Saturday, January 25, 2020
Friday, January 24, 2020
Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-Jan.24
How to Practise Nama-smarana
How should nama be practised? If we pour water on a stone all at once, it will only wet the surface, which will be dry no sooner the water evaporates. But if the water falls on one spot, even drop by drop but continuously, the stone will gradually get worn out and eventually even crack and break. Likewise, practising nama even in a somewhat small quantity, but regularly, at the same time every day, and preferably in the same place, is more effective than much but sporadic practice.
A hand-rotated stone flour mill has two millstones; the lower one is stationary, while the upper one is rotated. However, if both stones go round, the grain cannot be ground, and the effort is wasted. The human body and mind together make such a mill. Of these two millstones, the body, under the influence of destiny, may go about its worldly duties, like the rotating stone; the other, the mind, should be held firmly fixed in the remembrance of God. This, in effect, is what nama-sadhana means. It can be practised by all and sundry, and anybody can succeed in it. However, the poor fail for being preoccupied with poverty; the rich for their avarice and pride of wealth; the learned for pride of their knowledge; and the ignorant because they do not know what to do. No amount of practice of nama-smarana will give contentment if done with a suspicious mind.
A sadhaka will attain his objective if he is possessed of moral conduct, behaviour as laid down in the Shastras, a pure heart, and constant remembrance of the Supreme Being.
We need not be disheartened if evil thoughts throng the mind while pursuing the pathway in spirituality; resort to nama-smarana when they crowd in, and they will automatically be checked. Persist in nama with firm faith. Contentment will spring only where there is attention to duty along with remembrance of the Lord. If you constantly remind yourself that you belong to Him, and live for Him, His presence will become more and more evident, and the ego will proportionately shrink, and the mind will feel disburdened. Let us make it our goal to attain to God, and re-align our life accordingly, that is keep ourselves ever aware of Him.
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Thursday, January 23, 2020
Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-Jan.23
Cultivation of the Field of Nama-smarana
What are the things necessary to get a good crop in the field of nama-smarana? (1) Righteous conduct; it is like the protective fence. (2) Pure heart; this is like fertile, friable soil. We have to clean it by removing weeds and pebbles that is, purging the heart of malice, hatred, and similar passions. (3) Repeated remembrance of nama. This corresponds to the seed sown in the soil; it should not be rotten, polluted, or infected with any desire or the ego. The best seed is to practise nama for its own sake. (4) Pilgrimage to holy places, blessings of saints, and suchlike; these correspond to water channels for the growing crop. (5) Last, but by far not the least, the grace of God. This corresponds to rain-water, which, however, is not in our control and command. Lack of it may nullify all our care. However, this field of nama-smarana has its own speciality; it has a magnet-like attraction which draws down showers of God's grace. So it never happens that the crop is lost for want of rain.
Now suppose there are two farmers owning adjacent fields. One of them diligently attends to all the operations outlined above, while the other is negligent and indolent, inattentive to his field. When, in the usual course, the rains do come, the field of the first farmer will produce a rich yield, whereas that of the other will naturally give a poor crop; that is, even if God showers His grace equally on both, the first of the two farmers will have a bumper harvest, while the field of the other may yield next to nothing.
The moral of this parable applies equally well to spiritual life. God showers His grace on all; the benefit will accrue according to the degree to which each man's heart is purified. It is in this sense that God and the saints are equanimus, impartial. They harbour no discrimination between persons; it is we who must prepare ourselves to utilize their grace. The saints have already told us what we should do; it is upto us to understand and put their advice into practice. The 'partiality' which some of us ascribe to them is a result of our own action. If we repeat nama with purity of heart, we are bound to find God's grace.
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