MATERIAL WORLD.....A CORRECTIONAL FACILITY
As we go through this journey of life, this thought may have crossed your mind “why is this happening to me? What have I done to deserve this?” These are not surprising considering the material world is designed as a correctional facility for us fallen souls wandering in these 8,400,000 species of life. The animals are just going through the motions of evolution but after going through all the 8,400,000 species one gets a human birth. The human birth is a chance for one to live their karma, good or bad, and finish it once and for all. Humans, as compared to animals, have higher intelligence to discriminate right from wrong and are able to realize God. This human birth is rare as it takes 8,400,000 births and deaths before we can come to that. Birth and death is a painful process that is cushioning old age and diseases in between. Coming here to this material world we go through all the results of previous karma and that many a times feels like punishment, but actually they are not. They are means to correct us and help us finish this birth and death cycle and realize our eternal relationship to the Lord as His servants.
Lord Krishna has many energies but mainly they are divided into two, His spiritual energy and material energy. The conditioned soul, being the marginal energy of the Lord, can use both of these energies. Sometimes the conditioned soul exploits the material energy for his benefit. At other times, when he no longer wants to exploit the material energy to enjoy himself, and instead uses it to serve Krishna, he contacts the spiritual energy. The Bhagavad-gita (9.13) states: “Being marginal potency, as soon as the living entity is freed from the control of material nature he is put under the guidance of the spiritual nature.” There are only two choices. http://www.krishna.com/two-energies-two-choices
The spiritual energy of the lord is called Yogamaya. She manifests here in the material world as Mahamaya. Mahamaya is the illusory energy we feel all the time slapping us left and right. Maya means illusion, that which is not. The illusion is that we are this body, that everything is for my enjoyment, and that I control all that I see. In essence, I’m the center of the universe. We get so bewildered by enjoying and exploiting the material energy around us. But factually everything here is at the whim of time (temporary) and thus cannot bring us lasting happiness. Lord Krishna is and always will be the supreme controller and enjoyer.
In mantra 1 of Isopanishad it says:
īśāvāsyam idam sarvaṁ
yat kiñca jagatyāṁ jagat
tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā
mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam
Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.
https://prabhupadabooks.com/iso?d=1
So when we desire to enjoy everything for ourselves and control everything separate from Him, everything appears to us as non-spiritual, separate from God, and exploitable. What we see then is Maya, an illusion, as nothing is separate from God. Any results we get from our good and bad karma are all in a way connected to Krishna’s will. His material energy Mahamaya is a devotee of the Lord and so here correctional facility means she actually doing us a favor. She puts us in the illusion as a means of correcting us, making us realize our real position as an eternal servant of Lord Krishna. How is that you may ask?
Karma is influenced by Maya, as when we are under illusion we fall into the three modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. These modes are governed by Mahamaya, which seems like a way of punishing us for forgetting our actual position as a servant of Krishna and trying to enjoy this material energy for our own benefit. And when we are in any of the three modes we collect karma, good or bad based on our actions. When we, by free will, change the course of action to service of Krishna for His pleasure then we can finish our karmic cycle right here, right now. Devotional service and all transcendental activities are above the modes and not in the jurisdiction of Mahamaya. Her spiritual self Yogamaya takes over once we turn to Krishna. Yogamaya, ‘Yoga’ meaning union, union with God. So Yogamaya then assists us to unite the soul and the supersoul.
Instead of getting disturbed with the reactions of our own past karma, it’s best to analyze our life and change the course of action to transcendental activities. Instead of getting anxious with all the reactions of our past deeds, it’s best to understand ultimately we are not this body, and that these karmic reactions are for this body. This material world is designed to be a correctional facility for our benefit. Most aspirants of devotional life, when they first look towards God, it is due to being miserable in this conditioned life. Krishna tells us in the Bhagavad Gita this world is ashsvatam and dukhalayam, a temporary world which is full of miseries.
Bg 8.15
mām upetya punar janma
duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam
nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ
saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ
After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.
https://www.vedabase.com/en/bg/8/15
The best and easiest way to start these transcendental activities is to chant the Hare Krishna mantra.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
We can save ourselves from Mahamaya and let Yogamaya help us forward to the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna.
Here are this week’s tunes