Are You Sane or Insane? Life is Beautiful

You are either sane or insane. There is no in-between. If you know who you are and you are living every day in that reality, you are sane. And if you don't know who you are, you are insane; you are living in unreality. A person in ignorance thinks that reality is so painful that it is better to remain in illusion imagining that life is wonderful. But the fully enlightened person knows that life is inconceivably wonderful and beautiful, millions and billions times greater than our tiny brains can even begin to try to conceive. And he lives in and celebrates that reality at every second. This most exalted state of self-realization is known as Krishna consciousness.

Srila Prabhupada Gives Us Unlimited Bliss

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version

Question: How to Get Free From Material Desires?

In a lecture I heard that Krishna reciprocates with us according to our personal desire, and my personal realization says that this is true. It is also true that sometimes Krishna gives us more then we deserve.

My question is what should we personally desire so that we don't fall into the material pool? Sometimes there are lots of material desires that come in our mind that might be connected to Krishna consciousness. For example one may desire to do so much devotional service that it takes away time from sadhana, personal devotional practices. Since material desires cannot be stopped, how can we come out clean?

It would be great if we could get your mercy. Thanks for motivating us.

Your servant,
Renuka

Answer: Heart Chock Full of Spiritual Desires

Desire is natural and cannot be stopped. Everyone is always desiring something at every minute. Material desires bind us to the miserable, ignorant, fearful cycle of birth and death. Spiritual desires liberate us from this cycle and take us back to our original eternal, blissful, fully enlightened identities in the transcendental kingdom of God. It is not possible to simply turn off desire. But if one will cultivate spiritual desires more and more, filling one's heart with them, gradually his heart will be so full of spiritual desires that there will be no room left for material desires.

The desire to do a lot of devotional service is not a material desire. It is a spiritual desire. And the desire to do a lot of personal sadhana such as chanting japa and studying the scriptures is also a spiritual desire. Both of these desires are very beneficial for your spiritual emancipation. Therefore you should live your life in such a way that you are always engaged in doing as much service as possible and always diving deep into personal sadhana as much as possible. You should be so much engaged in Krishna consciousness 24 hours a day that there is not even one second of idle time. Within your day there should be no gaps for Maya or illusion. In this way when material desires come to check into the hotel of your heart, they will see a big sign that says, "No Vacancy," and they will have to go somewhere else to find a place of residence.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari