“Such jugglers and magicians of the mundane world are actually puzzled by the jugglery of the Lord in His transcendental activities, but they try to adjust their bewilderment by saying that it is all mythology. There is, however, nothing impossible or mythological in the Supreme Omnipotent Person. The most wonderful puzzle for the mundane wranglers is that while they remain calculating the length and breadth of the unlimited potency of the Supreme Person, His faithful devotees are set free from the bondage of material encagement simply by appreciating the wonderful jugglery of the Supreme in the practical field.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 3.6.39 Purport)
“You see all these people who are glorified on television and in print media? You see the movies stars, the athletes, the politicians, and now even the socialites? They are all given attention because of man’s search for God. They are either praised or vilified because of the inherent desire within all of us to serve a divine being who is all-powerful. We look for all beauty, all wealth, all fame, all strength, all knowledge, and all renunciation. Since we can’t find it wherever we go, we continue to look. We are thus easily drawn in by anyone who is able to show any type of extraordinary ability. This is actually deceiving, because such ability does not make one God.”
This seems like a harsh indictment, but with a little knowledge in the spiritual science, the facts start to speak for themselves. All the basics of human behavior are covered in the Vedas, which do much more than just provide information on how to survive in the difficult material existence. Knowledge of that elusive divine being is given, and once one knows Him He ceases to be elusive. Such a knowledgeable person also no longer has to search. They are into the real thing, and since they know His omnipresence, they have no need to look for Him in all the wrong places.
Even those who don’t know of the divine being can admit that those who are assigned godlike status right now are indeed flawed. We put faith in this politician or that. “This new President is going to be great. All the problems from the past are going to vanish. No more worries.” Then after a few years in office, we learn that the President is one of the most corrupt politicians in history. His greatest ability: he can lie like anyone. He can speak the untruth as if it were the truth. In this way we know that he is not godlike, contrary to what we originally thought.
The same holds true for everyone to whom we offer our attention. There are fake spiritual leaders as well. They will claim that they are God or that they are the same personality mentioned in shastras like the Ramayana and Shrimad Bhagavatam. In other instances, they will discount the events described in those texts by calling them mythology. They will instead try to show their own magic in an attempt to lure people in. Of course, such personalities are not God, and their dismissal of authorized works in order to find cheap adoration represents a terrible offense against a very powerful personality. Not only do they find ruin for themselves, they bring their followers down too.
The continuous search for an all-powerful being in places other than the right one brings an unfortunate struggle, one that could easily be avoided. Let’s say that I like to buy in bulk, at least in the short-term. I sign up with the local discount club, where I can buy something like a thousand paper plates for a cheap price. That purchase will last me for months. In other areas, I try to have backups. I use the computer a lot, so I have an extra laptop computer sitting in the downstairs room of the house. I don’t need to really use it because my primary computer works just fine.
Now let’s say that one time my primary computer breaks. It gets a virus. “Oh no, what to do? This is terrible.” First, I will try to get rid of the virus. In the meantime, however, I have important work that needs to get done. “I need a computer, and I need one fast. This really stinks. I’m going to drive here and there, ask others if they have a computer I can use, or find a store that is open so that I can purchase a new one.” Thus there is so much anxiety. I, of course, have forgotten that I have the spare computer in the other room. If I remembered that, there would be no trouble.
The devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead can be likened to the person who has these backups and remembers that they have them. The devotees know that God is real. They first heard about Him from Vedic texts and then became firm in their belief through practice of recommended principles. They implemented these practices under the guidance of a spiritual master. He too is an elevated personality, but rather than try to deceive people with a false claim of divinity, he simply tells the truth: that he is a servant of God and that he is humbly trying to get others to become servants as well through the chanting of the holy names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
The devotees know that nothing can allow the mind to fully grasp the concept of infinite time and space. Therefore they don’t worry so much about the theories that explain the origin of the creation. None of these deal with infinite time, nor can they. If there were chemicals at the beginning of time, what created the chemicals? If the answer is, “They were just there”, then we’re assigning “God” status to chemicals, which is just silly.
If you have found God, who is all-powerful, you don’t have to worry so much about who is doing what. One person may be expert in cooking, while another is skilled in acting, but in either case there is a spirit soul who is meant to serve rather than be served. Every individual in fact has this property, for it is a feature of individual spirit. The origin of spirit is constitutionally fit to be served, and His innumerable sparks of spirit are meant to offer that service.
“O son of Pritha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.13)
Recognition of this fact coupled with knowledge of the Supreme’s amazing abilities releases one from the burdens brought on by material existence. Eating, sleeping, mating and defending look like vehicles for enjoyment, but they actually cause so much stress when one is unaware of the true purpose in life. In knowing God for real, such stress is eliminated, freeing up time to appreciate the Supreme for His amazing abilities, which are exhibited both in the material and spiritual realm.
In Closing:
When to famous person eyes to lend,
Idea of man’s ability to extend.
Each time again the bar is set,
But never complete vision to get.
Only to real God does this belong,
A fact He explains in Gita’s song.
Devotee no longer God in man to chase,
Instead to adore Krishna of smiling face.
Marvel at His amazing work done here and there,
Worship Him for destination achieved so rare.
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