Sunday, April 19, 2020
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-April.18
Saints See Divinity even in Worldly Things
Everyone possesses the emotion of devotion, for, broadly speaking, devotion is nothing but deep liking, or love. Liking for worldly objects is due to body-consciousness; people instinctively like worldly objects, and are devoted to them. Unless this liking is diminished, devotion to God will not arise. So the first step in the bhakti-marga is to remember God's name selflessly, without expectation of any fruit or reward. The last stage consists in being completely unaware of the body and of 'self'. The body is to be preserved and protected for the sole purpose of attaining God. It is better to die than to live solely for passion and the pleasures of the senses.
All our religious festivals, like the birthdays of the divine incarnations and the anniversaries of the saints, aim at creating love for God. Even if we have no love for the divine to begin with, we seek to create it by making such offerings as we would to a living loved person. There is a reciprocal relation between love and such offerings. Such offerings bring us closer to God and enhance our love for Him. It is common for a mother to dress her child with the best clothes and trinkets she can afford, because she enjoys doing it, although the child itself may be feeling uncomfortable in them, and may even protest against them. Similarly we try to heap offerings on an icon of God for our own pleasure; otherwise, what does God lack or want?
Saints see the divinity even in sense-objects, whereas we seek sense-pleasures even in icons of the divinity. For instance, we praise the elegance of the sculpture of an idol, or the beautiful architectural design of a temple. Our mind being full of sensuousness, we notice even divine things from a sensuous viewpoint. On the other hand, the mind of a saint is all occupied with God, and so he sees God in everything. It is said that one can see God Rama on completing thirteen crores of japa of Rama-nama; this requires a dozen years or so to complete, if one spends ten to twelve hours every day in japa. With such intense longing and perseverance, one's mind naturally becomes thoroughly charged with Rama.
Meditation on nama never goes waste; only, we should take care not to expend it on any material desire. Meditation on nama should be purely for the sake of nama itself.
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Friday, April 17, 2020
Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-April 17
Saints Remind us that We Belong to God
When doing anything, the purpose for which we do it is clearly in the mind. Similarly, while meditating on nama we should ever be alive to the object of doing it. To remember at all times that we really belong to God, and neither to the body nor to sensual, worldly matters, is to maintain His awareness constantly. We actually belong to Him, but lapse into the illusion that we are of the palpable world. The saints reawaken us to the reality, and this, indeed, is their true mission. The panacea they prescribe is meditating on nama, which, in effect, is a persistent reminder that we belong to God and not to worldly pleasures.
You say that you want to see Rama, but how would you recognize Him even if He were to present Himself to you? To that purpose, you must annihilate the present distance between Him and yourself, and must be able to identify Him. This needs absolute purity of heart, that is, of feeling. One may perform different types of devotional disciplines and exercises, but they will all come to nought in the absence of genuine, loving devotion for Him. These disciplines will undoubtedly create devotion in course of time, but spiritual efforts performed with devotion will expedite the attainment of the goal. Of the nine kinds of devotional-disciplines, complete dedication is the simplest and the most important. If we completely surrender ourselves to God, whatever we do automatically gets dedicated to Him.
It is necessary for everyone to see wherein lies his weal. Others can advise about the path, but it is upto the person himself to act. The real cause of our "bondage" is not the environment but our own mental attitude. It is only nama that can be practised irrespective of time, state, or circumstances. To be able to preserve one's contentment under any condition is really God's total grace.
By devout contemplation of God one automatically acquires occult powers which, however, are considered despicable. So we should meditate on God, but ignore these powers and never use them. Our meditation should be for God's sake only, without adulteration by desire. The saints never put their powers to use; being merged in the Supreme Being, they completely resign everything to Its will. When they do appear to be performing miracles, they are only prompted by that Supreme Being.
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