3 Minute Guru Series
Approximately 3-5 Minute Reads and Videos
Integrating Individual Conscious Energy With Divine Source's Energy, Of Beauty, Wisdom, and Love
At The Crossroads Every Day - Pivoting Towards Spiritual Freedom Or Continuing Material Conceptions
In every spiritual tradition, a common thread declares that one's spirit lives on, after the destruction of one's flesh and blood physical body.
More than 5,000 years ago in India, Lord Sri Krishna described it this way to His friend Arjuna, as a great battle was about to commence.
"Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.
Bhagavad Gita 2.12
"As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change."
Bhagavad Gita 2.13
For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.
tBhagavad Gita 2.20
Death in this world, means the death of the body, while the soul goes on to a new circumstance - determined by one's desires, actions, and divine arrangement. Always standing in the marginal position between material and spiritual realities, one can dive into the ocean of materi conceptions and float along until death, carried by it's currents and waves of material energy and time. Or one can step on to the solid beach, liberated from the influence of time, matter, and so-called death as one's body returns to the earth. The spirit can rinse, wash, and repeat - or can re-birth, even sta in this life, by spiritual conceptions incorporating an eternal form love and service offered to Godhead/Source/Universal Truth
More than 5,000 years ago in India, Lord Sri Krishna described it this way to His friend Arjuna, as a great battle was about to commence.
"Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.
Bhagavad Gita 2.12
"As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change."
Bhagavad Gita 2.13
For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.
tBhagavad Gita 2.20
Death in this world, means the death of the body, while the soul goes on to a new circumstance - determined by one's desires, actions, and divine arrangement. Always standing in the marginal position between material and spiritual realities, one can dive into the ocean of materi conceptions and float along until death, carried by it's currents and waves of material energy and time. Or one can step on to the solid beach, liberated from the influence of time, matter, and so-called death as one's body returns to the earth. The spirit can rinse, wash, and repeat - or can re-birth, even sta in this life, by spiritual conceptions incorporating an eternal form love and service offered to Godhead/Source/Universal Truth
From a lecture in Los Angeles, 1972 on Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1, Chapter 5, Verse 36, by HDG AC Bhativedana Swami Prabhupada. Full lecture
"Then what is this death? This death is of the material body, not of the soul. Therefore it is said, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg. 2.20], more distinctly, that "Don't think that the soul is dead after the annihilation of this body."
So now the conclusion is that because we are marginal, in between the spiritual nature and the material nature, although we are spiritual, although we are..., our real nature is na jāyate na mriyate, we never take birth, never die, but on account of our contact with this material nature, we are getting this material body and the body is changing. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ [Bg. 2.13]. Body is changing. And that we have taken as our nature, birth and death. That is not our nature. We are spirit soul. We are put into marginal because... Just like the margin is explained = taṭasthā. That is... We have translated into "marginal." Just like we go on the Pacific beach. Some day we find the water is covering the beach, and some day we see it is open; there is no water. So that is called marginal. Marginal. Sometimes it is covered by water; sometimes there is no water.
Similarly, we, being marginal potency, we are sometimes influenced by this material nature. Not always. Because at the present moment for sometimes we are under the material nature, now, if we try, then we can get out of this covering of material nature and come to the spiritual nature. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means don't remain in the marginal position. Come in the land, so there will be no disturbance by the water. This is the position. If you remain on the marginal position, then sometimes you will be covered by the water and sometimes it will be dry. But if you little come forward this side, land side, the ocean has no power to touch you.
"Then what is this death? This death is of the material body, not of the soul. Therefore it is said, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg. 2.20], more distinctly, that "Don't think that the soul is dead after the annihilation of this body."
So now the conclusion is that because we are marginal, in between the spiritual nature and the material nature, although we are spiritual, although we are..., our real nature is na jāyate na mriyate, we never take birth, never die, but on account of our contact with this material nature, we are getting this material body and the body is changing. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ [Bg. 2.13]. Body is changing. And that we have taken as our nature, birth and death. That is not our nature. We are spirit soul. We are put into marginal because... Just like the margin is explained = taṭasthā. That is... We have translated into "marginal." Just like we go on the Pacific beach. Some day we find the water is covering the beach, and some day we see it is open; there is no water. So that is called marginal. Marginal. Sometimes it is covered by water; sometimes there is no water.
Similarly, we, being marginal potency, we are sometimes influenced by this material nature. Not always. Because at the present moment for sometimes we are under the material nature, now, if we try, then we can get out of this covering of material nature and come to the spiritual nature. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means don't remain in the marginal position. Come in the land, so there will be no disturbance by the water. This is the position. If you remain on the marginal position, then sometimes you will be covered by the water and sometimes it will be dry. But if you little come forward this side, land side, the ocean has no power to touch you.
Life's A Beach, Then We Wave Goodbye
Observing Material and Spiritual Reality, Layered Harmoniously
So I was at the beach one day last year taking a walk at sunset. It was many years after taking a photo class in high school where we developed our own negatives for black and white photos. We soon discovered things generally don't look as in good in black and white, as they do in color. But taking those first blah photos help to train the eye to look for contrast and framing devices, that could spice up the black and white images that were the staple for such a class in 1972. Years later I would understand more about using contrasts and framing devices when considering ideas and concepts in realms other than photography.
Flash forward 50 years and 50 miles down the coast from LA, walking on a beach without any intention to take a photo or video, but low and behold, a cellphone camera came in handy just as the sun was setting - natural lighting for a video of a silhouetted action shot.
Flash forward 50 years and 50 miles down the coast from LA, walking on a beach without any intention to take a photo or video, but low and behold, a cellphone camera came in handy just as the sun was setting - natural lighting for a video of a silhouetted action shot.
The photo above is a still taken from this short video since the lighting colors were favorable - maybe the orange hues were the sunset combined with smoke from a wildfire not far away - I'm not exactly sure, but it looked naturally cinematic to me regardless. It was a nice summer dusk moment when it's still great to be in the water as sunlight is fading. I shot a short video clip of a father and son skimming the end of the waves that were reaching the shoreline, and having a great time. They had skim boards that were different from what So Cal skimmers use. It turns out they were visiting from Europe, and brought their own boards with them. I mentioned I took a short video of them, and would be happy to forward to their email address, if they wanted a memento of their travels.
They were surprised and happy, as was I, that the beauty of the beach at sunset, plus a few happy father-son vacation memories could be preserved for the future - and even that some momentary camaraderie by strangers from different countries could manifest spontaeneously. It was a nice moment, and was a gift that keeps on giving in a number of ways, that I hope to share with you.
They were surprised and happy, as was I, that the beauty of the beach at sunset, plus a few happy father-son vacation memories could be preserved for the future - and even that some momentary camaraderie by strangers from different countries could manifest spontaeneously. It was a nice moment, and was a gift that keeps on giving in a number of ways, that I hope to share with you.
The photo above was taken in Newport Beach, facing north towards Huntington Beach, California, about a year ago in 2022. Fifty years previously, I had graduated from high school in LA and started attending UCSD, then decided to quit college move 13 miles south of Newport Beach, to the beautiful, Mediterranean-like small beach town and artistic enclave known as Laguna Beach. Why the rambling personal history? Well, because it relates to the spiritual training I received there as a monk/student of Vedic Culture at the Laguna Beach Hare Krishna Temple. It was/is a branch of now more than 800 temples/ashrams/communities worldwide of ISKCON - the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. It was my great good fortune to meet, serve, and be initiated (1973 and 1974) into the Bhakti Yoga lineage, by His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977) the founder/acharya of ISKCON, It was an intensive immersion for about 3 years after quitting classes in my freshman year at UCSD, to focus on studying ancient holy texts, performing service and mantra mediation from 4am to 10pm daily. This blessed time included a pilgrimage to India in March of 1975 at the age of 20 - the first trip to India and Asia, of many to follow. The time spent nurtured the appreciation and application of spiritual knowledge, aimed at experiencing divine presence in all things; both in the material, physical world, as well as on more subtle levels of conscious reality.
For those in both Western and Eastern spiritual traditions, the understanding that each being is made in "the image of God" or are the spiritual children of God the father, or that each being is a spark of conscious energy, emanating from the conscious Source of all energy, seeing the hand of God or presence of divine energy pervading both matter and the many unseen forms of energy we know exist beyond what one's eyes can view, is a type of conscious meditation that is not confined to stretching on a yoga mat or other types of religious practice or mindfulness. Any or all such practices can yield benefit for those with such preferences. Different strokes.. different folks, all good. My point being that one's practice can become constant adventure of receiving the signals from spirit, both within and without, which can contribute to making life a joyful adventure in the present and in the future, even in the midst of all the ups and downs that life offers everyone as time rolls on.
For those in both Western and Eastern spiritual traditions, the understanding that each being is made in "the image of God" or are the spiritual children of God the father, or that each being is a spark of conscious energy, emanating from the conscious Source of all energy, seeing the hand of God or presence of divine energy pervading both matter and the many unseen forms of energy we know exist beyond what one's eyes can view, is a type of conscious meditation that is not confined to stretching on a yoga mat or other types of religious practice or mindfulness. Any or all such practices can yield benefit for those with such preferences. Different strokes.. different folks, all good. My point being that one's practice can become constant adventure of receiving the signals from spirit, both within and without, which can contribute to making life a joyful adventure in the present and in the future, even in the midst of all the ups and downs that life offers everyone as time rolls on.
The internal sense of joy and awe, from this one picture above, is amazing to me, because it signals so much about life, and both the material and spiritual energies and truths which surround us constantly. It is said a picture is worth a thousand words.. I definitely have a least a few hundred words for this picture I could share (as I guess I have, above), as i'm sure others could do as well. That's another point - like with art, each person as their own valid view of life, and interpretation of how divinity might choose to reveal higher truths to them - provided one is actively looking!
That in life everyone is faced with choices and different courses actions, would seem to be a fairly uncontroversial statement. Time is constantly moving on, and we have choices and actions to engage in moment by moment, which are followed in time, by different resultant reactions. Choices and actions are directed by one's conscious, and sometimes unconscious states. For those who subscribe to the world view that our Source/God/Creator is the emblem of unconditional love for all of creation, learning to gradually match that love vibration even in small steps is the mojo that brings more of that divine, loving consciousness of Source, into one's everyday life. We hope these videos, photos and commentary and help bring some positive reinforcement by hearing and watching, so that the real you - the divine spiritual being and loving personality you are in your heart of hearts, can blossom into full expression, free from all fears and doubts.
It is by knowing oneself - the conscious spiritual self - in loving collaboration with the supremely conscious, all-pervading, and one's all-attractive energetic spiritual Source, that signifies one's mission of self-realization and actualization in this life and the next, is successful beyond measure.
It is by knowing oneself - the conscious spiritual self - in loving collaboration with the supremely conscious, all-pervading, and one's all-attractive energetic spiritual Source, that signifies one's mission of self-realization and actualization in this life and the next, is successful beyond measure.
One more beach reference for fun. Growing up in LA, I always kind of took this Southern California group The Beach Boys for granted, while being more intrigued by the Beatles and other rocks groups in the mid-late sixties. Little did I know that the Beatles were listening to the Beach Boys, and were floored by the harmonic genius Brian Wilson and the group where pulling off. Also learning that Brian Wilson had a physically abusive father while the group was forming and enjoying success, makes this song a bit more poignant. May we all find that personal space when need, free of worries and fear!
