TLC Preface
Preface
There is no difference between the teachings of Lord Caitanya presented
here and the teachings of Lord Krsna in the Bhagavad-gita.
The teachings of Lord Caitanya are practical demonstrations
of Lord Krsna's teachings.
Lord Krsna's ultimate instruction in Bhagavad-gita is that everyone should
surrender unto Him, Lord Krsna.
Krsna promises to take immediate charge of such a surrendered soul.
The Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is
already in charge of the maintenance of this creation by virtue of His
plenary expansion, Ksirodakasayi Visnu, but this maintenance is not
direct.
However, when the Lord says that He takes charge of His pure
devotee, He actually takes direct charge.
A pure devotee is a soul who is forever surrendered to the Lord, just as a
child is surrendered to his parents or an animal to its master.
In the surrendering process, one should: (1) accept things favorable for discharging
devotional service, (2) reject things unfavorable, (3) believe
firmly in the Lord's protection, (4) feel exclusively dependent
on the mercy of the Lord, (5) have no interest separate from the interest
of the Lord, and (6) always feel oneself meek and humble.
The Lord demands that one surrender unto Him by following these six
guidelines, but the unintelligent so-called scholars of the world
misunderstand these demands and urge the general mass of people to reject
them.
At the conclusion of the Ninth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krsna
directly says: "Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, offer
obeisances and worship Me.
Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me."
(Bg.
9.34) However, the scholarly demons misguide the
masses of people by directing them to the impersonal, unmanifest, eternal,
unborn truth rather than the Personality of Godhead.
The impersonalist Mayavadi philosophers do not accept that the
ultimate aspect of the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality
of Godhead.
If one desires to understand the sun as it is, one must first
face the sunshine, then the sun globe and, after entering into that globe,
come face to face with the predominating deity of the sun.
Due to a poor fund of knowledge, the Mayavadi philosophers cannot go beyond the
Brahman effulgence, which may be compared to the sunshine.
The Upanisads confirm that one has to penetrate the dazzling effulgence of Brahman
before one can see the real face of the Personality of Godhead.
Lord Caitanya therefore teaches direct worship of Lord Krsna, who appeared
as the foster child of the King of Vraja.
He also suggests that the place known as Vrndavana is as good as Lord Krsna
because there is no difference between the name, quality, form, pastimes,
entourage and paraphernalia of Lord Krsna and Lord Krsna Himself.
That is the absolute nature of the Absolute Truth.
Lord Caitanya also recommended that the highest mode of worship in the
highest perfectional stage is the method practiced by the damsels of
Vraja.
These damsels (gopis, or cowherd girls) simply loved Krsna without
a motive for material or spiritual gain.
Caitanya also recommended Srimad-Bhagavatam as the spotless narration
of transcendental knowledge, and He pointed out that the highest goal in
human life is to develop unalloyed love for Krsna, the Supreme Personality
of Godhead.
Lord Caitanya's teachings are identical to those given by Lord Kapila, the
original propounder of sankhya-yoga, the sankhya system of philosophy.
This authorized system of yoga recommends meditation on the transcendental
form of the Lord.
There is no question of meditating on something void or
impersonal.
One can meditate on the transcendental form of Lord Visnu even
without practicing involved sitting postures.
Such meditation is called perfect samadhi.
This perfect samadhi is verified at the end of the Sixth
Chapter of Bhagavad-gita where Lord Krsna says: "And of all yogis, he who
always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental
loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the
highest of all."
(Bg.
6.47)
Lord Caitanya instructed the mass of people in the sankhya philosophy of
acintya-bhedabheda-tattva, which maintains that the Supreme Lord is
simultaneously one with and different from His creation.
Lord Caitanya taught this philosophy through the chanting
of the holy name of the Lord.
He taught that the holy name of the Lord is the sound incarnation of the
Lord and that since the Lord is the absolute whole, there is no difference
between His holy name and His transcendental form.
Thus by chanting the holy name of the Lord one can directly associate
with the Supreme Lord by sound vibration.
As one practices this sound vibration, he passes through
three stages of development: the offensive stage, the clearing stage and
the transcendental stage.
In the offensive stage one may desire all kinds
of material happiness, but in the second stage one becomes clear of all
material contamination.
When one is situated on the transcendental stage,
he attains the most coveted position -- the stage of loving God.
Lord Caitanya taught that this is the highest stage
of perfection for human beings.
Yoga practice is essentially meant for controlling the senses.
The central controlling factor of all the senses is the
mind; therefore one first has to practice controlling the mind by engaging
it in Krsna consciousness.
The gross activities of the mind are expressed through the external
senses, either for the acquiring of knowledge or the functioning of the
senses in accordance to the will.
The subtle activities of the mind are thinking, feeling and willing.
In accordance to one's consciousness, the individual is either polluted or clear.
If one's mind is fixed on Krsna (His name, quality, form, pastimes, entourage
and paraphernalia), all one's activities -- both subtle and gross
-- become favorable.
The Bhagavad-gita's process of purifying consciousness
is the process of fixing one's mind on Krsna by talking of His transcendental
activities, cleansing His temple, going to His temple, seeing the
beautiful transcendental form of the Lord nicely decorated, hearing His
transcendental glories, tasting food offered to Him, associating with His
devotees, smelling the flowers and tulasi leaves offered Him, engaging in
activities for the Lord's interest, etc.
No one can bring the activities of the mind and senses to a
stop, but one can purify these activities through a change in
consciousness.
This change is indicated in Bhagavad-gita when Krsna tells
Arjuna of the knowledge of yoga whereby one can work without fruitive
results.
"O son of Prtha, when you act by such intelligence, you can free
yourself from the bondage of works."
(Bg.
2.39) A human being is sometimes restricted in sense gratification due to certain
circumstances such as disease, etc., but this is not the prescription.
Without knowing the actual process by which the mind and senses
can be controlled, less intelligent men either try to stop the mind
and senses by force, or they give in to them and are carried away by the
waves of sense gratification.
The regulative principles and the rules of yoga, the various sitting
postures and breathing exercises performed in an attempt to withdraw one's
senses from the sense objects are methods meant for those who are too much
engrossed in the bodily conception of life.
The intelligent man who is situated in Krsna consciousness does not try
to forcibly stop his senses from acting.
Rather, he engages his senses in the service of Krsna.
No one can stop a child from playing by leaving him
inactive.
A child can be stopped from engaging in nonsense by being
engaged in superior activities.
The forceful restraint of sense activities by the eight principles of yoga
is recommended for inferior men.
Being engaged in the superior activities of Krsna consciousness, superior men naturally
retire from the inferior activities of material existence.
In this way Lord Caitanya teaches the science of Krsna consciousness.
That science is absolute.
Dry mental speculators try to restrain themselves from material attachment, but it is generally
found that the mind is too strong to be controlled and that it drags
them down to sensual activities.
A person in Krsna consciousness does not run this risk.
One has to engage his mind and senses in Krsna conscious activities,
and Lord Caitanya teaches one how to do this in practice.
Before accepting sannyasa (the renounced order), Lord Caitanya was known as
Visvambhara.
The word visvambhara refers to one who maintains the entire
universe and who leads all living entities.
This maintainer and leader appeared as Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya to give
humanity these sublime teachings.
Lord Caitanya is the ideal teacher of life's prime necessities.
He is the most munificent bestower of love of Krsna.
He is the complete reservoir of all mercies and good fortune.
As confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita, Mahabharata
and the Upanisads, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna Himself,
and He is worshipable by everyone in this age of disagreement.
Everyone can join in His sankirtana movement.
No previous qualification is necessary.
just by following His teachings, anyone can become a perfect human
being.
If one is fortunate enough to be attracted by His features, one
is sure to be successful in one's life mission.
In other words, those who are interested in attaining
spiritual existence can be easily relieved from the clutches of maya by
the grace of Lord Caitanya.
These teachings presented in this book are nondifferent from the Lord.
Being engrossed in the material body, the conditioned soul increases the
pages of history by all kinds of material activities.
The teachings of Lord Caitanya can help human society stop
such unnecessary and temporary activities.
By these teachings, humanity can be elevated to the topmost
platform of spiritual activity.
These spiritual activities actually begin after liberation from material bondage.
Such liberated activities in Krsna consciousness constitute the goal of human
perfection.
The false prestige one acquires by attempting to dominate material
nature is illusory.
Illuminating knowledge can be acquired from the teachings of Lord
Caitanya, and by such knowledge one can advance in spiritual existence.
Everyone has to suffer or enjoy the fruits of his activity; no one can
check the laws of material nature which govern such things.
As long as one is engaged in fruitive activity, he is sure
to be baffled in an attempt to attain the ultimate goal of life.
I sincerely hope that by understanding the teachings of Lord Caitanya, human society
will experience a new light of spiritual life which will open the field
of activity for the pure soul.
Om Tat Sat
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
14 March 1968 (Birthday of Lord Caitanya)
Sri-Sri-Radha-Krsna Temple New York, N.Y.