A thousand and one reflections before you die

Introduction

In the frame story of the famous Arabian tales of One Thousand and One Nights, Scheherazade is escaping death by telling capturing stories to her would-be-killer. In the Bhagavatam we have a different situation; Shukadeva told stories to king Parikshit, who stood before death. Those stories contained wisdom preparing one to die successfully and attain spiritual fulfillment.

Here you are presented with the same opportunity that king Parikshit had, given that you pray for the grace of being able to understand the message and act upon it.

Meditation on Lies - The importance of truth for the quality of our life

(formulated by Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti)

(From the Oida book)

If I could only be honest about myself...

...things would look quite different.

...I could focus on the priorities of the problems in my existence.

...I could improve my relationship with others.

...I would remember the precious instructions of universal love, when making

decisions of what to do and what not to do.

...I would not want to make a show, presenting myself differently than I

actually am. And I would not have to live a lie.

...I would be more serious about the tasks and duties which have come to me

and I would have to be more straightforward to accomplish what I feel needs

to be accomplished.

...I would have to be more fearless to face the challenges, to situate

myself in the position where I can actually make advancement.

...I would tell those who are under my care seriously what is good for them

and I would realize that I would have to convince somebody about something

if I really want to do good to them.

...I would realize that duplicity does not fit into any relationship.

...I would realize that once you start lying to people, you actually spoil

your relationship with them. And if you say something which is not true, you

are most likely to be lied to as well.

Dealing with the entanglement

I am chastised by the lies I have told in the past, and because of having

lied to myself it is even difficult for me to tell what is real and what is

a lie.

Because of my idea that sense gratification is the most important thing in

life I have considered the loss of sense gratification to be an emergency

which justified lying.

My focus has shifted to illusory conceptions, ignoring the understanding

that only the truth will be beneficial for me.

If I could only be honest I would have a chance to have real friends, or at

least my side of the relationship would be sincere, and thus qualify myself

to deserve to meet other sincere people for sincere relationships.

How shameful it is that one has not spoken the truth and thus hurt other

people.

How sad it is when you are under the influence of such people who are lying

continuously. If those who take care of others speak lies their whole

supposed care and protection is also nothing but a lie.

Even though there are so many lies in this material world now I am

interested in finding out the truth about myself, my duty and my Lord. The

truth knows everything and therefore only the truth should be given

attention to.

Any lie makes you waste your time and waste the time of others as well.

If I could only be forgiven for my mistakes of the past... My future depends

on that forgiving.

I want to know the truth. Everything in this world is action and reaction,

but I want to go to that place where there are no more lies and where there

is love instead.

I want to know the truth about my own fallen condition and I do not want to

hear any praise of myself, which is not accurate and will just increase my

false ego.

In the ordinary dealings of this world, there are so many lies; therefore I

want to have relationships which are not ordinary. I want to work in such a

way, that I can be honest with people and give them something which is

really beneficial for them.

When lies invade our family relationship love and trust must disappear; and

even children become disheartened when they realize that their parents have

lied to them.

The price of the truth is the elimination of all lies; therefore I pray that

I may become a truthful person.

Great spiritual teachers have openly denounced themselves in their writings.

They have admitted their fallen condition, their uncontrolled mind. I do not

think they were lying. I think they were giving us an example and guidance

how one should feel, how honest one should be about oneself.

The benefits of speaking the truth

I should be more determined to protect this body of mine, so it can do the

best service to the Lord. This body is given to me by the Lord. He is the

real owner, so I have to take care of this body according to His benefit and

sweet will. Therefore, I should try to utilize my senses always according to

His sweet directions.

If I could only be sincere about my mistakes I would have no more bad

relationships. I could have a very wonderful relationship with others, by

understanding their true situation, and also by understanding my true

problems.

Actually no one is an enemy to anyone else; we are too absorbed in ourselves

to consider any one an enemy; we have no time for such thoughts. Only if

somebody crosses our area of interest we start becoming upset with him. So

we must be honest about this, to be able to harmonize all circumstances.

Every one have circles of interest, and then there are circles of

necessities. When the circles of necessity clashes, things have to be

harmonized according to the necessities of both parties. When the circles of

interest clash, one needs to harmonize to be able to accommodate everybody.

What will fighting ever accomplish? It will only worsen the situation,

specifically in relationships with people one is living with.

When will I start seeing the spirit soul in everyone and give up all

prejudice about others? When will I understand that I am just a simple small

atom of God’s creation and I have no more value than any other person? And

that in the eyes of God we are all the same. And He will never like it if I

lie to myself or to others about the nature of another person.

Any prejudice is a great violence in the realm of truth - creating tyranny

in the realms of human relationships. While truth, on the other hand, is the

joyful realization of our family connections, universal love and universal

family.

Ahimsa – non-violence, nati-ahimsa – violence only in the absolute

emergency, as with the surgeon using a knife which cuts the skin only in an

emergency; in which case instead of calling the police you have to pay for

it.

When will I finally become sincere by following the guidance coming from

within my heart, when will I listen carefully to the guidance of my kind

Lord, who resides in me? He has always told me to be honest and kind, He has

told me to control my senses, and told me who I should appreciate and serve.

I am so embarrassed to admit that I have ignored Him in so many instances.

His causeless grace is so great that He has still not abandoned me. And with

the greatest patience anybody in the world could ever have He is continuing

to guide me.

When will I ever realize that I am not this material body, and of course

that other people are not the body either; that we are all going through our

karmic phases; and that our eternal identity is the only thing we can focus

on, and never be disheartened?

Sincerity in relationships

Whenever I identify with my ego and the different masks I have put on my

face in the drama of material existence, I am moving further away from the

truth. Therefore I should repent from all these different illusions I have

created which haunt me now like a big, arrogant, puffed up ego. This makes

me feel like some special person, while others just try to avoid my company.

I am becoming a more and more unsocial person. Let alone being a servant to

humanity and God. When will I stop making promises, which I already know I

will not be able to fulfill? When will I be realistic about my own

existence? And, take up the task with all my enthusiasm to improve my

situation?

When will I stop repeating things which I have not verified myself? Creating

sufferings for others, by my gossiping and superficial relationships, it is

so painful to see that they do not take your feelings into consideration.

But how often do I talk in a way which hurts the feelings of somebody else?

We are so sensitive with ourselves, but we act like brutes when it comes to

other people. In this way I have created a very negative relationship with

so many people in my life; and that it is all my fault; it is me who has to

ask to be forgiven; it is easier to forgive than to ask to be forgiven. So I

wish I could be honest about myself.

Sharing and giving

One saintly person said, ‘Nobody should ever hear the sound of my name. And

if for some reason they hear the sound of my name they must bathe

immediately in the Ganges to purify themselves.’ Our ego is so incredible;

we think that others are fortunate if they talk about us.

We make so many efforts to make publicity about ourselves, even though any

type of ego, fame and name will simply drag us down. When will I be able and

willing to share everything God has given me? When will I be concerned with

what is missing for others rather than trying to accumulate things and hide

them because of the fear of my future maintenance?

Then I realize that the most important thing is spiritual love and knowledge

and I want to share this understanding with all those who are so poor that

they consider money and power to be the goal of life. I am addicted to so

many things but I prefer to deny that and to feel free.

Controlling addictions and facing the difficulties

Even though you are potentially addicted to thousands of things, you are not

taking care to protect yourself. It is clear that you need good association

to overcome addictions and that it is essential. Because, as the saying

goes, ‘Tell me with who you associate and I will tell you who you are.’

Even though you can control your addictions you should think, “Once

addicted, always addicted”. In this way, you will always keep yourself in

the safe area. It might be an addiction to sugar, sleeping, television or

drugs; there are different types of addictions and they all disturb our

progress.

We prefer to pray for getting rid of addictions than actually getting rid of

them. If you have a visitor in your house whose presence you do not like

then do not give them anything to eat, and they will go away. But if you

feed these nasty individuals, they will stay. Bending our addictions, means

feeding them, and in that way they will stay.

When will I understand that every person who has come into my life has been

sent by the grace of God to test me, to teach me, to help me to learn and

that by avoiding them I am not advancing? I will increase my ignorance and I

will have to pass the same test later anyway. Therefore, when will I be able

to face all the difficulties to serve them with humility? Then my heart can

feel some relief and I can get up joyfully every morning and see the benefit

of every instant in my life.

In South America there is a saying, “There is nothing bad which does not

come for good reason.” So see the hands of mercy everywhere.

When will I cry out to the saints sincerely for help? I am such a low person

that without grace I will surely be lost. But instead of admitting this I

act as if I am in control of my situation, while inside there is a mess and

probably thoughts of committing suicide.

Outside we say “I am fine. Everything is OK.” In this way, we deprive

ourselves of good spiritual advice.

I have always tried to make myself look like a very knowledgeable person as

if I am very mature, maybe even wise. I have listened to others praise me

and I have nodded my head with approval. Actually I am fool number one – I

do not know where I am coming from, I do not know where I am going to be

next and I do not know what is right and what is wrong; I do not know for

sure what to do and what not to do; what kind of a fool am I.

False conceptions of the self

I have created my own complications with this mentality. I am so insecure,

because of my ignorance, but I pretend to be very powerful. I do not know in

what moment I am going to die, but I pretend to be fearless regarding death

or as if death could never reach me. In this way I am living a situation of

complete confusion.

When will I stop being lazy? When will I start working hard when I see a

good cause? When will I stop living at the cost of others and trying to take

advantage of their friendly nature? Friendly people always invite others,

abusive people always try to exploit, suck the blood until the other person

cannot stand it any more.

Even when people try to get rid of you, you still use psychology to make

them feel bad, so that you can exploit them a little more. This laziness is

a crime which has taken over my own mentality and only selfless service for

a common goal will cure me of my disease.

When will I stop being harsh, arrogant and unfriendly with others? Just

because I am frustrated my ego is agitated, not being able to assume the

position it wishes to have. Just because my ego is dominated by envy and I

cannot tolerate the success of others.

And in the name of conservatism or fundamentalism, I treat other people as

if they are hopeless or useless. Actually, I am the hopeless and useless

one. Motivated by my attachments I have exceeded in offending so many, that

now the time has come to change this and to turn from exploitation towards

dedication; to abandon indifference and become dedicated to doing good; to

abandon uncertainty and to submit to loving authority.

The day has come to go the right way. I have gone the wrong way too long.

There is nobody to blame except myself. And any faulty behavior in others is

only a mirror to show me my own wrong behavior; it is only a helping

guidance to show me the way I should not be.

Examination of desires and change towards the right direction

Therefore my desires have to be examined to see whether they are serving the

common good, whether they are approved by the saints, whether they are

according to the sweet will of the all-loving and all-maintaining Lord. Only

in this direction can light and joy be expected.

Ignorance is darkness. “My Lord, help me get out of this darkness. I want to

see the light of goodness, purity and love. And I want to be purified by the

influence of those who have made purity and love the goal of their lives.”

I have situated myself in the position where my body and mind are very sick.

I do not want to admit it, because I do not want to change my lifestyle. I

do not want to accept that I have to follow a diet, to do exercise, to serve

others, to practice Sadhana (spiritual regulations), to study the Holy

Scriptures and do my meditations from the core of my heart.

I know I am ill, but I say I am well because I want to remain ill and pity

myself, blaming it on others. You complain about the world, you are

unfriendly to those who want to give you some healthy wholesome advice…and

thus you increase your problems, while you are supposed to solve them.

You got your freedom to surrender to the truth, you got your money to spend

it for a good cause, and you got your intelligence to make good plans to

offer service. Everything you have, you have it for a good reason – for a

good cause, and for no other reason.

Freedom has not been given to you so that you can be a warmonger, a drug

dealer, an abuser of sick and old people, children, ladies, or poor people.

Whoever follows that path is already living in hell and by acting hellishly

their environment is becoming increasingly hellish.

You are making a show of having things, because “I want to make myself

famous and look successful.” In reality I am broke. But I do not want to

admit it. When they ask me a question I give a sophisticated, nonsensical

answer, because I actually do not know the answer.

How ridiculous my position is. Who will forgive such nonsense? In this way,

I am keeping myself in a difficult position and I do not acquire the

determination to really free myself from all the bad habits. This is very

unfortunate. I feel so sick because of this situation. All the negative

attitudes and nonsense I have spoken haunt me now and I do not know how to

escape the karma produced by my own mistakes.

“My Lord, be merciful with me. Show me how to become an honest person”.

The lies picture

The lies I have spoken in the past oblige me to invent new lies in order not

to be caught in the old ones. I have forgotten to whom I have lied and to

whom I have not. So, now I prefer to remain silent and have no sincere

friendship with anyone.

I lie to myself too, saying “Self-realization is not so important.” I still

involve my mind in idle thoughts and idle talk. In my desperation I just sit

down in front of the lying machine and turn it on. The TV, the newspapers

and the stories of sense gratification are all nothing but a bunch of lies.

If there is any truth, you will ignore it, because from those lies you only

extract that which fits in with your own lies. The movie and the TV world is

a very strange thing, where a machine talks and a person receives the

message in a very passive way that is contaminating.

People are trying to get support for their own conditional situation of

life. My mind is distorted; my faith is distorted, because I only accept the

things which fit in with my preferred lifestyle. I accept the things that

favor my lie and I reject things that challenge it. Thus I become more

crooked and twisted every day.

Who is going to have pity on me and straighten me out? They say, you can’t

teach an old dog new tricks, or that once the tree has grown crooked you

cannot make it straight again. In this way, I have positioned myself in a

hopeless degradation of my mind and I am absolutely dependent on causeless

grace.

I need self-realization, I need purification, I need saints, who come and

give me true understanding. Because of all these difficulties so much fear

has filled my heart. I am neurotic and traumatized; I am in the paranoia of

feeling persecuted, that people do not like me and that they are my enemies.

Recognizing our own mistakes and becoming honest, forgiving, in good

association

Now, I can understand that all this is a product of my own mistakes,

addictions, and unhealthy lifestyle. Therefore I repent and make this

declaration so that I will be able to make the right decisions in the

future. Because the worst of all mistakes is the one you do not recognize

and you continue doing.

I want to have some hope. If you forgive others for the mistakes they have

made, maybe you will be forgiven for the mistakes you have done. Those who

forgive may be forgiven.

I want to become an honest person – a servant of the truth. This is the

power of mercy. It can uplift us from the lowest and accept us to be

servants of the highest. But I have to keep feeling ashamed of my past

mistakes, otherwise I may return to them. Unless someone has such an

attitude they are not a trustworthy person.

We can help others if possible, but we should not associate intimately with

those who live a lie, teach a lie and defend it.

Introspection about old age and the end of life

Now as I become older and my memory starts failing on me, I can understand

that the body has no future. Plastic surgery will have no benefit in this

case and any amount of paint cannot hide my wrinkles.

“If I can remember you my Lord, it will only be by your mercy, not by my

degree of intelligence.”

Old age is announcing my obvious departure, and any attempt to do away with

the symptoms of old age is a waste of time. I should utilize every second of

my life to do the right thing and think of the Lord of Love.

As death approaches, all the lies that I have lived during my life are

coming to reap the real result. Lies cannot be sustained an entire lifetime.

All my arrogance and ignorance shall be shattered. I admit them right now,

so that they will not destroy my human existence when I come to the last

moment.

The conditioned souls live a life of many lies. We want to heal ourselves

from these difficulties, created by our own mistaken position. It will be a

big struggle to become truly honest, but the trouble and struggle, for us

and for others, will be bigger if we continue to be liars.”

At the crossroads...

(Meditation, formulated by Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti)

Transitions of life are like crossroads. They oblige us to make decisions.

And through those decisions our future destinations are coming about. Those

transitions are very crucial and very beneficial. Transitions are moments of

reflection and re-evaluation.

Am I going in the right direction? Am I doing the right thing? How much more

time do I have to change for the right thing?

Am I too attached to the wrong thing? Have I not yet expressed my

gratefulness to all those who have been giving so much care and help to me?

Have I incurred some kind of debt by using others unduly for my benefits?

Have I been just when my power of judgment was called upon? Have I been

loving when only love could solve the problem? Or did I make things worse by

not being loving and caring? What did I do to deserve love and enlightenment?

What did I do to deserve to be told the truth if I accustomed myself to

speaking lies to others?

All the boons and benefits I obtained throughout my life were the products

of some guiding hand from behind the screen who I have greatly ignored until

today. I have taken things for granted. I have taken things to be accidental

favors, coincidences, chance or just my luck.

And I have ignored that everything which is beyond my power of knowing and

doing is so well organized, so fantastically coordinated. But I lived my

life just under the temptations of my sensual exploits.

Shame upon me. I am truly the personification of ungratefulness. And what to

speak of compassion which I know nothing about really. Taking care of others

who are in need. I've always tried to avoid that as for as possible.

I have simply passed many, many hours of my valuable life wasting them away,

wasting them in the most shameful and silly ways imaginable. I did not ask

what I should do to make my life worth living.

I did not ask what the world has provided to me which gives my life the

power of accomplishing something positive and progressive for my eternal

soul. Captured by the shining bottles of advertisement I have wasted away so much

money and my own health as well. Now at the fag end of my life I'm trying to

reflect. Is there anything which still can be done about my sorry plight?

Is there anything I can do to be redeemed for my own ignorance? Is there

anyone who can forgive my countless negligences and offences? Is there any

chance that the people and animals that I have hurt in my lifetime can grace

me with forgiveness?

Is there any instance high and powerful enough to straighten out my crooked

existence? Hopelessly crying and lamenting for all the wrong I ever did, I

come to the universal powerhouse of love and cry from the deepest corner of

my heart for mercy.

Be merciful unto me, pick me up from the dark region of filthy mind

entanglements. I am being a prisoner of my own cultivation of lust, anger

and greed. Now I want to request that what I do not deserve shall take

place, therefore I'm praying for this causeless grace. Because there is no

cause in my life for getting grace.

If you want do the right thing today, I pray to you, Lord of love, to pave

my way. And to guide me so that I may not return to that place where one is so

prone to make mistakes all along.

Is there nothing I can say in my own defense, anything to plead for another

chance? I may say it was the dark times and I was just a puppet of my lust,

but that won't be enough. Only surrender is the power to obtain grace, total

surrender, the white flag, this signal of full repenting, zero conditions and all
willingness of submissive cooperation. Surrender in love.
Surrender in gratefulness. Surrender in hope.

Due to my hopeless condition I surrender because of my final conclusion to

accept my embarrassing situation of not being able to do anything of my own

plight except to surrender.

I'm not a wise soul who has come to surrender. I'm simply a defeated and

frustrated egotist who has been smashed by the accumulation of my sinful

mentalities and now I would like to invoke the beautiful vocabulary of the

devotees of God.

They speak about surrender to God as the culmination of their devotional efforts,

but in my case it is the conclusion of not having any other alternative. It is the
final and only choice unless i just want to forget about all this and go to pay for
all the mistakes I did.

But will you be able to forgive me my Lord? I've heard that you are the most

powerful of all, people describe you to be the unlimited omnipotent and

all-knowing Lord. Will you be able to make a special exception for me?

Will you be able to grant me your grace? Or is my pleading totally out of

place? Do I first have to go and pay for all the wrong I did. You are in the

full right to make me brokenhearted and smash me again and again. I may

request that you may make it a short ordeal but even that request I have no

right for.

Today on this day at the crossroads of my life I have decided not to return

again. I know where I'm coming from. The jungle of illusions have swept me

from one side to the other. And I know that I will be captured again if I lose
the sight of your l feet, of your divine instructions, of the association of those
who try to become your beloved.

I met your devotees because they're so merciful as to pay attention to

people like me. They're doing anything and everything possible to connect

all their brothers and sisters to the divine reality. They are really

wonderful people and they dragged me into this world of spiritual awareness

even though I was totally ignorant and had no capacity of appreciation.

I was taught like most others that my ancestors were monkeys and that money

is the goal of life. And once you get money you get any type of pleasure

money can buy until you faint, until you die.

Because time, they said, was set only once and that when the end approaches

you lose the last chance and that therefore you should enjoy everything you

can. Don't worry or care. We are all the same. Survival of the fittest. Kill

them before they kill you, and forget about higher consciousness.

The only one important here, that is you, your senses, your body, the temple

of life, enjoyment of any kind, the reason to strive. Sincerity and honesty

are obstacles on your path. Just rape, rob and pillow, to get all what you

love.

And the small doses of sentimentality I harbored along the way made me feel

I was a good citizen, father, husband in some way. I had a public and a

private life. But I really live in my secret, desperate chamber of selfish

satisfactions.

Corruption was simply a part of the game. If you don't participate only you

are to blamed because after all here we are the same, cheaters and cheated.

Makes sure you stay above. Only sentimental fools think they have enough.

Greed is the weed which penetrates all. Get more and more. With that spirit

we go to the mall. Shopping spree, Christmas season, buy it all. Provide

your senses with the maximum amount of enjoyments and don't worry about

Iraq, Afghanistan or Vietnam or the animals in the slaughterhouses, or the

exploited and poisoned planet which provides for everyone.

This and similar things were the sum and substance of my education and I ate

it up without any remorse and when I felt it was wrong I anyway went along.

Becoming inside a comformist destroying my capacity to be bright, to reflect

and to reject all that is wrong to promote what is right.

Understanding the other side of the downtrodden poor sad and unprivileged I

was proud of my superior chance to exploit. What an embarrassing life. And

shame came to me, but that made it even worse. I turned to intoxicate my

existence. To take the anesthesia of illusion, or illusory joy.

Bombing my nervous system even chemicals they employ, or alcohol,

psychedelic drugs, or all mixed together. I became a wreck. Worse than even

low animal conditions.

And when I realized that I was hooked on this stuff I started to sell it,

because I couldn't get enough. Creating the same misery of drug addiction

for others as well. Misery loves company. So my life became hell. Drugged

out in despair. No shame, almost lame. I lost all my energy.

Destroying my brain. Further egotism invading. It got worse and worse.

Little hope was there for me. Many friends I saw, losing everything. What

were the destinations? Jail, mad house or cemetery. Leaving crying mothers,

children and wives behind.

There was the wonderful proposal for those who are in the illusions tie.

Apparently out of control, no criteria, no remorse. I became a fatalistic

philosopher, justifying the course which I had taken in illusion denying God

his position.

Priding myself of my rotten intellectualism and subscribing myself to the

existential conclusion of Albert Camus, that the perfection of existence is

to know how you can end it. Suicidal existence, slow suicide. Because I was

not bold enough to do it quick.

Or maybe some hope remained deep inside that I could be drawn to another

side. That I can find the sacred grail even though I wasn't looking for it

at all. At least I made no efforts. Nothing to deserve the association of

saints or any other relief.

Then in my delusion what a surprise. I heard "You are God". You yourself are

the top of existence. You only have to open your eyes to recognize your

spiritual superbness to find your immaculate essence, and become one with

that light which I had no idea of.

Having lost sight of that glaring effulgence, that truth, basis of all,

and now after all my misery and all my ignorance and all the pain I've

given to others, now I was crowned and being told, that there is nobody

above me, that I myself was the topnotch unit of this creation. I just have

to become aware of it.

I must say I was charmed, it appealed to my lifestyle that for yourself

anything goes. So I went to search out for those who could teach me how I

was God. How I was going to be able to rejoice my own superiority. Little or

nothing they spoke about God, maintainer and creator. That was not part of

their vocabulary.

They tried to reduce everything by saying things like "You are That", or

"Wherever you go you'll only find yourself". But my problem was that I was

pretty tired of myself. So if the only thing I could find was going to be

myself, that was not a very appealing proposal.

But still, as all of us, I was still searching for someone who admired my

position. Someone who would give me feedback. So I won't deny that I was

kept quite entertained with my ego-dance.

It's a topmost illusion to think you're God. Topmost cheating, to think that

there is nobody you can or have to be thankful for or that you should submit

to. But as you can imagine I thought the whole idea was pretty cool.

But when I approached the yogis to get some enlightenment I had to realize

that I had no financial capacity for that. It was pretty costly to get enlightened.
And for hippies like myself there wasn't really any range so I became very
disheartened again.

And I request that special mercy be given to me, the most undeserving.

Because I just cannot see any other way. And mercy of course means that

there is somebody who can grant, who can give special consideration for me

who am so far gone.

And then I heard that voice unbelievably sweet and clear. It told me watch

out and be concerned that all those who are near to you they are your chance

to change, your chance to serve, your chance to care, your chance to repair,

your chance to repent, because all of us sons and daughters of him make each

others life meaningful.

The people around us give us the chance to be with God. The Guru represents
Krishna and the people you serve represent your Gurudeva making the circle
complete. And even that what you have done to the smallest and most
insignificant creature, that you have done to God personally.

It's the humble service, the profound compassion, which starts entitling us

to see the message of Gauranga, the golden Lord. The master and yogi of

divine love. He gave us everything within and beyond imagination by teaching us that

the spiritual reflection is in the understanding that I am not this body,

neither are the others.

We have to turn towards the goal to form a divine family. Treat each other

with love, stop useless practices, killing animals, intoxication, unregulated

sex life, gambling, wasting time with gossip and television. God gave our

life a totally new chance. Don't sleep to much . Don't eat anything sinful,

but only blessed food.

And in every moment you can try to be that friend of the others who they

need. Love everybody from your heart, because the Lord of your heart is also

in their heart. Don't hurt anyone if you can avoid it. And listen to the

sacred invitation which the Lord has provided us with in such a unique way.

To practice spirituality is not a luxury. It's not really the choice of a few

bright people. It's the last and only chance for all those who don't want

to go on cheating themselves and cheating others. Who knows how many
moments we have in our life to think like that and to reflect like this.

Who knows how often I will have the chance to pray. Who knows how often I

can cry remorsefully and do something valuable. Who knows whether I can

maintain my consciousness in this reflection and take the necessary decision

to act in the correct way.

No more mundane reactions. Every second is precious. Every minute a boon.

Every day a miracle. You can chant God's name and very soon you will see that

golden lord dancing all over your life, changing your friends. You can become

an instrument of his love if you aspire so, he will make the arrangements

for that.

Even death, the last entry will then be welcomed. Because if you want to

serve God you can do that in any destination because he is the Lord of life

and eternal existence. Death is simply the changing of a dress, the walking

from one chapter of your existence into the next.

Don't be afraid. If you surrender to his sweet powerful grace and take it

upon yourself to serve him alone your prospects are bright. No reason to mourn.
Let's join together as long as we can to create a nice environment, a nice
community with those who share our feelings and conclusions.

Learn from them and teach them and fight your anger all along. Because

there is no reason for you to be angry at all. If you really want to be

angry, be angry with yourself and control those senses which by God's grace

you can. But with all others, be friendly and loving.

Krishna will bless you and take you to his world of love which has been

expanded and represented by all the spiritual environments which are

available on this planet where Krishna is the enjoyer, where Krishna is the

proprietor, controller, friend. That is the real Vrindavan. Our divine

destination. The land of love.

Various reflections...

(Quotes from Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti)

R1. "Be strict with yourself but tolerant with others."

R2. "Love is a question of details. There are so many details. To have salt

on the table at dinner time might be a small detail, but it's important."

R3 "Do not worry about death, it comes by itself. Worry about your

consciousness. Care for receiving death with inner peace, without fear."

R4. "If there exist only one piece of something, then its value is unique.

Every being is unique and irreplaceable."

R5. "Spiritual love cures all deficiencies. There is no other love. There is

no German love, no Chinese love. Love is love. Truth is truth in all

universes. Hate causes disease, and love cures."

R6. "In the same manner as water is lead back into the ocean by clouds and

rivers we have to utilize our energy in the service of God, the source of

all energy. Success, money, children, home, etc. are all gifts of God and

should be engaged in His service. Because we are His eternal servants. That

is our eternal relationship with Him."

R7. "We are all children of the same universal father and everyone is

equally dear to Him. The difference is that every living being has his

individual nature and therefore also distinct duties and a different type of

relationship with God. We are always dependent on the Supreme Personality

because He created us and He is the one who maintains us. Therefore we can

never become God, be equal to or greater than Him."

R8. "Once my Guru was asked how a person can become humble.

He answered: Just act in a way as if you were humble, then you will

learn it."

R9. "How do we serve God? It is stated in the Vedas that by serving the

servant of God one can please God more than by trying to serve the Lord

directly. Therefore it is so important to accept a servant of the Lord, a

spiritual master, as a guidance in life. Because by regularly hearing the

message of the Lord and serving His pure devotee we will be able to make

real spiritual progress."

R10. "In modern societies, the idea of being God has become popular.

Everybody wants to be the controller. Therefore no one is humble. If someone

thinks he is God, why should he be humble? Why should he bow down and

surrender to someone else? In order to make spiritual progress the first

thing we have to understand is that we are not this body. We are eternal

spirit souls whose position is to be servants. Servants of the Lord who

supplies us with all that is necessary to live a peaceful and blissful

life."

R11. "Humility does not mean to be afraid or to look away if some bad things

are going on, but to fight for the truth. That is the duty of a devotee of

the Lord."

R12. "Our eternal, natural position is to be servants. So we have to become

humble. If we are not humble before the Supreme Personality of Godhead we

will bow down before material values and become attached to wealth, power

and lust."

R13. "How many people in Europe are hating foreigners now? Who in the world

educated these people? Who in the world gave them school lessons? How can

they dare to come up with racism, with fanaticism, today in the 21st century?

They are coming together 10-20 idiots and beating up foreign people, because they

have brown or yellow skin or because of anything. This is going on in Europe

all over. Even in Sweden. So what is our educational value? What are we

doing with the people? We are in the hands of materialism and materialism

wants to make you a real rascal."

R14. "The mercy of the devotees of Lord Krishna is the mercy which extends

towards you when you are longing for some communication with the supreme

Lord. If you have that longing something will happen very quickly. Sometimes

you may not feel a longing for communication with God, but nevertheless it

happens. That is because the Lord also has a longing for your company. So he

is sending some message of love to inspire you in your spiritual life, but

instill depends on you to respond to that invitation. You will not be

obliged to come to the spiritual communion and union in the spiritual world

or in this world in the spiritual purpose. Only when you feel a very very

strong desire for this, then you will get it. You will understand it, you

will be able to appreciate it."

R15 "In order to accept something as mythos, revelation,

it has to be: 1. revealed, 2. the truth.

And to know if something is the truth, we have to add logos.

Let's look at it this way: This which is descending, mythos, is a

vertical line (|), and logos is a horizontal line (-). These both form

a cross (+), and this is the Mystical Cross, the Original Cross,

in different cultures also called "la cruz andina", "chacana", etc.

Logos and mythos necessarily have to cross each other, because

logos has to appreciate mythos. And to be able to perceive mythos,

it is required different material senses (sight, hearing, feeling, taste

and olfactory sense), as well as the subtle senses (mind, intelligence

and ego)."

R16. "Chanting the holy name of the Lord is a daily visit to the Supreme

Personality of God and can change your entire existence."

R17. "Considering that one is associating with God by chanting His names, there

are many reasons to start the day chanting."

R18. "In the material world I try to be my own lord and I also would like to rule

over you. And you think in the same way. This is how constant quarrels and

wars pervade our lives."

R19. "If you try to attain a beautiful relationship with God, begin by trying to

have good relationships with everyone. If you want to see Him, try to live

so that He wants to see you. If you treat those around you as a good brother

or sister, you can see God in them, too. This is the culture of spiritual

progress."

R20. "Voltaire said: There is nothing strange about being reborn, if we consider

how special it is to be born just once."

R21. "Two brothers can be fighting, but if they in this very moment realize that

one of them will go away and never return again, they will immediately stop

fighting and instead embrace each other as never before. In this way

separation or the threat of separation, is a great realizer. It makes us

reflect about everything."

R22. "One who praises a pure lover of God, becomes like one."

R23. "Follow what is correct, according to your conviction."

"Everything has to be an offering to God. If not, it is not worth it."

R24. "Philo means friendship and love and sofia means wisdom. Philosophy.

What a beautiful word, but how misused it is."

R25. "Please do not forget: love without the ability to forgive is no love."

R26. "God is amazing! Just look at the flowers... One some he gave the

petal one color on the top, another color on the back, and sometimes

there are two colors on the same side. The colors of mercy though,

are of unlimited shades."

R27. "Since we are conscious beings, we are entitled and we are urged by the

Vedas to focus on the miracle of consciousness and its potentials. And of

all potentials, the highest potential is called love. It is really the only

potential which is really auspicious and attractive. Consciousness without

love is rather a dangerous thing. It is not charming to think of scientists

and their consciousness which is inventing weapons to kill others. More

interesting is the consciousness of those who are looking for ways to

release others from sufferings."

R28. "If anybody in this world is depending on you it is a major challenge and it

is such a task for you that you cannot under any circumstances give them up,

abandon them, forsake them. That is not acceptable."

R29. "How much do we know really? How many books do we have to read

to understand something? How much austerity do we have to practice

to progress? Good questions! But there is no answer to them. Because there

is no possibility to progress in this way. Only if the mercy of God comes

down in the form of a saint, it is possible to advance spiritually. Only by

pure mercy and by being very friendly to others."

R30. "Sadhu means "a person devoted to spiriuality" and sanga means "company".

To always maintain the company of saints is sadhu-sanga. For that which is

called sadhu-sanga in reality, the sadhus have to be more advanced persons

than oneself. My association with a sadhu who is more advanced than me, whom

I admire and from whom I desire to learn; this type of sanga is intensive."

R31. "Family life means to accept responsibility, a spiritual consciousness of

responsibility towards the family. That's why the Srimad Bhagavatam

explains: You should not become a father or a mother if you are not willing

to free your children from the cycle of repeated birth and death (samsara)."

R32. "Television promotes the basic debilities and lowest instincts of people. You sit down in front of the television just like in front of a teacher or guru to hear some message. And although it is not deniable that there are some good programs as well, the defect is that you have to accept the program without being able to ask questions which is the natural process of learning and understanding. So there is no possibility of a real dialogue and almost everybody is reached by television. Therefore it is the perfect instrument for manipulating the masses."

R33. "The great majority of TV programs is contaminating our mind and consciousness with lust, anger and violence, such as killing and mistreating animals, crime, greediness, envy etc. So many false values are imposed and the confusing, hopeless and wrong idea that we are this material body is promoted. Inevitably this leads the consumers to break the principles of dharma and to act against the nature of living beings."

R34. "People are so confused. In some parts there are 400 or more channels in television. And all of them deal with the same superficial prattle and waste which disturbs the consciousness and contaminates the mind. Family life suffers significantly as conversations are almost stopped. All over the world the superficial and artificial Hollywood lifestyle is being spread and people accept false values as part of their lives. They become like slaves of television and advertisements, at the cost of their natural freedom and spirituality."

R35. "The lack of a spiritual education of the Vedic Culture is the reason why we do not appreciate the great opportunity of this human form of life and the great responsibility we received in connection with it. Because of this lack of appreciation we are so much inclined to material enjoyment and sense gratification. Spiritual education, however, the process of getting to know the truth, starts with the appreciation that one is spiritual consciousness and not a piece of meat and bones."

R36. "So we can see that it is not enough to remove the television from our homes but most important is to stop the exploitation of other humans, animals and Mother Nature; to follow the principles of the prescribed duties for humanity. To live a vegetarian life, no illicit sexual activities, no gambling and not to intoxicate our body. This will automatically lead the whole society towards the four pillars of a civilized culture: austerities, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness."

R37. "We must become responsible of our actions and conscious that they will produce reactions. We must activate our natural energy and joy by learning to appreciate all that is good and in this way surpass our laziness and the limitations of our mind and this material existence. We must become conscious that our association has a big influence on our actions, our lives and our future. We have to learn that to know about the Absolute Truth is the actual goal of life and birthright for everyone, independent of our faith, color or social status. We must learn that all of us are children of the same Universal Father and thus we must help and serve each other with Him in our center. To achieve this we simply have to accept the spiritual values of Vedic Culture and chant the Holy Names of God."

R38. "So generally speaking television produces more troubles than good in this world. It should be used to see programs which promote spiritual values but not for anything else."

R39. "By contact with persons who fight to make this world a better place and who try to follow the path of the truth, we will gradually develop a superior taste. With the inspiration of good company and friendship it will not be too difficult to remove the television and to establish higher goals in our lives."

R40. "Pilgrimages to sacred places present the great opportunity to get out of the normal way of life, to forget about the daily troubles, to come closer to yourself and it is perfect for facing the problems of life in a sacred and elevated manner."

R41. "One's unique protection is the purity in one's own purpose."

R42. "Pilgrimage is ideal to step out of daily routines and troubles to dive into a world of mystic and spirituality, to get a better understanding of our true self and our position in the cosmic manifestation."

R43. "The real beauty of every living being is beyond the lusty sexual attraction."

R44. "The soul, the spirit, is very small. It enters into the father's sperm and it is injected in the mother's womb. Then the mother's ovum and the father's sperm unite and form a small body. This body only develops because the spirit soul is already there."

R45. "There are some very impressive documentaries that demonstrate the process of an abortion. It is a crime against the laws of nature, and the consequences for such actions are very strong. It is said that first men kill animals to eat them, then they kill children in the mother’s womb, and finally they even fight themselves on battlefields."

R46. "Family life is something very sacred. The responsibility of family life, of having and caring for a child and teaching it spiritual values, is very important and should be taken serious. Like in every form of community, we can also see that family life will only function nicely if we put God in the center. So I ask you to, if you decide to have children, become exemplary parents who really love their children and give them the most prescious thing of all for their human lives, to show them the path of spiritual life.

R47. "The abortion of a child is like losing the fortune of our life. The decision to kill a child will open many doors for misery. Women that have aborted a child confirm that they cannot forget the little creature that was killed by their decision. Actually we should appreciate being able to receive children in this world. So do not kill your unborn children."

R48. "Life itself is very precious, because it is always a gift from God. We must not put sense gratification or material values above the gift of life. If we listen to our heart, we will understand that we should give protection to our children and that we do not have the right to abort children."

R49. "The yoga monasteries are places of peace, where one can redefine once again what the goal of his life is. Why are you here? What do you want to achieve in this stay on Planet Earth? We are all travelling souls, we came here just for a visit. We have to fulfill many things, we have to learn a lot of things, but we are travellers. The visit is temporary, and later we have to continue our journey, and we have to take our wealth of consciousness, as well as the burden of committed mistakes, with us."

R50. "The yoga monastery is a place of purification. It is a place to open your heart. It is a place where you can find yourself, and get to know who are your brothers and sisters in this world. A Yoga Monastery is an embassy of the eternal world. Simple living, high thinking; with relations in harmony, where one learns to serve. Spiritual science is being perfected when one learns to serve. Normally, in this material world, everybody is very expert in serving himself, but in a Yoga Monastery one learns to serve God, the Lord in the heart of everyone, the creator and maintainer of everyone; He, who makes us brothers and sisters, He, who gave us the chance to purify and get to know ourselves."

R51. "That is what our spiritual master taught us. In practice, yoga monasteries are places where one can participate and follow Vedic ideals. There is no need to be in anxiety. One can live a beautiful life, within spiritual surroundings. Of course, in this world there are lots of duties to fulfill, to make oneself useful in human society. But that is often also the cause of agitation and uncertainty in people. Therefore, in a yoga monastery one learns to live and to be happy as you are and with what you have. You will discover that happiness is something very important and distinct. It is not something you can buy in the supermarket. This security cannot even be found in material wealth, nor in beauty, nor in the health of our body. But it is an internal, superior wellbeing; unreachable by greediness, envy, lust, frevor and other negative impulses that keep us tied to this material world."

R52. "A yoga monastery is a school of preparation. Spending a week or a month in such a place, one learns to serve, one learns to give. And that is the most important thing one has to know. And nowadays persons do not know what to do when they have grown old. In that golden age, they can also come to a monastery, or they can travel from one to another. That too is a very fortunate life. It is called the life of a sannyasi, of a renunciate; who travels and visits persons, knocking on their doors and reminding them of the beautiful meaning of life."

R53. "The yoga monasteries are places that exist so that people can learn the beauty of their being, the development of their individual consciousness. That is what we are trying; to create this kind of atmosphere. And that is a model which can be repeated; hopefully infinitely. Because this world, its beauty, the sounds of nature, the sound of rivers and the waves of the ocean, the wind in the flowers and plants, all we see there, are places to be very close to the Supreme Lord in his universal form. Appreciate it, feel Mother Earth giving her benedictions. That is the way how we can find ourselves. Because in reality our life is exactly for this purpose: to learn about spiritual love."

R54. "Ego means 'identity', or 'self', distinct from the world and other living beings. In other words, Ego means individuality. False ego means wrong identification; identification with something we are not. So, the ego is there, this is not deniable. But we have to know what our real identity is in order to distinguish between the ego, the real self, and the false ego, or wrong identifications. Only then we will be able to get rid of the materialistic, self-centered and false ego."

R55. "False, or materialistic ego is the identification with matter. It is very self-centered. The origin of the false ego is the desire to possess material things in order to enjoy them. In this way we start to identify ourselves with material values and we become conditioned by the three modes of material nature, namely goodness, passion and ignorance.

R56. "In this conditioned state the living entities struggle very hard for gaining material values, but as a matter of fact it cannot solve the real problems of life: birth, death, old age and disease. With this wrong idea of ego, we think that we are a product of material nature and therefore we are runnig after illusory sense enjoyment. So absorbed in bodily consciousness we cannot understand our real identity, situation and purpose. We do not have clear knowledge of the existence and nature of God."

R57 "Often impersonalistic philosophers say that everything is illusion, everything is one, and they want to dissolve the ego. But we cannot give up our ego, as it means 'identity'. What we have to give up is the false ego, the false identification with matter. The self is not the illusion, but the bodily concept of life is the illusion."

R58. "And the first step in the process of realizing our true identity, also called self-realization, is to learn that we are not this body. With this information immediately the questions arise: so who are we? what is our real identity? The answer to these questions can be found in authorized Vedic scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita: we are spirit souls. We are eternal, spiritual beings. But due to our material desires we had to take birth in the material world and we had to accept this material body. The Lord grants us a free will. So we are responsable for our actions and we decide whether we want to connect with the internal, spiritual energy of the Lord, or the external, material energy.

R59. "To purify our materialistic consciousness we have to become engaged in spiritual devotional service. By engaging in devotional service the original qualities of the self will become manifest. The Bhagavad Gita also tells us that we have to accept a spiritual master, a real representative of God, who is experienced in the science of self-realization and who can tell us how to serve God. Because that is something our mind cannot make up on its own account. In this way we will be able to give up our false identifications and start seeing our real nature, and the respective duties."

R60. "Self-realization is a very scientific process. Due to our long egoistic use of the senses for sense gratification, we are confused by false identifications such as: my country, my house, my money, which make us forget our eternal relationship with the Lord. Sometimes persons even think they themselves have become God. Of course, that is very pleasing to their false ego, as they see themselves as the peak of all creation, having to bow down before nobody. But actually it is easy to see that it cannot be true: we are not able to maintain ourselves, nor anybody else. We are basically dependent on every apple and every corn of rice. We are parts and parcels of the Lord. Our relationship with the Lord is like the relationship of a father and his a son. The son has the same qualities as the father but they can never switch their identity."

R61. "The original existence or nature of living beings is eternal and full of joy and wisdom. We should never forget that. In this material world there are always anxieties and problems. But we do not belong here, because everything in this material world is temporal whereas we are eternal. So we should take this opportunity to get rid of false identifications and to become engaged in the loving service of the Lord by approaching those who are already engaged in His service."

R62. "The virtuous attitude is so luminous itself that all kinds of different

attachments and mistakes we have committed will gradually be removed."

R63. "Acting virtuously is the basis to understand higher principles. Due to our

own experience and expectations we basically have a clear image of how we

would like to be treated and what kind of pleasant environment we would like

to be in. But even if we feel an inner inspiration or an inner invitation to

act virtuously, it is fundamentally important to get in contact with people

who are virtuous. Without this connection it will be impossible for us to

act virtuously."

R64. "The conditions tear on us and force us to act in a way we actually do not

like. To the point where one kills a person only to steal a little bit of

money to finance one's addictions. Unfortunately this is pretty common in

this world. The conditioned existence also constitutes that we are like

prisoners in this world. But at the same time the very situation we are in

can inspire us to seek a way out of it and to desire getting to know

virtuous actions."