The MIND (MANAS) .

The  MIND  (MANAS) 

The Mind is compared to a mirror, which when dirty cant clearly reflect the face. Similarly the mind-mirror when dirty you can’t see God clearly. Meditation acts as a powerful tonic. You can easily control the mind when you always think of God. Unless a fire is constantly fanned it becomes covered with a layer of ash. Similarly dross gathers on us unless the Lord’s words and deeds are constantly discussed . As long as the mind is  polluted the Lord is inaccessible, it must be pure and full of love. Drive out worthless worries, harming others, acqujiring the wealth of others .It is up to us to make our thoughts, words, deeds entirely sweet to Him.
Then a large quantity of Sattwa fills it. This constant thinking thins out  the mind and destroys Vasanas (latent tendencies)  and Sankalpas (thoughts, imaginations). The mind works as per dictate of the heart. The subtle emotional nature in us determines our thoughts and life. The deeper the emotions, the more determined we work, the purer the emotions the more is our self-sacrifice, the more sublime our emotions the more all-embracing is our love.

To make the mind steady feel day after day that you are sure to die, be contented with whatsoever comes to you, believe that whatever is to happen has been preordained, and most importantly chant or repeat His divine Name. As long as the mind is polluted the Lord is inaccessible.  Our consciousness is always flowing downwards and outwards, therefore we fail to perceive anything which is within us. It is not easy to control the mind. The only way to control it is to love the Lord’s Name and through Prema. Who regards the Name as his own and constantly repeats it, body, mind and Name become one. Then the Name and Nami become one and manifest their Lila in the heart. Once the heart is pure the Lord will reside in it. Then nothing is difficult to achieve.

Work unselfishly, spiritualize all actions, have no attachments to sensual objects, give up all ideas of agency, attribute all activities to the divine actor within. Make Every work  a sacred offering, an expression of  your love for Him. Empty  yourself so  completely that you  entirely live in Him. Have the firm conviction that the Lord is very near and will not leave you even a minute. Our heart and mind should be always full of love To get this love do Name, read Lord’s Letters, see His Murtis. Then He will not go away from you.Sadhana must be done with great enthusiasm, constantly waiting with intense longing for His arrival. The more we desire to get Him the more He will pull us up. We are in God’s hands, His hand is in everything that happens. Slay egoism, annihilate selfishness, desires, cravings. This life is not our own but His and has to be carefully protected as the Lord may do many things through it.

Effort is necessary as long as the Ego or feeling of separateness exists. Self-effort is possible only through Lords grace.  As a result of good actions, devotion and self-surrender His grace comes automatically. Once the Ego is gone the obstruction to the flow of divine grace is removed, it can flow freely. Worship by fits and starts will not do, it must be constant. Should there be a break desires will enter the mind. Strenuous and constant effort will bring success eventually. Lose the body feeling which is separating us from Him. Look upon all as one Atma as there is only ONE Atma, the Paramatma. This Atma Bhav must be strong. In contemplation we are in spiritual contact with the unchanging light and are cleansed of all impurities. His light touches the soul, a light of purity and Prema. It illumines the open soul and consumes all shortcomings in the fire of divine Prema. It is the Lord’s grace upon the soul in meditation, so vastly potent.

THOUGHTS are not airy nothings. They are invisible but recorded (especially shortly before death). The power of thought is 10 million times stronger than that of actions. The harm that can be done to the world by evil thoughts is much greater than that caused by evil actions. Evil thoughts turn the heart into hell where the Lord’s image cannot fall. The moment one is able to turn the trend of his inner thoughts towards God this goes at once to the building of a higher frame to live in. That is why one should have recourse to contemplation alone to catch the Uncatchable one. Silence thoughts, fix them on Him again and again, concentrate on one idea  alone. Just as we saturate water with salt or sugar so we should saturate our thoughts with God, His plays, Murtis, Upadesham. Make the thoughts, passions, desires unselfish, trans-divine and go on with Nama Japa. One can’t have thoughts of God as long as we think of Anatma things (sensual enjoyments) Lord Krishna (Srimad Bhagavatam):” The mind that thinks constantly of Me dissolves into Me. Fix your thoughts on Me, purify your heart with Bhakti, abandon every other thought – for all those are illusions. “

Never give thoughts of worldly enjoyments the upper place in the heart. How powerful thoughts are can be seen at the time of the dissolution of the body (death), as those thoughts which are uppermost in the mind will regulate the future destiny.

Actions: All activities can be turned into worship if you are always aware that He is performing all actions - it is the Lord alone who is doing everything. Let every work, be it divine or ordinary, be a sacred offering of love at His feet, expect no fruits. Put love in everything.  Dedicate all deeds, words, thoughts, your entire life to Him, offer  yourself entirely up to Him. Whatever duty may come before you perform it in a spirit of worship. Be aware that it is He who eats, sleeps, thinks within. Thereby we get rid of the Ego, will always  be in joy. As long as there is self-interest one cannot enter into the Lord’s service. As long as we think that we are acting there is no end to Karma. Let there be not the slightest trace of pride and egoism – they are the poison fruits of life. Constant remembrance of the Lord means forgetting the world and its objects. A mind which constantly thinks of Him will dissolve into Him, purged of its impurities and worldly taints it becomes exceedingly calm, a self-emptied vessel waiting for the divine influx to come when and how it will. Endure Karma with patience. If the distress felt within penetrates the innermost heart the Lord is sure to be kind. When the heart becomes calm one sees the Lord’s reflection in it, which He is always throwing upon us.

iSel

Cogitate on what Lord Haranath said:

“ araHaran

If you think me not of your own you cause me pain . I belong to all and every one appears to be Mine. You are my only hope, I have none else to call my own. You are my living certificates to convince the world who and what I am. When I accepted you I will not leave you even if you should leave me. If you desire Krishna make your desire stronger and still stronger as He can only be purchased with earnest desire, intense yearning. Once you accumulate this treasure He will soon be yours. The more you desire to have me the more will I pull you up to me. I am mad in the company of you all. For that reason you should relieve me of my different kinds of burdens and keep me happy.

We must call aloud for one living far but whisper to one near. For one who resides in the heart it is enough to think once. Remember me now and then. Take Name with carefree mind, know me always near.I love you because it is my nature to love, I don’t wait for your merits or demerits. With every breath I remember all of you, I remember even those who never think of me.I cannot endure anybodies tears. I am never simple, can never be. If you accept me as your father don’t ask for this and that. I will give you everything that is good for you without being asked. This time I descended out of mercy, now is the play of causeless mercy. Krishna is waiting with full hope in you.The very fact that you are alive proves His love for you. Realize that God is Love and you His Beloved.”

The Lord released a great wave of super-divine love so that even worst sinners are saved. When He touches our hearts all reasons, skepticism cease, doubts vanish, hearts begin to melt. Like tiny children we weep in love and ecstasy, sublimest emotions arise without effort and we offer ourselves unconditionally to His service.Lord Haranath revealed to us before He left this world:” Ÿou will realize after I pass away what potency lies in the Name Kusuma Haranath,” A moments life with Kusum Hara’s Name on our lips is to be valued more than a million years without it. One should never think of leaving the Lord’s Name.

June 2015

R.B.

PREMA (superior love for God)

PREMA (superior love for God)

The Lord left Golok to appear as man in the midst of man only to show His love for them and to teach them how to love Him. Justy  imagine the depth of His love. Prema is the particular property of the Lord and Sri Radha, no other Gods or Goddesses can know or possess it without Their Grace.The Lord when He wanted to taste His own Rasa* in all its phases created the Jivas  and  used them as so many vessels to contain His Rasa. The Rasa thus made enjoyable is named PREMA.

Lord Krishna said to Uddhava:”to whom who  practices without break the  rigors of Bhakti  I come to dwell in his heart and will destroy his  desires.Once Prema is generated in the heart the Jiva swims in an ocean of unfathomable bliss. A man of Bhakti can effortlessly attain everything that those who tread other paths can gain.  Real Bhaktas  who surrendered to me do not wish for an emperor’s throne, not sovereignty, not to become Brahma, not to own Siddhis, not even Moksha. Not even my very Atma is so dear to me as my Bhaktas. I follow the footsteps of those who want nothing, are always calm, bear no enmity. No one ever knows the perfect, desireless ecstasy that my Bhaktas experience. Love for me makes ashes of all sins and removes all obstacles on the path.” Prema has two characteristics: forgetting of the world around us and the own body.

Prema is much higher than ordinary devotion, it is a saturation of the heart. Devotion means to have a constant flow of thoughts towards the Lord, it is a continuous current flowing to Him. Without such heart-absorbing  Prema the Lord is very difficult to attain. If carnality lurks in the heart  Prema can never subsist. If  true love awakens God is no longer considered as God but looked upon as the most intimate, as one’s own. Prema is of the form of a very, very subtle unbroken feeling or experience that develops in volume and intensity at every moment, is free from the three Gunas and desires. Sensual desires cannot exist when unbroken love operates. Devotees who attain this love see nothing but love, hear only about love, speek  only  of love and think of love alone. Divine love is all-possessing. To such a devotee the entire universe is a mirror which reflects the Lord and the Lord alone. He always feels “I am His”. The hearing of His Leelas and reciting His sweet Name makes him run mad in Prema after the Lord, which is the most desirable stage in life. The chief symptom of love is meekness, a  realisation of one’s own shortcomings. Such unalloyed devotion is very difficult to attain and to retain once attained.Without the Lord’s grace none can get it. Once achieved it must be fostered and protected with great care to reach the Lord and get the Prema-fruits.

When the individual soul surrenders (Atma Nivedana) itself to the Lord it becomes entirely under His influence  and protection, Maya has no effect on him, all differences are wiped out. Surrender makes silent, destroys the Ego and helps in experiencing our nothingness and God’s omniscience.Any effort comes from the Ego, because it is limited its capacity is limited too. Bhaktas empty themselves so completely that they entirely live in God,  they attribute  everything to the Lord’s grace, do not take any credit on  themselves,  work for the  Lord  alone, live for Him. The Lord is their  only support, only strength, only hope. When a devotee lives solely for His Lord then he is a real Bhakta. He becomes extremely restless and miserable at the slightest laps in his remembrance of the Lord. He radiates joy all-round as he always dwells in God and in His bliss. This state of Bhakti  is wonderfully explained by Lord Kapila to Devahuti:”a true Bhakta  is one who serves Me with no notion of difference between him and Me, who renounced his Karma, his very body and soul to Me, the  one, who has no Ego and sees Me in all beings and worships me in them.”

As long as Ego remains we cannot be selfless. Self-surrender comes as PREMA  grows, the two grow simultaneously. Surrender means giving up one’s individuality, one’s likes and dislikes.The two obstacles to surrender are Egoism and desire. Once we see that only God prevails right  Sadhana begins. Without melting of the heart, flowing of tears of joy and hair standing on end from rapture there is no true Bhakti. If once Prema is generated it never disappears. Love is the essential nature of the human soul  which can never rest without an object of love. Human love has no permanence in it however pure and sincere it may be.

Firm belief in Seva is the only prerequisite which a human being has to have when he chooses the Bhakti Marg. The Lord manifests Himself in every heart and performs Kirtan of His own Name in order to sanctify our unclean hearts  and to make us fit for His Seva. How much He loves us!Those who follow the Bhakti Marg of surrender attain the ultimate, His  grace. If a devotee wants the Lord, the Lord Himself wants him too, He will listen to what the devotee tells Him . He left Golok to appear as man in the midst of men only to show His love for them and to teach how to love Him. Just imagine the depth of His love.im. Just imagine the deptHe left Golok to appear as man in the midst of men only to show his love for them and to teach them how to love Him Just imagine the dept

Every Jiva is a divine channel  through which should flow divine love, bliss, power, wisdom but the channel is blocked by holding the body  for  the self, by identification with the perishable body. We have to remove the blockage, the Ego. Sadly most man prefer to indulge their senses in pleasures that only degrade them, make them wretched. Who neglects worshipping the Lord becomes unwittingly a murderer of his own Atman,  which is his true destiny. Snared helplessly by the accumulated Karma and strengthened by lives of being attached to the body he devolves and wanders the dreadful catacombs of Samsar, even in bestial forms. Whenever a Jiva, forgetting his own vanity, becomes solely devoted to God, He stretches out His hand to save him and absolve him

 altogether from his Karma. Boundless becomes the joy of those who are constantly immersed in Name. The earth has no terrors for them, nothing is impossible for such Bhaktas. Once love awakes in the heart the Lord draws the soul to Himself like a magnet.The Atma is an Amsa, a ray of you, oh Lord, who are the totality of everything, you of infinite compassion and divinity. You came into the world in various Avatars to illumine the spiritual nature of man, which is difficult to discover or understand. There are men who leave their homes, all attachments and become Paramahamsas (swans  of  the spirit). They play in endless delight at your Lotosfeet, abjure even Moksha, choose Premabhakti as path and worship you whole-heartedly. You are always available, the dearest friend or kinsman, and you, the Antaryamin, the soul of every soul, always loving, are only waiting to bless your Bhaktas.

The Lord’s Name is the only means of getting  Prema, it is the father and mother of Prema .Love the Name with heart and soul as most beneficial  and joy-giving treasure. When the Lord is worshipped the Name itself spreads its glories within the heart. Lord Haranath has made the priceless treasure  Name  so potent that constant repetition of it purges of all sins and unloosens all Karma-bindings. It demands the total heart. He showed us how a Jiva without passing through austerities and penance, without Sannyas but faith in the holy Name alone can become imbued with all-consuming love for Him. The more we take His Name the nearer we come to Him. He said:”If you want to give me pleasure do Name .May all of you make me listen to that Name to my hearts content  and I shall pass away with that sound in my ears.”

28.5.2015

R.B

*RASA: spiritual transformation of the heart from the state of love for God into  liquid emotions by combined types  of various ecstasies. It occurs by direct experience of God

ECSTATIC ATTACHMENT AND DEEP ABSORPTION TO SERVE THE LORD (Ragatmika)

ECSTATIC ATTACHMENT AND DEEP ABSORPTION

TO SERVE THE LORD (Ragatmika)

O Lord, it is You who are dancing, singing, repeating Your Name and

Clapping your hands to the beat of the music.

We are only observers, puppets who think that we are doing it all.

You are the root of everything, the soul of all souls,

The Emperor of our hearts, through your limitless Grace

You transform the worst sinner into a great Saint. 

Whenever a Jiva, forgetting his own vanity becomes solely devoted to Him He stretches out His hand to save and absolve him altogether from his Karma.The purpose of a devotee’s life is to lose all sense of distinctive personality and be dissolved in the Lord like camphor in fire. The dormant love of God in our hearts has to be revived.

Once we experience everything as part of the whole, as extension of our own self, how can we ignore anything? In that state there is no sense of otherness. Everything is permeated with consciousness. Remain always within the self, the very center of existence. Because we forgot our true self and the Ego interferes, the sense of  otherness is experienced.  We are part and parcel of the Lord, therefore  it is our  duty  to serve the supreme Whole. Without such service  we fall into material contamination (ex Teachings of Lord Caitanya). It is  through  such  service  that  we  can revive this natural continual position. Let us live in the Bhava “everyone is mine”.Bhakti is eternally existing within everyone, it simply has to be evoked by hearing, chanting, Nama Japa.  The more we do Japam the nearer we shall come to the Lord. It is Lord’s desire that everyone should become totally pure and become His companion. He pointed out:”If you want to give me pleasure take Name.” As we go on taking Name self-forgetfullness comes of its own accord  imperceptively. By taking Name our consciousness will gradually come to the plane of the heart.Let us firmly believe that He will show His favor, be kind, reveal His presence and play with us. Let us constantly increase our love for Him. He will only come when our hearts are full of love. Men have always the eternal ecstasy in their soul, in their hearts but chase after unreal slight pleasures, bind themselves into births after births. Undying joy is our natural inheritance. Be ever looking forward to His appearance – this is high expectancy.There is no true Bhakti without the heart melting, flowing of tears of joy and hair standing on end from rapture. Without such complete and intense emotion can the heart be purified?

 What Bhakti Yoga means has been wonderfully explained in Srimad Bhagavatam by Lord Krishna:“Use the body to serve Me, your speech to describe My glory, surrender heart , soul  and mind to Me. Renounce every desire for My sake. Fix  your  thoughts  on  Me, purify your heart with Bhakti, abandon every other thought for all those are illusions mere dreams. A mind which thinks constantly of me dissolves into Me.”Bhakti  dawns on those who want nothing from the Lord, not material or worldly gain, or even Moksha. Who works for His pleasure serves the world in the truest sense for he has no personal interest,  actions are poisoned only by selfishness.

The Lord is immensely pleased if our self-surrender becomes a real offering. Let Him know every

thought,good or bad and be always in joy. Remember Him within the heart, don’t forget Him  even  

for a moment. Surrender has to be perfect and unreserved otherwise the Lord’s grace cannot

descend, even if there is an atom of desire or egoism there is no possibility of  divine grace.  This  is

the goal of all devotional services.Such devotees are always anxious to do something for Krishna, for

them everything must be connected to the Lord. They are always confident and keep themselves

busy to achieve the highest goal. Such a surrender puts them entirely under the Lord’s influence and

protection, Maya cannot affect them. All differences are wiped out. Just as a river loses its name

and form after it entered the ocean so a devotee loses his individuality when he merges himself in

 the Lord.The cause of our present misery is the lack of knowledge about our true everlasting

internal joy, the want of constantly feeling Lord’s nearness. Once we experience it we feel how

supremely pleasant it is, giving highest bliss and supreme joy. The Self unfolds when the Ego

disappears. When the Ego loses its  significance the world of diversity is transformed into perfect

oneness. This happens within, not  externally. Once the heart becomes calm one sees the reflexion

of the Lord which He is always throwing upon it. If Prema is once generated in the heart of a Jiva he

swims in an ocean of unfathomable bliss which never goes away.Neither Sravana nor Kirtana nor

other means can  generate Prema which is already there and becomes active when the heart is

purified. What can be a greater delight than to consume the body in the work of Him who gave it?

What are the Signs of real devotion?: one is always kind to everybody, does not seek quarrels, his interest is purely spiritual. He is equal  to everyone, no one  can  find faults in him. His magnanimous mind is always fresh, clean, devoid of material obsessions. He is a benefactor to all entities, peaceful, always surrendered to the Lord, has no material desires, is very humble, fixed in his purpose, victorious over lust, anger jealousy etc and does not eat more than needed. He is always sane and respectful  to others, does not wish to be respected. He is grave, merciful, poetic, expert, silent, tolerant, friend to all living entities. He sees the Lord in each and every living entity, does not distinguish between devotees and non-devotees but sees everyone in His service. Seva is the eternal life of the Jiva, lying dormant in their hearts and simply has only to be evoked by the process of hearing and chanting. Sensual pleasures are hollow and fleeting. Being together with wife, children etc. is no more than a brief association of members of a Caravanserai. As relatives change in dreams from sleep to sleep so too do  family members from life to life. He that understands lives in his home like a guest with no feeling of possessiveness to any person or object.  Undying joy is our natural inheritance. We are the Lord’s  eternal servitors, who exist not for our own pleasure but for His sake. Devotional service is the only path.

Lord Kusuma Haranath released a great wave of super-divine love so that even worst sinners are saved from sin. Our comings and goings do not depend on our will but take place at His will. Lord Haranath burst out:”Lay all your burdens of sins on my head. Take Hari’s Name and go scot-free. My own burdens far exceed the load of the rest of the world put together, so I shall be quite able to carry the small burdens in addition to the mountain-load I am already carrying. I don’t leave you even for a moment. You will feel my constant presence. Would that I become yours and you mine in every life. Offer yourself body and  soul  to me and  see if I cannot save you. You are my own, my only hope. I am never simple, can never be. If you accept me as your father don’t ask me for this and that. I will give you everything that is good for you without even being asked.”Our Lord undergoes endless sufferings for His Bhaktas, even though they don’t desire it. There is none so kind and full of bliss as He is. The Lord cannot remain, even for a moment, away from His devotees. He makes His nearness felt in diverse ways – sometimes He manifests Himself and we take it for a dream or something else. He deepens our faith, purifies our hearts,  pulls the strings on which we more, act, think, surrender, and leads us the swiftest and surest path to salvation.

March 2016

R. Baur

All Works are His

Only God exists. Let us be aware that everything is part of the Whole.Body, mind and soul which we possess belong to the Lord only. He is the Lord of these bodies and all the internal organs appertaining thereto. He manifests Himself in every heart, performs all actions. He Himself  evendoes Kirtan of His own Name in us in order to sanctify our unclean hearts and to make us fit to be engaged in His Seva. Once we experience everything as part of ourselves how is it possible to ignore anything? Constantly remain within the Self,  the  very center of existence. Because we forgot our true Self and because the Ego interferes the  sense of otherness is experienced.We are Atman, not the body or mind Immerse in this awareness, let it enter the bloodstream.

Die Koerper bewegen sich nicht – es ist Gott, der ihn bewegt sowie alle Sinnesorgane. Er wohnt allem inne, dessen Wesen Bewusstsein ist.

Maya deludes Jivas. They begin to identify themselves with body, mind and lose their inherent nature of infinite ecstasy and become a victim of birth and death in the cycle of Samsara.

The Lord alone performs all actions, we are mere spectators*. Why do we worry? Whenever there is a sense of self  regarding any action responsibility will come of itself. Let us act like an agent, like an instrument.He, whose work it is will see to it that the work is done right. We should only b e determined to do every behest of His like a coolie, have no attachment to any kind of work and be ready to leave it at any time. Success or failure should not be our look-out. Then we are sure to be successful and gratified. Let there be not the least attachment to any kind of work, work for the fulfillment of His purposes. Being constantly aware that it is the Lord who works through you you are freed of all responsibilities. Every work, divine or ordinary is a sacred offering, a love-expression. When we feel and are aware that it is the Lord within us who eats, sleeps, thinks we get rid of the Ego.

What greater delight can one have but to consume the body in the work for Him who gave it and to love Him wholeheartedly in total self-forgetfulness. We must become a vessel, self-emptied, which lies waiting for the divine influx to come when and how it will. The Lord’s servants are never sluggish. They remain busy in His service with ever increasing zest and zeal. Whatever He regards as good for you, whatever you obtain according to His dispensation – therein  lies your good. Go on performing in a spirit of worship whatever duty may come before you. Whatever comes to pass that is the real thing and therein lies your good. Whosoever works for Lords pleasure serves the world in its true sense of the term for he has no personal interest to serve through his actions. Actions are poisoned only by selfishness.

Sussess in Dhyan comes by feeling it is the Lord who is doing everything. He is verily in front of me and in my heart, is aware of all my thoughts and makes His nearness felt. Strenuous and constant effort will bring success eventually . Life is precious. Let us not waste if by doing works automatically Let us put love in everything we do and try to lose the body feeling  which is separating us from Him. Look upon all as one Atma as there is only one Atma – Paramatma. This Bhav must be strong.

All sins of the body fly away if one chants Lords Name and sings His glory. The birds of sin dwell in the tree of the body. Singing His Name is like clapping the hands.

Lord Krishna said to Uddhava (Srimad Bhagavatam):” I ever follow  the footsteps of him who is free from expectation, given to contemplation, composed, free from animosity, who sees unity everywhere, in order that I may be cleansed by the dust of his feet. Others cannot realize My all-blissful character which is apprehended only by those exalted souls who have nothing to call their own, whose mind is devoted to Me, who have subdued their passions and are fond of all living beings and whose understanding is unclouded by desires. This – my character – can be known only by those who care free from wants.

It does not matter whether he knows that I am infinite, glorious, majestic or about all other qualities Let him worship me with all his heart and simply think of me as being his own, his sole support, and he shall be the greatest of my Bhaktas. Not even my very Atma is so dear to me as my Bhaktas. Such a Bhakta who surrendered to me does not wish for an emperors throne, not sovereignty, not to become Brahma, not to own Yogic Siddhis, not even Moksha. Bhakti for me makes ashes of all sins and removes all obstacles on the path Without melting of the heart , flowing of tears of joy, complete, intense emotion of surrender how can any heart be purified? The mind that thinks constantly of me dissolfes into me.

Thakur:

My nature never allows me to forget anyone. I do remember those who never remember me. Know it for certain that I can’t pass even a single moment without sending thoughts after you.

By Ruth Baur