Krsna—this sound is transcendental. Krsna means the highest pleasure. Each of us, every living being, seeks pleasure. But we do not know how to seek pleasure perfectly. With a materialistic concept of life, we are frustrated at every step in satisfying our desire for pleasure, because we have no information regarding the real level on which to have real pleasure. For the last few weeks we have been learning that we are not this body; we are consciousness. Not exactly conscousness, for consciousness is actually the symptom of our real identity: we are pure soul, now merged within this material body .Modern material science lays no stress on this; therefore, the scientists are sometimes misled in their understanding of spirit soul. But spirit soul is a fact, which anyone can understand by the presence of consciousness. Any child can understand that consciousness is the symptom of the spirit soul. Even after the destruction of this body, our consciousness is not destroyed. Rather, our consciousness is transferred to another type of body and again makes us aware of the material conception of life. That is also described in the Bhagavad-gita At the time of death, if our consciousness is pure, we can be sure that our next life will not be material—our next life will be spiritual. If our consciousness is not pure at the point of death, then, after leaving this body, we shall have to take another material body. That is the process which is going on. That is nature’s law. The material body has two divisions: the subtle body and the gross body. Just as we may cover ourselves with a shirt and coat, so the pure soul is covered by the “shirt and coat” of the subtle and gross bodies. Our bones, blood, flesh, and our different senses (like our eyes, ears, and skin) make up our gross body; and our mind, intelligence, and false ego make up our subtle body. False ego means the misconception that I am matter, that I am a product of this material world. This misconception makes me localized. For example, because I have taken my birth in India, I think myself Indian. Because I have taken my birth in America, I think myself American. But, as pure soul, I am neither Indian nor American. I am pure soul. These others are designations. American, or Indian, or German, or Englishman; cat or dog, or bee or bat, man or wife: all these are designations. In spiritual consciousness we become free from all such designations. That freedom is achieved when we are constantly in touch with the supreme
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness is simply intended to keep us in constant touch with Krsna, Krsna can be in constant companionship with us because He is omnipotent. Therefore, He can be fully in touch with us by His words. His words and He are not different. That is omnipotence.Omnipotence means that everything relating to Him has the same potency. For example, here in this material world, if we are thirsty and we want water, simply repeating “water, water, water, water,” will not satisfy cause this word does not have the same potency as water itself. We require the water in substance. Then our thirst will be satisfied. But in the transcendental, absolute world, there is no such difference. Krsna's name, Krsna’s quality, Krsna’s word—everything is Krsna and provides the same satisfaction. Some people argue that Arjuna was talking with Krsna because Krsna was present before him—whereas in my case Krsna is not present, so how can I get directions? But that is not a fact. Krsna is present by His words—the Bhagavadgita. In India, when we speak on the Bhagavad-gita or Srimad-Bhagavatam, we regularly perform worship with flowers, or with other paraphernalia, as is required for worshiping, In the Sikh religion also, although they have no form of the Deity, they worship the book Grantha Sahab. Perhaps some of you are acquainted with this Sikh community. They worship this Grantha. Similarly, the Muslims worship the Koran. Similarly, in the Christian world, the Bible is worshiped. It is a fact that Lord Jesus Christ is present by his words. Krsna is also present by His words. These personalities, either God or the Son of God, who come from the transcendental world, keep their transcendental identities without being contaminated by the material world. That is their omnipotence. We are in the habit of saying that God is omnipotent. Omnipotence means that He is not different from His name, from His quality, from His pastimes, from His instruction. Therefore, the discussion of Bhagavadgita is as good as discussion with Krsna Himself.