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How do you know?
This is a big question.
Here it says (Ms: 2.1), "Hṛdayenābhyanu jñāto:
the heart will know."
[Sincerity is Invincible]
So on the check-list we're seeing:
the revealed truth; living interpretation; all these other things ...
But then how do you know?
Your heart will recognise that.
And then you say, "What if I'm wrong?
Sometimes my heart was ...
I thought about some particular relationship
that the heart is supposed to know about,
and it was wrong— I was wrong.
I've lived and learned to say I was wrong;
my heart was deceived, or I deceived myself, I'm not sure.
So I don't want this to happen for this type of choice."
So what we are left with is our sincerity.
Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna have a similar conversation in Bhagavad-gītā,
and Arjuna's wondering,
not only about some of the things that you said,
but he's thinking, "What about if, also,
I dedicate myself to this, I pursue this,
and I don't achieve perfection?
Then all that time I could have been cultivating my mundane life;
I put all that time and energy in spiritual cultivation,
but I didn't achieve perfection there—
it seems like I lose out in both worlds."
And, in a famous śloka, Kṛṣṇa says (Bg: 6.40),
"Na hi kalyāṇa--kṛt kaśchid durgatiḿ tāta gachchhati:
That which is kalyāṇa,"
—kalyāṇa means auspicious,
or as I said before, ultimately beneficial—
"to whatever degree you get involved in this,
it's good for you permanently.
Whereas, even materially, if you cultivate something perfectly
it will be taken away from you or you will vanish.
One or the other is going to happen."
Guru Mahārāj, he expressed it, he rendered it in his own way
—sort of condensed it and paraphrased it—
and this is the key point:
he would say, "Sincerity is invincible."
If you are sincere, you'll be victorious.
If I am sincere, if I do not deceive myself,
then no one can deceive me.
Because we're told, "Well, we should be careful."
"Yes we should be careful," he's saying,
"but who you really need to be careful about is you."
So, he said "If I ..."
Because I, me, we,
have a strong tendency towards self-deception
—that's why we're here,
we deceived ourselves.
You say, "Well, why did we come?"
You deceived yourself. I deceived myself.
We already made ...
we're here on account of bad choices,
so when it comes to this all-important choice,
we don't want to be wrong.
But can we then say,
"I'm going to eliminate my free will and choice, and just ...
someone else will make that choice for me"?
It can't be that way.
So it means we have to hear from the vaiṣṇavas; hear the scriptures.
Someone's particular representation
will sympathetically vibrate in our heart,
and with a bowed head and folded palms,
we'll make a choice—
and under the guidance of others, too, who are reliable.
You know, we're not beyond consulting with others.
But ultimately it's a personal choice that you have to make,
and Guru Mahārāj is saying, "If you're sincere you'll be all right."
So it's in your hands: what you will do; whom you will choose.