26 Nov 2023
1. If God has already decided our destiny, then why should we make an extra effort to do something?
[Smt. Chhanda asked: Padanamaskaram my God. In a spiritual discussion, we stuck with the following question. Kindly reply to this: "If GOD has already decided our destiny, then why should we make an extra effort to do something to achieve spirituality? Even if we don't put any extra effort, we will achieve spirituality if it is in our destiny. And if it is not in our destiny, spirituality will never come however hard we try. Things will happen as per destiny." At Your divine lotus feet always, Chhanda]
Swami replied:- This world in which we are living is called Karma Loka or the world of actions where destiny has no place to play. The upper worlds are called Bhoga lokas in which we have to enjoy the fruits of our deeds without any trace of deviation and there, destiny plays its full role.
2. Is there any difference between awareness and consciousness?
[Padanamaskaram Swami, my God. Is there any difference between awareness and consciousness? It is told that in deep sleep though awareness is absent, consciousness does exist. Is it true? Please explain it and enlighten me. At Your divine lotus feet always. By Chhanda Chandra]
Swami replied:- Awareness is the mine of gold, whereas consciousness is the lump of gold that is extracted from gold ore. If awareness is absent, consciousness is also absent. The advaita philosophers say that consciousness is God and therefore, to save the eternality of God, such poetry is spoken by them.
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