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The Science of Self-Realization
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Published by the Bhaktivedanta Book trust
Title: The Science of Self-RealizationAvailable in Hardback and Paperback
Get Your copy from Krishna.com
Image �2006 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with permission.
I am not a particularly religious or spiritual person, however I found this book to be of great interest. The philosophical approach of the book interests me greatly, and it is fascinating to delve further into the beliefs of others.
His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada passed away on November 14 1977, but as this book shows he lives on in his teachings.
The book contains quotes, scriptures as teachings related to Krsna Consciousness. Krsna Consciousness is best defined by Srila Prabhupada in the book;
Krsna means God. We are all intimately connected with Him because He is our original father. But we have forgotten this connection. When we become interested in knowing, "What is my connection with God? What is the aim of life?" then we are called Krsna conscious.
Krsn Consciousness is not a religion as such, as Srilia Prabhupada wisely states in the book, Religion is just a rubber stamp. The Term Muslim, Christian, Jew does not define who you are. The Krishna movement uses the Vedic Scriptures for its teachings, it is believed that the Vedic Scriptures were written when existence began.
This particular book deals with several aspects of becoming Krsna Conscious:
One of the things that really appeals to me about this book is that there is no set way to read it. If you are interested in Understanding Krsna and Christ, you can simply skip to that Chapter, though I strongly recommend you read the entire book in whatever order you please.
There are many quotes that I would like to add in, but many of them are far too long for a review. However I think this particular one is quite poignant.
Similarly, everyone is simply washing the "coat and shirt" of the body, but forgetting about the soul within the body. They have no information about what is within the "Coat and Shirt" of the body. Ask anybody what he is, and he will say, "Yes I am an Englishman," or "I am an Indian." And if we say, "I can see you have an English or an Indian body, but whay are you?" - that he cannot say.
Krsna Consciousness is regarded as more a science than a religion. It deals more with basic facts rather than beliefs,
When people see a beautiful woman, hoever, they are attracted because they think she is real. In actuality, the so-called living are also dead, because this body is simply a lump of matter; as soon as the soul leaves the body, no one would care to see the so-called beautiful body of the woman. The real factor, the real attracting spiritual force, is the spiritual soul.
As you delve further into the book, you find yourself more and more unable to put it down. Srila Prabhupada clearly had very strong convinctions in what he was teaching, and much of what he says does inspire you to try and better yourself. However some of what he teaches is not quite as you would expect for example when asked whether peace would be a precursor to a return to religion he replies
No, no, that is the difficulty. At the present moment, no one actually knows the meaning of religion. Religion means to abide by the laws of God, just as good citizenship means to abide by the laws of the government. Because no one has any understanding of God, no one knows the laws of God or the meaning of religion. This is the present status of people in today's society, They are forgetting religion, taking it to be a kind of faith. Faith may be blind faith. Faith is not the real description of religion. Religion means the laws given by God, and anyone who follows those laws is religious, whether a Christian, a Hindu, or a Muslim
Whilst in this quote I very much doubt that Swami Prabhupada was denouncing the ideal of peace, I believe that what he was explaining is that without Religion (i.e. people following the law of God) there cannot be peace.
I hope that I have been successful in showing you some of the elements of the book, there is simply far too much of the book that I would like to share with you. Hopefully the quotes I have used will have illustrated to you just how wise Swami Prabhupada was, and how well the Krishna beliefs apply to life today, despite the fact Vedic scriptures were written more than a thousand years ago.
I highly recommend that you obtain a copy of this book if you are at all philosophically or simply have an interest in the beliefs of others. I greatly enjoyed reading through this book, and it may even have made me a better person! I will certainly be recommending this book to everyone I know
Thanks to BBTi for allowing me to use Images and Quotes from the book. Thanks also for publishing such an informative and intriguing book, I will certainly be looking to buy others sometime in the near future.
Posted by Shifty_Ben 13:14 05/11/2006
