Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-Feb.4
Nama Alone Annihilates Passions and Desires
Passions and desires are the root cause of birth. Desires can be summed up as wishing that the pleasures we have should continue forever, and fresh ones should be added. As a first step towards obtaining emancipation from this state, let us modify our desire and say to God," Grant the continuance of the happiness we have today, and give such additional happiness as You please to." We shall thereby be conscious that whatever we get in addition has come from Him; and about what we do not get, we shall always feel that He does not will it. There will gradually arise the conviction that everything comes from God, both what we have and what He grants. This will, in its turn, mitigate hankering and uneasiness for fresh things and attachment for what we already have. Likes and dislikes, as well as the feeling 'this I want' and 'that I don't want', will gradually wane.
It is impossible to vanquish and transcend passions and desires on one's own strength and determination; utter surrender to God and His will is the only remedy. Keeping appropriate company will also go a long way. If, for instance, we associate with a recluse, our desire for fine clothes will gradually die down; but living in the company of the rich may foster love for foppery. We should, therefore, keep such company as will gradually create a spirit of self-surrender.
Complete surrender to God means complete dedication of ourselves and all we have, to His service. This, in other words, means renouncing all upadhi. For this we must adopt a sadhana which is absolutely free of all upadhi. Nama-smarana is the only such sadhana. Time and space, good circumstance and bad, wealth and poverty, scholarship and ignorance, sickness and health, status, sex, age-none of these can be an impediment to the chanting of nama. Nor does nama require any appliance, whatever. The only essential thing is the will to chant it. It can be carried about in the heart, always and anywhere. Without penance or hardship, it will absolve the mind from desire and passion. Have faith that the Lord is at your help and support, and then vritti will not yield to passion and desire. While practising nama we should maintain an awareness of God's presence. Time and space are subservient to one who practises nama.
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Monday, February 3, 2020
shri brahmachaithanya Pravachan-Feb.3
Nama-smarana Reveals our Defects
Awareness of one's defects and shortcomings is the first step in any type of spiritual discipline or sadhana. As he makes progress in his sadhana, the aspirant comes to realize his sins and vices vividly. Eventually, they appear to be mountainous in proportions. Alarmed by this, he despairingly appeals to God; " Lord, full of these colossal frailties, how can I ever hope to be fit to see you at all? Can I ever qualify for your darshana (vision)?"
An ordinary man may be easily provoked to anger, for instance, but he either denies it, or justifies it as a pragmatic necessity to inspire others with due awe or sense of authority. A certain sadhaka once complained that he had lately become quite prone to fits of anger on even small provocation. The fact was that he had always been so, only, with progress in sadhana, he had come to notice it and recognize it as a defect.
A marriageable youth had seen many girls one after another, to choose a bride, but, being extremely finicky, none of them would measure up to his choice. On returning home from one such 'bride-selection' visit, his sister who had accompanied him, asked him, "What do you think of this girl?" The youth gave the usual negative opinion. The sister who was a shrewd girl, quickly held a mirror before his face and asked, " How does she compare with this?" The youth, perceiving that her looks far surpassed his own, had to admit the fact and agreed to accept her.
We see defects in others because we are unaware of our own. We should remember that when we see a shortcoming in another person, we have in ourselves the seed of that defect. One must, therefore, give up the habit of finding fault with others, and practise introspection of our drawbacks. To find defects in others is what the common man does, but this is inconsistent with spiritual life. A sincere spiritual seeker resorts to constant introspection. He does not notice defects in others because he is ever preoccupied with the enormous burden of his own, and in comparison, he finds others superior, even godly. This is the true spiritual attitude. Indeed, constant introspection to remove the seed of defects from oneself is a very effective spiritual exercise; and this can be achieved easily by nama-smarana.
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