Lord’s Leela

Lord’s Leela

O eternal Light transcending all our thoughts of being,

                        Wider than all boundaries, full of Glory, Wisdom, Bliss.

                        Thou holdest all things within Thyself, steeped in beauty.

                        Help us by Thy glorious compassion in our efforts  for those

 of Thy children that Thou sendest in our path. Reveal  to us

Your will for them so that their footsteps may be guided to Thee.

In Your presence we lose all sense of separateness and find ourselves

at  Oneness with You.

The Lord’s play is eternal, beyond time, space and causation – it is a play of joy with the whole universe as His stage. His actions have no object to achieve, they are expressions of pure delight. It is a game of joy.He remains seated with His own Maya surrounding Him on all sides,  forever shining in the innermost region of the soul. We are all players. If He does not take us up in His hand and sound,  the instruments cannot produce a sound. He is holding the string and makes us dance in any way He likes, a mechanic who operates us. Our souls are your Amsa, a ray of you. You are the totality of everything and of infinite compassion – always loving and waiting to bless your Bhaktas. The universe and Jivas are Asat, having no reality of their own. They become Sat because you invest them with your substance.His play is free from any purpose and its dramatic is constantly increasing. Vaishnavas regard His creation as a spontaneous, eternal play (Leela). From time to time does His play go into this material  world (Brindavan). You are playing your wonderful game of love in so many hearts and forms but who can realize or perceive it as our thoughts are not centered around You, not being aware of You in their hearts? Sadly most indulge in sensual pleasures that only degrade them and make them wretched.

O Lord you are always available like a dear friend or kinsman and you as Antaryamin – the soul of every soul –always loving, are only waiting to bless your Bhaktas. You so deepen our faith, purify our hearts and lift us up into heavenly states of ecstasy. We never have even the suspicion that You are in our hearts and indeed the nearest and dearest to us. Lord Haranath said:”You are very fortunate as Krishna is pulling you by the hand and gives assistance. Never leave my hand, I am waiting with full hope in you. All of you are playing in my heart every hour of day and night. You are verily my springs of joy. What will sustain Me if I leave you?”

We human beings are truly alive if we love and worship You, otherwise we are mere bellows, lifeless things that breathe. What do we achieve when we don’t strive to know You, who are the foundation of existence, the embodiment of bliss? O Lord, You enter into the hearts of those who listen to your legends, hymn you, meditate upon you, repeat your Name and adore you. By doing so they make ashes of sins in countless lifetimes and of evil accumulated tendencies. You manifested Yourself in every heart in the form of Your Name to sanctify our unclean hearts and make us fit to surrender. It is You Yourself who becomes active in performing Japa and Kirtan of Your own Name, but You do not show Yourself as that would mar the fascination of Your play, but no one has the capacity to realize this or perceive it as their thoughts are not centered around You and because they have not established Your presence in their hearts. Whoever chants incessantly Your Name becomes mad after You and gets PREMA.Your NAME IS THE RAFT WHICH CARRIES US ACROSS Samsar and is the quickest and safest way to reach You in this Kali Yuga. Your Name gives us Prema and through Prema we reach You.

We have to understand that the Lord alone performs all works, we are mere spectators. Let us give up the idea that we act as He alone is the actor. His pleasure, not ours should be always in the mind. He so deepens our faith, purifies our hearts and lifts us up into heavenly states of ecstasy. He is the dispeller of difficulties. Every minute our thoughts, deeds must be regarded as Yours. We have come here to adore You. That is our duty. You will do the rest. In our ignorance we take up Your assignment and forget our own duty as ordained by You, thinking always about food, clothing, and bodily enjoyments. By Your Maya the deluded Jivas identify themselves with body and mind and lose their inherent nature of infinite ecstasy, becoming victims of birth and death in the Samsara cycle.

We have to live according to His ideas and desires and always bear in mind that it is He who has occupied our mind, body. He is guiding us, He plays, speaks through us. Why do we worry so much when he is performing all actions? He is always calling us by singing our name on His bansari .  When You, beloved Lord, touch our hearts all reasons, skepticism cease, doubts vanish, hearts begin to melt. Like tiny children we weep in love and ecstasy. Sublime emotions arise without effort, we offer ourselves unconditionally to Your service like Akasa, subtle beyond mind and words. You are the same towards every being, favoring none. It is only the Karma of the individual being which creates varying destinies for them. Every living being is part and parcel of You. Therefore our duty is to serve You. Without such service the living beings fall into material contamination. We have to see You in all things around us and seeing You in them serve You. We are a divine channel through which should flow divine love, bliss, power, wisdom, but this channel is blocked by holding the body for the Self and by identifying with the perishable body. The blockage is the Ego which must be removed. When gone divine grace can flow freely. Once we go beyond the Ego we are nothing, infinite nothingness filled with divine consciousness. As long as the Ego remains we cannot be selfless. One has to try and try to get rid of the Ego. When the individual soul surrenders to God it gets entirely under His influence and protection. Maya has no more effect on him. Then Sattwa flows from the Lord’s Lotosfeet towards the devotees mind. All desires melt away, the senses no longer wander about and the mind gets absorbed in Him.

May we come back through a succession of lives as one of Your people, may we satisfy You by playing our roles as  per Your desire and be considered as belonging to You .

Ruth Baur

16.09.15