Thursday, January 30, 2020
Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan -Jan.30
God and Nama Exist Together
Listen to me; you devout people. Keep company with me, and chant nama at all times. One who always repeats nama is truly ever in my company. Where there is Rama-nama there assuredly do I reside. Bearing this in mind, you may lead a happy, carefree worldly life. He lives virtually in my vision in nama. Constantly to yearn for Rama is truly to live in association with me. Nama is verily my life, so hold it always in your heart. Whosoever desires to be mine should ever keep uttering nama. Who grants me this, to him I dedicate myself. I reside where there is nama, or with whosoever feels pleasure only in nama. I exhort you to remain in meditation of nama to the utmost of your capacity. My home is where nama is; of this you may always be sure.
I have not studied the Vedas, nor do I have knowledge of the Shastras, nor am I acquainted with the Shrutis, the Smritis, and the Upanishads. Such an ignoramus am I; and yet, I enjoy a state of uninterrupted contentment, thanks to my firm faith in devotion and dedication to Rama.
Believe me when I say that I am by you, and take courage. Practise nama-smarana, read the Dasabodha, and see me in them. If you do this, Rama will surely bestow His grace on you. Rama and I are both to be found everywhere, but in a subtle, intangible form, not in a visible form. Never think that I am not by your side. I have never "gone" anywhere, I am everywhere, all-pervading. It is upto you to realise me. I cannot exist without Rama. I am assuredly where there is love of Rama.
Strive earnestly to associate with me; for that, you do not have to go anywhere, I am there right in your home. Look for me in Lord Rama. Live in nama and live in bliss. Maintain contentment, for it is like my very life. Whatever I sought to do, was fulfilled, thanks to the grace of Rama.
We will have accomplished the very purpose of life as a human, if we acquire fondness for nama and get absorbed in the bliss that nama is. This we can achieve if we direct to nama the loving attachment which today we bear for mundane life.
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Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan - jan.29
Cultivate Firm Faith in Nama
Love for nama is a product of continuous repetition of nama and of a determined effort to diminish love for sense-objects and sensuous pleasures. We should have firm faith that it is only nama that will secure final liberation. We may obtain medicine through a servant, but the cure is attributed to the doctor, not to the servant. Why not go a step further and attribute it to God's grace?
True surrender to God means a firm faith that He and none else is really ours; that it is He, not we, that is the doer; and that everything He does is for our interest. A man loves his wife and children because he considers them to be his; if, then, we call God our own, will not love for Him be automatically generated? To create personal relationship with God there must be long association with His nama.
Further, when we hold the conviction that God is our dearest friend and benefactor and is doing everything solely in our interest, where is the cause for any anxiety at all? Our interest really lies in a studied effort for the annihilation of the consciousness of the body.
Do not go after occult powers and miracles; they are actually obstacles in the spiritual journey. For instance, someone may acquire immunity from snake poison; but what is there in this to marvel at? If one could see in a serpent and in every other creature an image of oneself, of God, who can be considered an enemy? Just as a child lives fearlessly in the assurance that the mother is about, similarly we, too, should move in the world free of fear, in the trust that God is about us.
At a railway station, our main concern is with the train for the place we want to go to. Pursue the spiritual path similarly. Do not engage in futile discussions like the number of the basic elements that make up the universe. Such discussions are inconclusive, and only give rise to doubts. Nama, on the other hand, will not stabilize in the heart unless the mind is free from all doubt. We do not realise the true greatness of nama until we shed all consciousness of the body. So, if you are keen on your spiritual uplift, never abandon practice of nama.
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Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-Jan.28
Practise Nama with Complete Self-effacement
Spirituality consists in doing nothing with a sense of doership, not feeling that you have yet something to do. However, a man does not feel happy if he is asked not to do anything whatsoever; in fact, this is considered the direst punishment to a prisoner. We have a habit always to be doing something or other, mentally if not physically. To prevent the body from doing anything is difficult; to keep the mind idle is still more so; while most difficult of all is to keep the mind inactive while the body is doing something.
What the mind really needs is a state of repose; but, for this, one must make a conscious and conscientious effort. Let us see what disturbs peace of mind; first, happenings which go counter to our desire; the second, recurring memories of past deeds and happenings, good, bad and indifferent; and thirdly, worry for the future.
Regarding the first cause, we should remember that everyone in the world wants things to happen as he pleases. Then how can we expect them to do only what we want? Some of them are bound to go counter to our desire. The best remedy against this, therefore, is not to entertain any desire whatsoever. Give up expectation from others. Go about your duty with complete pridelessness. We become upset and unhappy if we do not succeed in an undertaking, in spite of having taken pains for it. But there need be no unhappiness if we forego doership. After having done our best, whatever result follows should be ascribed to Rama's ( God's) will. To ascribe everything to Rama thus is equivalent to being in His constant awareness. This attitude can be built up by ceaseless repetition of His nama (name). Whatever has happened, is happening, will happen, is God's doing, and must be in our ultimate interest; we are not the doer; this thought will become ingrained only by constantly chanting nama. So we should not fret for yesterday, nor worry about tomorrow, but live in the present in remembrance of God. If there is any real rest in worldly life; it is while we are practising God's nama.
Not to be contented in the existing circumstances is a feature of corporeal consciousness, and we look on everything from that angle. Let us stabilise our mind in God, while we let the body do its worldly duties.
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