Release From Saṁsāra

With a little vision we can quickly see that the mass of living entities are wandering aimlessly in these millions of species of life. Lord Krsna proclaims, "All living entities are born into delusion overcome by the dualities of desire and hate." (Bg. 7.27) Desire and hate delude the soul into thinking that he is this body and that he can gratify the sensual desires of this body. However, the human life is unique in that it offers an opportunity to the conditioned soul to hurdle himself out of the wheel of samsara, the wheel of birth and death. The spiritual master helps the conditioned soul just as a track coach helps a runner jump hurdles. He gives so many instructions, so many rules and regulations just to train the conditioned soul to become godly. The instructions may appear superstitious or superfluous to the conditioned soul due to his limited range of vision, yet when he is hurtled out of his conditioning he can see how they helped him. The human being is intended to be trained to be godly. Actually he is part and parcel of God, but due to material contamination he has forgotten. In India, for thousands of years, various methods have been utilized by which the soul's memory can be awakened to the soul's divinity. Lord Caitanya enjoins that the fortunate person with some spiritual assets due to past deeds will seek the association of a pure devotee who knows the methods of awakening and will instruct the conditioned soul in Krsna consciousness. The seed of Krsna consciousness is received by the mercy of the guru or the spiritual master and by the mercy of Krsna. This mercy is combined: by the grace of Krsna, the soul gets guru, and by the grace of guru, the soul gets Krsna.

"When will the day come when I will be established at last in Krsna consciousness?" This is an urge felt deep in the soul of all entities. Krsna and guru survey all beings, and when they will the God consciousness of the individual jiva will develop and fructify. All creatures have spiritual eyes within themselves, but these eyes are closed. By the will and mercy of the spiritual master and Krsna they can be opened in a twinkling. They are opened by sabda, the transcendental sound incarnation of the Supreme Lord, which pierces the material coverings of all living entities, vibrates into their souls and opens their sleeping spiritual eyes. It is called mantra, which means "mind releasing," for it releases the mind from its material shackles. Krsna says, "I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge, and forgetfulness." (Bg. 15.15) Krsna is the Supersoul within all, and as soon as He sees that one is sincerely seeking the answers to important spiritual questions, then he sends a bona fide guru to deliver the mantra and teach the jiva the process of surrender.