“In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.8)

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God is more than just a concept. Not merely an abstract to be studied in an academic setting, there is a genuine identity, with locations of residence, and accordingly, personal, tangible, visible forms. These are not the same as the combinations of body and spirit we see around us.

“Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.11)

The nature is changeless and supreme. The distinction between visible and invisible, vyakta and avyakta, is for our understanding only. God is always around, accomplished easily through the expansion known as Supersoul.

He can…

“The great devotee in the monkey form carried out his duty, giving everything of himself, and the Lord became so grateful that He, the one who gives boons, stood before Hanuman with folded hands asking for a boon.” (Dohavali, 112)

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kiyo susevaka dharama kapi prabhu k।rtagya jiya’ jāni |
jori hātha ।thā।dhe bhae baradāyaka baradāni ||

It’s only natural to approach the Supreme Lord when in distress. As described in the Bhagavad-gita, this is one of the categories of people who finds Him. Whatever way is beneficial, as His association is purifying to the highest degree.

“O best among the Bharatas [Arjuna], four kinds of pious men render devotional service unto Me – the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.16)

Distress is found everywhere, and at seemingly…

“For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.20)

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Friend1: Alright, tough situation time.

Friend2: For you or me?

Friend1: For someone else, and now extending to both of us.

Friend2: What did you do now?

Friend1: A friend of mine suffered a loss in the family.

Friend2: Oh no, that’s terrible. Unexpected?

Friend1: Not entirely, but somewhat. The loss is still a loss; it’s hitting them that they won’t see this person ever again.

Friend2: Yeah, nothing can prepare you for something like that.

Friend1: So now the problem comes to me, because I want to know what to say. It extends to you, as well, since you have to help…

“Tulsi says that Shri Rama loves His devotee more than His own life. King Rama becomes so much indebted, and the devotee becomes so rich, like Hanuman.” (Dohavali, 111)

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tulasī rāmahu teṃ adhika rāma bhagata jiya’ jāna |
riniyā rājā rāma bhe dhanika bhae hanumāna ||

I have an important task to complete. Since I am not so naïve, it is understood that some outside help is required. This revealing truth is presented in the Bhagavad-gita, as well, where Shri Krishna explains that the individual is not the doer. They make the choice for action, but the modes of nature, gunas, must cooperate. Without those gunas results would only be potential within the mind, like unfulfilled dreams.

“When you see that there is nothing beyond these modes of nature in all activities and that the Supreme Lord is transcendental to all…

“While Krishna was going to the fruit vendor very hastily, most of the grains He was holding fell. Nonetheless, the fruit vendor filled Krishna’s hands with fruits, and her fruit basket was immediately filled with jewels and gold.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.11.11)

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Go a significant amount of time without eating meat and suddenly the mere smell of it cooking will become extremely unpleasant, reaching the point of intolerable. Go without consuming onions and garlic for a few months and suddenly you’ll be able to detect the slightest trace of it within food. It won’t be a welcome arrival, either.

Man is known to have different tastes, as there are different gunas to each individual. Man is more in the mode of goodness than the animals, but there is no guarantee that every person has the exact same constitutional makeup to the body. This accounts…

“The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.59)

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Again and again; taste what was already experienced. There were many past lives, quite possibly in a variety of species. Sense gratification, of one kind or another, was available. There was ample time to enjoy. Though the time ran out, another life awaited; such is the nature of the transmigration of the soul.

“One can never be happy by advancing materially. This is also stated in Shrimad-Bhagavatam (7.5.30): adanta-gobhir vishatam tamisram punah-punash-charvita-charvananam. Through the uncontrolled senses, one may advance one’s hellish condition. He may continue to chew the chewed; that is, repeatedly accept birth and death.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya, 13.142 Purport)

Prahlada Maharaja refers…

“And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.5)

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“That person speaks so well. They aren’t nervous in front of a crowd. They remain seated, but it looks like they have more energy than a marathon runner. They can stay in that same position, with a fully illuminated face, for upwards of four hours. They recite verses from memory, periodically break into devotional songs, and use the appropriate context, all while weaving through the greatest stories man has ever known.

That person cooks so well. I have never tasted food like theirs. Of course, there is the special potency derived from the offering itself. The food is transcendental, as we say. It is karma-free. Offered in front of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, prasadam