Our eternal nature beyond death (Sankhya #24)
Although we are eternal servants of Krsna, when we come in contact with the false ego, mind, intelligence, etc. a new material identity is formed, different from the original. How to get out of it?
« SANKHYA, The Philosophy of Lord Kapila
Our eternal nature beyond death
"Due to his particular type of body, the materialistic living entity wanders from one planet to another, following fruitive activities. In this way, he involves himself in fruitive activities and enjoys the result incessantly.
In this way the living entity gets a suitable body with a material mind and senses, according to his fruitive activities. When the reaction of his particular activity comes to an end, that end is called death, and when a particular type of reaction begins, that beginning is called birth.
When the eyes lose their power to see color or form due to morbid affliction of the optic nerve, the sense of sight becomes deadened. The living entity, who is the seer of both the eyes and the sight, loses his power of vision. In the same way, when the physical body, the place where perception of objects occurs, is rendered incapable of perceiving, that is known as death. When one begins to view the physical body as one’s very self, that is called birth.
Therefore, one should not view death with horror, nor have recourse to defining the body as soul, nor give way to exaggeration in enjoying the bodily necessities of life. Realizing the true nature of the living entity, one should move about in the world free from attachment and steadfast in purpose.
Endowed with right vision and strengthened by devotional service and a pessimistic attitude towards material identity, one should relegate his body to this illusory world through his reason. Thus one can be unconcerned with this material world." (SB 3.31.43-48)
Although we are eternal servants of Krsna, when we come in contact with the false ego, followed by the mind, intelligence, etc. a new material identity is formed. This identity is different from the real identity of the soul, but because we firmly identify with it, for practical purposes, this material identity becomes "us". In this way, we become entrapped in the material dreamland. Although the eternal nature of the soul is still existing and is never lost, we forget it.
Because our original position of love for Krsna is forgotten, we may say that we don't have this love with us now, although it is still present, just like if I forget my phone in a certain place, I will not have it with me now, but it doesn't mean it stopped being mine. As soon as some kind soul returns it to me, I'm reunited with it. Similarly, although our original position is a position of service to Krsna, and although Lord Caitanya mentions that love for Krsna is eternally established in the soul, because we are currently identified with this material identity, instead of our eternal nature as souls, we may say that we don't have it with us now.
Because of this difference between the real nature of the soul, and the conditioned identity we are identified with now, it is sometimes said that we are eternally conditioned or that love for the Lord has to be obtained. The conditioned identity is part of this material world and was never outside of it, even though there is also an eternal spiritual identity that is never lost. These two apparent contradictory sides are one of the reasons this topic is so complicated.
Because it is so hard to give up this material conditioning, the process for re-attaining our eternal, original spiritual identity is to practice Krsna consciousness while inside this material identity. By becoming Krsna Conscious while living in this material world, we reconnect with our original Krsna Conscious nature and can finally remember who we are. As long as we identify with the temporary material identity we are called jīva-bhūta, and when we identify with our eternal identity, we are called brahma-bhūta. The process of going from one to the other always passes through meeting and associating with pure devotees, as Prabhupada mentions in his purport to verse 43:
"Lord Caitanya says that the living entities, bound up by fruitive activities, are wandering in this way throughout the whole universe, and if by some chance or by pious activities they get in touch with a bona fide spiritual master, by the grace of Kṛṣṇa, then they get the seed of devotional service. After getting this seed, if one sows it within his heart and pours water on it by hearing and chanting, the seed grows into a big plant, and there are fruits and flowers which the living entity can enjoy, even in this material world. That is called the brahma-bhūta stage. In his designated condition, a living entity is called materialistic, and upon being freed from all designations, when he is fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, engaged in devotional service, he is called liberated. Unless one gets the opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of the Lord, there is no possibility of one’s liberation from the cycle of birth and death in the different species of life and through the different grades of planets."
Once in the material world, we assume different material identities according to our desires and the results of our past activities. However, because none of these are our real, eternal identity, they are all temporary. As a result, as long as our material conditioning continues, we transmigrate from one form to another. Our activities inside the material world are thus divided into chapters or sets of activities, with a new birth representing the start of a new chapter or a set, and death representing the end of it. Birth inevitably leads to death, and death means a new birth, therefore our activities in the material world never end, and therefore the results of these activities (our karma), just increases. In this practically unlimited cycle, we are sometimes up and sometimes down, sometimes taking birth in a rich family, and sometimes in a very poor family, sometimes as a demigod, sometimes as an animal. Therefore, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura prays: anādi’ karama-phale, poḍi’ bhavārnava-jale, toribāre nā dekhi upāy, "I have fallen into the ocean of material existence as a result of my selfish activities, which are without beginning, and I see no means of deliverance from this great ocean of nescience."
Although we have been in this material world since time immemorial, and although we don't have the power to free ourselves from it by ourselves, we can be saved by associating with persons who are free from it: pure devotees who are free from material conditioning. Just as a person standing on a boat can help someone struggling in the ocean to get out, such pure devotees of the Lord can help us to save ourselves from the ocean of birth and death. As Prabhupada mentions, any sane person should seek their saintly association.
Prabhupada calls our attention in his purport to verse 48 that "one has to associate with liberated persons not directly, physically, but by understanding, through philosophy and logic, the problems of life." Association of pure devotees does not just mean to be just physically living with them but to absorb their understanding of the world and their love for Krsna through the practical application of their teachings.
Often we presume that spiritual practice requires renouncing the world and giving up all material possessions. However, giving up material possessions implies we ourselves as the owners of such things in the first place. In other words, such renunciation is performed under the covering of the false ego, of seeing ourselves as the possessors of something we can thus renounce. This is called phalgu-vairāgya: insufficient or false renunciation. Instead, we should practice yukta-vairāgya, using whatever material resources are available as tools in our service to Krsna. This process is explained both in the Bhagavad-gita and in the second chapter of the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam.
As Prabhupada mentions: "Everything belongs to the Supreme Personality of Godhead; therefore everything can be engaged in the service of the Lord; nothing should be used for one’s sense gratification. That is real renunciation."
By developing this attitude, we can associate with our previous acaryas through their instructions, as well as personally with devotees who are physically present on the planet, and in this way realize that not only our material body, but also the senses, mind, and intelligence are part of the temporary material identity that binds us to this world. We are not this false identity, but we somehow became firmly connected with it through the influence of the false ego. Now we have to become free from it. As Lord Kapila concludes, "one should relegate his body to this illusory world through his reason. Thus one can be unconcerned with this material world."
This material, temporary identity, belongs to this material world and should stay here. Our real identity is different from it. This process is also described by Sukadeva Goswami in the second canto:
"Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O King, unless one is influenced by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no meaning to the relationship of the pure soul in pure consciousness with the material body. That relationship is just like a dreamer’s seeing his own body working. The illusioned living entity appears in so many forms offered by the external energy of the Lord. While enjoying in the modes of material nature, the encaged living entity misconceives, thinking in terms of “I” and “mine.” As soon as the living entity becomes situated in his constitutional glory and begins to enjoy the transcendence beyond time and material energy, he at once gives up the two misconceptions of life [I and mine] and thus becomes fully manifested as the pure self." (SB 2.9.1-3)
The essence of the teachings of this chapter is thus:
a) We should select our association carefully, because association plants desire in the heart, and these desires lead to action.
b) Materialistic association plants material desires that lead to material action and the creation of new material bodies and the continuation of our material existence, while spiritual association plants the seeds of desires connected with the service to Krsna that leads us to ultimate liberation.
c) Apart from association, we should develop a philosophical understanding of our eternal nature as souls, and of the nature of this material world. Understanding our material identity as the source of our material conditioning and suffering, we should develop a negative attitude towards it, understanding it is different from our real self.
d) We should avoid sinful activities, especially involvement with illicit sex life because it very powerfully binds us to the material world. Even married life is dangerous if not conducted in a spirit of service to the Lord.
e) The idea of renouncing the world is both incorrect and incomplete. Instead, we should use everything for Krsna, seeing material objects, material abilities, and other assets as tools we can use to improve our service to the Lord.
f) Instead, what we must renounce is the false idea of seeing things as objects of our enjoyment. When we renounce the attitude of enjoying this world, we can be liberated even while living here.