Go external Grow Internal

We had a wonderful outing to beautiful farm community-Gokuldham situated near Belgaon. Spreading around 500 acres, it’s lauded for beautiful hills, refreshing water-bodies, grazing cattle and serene atmosphere. What an adventurous experience it was!  2 hours of walking and trekking brought us to a waterfall, very beautiful and highest of that place, from small peak the water was falling in a valley. We decided to trek down and go in the valley to get the refreshing showers of that waterfall.

People go to nature with different motives. We find, some destroy the beauty of places, scribbling on suitable places names of their sweethearts or become intoxicated and go mad. Some click photos to boast to the world of their adventures & to earn "likes" on FB, to receive satisfaction in adoration ,offered for this. Seekers of truth try to reflect on the varieties of the nature and pray for meaningful insights to imbibe in life. For the monk who is partially cut off from the varieties of this world it becomes all the more important to grow internally with maturity, understanding and realization about the external world with variety he sees outside. Such internal growth offers a friendly tool in hours of solitude. It’s a great chance to ponder upon eternal truths taught by the scriptures and try to see the reflection of those truths in the activities of the outside world. Such meaningful contemplation solidifies one’s conviction and offers a practical realization of theoretical things studied in the scriptures. Then whole world becomes like a laboratory.  Off course, paralysis by analysis needs to be avoided. One need not go in so much analysis mode that he loses chance to appreciate booty of splendour planted by Lord in his creation. Like it needs a poetic heart to compose beautiful renditions, it needs a grateful heart tuned with God to get revelations hidden in nature or any situation.

Lord to simplify the philosophy gives examples from the nature, in the revered scripture of Bhagavad Gita.  To quote few examples from it, Lord Gives example of the petals of lotus are unaffected by water to illustrate a point that, how a yogi performing work without getting into any personal attachment is unaffected by sinful reaction. Lord gives example of the tortoise, how a tortoise withdraws his limbs in the face of the danger similarly a yogi trying to control his mind should withdraw his senses from the sense objects. This type of the contemplation, adds to the bliss begotten in seeing beauty of the nature or that situation. Radhanath Swami says that through everything in this world God wants to teach us a lesson, if we have our eyes open then we can learn from each situation. That's how we see in his book too we see. He took lesson of patience from the mongoose; he took lesson of being deeper in life by seeing hock catching a fish swimming superficially in waters etc.

There were lot of rocks around the waterfall. So contemplating on these principles I decided to sit peacefully on the rock meditating on names of the Lord and with a prayer to reveal the message, if any, I am supposed to learn in such a beautiful setting.

drunkards are good (?)

I was in office till late night. It was almost 12:30 PM and I wanted to catch a urgent train to Mumbai. I came out and didn't have much hope getting public transport vehicle and rickshaw at that time & it would be too costly to bear as I had only 100 bucks to travel to Mumbai. I started looking for a hitchhike ride which will drop me near station. But the passing time just increased my anxiety as nobody was ready stop and give a lift to me. But after some time, a person came out of a bar behind my company, he was about to start his bike. I somehow felt that he will surely help me out. And he did, I sat on his bike towards road to Pune railway station. I could smell fro behind, his mouth was stinking with alcohol.

His coming out of bar had given me hope of his allowing me hitchhike ride on his bike as this was not first time that some drunk person had helped me. It had happened many times before. I started wondering whether the drunk people are more generous and helping than the normal ones. Then I was reminded of two Lords, Chaitanya and Nityananda which appeared 500 years ago in the land of Bengal and they were always intoxicated & maddened with love for Lord Krishna. Great acharyas explain, since they were always intoxicated & maddened with love for Krishna, they didn't see any qualification or disqualification in distributing that love of God. And they freely distributed this gift to anyone and everyone, without any consideration of good or bad.

Now somebody may wonder what is this Love of  God. In this world if we see everybody is hankering for some or other thing thinking that it will give him pleasures but that dream seem to be frustrated as soon as we get that thing and we realize,we now want something else to become completely happy and satisfied. Actually, in essence, every body is hankering for endless love and fulfillment but such search is frustrated because anything in this material world is temporary in nature, making it unqualified to fulfill our demand of endless love. God has capacity love endlessly and reciprocate with our tiny drop of love with his oceanic love to completely satisfy ourselves. But that love of God was rarely attainable, it was reserved only for those who have done tremendous physical,mental and intellectual  austerities and completely purified themselves of all the contamination. But Lord Chaitanya and Nityananda in their own intoxicated state of love for God  broke open the jars of love of God for anybody and everybody. By their mere glance, they purified the hearts of all contamination and inundated them with love for Supreme.
Poetry of Sri Chaitanya Charitamrta says

preme matta nityānanda kṛpā-avatāra

uttama, adhama, kichu nā kare vicāra

"Because He is intoxicated by ecstatic love and is an incarnation of mercy, He does not distinguish between the good and the bad."- Chatainya Charitamrita Adi 2.208

 It's said that our all tendencies originate in Lord. So tendency to try to help or willing to distribute our things in state of intoxication with others also comes from the Lord. But in the material world, intoxication with alcohol or drugs or other similar things can make one to forget, only for a temporary time, his claim or stubborn desire of possession & identification with things he possesses. The  help offered in such intoxicated state also, may be more degrading and dangerous than what was originally desired. Also because intoxication in this world only gives temporary hallucination, there is no basis for the behavior one may show, so one may act in violent ways too. Intoxication of this world gives us little high but brings us crushingly down to reality and makes us more miserable. And it limits our help to anybody else.

But in Spiritual realm, intoxication with Holy name keeps us always on high, such spiritual intoxication is not limited by our bodily limits. It takes us more closer to God and brings out from our within, the best of the good qualities and unlimited oceanic love for all. One doesn't have to pay anything for spiritual intoxication. Just by chanting "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare| Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare ", one can find himself situated in spiritual high.
So I wish you a very Happy Chanting!

The story of little a girl

Today I have planned to write a story of a little girl who is very fond of stories. I went home last 2 weekends to attend the last rites of my grandfather & other related ceremonies with that.
Because of departure of my grandapa all my relatives had gathered. After some time for not finding a suitable subject to discuss than how my grandfather departed they started discussing about business, politics, family etc.
I find it tough to relate with elders & the things they talk so I parted myself in the company of children who had come there. I took them aside & told them I will tell you a story so along with me. Soon I found myself seated in most eager audience I had talked to ever. I told them stories & this is enough for the day. But sooner I found myself nagged by my little eager audience.They didn't wanted to stop. This was really tough experience for me because I am accustomed to talk to people who hear as ritual & for me also it had become somewhat like a ritual but this was audience who sitting on their toes to hear & every word I spoke mattered them most. In them my little cousin sister Sneha was most enthusiastic. She studies in class II. Later whenever she would find she will come & drag me by hands or  give a cuddle & try to persuade me to tell a story. I told her a story of a person who came to Sanatan Goswami in search of most valuable thing, In turn Sanatan Goswami gave him mahamantra "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare | Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare". I told her about reincarnation & the way to get out of the cycle of reincarnation is go to Krishna's abode. She immediately started chanting.
When I went home next week the children were also had come along with their parents. Again they persuaded me to tell stories. In course of talking my little sister Sneha told me " ever since I have heard "Hare Ram Hare Ram Hare Krishna" mantra, I always chant that. I chant in school also, and do you know I don't even talk to my friends because I am always chanting that."
It was a pleasant shock for me. I have personally heard the glories of Mahamantra several times, and shared with others also many many times. Most of the people say that there are many other important priorities & how they can not chant or chant only for few minutes somehow. It also reminded me of the scholarly person whom I just mate while coming home in the bus. He was very inquisitive about God. I told the simple concepts of Bhagavad Gita. He wanted understanding of God at his level. I told him, its simple. God is 16 years old blue boy who resides in Vrindavan & his name is Krishna. But he was telling me that God is very difficult to understand  It has got many different understanding. You can not describe him just like that and bla bla bla.
But here was a little girl who with the power of innocent faith was chanting or at least claiming to chant incessantly the holy name. She got the essence of all the processes of religion & she embraced it in a way which may be difficult for yogi even after years of practice. This may be for only one or few days because of lack of training & regular association but according to shastras such practice also can bear immense spiritual benefit.  This is certainly the great mercy brought down by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Srila Prabhodanand Saraswati has spoken appropriate verses to glorify the mercy of Lord Gauranga. 

" Not attainable by the faithful performers of pious deeds, not
understood by those engaged in austerity, meditation, and yoga, not guessed
by those absorbed in detachment, renunciation or prayers, and unknown even
to the devotees full of love for Lord Govinda, the secret of pure devotional
service has been revealed by the holy name during Lord Gaura's advent. Let
me glorify that Lord Gaura."
chapter 1.3, Chaitanya Chandramrita

"The splendid path of pure devotional service, which bewildered the great sages in the past, which material intelligence has no power to enter, which sukadeva Goswami was not able to understand, and which merciful Lord Krishna never explained to His closest friend , is the place where the dear devotees of Lord Gaur happily enjoy the pastimes."

chapter 4.1, Chaitanya Chandramrita by Srila Prabhodanand Saraswati

Off course I was little afraid that her parents might be afraid of her chanting so much & they may catch me so I told her to make habit of chanting for some time in the morning.
Srila Prabhupad has said "What was possible for Dhruva Mahārāja is possible for anyone. Any five-year-old child can be trained, and within a very short time his life will become successful by realization of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. " (SB 4.12.23,)
Childhood is time when ones life can be easily molded to be either a torchlight for society or vicious
sense grantifier who will create disturbance in society.

Crash of hard disk & that of life!

I was again back in the Medical college at Gulbarga to meet my good friends who are slowly appreciating & applying the principles of the Godly life. I went to meet my friend Dr Pramod in his hostel room. He is a MDS student & very hospitable, genuine & caring in nature.He is pursuing last year of his college studies this year.

 He looked gloomy, when I started talking with him. Looking at his dismal face, I asked him the reason for his dismay. He told me that his hard disk crashed & it contained his work for last 2.5 years. His work included photos of patients, his solutions for the problems of his patients, reports etc. It all vanished in a second when he was working on his laptop. He also told that he won't be able to appear for final exam if he fails to recover the data back. Even the data recovery from hard disk using advanced techniques didn't give guarantee of the percentage of the data which can be recovered & it was really very costly.

 Generally whenever we meet we read few pages from spiritual books. I decided to read a section of Bhagava Gita in which, Arjuna asks about the fate of the unsuccessful spiritualist & Krishna says he continues in next life from wherever he has left. That is advantage of the spiritual life, that little advancement in spiritual life is permanent, And in material life, whatever we do it's made nil at the time of death.

So I told him to remember 2 lessons from his hard disk crash incident
1> Having habit of taking back up for the work he is doing.
2>  And more important lesson, the two & half years work mutilated in just a second & he was very resentful for that, same way whole life's work will be undone at the time of death.
Whatever money one has amassed, whoever friends, relatives one has gathered, whatever fame one has earned, everything will be grounded to zero at the time of death.  With a big  money one may recover the hard disk, but one can not recover anything material of this life to next life for any amount of money. It will be a permanent loss. It's really important to understand what is real progress, And where the priorities of the life should be given. Unfortunately everybody knows this, but very few have courage & guts to really dive deeper into finding solutions for the actual problems of life which Bhagavad Gita enlists viz. Birth, Old age, Disease and Death.
Basic fundamental principle of Spiritual life is to understand that we are anti material spiritual beings & we don't destroy, when the covering- this body is destroyed. Perhaps we change the covering to get new one as soul (our actual self) changes the body. If we purify our existence by reconnecting with Krishna, then we go back to his abode never to come back into in this vicious cycle of birth & death & to be eternally happy & cheerful in his company  :-)

Please hear from the Radhanath Swami about the nature of the Soul & how to uncover it from the dress of the body!