Posted by Neeraj Nama on January 12, 2010 at 10:56am
Answers by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Maharaj
Q: If we must be careful of bad association, how can we be merciful and friendly with all kinds of people?You see that is why preachers take a certain amount of risk to preach Krishna consciousness, and that is why they are so dear to the Lord because they are taking that risk. At the same time, by being merciful and friendly with all kinds of people to preach to them Krishna consciousness we try to give them our association. We can tell them about Krishna, tell them about devotional service, tell them about things related or just be friendly and establish the relationships so we can tell them about these things. We don’t go to the extent where we engage in non-devotional activities with these people usually. We are careful about how far we associate so as not to become engaged in some kind of sinful activity. So we give association rather than taking. Srila Prabhupada mentions that some times over a period of time by preaching to materialistic people, their vibration or their consciousness can affect us. That’s why visiting the Holy Dham like Mayapur and Vrndavan is purifying from that contamination. Therefore Srila Prabhupada recommended that preachers periodically visit the Holy Dham. So we have Gaura Purnima Festival and people are coming to the festival to get re-aligned spiritually and purified. You are living in the Dham so you have lot of protection.Q. a. What happens after the atma leaves the body? b. What is the time [ in days/months/years ] to enter into the next body? c. How does the atma enter the next body? d. What happens to the subtle body [ mind/intelligence/false ego] after quitting the old body and entering the new one? e.The atma is energetic so what will be activity during this transition? f. What exactly will be the feelings/happenings when the atma leaves the body? And when it enters a new one?This soul is eternal. It is… The soul is covered by two kinds of body. One is subtle body. Just like you have got your mind; I have got my mind. Do yousee your mind? Do I see your mind? So the soul is carried by two kinds of body. One body is this gross, made of earth, water, air, sky, like that. And the other… They are like shirt and coat. This is the coating, and there is another body, shirt, which is made of mind, intelligence, and ego. So when this gross body is finished, the subtle body is there. So at the time of your death the mental condition will carry you to a similar body. This mental body you do not see. Therefore you say that this man is dead. It is not dead. The gross body is changed, and the mental body carries him to another gross body.This is the process of the soul·s transmigration from one body to another. At the time of death, according to his mental condition, the living being is carried by the subtle body, consisting of mind, intelligence and ego, to another gross body. When higher authorities have decided what kind of gross body the living entity will have, he is forced to enter such a body, and thus he automatically gives up his previous body.Srimad Bhagavatam 1.12.7 purportDeath generally involves remaining in trance for seven months. A living being, according to his own action, is allowed to enter into the womb of a mother by the vehicle of a father·s semina, and thus he develops his desired body. This is the law of birth in specific bodies according to one’s past actions.Bhagavad-Gita 7.28 - 8.6 Lecture NY October 23, 1966Death is nothing but sleeping for seven months. That·s all. Sleeping for seven months, that is called death. Just like, in the operation table, one becomes unconscious for one hour, half an hour. Then he comes to his consciousness. Again he comes to the same point. So similarly, death is nothing but to remain practically unconscious for seven months. That’s all. This body is left, and we enter into a particular womb of mother, and just to develop another body it takes about seven months. Then, after seven months, when the body is fit, then our consciousness comes back. Then we want to come out of the womb. And at the tenth month we come out. That is a very miserable condition. That is the miserable condition of birth.c.Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.30 Mayapur, March 8, 1976After sex, the living entity takes shelter within the semina and ovum of the father and mother, and it be… It is… The formation is just like a small grain. That grain develops because the spirit soul has taken shelter. Then body… It is not that the body develops automatically, and at seven months there is life.Bhagavad Gita 2.11, Rotary Club Address– Hotel Imperial, Delhi, March 25, 1976In the first day of intercourse of the father-mother, the secretion mix together, emulsified, and if the living entity is allowed to enter into that, it grows. That is the beginning of our body. But if the living entityis not allowed into the, that emulsified, small pealike form, then there is no pregnancy. So attempt is made to pollute that emulsification. Therefore the living entity cannot enter into it and there is no pregnancy. Otherwise there must be pregnancy. After sex, the living entity takes shelter within the semina and ovum of the father and mother, and it be… It is… The formation is just like a small grain. That grain develops because the spirit soul has taken shelter. Then body… It is not that the body develops automatically, and at seven months there is life.d, e, and f seem to be answered by the above commentaries.Q: How can we distinguish between bhakti-lata creeper and the false creepers in the heart since they can seem similar?The bhakti-lata creeper and the other false creepers are called upasakas or weeds and the weeds are inspired by such things like love, profit, position, worship, respect, violence, harsh dealings, diplomatic dealings, political dealings, attachment for breaking the principles… Some are quite obvious and some are very subtle.If someone is doing dev. service and is motivated only by getting respect, then they will become unmotivated and they have to analyze. So somebody is more sincere about their motives then they take out those weeds out of the heart. Actually I am not serving because I want to get respect. I am just doing this to please Guru and Krsna. I know when I was building mayapur, it was very intense. Srila Prabhupada had us working from 6 in the morning till midnight every day. Double shifts. At on point I thought I was going to crack. Then I was just thinking that I would never do this for money or any other reason. I am just doing this because I really want to please S. Prabhupada and the previous acaryas who want to see my effort in all this. And then, somehow when I thought like that I could just feel like as if Bhaktivinoda Thakur was smiling at me. Suddenly things seem to feel a lot better. It is important that we realign our thoughts. How we pull the weeds is that when we let some other motives or some other things creep in, then it becomes burdensome to do devotional service when it is not aligned with other creepers. If we are properly doing things for right Krsna conscious reason, then it is always blissful to do devotional service.
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