The Science Of Self-realization

The Science of Self Realization 2 Science of Self Realization Foreword Introduction 1 . Learning the Science of the Self 2 . Choosing a Spiritual Master 3 . Discovering the Roots 4 . Understanding Kåñëa and Christ 5 . Practicing Yoga in the Modern Age 6 . Finding Spiritual Solutions to Material Problems 7 . Exploring the Spiritual Frontier 8 . Attaining Perfection Dedication According to material vision, our beloved spiritual master, guide, and friend His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupäda passed away from this world on November 14, 1977, but actually he is still present. As Çréla Prabhupäda often pointed out, there are two ways of associating with the spiritual master: through his physical presence (vapu) and through his instructions (väëé). Sometimes we can associate with the spiritual master through his physical presence and sometimes not, but we can always associate with him through his instructions The Editors Foreword From the very start, I knew that His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupäda was the most extraordinary person I had ever met. The first meeting occurred in the summer of 1966, in New York City. A friend had invited me to hear a lecture by "an old Indian svämé" on lower Manhattan's Bowery. Overwhelmed with curiosity about a svämé lecturing on skid row, I went there and felt my way up a pitch-black staircase. A bell-like, rhythmic sound got louder and clearer as I climbed higher. Finally I reached the fourth floor and opened the door, and there he was. About fifty feet away from where I stood, at the other end of a long, dark room, he sat on a small dais, his face and saffron robes radiant under a small light. He was elderly, perhaps sixty or so, I thought, and he sat cross-legged in an erect, 3 stately posture. His head was shaven, and his powerful face and reddish hornrimmed glasses gave him the look of a monk who had spent most of his life absorbed in study. His eyes were closed, and he softly chanted a simple Sanskrit prayer while playing a hand drum. The small audience joined in at intervals, in call-and-response fashion. A few played hand cymbals, which accounted for the bell-like sounds I'd heard. Fascinated, I sat down quietly at the back, tried to participate in the chanting, and waited. After a few moments the svämé began lecturing in English, apparently from a huge Sanskrit volume that lay open before him. Occasionally he would quote from the book, but more often from memory. The sound of the language was beautiful, and he followed each passage with meticulously detailed explanations. He sounded like a scholar, his vocabulary intricately laced with philosophical terms and phrases. Elegant hand gestures and animated facial expressions added considerable impact to his delivery. The subject matter was the most weighty I had ever encountered: "I am not this body. I am not an Indian.... You are not Americans.... We are all spirit souls...." After the lecture someone gave me a pamphlet printed in India. A photo showed the svämé handing three of his books to Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. The caption quoted Mr. Shastri as saying that all Indian government libraries should order the books. "His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta swami Prabhupäda is doing great work," the prime minister said in another small tract, "and his books are significant contributions to the salvation of mankind." I purchased copies of the books, which I learned the svämé had brought over from India. After reading t