Jagrata Chetana – Part 1, 2, 3, 4

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re alive and conscious. Meanwhile, your body is gradually, imperceptibly changing. Still reading? Then you’re still alive and your body is still changing. How about now? You’re still living, still conscious, and your body has changed yet again. Notice a pattern?

Beyond Birth and Death addresses this pattern, and challenges the reader to rethink what “life” means. We tend to think “life” is a brief event occurring between birth and death. We celebrate a birth as “a coming into life” and mourn for the “dead.” But really, life is our permanent condition, and what we call “birth and death” are merely bodily changes.

This is Krishna’s beginning instruction in the Bhagavad-gita; the self is never born and never dies. We all exist forever, but we’re now heavily involved in a temporary existence in a temporary world. What to do? If we can begin to understand the difference between our self and our material covering, the joy and relief we experience can be life-changing.

Beyond Birth and Death was prepared from transcripts of lectures Srila Prabhupada gave in 1966 on the second and eighth chapters of the Bhagavad-gita, which discuss in detail the important differences between us (the immortal, spiritual self) and our temporary material outer coverings (bodies).

Every one of us might have read hundreds of books on philosophy and still would have barely known its meaning or landed ourselves in doubt. There may be others who are yet to start on their journey of knowing philosophy but never know how to take their first step? Be it newbies or veterans seeking for the conclusive answers, very few books have ultimate answers to ultimate questions that have engrossed great philosophers from Freud to Jung, Marx to Socrates and Kierkegaard to Darwin. Beyond illusion and doubt is such a masterpiece by H.D.G A. C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada that puts all the thoughts of 15 such philosophers in the light of Vedic literature. If one is interested in Self realization, spiritual development, analytical thinking, positive outlook, or leadership then this book is a must read. It comprehensively compares the Vedic view alongside the western views and outlines the process of bhakti yoga by which one can transcend the material nescience and attain spiritual perfection.

Every one of us might have read hundreds of books on philosophy and still would have barely known its meaning or landed ourselves in doubt. There may be others who are yet to start on their journey of knowing philosophy but never know how to take their first step? Be it newbies or veterans seeking for the conclusive answers, very few books have ultimate answers to ultimate questions that have engrossed great philosophers from Freud to Jung, Marx to Socrates and Kierkegaard to Darwin. Beyond illusion and doubt is such a masterpiece by H.D.G A. C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada that puts all the thoughts of 15 such philosophers in the light of Vedic literature. If one is interested in Self realization, spiritual development, analytical thinking, positive outlook, or leadership then this book is a must read. It comprehensively compares the Vedic view alongside the western views and outlines the process of bhakti yoga by which one can transcend the material nescience and attain spiritual perfection.

Every one of us might have read hundreds of books on philosophy and still would have barely known its meaning or landed ourselves in doubt. There may be others who are yet to start on their journey of knowing philosophy but never know how to take their first step? Be it newbies or veterans seeking for the conclusive answers, very few books have ultimate answers to ultimate questions that have engrossed great philosophers from Freud to Jung, Marx to Socrates and Kierkegaard to Darwin. Beyond illusion and doubt is such a masterpiece by H.D.G A. C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada that puts all the thoughts of 15 such philosophers in the light of Vedic literature. If one is interested in Self realization, spiritual development, analytical thinking, positive outlook, or leadership then this book is a must read. It comprehensively compares the Vedic view alongside the western views and outlines the process of bhakti yoga by which one can transcend the material nescience and attain spiritual perfection.