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Kripalu Ji Maharaj says that ‘Anybody who is a ‘Mukt Jeevatma’ will also go into the ‘Paramatma phase’ only for a short duration and ‘Has to return to this world’. Because when ‘Jeevatma is reunited with Paramatma where is the question of His return? Can you please elaborate on this?

Question Detail: Srinivasan Channiga
Answer: The term 'jeevan mukt' means one who is liberated but is still living on this earth. It is used in two different contexts: firstly, for someone who is liberated from avidya maya (an atm gyani) and secondly, for someone who is liberated from vidya maya (a brahm gyani). The first is not truly liberated, and can thus fall back under the grip of maya. The second is truly liberated and can never be affected by maya again.
 
The first type of jeevan mukt is one who has fully purified his mind through sadhana, thus he has no remaining desires or attachments. These desires and attachments are called avidya maya. They can be conquered through one's own sadhana, because they were created by the mind and have no existence outside of the mind. This jeevan mukt is said to be liberated from avidya maya, and may spend long periods of time absorbed in samadhi. However, the mind of this jeevan mukt is still mayic - it is in a pure, sattvic state of maya, but still contains the unlimited past sanskars from unlimited past lifetimes. Those sanskars cause him to come out of his samadhi, and as soon as he does, he is liable to be attracted by the world again and start desiring and developing attachments. That is why Ved Vyas says 'jeevan muktaa api punarbandhanam kaam karmabhih': "Even a jeevan mukt can again come under the grip of worldly desires and start performing binding karm."
 
To become truly liberated, the first type of jeevan mukt has to conquer vidya maya, which is the original cosmic energy. This is not a creation of the mind, and thus it cannot be conquered through sadhana performed by the mind. This vidya maya is an eternal power of Shree Krishna and cannot be crossed by any means. However, if that jeevan mukt does bhakti and surrenders to Shree Krishna, then with Shree Krishna's kripa, he is freed from vidya maya. Then he is truly liberated and can never come under the effect of maya again. For as long as he remains in his body, he is called a jeevan mukt. When he leaves his body, he will merge into nirakar brahm and never be born again on earth.
Pooja Anand asked 9 years ago     Comment: Post a comment
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What is the law of destiny? Do we receive the results of our actions in this life?

Answer:  Destiny or Prarabdh Karm is the outcome of actions. In every life, we perform uncountable Kriyaman Karm (the actions of the current life). All of that karm is recorded. The record of all our unlimited karm from unlimited past lifetimes is called sanchit karm. Out of that Sanchit Karm, we are given a portion of it to undergo as destiny in this life. The rest is kept as Sanchit Karm to be given to us sometime in a future life. So we simultaneously perform new Kriyaman Karm, while undergoing our Prarabdh Karm (destiny) and Sanchit Karm is the stock of uncountable past actions. Destiny controls certain things in a person's life (like major accidents, some illnesses, major financial ups and downs, fame and infamy). However, every person has control over their own thinking. This means that we exercise our free will to perform new actions every moment, and simultaneously undergo the consequences of past lives' actions in the form of destiny. The actions we perform in this life fructify in our next life. They become thedestiny of our next life. The destiny of this life is already determined by the karm of our last life, so there is no room for us to receive the outcome of this life's actions in the same life. However, there is one way that we are immediately affected by our actions, that is in our mind. Our good or bad actions either develop our mind in a positive direction or a negative direction,and that can be felt immediately.
Pooja Anand asked 10 years ago     Comment: Post a comment
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How many different types of knowledge (gyan) are there?

Answer: There are mainly two kinds of gyan (knowledge): theoretical and experiential. Experiential knowledge is also of two types: atmagyan (knowledge of the soul) and brahm gyan (knowledge of God). Brahm gyan is the knowledge of God which is only received by surrendering to God, not through any practice. Atm gyan can be attained by following the path of gyan, butbrahm gyan can only be attained through bhakti. When you surrender to God throughbhakti and He Graces you, then you receive His Divine knowledge. That knowledge is unlimited. In other words, when you know God, you know everything.
Pooja Anand asked 10 years ago     Comment: Post a comment
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How do we get more success in life by getting spiritual and how not to get carried away with that success?

Answer: Luckily, Krishn would never let His devotee get carried away with success. In fact it is His statement in the Bhagwatam that when He Graces a devotee, He takes away the objects of his attachment, so that he will not be distracted, and he will turn fully towards Krishn. The point is that as long as your desire is to attain Krishn, then just try your best in the world, and take whatever comes as His prasad.
 
As regards spirituality helping us attain more success in life, the thing to remember is that our major financial situations and social successes and failures are already determined by our destiny. This is based on our past life's actions, which fructify in this life as the ups and downs that we experience in the world. That means that no matter how spiritual we are, we can't find more success than we're already destined for. So use spirituality to find inner success. The more your develop your connection with Radha Krishn, the more inner stability you will have. This gives you the strength to weather any stormin the world and it means that you can be truly happy in all situations. This is the power of spirituality, it gives  you the ability to be happy no matter what happens to you in the world.
Pooja Anand asked 10 years ago     Comment: Post a comment
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What is the relation between meditation and memory? What are the rules for meditation?

Answer: I am guessing that by memory you mean my use of the word 'remembrance'. Remembrance means the same as 'smaran'. It means when you think about someone or you remember them in your heart. Thinking about Radha Krishn and Their leelas is remembrance or smaran. That is the form of meditation you do on the path of bhakti.On the path of bhakti there are no restrictions of time or place for meditation. You can meditate anytime, anyplace. There is also no required posture for meditation. The only requirement is that you should be remembering Radha Krishn.
Pooja Anand asked 10 years ago     Comment: Post a comment
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what is better for our spiritual progress – doing seva or doing sadhana?

Answer: I cannot say that one is better than the other. Both have their benefits which help us in our spiritual progress. Doing sadhana (meaning practicing roop dhyan) develops more attachment to Radha Krishna and gradually reduces the fickleness of the mind. This is important for fueling our progress.

Doing seva enhances this by improving our feelings of humbleness, surrender and dedication to Hari & Guru. It also gives us a different way of engaging our mind in devotional thoughts, since one may not be able to sit all day in meditation.
A sadhak should strike a balance between both sadhana and seva. One should not think that because they have a lot of seva to do that it is unnecessary for them to do sadhana; and one who enjoys doing sadhana can further enrich their spiritual development  if they start doing some seva.
Pooja Anand asked 10 years ago     Comment: Post a comment
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what do we do when we have made a serious spiritual transgression?

Answer: We should know that God and Guru do not look to punish someone who has committed a spiritual transgression or, namaparadh. The damage is done by our own mind. We pollute our own mind with our wrong thinking and then we suffer the consequences. But God and Guru know that as long as we are under the bondage of maya, we will continue to make such mistakes. They are more than willing to forgive us and to help us overcome the negative consequences of our mistake. All a sadhak has to do is admit his mistake, sincerely ask for forgiveness, and resolve never to make that mistake again. When you do that, your Guru will forgive you and will help you recover your lost devotion so that you can go ahead on the path.
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Radhey Radhey Swami ji, I am suffering from immense ego (ahankar). How to reduce this?

Answer: Ahankar (also called ego or vanity) is a natural characteristic of the human mind. There is nothing wrong with having it, because it remains in everyone's mind up until God realization. The only way to overcome it is first of all by acknowledging that you have it - you are already doing this. Just be aware how it affects you. This will develop humbleness. The second thing to do is keep doing sadhana. Only by doing sadhana can we purify our mind, and as the mind purifies, the vanity is gradually suppressed and more humbleness is developed. The gist is that there is no easy way or short cut. We simply have to keep practicing devotion and gradually the ahankar will be reduced. 
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Is there a point where even sleep can be transcended- even if it is a state of samadhi of yoga nidra?

Answer:  For ordinary people like us, sleep is a necessity.  As long as we have a physical body, there are certain things that we must provide it: adequate nutrition, adequate sleep, protection from the elements, etc.  Although there have certainly been great yogis and tapasvis who were able to greatly reduce their reliance on such things, this is not part of the path of bhakti.  The path of bhakti requires us to moderate our use of food and sleep in order to maintain a healthy existence.  Then we focus on attaching our mind to God through practicing daily devotion.  We do not try to or hope to develop siddhis or to transcend the physical elements. Sleep is necessary for our bodies, but it should be used in moderation.  Sleeping too much is not good for maintaining a devotional state of mind, because it promotes the tamas quality of the mind.  Sleep just enough to meet the requirements of the body.  The reason that we are so attached to the pleasure of lying in bed and sleeping is because of that tamas guna of our mind.  The more we give into it, the more it grows.  The more we control it, the more it subsides.  As our heart purifies through the practice of bhakti, so does our attachment to sleep begin to reduce.  But even a God realized Saint who is beyond the three gunas (qualities) of maya still sleeps for some time every night.
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