like a well-wishing friend who never deserts him. The relationship between Krsna and the jiva is eternal. Krsna is the Supreme Godhead and the jiva is the instrument through whom and to whom the Lord manifests His energies and opulences. The Lord is the Supreme Controller, and the jiva is the beneficiary enjoying the rewards of his actions. Whatever the servant considers desirable, the Lord mercifully bestows upon him.

"Anyone yearning for evanescent sense pleasure in the material world can also easily find it kindly provided by You. The means to attain such gratification is the performance of auspicious activities as recommended in the Vedas. They are: following the duties of the varnasrama system; performing sacrifices such as the fire sacrifice (agnistoma); executing the eightfold yoga process; offering havan or oblations; keeping vows on full-moon days; and giving in charity on auspicious days and on occasions productive of material benefit.

Awareness refers not to the stream of mindstuff (thoughts, feelings, emotions, ideas, forms, etc.) but rather to the inherent characteristic or ability that enables you, the self, to perceive the stream of mindstuff.
Science of Identity Foundation | Chris Butler Speaks

Although these activities are performed with Lord Visnu as the presiding Deity, there is no pure devotional attitude on the part of the performer; he unfortunately does not realize his want of spirituality because these activities never help him develop a pure spiritual mood. The results one accrues from these activities are material; one simply craves for enjoyment in higher planets. Such activities and their results can never satisfy the soul, the real self; illusion is their cause. These so-called auspicious activities only allow one to attain temporary heavenly pleasures diametrically opposed to transcendental bliss.

Deliverance from material piety

"If a person is fortunate enough to have association with a saintly personality and comes to know of his eternal identity as a servant of Lord Krsna, he easily surmounts the great obstacle of material nature. This is very rare. It happens only because of the results of huge amounts of previous pious activities that are never to be attained by the performance of fruitive works, which can give only insignificant results.

"The seeker of dry empirical knowledge understands material nature to be a place of suffering and so strives for liberation. You