Hare Krsna to all
Pranams
All glories to Srila Prabhupada, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaj and Srila Bhaktivinode thakur
I have been reading the book called Sri Caitanya Siksamrta by Bhaktivinode Thakur. In the Fifth rainfall section he writes….
“False ego is identity of the self with matter. The identity of the self with his cit (spiritual) body before material association is natural and proper, but the material identity arising through material association is false and imposed. Another name for this condition is ignorance. The false ego is in an intermediate position, a thread binding the spiritual self to the material world. The self, situated in the material world, identifies itself as material. Then in devolution, the false ego becomes grosser, becoming known as citta, material consciousness. When this same false ego, making judgements in the material world become even grosser, it is called intelligence. Next when the false ego contacts matter directly through the senses it is called mind. False ego intelligence and mind are not part of the pure self, nor are they gross matter. therefore they are called the linga deha (subtle body). Because the spiritual body , spiritual activities and spiritual cultivation of the soul in the pure state are still perceivable to a minute degree in the subtle body, this intermediate signifying element is designated as linga (subtle). The awareness of self that is present in the spiritual body of the soul thus manifests in a contracted state in the subtle body. However the souls pure identification with his spiritual body is almost lost and becomes forgotten. When a sense of self does arise in the subtle body, is attributes that sense of identity to the material body. The identity of oneself as the servant of Krsna, as a pures soul with a spiritual body, becomes transformed into a new identity as a servant of matter and the material sense objects. In this condition the souls bondage by maya become complete.
or in the words of the Srimad Bhagavatam-
SB 4.22.31 When one deviates from his original consciousness, he loses the capacity to remember his previous position or recognize his present one. When remembrance is lost, all knowledge acquired is based on a false foundation. When this occurs, learned scholars consider that the soul is lost.
CONCLUSION- without the association of bona fide devotees of the lord, our present conditioned so
called “understandings and knowledge” are all products of the illusory energy of the Krsna. Therefore Srila Prabhupada has called spiritual life a razors edge because our perceptions of what is actually spiritual is like a thin thread in the subtle body, capable at any time of becomming covered over again by Maya.
Hare Krsna
Damaghosa das