consciousness

Verse 2.17: That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul.

Consciousness. Today I had a realization about a very deep phrase one of the greatest bhakti yogi's, Srila Prabhupada, said regarding the practice of bhakti yoga. He said, "First be conscious. Then be Krsna conscious." Until today, I think I only understood that verse on a superficial level.

I used to think that this meant we needed to be aware of everything that was going on around us. Let me frame that for you. In the times we live in, multi-tasking is the "must-have" quality for anyone to succeed. The sad thing is that we forget about what we lose in the exchange. Sure, it's great to be able to do a lot of things simultaneously, but ultimately that means that we are not actually focused on anything at all. Our attention and energy is divided which means...our consciousness is also divided. We are not aware of any one thing that is going on because we get so easily directed by all the other things that are on our to-do list.

So that was my understanding of the phrase, "First be conscious. Then be Krsna conscious." By becoming more aware (and present) of what was going on in front of me now, this would mean that I would have a greater chance of seeing Krsna in those very things. I see now that although that is true...it's only the tip of the iceberg.

In this verse, we hear about that which pervades the entire body - the soul. And what is the symptom of the soul? Consciousness. By this effect, "First be conscious" now takes on a whole new deeper meaning. It means: realize that you are the soul. When you realize you are the soul then naturally you can be Krsna conscious.

Of course, one can say "Easier said than done" and that's absolutely true...and that's where practice of becoming aware and being present in everything that we do or say comes in handy. It makes us aware of the superficiality that we assign such importance to. It is the practical application that we can engage in so that we can ultimately realize the truth: we are not the body, we are the soul. What happens when we realize that we are the soul? All the petty things that used to bother us won't anymore and we can focus on what's most important: becoming conscious of God (Krsna).