SO  HAM

I AM HE  and AHAM BRAHMA ASMI, meaning “my individual Self is the Universal Self and our true individual Self is not different from God”. This material body cannot be identified with our real self nor is our mind our real identity, nor the intellect. Our individual self is not different from God but due to ignorance we think to be separate from Him.Ignorantly we take upon ourselves the Lord’s responsibilities, forgetting His commands in respect of our own duties, and always think what to eat, drink, how to clothe etc. Our identity is that of an eternal servitor of the Supreme Lord. We are eternally minute individual particles of the Lord, endowed by Him with  powers. From the very time we came into existence He has kept us in His arms and left us not even for a moment apart from Him. His blessed hand is always above our head.

The Lord is the Supreme Being shining forever in the innermost region of the soul. His heart is saturated with mad love for one and all. From eternal bliss we came and to eternal bliss we must return. Every Jiva is a divine channel through which should flow divine love, bliss, power, wisdom but by holding the body for the Self and by identifying ourselves with the perishable body this channel is blocked.HHHhiis own Rasa in all its phases created the Jivas and used them as so many vessels to contain his Rasa. This Rasa made enjoyable is named PREMA. It is a manifestation of Lorfulful

When we lose the body feelings and identify ourselves with the Atma we become close to the Lord. As long as we have body feelings, sex feelings we cannot get rid of  Ahamkara (I-feeling) and Mamakara (Mine-feeling) it is difficult to overcome attachments. Those who do not seek God will not find true awareness of the Atma. They will continue to identify the soul with the body and from this delusion be enslaved by every kind of desire and attachment.  We have to watch our inner self, travel inwardly. Only then can we obtain Atma Anand and are nearing the Lord. Live in the Bhava “everyone is mine”.

As long as we depend on our own exertions, our own individual independent power we live under the Ego-spell which is worthless in value. Instead of sense satisfaction the sole object of our desire should be only to satisfy Him and to behold Him everywhere. Even if engaged in spiritual practice, believing that with the strength of discipline we will overcome difficulties is a mistake. God alone is the dispeller of difficulties. As long as the Ego functions Lords divine grace remains suspended. The scriptures say that the moment a Jiva whole-heartedly says “Krishna, I am yours” all his responsibilities cease,  the Karmic law loses its hold over him. The Self unfolds when the Ego breaks and disappears.  Effort is only where  the Ego exists. Success in meditation comes by feeling that it is the Lord, who is doing everything, that He is verily in front of me and in my heart, aware of all my thoughts. Once self-realization is attained the Ego loses all its significance. A new world opens up  - a world of understanding heavenly beauty. When a Jiva throws off its Maya-addiction through the Lord’s grace he finds his only work is to carry back Prema to Him, to serve Him in and through it. Through this Prema he is bound to Him for ever and ever . Let us be contented with whatever duties are placed before us by Him together with the means for doing the same as well as with the fruits of such acts. He alone possesses complete and true knowledge of our needs and what is good for us. When Prema for the Lord is attained love for all beings automatically follows because He is the sum-total of all living beings.

Lord Krishna said: “All souls are my favorites. I play many games with them till they forget all that is selfish, till they love Me for the sake of love alone as you, oh Radha.” And He said to Uddhava:”If you cannot fix your mind one-pointedly upon Me then live your life as an offering to Me, dedicate whatever you do with no selfish motive. Who constantly thinks of Me without any other thought easily reaches Me.”

And in His manifestation as Lord Haranath  He assured us:” I am always with you and will remain so forever. Did you call me? I came myself, whether you called or not. If you think me not of your own you will cause me pain. All of you are constantly playing in  my heart. What will sustain me if I leave you? When once I accepted you I cannot leave you, even if you leave me.”Lord Kusum Haranath, out of spontaneous love infused and continues to infuse love and devotion into our dry hearts in many mysterious ways. His grace is ever ready to call us His own and to shower benedictions. He has taken us under His sheltering wings, no moment passes when we are free from his benign grace.

As Virat Purusa (cosmic divinity) we form part and parcel of His manifested body and what exists in us must necessarily exist in Him also. He who sees the Paramatma accompanying the individual soul in all bodies and understands that neither the soul nor Paramatma within the destructible body is ever destroyed actually sees  (Bhag.Gita 13/V.28). The Lord, when He desired to taste His own Rasa created the Jivas and used them as so many vessels to contain His Rasa. This Rasa, thus made enjoyable is named PREMA. It is a manifestation of His Hladini Shakti which keeps Him always blissful.

Except our Lord all things are always changing and perishable. May we feel His presence every moment of our life; never say that He is not with us. His nearness will destroy all our weaknesses, all evil thought. Who lives in such a way can neither commit evil acts nor feel disturbed or depressed when he has to face danger, loss, infamy or censure.

Constant waiting with intense longing for the Lord’s arrival is a sign of a true devotee, this mental attitude should be constant. Let us renounce personal glory, greatness, even if there is  only a trace of it. Whatever we do, think, let us dedicate everything, the entire life to the Lord and make a complete offering of ourselves to Him. This is the Bhagavata Dharma as described by Him in Srimad Bhagavatam.

Into the hearts of  Devotees who listen to the legends of the Lord, hymn Him, meditate upon Him, worship and adore Him the Lord enters and by so doing makes ashes of their sins in countless lifetimes of accumulated evil tendencies. Such disinterested love and devotion delights Him. May we always feel His presence every moment of our life, may we never say “He is not with us”. When the heart is full of Prema the Lord draws the soul like a magnet to Himself.

Ruth Baur

The Universal Mother Kusuma Kumari Devi

The Universal Mother

Kusuma Kumari Devi

                               

         Krishna created  Jivas  after His own image to reflect His own beauty, and Jivas

         Always reflect it faithfully in their Aprakrita bodies.When the consciousness or the

         Heart of the Jiva becomes pure he sees at once Sri Krishna reflected in it.

         He is so loving, beautiful, witty, so accomplished, so clever, so complete in all the

         Qualifications which human intellect has been able to conceive.

        Sri Radha is the manifestation of Hladini Sakti of the Lord. It is for Her and Her only

        That Prakrita and Aprakrita spheres  exist. Only She can make Sri Krishna manifest

        Or known – without Her He is unknowable.

        Sri Krishna is the essence of life (Chit) and Sri Radha the Vitality in it.

When the Lord manifests Himself in the kingdom of Prakriti, Prakriti Devi and Sri Nityananda are always with Him. Nityananda is in  constant joy keeping His mind on Krishna’s Lotosfeet. That joy is faultless, has no decrease or increase, in it weeping is also happiness. He is the one and only purifier of Jivas from their state of sin. Radha (Kusum Kumari Devi) is the container of bliss, containing Krishna (Lord Haranath) in every part of Her in and out, and Krishna is the contained bliss. She gives Him taste of His own bliss. All beings which people the Aprakrita worlds are but Kusuma Kumari Devi’s  manifestations, they live and move in Her. She is the one tree of Prema and the various Jivas but the stem, twigs, leaves and flowers on it. The beings have no independent realization of the Lord  and cannot enjoy Him in any way except through Her. If the universal Mother so wills, the Lord will reveal Himself to us and we begin to weep and dance in a fit of mad love in ecstasy. In the Prakrita worlds the Jivas exist in and through Lord Nityananda. The work of Kusuma Kumari Devi and Nityananda is to keep the Lord always engaged in pleasure and pastime. Lord Haranath said at the Monghyr Janmotsav “You can never know why I have come to this world. Who says that I am present in this world only and not in other worlds, doing some work there at the same time? At another time He revealed: “This body has completely become the Lord’s body in which He now resides. There is no difference between Him and the person whom you know as Haranath. On account of Ravana Rama’s Avatar was necessary, on account of Kamsa Krishna’s Avatar and on account of you all I had to come into this world. 450 years ago I came as Gouranga, now you see me as Haranath. Don’t call me Haranath, say Kusuma Haranath. I am nothing without Her. No one is able to know or reach the Lord ignoring Her. She is the primary book of reference. Without Mother’s grace it is hard to win the Lord. Through Her we must approach the Father.To me all are equally near and dear. Whoever offers me love sees me standing at his door. Love is the greatest force, the true object of pursuit in human life .”

In His  manifestation as Gouranga He taught renunciation of the world and devotion to Krishna in a form suitable only to Vairagis or those who had given up all attachment to the forms of worldly life. In the manifestation as Kusuma Haranath He taught how man, even though remaining in the world,  might attain entry to the blissful realm of Vrindavan. (“before the grand Braja Lila Vedanta all other topics are a mere child’s amusement” were Lord Haranath’s comments about Braja Lila). The key to it lay in chanting of the Lord’s Name – any Name that melts the heart.

The world is unreal as world but real as solidified love of God. It cannot be said to exist apart from the Self (Atman) even as Haranath cannot be said to exist apart from Kusuma Kumari Devi. Of all objects Lord Haranath is the form while Kusuma Kumari Devi is the expression. The mingling and mixing of the two have decked the universe in all its beauty. Kusuma Kumari is the Ichashakti and Hladini Shakti (embodiment of will and illimitable Prema) of Lord Haranath. With this vast Prakriti (passive principle) the Lord is eternally at grand play. This, His play has no beginning nor end – it is called Maharasa. Its dramatic excitement constantly increases. It is unlimited by time and space, but if the Lord so wills He can reveal it at certain times, at certain places (so in Brindavan). His actions have no object to achieve, they are expressions of pure delight. This perpetual hide and seek is the Lila of the Lord, an activity, in which He ever delights to indulge and to the great joy of all who have realized Him. All beings were called into existence by the ocean-like Prakriti and advance towards Her – nothing can stop it. Mathusree said: You can never know who I am unless I afford you a glimpse. I am the power behind the universe, Purusha and Prakriti.” Mother is the consciousness incarnate of the world, anyone She forgets is deprived of consciousness, She is the primal energy in creating, sustaining and destroying the universe, and again that energy in form of the Mother nourishes everything. No Jiva can approach the Lord except through the.channel cut out for him by Her.  We must worship our Mother to show us the way to the place where the beloved  of our hearts  resides.  Lord Haranath and Mathusree are One in Two or Two in One, the composite personality Kusum Haranath. On several occasions Mathjusree showed Herself as Lord Haranath to devotees.  She gave Her children to understand: “My love as Mother has brought me down this time into the world. I desire that you, my children, become totally pure.When you have taken once refuge in Me don’t get dejected should you don’t find time to think of Me or  fail to love me. Have  no fear. I am always loving you in my mind and that will be enough for you. Just as heat cannot be separated from fire so love and compassion from Me. You have no separate existence from Me. I am always with you, even if I leave this body. Give me a drop of your love and I shall give you an ocean of my love. It is my permanent work to protect my children and  it delights my heart seing  all  of you bound together by one bond of love. Don’t worry about anything material or spiritual since you have your Mother as eternal savior and protector. Everything is known to Mathusree, She is ever helping us with exactly what we need, and cannot bear the slightest misery of Her devotees. But let no one be deceived by Her human garb and outward actions. She fully hides Her innate glory from mortal eyes. When once a devotee asked the Mother what She repeats on Her Mala, Mother said: “what  do I repeat except all your names?”

ladini Shakt

The Lord and His Name are not two separate things, but  only one. He is where His Name is. Who takes His Name will be merged with its vibrations, absorbed in the current of divine ecstasy which its repetition engenders, mounting to the most exalted form of divine love. Lord Haranath did not ask His devotees to chant His own name but raised no objections. On one occasion He said before a gathering of devotees “after I pass away you will realize what immense power the Lord has placed in the Name KUSUMA HARANATH. When Sri P.C. Ganguly asked Kusuma Kumari Devi if it is enough to repeat the Name Kusuma Hara. She replied “it is quite enough”. The five letter word KUSUMA HARA (the Panchakshari) is all-powerful. By repeating the combined Name Kusum Hara we are in effect invoking  the Lord’s Shakti, without Her the Lord would remain unknown. Constant Japa of Lord’s Name creates in us a liking for the Lord which in course of time develops into love, pure, transcendental love leading to divine Bhava in our hearts .Faith in the divine Name arises as result of penance and austerities. It is our priceless treasure. When taken only once Vishnu’s discuss guards us on all sides. A moments life with Kusum Hara Name on our lips is to be valued more than a million years without it. All sins fly far away if one incessantly chants His Name. Chanting His Yugal Name awakens PREMA – the Summum Bonum of human existence. Prema is the particular property of the Lord and His Shakti, no other Gods or Goddesses can know or possess it without their grace. By its very nature it overleaps all bounds and reaches Jivas to the feet of the Lord. Once Prema  reigns supreme in the heart all distinctions between God and man are altogether effaced. We are infinite nothingness filled with divine consciousness. The Lord is no longer considered as God but as most intimate, as our very own. He wants only love from us, nothing else. When we return to Him He takes us into His embrace, forgetting all our iniquities. To understand this play we have to rise above our bodies and intellect and go to the Heart Plane, the plane of love. Once the Ego (identification with the body) is gone we are no longer a person, but consciousness, formless. The Ego is the material that gives name and form, once destroyed, name and form disappear.

 Prakriti (material force) is the Guru of the Universe, her mother, receptacle of love and the main stay and shelter of worlds seen and unseen. She is the source of  various sorts of grace and beauty. Without Her this creation cannot exist. Does She ever allow anyone to know Her fully. She always conceals Her true aspects and appears in false garbs to enchant the world. She is the gate keeper of Rashmandal. Lord Haranath revealed in His letters to Her who She is: “You are the fullest manifestation of energy and love, the world so replete with trials and tribulations you filled with joy. You are the consciousness of the universe. When you forget anyone he becomes unconscious. In this world you are the cause of bondage and liberation.The world would come to an end if your powers remain suspended even for a moment. Only by virtue of your tenderness have you kept the fierce energy of males  neutralized, thus maintaining harmony of the universe. Those who have realized your nature are rare indeed. One who understood you has realized God. No one is capable of understanding the play you are playing. You are the Jamuna with her ordinary and opposite currents. Those who are not favored by you can never run against the current. It is you who throws down into immense depths and  who lifts high up. You are the sovereign of the realm of created beings, you are their Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. You give birth, nourish and destroy  in the shape of the dreadful destroyer. You are many-sides:  willful, merciful, awful and dreadful. You are the basic foundation of the world. Your primal energy is creating, sustaining and destroying the universe, and that energy again in the shape of the Mother is nourishing everybody. No Jiva can approach the Lord except through the channel cut out for him by you. All are born of you, you are the rope that has let us down from our home above into the creation below. If we cut the rope there is no chance for us of ever returning to our true home. Show us the way to the place where the Beloved of our hearts resides.”Lord Haranath charmed His hearers with sweet discourses on religious topics whereas Mother preferred to remain absolutely mute.

He revealed that he is nothing without Kusuma Kumari as he is in Her and She in Him, ever inseparable and indivisible. If Lord Haranath’s life was concealed, that of Mother Kusuma Kumari Devi was hidden beyond comprehension. She had chosen to remain in the background up to May 1927 - Lord Haranath’s departure- afterwards the two have simply merged into ONE WHOLE. The depth of Her love for Her children is indescribable. Like the Lord She took upon Herself diseases of Her children. She immured Herself  in obscurity, drew  around Herself an impenetrable veil. Very few could get an infinitesimal fraction of Her glory. She seemed an ordinary woman engaged in household duties and rearing children. Only to a chosen few  She revealed something about Herself. The Lord in Her is not visible to our eyes but He is there all the same. Whatever She says or does is the action of the composite personality Kusum Haranath. About 30 years after Lord Haranath’s demise – on the 14.8.1956 at 2:15 pm Mother departed at Tatanagar.

When an Avatar exits the world He takes care to leave all his power and glory, all his grace and sweetness concentrated in His Name. The Name therefore has no earthly limitation and is in comparison to the Avatar an even greater force.