| Title | : | The Science of Self-Realization |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0892131012 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780892131013 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 364 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1977 |
The Science of Self-Realization Reviews
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This book is my last remaining hope for falling in love with God (again?). Christianity has destroyed my image of anything related to spirituality- this book is the only comfort I have left. I believe it may very well hold the only true message humanity ever needed to know of God.
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There was an interesting story to how I came to own this book which is the only reason I was actually able to struggle through the half of it I read. One year at the Warped tour I was approached by a man with who was wearing really strange pants and he had this funny top-knot haircut. He called himself a monk and had a back pack full of these books 'The Science of self-realization'. I was touched by how he insisted that the book was free with any donation I would make to whatever church, but in the end I did give him five bucks, the printed cover price. Categorized Eastern Philosophy / Meditation / Yoga, I was just really didn't know what I had in my hands. I trusted that for this Spiritualist to invoke the word of Science, he might have something new to say. As chance would have it I was soon to depart on a crazy journey to a foreign, non English speaking country and I choose this as the one and only book to bring with. I struggled through it waiting to find something that would reflect my idea of scientific method being applied to religion in some way... honestly I don't know what I thought I would find. What I did find was His Divine Grace insisting that the only path to enlightenment was to recite his chants and invoke the words in his language to 'Praise God'. Why must it be vocalized. My creator is so advanced he can see right into my through my thoughts, into my true intentions. He also tended to claim many crazy things were a proven fact and offered very few sources that were not in a language I didn't understand.
Basically I'm just a bit upset because I was sold an incredible story by a self proclaimed monk in clown pants. Then I took this book to a place were I had nothing else to read and I was stuck with it. There were some amazing hints on the cover that could have averted this confusion, like the size of the text used for the word Science being so small and 'His Divine Grace''s Self-Realization being so big. -
After the first chapter, this book becomes insanely redundant. If you would like a gist, take note: You are not God. You could never be God, so don't even fool yourself (as if anyone would want that kind of responsibility anyway!). As opposed to the Golden Age, which of course took place millions of years ago (where humans had a lifespan of 100,000 years, no less!), we are living in a degraded age (Kali-yuga, age of quarrel, confusion, etc...) and it will only get worse, so do not waste your precious time trying to figure out this filthy, petty material nature of ours'! The solution: drop everything and chant Hare Krshna, Hare Krshna, Krshna Krshna, Hare Hare; Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. The end.
P.S. -
I wish I was exaggerating. -
Finally managed to get around to finishing this after being on hiatus for quite some time. I am still a 'fan' of Prabhupada and his way of taking rather complex philosophical points and managing to present them to a broader public without compromising the message.
I look forward to dive deeper into the more esoteric of his writings, having now read most of his introductory books. Of particular interest will be his commented translation of Srimad Bhagavatam and Caitanya Caritamrta. -
If he could have stopped being a sexist ass for one second I might have liked this book more. I could resonate with much of what he said but he basically thinks women are twits that need a man to guide them. I yelled, "kiss my ass!" At the book, a lot!
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Can you explain everything in life with an analogy? I think not. This book is mumbo jumbo.
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I love the strong, cutting, definitive tone of Prabhupada when he is making his points, even if his use of English might not be palatable for Westerners such as ourselves. You can see that he is a devotee that has dedicated his life to his cause and, for amateur spiritualists such I myself, I of course cannot relate to his dedication, but I just kept an open mind, digested what I could at the time and left the rest to hang in suspense until further insights would come (if ever...)
Prabhupada, in his series of presentations, cuts right through all our wishy-washy, relativistic mentality about spirituality, in which we want to have our cakes and eat them too. We want to be spiritual, but we don't want to have to do to much with God, unless we come to believe that We are God, like some charlatan gurus try to flatter us, quoting partial understandings of Indian philosophy. We don't want to DO anything for God and rationalize it by saying that he doesn't need anything, he's God, duh! But then Prabhupada very nicely explains in the book how our senses, if not used in connection with spiritual purposes, will definitely used in materialistic ones, polutting our mind which in turn pollutes our soul. And doing stuff for God is not for his benefit, but for ours.
Prabhupada, like in all his books, is giving it to us straight, and, although I was struck by some very strong statements, upon reflections I found truth in them, like the way we treat animals for instance. I especially liked when he started a lecture given at MIT with the rhetorical question: Where is the department for the study of the soul? Not that takes some gall :)
After all, when you come from India to the West at 60-something after suffering 2 heart attacks on the ship and have very little time to spread your message you'd want to get right down to it. -
The book is a total mess.
My understanding of Hinduism and Bhagavad Gita is contradictory to the teachings of this book.
The author stresses on few points all over the book. They are
1) The only way to reach God is to chant the mantra.
2) God exists and people who deny it are rascals.
3) Spiritual leaders who claim themselves God are frauds and rascals.
These points are redundant all over thee book.
The only good point I took from this book is "We live in a materialistic world. We should get away from it". -
Completely disappointed in this book, which could better be described as an attempt of religious authoritarianism.
Narrow-minded and absolutely not scientifically based. Sexist, irrational, contradictory, out-dated, and repetitive.
All the “facts” are just the author’s interpretations of Bhagavad Gita, aiming to manipulate the reader into believing and practicing nonsense. I couldn’t even finish it.
It is a mockery of science and independent thinking. -
The premise of the book is that since truth and knowledge are good and since western science presents theories on truth and knowledge, science is limited--on the other hand, "God" is omniscient and therefore "Krishna Consciousness" (i.e. interbeing with Krishna) is the most precise kind of science.
Here's the issue: the arguments for the book are founded on the author's INTERPRETATIONS of the Bhagavad Gita. He does not let the reader approach the source text without at least 3x or 4x his amount of commentary, which deviates from the source material. This is problematic because it gives an incredible amount of undeserved authority to the author, who through rhetorical techniques is trying to get the reader to discard a system of critical thinking and reasoning.
As far as style and tastes go this is a dreadful and manipulative work. Vulnerable people who are looking for meaning in life could very easily buy into this book because, from a technical perspective, the rhetoric in the commentary is masterfully crafted in a horrific point where Madison Avenue meets St. Peter's Square.
Read the Bhagavad Gita yourself and form your own opinions. Read what other people have written about it especially from outside religious sects and institutions. Don't give one mortal man the power to determine your world view. -
I think the author is sort of narrow in his views. Maybe fundamentalist, but it is very interesting to hear this point of view and that is precisely why I selected this book.
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Strongly recommending it to NO ONE. BELIEVE ME. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SELF REALIZATION OR SPIRITUALITY.
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N. rapiat 10 vuotta sitten Helsingin Kampissa oranssikaapuinen Hare Krishna-hemmo lähestyi minua Narinkkatorilla ja kehui "filosofiselta" näyttäviä aurinkolasejani. Toivoin saavani kookosleivonnaisen, mutta kaveri kaupittelikin (tai siis "nämä ovat lahjoja sinulle, maksa jos haluat!") liikeensä kirjallisuutta.
Olen lähtökohtaisesti ollut aina kiinnostunut ihmisten uskomuksista, joten kun yksi vaihtoehdoista oli liikkeen perustajan kokoelma ns. perustavanlaatuisia teesejä ja esseitä, joissa kuulemma selitetään mistä Hare Krishna-hommissa on kyse, ajattelin hetken mielijohteesta investoida kyseiseen teokseen. Maksoin teoksesta taskustani löytyneen kahden euron kolikon verran ("Saat siis maksaa ihan mitä haluat, tämähän on lahja, mutta siis suositushinta tälle olisi kymmenen euroa. Siis on tuo kaksi euroa ok, tämähän on lahja, mutta... siis kymmenen euroa tästä pitäisi...") ja unohdin teoksen kirjahyllyni kuriositeettiosastolle Jack Chickin sarjakuvien ja jehovan todistajien "käytännöllisiä vastauksia nuorisolle"-oppaan viereen.
Noh, pitihän sijoitukselleni saada vastinetta ja kirjan nimi "Ajaton Viisaus" vähän lupailisi, ettei sisällön pitäisi kymmenessä vuodessa pahemmin vanhentua, joten tulipas tämäkin nyt luettua.
Kirja on kokoelma esseitä, lehtiartikkeleita, haastatteluja ja presentaatiolitterointeja länsimaisen Hare Krishna-liikkeen perustajamunkilta. Nämä vaihtelevat käytännöllisistä ohjeista siitä, miten toteuttaa krishna-tietoisuuden harjoittamista arjessa aina aika sakeisiin teologis-filosofisiin pohdintoihin saakka.
Ihan näin maallisen peruslukijan perspektiivistä kirjan parasta antia ovat liikkeen syntyä aikalaiskuvauksena kirjoitettu esipuhe, ne pätkät missä väännetään rautalangasta mistä liikkeen meiningissä on uskonnollisella tasolla kyse, sekä vähintäänkin kyseenalaiset vertauskuvalliset kertomukset. (Erityismainintana jälkimmäisistä kertomus viisaasta naisesta, joka todistakseen jonkinlaisen filosofisen pointin pinnalliselle kosijalleen oksensi ja ripuloi [tämä kuvataan ilahduttavan värikkäästi] viikon ajan erilaisiin purkkeihin, jotka sitten esitteli kosijalleen, joka purkit nähtyään tajusi ylevän pointin opetuksen takana. Itse en tajunnut.)
Suurin osa kirjasta on kyllä aika sakeaa ja raskassoutuista, joissa lähinnä referoidaan Veda-kirjallisuutta ja Bhagavad Gitaa sekä namedropataan jotain jumalhahmoja ja muinaisia viisaita. Jos ei näitä viitattavia teoksia ole lukenut, eivät tekstit joissa näitä perataan ole mitään erityisen antoisia lukuelämyksiä.
Kai tästä sai jonkinlaisen karkean peruskäsityksen siitä, mitä krshna-tietoisuuden etsijät kelailevat, mutta mikään kevyt tai miellyttävä johdatus aiheeseen tämä ei kyllä ollut, lukuelämyksestä puhumattakaan. -
I love this book. I read it a few years ago, but I liked it so much I bought three copies. I loved His Divine Grace's conversations and arguments with the people he spoke to, his argument for vegetarianism is straight forward, stating that animals have the same functions as humans. He recommends chanting the mahamantra for happiness and union with God as part of the practice of Bhakti yoga. He tells us that Bhakti yoga is the practice of devotional service to Lord Krishna who is God. Great book that inspired me to start chanting.
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What is the Hari Krishna movement, or Krishna conscience? How does one devote their life to loving Krishna, and who brought the movement to the United States. These questions are answered within this book. You don't to know anything about the movement to find useful information to adapt to your own life.
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The book says kind of the same thing from page one to the last, yet i didn't find it boring at all. I think repeating the concepts is an effective way to make people really understand them and to put them into practice.
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Not only this book makes one realize the most important questions of life but also answers those question with great logical reasoning.
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Prawda i piękno... książka jest rzeczywiście piękna... ale tylko na początku, bo im dalej tym bardziej się nudziłem :D Nie no, na początku była po prostu taka euforia: "wow, to nie tak jak chrześcijaństwo/katolicyzm..." chociaż w pewnym sensie takie naleciałości moralizowania to dość szybko zauważyłem też (ale to w jednym miejscu właściwie). A ogólnie - no z pewnością Świadomość Kryszny to coś innego, podoba mi się to co mówi Mistrz, że nie religia jest ważna tylko świadomość Boga - to i owszem, jest nowość w stosunku do katolickiego: "My mamy rację. Innym dobrym ludziom Bóg wybaczy, ale i tak to my mamy rację" :/
Ale poza tym sporo w książce jest powtórzeń i po raz kolejny czytać te same sformułowania to już mnie nudziło. Ale to nie tylko ta książka, często tak bywa że im dalej tym z większym "bólem" czytam jakąś książkę, a jednak czytam bo chcę ją skończyć.
Każda religia ma swoje chwyty by brzmieć wiarygodnie, katolicy podpierają się fragmentami Biblii żeby pasowało. Świadkowie Jehowy podpierają się innymi fragmentami Biblii tak żeby im pasowało. I jak się tego słucha, to niby logiczne i wszystko ma sens, jednak najwięcej sensu odnalazłem w tym co mówi Srila Prabhupada, ponieważ często nie potrzebuje nawet Bhagavad Gity żeby nam uzmysłowić to co mówi. Mówi o reinkarnacji czyli zmianie ciał (zarówno w jednym życiu - od maleńkości po starość jak i śmierć i ponowne narodziny), mówi o ewolucji (gatunków a zarazem dusz - to też bardzo fajnie brzmi jako teoria, że najpierw nie było ludzi, nie było nawet ssaków czy ptaków tylko niższe formy życia, bo i dusze były na niższym poziomie - dusze zaczęły ewoluować i stąd następne gatunki).
"Bóg czy nie Bóg, musi być jakaś wola. Musi istnieć jakaś świadomość. Dwa pierwiastki łączą się i tworzą coś, ale kto je miesza? Jest tam obecna świadomość. Tą świadomością jest Krsna. Świadomość jest wszędzie, i jak tylko przyjmiesz tę świadomość, musisz zaakceptować, że jest to osoba. Dlatego my mówimy o świadomości Krsny. W Bhagavad-gicie jest powiedziane, że świadomość jest wszechprzenikająca. Ty możesz mieć świadomość i ja mogę mieć świadomość, ale istnieje również inna świadomość, która jest wszechprzenikająca. Moja świadomość jest ograniczona do mojego ciała, a twoja świadomość jest ograniczona do twojego ciała, ale jest też inna świadomość, która jest wewnątrz ciebie, mnie i wszędzie. Jest nią świadomość Krsny."
"Istota wszystkich religii jest ta sama. Nasza propozycja jest taka, że bez względu na to, jaki system religijny ktoś wyznaje, powinien się starać poznać i pokochać Boga. Jeśli jesteś chrześcijaninem, nie mówimy: "To nie jest dobre, musisz stać się taki jak my". Proponujemy, by ludzie bez względu na to, czy są chrześcijanami, muzułmanami czy hindusami, po prostu starali się zrozumieć i pokochać Boga."
"Kiedy ubranie jest stare, porzucamy je i przyjmujemy inne. Podobnie dusza zmienia cielesne okrycia zgodnie ze swym pragnieniem. Jako Ze dusza jest integralną cząstką Boga, ma ona
boskie cechy. Beg jest najwyższą wolą, najwyższą mocą, najwyższym niezależnym, a my, będąc Jego integralnymi cząstkami, posiadamy wszystkie te cechy w maleńkim wymiarze. Posiadamy
wolę, myśli, uczucia i pragnienia. W Vedach znajduje się stwierdzenie, że Bóg jest najwyższą siłą życiową pomiędzy wszystkimi siłami życiowymi (cetanas cetananam). On również zaspokaja
potrzeby wszystkich żywych istot.
Liczba nas — żywych istot — jest nieograniczona. Natomiast Bóg jest jeden. Jest on żywy, tak jak my, ale my jesteśmy maleńkimi cząstkami tej siły życia. Na przykład cząsteczka złota jest jakościowo tym samym, co kopalnia złota. Jeśli przeanalizujemy. Jeśli przeanalizujemy pod względem chemicznym składniki małej kropli wody, to odnajdziemy w niej te same składniki co w olbrzymim oceanie. W podobny sposób, jesteśmy jednym z Bogiem będąc Jego integralnymi cząstkami. Boska cząsteczka, dusza, czyli siła życiowa, odbywa wędrówkę, przechodząc od istot wodnych do drzew i roślin, od drzew i roślin do form owadów i kolejno gadów, ptaków czworonogów. Teoria ewolucji Darwina jedynie częściowo wyjaśnia wędrówkę dusz. Darwin po prostu zaczerpnął informacje z literatury wedyjskiej, ale nie miał pojęcia o duszy. Różnica pomiędzy tymi teoriami polega na tym, że według Ved dusza jest tym, co wędruje od wodnych form życia do roślin i drzew, następnie poprzez owady, ptaki, czworonogi, do życia ludzkiego, a w gatunku ludzkim od życia niecywilizowanego do cywilizowanego. Życie cywilizowanej istoty stanowi punkt szczytowy ewolucji. Jest ono niczym skrzyżowanie: z tego punktu możemy ponownie ześliznąć się w cykliczny proces ewolucji albo też możemy wznieść się do boskiego życia. Jak to zostało wykazane w Bhagavad-gicie - wybór należy do nas." -
A must read for everyone interested in having a spiritual life!
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I started this book on 14th March and I was only supposed to be reading it for a week and then moving on to my next read, however, this book has certainly dragged! I, unfortunately, did not enjoy this one bit and I think that’s why it’s taken me so long to get through it. I’ve never spent so much time on a book reading so slowly.
I understand reading something that isn’t your norm, or to your taste and it’s great to keep an open mind, that’s why I purchased the book in the first place, but my God it is difficult to not throw it out.
The book holds a very strong opinion of the Krsna Consciousness, this is the only religion and all the other religions are lies. I’m an atheist, but, as I said above, I like to keep an open mind, hence why I bought the book, to educate myself as to what else is out there. This was certainly an education.
It argues how other religions have read and interpreted the Bible wrong, how we are all sinners, unless we follow the one true God and chant the Hare Krsna.
It is interesting as you read through the interviews with other religious people and with the media and how it is all explained to them and how they are wrong and we should only be following this one true God.
His Devine Grace did have a couple of good points that are difficult to argue and I must admit when you look at it from his point of view, some of it does make sense… some of it!
This is not going back in my library, I’m giving it away to charity as this is not one that I would ever likely want to read again and wouldn’t recommend it, unless you want to be offended if you are religious or if you would like to expand your religious education then go for it. -
The first book I read on Krisna Conciousness. I had no idea this book as part of the religious group called the Hare Krisnas (I had no idea who they were), so I was able to read this book without really judging its source. It reads like an interview for the most part and is highly informative to the perspectives of their religion.One will find many interesting concepts introduced and will become aptly familiar with the belief system associated with the Hare Krisna group. Perhaps one will find a relationship between their own current beliefs (if they are trained in the regiment of another religion which advocates constant meditative practices, such as the mormon religion, the buddhist religions, and to some degree, the christian religion, and to less of a degree, Catholicism, and others) that coincide with what they may have already uncovered themselves. Many members of the religious group I have met have gone from using psychedelics to joining this group due to the transcendental nature of their belief system (though I would disagree that this religion is the solution), however one may find if they are familiar with transcendental states of mind that many members within this group can be very enlightening. I would recommend this book but with the mindset that one should not simply believe everything written but instead be very skeptical, however not from a scientific perspective but from the perspective that all religions hold truths and if one were to practice their religion as a monk they would find the same results for any religion.
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Consciousness
I have read the books on spirituality written by many authors, of which, Osho, Sadhguru, J Krishnamurthy, and Swami Prabhupãda are some of well know and widely hail as the masters.
Every one of them has their own concept about achieving Nirvana and like that Swami Prabhupãda too has a concept called Krishna Consciousness.
Throughout the book, you will get to read about his view on Yoga, consciousness, the importance of living well, eating well, behaving well to reach the embodiment of Nirvana. There are several chapters where the audience is asking questions to Swami, and Swami answers them beautifully.
There are many things to which I don't agree but then that's the beauty of learning. Swami throughout the book emphasizes on Krishna Consciousness and assures everyone that no matter what religion are you from, it's possible for to achieve that level of consciousness.
I think those who like reading self-help books, should read this book.
It's a good book.
Akshat Solanki -
I got this book while I was 'lost' looking for a trekking route to a monastery high up in the Shivapuri National Park. The book was a gift from 'Hare Krishna' followers in the foothills of the national park. Bought it for Rs. 250 ($2.40)hoping for nothing. I was told by the guy who gave the book that I should look deep in me, and I will see the God that I was destined to see. And also to visit their site again...to live there!!!
So...how was the book?
The book's crux makes sense if you are a Hindu... The Science of Self-Realization by Swami Prabhupāda is rather a concise summary of Bhagavata Gita. I learned one thing...that I HAVE to read the Original Bhagavata Gita after this book. -
For sometime (while I was 14-16) I was very much involved with the esoteric circles of Hinduism, and later-on in the 'Hare Krishna' philosophy so much so that I began to find major flaws in it. Maybe if I happen to rate this book here on that time-period, I would have given it no more less than 4 stars.. but I've outgrown it so much that I could not help giving it more than 2 stars.
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Ultimate book for a Newbie who wants to understand God, Absolute Truth,purpose of life and One's Relationship to the Almighty from a scientific point of view.
HDG AC Bhaktivedanta Srila Prabhupada doesn't manufacture any new thing, he just quotes sastra as it is and hence, it is very clear and easy to understand.
