In conversation the other day the subject of ' Simple Living High Thinking ' came to mind and it occured to me at that point that we can all interpret this a little differently .
it is a phrase often used but seldom have I heard it examined .
so the question is what did srila Prabhupada ji mean by this , and how do each of us put it into practice in our daily lives .
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My own current understanding is this; The transhumanist scientists are hell-bent on producing super-humans. Machines with intelligence far more than humans are being produced, and will likely soon enough take over. The purpose of human life is to become Krsna conscious, not to try to have super powers and live forever, imitating God, and making life so complicated that there is no time nor human understanding for chanting Hare Krsna. Machines do not love Krsna, at least not so far! We are not meant to become big big machines with no devotional service at "heart".
Therefore, we are better off eliminating ugra-karma industries and so-called advancement of complicated complex bewildering inhuman civilization, as in reality, such advancement is a but a giant leap into extending hell, stopping the purpose of life and human goals, and thus ruining the world. Therefore, best to keep cows, keep it simple, chant Hare Krsna.
Jaya! Important post!
namaskaram Prabhu ji
jai jai , ....this Kali yuga mentality that you describe is a symptom of the predominating ignorance of this age , of mankind that thinks he is the enjoyer , that thinks he can manipulate material existance for his own enjoyment and profit .
one wonders how bad it must get , for people to become wise ? ...but we know from past experience that only a small percentage of humanity has the good fortune to realise the folly of mankind , we can see that much of what has been predicted has allready come to play in our societies .
we see the demoniac behavior of man who thinks he can control and manipulate the material world for his own ends and his own enjoyment .
but what can the poor devotee do ? we have no money to buy land so we canot keep a cow , the average man is no longer afforded this simple privilage the land is all held by large businesses even farm land is controled by government , who dictates what one can and canot do , so the average devotee is stuck in the system , we have to work within it , ....so the secret must be to be in the system but not of it !.... one must keep one self above it by continualy chanting and thinking of the lord , ...
but we must have a plan , we must be thinking how we can spread a little Krsna conciousness , how we can contribute a little to the awareness of society ?
so simple living is about making time in your life for god , not allowing oneself to become preocupied with un nececary worldly concerns , taking only what one needs and not striving to gain the benifits of this world simply for ones material enjoyment , ...
high thinking is understanding the nature of this embodied life , understanding its characteristics and not getting caught up in it , keeping ones mind firmly fixed on the lord , ....and the higest of high thinking is understanding how to propogate this knowledge , how we can raise the level of awareness .
Jai Sri Krsna
Yes, no similar article located. I must be living in FaceBook land!
"so simple living is about making time in your life for god , not allowing oneself to become preocupied with unnecessary worldly concerns, taking only what one needs and not striving to gain the benifits of this world simply for ones material enjoyment"
verse 11 of Sri Isopanisad explains,
“Only one who can learn the process of nescience and that of transcendental knowledge side by side can transcend the influence of repeated birth and death and enjoy the full blessings of immortality."
Śrīla PrabhupādaSo it is the duty of the Vaiṣṇava to see that people are gradually educated to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So perhaps it would be better if we can..., we also capture political power. As there are many parties, Communist party, Congress party, this party, that party, so there must be one Kṛṣṇa's party. Why not? Then people will be happy, if Kṛṣṇa's party comes to the governmental post. Immediately there will be peace.
In India, in India there are so many slaughterhouses. There are... It is said that ten thousand cows are being killed everyday, in the land were one cow was being attempted to be killed, immediately Mahārāja Parīkṣit took his sword, "Who are you?" In that land, now ten thousand cows are being killed every day. So you expect peace? You expect prosperity This is not possible. Therefore if some day Kṛṣṇa's representative takes the governmental power, then he will immediately stop all these slaughterhouses, all these brothels, all these liquor houses.
Then there will be peace and prosperity. Bhūta-bhāvana, Kṛṣṇa will be pleased, "Here is My representative."
So there are so many things to understand from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, full knowledge, all knowledge, as it is required by the human society. So we have to study from all angles of vision, not simply by sentiment. This is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Thank you very much. (end)
[SB: Lecture 1.10.2 – Māyāpura 17 June 1973]
Srila Prabhupada; "Our point should be that we shall take all steps for self-protection, depending on the results on Krsna. We should NOT idly sit down simply depending on Krsna. Arjuna had to fight in the battlefield, but at the same time he heard Bhagavat Gita. Our Motto shall be like that! Neither we shall fight alone, without Krsna consciousness, nor we shall give up all possible facillities".
Srila Prabhupada: “Somebody was criticizing me that “Swamiji, you are SP; "People are becoming coward. They simply chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.” So I replied that “You will see the power of Hare Kṛṣṇa movement in due course of time.” He required… Because there were two battles in India: the battle between Rāvaṇa and Rāma, Rāma-Rāvaṇa, the battle of Rāmāyaṇa; and another battle was Battle of Kurukṣetra. And in these two battles the hero was Vaiṣṇava and Viṣṇu. In the Rāma-Rāvaṇa battle Lord Rāmacandra was there and His devotee Hanumān, Vajrāṅgajī. Similarly, in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, Kṛṣṇa was there and His devotee Arjuna was there. So Vaiṣṇavas, they do not simply chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. If there is need, they can fight under the guidance of Viṣṇu and become victorious. A Vaiṣṇava’s one qualification is… Out of the twenty-six qualifications, one qualification is dakṣa,expert. If there is need of fighting, they can fight like very expert. That is also needed. Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not mean one-sided. Kṛṣṇa as all-pervading, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement also should be all-pervading. It should touch everything, even politics, sociology, everything, if required. That is the aim. Because Kṛṣṇa’s mission is: yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata [Bg. 4.7], paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām [Bg. 4.8].
Srila Prabhupada has told us:
"Machines mean unemployment for the many. The tractor they're using means unemployment for bulls and plowmen. Then the bulls must be killed. This is going on. Unemployment, then kill them. Send all the men to fight in Vietnam and kill them. As soon as there is overpopulation of unemployed, they declare war so that people may be killed."
(Morning Walk, Mayapur, February 12, 1976)
"That is also needed. Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not mean one-sided. Kṛṣṇa as all-pervading, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement also should be all-pervading. It should touch everything, even politics, sociology, everything, if required. That is the aim. Because Kṛṣṇa’s mission is: yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata [Bg. 4.7], paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām [Bg. 4.8]." HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
jai jai .. yes , ..this I realy appreciated so much when I first read it ....
''In India, in India there are so many slaughterhouses. There are... It is said that ten thousand cows are being killed everyday, in the land were one cow was being attempted to be killed, immediately Mahārāja Parīkṣit took his sword, "Who are you?" In that land, now ten thousand cows are being killed every day. So you expect peace? You expect prosperity This is not possible. Therefore if some day Kṛṣṇa's representative takes the governmental power, then he will immediately stop all these slaughterhouses, all these brothels, all these liquor houses.''
yes , this is so true there will be no peace , everywhere in this society there is indescriminate violence, we are killing the cow and other helpless animals but we do not understand when our society is hit by indiscriminate acts of killing ?
we are in such ignorance that we are blind , ... similarly here we see the farmland taken over by machines so there is no work for man , therefore he has no sence of purpose and no self respect , ...
yes we need higher thinking , even politics is governed by profit , and dominated by ignorance , ... it is so hard to infiltrate , so hard to efectively change .
you understand srila Prabhupadas words , I understand them , but these simple and poignient words have been disregarded as if they were utterings of a mad man , so now years on what can we do ?
can we even hope to halt the onset of kali yuga ?
namaskaram Prabhu ji
I have been thinking about this quote , .......
"That is also needed. Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not mean one-sided. Kṛṣṇa as all-pervading, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement also should be all-pervading. It should touch everything, even politics, sociology, everything, if required. That is the aim. Because Kṛṣṇa’s mission is: yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata [Bg. 4.7], paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām [Bg. 4.8]." HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami''
yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata [Bg. 4.7] ......here Krsna is saying ''where ever threr is a decline in religious practices and a prediminant rise in irreligion , at that time I decend my self .''
paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām [Bg. 4.8]."
to deliver the pious and annihilate the miscreants , as well as to reestablish the principles of religion , I myself appear milenium after milenium .
but here in this quote srila Prabhupad ji is asking us to be the representative , as Krsna is all pervading we too as a movement should pervade all society , he means dont take Krsna consciousness just for your own benifit it means also that we should go out and fight irreligion , ...but we are powerless to fight like arjuna , we are not Kshatriya , to fight is the duty of the born rulling class , so we must fight with wsdom and reason , we must educate by gentle means which means being all atractive as krsna , leading a gentle life and leading by example , each of us should use this trancendental knowledge to the best of our capabilities in our given position , if one has political influence then one should use it in Krsnas service , if one is born into an educated family and given the opertunity to move in these circles then one should do so with ones dharma in mind , ...but for those of the lower varnas , how do we do this , how do we fight ignorance ? how do we affect change ? how do we bring about Krsna consciousness ?
many times in the west the temples are encoraging book distribution , but many times without explanation these books and the knowledge contained there in is alien to the recipient , and because the devotee lifestyle is also so alien to the most of society there is a gulf between the devotee and the ordinary man , so the man in the street at most times dismisses the devotee as a freek , because there is no bridge , ....I have thought about this a lot , ....in many places ISKCON and Srila prabhupada are ridiculed , because the strictness whith which the devotees govern them selves is more than most are capable of understanding , and what a person in ignorance canot understand he often ridicules , ..so my thoughts return to how one can become all atractive in the servise of Krsna , ...How can one attract the attention of society to give thought to this philosophy ?......
how do we close the slaughter houses , the liquer houses and the brothels , buy teaching '' a higher taste'' ?
tamohara prabhu agtACBSP,
how is going the grhastha asrama in the spirit net website,are all satisfied through sada jivan uccha vicar?
as you already know we are nobody, we are simply repeat the words of the acharyas as the best remedy to our illusion through good krsna katha. simple life high thinking first of all means bhagavan ka iccha say the vrija. basis, the anarthas are not eternal by fortune and everyone is situated almost on the other side of sada jivan uccha vicar through bhagavan ka iccha after many lives one can become very simple beyond the dualities of the troublesome mind, because it's just the material mind that keeps all the living entities trapped through the hard way of life. everyone is trying to change in better but it require sukrti to go completely on the other side of the complicate mind through simple living high thinking .
at least we are trying from where we left the life before of course it's the longest journey to find out the simplest living high thinking lifestyle until we are still trapped by the own guna and karma since our previous lives. it will be manifested only when we find out our spiritual bodies by keeping serving.
thank you for your sat-sanga agtys ys acsd haribol
namaskaram Trnikrta-trnavarta dasa ji ,
please accept my humble obecances ,
jai jai , Krsna indeed asked Arjuna to fight , to cary out his Dharma as a Kshatriya , therefore Sri Krsna instructed Arjuna to fight and to re establish Rightious rule .
my question here is To establish our dharma as devotees , of course each is different , and this each of us must contemplate , exactly what we can do in the service of Guru and Goranga , ...
of course to serve best we need to be ''Equal in happiness and distress'' therefore not attatched to the result , but even taking this attitude , we have to consider what is ''Action in inaction'' and what is ''Inaction in action'' .....
but we are here to serve so there is no question of sitting backand letting Krsna do everything , ...
I am not Kshatriya , I canot get up and physicaly fight , By dint of birth I am not authorised to do so , ...
I am not a wealthy Vaisya I canot donate funds for the sponsorship of temple maitainance or the sponsorship of the preistly classes , who work for the benifit of others , ...
I am a smple devotee , so there are other ways we must fight ignorance and do our best to serve others and raise Krsna Consciousness , prehaps our first duty is to fight our own internal ignorance ...
we study shastra and we chant to clense the heart but all the time we must be thinking what is my duty ? ...what is my serva ? .... if we dont think like this , surely we are doing exactly what prabhupada advised us not to do , not to just sit there waiting for Krsna to do it for us .
we cant just wait for Kalki to come and liberate us , yes it is part of the cycle , and yes true we can go back to godhead before that time , infact we can start thinking how to go back right now , but also there is some other serva we can do ....
Krsna didnt ask Arjuna to fight simply to atain his own liberation , he asked Arjuna to fight in order to re establish Rightious rule , each in our own way have a duty to do similarly ?
Namaskaram
Hare Krsna prabhu ji
jai jai all gloroes to srila Prabhupada ,
thank you for your reply , you must excuse me I am a little un used to this format of comunication I assume you refer to ''respondants'' to posts over the years ?
yes from conversations with others I have also had this impression people are a little confused , which is understandable , this age of Kali is ultimatly one of decline , decline in religosity , decline in morality , decline in mental faculties , ....
but we should not worry about this decline of the yugas , it is much the same as our temporary bodies which must eventualy age and die , this universe equaly is a material manifestation therefore it is limited in space and time and must surcome come to decline and an eventual end however that should not stop us living usefull and happy lives whilst we are here .
it has also been fortold of a golden age where Krsna Consciousness will flourish , despite the general decline which we canot stop there is also a blossoming of awareness , some who turn against the tide and create the conditions for liberation , ...not only for their own liberation but for the liberation of others .
we as devotees are fortunate enough to have come in contact with the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita it is through the mercy of Guru and Goranga , through the mercy of Srila Prabhupada who dedicated his life to the propogation of Krsna Consciousness .
so considering our great fortune we should be freed from this pesemism , ...
in your reply you say ...
''As far as knowing what one's own duty is, I wish I could say I had that one answered for myself.
But we know that Srila Prabhupada stressed certain things, one of which I am weakest at, which is preaching, as well as book distribution, chanting the HK mantra, deity worship.''
prehaps it is through humility that you say you know not , and that you are weak , ...
but how do we deal with these feelings and how do we become more affective and confident carrying out the wishes of our gurus and ultimatly of pleasing Krsna ?
to clarify our duty then it may help us to spilit that duty as duty to ones internaly residing jiva , and then responcibility towards the jivas residing in others , ...
so the first responcibility is realising our constitutional position , if we do not realise this then it will be very hard for us to preach or to be of any assistance to others . it will be equaly difficult to be absorbed in ones chanting and in deity worship .
we may amass interlectual knowledge through repeated reading and memorising of shastra , but if this knowledge is not understood within the heart of our being then it is only superficial knowledge , if we wish to fullfill any of Srila Prabhupadas wishes , if we wish to preach or distribute books then we need to have taken what we preach and distribute into the depth of our hearts , .....let us examine our reactions to the all atractiveness of pure devotion , when we enter a temple or into any satsanga and we hear the sweet mellows of bhajan being sung with deep feeling and devotion , we are automaticaly attracted , we are transported imidiately from this material world and for that moment we are residents of goloka vrindarvan , we trancend this material realm .
then if we have the oppertunity to preach or distribute books it should be with a mind of pure devotion and of joy , it should be from the heart not the head , we would be best to remember that the best of preaching is the sharing of highly prized gifts , it is the most joyous occasion , if we are joyfull then our preaching will be well received , we do not even need to be the most learned , all we need is to have understood a little , to have experience of putting these teachings in to practice in even the smallest of ways , this way we are able to lovingly share what has been of benifit to ourselves . this way preaching becomes giving and is most attractive .
for all of these activities , preaching , book distribution , chanting and Deity serva , it is this joyfullness that makes all of our activities sucsessfull , acceptable to the lord and acceptable to others .
and also you speak of ''observing regulative principles'' .... this also is easier when we approach such practice with joyfullness , we do not need to see these as restrictions , but more as a way of ballancing and truely appreciating this life , becoming free of fetters which tie us and others to suffering , ..... and even the concept of duty can be taken to mean a chore which we must do under sufferance , this is prehaps a curse brought about by the notion of freedom , this notion comes from the beleif that we are sepperate from god that we are independant entities , this is the missconception of Kali yuga , once we realise that we are ultimatly inseperable these missconceptions swiftly change and the conception of duty becomes a wish to live in harmony with the natural order , ...
this our duty becomes our pleasure and improving becomes a natural progression .
jai Sri Krsna