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Dying to Live
By Radhanath Swami





The German philosopher Hegel spoke very strongly of the principle "Die to live" which is very much in harmony with the essential knowledge of the Bhagavad-Gita and the Veda.

Die to live: if you want to live in truth, you will have to die-die to your present state of material consciousness. Material consciousness is one of exploitation, and spiritual consciousness, the true consciousness of the soul, is one of service-service to God and every living being. In order to make progress on the spiritual path, in order to properly die to live, there must be the elimination of our present material state of having deeply rooted desires to exploit, to accumulate, and to possess; and there must be the acceptance of our original spiritual state of having deeply rooted humility, purity, and a service attitude.

Now, we may theoretically understand what our true state of consciousness is. But as we try to practically apply this understanding in our life, as we try to lead a life of servitude, there will be many challenges and obstacles. With proper integrity and proper spiritual direction, however, we can not only pass through those obstacles, but those very obstacles will bring about realization; our theoretical knowledge will then develop into realization.

'Service' really means death to the ego, and death means transformation. On the gross physical level, when the body dies, what has really happened is just a transformation of material elements; it is not that the elements of the body cease to exist. They may be turned into ashes if put into fire, and they may be turned into dust if they are put into earth-they are just transformed. Similarly, death of the ego means transformation of our consciousness, and in that transformation there is real life.

Death to the ego is a process; it is the most important process and is the very basis of all spiritual paths. It is like the process of purifying gold. When you put gold in fire, the fire burns away all the gross coverings, and the longer the gold is in fire, the more its original, natural shine manifests. It becomes more and more and more beautiful. Sandalwood is another example: the more you press or rub sandalwood, the more its natural, beautiful fragrance is manifested. Similarly, the more we undergo the process of selfless service, the more our ego dies.

But it is not our desire to simply die. We want to die to live. Not only do we want to dismiss the ego or cause death to it, but we want to live according to our real ambition, to live in a state of complete fulfillment, divine life and divine love-and that is a life of real spiritual consciousness. more...

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Power of Inquiry
By Radhanath Swami

My spiritual master taught that everyone spends their lives within a series of questions and answers. When the bird rises in the morning it begins asking questions and searching for answers. When it comes back to the nest at night, it is still asking questions and trying to find answers. In human society the businessmen, politicians, lawyers, artists, farmers etc. - all are seeking answers to their questions.

Life is a series of questions and answers:

How to resolve our problems?
How to find happiness?
How to avoid suffering?
How to make friends?
How to gain power prestige?

All the television shows, cinemas, all the newspapers, magazines, they are all about these questions and answers. Today of course, the series of questions and answers is mostly about how to make money. The Vedic scriptures explain that now that you are a human being, inquire about who you are. The questions about eating, sleeping, mating and defending and all of their various sub-divisions exhibit the basic trend of human intelligence in the world today but these are unimportant questions.

Who am I?
Why am I suffering?
Where am I coming from?
Where am I going?
Who is GOD?
What is the nature of this universe?
What is my relationship with God within this Universe?
When a human being comes to the elevated platform of making serious inquiry on these subjects then human life has real spiritual value.

If we really want to digest food we have to have hunger. If you have no hunger you have very weak digestion. Hunger is a very important part of life because it gives power to digest and that holds true for spiritual knowledge as well. When we feel the urgency and the hunger to solve the real problems of life and we inquire from people who act truly, and who reveal the word of God in an unadulterated way, our human life really begins. more...
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