Krishna consciousness is not a sentimental religion. To say “everyone is my brother or sister” sounds so simple and sentimental. But behind the appearance of such sentiments is the deepest philosophy in all the three worlds.

 

     If we are not attentive and practiced in meditation, when we go outside the temple and start seeing the outside world, a very old habit in the soul will come back. This habit is to try to enjoy sense objects through whatever body we inhabit. This is the activity of every living entity in every different species of life. It wants to take whatever it sees, tastes, touches, etc., for its own enjoyment, imitating Krishna’s position. This desire is what brought the soul out of the spiritual world and into the material world.

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     But Krishna never stops loving the souls who want to forget Him and wants them to come back to the spiritual world. He expands Himself into unlimited eternal forms as the Paramatma in everyone’s heart so he can always watch over the soul, from body to body. To come to a human body, we have gone through millions and millions of births of trying to enjoy sense objects. In this life, we can question the purpose of human existence and the suffering of life in this world. 

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     The soul has finally gotten a human body after so much hard work but is in this Kali-yuga. He is constantly bombarded and victimized by the culture of materialism in the Kali-yuga, where we want to have unrestricted sex and enjoyment and the only thing valued is the temporary acquisition of money, fame, and women. If this life is spoiled, it has to go back to the animal form and start the process all over again. This is reality.

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     With this philosophy, we learn to not judge others by their bodies. If we do, we will think: “Are they attractive or not? Are they intelligent or not?” That has nothing to do with who that person is – a part of Krishna just like us. Lord Paramatma is in their heart just like He is in our heart. This is sankirtan consciousness – it’s not a woman/man, old/young, fat/thin, attractive/ugly, rich/poor, etc.

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     It's a soul and a part of God just like us. This makes that soul a family member. That these souls are my brothers and sisters is not a cheap sentiment. This is a very deep realization and the highest truth. Every soul is a part of God, and God is staying with every soul because of how much He loves His parts and parcels.

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     If our family member is in a burning building, we rush in to help them. These forgetful souls are just like people burning in a house fire. If we see this when we go on Sankirtan, we are going to try to rescue them. Not like a salesman, but we genuinely want to help them. Sharing Srila Prabhupada's books and planting the seed of bhakti saves the soul a lifetime of bad karma. At the very least, these people will get a human birth, beginning where they left off by taking a book and giving a donation, which requires a human form of life.

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     We cannot imagine the happiness Krishna feels when He sees His devotee try to turn a sleeping soul He loves towards Him. That ecstasy is what the sankirtan devotee begins to experience. It’s an ocean of Krishna’s ecstatic love for His parts and parcels.