The Instruction
Manual to Life

Every living being is an eternal servant of God.

Every living being is a spiritual being (soul).

The soul has three properties:

1. Eternal - has always existed and will always exist

2. Full of knowledge

3. Blissful

God is understood in 3 features:

1. Impersonal feature (the Light)

2. Localized feature (God in your heart)

3. Personal Feature (God our Father in Heaven)

God as the Supreme Person who has no equal and no superior.

God is the possessor of all opulence:

1. Beauty

2. Wealth

3. Power

4. Intellect

5. Detachment

6. Fame

God has personality and personal qualities like:

1. Name

2. Form

3. Qualities

4. Pastimes

5. Residence

6. Associates

7. Relationships

8. Paraphernalia

God is the Supreme Controller, Creator, Owner and Maintainer of all Creation.

God is the friend of all living beings.

God expands Himself in 3 main energies:

1. Internal Energy - Spiritual Realm

2. Marginal Energy - All living beings

3. External Energy - Material Realm

There are five possible ways to have a relationship with God:

1. Neutral passive relationship

2. As a Servant

3. As a Friend

4. As a Parent

5. As a Conjugal Lover

There are 9 ways of loving and serving God:

1. Hearing the glories of the Lord

2. Reciting the glories of the Lord

3. Remembering the glories of the Lord

4. Bowing down and serving the Lord's feet

5. Worshipping the Lord

6. Offering prayers to the Lord

7. Rendering service to the Lord

8. Befriending the Lord

9. Offering everything in full surrender to the Lord

Faith in God is the beginning of the path of Divine Service. Faith in God is the belief that by surrendering to God and following His instructions one will achieve the highest success achievable by a soul.

By associating with those on the path of Divine Service who are more advanced than us we can make progress.

When one initiates their spiritual practice formally by making a specific vow to positively engage in the Divine Service of the Lord, while vowing to abstain from the four pillars of sin that destroy the four pillars of religious life.

The 4 Pillars of Religion - 4 Pillars of Sin:

1. Mercy - Destroyed by killing living beings and eating meat

2. Truthfulness - Destroyed by lying, cheating and gambling

3. Cleanliness - Destroyed by illicit sex (outside marriage not for procreation)

4. Austerity - Destroyed by intoxication 

There are 16 obstacles to achieving love of God (misunderstandings, material desires, offenses and weaknesses of heart) that make us unsteady in our practice of Divine Service:

1. Misunderstanding of the self (soul)

   • False identification - misunderstanding the body as the self

   • False sense of ownership - thinking you own something

   • False standard of happiness - thinking material sense enjoyment is happiness

2. Misunderstanding God

3. Misunderstanding of the practices of Divine Service

4. Misunderstanding of the goal of Love of God

5. Desire for material objects

6. Desire for material celestial comforts

7. Desire for material mystic powers

8. Desire for liberation from material existence

9. Offenses against the Lord's name

10. Offenses in the practice of Divine Service

11. Offenses to Divine servants

12. Offenses to other living beings

13. Desire for fame

14. Fault finding

15. Enviousness

16. Attachment to material objects not related to God

When the 6 symptoms of unsteadiness in Divine Service are no longer visible one achieves steadiness in Divine Service:

1. Puffed up with enthusiasm - know it all attitude without realizing anything

2. Thick-thin practice - Sometimes following everything and sometimes doing nothing

3. Excessive speculation - not focused on the process and stagnation due to indecision

4. Inability to uphold vows - Not following ones vows made in step 3.

5. Battle with sense gratification - inability to control the senses

6. Surfing the waves of material facilities - running after wealth, followers and prestige

At this stage one loses all material desires for achieving mastery over the material energy. At this stage one only desires unmotivated Divine Service to the Lord. One's spiritual practices become especially tasteful at this stage and one relishes Divine Service. One begins develops a taste for a specific type of relationship with the Lord as either a servant, friend, parent or conjugal lover of the Lord.

One only desires to attain the Divine Service of the Lord in the spiritual realm like the Lord's servants, friends, parents and consorts who eternally serve Him there. The practice at this stage is focused on becoming absorbed in meditation on that eternal Divine Service following in the footsteps of an eternal Divine servant of the Lord who one aspires to follow. 

At this stage one has direct association with the Lord who appears before you. This is rarely achieved. But when it happens one is overwhelmed with emotion after having a vision of the Lord, and the feelings of separation naturally arise in the heart after the Lord disappears from view.

Achieving the ultimate goal.

How do we establish the Truth about life, the universe or anything, including ourselves, God and life's ultimate goal? In this regard, there are 10 different types of evidence:

(1) Direct Perception 

Information received by means of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. This type of evidence is not completely dependable, because our seeing, hearing or activities may be faulty if we are affected by illness, madness or inattentiveness. The reliability of perception depends on the proficiency of the senses, among other factors. In the absence of the proficiency of the senses, one cannot gain actual knowledge of an object by this means. 

At times, there are flaws in our knowledge of objects that are seen with the eyes, heard with ears, or gained through the faculties of our other senses. For example, when our eyes catch sight of a length of rope, we may mistake it for a serpent, and in seeing an empty oyster shell, we may mistake it for silver. 

(2) Inference 

That which is inferred after observing a particular phenomenon. For instance, by observing smoke, it is to be understood that fire is present. However, this method is not dependable. Occasionally, smoke is sighted on a mountain even when there is no fire. Sometimes, when water is poured on to fire, smoke rises from it, even though the fire has already been extinguished. So although there is smoke, fire is no longer present. Hence, reliable knowledge of an object does not come from inference. 

(3) Statements of the Wise Ones

The assertions of the enlightened ones. However, upon some deliberation, it becomes evident that the opinions of the numerous sages vary, and therefore, their statements are not always authoritative. Logical reasoning is never conclusive, and unless someone's opinions about the many different branches of knowledge do not diverge from the opinions of others, he will never become famous as a great sage. Thus their theories are not always dependable. 

(4) Comparison 

Upon examining one object, the knowledge that arises about a second, similar object. For instance, salt crystals happen to be white, so someone may say that alum crystal is just like salt crystal. However, this is not a complete understanding of alum crystals, which have qualities distinct from those of salt crystals. Hence, comparison is also not completely dependable. 

(5) Presumption 

An inescapable inference about an extremely well-known phenomenon, or in other words, the logical, inferred cause that is accepted when no other observable cause of a phenomenon is found. For instance, if a man does not eat in the day, he will not be seen eating. At the same time, it is apparent that the man is quite healthy and strong. So, if he does not eat in the daytime, then surely, he must eat at night. However, this is not dependable either, because by utilizing special herbs, a man may still remain healthy and stout even after passing some days without any food. 

(6) Absence 

An object that is not in proximity to the eyes, ears or other knowledge-acquiring senses, or an object that is far away from them, cannot be perceived by the senses. That is why this type of evidence has been called 'proof by absence'. For instance, someone on one side of a high wall will not be able to see an object lying on the other side.

(7) Probability 

'The number 100 is surely to be found somewhere within thousands of numbers.' The notion of any such likelihood, when it arises within the intelligence. Clearly not a reliable method.

(8) Tradition 

This refers to traditional, historical accounts or rumors, the source of which can no longer be traced. Hearing through the grapevine about whatever is largely acceptable in society. These largely rely on the previous methods are similarly unreliable as evidence.

(9) Gesturing 

The evidence by which one's knowledge of an object or of quantities, measurements and so forth, that is attained by seeing, for example, numbers of fingers raised. In ascertaining the Absolute Reality, gestures don't have any authority. 

(10) Revealed Knowledge 

The dictums of scriptures that were not authored by man are called revealed knowledge, Absolute Truth and perfect knowledge. Writings that were originally composed by certain exceptional individuals are called 'scriptures originating from man', while those that have not been written by any such mortal, but manifested by God, are called 'scriptures not originating from man'. In the latter, misrepresentation, error from careless or hasty judgement, deception or deceitful ambition, mistakes and so on, either from inattentiveness of the mind or from incompetence of the senses, do not exist. There is no possibility of any imperfection or any mistake anywhere in the words of God, because God is all-knowing, all-powerful, overflowing with auspiciousness, and the supreme abode of compassion. Consequently, as these words are devoid of all faults ,it has been celebrated as the best evidence of all and unerring. Self-evident, dependable and itself independent. Therefore, to know the transcendent, Absolute Truth, is unquestionably the best of all evidence. 

• Universal Pillars of Divinity

  • Mercy

  • Truthfulness

  • Cleanliness

  • Austerity

• Faith

• Principles

• Values

• Practices

• Details

• Enthusiasm

• Confidence

• Patience

• Following Rules and Regulations

• Favorable Association

• Honest Livelihood

• Honest Lifestyle

• Performing Your Duty

• Receiving Your Quota as a Result

• Being Satisfied with Gain That Comes Naturally

• Over collecting

• Overeating

• Over Endeavoring

• Useless Talking

• Bad Association

• Greed

• Illusion About the Self

• Illusion About God

• Illusion About Divine Service

• Illusions About Love of God

• Desires for any material object

• Desires for heavenly comforts

• Desires for mystic powers

• Desires for liberation

• Offenses against the holy name

• Offenses against Divine Service

• Offenses against Divine servants

• Offenses against other living entities

• Desire for fame

• Fault Finding 

• Enviousness

• Attachment to anything other than Divine service