So our Krsna consciousness movement is teaching this pravrtti-marga, nivrtti-marga, both. "You do not do this" or "You do this." "Do this" means rise early in the morning, mangala-aratrika. Of course, you must sleep, but not sleep like cats and dogs, animals. Simply sleeping means waste of time. The more you reduce sleeping, then you become perfect. Nidrahara-viharakadi-vijitau **. All the gosvamis in Vrndavana, they conquered over these things. What is these things? Nidra, sleeping; ahara, eating; and vihara, and sense pleasure. This is called sannyasa life, reducing sleeping, reducing eating. This is pravrtti-marga. We think "If I can eat voraciously like an elephant, then my life is successful." No. That is not success of life. If you can do without any food, that is successful. That is success. This is called nivrtti-marga, but that is not practical; therefore if we promise that we shall not eat anything which is not offered to Krsna, that is tapasya. If you don't go to the restaurant and eat anything nonsense, that is pravrtti. But if you want to stop that restaurant-going, then you take Krsna prasadam; krsna bora daya moy kori bare jihva joy sva-prasada-anna dilo bhai. Krsna is ready, so many nice, palatable dishes; you take and stop this restaurant-going. This is Krsna's mercy. Patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati [Bg. 9.26]. Krsna does not say "Bring something from the restaurant" or this or that. He says, patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati: anything, little leaf, little flower, little water. Krsna is not hungry, but Krsna is so kind that He has come to you, so that you can touch Him, you can dress Him, you can decorate Him, you can offer Him, you can live with Him as servant, as friend, as son, as lover. In so many ways, Krsna is giving you chance.   (More...)

So this Krsna consciousness movement means to become trained up sufficiently how to enter Krsna's great family. In Krsna's family there is no sannyasi. Have you seen, anyone, a sannyasi in Vrndavana? At least in the books? Sannyasa means to make this material life sannyasa, finished, "No more this," renounce. Just like Caitanya Mahaprabhu did. He renounced His material family life. He had very nice wife, young wife, and He was young man, twenty-four years old, and there was a very affectionate mother. He had very good position in the society, Nimai Pandita. Yesterday you showed one play called Chand Kazi. So He was so influential that simply by His calling, hundreds and thousands of men immediately joined to go to the Chand Kazi's house to perform kirtana. So just imagine what was His social position, so popular, leader. He had very good position. As a learned scholar, He was known as Nimai Pandita. Beautiful, very beautiful body, Gaurasundara. Very beautiful wife. Very honored brahmana, Jagannatha Misra's son, grandson of Nilambara Cakravarti, very social, aristocratic position. But still, He gave up everything. That means that although He had nothing material, but to show us that material things should be renounced, that is sannyasa; and enter into the spiritual family of Krsna. Tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti [Bg. 4.9]. He does not become again entangled in these material varieties of life. In material world there is also varieties, but that is false. This morning we were discussing this point, mirage. In the mirage there is a show of false water, and the animal runs after it. But there is no water, and finally he becomes more thirsty, and it is desert; he falls down and dies. So the material world means we are running after false family. But don't think that there is no real family life. There is real family. That is Krsna's real family, eternal family, blissful family. So this Krsna consciousness movement means to train up people to be detached from this false family and to enter into the real family. That is the point. Not that if I give up this false family I will become zero. No. There is no such disappointment. The other philosophers, they simply... Just like Buddha philosophy. Their philosophy is "Finish this," nirvana. But if people are not interested to finish all this, they want it, then what is the positive gain? So generally people are attached to these Buddhist and Mayavadi philosophies; therefore they feel hopelessness. On account of future hopelessness, they become more attached to this false family. But our philosophy is not like that. Our philosophy is that you become detached to this false family and enter into the real family.   (More...)