Culture

This exchange between His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and some of his disciples and guests took place during a morning walk on the Berkeley campus of the University of California, in July of 1975.

Guest: About a month ago, Srila Prabhupada, there was a crazy story in the newspaper. It seems a young student went through the archives in the Washington, D.C., public library, and he compiled enough information to construct an atom bomb. So now many leaders are afraid that within a few years, any terrorist group will be able to make their own atom bomb.

Srila Prabhupada: Yes, that may be….

Guest: Oh, do you see that tower? Students here have been known to jump from it. Actually, at schools all over the country, a growing number of students are committing suicide.

Srila Prabhupada: Yes. They are openly committing suicide, and the rest of the people are covertly committing suicide. This man who found out how to construct an atom bomb—he’s thinking that now his life is successful. But if he doesn’t use his human life for trying to become spiritually realized, he is committing suicide.

Guest: How’s that?

Srila Prabhupada: Because he won’t be able to save himself from his own death and rebirth.

Guest: Interestingly enough, the scientists originally developed the atom bomb to prevent death—to end the Second World War as soon as possible.

Srila Prabhupada: How can they prevent death? They do not know how to prevent it. They can accelerate it, that’s all. Here is your problem, Mr. Scientist: janma-mrityu-jara-vyadhi—the cycle of birth, death, old age, and disease. Solve it! Where is the scientist who can do that? instead they take some childish problem and try to avoid the real problem. But they cannot avoid it, because Krishna puts it openly before everyone: janma-mrityu- jara-vyadhi-duhkha-doshanudarshanam—“The real seer will see to this problem of birth, death, old age, and disease.” But the scientists have no answer, no solution to this problem. Where is the biochemist or the psychologist or the nuclear physicist who can solve this problem?

Disciple: They have a theory nowadays that by the proliferation of atomic weapons—Russia has so many weapons, China has so many weapons, the United States has so many weapons—everyone will be afraid of using them.

Srila Prabhupada: They will inevitably use them! That is nature’s arrangement. “You all die”—that is nature’s arrangement. For instance, in your country you have so many cars that even a poor man goes almost everywhere by car and hardly an inch on foot—because there are so many cars. So, because there are so many weapons now, they must be used. That is the natural sequence.

Guest: But every country knows that an atomic war would mean total destruction.

Srila Prabhupada: Well, total or partial—that we shall see. But the weapons will be used…. Everything can be solved by understanding these three items: God is the proprietor, He is the enjoyer, He is the friend of everyone. But the scientists and philosophers and politicians are acting with just the opposite understanding: “I am the proprietor, I am the enjoyer, I am the friend—because I am God.” You see? And everyone who says he’s the people’s friend ultimately proves to be their enemy. President Nixon collected votes by pretending to be a friend, and later on he proved an enemy…. Everyone…. Gandhi pretended to be a friend, but he proved to be an enemy. Otherwise, why was he shot down? Unless some people regarded him as an enemy, why was he shot down? So nobody can be your actual friend, except Krishna.

Disciple: But the Lord’s pure devotee—he’s also a friend to all….

Srila Prabhupada: Because he carries the message of Krishna. Krishna is everyone’s friend, and the pure devotee is carrying the friend’s message. Therefore he is a friend. if there is a nice friend, and if somebody gives information about that nice friend, he is also a friend. Therefore, nobody can be an actual friend except Krishna and Krishna’s representative. Materialistic life means, “I am your enemy, and you are my enemy.” Envy and enmity—this is the whole construction of the material world. So how can the enemy become a friend? This is pretension, cheating.

Disciple: When we go out to distribute your books, we’re letting people know that your disciples are actually their friends, also.

Srila Prabhupada: Oh, yes. That is real friendship. You are giving people the message of Lord Caitanya [Krishna’s most recent incarnation, who appeared in India five centuries ago]: kota nidra yao maya-pishacira kole … enechi aushadhi maya nashibara lagi’/ hari-nama maha-mantra lao tumi magi: “People everywhere, you are sleeping under the spell of maya, illusion. How long will you sleep and suffer in this world of death and rebirth? I’ve brought you this eternal, spiritual medicine. Take it and sleep no more.” Hari-nama maha- mantra lao tumi magi: “Now take the Hare Krishna mantra—this is your medicine.”

Guest: So all the relationships within this material world are based on enmity? But the scientists and philosophers and politicians often speak highly of love.

Srila Prabhupada: That is not love. That is lust—“As soon as my lusty desire is not fulfilled, then you are my enemy.”

Guest: Sometimes, though, it seems these people really have our best interests at heart.

Srila Prabhupada: Sometimes we see a dog swimming in the water, and we may think, “Oh, let me capture his tail and I shall cross.” Similarly, those who are thinking the so-called scientists and philosophers or any other materialistic person will solve their problems—it is exactly like trying to cross the Pacific Ocean by capturing the tail of a dog.

In writing about Krishna consciousness for Back to Godhead, I sometimes browse through books of quotations from famous people. I recently came across this quote from an American comedian: “Most of the time I don’t have much fun. The rest of the time I don’t have any fun at all.”

The power of wit is in delivering the unexpected, and also in saying something we can all agree with. Wouldn’t we all like to be happy all the time? Why does full satisfaction escape us? And what does our desire for unending happiness say about who we are?

Some people say we evolved from chemicals. I’m not a scientist, but I’d suggest that the theory of evolution can’t explain why we want happiness in the first place. If we’re adapted for this life, and this life can be pretty miserable, why wouldn’t we evolve with the desire to be miserable, and then be satisfied when we are?

Other people say we’re spiritual beings, created by God. That explanation makes more sense to me. We’re after happiness because our original nature is to be happy. We’re not these bodies but eternal happy souls locked inside unhappy bodies.

Think how much misery the body can bring. My big toe gives me pleasure indirectly by making it easy for me to walk. But when I stub it I feel the direct misery it can bring. In fact, the body, with all its demands, constantly gives misery. Try fasting for a day and see how much distress your stomach and tongue can give you.

We’re always trying to pull pleasure from the body, but it costs us. The currency? Disease, aging, and finally death.

But we don’t give up the quest for happiness even though the body won’t cooperate. Even in the most horrible situations, we cling to the hope that things will get better.

Granted, life’s not all misery, but why settle for imperfect happiness? A healthy dose of pessimism about material life is a good first step toward spiritual awakening. The material world is designed to give us misery. Someone once said that maybe the earth is another planet’s hell. In fact, the whole material world is a kind of hell, compared to our original home in the spiritual world. We’re not supposed to be happy here. No matter how many adjustments we make, we’ll always feel something’s wrong, as if we’re wearing clothes a few sizes too small.

One message of Back to Godhead is that sensual enjoyment is a waste of time. But we’re not trying to spoil the party. We’re saying that this party’s an illusion and the forces of nature will inevitably crash it. There’s another party across town at the Hare Krishna temple. Singing, dancing, and feasting in relation to God—a taste of a way of life that will prepare you for a one-way trip back to the eternal party you left long ago.

Even while in this world, an awakened soul tolerates bodily suffering and takes pleasure in Krishna consciousness. He might say, “Most of the time I don’t suffer much. The rest of the time I don’t suffer at all.”

Srila Prabhupada [hearing the bells and music from a passing ice cream truck]: What is that?

Disciple: An ice cream truck, Srila Prabhupada.

Srila Prabhupada: Oh, ice cream. [Laughter.] You are taking ice cream? Huh?

Disciple: No, Srila Prabhupada. Sometimes they make it with eggs or slaughterhouse by-products or who knows what. But anyway, the trucks go up and down the street.

Srila Prabhupada: Canvassing?

Disciple: Yes.

Srila Prabhupada [laughing as the ice- cream-truck music grows louder]: Don’t take ice cream. This is maya. [Laughter.] “Come on, come on—enjoy me. Come on, come on—enjoy me.” [He says it musically and laughs.] As soon as you enjoy, you become entrapped. That’s all.

Just like fishing tackle. The fisherman throws the bait and invites the fish, “Come on—enjoy me. Come on, come on—enjoy me.” And as soon as the fish tries to enjoy—hupp! [Laughter.] Finished. [Prabhupada imitates the choking sound of a hooked fish.] And then the fisherman looks at the fish and says, “Where will you go now? Come on into my bag. Yes. I’ll fry you nicely.”

You see? So these things are all explained in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The fish loses his life because of his uncontrolled tongue. He cannot check the dictation of the tongue; therefore, he loses his life. You see?

Similarly with the deer in the forest. The hunter will play very nice flute, and all the deer will assemble to hear him playing so nicely. In that way the hunter gets one of the deer into his trap, and the deer loses his life. In other words, just as the fish loses his life by tasting, the deer loses his life by hearing.

Tasting. Hearing. And the elephant is caught by sexual attraction. Do you know how the elephant is captured? Yes, a trained she-elephant goes to the male elephant, and he follows and drops into a big pit. He remains there for some time. Then he’s shackled and taken away. In this way the Bhagavatam offers various examples of how our material senses can trap us in illusion.

That big black bee—what is it called? Bhramara? What is the English name for that big black bee? [Making an illustrative buzzing sound:] Onnnhhh.

Disciple: Bumblebee?

Srila Prabhupada: It may be. In any case, he is entrapped by smelling the lotus flower. He enters within the lotus flower and loses his life.

So, being pulled by just one uncontrolled sense, each of these different creatures is losing his life. And yet in this modern so-called civilization, we have got all our senses uncontrolled. So, just imagine, what our position is? These examples are from the animal and insect kingdoms, wherein only one uncontrolled sense is prominent. But in this modern so- called civilization, all our senses are uncontrolled. So what is our position? You see?

In this connection another example is given in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Imagine a man who has got six wives, and he has entered his house, and suddenly all the wives are dragging him—“You come to my room.” You see? One wife has taken his left hand, another has taken his right hand, still another has taken his left leg, and yet another has taken his right leg, and so forth. And he’s wondering, “Where shall I go?”

You see? So in this modern society, this is our position as human beings—overwhelmed by so many senses which to date we have neglected to control. Instead of controlling the senses, most people are becoming servants of the senses. Most people are losing their opportunity, this great opportunity of human life—to control the senses in Krishna’s service and then go back to His eternal abode.

[A disciple raises his hand.] Yes?

Disciple: Srila Prabhupada, those people who focus their attention on advancing to the higher material planets, where sense enjoyment is even more easily available—do they have even more opportunity to become entrapped?

Srila Prabhupada: No. Anyone within this material world is entrapped by this sense enjoyment. Either in the higher planets or in these middle planets or in the lower planets. For instance, among the human beings there is sense impetus, and among the lower animals there is sense impetus.

So both the human beings and the animals have sense impetus. Therefore we must ask, What is this so-called human being? We so-called civilized beings—what are we doing? The same thing that the lower animals are doing, namely eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. The same thing that the dog is doing.

Anyway, wherever you go in the material world, either in the higher planets or in these middle planets or in the lower planets, sense gratification is prominent. Only in the spiritual world is there no sense gratification. In the spiritual world there is simply an endeavor to satisfy Krishna. Here everyone is merely trying to satisfy his own senses. That is the law of the material world. That is material life. And as long as you go on trying merely to satisfy your own senses, you will stay in this material world.

But as soon as you turn your senses toward satisfying the senses of Krishna, you reawaken your spiritual life. It’s a very simple thing. Hrishikena hrishikesha-sevanam: use your senses to satisfy Krishna, the Lord, the master of your senses. That is bhakti. That is devotional service.

You have senses. So you have to satisfy them. Because you have these senses, you have to satisfy them. The question is how you can actually satisfy them. The proper method. But you do not know the proper method. The conditioned soul does not know that when he simply tries to satisfy Krishna’s senses, his senses will be automatically satisfied.

For instance, as I have said many times, if I want to see to the health of a tree’s branches and leaves, I do not pour water directly on them. Rather, I pour water on the root. Or if I want to see to the health of my arms and fingers, instead of trying to feed them directly I give the foodstuffs to my stomach, and automatically my arms and fingers are satisfied.

This secret we are missing. We are thinking we shall be happy by trying to satisfy our senses directly. Krishna consciousness means don’t try to satisfy your senses directly—try to satisfy the senses of Krishna. Automatically your senses will be satisfied. This is the secret of Krishna consciousness.

The opposite party—the karmis, or materialists—they are thinking, “Oh, why shall I satisfy Krishna? Why shall I work for Krishna the whole day and night? Let me work for my own satisfaction.” The devotees are working the whole day and night for Krishna, and the karmis are thinking, “What fools they are. We are very intelligent. The whole day and night we are working for our own sense gratification, and what benefit are they getting from working for Krishna?”

This is the difference between the materialists and the spiritualists. The spiritualists’ endeavor is to work the whole day and night strenuously, without any halt, simply for Krishna. That is spiritual life. And the materialists make the same endeavor, always trying to satisfy their personal senses. This is the difference between the materialists and spiritualists.

So the Krishna consciousness movement means that we have to train our senses to satisfy Krishna. That’s all. For so many thousands and millions of lifetimes we have simply tried to satisfy our personal senses. Let this lifetime be dedicated for satisfying Krishna’s senses. That is Krishna consciousness. At least dedicate this one lifetime. For so many lifetimes we have simply tried to satisfy our personal senses. Let this lifetime—at least this one lifetime—be dedicated for satisfying Krishna’s senses. Let me try and then see what happens. And we will not be the loser. Even if we sometimes wonder whether we are being inconvenienced by not directly satisfying our senses, still we will not be the loser.

Kimberly picks up a tape by a rock band known for its satanic image and clicks it into her Walkman. Putting on the earphones, she turns the volume way up.

“Maybe I was just made evil,” says Kimberly to herself. That leads to another thought. “Maybe some people are made good. Like Heather. Everything always seems to go right for Heather. God seems to like her.”

Kimberly’s not a theologian, but she’s contemplating something that Western theologians have discussed for centuries without reaching any definite conclusions. The question is this: Does God choose certain individuals or groups for salvation? In other words, are there chosen people? And, alternatively, are certain persons selected for condemnation?

The technical term for the matter under discussion is predestination, a word which implies that our final destination, be it heaven or hell, is programmed into our souls from the beginning of our existence. Thus the question of predestination is closely connected with the concept of free will.

A lot has been spoken and written about all this, but most of it is highly speculative. Not surprisingly, many of the views expressed contradict each other.

Speaking of the Judeo-Christian tradition, C. T. McIntyre writes in his article on predestination in The Encyclopedia of Religion, “Advocates of all positions have appealed to the scriptures, although the scriptures do not contain doctrines of free will and predestination, nor even these words.”

It would be too bad, however, if we had to rely on theological speculators to answer such questions. It’s hard to trust them, because the human mind is so limited and prone to error. That’s why God gives scriptures in the first place.

According to the sages of India. God has given different scriptures to different people at different times and places according to their level of understanding. Some scriptures therefore give more information than others. The Bible and the Koran, for example, give only very limited information about the soul and the important questions of free will and predestination. The Vedic scriptures of India, however, give more detailed information, which will help us examine these questions without going off into the insecure realm of imagination and speculation.

The basic message of Vedic literature on the question of predestination is that the choosing is done by the individual soul and not by God. We are choosing people, not chosen people.

God says He is neutral. In Bhagavad-gita (9.29), Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, says, “I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all.” We could say that God is the original equal opportunity employer.

Yet Krishna goes on to state in that same passage of the Gita, “But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.” God exhibits no special favoritism to any particular person or group. But if someone voluntarily behaves in a friendly way toward Him. He responds in kind.

Now one might object: “Ha! So if you’re not friendly to God, then He zaps you, right? That’s not very cool.” But no, you zap yourself, so to speak.

The Vedanta-sutra (2.1.34) says vaishamya- nairghrinye na sapekshatvat tatha hi darshayati: The Lord neither hates nor likes anyone, though He appears to.” He surely does appear to, one might be tempted to say.

The reason God appears to hate one person and like another is related to the fact that He arranges to fulfill the desires of each individual, giving each his or her justly deserved reward or punishment A perverted desire yields a bad result A good desire yields a good result. Mixed desires yield mixed results. Because the results come by God’s arrangement it looks like He is to blame. But He’s not really.

Consider the example of a judge. One person comes before the judge and receives an award of a million dollars in a lawsuit against an insurance company. Another person comes before the judge and is sentenced to ten years in prison for fraud. The judge is responsible for neither the award of a million dollars nor the ten-year prison sentence. The law is there, and in the final analysis the persons who come before the judge have by their own behavior determined the results they will receive. The judge is neutral—at least he should be.

One difficulty with the suggestion that God is fulfilling our desires is that we do not appear to always get from God what we consciously want. If I want a million dollars, then why don’t I get it? Right away!

The reason is that the results of our desires and activities accumulate over the course of many lifetimes, as we take on one material body after another. If in a past life we unlawfully deprived others of wealth, we may now have to suffer for that by having unfulfilled desires for riches. In other words, what we desire is weighed against what we deserve.

Another consideration is that the desire to get rich quick by demanding large amounts of cash from God is a perverted desire. Our desires are evaluated according to a standard not of our own making. And it is according to that standard, whatever it may be. that the results of the specific desires are calculated. Maybe those results will match up with our expectations, and maybe they won’t. But as the Bhagavad-gita teaches, whatever we get is exactly what we deserve, which might be the pain of poverty, or a struggling middle-class existence, or being rich but not rich enough.

So to sum up. God sets up the system but is not responsible for what we get. The responsibility lies squarely with each one of us. As Krishna says in the Gita (4.13), “Although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the non-doer.” He also says in the Gita (9.9), “I am ever detached from all these material activities, seated as though neutral.” And in Chapter Thirteen He says, The living entity is the cause of the various sufferings and enjoyments in this world.”

Now, if you want to criticize God for setting up the system as He did (so that we get bad results for certain desires and actions), you can. But it really doesn’t do much good. Srila Prabhupada says it well in his purport to Srimad- Bhagavatam 7.2.39:

The Lord does not create this material world at anyone’s request …If one argues. “Why does He act in this way?” the answer is that He can do so because He is supreme… .The answer is that to prove His omnipotence He can do anything, and no one can question Him. If He were answerable to us concerning why He does something and why He does not. His supremacy would be curtailed.

Certain people will be satisfied with a statement like this; others will feel extreme dissatisfaction, even repulsion. Here we are getting to the heart of the whole question.

By nature we are capable of liking God or disliking Him, of obeying His orders or disobeying them. More accurately, according to the Vedas our natural position is to serve God with love; and if we so desire we can give up that position and attempt to serve our own selfish desires.

The Vedic literature gives reliable information about the fundamental nature of the living being. The Vishnu Purana states:

vishnu-shaktih para prokta
kshetrajnakhya tatha para
avidya-karma-samjnanya
tritiya shaktir ishyate

“The potency of Lord Vishnu is summarized in three categories, namely the spiritual potency, the living entities, and ignorance. The spiritual potency is full of knowledge; the living entities, although belonging to the spiritual potency, are subject to bewilderment; and the third energy, which is full of ignorance, is always visible in fruitive activities.”

In other words, God has three main energies: the spiritual energy, the energy composed of the innumerable living entities, or souls, and the material energy. The living entities are known as the tatastha-shakti, or the marginal potency of the Lord, because they have the ability to identify with either matter or spirit to exist in full knowledge or in total illusion.

By nature, however, the soul belongs to the spiritual potency. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (15.7), wherein Lord Krishna says, mamaivamsho jiva-loke jiva- bhutah sanatanah: “The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts.”

We have always been around. As God has always existed, we have always existed. Some theologians speculate that the soul comes into being when the present body comes into being. This is not only illogical (how can something eternal have a beginning?) but unsupported by scripture.

The Vedic scriptures further state, vasanti yatra purushah sarve vaikuntha-murtayah: “In the spiritual planets everyone lives in bodies featured like the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s.”

So if in our original condition we were eternal beings living in the spiritual world, in spiritual bodies like God’s, then what happened to us? What are we doing here. subject to birth and death?

An obvious question and a good one. Lord Krishna tells us in Bhagavad-gita (7.27).

iccha-dvesha-samutthena
dvandva-mohena bharata
sarva-bhutani sammoham
sarge yanti parantapa

“O scion of Bharata, O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, bewildered by dualities arisen from desire and hate.”

So one component of the reason for our being in the material world rather than the spiritual world, our real home, is that at some point we developed a desire to enjoy separately from the Supreme Lord, Krishna. Instead of serving Him with love, we desired to serve our own false ego. Although Krishna knows we can never be satisfied without serving Him in our natural position. He nonetheless respects our independence and free will and allows us to act out our impulses to enjoy separately from Him in the material world.

A second component of the reason for our being in the material world is our hatred for, or envy of, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One aspect of envy is the desire to usurp the position of the envied person. For example, if one envies a wealthy person, one may desire to become the enjoyer of that person’s wealth. Similarly, the envious soul may desire to take the Lord’s position as the supreme enjoyer. This necessarily involves partial or total forgetfulness of God’s existence.

One thing to keep in mind is that no one can honestly say, “The devil made me do it” According to the Vedas, God has no competitor battling with Him for souls. God is described asamaurdhva, “having no equal or superior.” If we are apart from God, we can blame no one but ourselves, our own desire and hatred.

There is no irreversible, eternal condemnation. Each soul always has the opportunity to exercise its free will. If a soul is “eternally” condemned, it is only because of its own continuing unwillingness to love God. One can always turn back to God, even from the most fallen position. Srila Prabhupada explains:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead expanded Himself into many for His ever-increasing spiritual bliss, and the living entities are parts and parcels of this spiritual bliss. They also have partial independence. but by misuse of their independence, when the service attitude is transformed into the propensity for sense enjoyment, they come under the sway of lust. This material creation is created by the Lord to give facility to the conditioned souls to fulfill these lustful propensities, and when completely baffled by prolonged lustful activities, the living entities begin to inquire about their real position.

Although the Vedic literature doesn’t talk of Satan, or the devil, it does describe Maya, the goddess in charge of the material energy. Maya is a servant of Lord Krishna who performs the unpleasant but necessary task of creating the temporary world of illusory happiness and distress for the souls who desire to forget Krishna and enjoy themselves apart from Him. And if a soul somehow develops a desire to return to Krishna, Maya is always there to test him with allurements: “So you think you love God? Well what about this ... ? And this … ?”

So if that’s our position now, then what is to be done? The answer is simple. We should use our independence to reestablish a friendly relationship with the Supreme Lord, Krishna, and thus end our unpleasant stay in the material world. This is the most important business of human existence.

We should choose to make ourselves pleasing to God. And everyone has an equal opportunity to do that. It is not that any particular group of people has a monopoly on salvation.

Every soul has the opportunity to achieve the highest goal. pure love for God. In his introduction to Bhagavad-gita As It Is. Srila Prabhupada explains, “The ways and the means for ultimate realization, ultimate attainment, are stated in the Bhagavad-gita, and the doors of this knowledge are open for everyone. No one is barred out. All classes of men can approach Lord Krishna by thinking of Him, for hearing and thinking of Him are possible for everyone.”

Lord Krishna Himself says in the Gita (9.32), “Those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth … can attain the supreme destination.” It doesn’t matter if one is male or female, higher or lower in social status.

The real chosen people are those who choose to endear themselves to God by their behavior. And in the Bhagavad- gita (12.20) Lord Krishna explains who is dear to Him: “Those who follow this imperishable path of devotional service and who completely engage themselves with faith, making Me the supreme goal, are very, very dear to Me.”

The imperishable path of devotional service begins with hearing and chanting the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Caitanya taught the simple method of awakening love of God through the congregational chanting of His holy names: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna , Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

Lord Caitanya was Krishna Himself, appearing as a devotee of Krishna. In other words, He was God showing by His own example how to please God.

Lord Caitanya prayed, “O son of Maharaja Nanda [Krishna], I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.”

When a devotee petitions Krishna in this way. Krishna responds. He says in Bhagavad-gita (12.6-7): “Those who worship Me, giving up all their activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, having fixed their minds upon Me, O son of Pritha—for them I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death.”

One can best meditate upon Krishna and fix one’s mind upon Him by chanting His holy names. In this way one can escape the cycle of birth and death and become situated at Krishna’s lotus feet Lord Caitanya prayed:

O my Lord, Your holy names alone can render all benedictions to living beings, and thus you have hundreds and millions of names, like Krishna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You by Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them.

Here Lord Caitanya is revealing our problem. We are trapped in the material world because we misused our independence. Even so, Krishna has made it possible for us to return to our original position simply by chanting His holy names. The method is easy; even a child can perform it. And it is guaranteed to be effective. Yet we are so unfortunate that we are not attracted to chant. We remain reluctant, attracted to other things.

Still, Krishna is non-different from His name. And in the form of His name, He is waiting for us to choose to accept Him into our hearts once more. If we can do so, we shall also enter into Krishna’s heart. Krishna says in the Srimad- Bhagavatam (9.4.68).

The devotees are always in My heart, and I am always in the hearts of the devotees. The devotee does not know anything beyond Me, and I also cannot forget the devotee. There is a very intimate relationship between Me and the pure devotees. Pure devotees in full knowledge are never out of spiritual touch. and therefore they arc very much dear to Me.

So, although we are "choosing people," in a sense there are also chosen people—the devotees. Because they have chosen God, God has chosen them. And He guarantees that their destination will be His eternal, spiritual abode.