Oasis in the Desert

Here at the Hare Krishna Center in Riga, Latvia we are experiencing an oasis in the desert in the association of the Riga devotees. Whoever practices Krishna consciousness is not living in the material world. They are a part of the spiritual world where eternity, bliss, and knowledge predominate. And if we associate with such persons, either in person or through the medium of transcendental sound vibration, we are immediately transported by their association in the spiritual world. Therefore there is no need to suffer any longer in this miserable material existence. All we have to do is take shelter of the Lord's saintly devotees, who will then engage us in devotional service and thus liberate us from all of our anxieties of material life.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

The Riga, Latvia Hare Krishna Center Spiritual Oasis in the Desert of Material Existence

Spiritual Oasis in the Desert of Material Existence

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Is the Pleasure of Chanting Real?

After reading lesson C47 I remembered that once you mentioned that this life is just like taking a train, just for transportation to another life, a better one, which is our destination. In lesson C47 you said there is no point in trying to squeeze the pleasure out of this life, that we should focus on the more important task, which is the destination towards which this life can take us.

Therefore, I have to ask: Just as on a trip with the train we try to make ourselves comfortable, we try to enjoy the trip itself, as long as it takes, of course knowing that when we reach the destination we have to get off the train, why then we should despise this life we are living and not enjoy it? I do not mean by this that we should involve in perverted activities (like greediness or lust). You give us advice to chant and glorify God all the time, even in this life. Isn't that also a form of enjoying this life? Is it wrong for someone to think that the pleasure he/she gets from chanting is not real pleasure, but an illusion?

Please forgive me if I made any offenses.

Your student

Answer: Chanting Pleasure is Really, Really Real!

Krishna consciousness means to enjoy life unlimitedly right now right here today by reconnecting ourselves in love with that Supreme Person, Who is the source of everything including existence itself.

The pleasure of chanting of Hare Krishna is real pleasure. It is not any sort of illusory, temporary pleasure like that which is experienced alternatively in this material world with so many varieties of material miseries. It is pure pleasure that stands fully on its own, unlike material pleasure which requires being contrasted with material miseries to be appreciated.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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