The Ultimate benefit - Sreya

In many of Srila Prabhupada's lectures he exclusively explains about the two topics  sreya and preya.  He explains that sreya means the ultimate benefit  and preya means immediate profit. Just like  children want to play all day long that is preya,  but the parents know that they must go to school and learn in order to become educated, which  in the long run will be beneficial for them, so that is sreya.

In Bhagavad Gita Lord Sri Krsna talks about sreya and preya in terms of happiness, he says according to the modes of material nature acquired by a living entity  there are different kinds of happiness by which sometimes he comes to the end of all miseries

sukhaḿ tv idānīḿ tri-vidhaḿ
śṛṇu me bharatarṣabha
abhyāsād ramate yatra
duḥkhāntaḿ ca nigacchati [ B.g. 18.36]

"O best of the Bhāratas, now please hear from Me about the three kinds of happiness by which the conditioned soul enjoys, and by which he sometimes comes to the end of all distress."

 Lord Krsna Further explains that

"yat tad agre viṣam iva

pariṇāme 'mṛtopamam

tat sukhaḿ sāttvikaḿ proktam

ātma-buddhi-prasāda-jam"  [ B.g. 18.37]

"That which in the beginning may be just like poison but at the end is just like nectar and which awakens one to self-realization is said to be happiness in the mode of goodness"

In the purport Srila Prabhupada explains that

"In the pursuit of self-realization, one has to follow many rules and regulations to control the mind and the senses and to concentrate the mind on the self. All these procedures are very difficult, bitter like poison, but if one is successful in following the regulations and comes to the transcendental position, he begins to drink real nectar, and he enjoys life."

From above verses we can understand that this is an example of sreya. Ultimate good for any living entity is to engage in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, since even though in the begining it may seem to be like poison due to many rules and regulations such as giving up intoxication even upto tea, coffee, giving up meat eating even eggs, no illicit sex  and no gambling etc , still if one is seriouly interested in sreya ,i.e the ultimate benefit he must go through it.

Besides Lord Krsna affirms in the  Bhagavad Gita verse 18.37 that in the beginning it may feel like poison but at the end it is just like nectar. The quality of patience will help one in this regard to get through the early stages.

On the other hand the happiness which is derived from modes of passion is an example of preya .
viṣayendriya-saḿyogād
yat tad agre 'mṛtopamam
pariṇāme viṣam iva
tat sukhaḿ rājasaḿ smṛtam [ B.g. 18.38]

"That happiness which is derived from contact of the senses with their objects and which appears like nectar at first but poison at the end is said to be of the nature of passion."


The above mentioned verse is pointing towards preya which is immediate benefit. Lord Krsna explains that this kind of happiness is very transitory and it will taste like nectar in the beginning but will soon feel like poison at the end. These kind of activites are very commonly seen in today's modern society, actions that are carried out without thinking about the consequences for the immediate pleasure of the senses, like illicit sex, intoxication, meat eating and gambling etc. . These activities in the later years lead to mental and physical problems like, depression, impotence, diseases etc in this life and  degradation to lower species like that of animals in the next life. So this is preya which is not recommended in the Vedic scriptures.

In all the Vedic scriptures it is recommended to perform acts conducive to sreya which will lead to ultimate benefit of a living entity. By engaging oneself with patience and confidence in performing certain minor austerities and chanting the holy names of the  Lord one can achieve the highest Sreya , in this lifetime itself.  Since in this Age of Quarrel  called Kali yuga, there are innumerable faults which make self realization a very difficult task hence the process of self realization is also made very easy for people of this age. By the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu , Krsna has incarnated in his Holy names and only by chanting the holy names of the Lord i.e Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare one can achieve Love of Godhead  which is very very very rare to obtain for the best of self realized persons, and there is no other better sreya or the most ultimate benefit for a living entity other than to acquire Love of Godhead by chanting Hare Krsna.

kaler doña-nidhe räjann

asti hy eko mahän guëaù

kértanäd eva kåñëasya

mukta-saìgaù paraà vrajet

"My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Krsna mahä-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom." [ S.B. 12.3.51]

The Carpenter's Tools

Brother Hammer served as the chairman. The other members of the tool belt informed him that he must leave, because he was too noisy. But brother Hammer said, "If I have to leave this carpenter's shop, then brother Gimlet must go too. He's insignificant and makes a very small impression." (A gimlet is a small tool with a screw point, grooved shank, and a cross handle for boring holes).

 

Little brother Gimlet arose and said, "All right, but brother Screwdriver must go also. You have to turn him around and around to get anywhere with him."

 

Brother Screwdriver turned to the other tools in the belt and said, "If you wish, I will go, but brother Plane must leave too. All of his work is on the surface; there's no depth to what he does."

 

To this brother Plane leveled his terse reply, "Well, then, brother Saw will have to depart too. The changes he proposes always cut too deep."

 

Brother Saw complained, saying, "Brother Ruler will have to withdraw if I leave, for he's always measuring other folks as though he were the only one who is right."

 

Brother Ruler then surveyed the group and said, "Brother Sandpaper doesn't belong here either. He's rougher than he ought to be, and is always rubbing people the wrong way."

 

In the midst of the discussion, the Carpenter of Vrindavana walked in. He had come to perform his day's work. He put on His tool belt and went to the workbench to make a treasure box. He employed the ruler, the saw, the plane, the hammer, the gimlet, the screwdriver, the sandpaper, and all the other tools. When the day's work was over, the box was finished, and the carpenter went home. All the accusations against each of these tools were absolutely true, yet the carpenter used every one of them. No matter which tool He used, no other tool could have done the work better.

 

Moral: We are "tools" in the hands of Krishna. He knows how to use us and make us useful. Let us stop rejecting others. Krishna has a greater purpose with all of us. If we allow ourselves to be used by Krishna, the way, He wants, we too can become successful and purposeful.

 

Hari bol.

 

www.krsna-gyan.blogspot.com

http://groups.google.com/group/bhagvad-gita-awareness

 

courtesy: Subuddhi Krsna Dasa ( subuddhi@gmail.com)

Spiritual Selfishness

Selfish is described in the dictionary as
–adjective


1. devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one's own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others.

2. characterized by or manifesting concern or care only for oneself: selfish motives.
 
From the above definition, one can understand that generally Selfish people are not liked and  this quality is considered not a very good quality to possess. It indeed is not a very good quality from material point of view. However from the spiritual point of you this quality can  become one of the steps in realizing the Reality of one's existence.
 
In order to understand what selfishness is, let us first of all examine what the self is, generally speaking people consider the body which is seen with the naked eye to be the self and selfishness in this regard is the tendency to please the body or the senses, i.e sense gratification. Some consider the mind as the self and engage themselves in mental speculation and excessive thinking and selfishness in this regard is the tendency to please the mind at the cost of others. Some others consider the intelligence as the self and they are engaged in philosophical discussions and debates, and selfishness in this regard is the tendency to establish one's ideas as true amongst the others.
 

From the Vedic point of view we can understand that the self is neither the body, nor the mind or the intelligence. In the eighth chapter of Bhagavad Gita Arjuna asks Lord Krishna about what is the self 

 

arjuna uvāca

kiḿ tad brahma kim adhyātmaḿ

kiḿ karma puruṣottama
adhibhūtaḿ ca kiḿ proktam
adhidaivaḿ kim ucyate [ B.g. 8.1]

" Arjuna inquired: O my Lord, O Supreme Person, what is Brahman? What is the self? What are fruitive activities? What is this material manifestation? And what are the demigods? Please explain this to me."

In answer to this question Lord Krsna replied

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
akṣaraḿ brahma paramaḿ
svabhāvo 'dhyātmam ucyate
bhūta-bhāvodbhava-karo
visargaḥ karma-saḿjñitaḥ [ B.g. 8.3]

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: The indestructible, transcendental living entity is called Brahman, and his eternal nature is called adhyātma, the self. Action pertaining to the development of the material bodies of the living entities is called karma, or fruitive activities."


 It is evident that eternal nature of the transcendental living entity is called  the self.  In another place Lord Sri Krsna explains the hierarchy of the senses, mind and intelligence with respect to the soul or the living entity

indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur
indriyebhyaḥ paraḿ manaḥ
manasas tu parā buddhir
yo buddheḥ paratas tu saḥ [ B.g. 3.42]

"The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence."

So if we consider the above statements we can understand the soul is higher than the intelligence which is higher than the mind which is in turn higher than the senses, as mentioned before  self is the eternal nature of the soul. In many places in the Vedic literature it is mentioned that the eternal constitutional position of a soul is that of  being a servant of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna

 jévera 'svarüpa' haya—kåñëera 'nitya-däsa'  [ C.c. Madhya 20.108]

"It is the living entity's constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Krsna"

So if the nature of the living entity i.e the self is to become servant of Krsna, then as per the dictionary meaning of Selfish,  for a living entity the most welfare will take place when he becomes greedy for service of Krsna, hence becoming "self "ish will become a quality which should be acquired inorder to become advanced in Krsna Consciouness.

The point is, if one really identifies oneself with the material elements like the senses, mind and intelligence one's selfishness will be limited and unbeneficial or harmful for him and others, on the other hand if one identifies oneself as an eternal loving servant of the Lord , his selfishness will make the living entity more advanced in spiritual life and make him realize his relation with the Supreme Lord which will benefit himself and inspire others. The easiest way to attain this Spiritual Selfishness in this dark age of Kali is to Chant the Holy names of the Lord Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare collectively and individually.

The Journey Home by Radhanath Swami

A Discourse on Yoga and Ecology
and

Personal Appearance and Book Signing Event at Praire Center for Arts, Schaumburg, IL, USA

On 22nd Oct 2010 from 6:30 pm to 9:00pm

Free Admissions and Refereshements.

http://www.radhanathswami.com/

From Guru and Sastra : Devotional service is All Attractive

Even a liberated soul merged in the impersonal brahman effulgence is
attracted to the pastimes of Krsna. He thus installs a deity and
renders the lord service.
(Sri Sankaracarya - commentry on narsimha tapani upnisad)

Hare Krsna

Hare Krsna