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Hare Krishna

The nature of the mind is that, because of not finding inner fulfillment, it gets the tendency to make insignificant things seem very important. As long as we don’t focus our consciousness on higher principles, these little things appear insurmountable.

- HH Radhanath Swami

Often we read about film celebrities that they don’t want to be stereotyped or not be cast in the same kind of roles repeatedly. If one actor gets critically acclaimed doing a kind of role then he is repeatedly type casted in such roles in consecutive movies. Also we have stereotypes in our normal daily lives. For e.g. Whites, Skinnies, redheads, goths, blondes, crybabies etc and with each stereotype an image is associated. Everyone is attempting to break this stereotype.

The disadvantage in this scheme of things is that a person, even after breaking from one image fits into another image, but his basic activities remains the same. The outward appearance may change but the inner-self remains the same. The person always endeavors for satisfying his never-ending desires. The desire to become the lord of all one surveys remains alive perpetually. This very desire is the root cause of our stereotyping. The desire for sense gratification in this material world is the shackle which keeps one bound in one form or another. The sense gratification is an extension of the four bodily needs which are: 1. Eating, 2. Sleeping, 3. Mating and 4. Defending.  These need’s when unregulated and unrestricted leads to imprisonment in this mortal world.

In order to break free from this usual or conditional life, where each activity is based on certain conditions, we need to transcend the desire for unregulated sense gratification. These needs arise from the fact that we, the living entity or souls forget our constitutional position. Instead of realizing oneself as the Sat-cit-anand part and parcel of the Supreme Lord or Krishna, we choose to identify with our bodies.

As Krishna is ever blissful so does the spirit soul desires to be happy. But due to association with matter since time immemorial, these desires have become perverted. In this scenario, the search for happiness ultimately culminates in accumulating wealth, position and satisfying carnal desires. This ways of achieving satisfaction promises happiness but always falls short of expectations. Understand it like this; a thirsty man gets hold of a bamboo stick, mistakes it with a sugar cane and tries to derive sugar juice from it. Not being successful in his endeavors, he bites, chews, cuts, crushes using teeth, then knife and then machine but to no avail. He remains thirsty and does not realize that it is Bamboo not sugarcane.

Therefore the need here is to break the stereotype or conditioning imposed by material nature by taking real knowledge from perfect sources as the Bhagavad Gita. This knowledge would enlighten a soul regarding his eternal/real position and duty. Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita 3.27:

prakriteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah
ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham 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.”

But transcending this is very difficult. “daivi hy esa guna-mayi, mam maya duratyaya“. Therefore, being compassionate, Krishna immediately offers us an alternative. He says, “…mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam tarantite” or by surrendering unto me you can break this stereotyped bodily conception. Under this conception one has to repeatedly face birth old age, disease and death. But by surrendering to Krishna or following Bhagavad Gita one attains a position where one interacts with ever fresh and youthful pastimes ofNaval Kishore – the everyouthful boy Krishna.