Human Life is Probationary, Get Your Act Together | SB 11.5.41 | HG Vaisesika Dasa |19 Sep 2026

The useful part

Smart people have confidential associates because nobody'sâ€"'no man is an island.' You know that phrase. Sloman points that out in his book, which is called The Knowledge Illusion. We think we're independent, but we are integrated into everybody else and everything here in the world that we are dependent on.

How it works

• At least take a public defender." And they are like, "I'll defend myself!" It barely ever works out.
• In a similar way, we should have the best legal representation in this world we can possibly get, because we got ourselves in a mess here.
• Somehow or other, we got in this material world, and everyone's pretending like everything is fine.
• How's that for an ending to this whole so-called happy life you have?
• If we admit the frailty that we have, and we make it a point to identify room for improvement in our own attitudes, in our own practices, see where we can improve ourselves, it's exhilarating!

What to take from it

So have those kinds of associates who you can talk to anonymously and say, "Listen, I think I'm really messed up, and here is what I have going." Plus, you should have an attorney, because the material world's complicated. The mindset where, "I'll just do what I've always done, and I'll ignore my foibles and my shortcomings"â€"that's a life full of cognitive dissonance, where we know we should be doing one thing, but we're not doing it! Then we always live with a grinding sense in our heart: "Why can't I do it?

Details worth keeping

Don't try to go into a legal case by yourself.