geerkuh, sehruh yehv ahzadoutioun

Lust is the worst enemy of man. It can obsess the mind and oblige a person to commit selfish acts for personal gratification at the expense of another. According to Vedic philosophy, all living entities come originally from God. They always remain His part and parcels as gold in a gold ring is qualitatively one and quantitatively different from the gold in a gold mine. Another example is that of the spark of a fire and the fire itself or a drop of ocean water and the ocean. They are qualitatively one and quantitatively different.

The living entity can never become equal with God quantitatively, but it can qualitatively have the same attributes as God. It has knowledge, but its knowledge is limited. It has freedom, but its freedom is limited, etc.

The concept that God is the origin of all living entities and all things is accepted in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. For example, the devil is portrayed as a fallen angel who rebelled against the authority of God. The devil was able to rebel against God because He has endowed all the living beings with limited free will. One can either accept the instructions of God like Jesus Christ or reject them like the devil. God never interferes with the limited free will of the living entity. But He does know what will happen to the living entity if he accepts or rejects His instructions. Just as the government know what will happen to a person that follows the laws of society or breaks them.

If one surrenders to the will of God, he will receive the mercy of Krishna and go back to Godhead eternally. He becomes free from the cycle of birth and death and attains the eternal kingdom where there is no more birth, old age, disease and death. If he refuses to surrender to the will of God, he remains in the material world transmigrating from one material body to another through the 8.4 million different species of life (aquatics, reptiles, insects, birds, plants, mammals, humans). It is only in the human form that one can exercise his limited free will to the full extent. The exercise of limited free will is even more limited or non existent in the lower species than the human.

Sin, suffering and evil exist when one wrongly exercises the free will and decides to act contrary to Krishna’s instructions. In order to act contrary to God’s will one must either be ignorant of His instructions or purposely act contrary to them. In either case, one does not realize the consequences of such behavior. In ignorance one thinks there is no God and no supreme authority; or, one thinks they can get away with such acts because God is impotent. Both states of mind are considered ignorant. Man’s ignorance is the cause of sin.

Because we originally come from God and are always His part and parcel, it is possible to understand much about God by analyzing ourselves honestly. When the living entities commit sinful acts, it is the responsibility of God to help them understand that such actions are not in their own interest. They will simply lead to suffering and eventually repeated birth and death in the material world. Just as a responsible parent will try to correct the inappropriate behavior of a child by imposing some remedial measures, God the original Father of all living entities has placed the insubordinate living entities in this material world to remedy our sinful mentality. In this world, the laws of material nature act on our body to limit our freedom. Criminals are placed in a prison to limit their freedom and hopefully remedy their mentality of criminal behavior. The laws of karma or action and reaction are meant to show us that there is a superior authority that holds us responsible for our actions.

When a human being suffers, he should understand that it is a result of a mistake either done in ignorance or willfully. One may mistakenly believe that they can kill or steal with impunity. However, the forces of justice such as the police and the penal system or the laws of karma will eventually punish them. Punishment is a symbol of superior authority that one is obliged by force or knowledge to recognize.

For example, if we gamble in a casino and lose, we see the agent of the casino collect our money and transfer it to the casino. Our placing a bet resulted in losing our money which we see physically taken from us by the casino. Such loss causes us some discomfort or pain. It is evident that our mistaken bets in the casino lead to loss, pain or suffering. The cause and the effect is clearly demonstrated. But in other walks of life, it is not always so clear that our mistaken exercise of free will is the cause of our suffering.

A person who thinks deeply about the question of suffering will eventually understand that suffering results from our decisions made either in this life or a previous life. We cannot remember the decisions we made in a previous life. Therefore, it is almost impossible to understand why we are suffering in this life for something we cannot remember.

Once a prisoner that was incarcerated was hit on the head with a chair by another inmate. He fell into a severe coma. Fortunately, after one week he came out of the coma but in a state of amnesia. He completely forgot who he was and why he was in prison. He wrote a letter to the warden demanding to be set free because he could not remember why he was in prison. The warden wrote back saying that he had a large file of the misdeeds and the legal proceedings after which the man was convicted by a jury of his peers of the crimes he committed. It was irrelevant if he could or could not remember his past deeds. Therefore, the man remained in prison even though he had total amnesia. Similarly, when we die and take rebirth in a different body, we cannot remember our past life. However, the record of our good and bad deeds are recorded even though we may have forgotten.

During our lifetime we do not work to suffer. We do everything to avoid suffering. Yet, suffering comes. This is proof that there is a superior authority and that we made some mistakes in the past for which we are suffering presently even though we cannot remember them.

There are some exceptions to this general principle of karma such as the story of Job in the Bible or the story of Harischandra or Arjuna in the Vedic literature. All three were either tested by God (Job and Harischandra) or purposely put into ignorance (like Arjuna) in order for God to demonstrate an important teaching for the benefit of humanity.

But the general rule is that we suffer in life due to our own mistakes. This is explained in the Bible by the statement, “As you sow, so shall you reap.” In ignorance the living entity may accuse God for his suffering or some other cause outside of himself. But the Bhagavad-gita states that the living entity is the the cause of his own suffering.

“BG 13.20: Material nature and the living entities should be understood to be beginningless. Their transformations and the modes of matter are products of material nature.

BG 13.21: Nature is said to be the cause of all material causes and effects, whereas the living entity is the cause of the various sufferings and enjoyments in this world.

BG 13.22: The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil among various species.”

All living entities in the material world experience a struggle for existence due to the false ego or false identification with the temporary body as the real self. The mind infested with unending desires for sense enjoyment obliges the living entity to continue in material life. The Bhagavad-gita explains,

“BG 15.7: The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.

BG 15.8: The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas. Thus he takes one kind of body and again quits it to take another.

BG 15.9: The living entity, thus taking another gross body, obtains a certain type of ear, eye, tongue, nose and sense of touch, which are grouped about the mind. He thus enjoys a particular set of sense objects.

BG 15.10: The foolish cannot understand how a living entity can quit his body, nor can they understand what sort of body he enjoys under the spell of the modes of nature. But one whose eyes are trained in knowledge can see all this.”

The reason why the living entity cannot see what is happening is also explained,

BG 14.4: It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kunt?, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father.

BG 14.5: Material nature consists of three modes — goodness, passion and ignorance. When the eternal living entity comes in contact with nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, he becomes conditioned by these modes.

BG 14.6: O sinless one, the mode of goodness, being purer than the others, is illuminating, and it frees one from all sinful reactions. Those situated in that mode become conditioned by a sense of happiness and knowledge.

BG 14.7: The mode of passion is born of unlimited desires and longings, O son of Kunti?, and because of this the embodied living entity is bound to material fruitive actions.

BG 14.8: O son of Bharata, know that the mode of darkness, born of ignorance, is the delusion of all embodied living entities. The results of this mode are madness, indolence and sleep, which bind the conditioned soul.

BG 14.9: O son of Bharata, the mode of goodness conditions one to happiness; passion conditions one to fruitive action; and ignorance, covering one’s knowledge, binds one to madness.

BG 14.10: Sometimes the mode of goodness becomes prominent, defeating the modes of passion and ignorance, O son of Bharata. Sometimes the mode of passion defeats goodness and ignorance, and at other times ignorance defeats goodness and passion. In this way there is always competition for supremacy.”

Without the help of a self-realized teacher or guru one cannot understand his or her real condition in this world and the means to get liberated from the self-victimization that is taking place. The only thing that sometimes awakens us to seek an answer is suffering. When we suffer we sometimes ask the crucial question “why am I suffering.” “I cannot remember doing anything to cause such suffering which is not something I wanted in the first place.”

If we are fortunate enough to ask a truly knowledgeable person about the cause of our suffering, then we have a chance to make a solution to this enigmatic problem. If we, however, meet a speculator who gives imaginary explanations, then we continue hopelessly in the maze of illusion wandering in endless pathways of hope against hope for sense gratification.

BG 15.11: The endeavoring transcendentalists, who are situated in self-realization, can see all this clearly. But those whose minds are not developed and who are not situated in self-realization cannot see what is taking place, though they may try to.”

One requires “eyes trained in knowledge” to understand how all living entities are “suffering different kinds of happiness and distress,” under the illusion of sense gratification. Persons lacking such spiritual vision are fooled by lust and desire. They cannot understand the mystery of why their body changes many times in this life, nor why they die and get another material body to repeat the process.

One trained in spiritual knowledge can see that the soul is different than the temporary material body which changes dramatically from infancy to death. Such persons realize that the conditioned living entity is actually suffering in this material existence. While one enjoys sense gratification, there may be some feeling of happiness, but that feeling of material happiness is the ultimate enemy of the sense enjoyer. The temporary material happiness one derives from sense pleasures convinces the unwitting person to continue in material existence always planning and dreaming of more pleasures for the body and mind.

The mind is the center of all activities of the senses. It becomes the reservoir of all ideas of sense gratification. Thus the mind and the information gathering senses become the repositories of lust. Lust is never satisfied just as a burning fire is never extinguished by a constant supply of fuel. In this world the lust for sex is the main impetus for action. In Sanskrit this material world is called maithunya-agara, or the shackles of sex life. In prison, criminals are kept within jail cells. Similarly, those who are disobedient to God’s instructions are
are shackled or jailed by sex desire. Their minds cannot stop thinking , desiring and planning for sex. The lusty preoccupation with sex and its concomitant factor such as the need for profit, distinction and adoration keeps a person oblivious of spiritual reality and the possibility of ultimate emancipation from the struggle for temporary happiness in the material world.

The lusty senses and mind contaminate the intelligence of the living entity which in turn prompts the soul to accept the false ego and identify himself with matter or the material body, mind and senses.Thus the soul becomes addicted to enjoying the material senses and mistakes this as true happiness.

When a living entity comes in contact with material creation, his eternal love for God is transformed into lust, in association with the mode of passion. The original sense of love of God becomes transformed into lust for sense gratification. The nature of the living entity is to seek pleasure. By serving God, there is no end to the pleasure one can experience. It is an eternal experience of happiness that perpetually increases in variety and intensity. Therefore, one experiences unbounded satisfaction and love for Krishna who is the object of all pleasures for the purified mind and senses of the living entity.

But, in contact with temporary material pleasures, the living entity’s love for God becomes transformed into lust for pleasure. If lust is unsatisfied, it turns into anger. Anger is transformed into illusion and illusion continues the material existence. Lust for temporary sense gratification comes from the mode of passion and keeps the living entity entangled in the material world. Anger is the manifestation of the mode of ignorance. Through guided spiritual practice by a proper teacher the mode of passion, instead of being degraded into the mode of ignorance, can be elevated to the mode of goodness. In a lifestyle of goodness one can be saved from the degradation of anger by developing attachment and love for Krishna. Thus lust can be transformed back to our original love for God.

Lust is the perverted reflection of love of God. By voluntarily accepting training by which the mind and senses are continually engaged in acts of devotion to the all beautiful Lord Krishna, one strengthens the intelligence. Thus by strong intelligence one develops the determination to remain perpetually engaged in the service of God. One loses the attraction to temporary sense pleasures by engaging the senses in acts of devotion to God. One begins to experience greater pleasures, spiritual pleasures, that dwarf the temporary and illusory material pleasures. Once one has a taste for the greater pleasures of spiritual life, it becomes possible to give up the race for material pleasures and not feel any regrets.

The Bhagavad-gita further explains,

BG 3.43: “Thus knowing oneself to be transcendental to the material senses, mind and intelligence, O mighty-armed Arjuna, one should steady the mind by deliberate spiritual intelligence [Krishna consciousness] and thus — by spiritual strength — conquer this insatiable enemy known as lust.”

Material life is characterized by lust and desire to dominate the resources of material nature. Krishna explains in the Bhagavad-gita how one can control the material senses, mind and intelligence by gradual development of love of God. Love is manifested through acts of devotion devoid of any selfish interest. The only preoccupation of the true lover is to satisfy God by following His instructions and affectionately offering the result of one’s devotional acts to Him. This requires patience, sustained actions of service and expert guidance.The material mind and sense become purified of lusty tendencies by experiencing the happiness of unselfish acts meant to please God. The results of such actions are shared with all people as a continuing act of love. For example, one may offer God a sumptuous feast and once offered, one may share the feast with friends. By eating such sanctified food, all participants are pleased and benefited by the spiritual experience of happiness devoid of lust for personal sense gratification. One may also chant the glories of God and dance joyfully. Thus, one’s senses are engaged in spiritually uplifting acts of devotion. These are practical ways to free oneself from the degrading desires of lust.

Often immature attempts are made to understand God by philosophical speculations and artificial attempts to control the senses by yoga postures. Without proper guidance of a true lover of God, one cannot succeed by personal endeavors based on mundane processes as physical yoga, self-interested rituals for material benefit or flights of mental speculation. There is no substitute for genuine acts of love and devotion for Krishna manifested through hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord (listening to Bhagavad-gita or other holy scriptures like the Bible, Koran, etc. and chanting the names of God as recommended in the Psalms of the Bible, the Koran, the Vedas and especially by chanting the great mantra for deliverance from material ignorance, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

There is an Armenian web page www.armenianhighland.com. Go to the home page and click on Encyclopedia, then click on Mesrop Mashdotz, then click on Warrior-Scholar-Teacher, then click on The Renewal. Once on the page The Renewal, scroll down until the author, GEVORK NAZARYAN, begins to explain how Mesrop Mashdotz visited an ancient Mehrian monastery or monasteries that was/were still functioning during his time. There he was introduced to ancient texts of Harers or ancient, pre-Christian , Indo-European sacred chants of which he shows the following text of one page.

“21ST PAGE FROM THE HOLY BOOK OF H A RER [HYMNS].

FIRST TWO SACRED PRIMORDIAL CHANTS OF
THE S E V E N [MANTRAS] OF DIVINE EHUTIOUN [E S S E N C E] THAT UNITED THE MICROCOSM WITH THE MACROCOSM [PARALLEL OF THE SEVEN SACRED NOTES OF THE UNIVERSE +1... TRANSCENDENTAL 8= ETERNITY...

ALL BEGIN WITH A R --

THE SELF CREATED KOSMOKRATOR [KOSMIK UR].
MAR OR MARA [RETROGRADE OF ARAM -- ETERNAL MASCULINE PRINCIPLE] IN THE HARI SACRED CHANTS THAT DENOTES THE PRIMORDIAL WATERS/CHAOS/VIŠAP THE ETERNAL FEMININE PRINCIPLE.

THE LAST — SEVENTH CHANT — INVOKES THE RETURN
OF THE SOUL-SPIRIT TO THE SOURCE/FATHER [EATSUM -- GODHOOD] FINAL STATE.

MESROP MASHTOTS WROTE DOWN THE ORION/ARYAN HYMNS OR CHANTS GIVEN TO HIM BY THE DEVOTEE PRIESTS OF THE WISDOM TEMPLES THAT WERE WRITTEN DOWN IN MITHRAIC SCRIPT — KEPT IN THE SACRED LIBRARY VAULTS IN GUARDED PRIVY FROM THE VULGARITY AND PROFANITY OF THE AMBITIOUS AND THE MALICIOUS [NOT READY SPIRITUALLY].

THE LATER MEDIEVAL SACRED HYMNS LIKE THE SHARAKANS ALSO INCLUDED A NUMBER OF ARCANE HARIS.

FIRST HAR SORHAR RO ANJ [GHOGHANJ] MANTRA/CHANT –
WRITTEN IN TRNAGIR FONT.

A R A R D [3+3+1].

THE BEGINNING CREATION FROM THE ETERNAL VOID -
THE MANIFESTATION OF A L L.

SECOND H A R E R O ANJ [GHOGHANJ] MANTRA/CHANT –

A R V AR R Ž [3+3+3].

DESCENT OF SPIRIT INTO MATTER FROM THE ONE -
UNION OF SPIRIT [DIVINE SPARK] WITH MATTER.

THE [H]ARS [KRIST CONSCIOUSNESS] WERE CARRIED TO
ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD BY ARMAN WISDOM SEERS
FROM THE SACRED ARMAN/ARMIN/ARMEN [IRMIN] HIGHLAND.

MANY OF THE HOLY CHANTS WERE PRESERVED IN THE
MUCH RENOWNED AND STILL PRACTICED VEDIC MANTRAS
INCLUDING THE 8-FOLD MAHA-MANTRA OF RAMA KRISHNA [ARAM KRIST].

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

The sacred texts were not intended for the population at large and were kept in vaults — recorded through the use of the Mehian hieroglyphs. The esoteric scrolls of the high priests kept the time immemorial tradition of the Supreme Godhead — HAYA – EA [50] — the God of the Divine Essence [the Unknown and Unmanifested God -- sometimes represented by a 360° full circle [740]– symbol of Perfection/Infinity/Completion, since unlike other geometric shapes it has no beginning/end/angles/points etc… ”

Gevork Nazaryan to my knowledge is an Armenian scholar who has access to the Matenadaran which stands for The Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts established on March 3, 1959. It is located at 53 Mesrop Mashots Avenue, in Yerevan, Armenia. The following text is from Wikipedia.

“It holds one of the world’s richest depositories of medieval manuscripts and books which span a broad range of subjects, including history, philosophy, medicine, literature, art history and cosmography in Armenian and many other languages.”

“The earliest mention of the term Matenadaran, which means “repository of manuscripts” in Armenian, was recorded in the writings of the fifth century A.D. historian Ghazar Parpetsi, who noted the existence of a repository in Echmiadzin, where Greek and Armenian language texts were kept.[1] After that, however, the sources remain silent on its status. In 1441, the Matenadaran was moved from Sis, the capital of the former Cilician Kingdom of Armenia, to Echmiadzin and stored in nearby monasteries.

In the course of the centuries following the dissolution of the Bagratuni Kingdom of Armenia in 1045, thousands of manuscripts were destroyed by the Turkic-Mongol invasions. According to the account given by Stepanos Orbelian, the Seljuk Turks were responsible for the burning of over 10,000 Armenian manuscripts in Baghaberd in 1170. As a result of Armenia being a constant battleground between two major powers, the Matenadaran in Echmiadzin was pillaged several times, the last of which, took place in 1804.[1] Eastern Armenia’s incorporation into the Russian Empire in the first third of the 19th century provided a more stable climate for the preservation of the remaining manuscripts. Thus, “a new era started for the Echmiadzin Matenadaran. The Armenian cultural workers procured new manuscripts and put them in order with more confidence.”[2] Whereas in 1828 the curators of the Matenadaran catalogued a collection of only 1,809 manuscripts, in 1914, the collection had increased to 4,660 manuscripts.[1] At the outbreak of World War I, all the manuscripts were sent to Moscow for safekeeping and were kept there for the duration of the war.

On December 17, 1920, the collection of books and manuscripts held at the headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church at Echmiatsin was confiscated by the Bolsheviks. In a decree signed by Aleksandr Myasnikyan on March 6, 1922, the manuscripts which had been sent to Moscow were returned to Armenia. Combined with other collections, it was declared a property of the state on December 17, 1929. In 1939, the collection was moved to Yerevan and stored at the Aleksandr Myasnikyan State Library. Finally, on March 3, 1959, the Council of Ministers of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic voted in support of the establishment of the Matenadaran to maintain and house the manuscripts in a new building, and in 1962 it was named after Saint Mesrop Mashtots, the creator of the Armenian alphabet. In 1954, Armenian academician Levon Khachikyan was appointed as the Matenadaran’s director.

The Matenadaran was designed by architect Mark Grigoryan. Located slightly north of the city’s center at the foot of a small hill, construction of the Matenadaran began in 1945 and ended in 1957. The exterior was constructed of basalt but parts of the interior were made of other materials such as marble.[1] In the 1960s, the statues of historical Armenian scholars, Toros Roslin, Grigor Tatevatsi, Anania Shirakatsi, Movses Khorenatsi, Mkhitar Gosh and Frik, were sculpted and placed on the left and right wings of the building’s exterior. The statues of Mesrop Mashots and his pupil are located below the terrace where the main building stands.

On May 14, 2009, upon the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Matenadaran, Armenian state and religious officials conducted the groundbreaking ceremony of the construction of a research institute being built adjacent to the Matenadaran. It is expected that construction of the building will be completed by September 2011.”

Gevork Nazaryan establishes through his scholarly study of ancient Armenian manuscripts that chanting the “harers” reveal the orgin of creation (ehoutioun or existence), how the soul comes down into the material world of matter and ignorance, and how the soul can be liberated and return to God.

THE LAST — SEVENTH CHANT — INVOKES THE RETURN
OF THE SOUL-SPIRIT TO THE SOURCE/FATHER [EATSUM -- GODHOOD] FINAL STATE.

Nazaryan further says that “THE [H]ARS [KRIST CONSCIOUSNESS] WERE CARRIED TO ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD BY ARMAN WISDOM SEERS FROM THE SACRED ARMAN/ARMIN/ARMEN [IRMIN] HIGHLAND.”

It is very significant that Nazaryan notes the (H)ares are synonymous with Krist consciousness. The name of Christ (Jesus) in English is derived from the Greek word Christos (which is also the Armenian word denoting Jesus Christ). Christos is derived from the ancient Sanskrit word Krista which is the diminutive form of Krishna, the name of God in Sanskrit which means the all attractive Supreme Personality of Godhead
who possesses all beauty, power, knowledge, fame, wealth and renunciation. Krishna also means the one who can stop birth and death. In other words Krishna is the name of the personal God from whom everything else emanates in the ancient Vedic tradition. Jesus Christ means that Jesus is the son of His Father Christ-Christos-Krista-Krishna.

Therefore, Nazaryan very correctly states the following:

MANY OF THE HOLY CHANTS WERE PRESERVED IN THE
MUCH RENOWNED AND STILL PRACTICED VEDIC MANTRAS
INCLUDING THE 8-FOLD MAHA-MANTRA OF RAMA KRISHNA [ARAM KRIST].

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

The meaning of the Hare Krishna Mantra is precisely explained by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the foremost exponent of Krishna philosophy in modern times. He writes,

“Rama and Krishna are names of God, and Hare is the energy of God. So when we chant the maha-mantra, we address God together with His energy. This energy is of two kinds, the spiritual and the material. At present we are in the clutches of the material energy. Therefore we pray to Krishna that He may kindly deliver us from the service of the material energy and accept us into the service of the spiritual energy. That is our whole philosophy. Hare Krishna means, “O energy of God (Hare), O God [Krishna], please engage me in Your service.” It is our nature to render service. Somehow or other we have come to the service of material things, but when this service is transformed into the service of the spiritual energy, then our life is perfect.” (Science of Self-realization which you can download for free from www.krishnapath.org)

This statement by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada collaborates the similar statement quoted by Nazaryan:

“THE LAST — SEVENTH CHANT — INVOKES THE RETURN
OF THE SOUL-SPIRIT TO THE SOURCE/FATHER [EATSUM -- GODHOOD] FINAL STATE.”

The Mahamantra Hare Krishna is called the great (maha) chant (mantra has two parts which is “man” which means the mind and “tra” means deliverance in Sanskrit). The Mahamantra Hare Krishna is the great chant for the deliverance of man from the cycle of birth and death so that one can return to the eternal kingdom of Krishna where there are unending activities of love and devotion between God and His intimate devotees.

The words Hare, which means the divine energy of devotion of Krishna personified by Krishna’s eternal consort Radha, and Krishna, the all attractive Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Rama, another name of Krishna which signifies He is the reservoir of all pleasure, when put together in the mantra conveys the meaning: “Oh merciful Radha, Oh Krishna, please always engage me in Your loving service.”

The Mahamantra is a sincere prayer asking God to please engage the devotee in His service eternally. There is no hint of any personal material desire in the mantra. Therefore, when one chants it sincerely, God reciprocates by engaging His devotee in the eternal activity of devotion and love. Six things happen when one chants the Mahamantra sincerely.

(1) One is quickly relieved of all miseries
(2) One feels happy
(3) One realizes that he is very fortunate
(4) One loses any desire for liberation
(5) One understands that such grace is very rarely achieved
(6) One becomes aware that such a path of pure devotion is the only way to attract Krishna to oneself

By sustained chanting of the mantra with proper guidance by a qualified spiritual mentor one can gradually attain to pure devotional service. Such pure service is characterized by six things.

(1) It is free of any material desires. The only concentration is to please Krishna.
(2) It is free of mental speculation. One supports all thoughts and opinions on authorized scriptural references like the Vedas and also cites collaborative statements of previous recognized saints. One does not venture to interpret spiritual knowledge with faulty speculative statements based on our imperfect senses and mental imagination.
(3) It is performed only for the pleasure of Krishna. Whatever is offered to Krishna with devotion is offered according to Krishna’s personally stated desire in scripture. If He desires milk, we do not offer
wine. The purpose is to render service favorably to the Lord.
(4) The devotee does not demand anything in return for his service.
(5) There is no interruption or vacation from the service. It is steady and determined regardless of any obstacles or material problems.
(6) There is no desire for liberation. One is satisfied in any condition whether in heaven or hell.

Further information about the state of consciousness attained by a pure devotee is given in the Bhagavad-gita.

BG 5.20: “A person who neither rejoices upon achieving something pleasant nor laments upon obtaining something unpleasant, who is self-intelligent, who is unbewildered, and who knows the science of God, is already situated in transcendence.

BG 5.21: Such a liberated person is not attracted to material sense pleasure but is always in trance, enjoying the pleasure within. In this way the self-realized person enjoys unlimited happiness, for he concentrates on the Supreme.

BG 5.22: An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery, which are due to contact with the material senses. O son of Kunti, such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does not delight in them.

BG 5.23: Before giving up this present body, if one is able to tolerate the urges of the material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is well situated and is happy in this world.

BG 5.24: One whose happiness is within, who is active and rejoices within, and whose aim is inward is actually the perfect mystic. He is liberated in the Supreme, and ultimately he attains the Supreme.

BG 5.25: Those who are beyond the dualities that arise from doubts, whose minds are engaged within, who are always busy working for the welfare of all living beings, and who are free from all sins achieve liberation in the Supreme.

BG 5.26: Those who are free from anger and all material desires, who are self-realized, self-disciplined and constantly endeavoring for perfection, are assured of liberation in the Supreme in the very near future.

BG 5.27-28: Shutting out all external sense objects, keeping the eyes and vision concentrated between the two eyebrows, suspending the inward and outward breaths within the nostrils, and thus controlling the mind, senses and intelligence, the transcendentalist aiming at liberation becomes free from desire, fear and anger. One who is always in this state is certainly liberated.

BG 5.29: A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.”

The verses 5.27-28 are further elaborated upon by Krishna in the sixth chapter. Krishna explains all the different processes of yoga or self-discipline for connecting eternally with God. Arjuna, the receiver of these instruction from Krishna is an active man of this world. He finds it impossible to sit down quietly in a lonely place and meditate. Arjuna politely asks questions Krishna in the sixth chapter,

BG 6.33: “Arjuna said: O Madhusudana, the system of yoga which You have summarized appears impractical and unendurable to me, for the mind is restless and unsteady.

BG 6.34: For the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Krsna, and to subdue it, I think, is more difficult than controlling the wind.”

Krishna answers Arjuna,

BG 6.35: “Lord Sri Krsna said: O mighty-armed son of Kunti, it is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind, but it is possible by suitable practice and by detachment.

BG 6.36: For one whose mind is unbridled, self-realization is difficult work. But he whose mind is controlled and who strives by appropriate means is assured of success. That is My opinion.”

Finally at the end of the sixth chapter Krishna pronounces His ultimate opinion.

BG 6.47: “And of all yogis, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me — he is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all. That is My opinion.”

Therefore, the servant of God who has dedicated his or her entire life to serving the Lord favorably according to the instructions of the Lord is the most intimately united and the greatest of all yogis. All the other types of yoga, namely, performing good works (karma), developing knowledge (jnana), striving for mystical powers (astanga) are only stepping stones to the real goal which is pure unadulterated devotion (bhakti). Without bhakti, the other yogas are merely an obstacle to the real goal of pure devotion because one can become proud by the personal achievements of good works, knowledge and mystical powers and think wrongly that they have achieved the pinnacle of spiritual achievement.

One cannot attract God by becoming proud of personal achievements. One can attract God only by unalloyed devotion as was exemplified by Lord Jesus Christ, Hazrat Mohammed, Lord Caitanya, the Alvars and other Vaisnava acaryas like Ramanuja and Madhavacarya and the Armenian saint Narek and other Christian saints who have dedicated their lives to the Supreme God or His Son or His prophets without any personal motives.

Krishna summarizes His teaching to Arjuna by the following:

BG 8.7: “Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Krsna and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt.

BG 8.8: He who meditates on Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Partha (Arjuna), is sure to reach Me.”

BG 8.14: “For one who always remembers Me without deviation, I am easy to obtain, O son of Pritha, because of his constant engagement in devotional service.

BG 8.15: After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.”

The ancient wisdom of the Harers is preserved in the mantra Hare Krishna. One who chants sincerely and dedicates their life’s activities and thoughts to God’s service is eternally liberated from the cycle of birth and death and attains the spiritual world. The ancient wisdom of Armenia before it was corrupted in modern times whether pre-Christian or early Christian was meant to liberate man from the continual suffering of birth and death so that he could attain his original abode of transcendental existence in the company of God and His pure servants. The principle obstacle to this noble goal is lust and greed for domination and enjoyment of God’s material, temporary creation. Our delusional state of mind can only be corrected by unalloyed devotion to God under proper guidance of a pure teacher.

The Bible, Koran, Talmud, Vedas and all scriptures that are meant for the benefit of humanity recommend studying and serving under a genuine teacher who is expert in the science of God realization.

BG 4.34: Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.

BG 4.35: “Having obtained real knowledge from a self-realized soul, you will never fall again into such illusion, for by this knowledge you will see that all living beings are but part of the Supreme, or, in other words, that they are Mine.”

The Hare Krishna Mahamantra – Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare is especially given to humanity in this present age when spiritual life is very difficult because of so much misinformation, false teachers and rampant materialism. Simply by chanting the Holy Names of God Hare Krishna and Rama one can easily be liberated from material ignorance and the cycle of birth and death. Because this age is so difficult, God has made the process of emancipation so simple.