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Krsna Consciousness: The Matchless Gift by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Book Summary InformationAuthor: A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Edition: Paperback Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published) Published: 1974-06 ISBN: 0912776617 Number of pages: 118 Publisher: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust
Book Reviews of Krsna Consciousness: The Matchless GiftBook Review: The answers to important questions are in this book Summary: 5 StarsHumans are originally pure in spirit, pure God, but by living in the world we are contaminated with materialism. Materialistic persons have burdened themselves for temporary happiness. The aim of this book and the work of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness is to awaken mankind to its original, God-like condition and to inform everyone that the duty of a human is to understand his relationship to God. The purpose of the Vedic scriptures is to develop love of God; they tell of a 5-year old prince who went to the forest to seek God, ate fruit and vegetables every third day, drank a little water every sixth day, restricted his breathing, and stood on one leg for six months. It is not necessary for us to practice such austerities, although Krishna Consciousness is based on self control such as giving up illicit sex, drinking too much, eating meat, and gambling. If one wants to advance in spiritual understanding he must accept a life of restriction. Anyone can adopt the process of Krishna Consciousness and perfect his life. All religious scriptures describe lower planetary systems or hell and higher systems or heaven. A living entity can prepare itself for heaven or hell by the appropriate preparation; as you sow, so shall you reap is the law that governs. Sinful activities can be by thought, word or deed and one has to suffer punishment. People do not believe in the next life because they want to avoid punishment, but one cannot avoid the next life nor save oneself from the laws of nature. We may deny the existence of God and His laws but God and His laws are still there. According to the law of karma if we act properly we are rewarded and if we act sinfully we suffer. Wherever we reach in this life is the starting point in the next life. According to the Vedic way of life, if a person commits a sin and counteracts it by penance, that is atonement; one has to execute the prescribed atonement according to the gravity of the sinful activity. Sinful activities are like diseases and one should follow the prescribed cures to become healthy. The message of this book is summed up in the paragraph: "Modern civilization is in dire need of an educational system to give people instructions on what happens after death. In actuality the present educational system is most defective because unless one knows what happens after death, one dies like an animal. An animal does not know that he is subject to death or that he is going to have another body. Human life, however, should be more elevated. One should not simply be interested in the animalistic functions of eating, sleeping, defending and mating. A living entity may have abundant supply of food for eating, or many nice buildings for sleeping, or good arrangements for sex life, or a good defense to protect him, but this does not mean that he is a human being. A civilization that is based on these activities should be known as animalistic. Since animals are also interested in these functions, what is the difference between human life and animal life if a human being does not go beyond them? The distinction can be made when the human being becomes inquisitive and asks 'Why have I been put into this miserable condition? Is there any remedy for it? Is there perpetual eternal life? I do not want to suffer. I want to live happily and peacefully. Is there any chance for this? What is the method or science by which this can be achieved?' When these questions are asked, and steps have been taken to answer them, our human civilization is the result." The answers to these questions are to be found in this book.
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