Sri Rama Samartha
a painting by Sri Surya Prakash
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-May.19
Act only to Enhance Love for God
To give and take is a well-known necessity of worldly life. If two pieces of wood are to be joined, they have both to be suitably chipped and fitted together; this gives a good joint. Likewise, if everyone chips off some of his faults and idiosyncrasies, people will certainly fit together and live amicably. This calls for careful thought and mutual consideration. Constraint, whether in the home or ouside, should be by persuasion and love, rather than by intimidation. The juniors should be taught to love God, with love similar to that between a mother and her children, and we should also behave in a corresponding manner.
It is common experience that when one who is suffused with love for God and is dancing in ecstatic prayer happens to touch a person, the latter also dances with the love of God. The love of God is a very strong passion, a divine madness. Fortunate, indeed, is he who is affected by it ! Once a man is possessed by the love of God, his very speech acquires all good qualities.
The transitoriness of worldly life can never be adequately comprehended by mere reading, or by exercise of reason and logic. It is appreciated as love for God grows. One whose mouth is inflamed is unable to eat even though hungry, and his palate loses taste. Similarly, despite inherent love for God, we do not relish chanting His name because we are attached to tangible life. Just as the inflamed mouth has first to be cured before the patient can eat, to know the sweetness of God's name we have first to reduce the attachment for worldly life. This is by no means an easy task; the only three means for it are: kinship with God, His constant awareness, and company of the saintly. Because the Lord is multiform and omnipresent, there must be an endless number of approaches to Him. Each person can choose the approach most suitable for his temperament and conditions. In all these approaches, however, love for God must be a common factor; indeed, it is the very life of each of them. We should pray to God every day to grant us that love. One who gets that love will look on His creation with appreciation and admiration. Once a person acquires love for God, nothing can come in its way.
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