DISCUSSION
As already explained, the Lord in His incarnation compiled the Holy Teachings. Here the Lord is giving the contents of the Holy Teachings. He says that the living entities, who are innumerable, can be divided into two classes, the fallible and the infallible. The living entities are eternally separated parts and parcels of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When they are in contact with the material world they are called fallible. Those who are in oneness with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, are called infallible. Oneness does not mean that they have no individuality, but that there is no disunity. They are all agreeable to the purpose of the creation. In the spiritual world there is no such thing as creation, but since the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the source of all emanations, that conception is explained.
According to the statement of the Supreme Personality of Godhead there are two classes of living entities. The living entities who are struggling in this world with the mind and five senses have their material bodies, which are changing. As long as a living entity is conditioned, his body changes due to contact with matter; matter is changing, so the living entity appears to be changing. But in the spiritual world the body is not made of matter; therefore there is no change. In the material world the living entity undergoes six changes: birth, growth, duration, reproduction, then dwindling and vanishing. These are the changes of the material body. But in the spiritual world the body does not change; there is no old age, there is no birth, there is no death. All exist in oneness. Any living entity who has come in contact with matter, beginning from the first created being, down to a small ant, is changing its body; therefore they are all fallible. In the spiritual world, however, they are always liberated in oneness.
Besides these two, there is the greatest living personality, the Supreme Soul, the imperishable Lord Himself, who has entered the three worlds and is maintaining them.
DISCUSSION
It is clearly stated there that above the innumerable living entities, some of whom are conditioned and some of whom are liberated, there is the Supreme Personality. Among all the living entities, both conditioned and liberated, there is one supreme living personality, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who maintains them and gives them all the facility of enjoyment according to different work. That Supreme Personality of Godhead is situated in everyone's heart. A wise man who can understand Him is eligible to be in perfect peace.
Because I am transcendental, beyond both the fallible and the infallible, and because I am the greatest, I am celebrated both in the world and in that Supreme Person.
DISCUSSION
No one can surpass the Supreme Personality of Godhead, neither the conditioned soul nor the liberated soul. He is therefore the greatest of personalities. Now it is clear here that the living entities and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are individuals. The difference is that the living entities, either in the conditioned state or in the liberated state, cannot surpass in quantity the inconceivable potencies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is incorrect to think of the Supreme Lord and the living entities as being on the same level or equal in all respects. There is always the question of superiority and inferiority between their personalities. No one can surpass the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
"The Supersoul coming out of the body enters the impersonal; then in His form He remains in His spiritual identity. That Supreme is called the Supreme Personality." This means that the Supreme Personality is exhibiting and diffusing His spiritual effulgence, which is the ultimate illumination. That Supreme Personality incarnates Himself as the son.
I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.
DISCUSSION
A learned scholar who has studied perfectly and has information from authorities and who knows how to apply these teachings can understand that HE is the origin of everything in both the material and spiritual worlds, and because he knows this perfectly he becomes firmly fixed in the devotional service of the Supreme Lord. He can never be deviated by any amount of nonsensical commentaries or by fools. "It was in the beginning that The Supreme Personality desired to create living entities." Breath is born, and the patriarchs are also born. This is an expansion. "In the beginning of the creation there was only the Supreme Personality. There was no Breath, no fire, no moon, no stars in the sky, no sun." it is the Supreme Lord, the creator of Breath who is to be worshipped.
"The patriarchs, and others are created by Me, though they do not know that they are created by Me because they are deluded by My illusory energy."
HE is the source of all generations, and He is called the most efficient cause of everything. He says, "Because everything is born of Me, I am the original source of all. Everything is under Me; no one is above Me." There is no supreme controller. One who understands ME in such a way from a bona fide spiritual master, engages all his energy in MY consciousness and becomes a truly learned one. In comparison, all others who do not know ME properly, are but fools. Only a fool would consider ME to be an ordinary man. A Christ conscious person is not bewildered by fools; and avoids all unauthorized commentaries and interpretations and proceeds in MY consciousness with determination and firmness.
The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me. [the gate called beautiful - Acts 3:10 and/or Job and his friends]
DISCUSSION
Pure devotees, whose characteristics are mentioned here, engage themselves fully in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Their minds cannot be diverted. Their talks are solely on the transcendental subjects. The symptoms of the pure devotees are described in this verse specifically. Devotees of the Supreme Lord are twenty-four hours daily engaged in glorifying the qualities and pastimes of the Supreme Lord. Their hearts and souls are constantly submerged in Christ, and they take pleasure in discussing Him with other devotees.
In the preliminary stage of devotional service they relish the transcendental pleasure from the service itself, and in the mature stage they are actually situated in love of God. Once situated in that transcendental position, they can relish the highest perfection which is exhibited by the Lord in His abode. Transcendental devotional service is the sowing of a seed in the heart of the living entity. There are innumerable living entities traveling throughout the different planets of the universe, and out of them there are a few who are fortunate enough to meet a pure devotee and get the chance to understand devotional service. This devotional service is just like a seed, and if it is sown in the heart of a living entity, and if he goes on hearing and chanting (Love), that seed fructifies, just as the seed of a tree fructifies with regular watering. The spiritual plant of devotional service gradually grows and grows until it penetrates the covering of the material universe and enters into the effulgence in the spiritual sky. In the spiritual sky also that plant grows more and more until it reaches the highest planet, the supreme planet. Ultimately, the plant takes shelter and rests there. Gradually, as a plant grows fruits and flowers, that plant of devotional service also produces fruits, and the watering process in the form of chanting [Hark the herald angels sing - Luke 2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God] and hearing goes on. [Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Matthew 13:9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.]
This plant of devotional service is fully described in that when the complete plant takes shelter in the Supreme Lord, one becomes fully absorbed in love of God; then he cannot live even for a moment without being in contact with the Supreme Lord, just as a fish cannot live without water. In such a state, the devotee actually attains the transcendental qualities in contact with the Supreme Lord.
In this narration there is nothing about material activities, economic development, sense gratification or liberation. The transcendental nature of the Supreme Lord and His devotees is fully described. Thus the realized souls in Christ consciousness take continual pleasure in hearing such transcendental literatures, just as a young boy and girl take pleasure in association.
To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.
DISCUSSION
Action in Christ consciousness, that is the highest intelligence, means intelligent and mystic activities or mystic elevation [Rev 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet]. When one tries to go back home, back to Godhead, and takes fully to Christ consciousness in devotional service, his action is called mystical intelligence. In other words, the process by which one gets out of the entanglement of this material world. The ultimate goal of progress is Christ. People do not know this; therefore the association of devotees and a bona fide spiritual master are important. One should know that the goal is Christ, and when the goal is assigned, then the path is slowly but progressively traversed, and the ultimate goal is achieved.
When a person knows the goal and seeks Christ completely in Christ consciousness and devotional service, he is acting in the highest perfect stage of life. A person may have a bona fide spiritual master and may be attached to a spiritual organization, but still, if he is not intelligent enough to make progress, then Christ from within gives him instructions so that he may ultimately come to Him without difficulty. The qualification is that a person always engage himself in Christ consciousness and with love and devotion render all kinds of services. He should perform some sort of work for Christ, and that work should be with love. If a devotee is not intelligent enough to make progress on the path of self realization but is sincere and devoted to the activities of devotional service, the Lord gives him a chance to make progress and ultimately attain to Him.
To show them special mercy, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance.
DISCUSSION
If a devotee does not take advantage of their literatures or of his spiritual master, if he is sincere in his devotional service he is helped by Christ Himself within his heart. So the sincere devotee engaged in Christ consciousness cannot be without knowledge. The only qualification is that one carry out devotional service in full Christ consciousness.
The modern philosophers think that without discriminating one cannot have pure knowledge. For them this answer is given by the Supreme Lord: those who are engaged in pure devotional service, even though they be without sufficient education and even without sufficient knowledge of the principles, are still helped by the Supreme God, as stated in this verse.
Only by devotional service is the Supreme Truth, Christ, pleased, and by His inconceivable energy He can reveal Himself to the heart of the pure devotee. The pure devotee always has Christ within his heart; and with the presence of Christ, who is just like the sun, the darkness of ignorance is at once dissipated. This is the special mercy rendered to the pure devotee by Christ.
Due to the contamination of material association, through many, many millions of births, one's heart is always covered with the dust of materialism, but when one engages in devotional service and constantly chants Christ, the dust quickly clears, and one is elevated to the platform of pure knowledge. The ultimate goal can be attained only by this chant and by devotional service, and not by mental speculation or argument. The pure devotee does not have to worry about the material necessities of life; he need not be anxious, because when he removes the darkness from his heart, everything is provided automatically by the Supreme Lord, who is pleased by the loving devotional service of the devotee. This is the essence of the teachings. By studying, one can become a soul completely surrendered to the Supreme Lord and engage himself in pure devotional service. As the Lord takes charge, one becomes completely free from all kinds of materialistic endeavors.
Always think of Me, 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.
DISCUSSION
The most confidential part of knowledge is that one should become a pure devotee of Christ and always think of Him and act for Him. One should not become an official meditator. Life should be so molded that one will always have the chance to think of Christ. One should always act in such a way that all his daily activities are in connection with Christ. He should arrange his life in such a way that throughout the twenty-four hours he cannot but think of Christ. And the Lord's promise is that anyone who is in such pure Christ consciousness will certainly return to the abode of Christ, where he will be engaged in the association of Christ face to face. This most confidential part of knowledge is spoken to the dear friend of Christ. Everyone who follows the path can become a dear friend to Christ and obtain the same perfection.
These words stress that one should concentrate his mind upon Christ. One should fix his mind on this original form of Godhead, Christ. One should not even divert his attention to other forms of the Lord. The Lord has multiple forms but a devotee should concentrate his mind on the form, the SON. Concentration of the mind on the form of Christ constitutes the most confidential part of knowledge, and this is disclosed to the most dear friend of Christ.
Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.
DISCUSSION
The Lord has described various kinds of knowledge and processes of religion, knowledge of the Supreme, knowledge of the Supersoul, knowledge of the different types of orders and status's of social life, knowledge of the renounced order of life, knowledge of nonattachment, sense and mind control, meditation, etc. He has described in so many ways different types of religion. Now, the Lord says simply surrender to Christ. That surrender will save him from all kinds of sinful reactions, for the Lord personally promises to protect him.
Only one who has become free from all sinful reactions can take to the worship of Lord Christ. Thus one may think that unless he is free from all sinful reactions he cannot take to the surrendering process. To such doubts it is here said that even if one is not free from all sinful reactions, simply by the process of surrender to Christ he is automatically freed. There is no need of strenuous effort to free oneself from sinful reactions. One should unhesitatingly accept Christ as the supreme savior of all living entities. With faith and love, one should surrender unto Him.
According to the devotional process, one should simply accept such religious principles that will lead ultimately to the devotional service of the Lord. One may perform a particular occupational duty according to his position in the social order, but if by executing his duty one does not come to the point of Christ consciousness, all his activities are in vain. Anything that does not lead to the perfect stage of Christ consciousness should be avoided. One should be confident that in all circumstances Christ will protect him from all difficulties. [Deuteronomy 32:12 So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.]
There is no need of thinking how one should keep the body and soul together. Christ will see to that. One should always think himself helpless and should consider Christ the only basis for his progress in life. As soon as one seriously engages himself in devotional service to the Lord in full Christ consciousness, at once he becomes freed from all contamination of material nature.
There are different processes of religion and purification processes by cultivation of knowledge, meditation in the mystic system, etc., but one who surrenders unto Christ does not have to execute so many methods. That simple surrender unto Christ will save him from unnecessarily wasting time. One can thus make all progress at once and be freed from all sinful reactions.
One should be attracted by the beautiful vision of Christ. His name is Christ because He is all-attractive. One who becomes attracted by the beautiful, all-powerful, omnipotent vision of Christ is fortunate. There are different kinds of transcendentalists -some of them are attached to the impersonal vision, some of them are attracted by the Supersoul feature, etc., but one who is attracted to the personal feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and, above all, one who is attracted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Christ Himself, is the most perfect transcendentalist. In other words, devotional service to Christ, in full consciousness, is the most confidential part of knowledge, and this is the essence of the whole. One who is a pure devotee is the best of all. "Don't fear, don't hesitate, don't worry," are very significant. One may be perplexed as to how one can give up all kinds of religious forms and simply surrender unto Christ, but such worry is useless.
My dear, he who engages in My pure devotional service, free from the contamination of fruitful activities and mental speculation, he who works for Me, who makes Me the supreme goal of his life, and who is friendly to every living being, he certainly comes to Me.
DISCUSSION
Anyone who wants to approach the supreme of all the Personalities of Godhead, on the planet in the spiritual sky, and be intimately connected with the Supreme Personality, Christ, must take this formula, as stated by the Supreme Himself. Therefore, this verse is considered to be the essence of religious instruction.
The religious instruction is a book directed to the conditioned souls, who are engaged in the material world with the purpose of lording it over nature and who do not know of the real, spiritual life. The religious instruction is meant to show how one can understand his spiritual existence and his eternal relationship with the supreme spiritual personality and to teach one how to go back home, back to Godhead [Acts 17:29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Colossians 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.]
Now here is the verse which clearly explains the process by which one can attain success in his spiritual activity: devotional service. As far as work is concerned, one should transfer his energy entirely to Christ conscious activities.
No work should be done by any man except in relationship to Christ. One may be engaged in various activities, but one should not be attached to the result of his work; the result should be done only for Him. For example, one may be engaged in business, but to transform that activity into Christ consciousness, one has to do business for Christ. If Christ is the proprietor of the business, then Christ should enjoy the profit of the business. If a businessman is in possession of thousands and thousands of dollars, and if he has to offer all this to Christ, he can do it. This is work for Christ. Instead of constructing a big building for his sense gratification, he can construct a nice temple for Christ, and he can install the Deity of Christ and arrange for the Deity's service, as is outlined in the authorized books of devotional service. One should not be attached to the result of his work, but the result should be offered to Christ, and one should accept the remnants of offerings to Christ. [Deuteronomy 12:6 And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:]
If one constructs a very big building for Christ and installs the Deity of Christ, one is not prohibited from living there, but it is understood that the proprietor of the building is Christ. That is called Christ consciousness. If, however, one is not able to construct a temple for Christ, one can engage himself in cleansing the temple of Christ. One can cultivate a garden. Anyone who has land can utilize that for Christ by growing flowers to offer Him. One can sow plants, because Christ has recommended this in religious instruction. Christ desires that one offer Him either a leaf, or a flower, or fruit, or a little water and by such an offering He is satisfied. So one can sow and pour water on the plant. Thus, even the poorest man can engage in the service of Christ. These are some of the examples of how one can engage in working for Christ.
Consider the association of Christ in His supreme abode to be the highest perfection of life. Such a person does not wish to be elevated to the higher planets such as the moon or sun or heavenly planets, or even the highest planet of this universe. He has no attraction for that. He is only attracted to being transferred to the spiritual sky. And even in the spiritual sky he is not satisfied with merging into the glowing effulgence, for he wants to enter the highest spiritual planet. He has full knowledge of that planet, and therefore he is not interested in any other. He fully engages in devotional service, specifically in the nine processes of devotional engagement: hearing, chanting, remembering, worshipping, serving the Lord, offering prayers, carrying out the orders of the Lord, making friends with Him, and surrendering everything to Him. One can engage in all nine devotional processes, or eight, or seven, or at least in one, and that will surely make one perfect.
One should disassociate himself from persons who are against Christ. Not only are the atheistic persons against Christ, but so also are those who are attracted to fruitful activities and mental speculation.
If anyone wants to execute unalloyed devotional service, he must be freed from all kinds of material contamination. He must be freed from the association of persons who are addicted to fruitful activities and mental speculation. When, freed from such unwanted association and from the contamination of material desires, [Thomas a Kempis] one favorably cultivates knowledge of Christ, that is called pure devotional service. One should think of Christ and act for Christ favorably, not unfavorably.
Of course anyone who is killed by Christ attains salvation immediately, but that is not the aim of the pure devotee. The pure devotee does not even want salvation. He does not want to be transferred even to the highest planet. His only objective is to serve Christ wherever he may be.
A devotee of Christ is friendly to everyone. Therefore it is said here that he has no enemy. How is this? A devotee situated in Christ consciousness knows that only devotional service to Christ can relieve a person from all the problems of life. He has personal experience of this, and therefore he wants to introduce this system, Christ consciousness, into human society. There are many examples in history of devotees of the Lord who risked their lives for the spreading of God consciousness. The favorite example is Lord Jesus Christ. He was crucified by the non devotees, but he sacrificed his life for spreading God consciousness. Of course, it would be superficial to understand that he was killed. Similarly, in India also there are many examples. Why such risk? Because they wanted to spread Christ consciousness, and it is difficult. A Christ conscious person knows that if a man is suffering it is due to his forgetfulness of his eternal relationship with Christ. Therefore, the highest benefit one can render to human society is relieving one's neighbor from all material problems. In such a way, a pure devotee is engaged in the service of the Lord. Now, we can imagine how merciful Christ is to those engaged in His service, risking everything for Him. Therefore it is certain that such persons must reach the supreme planet after leaving the body.
In summary, the universal form of Christ, which is a temporary manifestation, and the form of time which devours everything, and even the form, have all been exhibited by Christ. Thus Christ is the origin of all these manifestations. Christ is the origin of all forms. There are hundreds and thousands of forms, but for a devotee, no form of Christ is important but the original form. Those who are attached to the form of Christ in love and devotion can see Him always within the heart and cannot see anything else. One should understand, therefore, that the purport of this is that the form of Christ is essential and supreme.
(c) 1991 by Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (paraphrased by mmgr - 10-16-05)
Love Links: Lesson 8-9 ~~ Lessons 10-15 ~~ Lessons 16-23 ~~ Lessons 16-23 ~~ Lessons 34-41 ~~ Lessons 42-45 ~~ Lessons 46-49 ~~ Lessons 50-53 ~~ Lesson 54 ~~ Lesson 55 ~~ Lessons from the Hindu