As I said in the beginning, if you learn only one thing in this life, just one thing, just learn: I am not this body, I am spirit soul. Every day I need to do something for me, the spirit soul. I still will take care of my body, so that means I have got to work or whatever. It should mean I will take care of the body even more carefully, even quit all these bad habits. They don’t make me happy, but destroy me.
Why do people take drugs? They are trying to be happy, too. Why are people alcoholics? They are trying to be happy, too. I remember one time I walked through a park in Bern, Switzerland, the capital of Switzerland. In this park there was a group of people, younger people, let’s just say from 17-18 to 40, about one hundred of them. They had just received their delivery of fresh needles. They were all heroin addicts and they were all desperately shooting heroin, they were trying to find a vein. One guy was trying to stick it in his arm, here the blood was running everywhere, he was desperate. A beautiful young girl had just got her fix and somebody was trying to hold her up. It was like some scene out of hell. I just walked right in the middle of it. Look at what these people are doing trying to be happy so desperately. And nothing can help them, but spiritual truth, spiritual activity.
And it’s the same for all of us. You may say, “I’m not a heroin addict. I’m not an alcoholic.” But it’s the same thing; you just haven’t taken it to that extreme. That is why we are glued in front of televisions and stuck in front of televisions. Now the young people are stuck in front of computers trying to be happy in this way.
The great teachers, representatives of the Supreme Lord who come to us, tell us what you need to know. They say, “Look, you are not the body, you are not the mind, you are spirit soul. Your body is temporary; it’s going to get old. Your mind is going to distract you and disturb you, agitate you. But you need spiritual food, you need to serve the Lord, you need to actually engage in activities that connect you with Him. You need that relationship that you have forgotten.” We all have it, but we have forgotten. We need to reestablish it, come back to where we have left long ago and then we will at least start knowing and doing the right thing with our life.
Life is very confusing if we don’t know this truth. We are forced to make choices every day. We have made big choices in our life and we are making little choices in our life. But it’s all based on materialism. Who is actually choosing to dedicate their life to spiritual pursuit? Very, very few people, because they are not interested. They are willing to stay here and struggle. But we don’t have to be like that. That is why we need to hear the message, apply it and wake up. We are sleeping. We need to wake up.
Life is short; we don’t stay in these bodies very long. The human form of life is very rare. There are all kinds of species of life, but not many humans. When the soul gets a human form, this is the only opportunity to realize this truth. When I’m in a dog body, I can’t understand this truth, I’m covered by that consciousness, I don’t have the facility to ask, “Who am I?” I just live my dog life, but when I get a human form, I do have that opportunity. We have all the information if we want.
This is actually the purpose of the human form of life: to learn the truth, reestablish our relationship with the Supreme Lord, develop and cultivate that loving connection and therefore, when I leave this body, I don’t have to take another birth in this world because now I’m connected with the Supreme Person in the spiritual world. No anxiety, no frustration, everything is filled with the pleasure that I have always wanted.
Remember, it is our nature to be completely happy. Not materially happy – spiritually happy. There is even a word for it – it is called ananda. The word ‘ananda’ means spiritual bliss, spiritual happiness, fulfillment and satisfaction. That is our nature, but because we are lost here in this false world of identity we are trying to find the other places. The process of Bhakti yoga is the real, direct, absolute way to achieve this. It’s for everyone, not just a few people. Anyone and everyone can apply this teaching, and if you do it even to a small degree, it’s a huge benefit.