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BY: Swami B.V. Tripurari (Bio)
Q: I'm confused by one of your replies. You wrote: "When Guru and sastra ...speak against intoxication, this does not include the application of otherwise intoxicating drugs when used for medicinal purposes. Coffee and green tea are not good for the body or mind in the long run, but their occasional use at times for practical purposes will not affect one's bhakti."
The devotee who asked me this question is a good friend of mine. He works as a paramedic, and four days a week he has to work 24 hour shifts. I think we need paramedics in this society, and I have no problem with devotees being employed in this field. Indeed, it has brought him many realizations about the fleeting nature of life in this world. If he needs to drink coffee on these days to remain alert, it will not adversely affect his bhakti.
If the soul is, as you say, "asleep" [when in illusion], then who or what is doing the thinking, willing, and feeling, and making the conscious choices?
The soul in its sleep is not fully aware of the extent to which it exists nor of the other aspects of its own nature. Under the influence of material nature (illusion), it makes choices it would not make were it not under this influence. Just as someone intoxicated is said to be someone other than himself, so the illusioned soul is not the true self, the awakened self.
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