Tendencies of Conditioned Souls

We are part and parcels of God, pure spiritual entities by nature, but due to contact with tie material energy we become covered by ignorance.

Because of this covering, we display faults in our character. Four types of faults are especially prominent:

• The tendency to make mistakes
• The tendency to be illusioned
• Having imperfect senses
• The propensity to cheat.

Every conditioned soul (contaminated by material consciousness) is subject to these four defects. Therefore the conditioned soul is not able to distinguish between matter and spirit, nor give adequate spiritual guidance to others.

In order to progress spiritually, we must take guidance from persons who are free from these four defects. God and His pure devotees are free from these defects. Religious principles can only be given by God. His pure devotees simply repeat these principles. They do not speculate as do mundane theologians, whose presentations are, at best, pseudo spirituality.

If one tries to manufacture his own religious process, pick and choose practices as he likes, or follow a spiritual guide who is not a pure devotee of God then he will be victimized by these four defects. Even a bonafide spiritual process, if interpreted by someone who is not pure, will be contaminated and not yield spiritual fruit. Only by strictly following the instructions of God, as repeated by His pure devotee can one be freed of these four faults.