Engagement of a Conditioned Soul - The Struggle for Sense Gratification
The living entity is eternally active by nature; the only question is where that activity is directed. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that while the liberated soul finds limitless joy in serving the Supreme Lord, the conditioned soul wastes its existence frantically engaging in temporary, frustrating attempts at material sense gratification.
The Frantic Struggle for Sense Gratification
When the soul forgets its spiritual identity, it adopts the behavior of the lower species. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that without the guiding light of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the conditioned soul's only engagement is the endless, hackneyed struggle to secure the basic necessities of bodily maintenance and sensual pleasure.
- The conditioned souls use the duration of life between birth and death only to engage in the same hackneyed activities - eating, sleeping, mating and defending. In the lower animal species, we find the same activities.
- The conditioned souls or the individual living entities are servants of the senses. They are conducted by the direction or dictation of the senses, and therefore material civilization is a kind of engagement in sense gratification only.
- Material activities are the conditioned soul's only engagement. Not knowing the aim of life, the materialist perpetually wanders in material existence, struggling to get the necessities of life.
- The conditioned soul, due to madness only, engages his full energy and intelligence in sense gratification, and to achieve this end of life he willfully commits all sorts of misdeeds.
The Illusion of Material Control
Although conditioned souls believe they are the masters of their destiny, they are actually entirely controlled. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that by engaging in material activities, the living entity becomes tightly bound by the external energy of the Lord, forced to serve the cruel masters of lust, anger, and greed.
- Thinking himself a product of the material energy, the conditioned soul engages in the service of the material energy in so many ways. He becomes the servant of lust, anger, greed and envy. In this way one totally becomes a servant of the illusory energy.
- The conditioned soul is bewildered by the external, material energy, which fully engages him in sense gratification in various ways. Due to engagement in material activities, one's original Krsna consciousness is covered.
- O my Lord, You are the master and leader of all living entities. Under Your direction, all conditioned souls, as if bound by rope, are constantly engaged in satisfying their desires.
- The conditioned soul engages in the happiness and distress of the particular body given him by the arrangement of the external energy of the Supreme Lord. But the supreme living being, or the Paramatma, is different from the conditioned soul.
The Contrast of Consciousness
Two people can sit in the same room, yet inhabit entirely different realities. Śrīla Prabhupāda highlights that the fundamental difference between a conditioned soul and a liberated soul is simply the focus of their engagement; what one values as the supreme goal of life, the other views as a useless dream.
- The liberated soul and the conditioned soul have different engagements. The liberated soul is always engaged in the progressive path of spiritual attainment, which is something like a dream for the conditioned soul.
- The engagement of a conditioned soul appears to be a dream for the liberated soul.
- A conditioned soul and a liberated soul may apparently be on the same platform, but factually they are differently engaged, and their attention is always alert, either in sense enjoyment or in self-realization, respectively.
- When conditioned, the soul is impelled by the material energy to engage in sense gratification, whereas one enlightened by the spiritual energy engages himself in the service of the Supreme Lord in his eternal relationship.
Changing the Engagement
Deliverance from the material world does not mean annihilating one's existence, but purifying it. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that the real mission of human life is to consciously redirect our energy away from serving the material senses and toward rendering loving devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- The real mission of life for the conditioned soul is to reestablish the forgotten relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and engage in devotional service so that he may revive Krsna consciousness after giving up the body.
- Any conditioned soul may also engage in the service of the Lord under the guidance of an expert spiritual master and thus gradually become freed from the entanglement of material existence.
- Once the conditioned soul engages himself in devotional service, he also becomes liberated like the Lord.
- When the conditioned soul attains his real spiritual energy and fully surrenders unto the Lord's lotus feet, he tries to engage in the Lord's service. This is the real constitutional position of the living entity.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Śrīla Prabhupāda vividly exposes the tragic reality of the conditioned soul's existence: an endless, frantic engagement in the trivial pursuits of eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. Deluded by false ego and the powerful influence of material energy, the living entity mistakenly believes they are the master of their own destiny, when in fact they are tightly bound servants to the cruel dictates of lust, anger, and greed. This misdirected energy forces the soul to repeatedly accept new material bodies, suffering the miseries of conditional life. However, the path to true freedom is remarkably straightforward. One does not need to cease all activities, but simply change the focus of their engagement. By observing the distinct contrast between the miserable struggle of the materialist and the blissful, progressive path of the liberated soul, the intelligent person chooses to surrender to Kṛṣṇa. Once the conditioned soul reestablishes their forgotten relationship with the Supreme Lord and actively engages their senses in His pure devotional service, they immediately transcend the illusion of māyā and are restored to their eternal, liberated position.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Engagement of a Conditioned Soul. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.