Chapter 15. The Yoga of the Supreme Person
TEXT 1
The Blessed Lord said: There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down and whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.
PURPORT of A.C. Bhaktisiddhānta Swami Prabhupāda:
After the discussion of the importance of bhakti-yoga, one may question, "What about the Vedas?" It is explained in this chapter that the purpose of Vedic study is to understand Kṛṣṇa. Therefore one who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, who is engaged in devotional service, already knows the Vedas.
The entanglement of this material world is compared here to a banyan tree. For one who is engaged in fruitive activities, there is no end to the banyan tree. He wanders from one branch to another, to another, to another. The tree of this material world has no end, and for one who is attached to this tree, there is no possibility of liberation. The Vedic hymns, meant for elevating oneself, are called the leaves of this tree. This tree's roots grow upward because they begin from where Brahmā is located, the topmost planet of this universe. If one can understand this indestructible tree of illusion, then one can get out of it.
This process of extrication should be understood. In the previous chapters it has been explained that there are many processes by which to get out of the material entanglement. And, up to the Thirteenth Chapter, we have seen that devotional service to the Supreme Lord is the best way. Now, the basic principle of devotional service is detachment from material activities and attachment to the transcendental service of the Lord. The process of breaking attachment to the material world is discussed in the beginning of this chapter. The root of this material existence grows upward. This means that it begins from the total material substance, from the topmost planet of the universe. From there, the whole universe is expanded, with so many branches, representing the various planetary systems. The fruits represent the results of the living entities' activities, namely, religion, economic development, sense gratification and liberation.
Now, there is no ready experience in this world of a tree situated with its branches down and its roots upward, but there is such a thing. That tree can be found beside a reservoir of water. We can see that the trees on the bank reflect upon the water with their branches down and roots up. In other words, the tree of this material world is only a reflection of the real tree of the spiritual world. This reflection of the spiritual world is situated on desire, just as the tree's reflection is situated on water. Desire is the cause of things' being situated in this reflected material light. One who wants to get out of this material existence must know this tree thoroughly through analytical study. Then he can cut off his relationship with it.
This tree, being the reflection of the real tree, is an exact replica. Everything is there in the spiritual world. The impersonalists take Brahmā to be the root of this material tree, and from the root, according to sāṅkhya philosophy, come prakṛti, puruṣa, then the three guṇas, then the five gross elements (pañca-mahābhūta), then the ten senses (daśendriya), mind, etc. In this way they divide up the whole material world. If Brahmā is the center of all manifestations, then this material world is a manifestation of the center by 180 degrees, and the other 180 degrees constitute the spiritual world. The material world is the perverted reflection, so the spiritual world must have the same variegatedness, but in reality. The prakṛti is the external energy of the Supreme Lord, and the puruṣa is the Supreme Lord Himself, and that is explained in Bhagavad-gītā. Since this manifestation is material, it is temporary. A reflection is temporary, for it is sometimes seen and sometimes not seen. But the origin from whence the reflection is reflected is eternal. The material reflection of the real tree has to be cut off. When it is said that a person knows the Vedas, it is assumed that he knows how to cut off attachment to this material world. If one knows that process, he actually knows the Vedas. One who is attracted by the ritualistic formulas of the Vedas is attracted by the beautiful green leaves of the tree. He does not exactly know the purpose of the Vedas. The purpose of the Vedas, as disclosed by the Personality of Godhead Himself, is to cut down this reflected tree and attain the real tree of the spiritual world.
PURPORT
As for dividing the world into two halves of 180 degrees. This can be understood that the spiritual world is located 180 degrees up from Brahma, and the world of matter - 180 degrees down. Here a general description of spirit and matter is given, so both worlds are conventionally represented in equal parts, although in reality the world of matter is smaller.
TEXT 2
The branches of this tree extend downward and upward, nourished by the three modes of material nature. The twigs are the objects of the senses. This tree also has roots going down, and these are bound to the fruitive actions of human society.
PURPORT of A.C. Bhaktisiddhānta Swami Prabhupāda:
The description of the banyan tree is further explained here. Its branches are spread in all directions. In the lower parts, there are variegated manifestations of living entities, such as human beings, animals, horses, cows, dogs, cats, etc. These are situated on the lower parts of the branches, whereas on the upper parts are higher forms of living entities: the demigods, Gandharvas (fairies), and many other higher species of life. As a tree is nourished by water, so this tree is nourished by the three modes of material nature. Sometimes we find that a tract of land is barren for want of sufficient water, and sometimes a tract is very green; similarly, where the modes of material nature are proportionately greater in quantity, the different species of life are manifested in that proportion.
The twigs of the tree are considered to be the sense objects. By development of the different modes of nature, we develop different senses, and, by the senses, we enjoy different varieties of sense objects. The source of the senses - the ears, the nose, eyes, etc. - is considered to be the upper twigs, tuned to the enjoyment of different sense objects. The leaves are sound, form, touch-the sense objects. The roots, which are subsidiary, are the by-products of different varieties of suffering and sense enjoyment. Thus we develop attachment and aversion. The tendencies toward piety and impiety are considered to be the secondary roots, spreading in all directions. The real root is from Brahmaloka, and the other roots are in the human planetary systems. After one enjoys the results of virtuous activities in the upper planetary systems, he comes down to this earth and renews his karma or fruitive activities for promotion. This planet of human beings is considered the field of activities.
PURPORT
The tree of the material world grows from above and is a partial reflection of the diversity of the spiritual world. The trunk of the tree is the total material energy, the main branches are the three gunas of nature and also their main combinations (Śrīla Prabhupāda in his purpor considers the gunas as water that nourishes the tree, but this option is also acceptable, since the structure of the universe as a whole reflects the spread of the three gunas). On the main branches appear smaller branches or twigs - these are objects of the senses; leaves grow on the twigs - this is sound, shape, touch (the main types of sense objects), or leaves can be understood as the senses themselves with the help of which the objects of the senses are perceived. The tree forms the objects of the senses, the senses themselves and the sense organs - ears, nose, eyes and others. Since the senses and sense objects are related, we describe them as twigs and leaves on these twigs.
From the point of view of the soul located in the material world, first comes his senses which perceive the objects of the senses, but in the description of the tree everything goes in the opposite order, according to how everything happens in the process of creation. At first, the world forms all the elements and basic principles, so first of all they are described as the root and large branches of a tree, and in the end, individual senses are described as leaves, because this is the last stage of creation. From below (or from within the material world) it seems to us that we are the center of creation and perception, but from the point of view of the creation of the world, we are just the last thing that appears as a result of creation. Matter envelops the soul, simultaneously covers him with the senses, the corresponding sense organs and provides objects for the senses, but all these are created starting with the gunas, then the objects of the senses, and only after the conditioned soul enters who uses the senses and perceives the objects of the senses.
The senses are described as leaves, the objects of the senses are described as twigs (or shoots) or also as leaves, because they are created together and connected to each other, just as the twigs and leaves growing on the same tree are connected. The connection between senses and the objects of senses is also shown in the fact that senses in some sense acquire the properties of the objects of senses, therefore it turns out that sometimes objects of senses are described as leaves, just as the senses themselves are described as leaves.
All these comparisons are good because they allow a deeper understanding of the described phenomena. It may seem that the description of the material world as a tree is primitive, but such a comparison allows us to show many rather complicated principles. For example, if the gunas are water that nourishes the tree, then the tree of the material world itself is a derivative of the gunas, just as an ordinary tree is a derivative of water. Or objects of senses and senses are described as leaves. This illustrates that the senses themselves, when they perceive objects, reflect these objects and in this sense take the form of these objects. The mind reflects objects and in this sense becomes nondifferent from them.
Roots are described as going up, but there are also roots going down. That is, all creation begins from above, the main root is from above, but there are roots going down: these are the roots that bind and fall the soul down, they are called secondary (since they appear after the roots of the general creation and are second in importance after them). The main secondary roots are piety and sinfulness - this is the basic criterion for the position of the soul on the tree of the material world. Auxiliary roots are products of suffering and pleasure.
Thus, three types of roots are described: the first type is the main root from which the whole world arises; then secondary roots are piety and sinfulness, which determine the position of the soul on the tree of this world; and the third type is auxiliary roots - these are activities and their fruits that bring happiness and suffering. Also in the previous verse, the leaves are described as Vedic hymns. This means that the Vedas should become the main thing that a person perceives and that the Vedas are the perfection of any activity within matter, but the third meaning is the fascination with the external fruits of the Vedas, in which case the leaves are described as ordinary objects of the senses. The Vedas are generally considered here as a secondary religious knowledge, and further in the chapter God Himself will be described, who is the goal of spiritual life.
TEXT 3-4
The real form of this tree cannot be perceived in this world. No one can understand where it ends, where it begins, or where its foundation is. But with determination one must cut down this tree with the weapon of detachment. So doing, one must seek that place from which, having once gone, one never returns, and there surrender to that Supreme Personality of Godhead from whom everything has begun and in whom everything is abiding since time immemorial.
PURPORT
As long as a person is under the influence of matter, he cannot fully understand the material world or the tree of this world. Scientists study this universe, but they do not know where the beginning of the universe is, nor where its end is. Scientists create various hypotheses, but they are not able to understand the universe or even one planet Earth. If a person, for example, is in a forest, then he sees individual trees, but cannot see the entire forest. Have lost in the woods, a person can climb the tallest tree and, if the forest is small, see which way to go to get out of it. Similarly, while we are under the control of māyā, we cannot understand its structure. Therefore, knowledge in the highest sense is not a study of the tree of this world, but an escape from under the influence of matter. The more a person gets out of the influence of the material world, the better he understand its structure.
Everything within matter has a cause, therefore, the material world itself has a cause, an original cause. The nature of this cause can be understood by observing the manifestations of the external world: everything is filled with qualities, forms, and various manifestations of senses and intelligence, respectively, forms, qualities, senses, mind, and intelligence are also present in the primary cause. Materialists say that senses, mind, intelligence are derived from a certain combination of atoms, and senses, mind, intelligence do not exist as such. But even if we accept this version, even in this case it is obvious that the atoms were able to combine and manifest senses, mind, and intelligence in themselves, since such possibility was originally laid down.
People can imitate the processes of thinking by creating a computer, but this possibility is also present inside matter. Or a person studies the chemical properties of various substances, but these properties have already been given, so he first studies and only then, in accordance with the properties, can combine substances in different proportions, achieving different results. People study ready-made nature and laws, people themselves cannot create these things. Man cannot create even a speck of dust and no one can break even one law.
People create airplanes and fly by overcoming the force of gravity, but if the structure of material elements did not allow the creation of an airplane, or if people did not have mental functions, they would not be able to create and overcome anything. Therefore, the emergence of various forms of life, the emergence of senses, mind, and intelligence - all of these are initially laid down and present in the original cause. Modern pseudoscientists say life arose by accident, however, if everything within the world is based on the laws, the existence of laws refutes the possibility of any accident. Even if we assume that matter, mixing and somehow structuring, created life, then this property of matter was in the original cause of the world.
The so-called scientists can say to this that these properties may have been in the original cause, but the original cause cannot have intelligence. In that case, where does people get their intelligence from? They say the cause of the world is dead matter, which has formed itself into cells, bodies, and into intelligence, however, if there were no properties within matter that ensure such development, then how would this development happen? Even if we assume that everything “formed” by itself, then the possibility of such a forming was provided initially, otherwise nothing would have developed and the world would have been a “mess” of atoms. If the atoms suddenly formed themselves, then their original properties provided such possibility?
If a scientist cannot understand such elementary things, then all his diplomas and scientific titles should be taken away from him and he should be declared a fraud and a parasite of science. If initially atoms did not have the ability to evolve, then how would this happen? For some reason, over millions of years of evolution, dogs have never learned to write books, but in the human form of life, people reproduce themselves with ready-made capabilities for developed speech and writing. The variability of the species is within strict limits - this is a scientific fact - and for millions of years, the dogs did not become people, but even if we assume that a man arose as a result of evolution, this possibility of evolution was initially implied, otherwise how would it have happened?
The material world has a precise structure and immutable laws, therefore, the reason for such laws exists initially within all matter. We see laws that do not change billions of years, respectively, matter inside itself has some kind of property or some kind of principle that supports all laws in constant and unchangeable form. Materialists say that the permanent qualities of matter exist by themselves, but in any case, it is necessary to recognize the fact that matter has a precise structure at all and any levels from atomic to cosmic. All and any elements of matter are subject to universal laws, among which there is no concept of randomness. From this follows the obvious conclusion that matter originally contained all the properties for the development of bodies, mind, and intelligence. If a man cannot understand such facts, then he have moved not far from animals. If, somewhere understanding this, a person still denies these uncomplicated truths, it means he is just a rascal.
Everyone should declare the war on the fraudulent theory of evolution. How, with 2-5 billion believers on the planet, can this theory of crazy people take any place in society? There are laws everywhere, there is no randomness anywhere, all chemical reactions occur according to strict laws. Even if we assume that the molecules themselves formed from the atoms (which is even theoretically impossible), then the properties of the atoms were originally such that they formed into molecules and then into the body. This means that nature originally implied the possibility of the appearance of the bodies, mind, and intelligence. If there was originally a possibility of the appearance of life in nature, then how can we say that life arose by accident?
The theory of evolution is just absurd. Any thing in the world is destroyed. Create a car, build a house - and it will begin to destroy. The whole universe is being destroyed, this is an objective fact. If any phenomenon around us degrades, then how can we talk about evolution? Everyone's body appears, grows, ages, and disappears - this is a universal law. Any phenomenon, any fact speaks of the temporality of the universe. The temporary universe creates temporary bodies and the whole universe, having appeared, then gradually collapses. The eternal universe would create eternal bodies, which is obvious. Entropy, chaos grows in the universe, or chaos grows in our body until the body becomes completely unusable. Chaos increases everywhere, but fraudulent scientists say that everything has evolved by itself. This is just absurd, such people have no education and no mental abilities. They say that the bodies die, but new bodies are born in their place. Similarly, the universe is constantly die and then reborn. This knowledge is billions of years old.
Any body within the material world perishes, because this is the general quality of the whole world. If all the bodies and phenomena that we see ultimately perish or degenerate, then the entire universe has the same quality of temporality. When will this worldwide lie about evolution be completely rejected? Atheists have made an ignorant faith out of religion, and all so-called faithful people listen to this lie about evolution without saying anything in response. We need preachers who will destroy the idea of evolution; we do not need believers who are piously baptized and like evolution.
In Christianity, atheists (including religious atheists) have created an image of the believer – a downtrodden being who goes to the temple. According to their version, one can only believe in God without proof, and one should to believe in one's soul, in the temple or in the cemetery. But devotees should go all over the world with a preaching, to all the cities, and explain to everyone that God exists and the idea of evolution is a blatant deception and a lie.
As long as people think that life has arisen by itself and that everything is developing and not degrading now, what kind of well-being in society can we talk about? Now machines are developing and people are degrading. The idea of evolution is at the origin of the growth of universal lawlessness around the world. The fact that people create machines and there is a development of machines is not the result of evolution, but the result of the activity of the mind and intelligence of people and the use of the original capabilities inherent in nature. If a child has been trained and given cubes, and he builds a house out of these cubes, then this is primarily the merit of those who trained him and gave him cubes, and not the child himself (since the child alone cannot fully develop). Therefore, the ability to create machines and the emergence of mind and intelligence are inherent in nature from the very beginning, and are not the result of the activities of people themselves or the result of accident.
Now scientists say that everything appeared by itself and matter is a testing ground for any experiments, and so-called believers listen to all this open-mouthed. Scientists take ready-made atoms, ready-made cells and bodies for their experiments, also their minds and intelligence are not created by themselves, therefore, the fruit they receive does not belong to them. If an ancient man took a stick and dug a hole, of cause he may consider it his own invention, but neither the stick, nor the soil, nor his body and mind were created by him. The very idea of a hole was already ingrained in his mind - for example, many other life forms would not have the idea of digging holes because they lack such mental abilities.
Even if we assume that life appeared in the process of evolution, then all the properties of atoms and the future abilities of people still had to be laid down in the universe initially, otherwise they would not have come from anywhere. The possibility of creating machines and mechanisms is in the very structure of the universe, and is not created by people. People take this or that physical effect and use it for their own needs, realizing the inherent possibility of this. They grow crops in the same way: on ready-made land, using the inherent opportunity and the inherent methods of plant reproduction. Therefore, no one in the world has the right to declare that something belongs to him.
All the discoveries of scientists and the very life of scientists were able to happen due to the fact that the possibility for this was provided to scientists from the very beginning, but not obtained by them themselves. Studying the various laws and consequences of these laws, studying the properties of matter, scientists must admit that they are only manipulate ready-made properties and laws and that they have no right to speak of the creation of something as their own merit, since both such a so-called scientists and the material with which they works appeared only due to the original properties of the universe and did not arise by themselves.
The scientist conducts purposeful activity, because the universe was created purposefully. A scientist can create something, because the whole universe and he himself are created, and did not arise by accident. All scientists are very purposeful in their work, and for some reason they do not say that their inventions or mechanisms will arise by themselves. Nothing arises by itself in the world, the laws stands above everything and scientists painstakingly study these laws in order to apply them to dominate nature. All science is aimed at dominance – people want to fly like birds, swim like fish, change their bodies as they please, and want to live as long as possible. The Bhagavad-gītā and other world scriptures confirm the purposeful creation of the universe. The scriptures say that the material world was created for those who want to live without God and imitate God in everything, trying to gain power over everything that exists. This is exactly what we see every day and everywhere.
Therefore, all those who call themselves faithful should preach widely against the idea of evolution, justifying its impossibility in all ways. Also, every faithful must explain and prove with reasoned arguments that none of the scientists has the right to either material or intellectual property. When a scientist creates at least one milligram of matter from scratch, then he can say "this is mine", but they take the ready-made matter, so none of them have the right to any kind of property.
Scientists take ready-made cells and spoil them, they create viruses, add chemicals in people's food and conduct nuclear explosions. Scientists today are the number one rascals in the world and getting the modern science looking respectable again should begin with the fight against the theory of evolution and with the destruction of the theory of evolution, since this theory is absolutely not scientific and contradicts elementary logic and facts. It was this theory that gave birth to all world lawlessness, including in politics, in the state, in personal life, and in the modern world, the theory of evolution, spreading, destroys all life on earth.
TEXT 5
One who is free from illusion, false prestige, and false association, who understands the eternal, who is done with material lust and is freed from the duality of happiness and distress, and who knows how to surrender unto the Supreme Person, attains to that eternal kingdom.
PURPORT
The desire to put oneself first is the reason for being born in the world of matter. As long as a person wants to be great, he will be born and die, because the material world is the only place where one can fulfill the desire for one's own greatness. The desire for greatness gives rise to pride – self-exaltation over others or self-admiration. A person is proud of his country, family, or car, which ultimately means self-exaltation as the best. Until a person gets rid of the desire for prestige, he cannot get out of the material world, so God speaks about the need for lack of pride.
But lack of pride is not some artificial humility, lack of pride is an understanding of the supreme position of God, the development of knowledge, and preaching. What does "not proud" mean? This is the one who preaches from person to person despite possible problems and insults in his address. The lack of pride is mostly not a prayer in the temple, but a preaching on the streets and in public places. Usually believers understand humility only as meek behavior, but humility is much more extensive. Arjuna did not want to fight, for personal reasons, however, according to the will of God, he entered the battle – this is true humility. What does God want from us? The development of knowledge and enlightenment of people, by and large, nothing else is required.
It is also necessary to understand that the pride of people within religion is the same materialistic pride as everywhere else. When a person is proud of his religious position, his religion, his guru, his true or false development – all these are also forms of materialistic pride. If a person develops spiritually, he understands that he is still imperfect, such a person does not have pride, because he is absorbed in the practice of spiritual life and preaching. Even having achieved significant success, he sees that there is a lot of work ahead.
In fact, we have not yet achieved any significant progress – Śrīla Prabhupāda has started this movement, and we cannot even really support it. If one becomes a successful preacher, a sannyāsī or a guru, no one should not be proud, otherwise one will fall down or will not develop spiritually. We must further educate preachers, continue paramparā, and not be proud of our titles or status. One way or another, until a person focuses on knowledge and on preaching, his entire spiritual life will be defiled. We cannot "become good", we can engage ourselves in activities dedicated to God - this is the key to all spiritual qualities.
Freedom from illusion means understanding that matter will never make us happy. Everyone's life can end at any moment, but even if a person continues to live, no position within matter will make him happy. People often want to achieve success in material development first and then take up religion, or religious people want to have financial and other success, but all such attempts to achieve happiness are doomed. Until one understands that the entire material world is meaningless from beginning to end, one is still in illusion.
As long as we are conditioned, one way or another we will fall under the influence of various desires, but at least we should not have ideas of our personal domination in the world of matter. Since māyā always is always changing or being destroyed, then everyone who is attached to it will inevitably suffer, it is not even a matter of suffering, but of wasting time trying to get settled here thoroughly. A devotee should arrange his life without too much complication, and devote the rest of his time and energy to the development of knowledge and preaching - this is the best position. Ideally, it is better to renounce everything at all, but if renunciation makes life too difficult, then it is not necessary. Renunciation is good when it simplifies life, when it is natural, and when it strengthens the preaching, otherwise it is unnecessary.
To avoid false association means preaching, in which case all unnecessary will go away. The absence of false association means that the focus in a devotee's life is on God, and everything else is secondary. We must live simply and practically, without setting super-goals, without neglecting the family, if there is one. Materialists always want to see themselves at the top of the world - either they do their best to earn a family and try to make it ideal, then, in a fit of false renunciation, they want to leave the family and become a great sannyāsī; such kind of tendency is not good.
It is necessary to live calmly, practically; self-realization and spiritual experience are important, and not some external things. Freedom from false association comes naturally when a devotee develops and preaches. At first, we think there is something important in matter, but over time all values change naturally and the devotee loses interest in things that are not related to God and preaching. On the one hand, we lose interest in everything material, on the other hand, because we preach everywhere, we know all the phenomena and aspects of material life. The emphasis changes - we still remain surrounded by material phenomena, but our approach to them changes.
Every devotee should at least cognize Eternity, or Brahman. If a devotee does not realize Eternity and has not embodied it in himself, then he does something wrong. Brahman realization is the first step in devotional service, so everyone should understand what Brahman is, at least in theory to begin with.
To done with lust on your own is very difficult. All kinds of desires of the sensual life are lust. Lust is not only the desire for the opposite sex or wealth, it is all kinds of sensual life, and it is difficult to avoid such things. A person cannot get rid of lust simply by avoiding the material objects that attract him or by accepting renunciation; such desires can only be gradually replaced or displaced by the development of knowledge, spiritual practice, and preaching.
Men are attracted by beautiful girls when see them on the streets, but when, for example, we offer beautiful girls the books of Śrīla Prabhupāda, lust gradually disappears, because a higher, spiritual nature begins to manifest. Once upon a time the prospect of big money or positions excite us, but now against the background of spiritual life, all this looks more and more insignificant. People draw some pictures of future prosperity in their minds and follow such a dream, however, even if they achieve something, they still remain dissatisfied.
Since the fulfillment of desires does not bring tangible happiness, the materialists never stop in their plans and never become satisfied. Then they say that the eternal pursuit of the fulfillment of desires is a manifestation of the diversity of life, but such a run, like a squirrel in a wheel, is obviously stupid. By and large, we do not need anything from life, we just preach to all these people.
In the beginning, a devotee is attached to all kinds of material prosperity. Having taken the path of spiritual life, he outwardly denies this, proves to others that this is illusory and unimportant, but inwardly he still wants money, fame, women and everything else. Such things are natural in the beginning, we cannot be cleansed instantly, but logical proofs - albeit weak, but help. If a person is sincere and develops knowledge, all such attachments will go away over time, but if a person is not sincere, then, outwardly denying materialistic happiness, inwardly a person will remain attached to such happiness and this kind of religiosity will take distorted or ugly forms.
Basically, it is impossible to somehow seriously purify oneself without preaching. Believers or devotees who do not preach from person to person or preach only because they are in a religious position (such as a priest, sannyāsī, guru, or professional lecturer) where preaching is part of their job or image, they are all hypocritical to varying degrees when talking about morality and the like. Only a selfless preacher can become a moral person and only when he began to realize God, in another case, everyone desires material dominance to varying degrees and is not free from lust.
Having elevated to the level of Brahman, a person understands the relativity of all concepts and the meaninglessness of all material life. Then the devotee elevates even higher and accepts the positive principles of spiritual life, namlely, studying the books of Śrīla Prabhupāda, chanting the names of God, and preaching. By preaching to many people in different situations year after year, the devotee strengthens his spiritual position and he is less and less affected by happiness and unhappiness. He sees that everything changes in the world, but the truth is always unchangeable. The most important thing that a preacher can cultivate in himself is freedom from being judged by others, freedom from both fame and blame - this is the greatest gift that anyone can make to himself.
As time goes by, the devotee sees the path of spiritual life more and more clearly, theory becomes practice. First we see spiritual life in general, then more and more details appear. We advise others the same things that we apply ourselves; and then the realization of Brahman, the greatness of God and other provisions of spiritual knowledge become a fact. Thus, throughout life, a devotee attains more and more God-realization and always increases it. Whether we return to the spiritual world in this life or not, there is no alternative to spiritual development, and also all other types of happiness are not of great value in themselves. Therefore, realizing the illusory nature of the material world and the reality of spiritual life, a devotee firmly follows this path, not turning anywhere.