by Bhagavān dāsa Adhikārī (ISKCON-Detroit)

This Krsna consciousness movement is meant to bring about the purification of human consciousness. The human form of life is a rare opportunity which we have now attained out of so many varieties of life. Therefore the opportunity afforded by this human form must be cultured and protected like a rare gem. If it is not, we will lose it by force of the laws of nature and again be subject to birth and death, perhaps in some other species of life. This is confirmed by Lord Sri Krsna in Bhagavad-gita.

The culturing process is like this. All of us, when we are born, are born with impure consciousness. That is to say, we have no understanding of who we are. The modern civilization of today adds a great boost to this ignorance by offering people material knowledge (avidya) and leaving them devoid of the spiritual education needed for the highest advancement of human consciousness. The outcome is that most people go through their lives entirely ignorant of who they are. They are content to think in terms of temporary bodily designations-"I am a parent," "I am a child," "I am a teacher," "I am a well-off or not so well-off businessman," "I am a hippie," etc. These are temporary identities because the pure living entity, the eternal spirit soul residing within the bodily shell, is devoid of such labels. In other words these are all relative truths depending on conditions of time and space which, if varied, would produce for us new designations. For instance, because one happens to be born into a Jewish or Christian family he is called a Jew or a Christian, but if this person were separated from his parents and adopted by others he might be called something else. This is material relativity, and thinking in these terms binds the living entity to the relative cycle of birth and death.

In Krsna consciousness we are being taught by our spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, not to think along these relative, temporary lines but to seek out the Absolute Truth, that truth which does not depend upon any material consideration. This is called self-realization-to realize that which is our real nature. Those people who engage their consciousness in this way have begun to cultivate the resources of human consciousness.

All of us have had countless births in the past, and if we are not careful we will have countless births in the future. Therefore, the goal is to break free from the miseries of birth and death, which are concomitant factors of material life, by regaining our eternal spiritual status as servants of the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna. That is the perfection of human life. Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya has instructed that this attitude of rendering loving service to the Lord is the real eternal activity of the living entity. Through this process of devotional service one transcends the material platform of relative truth and becomes situated in absolute knowledge. Just as academic knowledge qualifies a person to attain a position in society, so when one understands the Absolute Truth, he becomes qualified to enter Krsna's society, the spiritual kingdom which lies beyond the realm of the material universes.

True knowledge means to realize who we are in relation to Krsna. We must know our eternal identity; academic qualifications will not be helpful.

Therefore the cultivation of human life is to engage in all activities with the consciousness that "I am Krsna's eternal servant." Just as the parts of the body serve the stomach and thus become nourished and healthy, so, since we are parts and parcels of the transcendental body of Krsna, our eternal function is to render pleasing devotional service to Him and also to those who are His unalloyed, surrendered devotees. Krsna is so sublime that He actually gets more pleasure when He sees His pure devotees, the bona fide spiritual masters, being served, than when someone tries to approach Him directly. In the Adi Purana this is stated by Lord Krsna to Arjuna: "My dear Partha, one who claims to be My devotee is not so. Only a person who claims to be the devotee of My devotee is actually My devotee." Therefore, our eternal position is one of servitorship. In the material world everyone serves only in order to get some temporary fruits which are all taken away at the time of death, but for those who accept their spiritual identity as servants of the Lord and His pure devotees, Lord Krsna says:

To end the problems of material life does not mean to try to make this world an eternal paradise, but to reinstate ourselves in devotional service to the Lord, instead of devotional service to this material nature. This can be accomplished by anyone through the simple method of chanting Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. The chanting is a prayer to the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna to engage us in His transcendental loving service. We say loving service because Krsna is the perfect master who reciprocates with His servants by taking away all inauspicious things from the mind.

This movement is not in conflict with any religious belief. Our spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, is simply teaching us how to immerse ourselves in God consciousness, Krsna consciousness, twenty-four hours a day, not just to serve God once a week or to think, "Oh yes, God exists." Srila Prabhupada is teaching us to meditate on Krsna's name, form, pastimes and devotees, even in the sleeping state. That is the process of bhakti-yoga or Krsna consciousness, the sublime method for cultivating real human consciousness.

Everyone desires to enjoy a complete life of happiness, but most people are misled in this quest by thinking that the body is the target for satisfaction. Actually, however, the body by itself has no qualification to satisfy our desires, but is instead a collapsible trap that ultimately ends in death. The original desire for a joyful life does not come from the body but from the spirit soul, the eternal living entity within the body. Having contacted this material body, we have made a false association which is manifested in the belief that we are the lump of flesh that we see in the mirror. The materialist feels that he can get satisfaction by gratifying the different urges which come from his senses. The intelligent man, however, soon realizes that bodily sense desires are often misleading. The young child will say, "Oh, that flickering substance looks very nice. I think I shall enjoy it." But upon placing his hand in the fire he quickly learns that his senses are not to be trusted. In our conditioned state of existence, we think that our only satisfaction lies on the material platform, and we are constantly fooled in this way. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada states in Sri Isopanisad: "Foolish human beings who are grossly absorbed in the culture of avidya (ignorant material activities) do not mind this cruel process, but being enamored of the beauty of the illusory energy, they do the same things over repeatedly, not learning any lesson from the law of nature."