Another good reason why we follow the bona fide Acaryas

Hare Krsna to all

Pranams

All glories to Srila Prabhupada

 

What follows is two short paragraphs from a lecture given by

Srila Prabhupada wherein he clearly and concisely explains

every soul's predicament in this material world. And how to

solve this problem. We are ETERNAL, but have forgotten this

fact and now take the TEMPORARY situation as the real one.

Forgetting our nature means forgetting Krsna. And we pay

the price for that forgetfulness-- by birth after birth.

 

Hare Krsna

Damaghosa das

 

 750729SB.DAL                   Lectures                 

 

 So this future, past, present, future, is being controlled by the
three modes of material nature. If we practice in this life
sattva-guna, then urdhvam gacchanti sattva-sthah: then we shall be
promoted to the higher planetary system. Madhye tisthanti rajasah. If
we cultivate rajo-guna... Rajo-guna means kama-lobha, kama, simply
desiring. This is called rajo-guna. "I want this, I want this, I want
this." Because there is no satiation of want, therefore every man or
woman planning something, "How my sense gratification will be fully
satisfied." This is rajo-guna, kama. Everyone is forgetting his real
business. His real business is he should know, one should know, that
"I am eternal. I have taken this temporary body and subjected to the
laws of nature, birth, death and old age. So my real problem is how to
become again eternal, not accepting any more birth, death, old age.
That is my real business." But because I am infected with the material
modes of nature, we are making different plans. Everyone is busy.
Everyone is busy in different plans, forgetting his real business.
This is called maya. Maya means..., ma means not; ya means this.
Therefore maya means when you understand, "This is not my business,"
then you are out of maya. "This is not," ma-ya.

 

 ...  So these are all due to different infection of the guna. Tamo-guna
means shameless, tamo-guna. Rajo-guna means lusty desire. And
sattva-guna means knowledge, to see things as they are. So just like
here in the temple, we are cultivating sattva-guna, or more than that,
above sattva-guna. Above sattva-guna. It is said in the sastra that to
live in the forest is sattva-guna. Sattva-guna, people have got
tendency to live in a secluded place, solitary place, without any
disturbance. That is sign of sattva-guna. And to live in the cities,
big, big cities, skyscraper building, this is rajo-guna. And to live
in the brothel, in the liquor shop, in the slaughterhouse, this is
tamo-guna. Sattva-guna, rajo-guna, tamo-guna. But to live in the
temple is transcendental. Transcendental. It is above sattva-guna,
rajo-guna, tamo-guna, to live in temple. Therefore we are introducing
this Krsna consciousness movement so that the persons who are in Krsna
consciousness, living in the temple according to the regulative
principles, they are above all these sattva-guna, rajo-guna,
tamo-guna. That is wanted. Nistraigunya. Traigunya means three gunas,
and nih means negative. Nistraigunyo bhavarjuna. That is our aim, that
although we are in this material world, by this Krsna consciousness
process we shall live above these three gunas. These three gunas

cannot touch me. That is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita: sa gunan
samatityaitan brahma-bhuyaya kalpate. Who? Mam ca vyabhicarini
bhakti-yogena ya sevate. Anyone who is engaged in pure devotional
service avyabhicarini, not mixed up, whimsical, regularly, as they are
ordained, as they are prescribed. So if anyone is engaged in such
transcendental loving service of the Lord, then his position is: he is
above the three gunas.

 

S