Tag: senses

Life as a football is no fun

Are you living the football experience? Are you constantly driven by desires and impulses like lust and anger? Despite life’s turmoil, there’s hope for liberation through spiritual practice. By seeking connection with genuine spiritual guidance, you can experience true freedom and purpose, transcending the endless kicking in material existence. Want to try it out?

A football (soccer ball) is kicked around on a field, from one side to the other. Sometimes one team has the ball, sometimes another. Sometimes it’s thrown in from the sidelines, sometimes it’s kicked out of bounds. Rarely, it ends inside the net of the goalpost… Sometimes it’s held in the armpit of the referee… If a football match lasts ninety minutes, then football is constantly moving around, from here to there, to another place…

Now suppose the football claims that it is moving by it’s own free will. The football claims that it is bouncing around from here to there on it’s own accord. Would you agree with the football?

No, you would say to the football, you’re being kicked and thrown around by the players. You have no free will, some will add.

We are all like that football. We get kicked around all over the place. Yet we claim that our trajectory is by free will! Actually, we’re kicked around due a misuse of free will! More on that in a moment.

How am I being kicked around, do you ask?

`Well, we have the feelings of lust and anger. Lust means the intense greed to have or own something. Lust means the urge to please my senses and mind. That lust propels us to great lengths. So we can say that the lust is kicking us around. And if the lust is fulfilled? Then we want more, naturally. More and more. Stronger kicks. But if the lust is not fulfilled? Then anger takes over! More kicking!

We can also see that we have 6 senses, including the mind. The eyes, ears, tongue, skin, and nose… plus the most insistent of them all, the mind. The eye wants to see something? Kick. The tongue wants to taste something? Kiick. The skin wants to touch something? Kiiick! The nose wants to smell something? Kiiiick! The ears want to hear something? Kiiiiick! And of course, the most resounding kick comes from the mind! Of course, the biggest kicks are from the mind… Out of bounds!

Sometimes we are kicked by our own mind and body, but sometimes we are impelled by others… A swarm of mosquitoes? A bed full of bugs? Cockroaches or rats anyone? Teeming, jostling, pushing crowds of people? Black flies, bears, you name it!

Sometimes we’re impelled by the forces of nature. A kick from a flood, maybe. Or a kick from fire. Worse, a kick from a hurricane, or an earthquake even.

Sometimes we’re impelled by illusion, sometimes by envy. Sometimes we’re compelled greed or madness. And all of these kick us around, from one end of the world to another. From one lifetime to another sometimes. Again and again.

Being kicked for ever. Ad infinitum.

All of this kicking, and we say we’re doing everything “by my own sweet will”?

In the famous Frank Sinatra Song, a misguided protagonist foolishly croons…

And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it…And more, much more than this clear… I did it my way

Regrets, I’ve had a few
…I did what I had to do
…And more, much more than this… I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew… …And did it my way

I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried
I’ve had my fill, my share of losing
And now, as tears subside
…Oh, no, oh, no, not me…I did it my way

For what is a man, what has he got?
…The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way

Yes, it was my way – Frank Sinatra “My Way”

Does that sound familiar?

It’s the football, even though getting kicked around all over the place, claiming “I did it my way”. Poor football!

But, there is hope, for all of us footballs in the material world.

কাম-ক্রোধের দাস হঞা তার লাথি খায় ।
ভ্রমিতে ভ্রমিতে যদি সাধু-বৈদ্য পায় ॥ ১৪ ॥
তাঁর উপদেশ-মন্ত্রে পিশাচী পলায় ।
কৃষ্ণভক্তি পায়, তবে কৃষ্ণ-নিকট যায় ॥ ১৫ ॥

kāma-krodhera dāsa hañā tāra lāthi khāya
bhramite bhramite yadi sādhu-vaidya pāya
tāṅra upadeśa-mantre piśācī palāya
kṛṣṇa-bhakti pāya, tabe kṛṣṇa-nikaṭa yāya

“In this way the conditioned soul becomes the servant of lusty desires, and when these are not fulfilled, he becomes the servant of anger and continues to be kicked by the external energy, māyā. Wandering and wandering throughout the universe, he may by chance get the association of a devotee physician, whose instructions and hymns make the witch of the external energy flee. The conditioned soul thus gets into touch with devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa, and in this way he can approach nearer and nearer to the Lord. – https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/madhya/22/14-15/

Srila Prabhupada, the spiritual master of my spiritual master comments in a lecture on these verses…

Very nice. In this way we are being kicked up. The freedom of football. The football is kicked from this party and thrown to the other party. The other party kicks and it comes. The football thinks . . . if the football thinks that, “I am in freedom movement,” so what is that freedom? Kicked from this party to that party and that . . . so here the same thing is said, kāma-krodhera dāsa hañā tāra lāthi khāya.

Just like the football players—the football is under the kicking method of two parties—similarly, we are under the kicking method of two things, lust and anger. We are lusty, and when our lust is not fulfilled, then we become kicked by anger. Two things. Just like the football is kicked by this party and that party, similarly, our position is we are being kicked sometimes by lust and sometimes by anger. So we are going on leading our life in this way. – His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada https://vanisource.org/wiki/670109_-_Lecture_CC_Madhya_22.11-15_-_New_York?hl=football

I am a spirit soul. So are you, dear reader. As spirit souls, we’re not meant to be footballs of lust or anger. We are not meant to be subjected to the vagaries of the misuse of free will. As part-and-parcels of Krishna, we have free will. When used properly, it results in a loving harmonious life. This life is rich with ecstatic relationships with Krishna and with each other.

If we act genuinely as a spirit soul, then there is no more getting kicked around.

My dear reader, please pray with me… My dear Lord Sri Krishna, for ages, countless eons, and trillions of lifetimes I am kicked around. I have been struggling with my own lust and anger.

Please place me as one of the atoms at your lotus feet. Then, I can experience true free will in Your service.

Hare Krishna!

Next Class: Why does someone act against their own self interest? Srimad Bhagavatam Class ISKCON Toronto Sunday 5 May 2024

The ISKCON Toronto Srimad Bhagavatam Class on 05 May 2024 at 7:30 AM (Eastern Time) will address the guidance of Lord Rishabhadeva on understanding our actions, the motivation behind them, and their consequences. The class will be recorded and shared. Join in person or online to explore how to avoid long-term pain for short-term gain, and how to find lasting happiness devoid of undesirable reactions.

Hare Krishna!

ISKCON Toronto Srimad Bhagavatam Class on 05 May 2024 7:30 AM (Eastern Time)

ISKCON Toronto Youtube

ISKCON Toronto, 243 Avenue Road, Toronto, ON, M5R 2J6

I will also record this class. Later on, I will send out a link of the recording to those who have expressed interest.

Please contact if you’re interested in this class.

Class Overview

Despite knowing that certain actions are not in one’s own best self-interest, why do people still act in that way? What impels them to hurt themselves?

This is one of the instructions spoken by Lord Rishabhadeva, an incarnation of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. These instructions were given to his sons.

ŚB 5.5.4


नूनं प्रमत्त: कुरुते विकर्म
यदिन्द्रियप्रीतय आपृणोति ।
न साधु मन्ये यत आत्मनोऽय-
मसन्नपि क्लेशद आस देह: ॥ ४ ॥


nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma
yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṇoti
na sādhu manye yata ātmano ’yam
asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ

Synonyms
nūnam — indeed; pramattaḥ — mad; kurute — performs; vikarma — sinful activities forbidden in the scriptures; yat — when; indriya-prītaye — for sense gratification; āpṛṇoti — engages; na — not; sādhu — befitting; manye — I think; yataḥ — by which; ātmanaḥ — of the soul; ayam — this; asan — being temporary; api — although; kleśa-daḥ — giving misery; āsa — became possible; dehaḥ — the body.

Translation
When a person considers sense gratification the aim of life, he certainly becomes mad after materialistic living and engages in all kinds of sinful activity. He does not know that due to his past misdeeds he has already received a body which, although temporary, is the cause of his misery. Actually the living entity should not have taken on a material body, but he has been awarded the material body for sense gratification. Therefore I think it not befitting an intelligent man to involve himself again in the activities of sense gratification by which he perpetually gets material bodies one after another.

Purport
Begging, borrowing and stealing to live for sense gratification is condemned in this verse because such consciousness leads one to a dark, hellish condition. The four sinful activities are illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling. These are the means by which one gets another material body that is full of miseries. In the Vedas it is said: asaṅgo hy ayaṁ puruṣaḥ. The living entity is not really connected with this material world, but due to his tendency to enjoy the material senses he is put into the material condition. One should perfect his life by associating with devotees. He should not become further implicated in the material body.

Efforts bring Results, right?

So, if I work very hard, results are sure, right? Wrong, so many people work so very hard, but get no results… on the contrary their results are the opposite of what they were hoping to achieve! So what determines success? Should we just stop working altogether? How to understand all this?

Vishal Puri, 28 June 2016

Hare Krishna,

Dandavats Pranam,

Can devotees please help me in understanding Bhagavad Gita Sloka 2.47 

‘You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.’

What other factors bring results, other than my efforts ?

And under what conditions/mentality does a person not want to do things or put efforts ?

Please guide me.

Hare Krishna

Vishal

Haladhar Das, 21st July 2016

Hare Krsna Vishal,

Thank you for your nice question.

You have rightly mentioned that other than my own efforts, there are other factors which bring results. The same is mentioned described in Bhagavad Gita verse 18.14 as below:

The place of action [the body], the performer, the various senses, the many different kinds of endeavor, and ultimately the Supersoul – these are the five factors of action.

So we can see for any result, only our efforts are not involved. Ultimately the control is in the hand of the Supersoul, He is the super-cause and all our activities depend on His will. So foolishly if we try to enjoy ourselves independently of Him, we will suffer the consequences whereas if we go as per His will, we will remain liberated even when we are here.

Your second question, under what conditions/mentality does a person not want to do things or put efforts? What I understand from your question in context to the verse 2.47 is that when one is told that you are not entitled to results, naturally one will not endeavour. That’s why people are surprised when being told, that we should not ask from God, (We should try to serve with love.) then they say then what for we should go to temple.

Hope it meets your query.

Jaya Srila Gurudeva. Jaya Srila Prabhupada.

your servant,

Haladhar Dasa

Shridhar Das, 21 July 2016

Hare Krishna Vishal,

Please accept my humble respects!

All glories to Srila Gurudeva!

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Sorry for the delayed response. Your question is very significant and deserves clarification.

First, I prefer to emphasize the term “Prescribed duty”. The purport states:

Prescribed duties are activities enjoined in terms of one’s acquired modes of material nature.

It has been discussed in the past posts on this group that just as a doctor “prescribes” a medicine to the patient as per one’s disease, similarly we are all diseased or intoxicated by the modes of material nature in varying degrees. Everyone is uniquely entangled depending on the past actions (past of this life and past lives). 

If we do not act as per prescription or try to work out with our disease just by our own, we are most probably running towards death in near future or far future. This is definitely a very fatal act. 

Similarly, any act which is not according to an expert prescription is worsening our already ruined consciousness. If we place a dog food, a dog won’t be able to control his senses, he’ll keep seeking for the food by nose, tongue, mind, etc… Similarly, if we keep following our defective mind, without any control whatsoever, we are heading for animal life next birth. 

This may sound bitter but it’s a basic fact about this human birth (tapo divyam putraka yena sattvam). That is why in so many places throughout Vedas it is recommended to approach a spiritual master with humility, to gain knowledge and apply it in our lives. That inquiry regarding the self and it’s application is performing our prescribed duties. 

If work is worsening our disease in this material world, some class of men renounce work altogether to avoid further sickening. That is why Srila Prabhupada is stating in the purport:

The Lord advised that Arjuna not be inactive, but that he perform his prescribed duty without being attached to the result.

Addressing your two questions:

What other factors bring results, other than my efforts ?

That is clearly answered in Bhagavad Gita 18.14:

Translation

“The place of action [the body], the performer, the various senses, the many different kinds of endeavor, and ultimately the Supersoul – these are the five factors of action.”

Purport (Read slowly)

The word adhiṣṭhānam refers to the body. The soul within the body is acting to bring about the results of activity and is therefore known as kartā, “the doer.” That the soul is the knower and the doer is stated in the śruti. Eṣa hi draṣṭā sraṣṭā (Praśna Upaniṣad 4.9). It is also confirmed in the Vedānta-sūtra by the verses jño ’ta eva (2.3.18) andkartā śāstrārthavattvāt (2.3.33). The instruments of action are the senses, and by the senses the soul acts in various ways. For each and every action there is a different endeavor. But all one’s activities depend on the will of the Supersoul, who is seated within the heart as a friend. The Supreme Lord is the supercause. Under these circumstances, he who is acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness under the direction of the Supersoul situated within the heart is naturally not bound by any activity. Those in complete Kṛṣṇa consciousness are not ultimately responsible for their actions. Everything is dependent on the supreme will, the Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

So we are souls, we desire and use the senses to fulfill our desires. If senses are themselves uncontrolled we can expect mismanagement which is what this material world is about, chaos (or Kaliyuga). Even if they are controlled, The Supersoul is the ultimate sanctioner. 

Please note, Supersoul is IMPARTIAL. Srila Prabhupada gives an example of a court judge who sometimes awards death sentence to someone and sometimes declares millions of cash to other, but in both cases he is detached. Similar relation can be assumed between the Supersoul and the conditioned soul. 

So the conclusion is – we are not the ultimate doer. Krishna hence warns:

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni

guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ

ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā

kartāham iti manyate

“The spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material nature.” (BG 3.27)

And under what conditions/mentality does a person want to do things or put efforts ?

When he meets severe failure and is not able to accept the above instruction of Krishna, that he is not the doer and he must act under the guidance of a bonafide spiritual master.

Example: If a car is rammed by another, and even if driver is not injured, he definitely would be in severe anxiety. Why? Because he strongly identifies himself with his car, while at the same time being a spirit soul, he has nothing to do with car, he can reject it plainly. Because he is attached to the car considering himself to be the enjoyer of car, which is natural for an owner, he is hurt.

That is what BG 5.29 states, peace prevails when we understand that the owner of all energies and whatsoever is Krishna Himself and when one accepts this truth faithfully, one finds peace in all ups and downs of life, knowing Krishna to be the real enjoyer. 

So if we submit ourselves unto Krishna’s representative, the spiritual master and work for his pleasure knowing him to be the goal of our life, then we will be able to find the purpose of every activity in our lives and by obtaining the meaning of every actions that we perform in our life, we will find peace amidst success, as well as failures.

Did this answer your doubt?

your servant

Shridhar Das

Vishal Puri, 02 August 2016

Hare Krishna,

Thank you for the detailed explanation of the Sloka, it was very informative.

Dandavats Pranam 

Vishal 

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What is the relationship between the Mind and Intelligence?

What is the difference between mind and intelligence? What is the relationship? Does the mind live in the brain?

Rathin 9 January 2018
Hare Krishna,

Please accept my humble obeisances,
All glories to Srila Gurudeva and Srimati Gurumataji,
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Studying the conversation in Janis Mataji’s question “Questions About Memories of Past Lives and Evolution” is very enlightening.
In response there is an explanation for Subtle body and Gross body.
I had been explaining all this time to others, that intelligence-mind is like software-hardware; one cannot go without another. But somewhere I was relating mind to the brain. But from the answer, it is clear that my assumption is wrong. Brain a part of the gross body.

How do I understand mind and intelligence?
Please help me understand this.

your servant
Rathin

Filip Misic, 9 January 2018
Hare Krishna Rathin,

There is an example that helps one segregate the mind and intelligence and I think that most people can relate to this. Let’s say you hear a catchy song with a funny melody on eg. the radio. The song then gets stuck in your mind and later you start singing or crooning the song out loud. However when this happens to people, they usually say something like: “I can’t stop singing this song…it’s stuck in my head…I want to get this song out of my head!” Now, that is the intelligence speaking. So shortly said the intelligence notices what the mind is doing and decides whether it is a positive or negative thing.
Similarly, we should restrain ourselves, i.e the mind, from thinking of sense objects with the help of intelligence. In this way, we avoid developing attachments towards objects of sense gratification, which only bring delusion and misery. The only thing is people rarely realize there are different levels that affect how you act. I hope this helps you.

your servant, Filip

Sacinandana Das, 9 January 2018

Hare Krishna Bhakta Rathin,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudev and Srimati Gurumata ji.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
As per my understanding mind and intelligence reside in the heart of the living entity.

your servant,
Sacinandana Das.

Guru Vandana devi dasi, 9 January 2018
Hare Krishna Bhakta Rathin,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudev and Srimati Gurumata ji.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Srila Gurudeva explains that the mind is a psychic on/off switch. It is that which accepts or rejects things. Without proper intelligence one will accept what is bad and reject what is good. With proper intelligence from guru and Krishna one will accept what is good, namely the devotional service of the Lord, and reject material sense gratification.

your servant
Guru Vandana devi dasi

Rathin Mandal, 11 January 2018
Hare Krishna,

Please accept my humble obeisances,
All glories to Srila Gurudeva and Srimati Gurumataji,
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Thank you Filip Prabhuji, Sacinandan Prabhuji and Guruvandana Mataji for your kind responses and helping me understand this.

your servant
Rathin

Thunduparambil Jayaprasad, 16 January 2018

Mind cannot work on its own , it gets power only when it is attached to senses . when 5 senses are filtered through intelligence (intelligence or wisdom varies from person to person) . depend on his wisdom acquired mind acts. In other words a man having no intelligence is directly controlled by senses which leads to catastrophe.

Hare krishna
Thunduparambil Jayaprasad

Bhakta Sunil, 17 January 2018
Please read the question-answer connected to this topic , taken from from world-famous free e-course at http://www.joincourse.com
Answers According to Vedic Wisdom

Question: Why Come Down to Chant?

Hare Krishna.
When we see clearly that the mind is higher than the senses, the intelligence even higher, and the spirit the highest, why do we come all the way down to chant in order to go back up to the spirit?

Is this done to burn out parabdha karma that keeps coming back, or is it because we are insecure on the subtle level of pure spirit?

If we learned to wait instead of going down to the mind, would there be such a positive energy that we would immediately be in bliss quite substantially, and light to see life unfold like the flowering of goodness?

Thanking you,
Yours in the dharma,
Prema.

Answer: Chanting Is Beyond Matter.

Chanting is not coming down. The name of Krishna is Krishna Himself. So when we chant His name with love we are pulled onto the spiritual platform completely beyond this material existence.

This frees us from karma and makes us solid on the platform of pure spirit.

Although patience is a virtue, waiting alone will not liberate us. We must take powerful, positive action to purify our consciousness from the contamination of material association. This is what chanting Hare Krishna does.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

www.joincourse.com

your insignificant servant,
Bhakta Sunil

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