What constitutes the change of a human being?

First of all Srila Prabhupada expected us to change TO a human being.

Over and over again He made it clear what constitutes the difference between human being and an animal. A person who is motivated by animal propensities, thinking, and feeling and willing strictly in terms of "me" and "mine" is an animal. Society of such persons is an animal society.

A society without religion is called animal society.

But it doesn’t stop there. Even a religious person can still be heavily materially motivated and so it is the acceptance of a spiritual cure, a spiritual process delivered by the spiritual master, which constitutes the change from a materialist to a spiritualist.

It is most unfortunate that even amongst those who do officially accept a spiritual process and follow in footsteps of Lord Caitanya by chanting the Holy Name, a predominant misunderstanding prevails that "change" means the change of ones entire constitution. To act upon our spiritual constitutional nature doesn’t mean to "change" ones guna, and consequently varna.

The body doesn’t change, the temporary owner of the body does. It is a change of consciousness and not the change of qualities pertaining to the body. Especially in third chapter of Bhagavad Gita Krsna firmly warns those who try to pretend the change of their consciousness by artificially masquerading as members of a varna they don’t belong to.

How many times devotees try to change their location, appearance, mode of action , material circumstances they are imbedded in… without changing their consciousness? Mere words and the amount of academic learning will not help. Rather opposite. Fancy vocabulary along pretence to belong there where one doesn’t belong is punishable by Vedic standards. Such a pretender will be pulled down by Krsna’s powerful energy, the lust, in order to stop cheating the innocent ones.

Even amongst our most amazing acharyas a variety of entirely transcendental personalities can be found who in order to teach the world didn’t change the nature of their bodies, but engaged them purely in Lords service. Prahlad maharaja, Arjuna along the Pandavas, Kuntidevi, Hanuman, Vidura and other mahajans, up to recently Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Srila Prabhupada, these associates of the Lord simply engaged everything in Krsna’s service and demonstrated to us conditioned souls how to achieve perfection.

And so NOBODY IS CHANGING… regarding the nature of one’s body. It is the consciousness with what he uses the body in order to serve the Lord selflessly which constitutes the change of a person, not his or hers external covering.

Growing up in a society of cheaters and cheated, anybody can share his pretence in front of an audience never seen before. The global media of internet drove to perfection the art of cheating, (Two dogs operate an internet web-page. One dog smiles and tells to the other: "I hope nobody realizes-we are dogs!"). And so our "natural" tendency to cheat first our self and then consequently others finds its full facilitation.

Once chanting the Holy Name and still insisting to be what we are not we are contradicting the process of purification. Such hypocrite chanters finally have to give up the chanting as it is too painful, always bringing them to reality. It’s most difficult to try to remain in darkness when the room gets steadily illuminated. Of course, some may chant for long and by dint of academic learning cheat for long, but nevertheless the Truth will prevail, bringing the chanter to a state of mind where he either goes mad or agrees to be what he is, both materially and spiritually.

Chanting and using the assets which one got on the way is the most natural process to use the thorn of a rose to remove from ones finger another thorn of a rose. In this way finally by using the body we may realize that we are not this body by achieving the mercy of the spiritual master and Krsna.

THIS is transcendental, not our vain attempt to be what we are not.