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.
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
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