our capacity and ability to overcome the sufferings will also be very high.

Of all the above listed emotions, happiness is one emotion that can and will come without any specific reason when we follow the Bhakti Yoga path. Even when facing death, there will be a particular happiness, contention, serenity and acceptance of death. Because happiness is overwhelming, there will be no occasion or reason to feel sad, anger, anticipation, suffering,  anxiety, fear, loneliness, jealousy, disgust, surprise, trust, distrust, shame, rejection, dejection, etc.

The blessings, happiness or Krishna Consciousness that pours upon us does not and will not happen by emoting artificially or by adopting any other form of Yoga like Hatha Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Kriya Yoga or Raja Yoga. It is a unique experience restricted to Bhakti Yoga.

Therefore service to Bhagavan and his devotees alone is Bhakti Yoga. In Bhakti Yoga you surrender your body, senses, soul and intellect to Bhagawan. There is no time, space and scope to imagine or to sense our physical body, mind, body posture, intellect, etc.

Surrender to the Supreme is the key. Once we surrender, Bhakti follows. The greatest comfort and benefit in this life is having a close relationship with God by surrendering to Bhagavan.

Lastly Bhakti Yoga is not merely about emotions.

 

HARE KRISHNA

KARMIC LEVELS OF A SPIRITUAL PERSON

Hare Krishna.

The concept of Karma is one of the central beliefs of Hinduism. The Bhagavad Gita and all Hindu scriptures say that our actions will have consequences when they are performed with selfish desires and expectations. Actions could be good or bad. But actions performed and accumulated for the cause of Dharma and the Supreme  Lord Sri Krishna are the best Karmas. Action performed for Dharma and the Supreme Lord is also called Bhakti Yoga.

The main purpose of this post is to describe how a spiritual person  directs his action in his present life so that he can avoid bad Karmas and start accumulating good karmas. That he has to suffer in this or the future life for the bad Karmas is a well known fact. For him also there is no escape from bad Karmas. Undoubtedly a spiritual person undergoes intense pains and sufferings to discharge the bad Karmas.    

As per the Bhagavad Gita, it is advisable to exhaust all the bad Karmas in this life itself because any bad Karma left undischarged in this life gets carried over to our next life.   

As per our scriptures, human beings alone have the capacity to discharge all their past and present life Karmas while they are still alive. That is possible if and only if a person becomes spiritual and adopts the path of Bhakti Yoga.  

It is true that once a person enters the spiritual path he is gradually able to reduce or discharge his past life and present life Karmas. That being so, by the end of his present life, a spiritual person would have been a free and liberated soul. But this generally does not happen in most or almost all the cases, unless he is on the Bhakti Yoga path. There are certain reasons to explain this situation.

It is seen that even if a person is able to discharge all his Karmas, his very presence and activities in the material world makes him act, feel and think about material activities and material things. This happens even to a person on the Bhakti Yoga path. These actions adds to his positive or negative Karma though he is also spiritual.

Then there are other issues also. Karma not only attaches to us by our own thoughts, feelings and actions, but it also attaches to us due to people around us. A spiritual person is very sensitive to the Karmas of others and people around him. A spiritual person generally does the following to avoid such Karmas:

1. 1.     He would never come in public or meet people. He would rather avoid connection with even the worldly news.

1. 2.     He would never attend any functions like marriages or deaths. But the shastras say that  he should respect his mother as an avathar of the Lord. Therefore the only function he attends is his mother’s funeral.

1. 3.     He would never sit on an asana or seat that his not his.

1. 4.     He would generally cook his own food and wash his clothes by himself.

1. 5.     He would never touch others, allow others to touch or feel him. He will  maintain arm’s length at all times.

All the above and many other things are done because thoughts, feelings and actions of others do effect a spiritual person. In the process he himself suffers the bad Karmas of others. Even his close disciples’ Karmas act on him. This leads to actions or reactions within him. Giving an audience to other people easily triggers his feelings and causes reactions.

In such situations you will find a spiritual person spending most of his waking time by himself, shutting his mouth, ears, tongue, touch, eyes and thoughts and meditating on the Supreme Lord.

Most of the times a spiritual person is very calm as long as he is by himself. But if someone tries to take him on or irritate him, he can become very hostile and lethal. Indian scriptures like the Bhagavad Gita are full of incidents when Maharishis have lost their tempers and burnt their adversaries to ashes by a mere look. Lord Shiva, though very benevolent, was very nasty if and when provoked. In order to avoid such severe situations , a spiritual person prefers to lead an isolated life, away from the human civilisation, so that he does not lose his self control and commit a wrong. Many spiritual persons are therefore known to give up family and friends and have lived in forests or mountains.

A spiritual person is as prone to add to his Karma as much as any one is. The only difference being, he will try to discharge the Karmas, in this life itself, unlike a non-spiritual person who is unable to discharge his Karmas. In the end, a bit of Karma of a spiritual person invariably gets carried over to the next life, in case he has to be reborn. A spiritual person’s capacity to absorb other people’s Karma may be high, but he has to suffer a lot in the process.

Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that by resorting to Bhakti Yoga alone a person would have erased his past and present life Karma. This is possible by devoting full time to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. The way a person can prevent further additions to his Karma is:

• 1.     To surround himself by those who are similarly placed in devotion and bhakti. And

• 2.     To constantly utter the Holy name of the Supreme Lord Krishna in his wakeful state.

When he utters the name of the Lord in his wakeful state, the name percolates deep into his body, mind, senses and the soul. And the Lord’s name echoes even when he is asleep.

It is therefore better to start uttering His name at all times, irrespective of our age and state of health. Always be  in Krishna Consciousness and accumulate the best Karma.

 

HARE KRISHNA 

HOW A BELIEVER IN GOD BECOMES AN ATHEIST OR AN AGNOSTIC

HARE KRISHNA

Friends.  Spiritual journey of any person in this material world always takes turns, including U-turns. Unless a person is a sworn atheist or a sworn believer, a person on the Spiritual path can be misguided by his intellect. Because of confusion or wrong guidance, the following changes can happen to a person even if he is a sincere sadhak: 

1.     being a  believer he can become an atheist,

2.     being an atheist, he can become an agnostic,

3.     being an agnostic, he can become a believer or an atheist, and/or

4.     being a believer, he can once again become an atheist or an agnostic.

We will begin with the definition of three important words used here. This will enable us to understand this particular post better.

Believer:

1.     After doing Kundalini Yoga he believes in his Soul and does not believe in God. He may also think that he is God. Or

2.     After taking to Bhakti Yoga, he starts believing in God and may not know much about his soul. Therefore he may not believe in his Soul.

Agnostic: 

1.     A person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (such as God) is unknown and probably unknowable. Broadly, one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God.

2.     A person who is unwilling to commit to an opinion about something.

Atheist: A person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God and/or his Soul.

I, as an Indian, will share some of my own experiences to show how opinions or beliefs can change over one’s Spiritual life time. The cycle is endless, particularly if the person uses his intellect improperly instead of understanding the true Spiritual goals. In the end a person can land up in a situation when Spiritual progress can stop abruptly.

As a Hindu child in India, I was denied education about Hinduism in my school. At home I didn’t find the time because here I spent most of the time reading my school books or playing. Being a city bred Hindu, there were no temples or institutions to teach Hindu scriptures near my residence also. So I never learnt anything about God or my scriptures. My mother would perform her prayers regularly. But I couldn’t understand much of what she did. For me what she did was a mere ritual.  Like me there were many students in my school who never understood the meaning of religion or God.

Therefore when I entered college after schooling, I had no knowledge about God, religions or my scriptures. At this stage I was only a blind believer of God without any knowledge about the Soul or God. But I was neither an atheist nor an agnostic.

At college, because I was not a student of science, economics became a mandatory subject. I became fascinated by the Marxist or Communist ideas of economic models and also started reading books relating to Marxism or communism. As I read books on Marxism, I learnt at a stage that Communists did not believe in God. After all the founder of Marxism, Karl Marx had said that religion is the opium of the people. Because I liked the theory of   Marxist economy, I too started believing that religion had to be shunned and that there is no God. From being an ordinary believer of God I became an atheist without knowing anything about religions, Hindu scriptures and God. The same belief was developed by my college friends also. This way the number of non-believers spread rapidly like wild fire among my college friends. Majority of students who were believers got converted to atheism or agnosticism. For me and my friends it was a quick and easy change of religion. We were literally brain washed without much effort into a new religion.

Yet I had a quest for Spiritual knowledge because I did not see Spiritualism to be the same as religion or linked to it in any way. But I did not know how   religions like Christianity and Islam viewed Spiritualism. So after my college days, I took to meditation.

After doing pranayama regularly, I soon realised that the Spiritual power called Kundalini got aroused in me. But this Kundalini energy was confined to merely the spine region of my body, including my mind and feelings. With my limited cleansing experience, I concluded that there was a Soul or Consciousness in me. I concluded that I had God in me. This soon got converted to a belief that I was  a God.  

The journey didn’t stop here. As nothing more was achieved in the above journey, I decided to explore the other paths recommended in the Bhagavad Gita. So, I took recourse to Bhakti Yoga.

From Bhakti Yoga, I learnt that there was another Spiritual power called Krishna Consciousness that was pouring grace on me. This shattered my previous belief that I am God. I learnt that God is someone very different and far more powerful and lasting. Lord Krishna or HIS Consciousness was very loving and giving me immense joy and happiness.  Hence I started believing that I am not God but a Soul, and that God is different from me. The transition was spontaneous and without any doubt.

Soon I realised that the flow of Krishna Consciousness stopped. This again led me to believe that there is no God or Soul. I had suddenly become an atheist. To confirm my atheist belief and conclusions, I read a Tibetan book on Yoga which said that there is nothing like a Soul or God. For some time I truly believed that there is no Soul or God.

I soon also realised that the confusion arose because we often forget the very elementary principle and power of Consciousness. Any Yoga that we do essentially cleanses our body, Soul and the mind. Once our body is Spiritually cleansed both by the Kundalini energy and Krishna Consciousness, the Consciousness in our body becomes qualitatively on par with the outside Consciousness. After the cleansing is over there is nothing more to be done unless our Body, Soul and Mind are once again corrupted and requires cleansing. Thus I realised that God and Soul are not imaginary but a reality. I am a Soul and not a God.  God exists in our midst and within us in the form of our Soul. As per the Bhagavad Gita there is Krishna Consciousness inside, there is Krishna Consciousness outside also. The two are different in volume and potency though their quality is the same. As this revelation was already made by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu about 500 years back, I once again became a believer.

Such turmoils do happen to almost all those on any Spiritual paths. Suffice to say that Lord Krishna has given us the brains and the intellect to think properly and unless we do that properly we will never understand the reality of our Soul and Lord Krishna. 

I started analysing the reasons as to why such confusions arose only in the Hindus and not in people of other religions like Christians or Muslims.

1.     I soon learnt that the Indian Government had always given a right to teach and learn the Bible and Quran in all schools across India. But they had banned study of Hinduism by the Hindus in recognised schools and colleges. Consequently our generation grew up without knowledge about God, the Bhagavad Gita, etc. All the Christians and Muslims, from their childhood were grounded firmly in their belief of God and their scriptures. The ban on study of Hinduism in schools and colleges continues today also.

2.     The other point I want to make is that the Indian Government and Universities thought it fit to promote a globally failed economic and political theory called Marxist economic theories. But they did not deem it fit to study a very ancient and proven Indian economic model called Arthashastras. Arthashastra forms part of our ancient Vedic literatures. No one knows why this step motherly treatment was meted out to the Hindus and their scriptures Arthashastras? In fact I have not come across a single student of Indian Arthashastra anywhere in the world.

3.     If we couldn’t learn Hindu philosophy, we could have learnt at least economics of our Arthashastra along with the Marxist economics. Shouldn’t someone tell this to the Indian and state governments? We have to heed lessons from our failures. Most of our problems are because of two reasons:

i.                    We acted without thinking or

ii.                  We keep thinking without acting.

HARE KRISHNA