Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-june.27

HOW TO ACHIEVE IMPERISHABLE HAPPINESS

One who delivers moving and convincing sermons, or carries out religious rituals meticulously, may yet fail to realize for himself unalloyed, imperturbable contentment; he continues to suffer from one dissatisfaction or another. The reason is that his goal is not clear to him. People often observe moral rules for fear of popular disapproval rather than for personal thought or conviction. Anything done merely for social regard will fail to give genuine, lasting contentment. Nor, on the other hand, does contentment come to one who disregards the moral code and behaves contrary to public regard, for his own conscience constantly pricks him.
A man once bitterly complained that God is very unjust. "Why do you say so?" I asked. He answered, "I conducted myself righteously, morally correctly; and yet could afford only a humble house; whereas that mere assistant of mine amassed wealth by dishonesty enough to build a three-storeyed house right opposite mine!" "Why did you not do likewise?" I asked again. He replied, "What would people say about me?" Something done like this merely to avoid public comment and censure will never give genuine contentment. We observe morals for fear of social disapproval, and perform religious rites to earn happiness which rests only in God. An action, however good, but done without genuine devotion to the Eternal God, is bound to fail in yielding real contentment; nor, conversely, can the edifice of paramartha stand without the foundation of moral behaviour.
Paramartha is, as a matter of fact, very simple and straightforward; it is the professional philosophers, the argumentative erudites, who make or represent it as highly intricate. It can be easily attained with the help of one of three things; one, actual company of a living saint; two, keeping in touch with the saint's writings, and acting on them; and three, constant repetition of the divine name, for such repetition will keep us in the company of God, ceaselessly aware of Him. To follow a Saint's behests faithfully, doubtlessly, is the first step, and to persist in them with determination, faith, and love constitutes the last. This, indeed, is the easy way to unperishing contentment.


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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-June 27

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-June 27

sri brahmachaithanya pravachan-june.26

Discover and Enjoy the Unity in Diversity

We carefully water, manure, and take other care of a plant that we particularly wish to grow. Conversely, we disregard the plant about which we care little. Similarly, we should carefully nurture the precious plant of firm faith in God, ignoring the mortal body and thoughts pertaining to worldly matters. We put a guard round a tree to protect it from cattle; our efforts for attaining God should similarly be protected from being noticed, lest they be affected by an evil eye. Our search for God should be sincere but unseen as far as possible. A seed we have planted is not to be dug up every day to see how much it has grown; similarly, hanker not after mystic 'experience' or 'realization;' it will only hamper and retard your progress.
In a way I do not dislike stubborn people and even addicts, for if their stubbornness and addiction are turned towards God, such persons undertake this pursuit also with vigour and determination. In our spiritual effort, we may make only a small rule, but it should relate to the Eternal, and be kept up sedulously. It should be maintained with the care with which we seek to protect our very life.
Dhyana, or concentrated meditation, is fit only for persons of a high order of capacity. In such meditation, the person becomes oblivious of the world and of one's own existence, of time and space. One may remain in that state not only for days but even for years, and yet his physical body may remain entirely unaffected.
For the common man, however, repeating the Lord's Name is the most convenient and fruitful sadhana; food is the best gift we can give; and of all upasanas, saguna upasana, the worship of God considered as having attributes, the best. These three eventually lead to oblivion of the physical body and the mind. So pursue these three means assiduously.
It is the natural tendency of life to go on expanding its field of activity, and then discover the unity that underlies the apparent diversity. Take the common bee-hive. The bees collect nectar from diverse flowers and convert it into what we call honey. So, too, we should see the unity in the multiplicity of life, the one God who pervades everything. One should treat everything and everyone as a manifestation of the one all-pervading God, and realize that the same God animates us too.
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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada-June 26

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-June 26

Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-June.25

Paramartha is Not in Conflict with Prapancha

Good books are those that inspire the reader with love for God and wean him away from the mundane. Good books induce us to eschew immoral behaviour and to walk in God's way. It is most important to read such books and meditate on them, act upon them. This gradually creates a liking, fondness, love for God. Of the different means advocated by Shree Samartha for the attainment of God, reading of such books is one.
Reading, however, is not merely browsing through idly, purposelessly, but making an earnest effort to understand and assimilate. One must make a serious effort to put into practice what one understands and agrees with. Mere voluminous or voracious reading without appropriate action to follow is futile. Not casual reading but rumination is required.
The pathway to God is straightforward; the way in prapancha is strewn with thorns and boulders. Prapancha should be treated as necessary for practice only and training in paramartha. On the contrary, we put them the other way round, and the hedge has overgrown the field instead of protecting it. The sooner we realize our folly the better.
One who carries on prapancha with an eye on the correct goal will undoubtedly attain to God, just as sugar moulded into the shape of even a bitter-tasting fruit will ever taste sweet. Similarly, even if we go through prapancha it will achieve paramartha provided we keep God as the target. Paramartha is definitely possible because that is what we are born for, and it is in our own interest that we never lose sight of this lodestar.
Just as the mouth is the venue for feeding ourselves, moral conduct is sine qua non for Paramartha. It is, in fact, the very foundation. It is true that mere morality is not paramartha; but evidently no edifice can stand without a proper foundation, and there can be no paramartha without the firm base of moral conduct.
We should think of paramartha with the same sincere care and affection with which we look upon our own child, and treat prapancha with the affection that we bestow casually and outwardly on another's child. Paramartha, in the ultimate analysis, is nothing else but going merrily through prapancha remembering God.

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