Vedanta Psychology - Suhotra Maharaja Archives

authority. So if you give it back to there, then you can start talking, because thatgives rise to how gave the scripture? God gave it, so therefore it’s good or bad,because God said, not because you feel like it.So at the same time, God is also having this discussion with Uddhava, how is itthat the spiritualist can also have a problem or fall down? It doesn’t make it any lessspiritual, it just means he was not careful enough. That’s God’s opinion. Then onecannot get out your pitchforks and torches, and your burning at the stake, and yourlittle white hooded hats, and all those kind of stuff. You can’t do that, even thoughthat’s the next natural step. You can’t, because if you actually acknowledge that it isbased on religion, religion has come from God, God doesn’t work that way. Sotherefore if you are actually following God, you can’t work that way. So if you want towork that way, you actually have to leave God out of the equation, therefore it’smundane.Devotee (2): So the Puritan approach is quite simplistic and that’s why it falls flat.Maharaja: Yes, popular though. Very emotional, gets the bile moving, it helpsdigestion, many side benefits.Devotee (2): On the other hand, the argument from our conditioned state thatbecause we are conditioned, therefore don’t blame us, we are conditioned also seemsto be a little bit lame.Maharaja: It’s also false.Devotee (2): it’s also false.Maharaja: It’s false, because you are saying, I am conditioned, but who is the I?And what is this conditioning? So therefore it’s also stupid, because here hementioned, Uddhava doesn’t say that how is it that the transcendentalist then he getsinvolved even though he doesn’t want to be involved, he gets involved, and hedoesn’t leave him on a nice position. He says, how is it that the transcendentalist actslike a dog, an ass, or a goat? So therefore if you are saying, I am conditioned andtherefore give me a break, then you have to admit that I am a dog, a goat, or an ass,so therefore give me a break based on that. But they want to be able to maintain outof false ego the reason one is in the position is their pristine position as veryadvanced or special or unique or something, and that’s contradictory, and that’s whatdoesn’t work.So therefore the solution is that both positions are wrong. That both positionsexist, that’s natural. That’s what Prabhupada says, we can’t argue they are there. It’snatural. But the point is, what is the real position, that’s what we are trying to get to.So that’s then what then the Hamsa-avatara then replies. So now this is in Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.13.24 and 25. So then verse 24 is:Within this world, whatever is perceived by the mind, speech, eyes or othersenses is Me alone and nothing besides Me. All of you please understand this by astraightforward analysis of the facts.