We Belong to Kṛṣṇa

Spiritual life is not void; it is actual life. The conception of voidness arises from frustration with material existence. Krsna's creation is full of life; there is no question of void anywhere. There is actual life in which we live eternally and enjoy eternally, in which we become peaceful and full of knowledge. That life is our spiritual life, and we have to attain to it. Our mission should be to attain that highest perfectional stage and become detached from this temporary existence. To become attached to temporary things and to give no time to the eternal soul is illusion. The Vedanta-sūtra gives information that this life is meant for self-realization, for questioning into the nature of Brahman, spirit. What is Brahman? We are all Brahman, but because we have become entangled in these material elements, we do not realize it. The Vedanta-sūtra, Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam and all other Vedic literatures are intended to awaken us to our real identity. They tell us to awake, to get up and not sleep. Sleeping means remaining in ignorance, in darkness. The purpose of the Vedic literatures is to enlighten us, to get us to shake off our sleepiness.

In this regard there is the story of the poor man who consulted an astrologer saying, "Sir, I am very poor. Do you think that by my palm you can tell whether I'll ever get money in the future?" The astrologer looked at the man's palm carefully and finally said, "Prospects are very good. Your father left you a hidden treasure before he died. You just have to find it out." The man went away to look for the treasure, and when he could not find it he returned to the astrologer, who gave him further instructions. "If you look for the treasure on the southern side, you will have many difficulties. If you dig for it on the northern or western sides, there will be similar difficulties. Just look on the eastern side and you will find it." So the man looked and indeed found his treasure. Similarly, we all have a great hidden treasure, and if we consult the oracle of Vedic literature we will find it. God is full of six opulences-all wealth, all knowledge, all beauty, all strength, all fame and all renunciation. We are His sons, and as such we have immense property to enjoy. In Bhagavad-gita Sri Krsna says that all living entities are His sons. If He is our father, and is such a rich father, then why don't we reestablish our relationship with Him? Krsna sends His most intimate and confidential sons like Lord Jesus Christ to inform us of this heritage we have forgotten, to call us back home, back to Godhead. Unfortunately we are too busy consulting some mundane astrologers trying to find out what will happen to this body, trying to heal the body or make it last a few years longer, completely forgetting that this body is temporary and doomed to perish. Our real goal should be to finish this bodily business in this life and to realize ourselves spiritually and know that we are not this matter but Brahman, sons of Krsna. We have to understand that we don't belong to our so-called parents or this so-called country. We belong to Krsna and the spiritual worlds of the Vaikunthas. For us this whole earth, indeed this whole universe, is a foreign country. All living entities in the material universe are in a foreign country. They are simply visiting for a certain duration of years, that's all. When we are illusioned, we think that things in this country belong to us, but in actuality nothing belongs to us at all.

Everything belongs to Krsna. We also belong to Krsna, for we are His sons. When we come to understand that everything belongs to Him, our material attachments gradually slacken, and as we become detached from material life we proportionately increase our spiritual life and advance in knowledge. In the Fifteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, Sri Krsna gives us the example of the banyan tree with its roots upward and its branches down. This tree of material existence must be severed by the weapon of detachment. These knots which bind us very tightly to the material world must be cut by someone who is free. Therefore one who is sufficiently intelligent will associate with saintly persons who are free from the entanglement of material nature and who can sever the knots which bind. There is no benefit in associating with those who are simply engaged in sense gratification. If we want liberation, if we really want to get out of this illusory existence, we must associate with mahatmas, great souls. All we have to do is simply hear, sravanam, and by simply hearing from great souls our knot of nescience will be cut. Just hearing Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare will save us.