What does it mean to be “dead” while still alive?

Anyone whose thoughts, words, and deeds do not lead them to turn to religion, and even more so to God, who is not led by their ritual religious practices to choose renunciation of sense pleasure and materialism, or whose renunciation does not lead to God consciousness and devotional service to Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, must be considered dead, even if they are still breathing and living.

As the Lord teaches, any action that does not ultimately lead to devotional service is a cause of bondage in this material world. Unless a human being gradually rises to the level of devotional service from their natural activity, they are little better than a corpse or a grave. Action that does not promote the development of Krishna consciousness, also called God consciousness, must be considered useless, because it has no real interest.

Are humans responsible for the suffering they endure?

We classify three types of existence according to the influence exerted by the three attributes and modes of influence of material nature: virtue, passion, and ignorance.

Thus, living beings can be classified as peaceful, feverish, and giddy, or as happy, unhappy, and somewhere in between, or as virtuous, impious, and semi-religious. We can deduct from this that, in the next life, these three kinds of material influences will continue to act in a similar manner. The influence of the three attributes of material nature and its consequences are visible in the present life.

For example, some feel very happy, others very unhappy, and still others somewhere in between. This is the result of past contact with the three attributes [virtue, passion, and ignorance. (Ignorance is understood to mean the absence of data relating to God, existential truth, and spiritual knowledge)]. Since these differences are evident in the present life, we can assume that, depending on their relationship to the different attributes, living beings will be equally happy, unhappy, or somewhere in between in their next life. Therefore, the best course of action is to dissociate oneself from the three attributes of material nature and forever transcend their contaminating influence.

However, this is only possible when one devotes oneself entirely to loving and devoted service to God.

This is confirmed by Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead: One who is completely absorbed in devotional service, without ever failing, thereby transcends the three attributes and modes of influence of material nature and thus attains the spiritual level.

Unless one is fully absorbed in the service of the Lord, one remains exposed to the defilement of the three attributes of material nature, such that one must undergo the sufferings associated with unhappiness or a mixture of happiness and unhappiness.