274 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-REALIZATION

sudden it crashes. Nothing material can protect us. Suppose someone is
diseased. He may engage a good physician who gives good medicine, but
that will not guarantee that he will live. Then what is the ultimate
guarantee? Prahlada Maharaja says, ‘‘My dear Lord, if You neglect some-
one, nothing can protect him.”’

This is our practical experience. We can invent so many methods to
solve the problems presented by the laws of material nature, but they are
not sufficient. They will never solve all the problems, nor will they give
actual relief. This is the fact. Therefore Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita,
“* Maya, this external energy, is very, very strong. No one can surpass it.
It is almost impossible.”’ Then how can one get free from this material
nature? Krsna says, ‘‘Simply by surrendering unto Me one can get relief
from the onslaught of material nature.’’ That is a fact. So we have to
cleanse the heart to learn what is our relationship with God.

In the Katha Upanisad it is stated, nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam.
The Supreme Absolute Personality of Godhead, or the Absolute Truth,
is eternal. God is eternal, and we are also eternal. But the Vedas indicate
that He is the supreme living creature. He is not dead. If He is not living,
how is this world working? In the Bhagavad-gita Krsna says, ‘‘Under My
supervision things are going on.”’ In the Bible also it is said, ‘‘God cre-
ated.’” That is a fact. Not that at one time there was a chunk and then this
happened and then that. No. The Vedas tell us the actual facts, but we
have to open our eyes to see. Ceto-darpana-marjanam. That is the process
of cleansing our hearts. When we cleanse our hearts, then we will be able
to understand what Krsna and the Vedas say. We need to be purified. If a
man is suffering from jaundice and you give him a piece of sugar candy,
he will say that it is very bitter. But is sugar candy bitter? No, it is very
sweet. And the medicine for jaundice is that sugar. Modern science
prescribes this, and it is prescribed in the Vedic literature also. So if we
take a great quantity of this sugar candy, then we will be relieved from
jaundice. And when there is relief, then one says, ‘“‘Oh, this is very
sweet.’’ So the modern jaundice of a godless civilization can be cured by
this chanting of Hare Krsna. In the beginning it may appear bitter, but
when one advances, then he will see how pleasing it is.

As soon as one understands his identity, his relationship with God,
then immediately he becomes happy. We are so full of miseries because
we have identified ourselves with the material world. Therefore we are
unhappy. Anxieties and fearfulness are due to our misidentifying with
the material world. The other day I was explaining that one who identifies
with this bag of bones and skin is like an animal. So by chanting Hare
