Are we near to or far from the Lord?
The Lord is near to us every moment and under all circumstances. To whatever we tell Him He will surely listen, even if we express something mentally. We have to call out aloud for one living far, for one near to whisper but for one who is always residing in the heart it is enough to think once.Let us therefore tell him our anguishes, aspirations , desires unreservedly, every thought in your heart, good or bad. He in turn will acquaint us with His unthinkable, ever unknown, charming and soul-stirring Lilas. He is always anxious to do us good .Try to feel Him in the heart and to see Him in all faces you see. Everything is known to Him. He recognizes all our wants and responds as soon as we raise our cry for help. Behold everything as the Lord’s, then there are no feelings of otherness and our whole life becomes an act of worship, a song of praise. When we meditate upon Him, worship and take His Name He enters our hearts and makes ashes of our sins accumulated in countless lifetimes. May we have the firm belief that He is very near us and won’t leave us alone for one minute. Our bodies are His property, He feels, acts and thinks through them. We are mere spectators, only the Lord acts.
Lord Krishna said (Gita VIII, verse 14) “He who constantly thinks of Me without any other thought I am easily reached by him who is thus ceaselessly attached to me.”
The very day when we begin to feel the Lord as our own child or father, moving with us in our own house, His mysterious hand of love and mercy is felt by us at every step in our life. Vaishnavas of Ragamarga feel themselves closely related to Him, have not the least awe or distant reverence. to be It is love which takes to Him. By dearly loving Him and taking shelter in His Name alone some day or the other all efforts will be successful. Real Bhaktas never care about keeping their individuality or giving it up but surrender to the will of God and allow Him to make use of it in any way He likes. Who feels the Lord’s presence near cannot commit evil acts nor is disturbed or depressed, but finds himself diving and swimming in divine grace in His companionship as unfailing friend. Sin and misery will attack only when one loses the belief that he resides in us and is always anxious to do us good.
The Lord lives in everything but so much behind the screen, and is playing so many tricks, that one who wants to catch Him cannot succeed. He created the Jivas after His own image to reflect His beauty and they reflect it truly in their Aprakrita bodies(non material). The Lord sits in everybody’s heart and in everything in the creation, being the Chit Sakti (life principle) in them all.Once the consciousness or heart of the Jiva becomes pure it sees immediately the Lord reflected in it. The Jivas, residing in a body have their origin in the consciousness of the Supreme Lord. In the beginning was only God, self-contained in His own bliss. Then he willed to be many and became so many Jivas or individual souls. The souls never change, only the physical casing, given by Maya, changes in the evolutionary process spread over millions of years through the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdom. Even in animal stages the Jivas had to take birth in 84 Lakhs of species by heredity, natural selection and environment until at last the human form was gained which has some resemblance to the Lord. The living soul is intrinsically linked with the Lord and yet at the same time not the same as God (achintya bheda abheda) . We are one with and different from Him. When the Lord wished to taste His own Rasa He created Jivas as so many vessels to contain His Rasa. When this Rasa is made enjoyable it is called PREMA.
Choose any one of the 5 main forms of superior love (Rasa) for you. They are: Santi – peaceful, heart filled with love and joy; Dasya – one pleases the Lord in all possible ways of service; Sakhya: one moves with the Lord as friend on equal terms; Vatsalya – one looks upon and cares for the Lord as a beloved child; Sringara or Madhura-Rasa – the devotee regards the Lord as lover, lover and beloved become one.
Rupa Goswami described in Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu Rasa as follows: “When the heart melts due to Lord’s presence in it, when the mind upto the deepest layers of unconsciousness has become moist, then the always inherent Love for God exalts into a Rasa which gives immense pleasure to the beloved Lord”.
When true love awakens in the heart then the Lord is no longer considered as God but looked upon as most intimate, as owns own. In that moment when the mind, Ego, body is totally surrendered to the Lord one realises oneness with Him. The Lord becomes a slave of a Bhakta who totally surrenders. When we are absorbed in Him then He too will reciprocate our love to the fullest extent and make us His own. Complete surrender of one’s will leads to Samadhi or union with Him. Strong must be hope and faith. Certainly the Lord will show His favour.
The Lord moves about those who always think alone of Him and take His Name. The more we repeat His Name the nearer we come to Him. When the transcendental Name is worshipped it spreads by itself its glory within the devotees heart. Is the devotee united with Him he spends days and nights in singing His praises and hearing His glory, is not conscious of the external world. Sometimes he laughs, weeps, cries, dances. Through the excessive joy he gets horripulation, sits motionless. Treasure one particular Name and form of Him as your own and never leave him. Become His dearest. All He wants from us is that we become enlisted in His service, have absolutely selfless devotion and live resigned to His will.The more we repeat His Name the nearer we come to Him.Constant remembrance of Him means forgetting the world and its attractions. He may hide from us but remains always near, He does not leave us, for a Jiva who is deserted by Him would at once perish. Firmly believe that He will show His favour, be kind, reveal His presence and play with you. Beware: His grace demands complete dependence, full submission and total surrender. On that day when all our activities, mental, physical are centred in God and His service can it be said that we are totally devoted to Him. A devotee who always dwells in God must enjoy His bliss. He will always have a divine Aura and bloom in his face, his eyes sparkle and glitter in divine effulgence. He radiates joy allround, has no attachments to sensual objects.
The highest stage of union with God cannot be realized by thought and is possible only in a state of ecstasy in which the soul transcends its own thought, loses itself in Paramatma and becomes one with Him. But the outer shell – the body and Ego- awareness – has to die. Forget all thoughts of the world. Adhere to Him, to whom you have offered your heart, withdraw your attachment to other objects, fix it upon your Lord and remain firmly attached to Him. Unless the entire heart is given and you are absolutely selfless, Prema will not come.
Lord Haranath revealed: “You can never know why I came to this world. Who says that I am only in this world and not at the same time in others also, doing some work there? If you think me not of your own you will cause me pain. I belong to all and everyone appears to be Mine. If the desire for Krishna is great in you make it stronger and still stronger. The only price by which He can be purchased is earnest desire. May our Lord ordain that we can always shed tears with His Name on our lips. The happiness that there is in Name has no parallel. It is very sweet, very sweet. It has no like of it even in final emancipation. Tears are like swirls in the stream of love, hence they are so deep. If you can accumulate this treasure He will soon be yours. You are my only hope. I have none else to call my own. You are my living certificates to convince the world of who and what I am. When I accepted you I will not leave you, even if you leave me. I am your property and shall feel much if you abuse your deposited, entrusted property. Rest assured that I shall be watching over you always though you may not see Me. My pleasures and pains are mixed with yours. I am yours and will ever be so. You are my life, my everything. You don’t know what high price I paid to get you.”
As long as we identify ourselves with the body and live entangled in worldly pleasures we are far away from the Lord. Spiritual effort cannot attain fruition as long as the Ego-sense persists and we depend on own exertions, own individual power. The Ego must be rooted out. The more one empties itself from egoism the more the heart will be filled with God. His grace is always there, only the Ego prevents Jivas from taking advantage of it. This life is not our own. Protect it carefully as His and never forget this.Ruth Baur
12.12.2014
