Topic:A Krishna conscious perspective on The life and death of Steve Jobs one of the founders of the Apple computer company, by a disciple of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Founder of the International Society for Krishna Conscious – Visvakarma Dasa Vanacari.
I have been a lifelong user of Apple products. I have a Macbook Air, iPhone 11 and an Apple watch which I use in my work every day serving the mission of my guru and Lord Chaitanya. Steve Jobs is known as one of the founders of Apple Computers, which has affected the entire human society with its telecommunication, computer tools and their dynamic abilities on the world wide web.
I first read Steve Jobs final words a few years back. One of my friends on Facebook had posted them. I was interested to see where his mind was focused at the time of death and as a disciple of Bhaktivedanta Swami, with an open mind, I was eager to read his words of wisdom in his last moments.
Much to chagrin he revealed a man whose mind was lost in the ocean of material existence. I had heard he was visiting the temple for the Sunday feast program in Los Angeles. Maybe because he thought he was too intelligent he couldn’t listen to any of the kirtans and lectures given by the disciples of Srila Prabhupada which reveals the true purpose of human life. The purpose of human life is to become Krishna Conscious. He has the chance to get out of this world but he chose the path of mundane success as his goal.
Many mundane leaders tell us don’t waste your time but they have no answer to what is the best use of time. In the Srimad Bhagavatam the proper use of time is described as thus, “Both by rising and setting, the sun decreases the life of everyone, except those who engage in discussing the pastimes of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna.
Krishna explains in the Bhagavad Gita there are four kinds of people
that come to him in the Bhagavad Gita chapter 7 text 16.
Krishna, God himself, was speaking to his friend Arjuna on the famous Battlefield of Kurukshetra, advising him on the purpose of the human form of life.
“O best among the Bharatas [Arjuna], four kinds of pious men render devotional service unto Me—the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.”
The following is the bona fide explanation of the true meaning of this verse by my spiritual master A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.
“Unlike the miscreants, these are adherents of the regulative principles of the scriptures, and they are called kurtina, or those who obey the rules and regulations of scriptures, the moral and social laws, and are, more or less, devoted to the Supreme Lord.
Out of these there are four classes of men—those who are sometimes distressed, those who are in need of money, those who are sometimes inquisitive, and those who are sometimes searching after knowledge of the Absolute Truth.
These persons come to the Supreme Lord for devotional service under different conditions. These are not pure devotees because they have some aspiration to fulfill in exchange for devotional service. Pure devotional service is without aspiration and without desire for material profit. The Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu defines pure devotion thus:
anyabhilasitasunyam jnana-karmady-anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanusilanam bhaktir uttama.
“One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Krsna favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service.”
When these four kinds of persons come to the Supreme Lord for devotional service and are completely purified by the association of a pure devotee, they also become pure devotees.
As far as the miscreants are concerned, for them devotional service is very difficult because their lives are selfish, irregular and without spiritual goals. But even some of them, by chance, when they come in contact with a pure devotee, also become pure devotees.
Those who are always busy with fruitive activities come to the Lord in material distress and at that time associate with pure devotees and become, in their distress, devotees of the Lord. Those who are simply frustrated also come sometimes to associate with the pure devotees and become inquisitive to know about God.
Similarly, when the dry philosophers are frustrated in every field of knowledge, they sometimes want to learn of God, and they come to the Supreme Lord to render devotional service and thus transcend knowledge of the impersonal Brahman and the localized Paramatma and come to the personal conception of Godhead by the grace of the Supreme Lord or His pure devotee.
On the whole, when the distressed, the inquisitive, the seekers of knowledge, and those who are in need of money are free from all material desires, and when they fully understand that material remuneration has nothing to do with spiritual improvement, they become pure devotees. As long as such a purified stage is not attained, devotees in transcendental service to the Lord are tainted with fruitive activities, and they search after mundane knowledge, etc. So one has to transcend all this before one can come to the stage of pure devotional service. he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.
This is the point Mr. Jobs missed in his early years before his rock ship to material success and in his final hours his crash landing because he had no real knowledge. My wish is that his life had ended much better than it did. In the Christian bible Mark 8:36 it is said, “for what shall it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and suffers the loss of his soul?” His last words that we are quoting in this article reveals the truth of the matter. His words reveal what he is thinking and how developed he was spiritually. To my disappointment I found his final words very shallow.
Recently I started writing this article compelled from within to speak for the benefit of everyone as his life is a good example of what not to do with your time.
There are different ways we can learn. Some people learn simply by hearing the truth and accept how to act.
Some people learn from practical experience by not listening to good advice but finding out on their own, the hard way. For example, a child is told by their parents don’t touch the top of the stove. If they don’t listen and touch the top of the hot stove for themselves and then burn their hands. After they burn themselves, they know not to touch the stove top.
Of the two the one who simply listens to the teacher and acts in faith is the smarter person.
Steve Jobs is the perfect example of a poor student of spiritual life. The first qualification is humility. Prabhupada gives the example of dry wood and fire and how it ignites into flames. If the wood is wet it will not burn, in the same way if the student is not receptive to hear the truth from a bona fide spiritual master as in the case of A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami a pure devotee of Krishna he is lost in those ocean of material misery.
Steve Jobs will have to burn his hand to learn his lesson as evident in his final words I have included in this article. If you simply hear this message and learn what to do with your life that is our success
My Guru A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami explains in his purports of the Bhagavad Gita, “that birth should be understood to refer to the body. As far as the soul is concerned, there is neither birth nor death and death apply to one’s embodiment in the material world.
Most people dream of becoming as successful, as innovative, as creative as Steve Jobs. In his last words Steve explains the level of consciousness he has achieved at his time of death. That moment in time is the critical one for every living being. The destination of the soul is determined by the life that the person has led. Krishna explains what determines the future of the individual at the time of death in the eight chapter of Bhagavad Gita Attaining the Supreme.
Chapter 8, Verse 5
And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.
Chapter 8, Verse 6
Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.
Chapter 8, Verse 7
Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Krsna and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt.
Chapter 8, Verse 8
He who meditates on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Partha [Arjuna], is sure to reach Me.
Chapter 8, Verse 9
One should meditate upon the Supreme Person as the one who knows everything, as He who is the oldest, who is the controller, who is smaller than the smallest, who is the maintainer of everything, who is beyond all material conception, who is inconceivable, and who is always a person. He is luminous like the sun and, being transcendental, is beyond this material nature
Mr. Jobs at the end of his life doesn’t even hint that he believed in God. He had no knowledge of God and his purpose in life, even though he had visited the Krishna temple in LA on multiple occasions. A person reveals their mind in their words and actions.
At the critical time of death hopefully they are filled with wisdom and real knowledge.
For me that wisdom comes from the daily practices of Bhakti yoga under the guidance of a self-realized soul as, in the case of my Guru Srila Prabhupada. Let say in this article in a sense I’m comparing my life to his. I haven’t achieved the material success of a person like Steve Jobs, but by the mercy of my Guru Srila Pprabhupada I am blessed with the transcendental service to spread the glories of the holy name to every town and village online. This is real success in the scope of eternal time. The material body is temporarily full of misery from time to time and mind filled with ignorance.
Steve couldn’t listen to the teachings of Lord Krishna and Srila Prabhupada despite the opportunity that was given to him in the early seventies.
Steve was interested in building castles made of sand as Jimi Hendrix sang in one of his early songs. Steve did not qualify to become a devotee of Krishna. Prabhupada has explained that to achieve Krishna consciousness is not easy one has to have real qualifications to be allowed to serve in the sankirtan mission of Lord Chaitanya.
Steve Jobs had everything you could want materially but at his last moments he had sacrificed everything for something that had no real value. His last words reveal his fear of death and the unknown. This is the fate of a non-devotee of Krishna.
Fear is due to not knowing what will happen to you in the future especially at the time of death. A person in Krsna consciousness has no fear because by his activities he is sure to go back to the spiritual sky, back home, back to Godhead. Therefore, his future is very bright.
Others, however, do not know what their future holds; they have no knowledge of what the next life holds. So, they are therefore in constant anxiety. If we want to get free from anxiety, then the best course is to understand Krsna and be situated always in Krsna consciousness. In that way we will be free from all fear.
In the Srimad-Bhagavatam. it is stated that fear is caused by our absorption in the illusory energy, but those who are free from the illusory energy, those who are confident that they are not the material body, that they are spiritual parts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and are therefore engaged in the transcendental service of the Supreme Godhead, have nothing to fear. Their future is very bright.
This fear is a condition of persons who are not in Krsna consciousness. Bhayam, fearlessness, is only possible for one in Krsna consciousness.
While lying on his deathbed these last words were spoken by Mr. Jobs, reflecting on his life’s journey and what it all meant to him in his final moments
He states,”I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success. However, aside from work, I have little joy.
Why is their little joy in his life? He missed the boat of transcendental knowledge of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He missed the chance to become a disciple of His Divine Grace. His Divine grace was trying to help Steve change the course of history but his destiny and false ego didn’t allow him to hear the Absolute Truth from the pure devotee of Krishna who was busy spreading the mission of Lord Chaitanya. Prbhupada was looking for recruits to join his movement and return them back to home back to godhead at the time of death as their reward. Eternal salvation is possible even in this one lifetime by the mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
That was Steve Job’s major mistake that he reveals in a regretting manner in these following words on his deathbed. He had no knowledge of the soul and its fate in these last breathing moments of that human body.
Krishna explains in his Song of God the Bhagavad Gita that there is no happiness or joy in life for a person who dies and never understands the purpose of life, why they were born and what will happen to them at the moment of death.
As a young man Jobs comments, he regularly attended the Sunday Feast at our ISKCON temple in Los Angeles. The movement was started by Srila Prabhupada and LA at that time was considered the biggest centre in the movement, the world headquarters. Back then the sankirtan went on daily on the streets of LA and Prabhupada had relocated his printing operations there in the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust for the coordination of the printing and distribution of all of his transcendental literature. There were lots of very intelligent devotees who spoke at the Sunday feast when Steve would attend the program to get his free feast after he heard the lecture and kirtan.
Why didn’t he take up Krishna Consciousness when he had the chance? Even a moments association with saintly persons can alter a person’s human destiny especially at their final moments as in the case of Steve.
Now how to become Krsna conscious? Lord Caitanya says, sadhu-sastra-krpa: “One can become Krsna conscious by the mercy of saintly devotees and by the mercy of the scriptures.” These two things are recommended.
Like myself here in Toronto Canada and he in Los Angeles we both had a chance to join the Skp mission of Srila Prabhupada.
He choose not to and this is how he ended his life,
Srila Prabhupada, “Not that fools, as they are thinking, “I can…, I can think myself. I don’t agree with the sastra. I don’t agree with the spiritual master. I don’t agree with scriptures. I have got my independent opinion.” He is fool number one, rascal number one. One who says like that, you’ll at once take him that he’s fool, a rascal, anything. You have to take shelter of sadhu, guru and sastra. Sadhu means saintly persons, those who have got all those qualities.
Mr. Jobs famously recollected that special time in his early career when he had very little money to even buy food and therefore was regularly visiting the Hare Krishna centre in Los Angeles for their advertised Sunday feast program programs included chanting, dancing, feasting and spiritual lectures. Steve was in the right place at the right time but made the wrong choices due to false ego. Steve was listening to the Krishna conscious philosophy by nothing seemed to click with him. His false ego couldn’t allow himself to surrender to a Guru or Krishna as Lord Chaitanya explained to his disciples/
While delivering the commencement address at Stanford University in 2005, Mr. Jobs mentions his frequent visits to the LA Krishna Temple founded by A.C BHaktivedanta Swami Prabhupa.
Steve Jobs, “It wasn’t all romantic,” he told students in his now iconic speech,
“I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms. I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with. And I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it.”
That meal was food first offered to Krishna and is called Krishna’s mercy. Prasadam is also known as spiritual food or Krishna’s mercy and is both antiseptic and prophylactic. It purifies one of past sinful reactions and prevents our tendency to fall into maya or illusion moving forward in life. Was Steve Jobs benefited by visiting the temple on Sunday? Yes, but he missed a golden opportunity to join the mission of Lord Chaitanya and return back home back to godhead at the time of death. It’s a matter of making the right choices in life.
I humbly bow down to my Spiritual Masters lotus feet. It is only by his mercy one can cross over the miserable ocean of material miseries.
Of course, everyone enjoys a free lunch and Steve seemed only to be interested in that only. The most important thing to do when visiting a sacred place like the LA Hare Krishna temple, is to humbly listen to what is being taught. He came and ate the free food. From a spiritual point of view, he gained the benefit of eating prasadam but the real mercy was the transcendental knowledge he refused to accept.
Most of us think I agree but not me. One has to be humble before the Spiritual Master. Steve wasn’t and he didn’t have all the answers. He didn’t have the answers before his or after his success because he missed the purpose of human life.
Srila Prabhupada eloquently explains in his ninth chapter verse 2 purport that, “the Bhagavad-gītā is called the king of education because it is the essence of all doctrines and philosophies explained before. Among the principal philosophers in India are Gautama, Kaṇāda, Kapila, Yājñavalkya, Śāṇḍilya and Vaiśvānara. And finally there is Vyāsadeva, the author of the Vedānta-sūtra.
So, there is no dearth of knowledge in the field of philosophy or transcendental knowledge. Now the Lord says that this Ninth Chapter is the king of all such knowledge, the essence of all knowledge that can be derived from the study of the Vedas and different kinds of philosophy. It is the most confidential because confidential or transcendental knowledge involves understanding the difference between the soul and the body. And the king of all confidential knowledge culminates in devotional service.
Here’s how Steve reflected on his material success and his vast material wealth, “In the end, wealth is only a fact of life that I am accustomed to. At this moment, lying on the sick bed and recalling my whole life, I realize that all the recognition and wealth that I took so much pride in, have paled and become meaningless in the face of impending death.”
Steve was a true genius in his field of computer technology as one of the founders of the Apple computer company. His company has changed the world.
But all his success and material knowledge were useless as he lay on his deathbed.
Srila Prabhupada explains, “As far as ordinary education is concerned, people are involved with so many departments: politics, sociology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, astronomy, engineering, etc. There are so many departments of knowledge all over the world and many huge universities, but there is, unfortunately, no university or educational institution where the science of the spirit soul is instructed. Yet the soul is the most important part of the body; without the presence of the soul, the body has no value. Still people are placing great stress on the bodily necessities of life, not caring for the vital soul.
Again Steve laments the use of his time in the material world while he sees death coming and the only thing he has to deal with is the karma he created for himself. The science of the soul is the most important department of knowledge for a conditioned soul like him.
Steve continues, “In the darkness, I look at the green lights from the life supporting machines and hear the humming mechanical sounds, I can feel the breath of god of death drawing closer… Now I know, when we have accumulated sufficient wealth to last our lifetime, we should pursue other matters that are unrelated to wealth… Should be something that is more important.”
Excuse me he sounds like a politician with no self-realization just flowery words. Steve should have humbled himself and jumped on the boat of transcendental knowledge when visiting the LA temple for his weekly free prasadam feast.
Srila Prabhuppada explains for everyone’s benefit including Steve’s, “for those who are engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all sinful reactions, whether fructified, in the stock, or in the form of a seed, gradually vanish. Therefore, the purifying potency of devotional service is very strong, and it is called pavitram uttamam, the purest. Uttama means transcendental.
Tamas means this material world or darkness, and uttama means that which is transcendental to material activities.
Mind is the centerpiece of the material senses and Steve’s words reveal a very depressed person. Instead of serving Krishna he served his own false ego and the pursuit of material success only. What a missed opportunity.
Srila Prabhupada continues, “Devotional activities are never to be considered material, although sometimes it appears that devotees are engaged just like ordinary men. One who can see and is familiar with devotional service will know that they are not material activities. They are all spiritual and devotional, uncontaminated by the material modes of nature.
Steve states “Perhaps relationships, perhaps art, perhaps a dream from younger days … Non-stop pursuit of wealth will only turn a person into a twisted being, just like me.’
Steve admits he failed in his journey through time.
“God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth.”
Not exactly Steve, these senses are part of the vehicle for sense gratification known as the human body. Sense gratification is experienced in one of the three material modes goodness, passion or ignorance.
In the Gita Krishna explains to Arjuna there is a subtle body composed of the mind, intelligence and false ego. Above this there is our true ego and spirit soul. Krishna is also situated in the heart of everyone as the supersoul. Steve had an idea of how to understand God, Krishna.
Steve continued in the final last few words, “The wealth I have won in my life I cannot bring with me.”
No kidding that’s sad Steve. Such a brilliant mind but no depth. The only thing we are judged on are our actions both good and bad in this world of imagination. At the time of death based on our karma a new body is decided upon and the soul is sent there to continue the wheel of samsara birth and death.
For example, the eating of meat especially the cow bears a serious karmic reaction. A meat eater is guaranteed a lower birth for many thousands of births in that regard according to the laws of karma.
Steve had lived a life based on fruitive work or time is money, which in the end has no value outside of the karma you incur from your material endeavors.
Steve, “What I can bring is only the memories precipitated by love. That’s the true riches which will follow you, accompany you, giving you strength and light to go on. Love can travel a thousand miles.
Real love is spiritual, it’s called love of God not material love of the body and all of our material attachments,
Steve, you loved the pursuit of material success. That was your mistake. It’s a dead-end street. You reveal that in these last words of yourself.
At death you reap the karmic results of your actions throughout life. As ye sow so shall ye reap that is the meaning of this saying. Material karma is very complex and entangling.
Srila Prabhupada explains, “Those who are engaged in fruitive activities through their life are entangled as a result in different stages and forms of sinful reactions.
For instance, when the seed of a particular tree is sown, the tree does not appear immediately to grow; it takes some time. It is first a small, sprouting plant, then it assumes the form of a tree, then it flowers and bears fruit, and, when it is complete, the flowers and fruits are enjoyed by persons who have sown the seed of the tree.
Similarly, a man performs a sinful act, and like a seed it takes time to fructify. There are different stages. The sinful action may have already stopped within the individual, but the results or the fruit of that sinful action are still to be experienced. There are sins which are still in the form of a seed, and there are others which are already fructified and are giving us fruit, which we are enjoying as distress and pain.”
At death Steve reveals the pain and distress of a person in ignorance of the purpose of life.
Steve, “Life has no limit.”
Steve your correct life has no limit in the sense that the soul is eternal. As far as the material body that is limited by the time factor.
Krishna explains for one who is born death is certain and for one who has died birth is certain.
Steve encourages us, “Go where you want to go. Reach the height you want to reach. It is all in your heart and in your hands”.
Again, Steve demonstrates his lack of understanding of the laws of karma. What is the most expensive bed in the world? -“Sick bed” … You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you but you cannot have someone to bear the sickness for you.
Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost –”Life”. When a person goes into the operating room, he will realize that there is one book that he has yet to finish reading –”Book of Healthy Life”. Whichever stage in life we are at right now, with time, we will face the day when the curtain comes down. Treasure Love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends… Treat yourself well. Cherish others.” -Steve Jobs
As explained in the twenty-eighth verse of the Seventh Chapter, of the Gita a person who has completely ended the reactions of all sinful activities and who is fully engaged in pious activities, being freed from the duality of this material world, becomes engaged in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. In other words, those who are actually engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Lord are already freed from all reactions. This statement is confirmed in the Padma Purāṇa:
aprārabdha-phalaṁ pāpaṁ
kūṭaṁ bījaṁ phalonmukham
krameṇaiva pralīyeta
Viṣṇu-bhakti-ratātmanām
It is said that the execution of devotional service is so perfect that one can perceive the results directly. This direct result is actually perceived, and we have practical experience that any person who is chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa (Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare) in course of chanting without offenses feels some transcendental pleasure and very quickly becomes purified of all material contamination. This is actually seen.
Furthermore, if one engages not only in hearing but in trying to broadcast the message of devotional activities as well, or if he engages himself in helping the missionary activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he gradually feels spiritual progress. This advancement in spiritual life does not depend on any kind of previous education or qualification. The method itself is so pure that by simply engaging in it one becomes enlightened in the transcendental position of himself.
Krishna further states:
‘This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.’