Happiness Beyond Your Wildest Dreams

The practice of bhakti yoga, Krishna consciousness, boils down to one simple formula: Always remember Krishna and never forget Him. The devotee does not want to forget Krishna even for a second because even the briefest amount of time outside of Krishna consciousness is like an unbearably agonizing millennium. Therefore he does everything possible to keep himself in Krishna consciousness 24 hours a day. He arranges his home, his office, and his car in such a way to always be reminded of Krishna. He listens to Krishna conscious music. He reads Krishna conscious books. He gives a portion of his income to support the Krishna consciousness movement. He only eats foods that have been offered to Lord Sri Krishna with love and devotion. He makes deep and lasting friendships with Krishna conscious persons. When he takes a vacation, he travels to holy place of pilgrimage like Mayapur or Vrindavan to supercharge his Krishna consciousness. In this way he keeps himself completely 24 hours a day connected with Krishna and His devotees. This total absorption in Krishna consciousness is the perfection of existence. It is the highest peace, the ultimate knowledge, and the supreme happiness. When the mind is fully absorbed in Krishna consciousness, it is said to be in samadhi, or trance.

Make this the prime goal of your life and you will experience happiness beyond your wildest dreams.

Answers According to the Vedic Version

Question: The Purpose of Our Existence...

I was wondering because someone asked the same question that has been bothering my mind too, regarding our reason for existence. I am still blindfolded on this!

If the only purpose of our coming to this material world is to get cured and become one with the Supreme, my question is why did we get separated form the Godhead and come here in the first place?

When we came here at first, I hope we were pure Self. Is it that then over several lives we become impure with performing karmic activities under the influence of Maya? Is my understanding correct?

When you say Spiritual Plane/World that is full of bliss, happiness - is this another Plane of our existence where we are one with God yet not God Himself ?

If we can become one with God, then is there any meaning to our existence ? Don't we lose our identity to experience that Supreme Self ? After we become one with then Supreme, then what were we before we merged? Will it be like we never existed?

Please help me understand the purpose of our existence and why we have to go thru these miseries or happiness in this material world.

Please pardon my misunderstandings and help me understand it correctly.

Thank you,

Your humble student:

Veena

Answer: To Have a Loving Relationship with God...

Just as a foolish child sometimes sticks his hand in a fire out of curiosity to see what it is like, sometimes the living entity foolishly decides to taste the the forbidden fruit of trying to be God. Why does the child do this against the advice of his parents? This is his exercise of his free will, his independence.

We are impure from the very instant we enter this material existence. And by engaging in sinful activities we become more and more impure. By taking to the devotional service of the Lord we become gradually free of all of our impurities and can then return to our original position in the spiritual world as servants of the Lord.

The living being never becomes one with God. He always maintains his separate identity so that he can lovingly serve the Lord. Those who are perfect in spiritual consciousness deride the conception of becoming one with God.

The way to experience the Supreme Self is similar to the way you would experience the association of any great personality. You don't experience the association of Mahatma Gandhi by becoming Mahatma Gandhi. You experience Mahatma Gandhi by meeting him and talking with him. Similarly, you do not experience God by becoming Him. You experience God by associating with Him.

Does a woman want to serve her husband or become her husband? She wants to share the joys of family life with her husband. She does not want to annihilate the separate existence of she and her husband by merging into him. Similarly, the devotee never wants to lose his individual existence by merging into God. Nor does God want this.

The purpose of your existence is to have a loving relationship with Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When we misuse our free will by trying to become God, we come to this material world to undergo sufficient sufferings to convince us to go back to our original position of being a servant of God.

Do you now clearly understood? If not, kindly let me know and I shall try to explain it further.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari