Waking Up from the Dream

This material existence is a dream. Even though it has a reality, it is not at all what is appears to be. In this material world we are dreaming "I am this body." We are thinking ourselves to be of a particular gender, race, and nationality. But actually our gender, race, and nationality have nothing at all to do with our actual self. They are simply coverings hiding our actual self.

When we wake up from the sleep of material existence and become reconnected with our original, eternal identity which exists far, far beyond the prison of birth, death, old age, and disease, we will then taste the actual happiness of existence in a state of perfect harmony with God. In this connection Srila Bhaktivinode describes how Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is calling out to us to awaken us from our millions of lifetimes old slumber:

jiv jago jiv jago gauracanda bole
kota nidra jao maya-pisacira kole

"Wake up, sleeping soul! Wake up! Why are you sleeping on this lap of maya, the illusory energy? Get up!"

It's time we heed His call and come out of the nightmare of material existence into an eternal life, full of bliss, and full of knowledge.

Lord Caitanya is Imploring Us,
"Wake Up from the Dream of Material Existence."

Answers According to the Vedic Version

Question: How Can I Feel Krishna?...

I have been reading all your mails and they are truly what Krishna would have liked you to say to us. I feel that way at least.

How can I feel Krishna? Can I see him if possible? How can all my sins be washed away? Again and again I commit sins which Krishna does not want me to do. How can I get out of this material world that I do not want to be part of?

Bimal

Answer: Read Bhagavad-gita Seriously...

I am very happy that you are feeling that I am speaking to you according to the Lord's desire. Actually this is a fact. In our Krishna consciousness movement we do not invent our own teachings. We simply deliver to our students the pure teachings of Krishna exactly as they are spoken by the Lord in the Bhagavad-gita. We do not add or subtract anything.

Therefore, because our words are the words of Lord Sri Krishna, they are fully potent to deliver our students from the clutches of birth and death.

You have asked how you can feel Krishna. If you will read the Bhagavad-gita very seriously you will feel how Lord Krishna is present before you and is instructing you.

In regards to seeing Krishna, Lord Brahma describes as follows in the Brahma-samhita:

premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena
santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti
yam syamasundaram acintya-guna-svarupam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Syamasundara, Krishna Himself with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love."--Brahma-samhita 5.38

The process for washing all your sins away is described by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita:

sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah

"Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear."--Bhagavad-gita 18.66

If you want to stop sinning you must get a higher taste. We take to sinful activities as a less intelligent form of enjoyment. But those who are highly intelligent can easily stop sinful life because they derive unlimited pleasure from chanting the holy names of God:

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Your final question is how can you get out of this material world. If by Krishna's grace one is fortunate enough to come under the shelter of the bona fide spiritual master, by the mercy of Krishna he receives lessons on how to execute devotional service to the Supreme Lord. In this way he receives a clue of how to get out of his continuous struggle up and down within the material world. Therefore the Vedic injunction is that one should approach a spiritual master. The Vedas declare:

tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet

"If you want to realize the transcendental science, you must approach the bona fide spiritual master."--Mundaka Upanisad 1.2.12

Similarly in Bhagavad-gita (4.34) the Supreme Personality of Godhead advises:

tad viddhi pranipatena
pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam
jnaninas tattva-darsinah

"Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth."

Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.3.21) gives similar advice:

tasmad gurum prapadyeta
jijnasuh sreya uttamam
sabde pare ca nisnatam
brahmany upasamasrayam

"Any person who seriously desires to achieve real happiness must seek out a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of his spiritual master is that he must have realized the conclusion of the scriptures by deliberation and be able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, are to be understood as bona fide spiritual masters."

Similarly, Visvanatha Cakravarti, a great Vaisnava, also advises:

yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadah

"By the mercy of the spiritual master one receives the mercy of Krishna."

This is the same advice given by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu:

guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

"By the mercy of Guru and Krishna one receives the seed of bhakti."--Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya 19.151

So, this is essential. To get out of this material world one must come to Krishna consciousness. This is achieved by taking shelter of a pure devotee. Thus one can become free from the clutches of matter go back home, back to Godhead.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari