Love’s power is unimaginable. The attraction of love is the most fundamental element found in every circumstance in this world. All else can be eliminated and forgotten if we come in touch with true love and affection.
Veggie recipe at the end Bombay Potetoes revised
Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja
Posted on 02.05.2012 by Devarsi
This is an excerpt from a wonderful little booklet by Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja, entitled Beyond Enjoyment. The beautiful and wonderful loving nature of us who are all individual spiritual souls or Jivas, also known as Atma and sometimes Spiritons, comes into full bloom, when the material mind and intelligence have become spiritualised, the material contaminations are eliminated and we are fully engaged in the Service of The Lord, which is our original and eternally unchangable nature.
Srila Narayana Maharaja is a master of conveying these divine Truths and He has written many wonderful books. During reading them, the reader will realise that the author must be incredibly advanced and established in this knowledge Himself. Please visit http://www.purebhakti.com to download His books in PDF format for free. Devarsi
WHAT IS TRUE LOVE?
Since the beginning of time, the soul has been crying piteously for love and affection. Love is the most powerful force in the universe, and we all crave to taste it somehow or other. We don’t want to just experience it, but relish it forever. This, in fact, is our birthright. We can experience so much of life but our most central need, the need to be loved, remains unfulfilled.
Gods sweetness and love is immesurable and beyond any material experience.
Love’s power is unimaginable. The attraction of love is the most fundamental element found in every circumstance in this world. All else can be eliminated and forgotten if we come in touch with true love and affection. When one questions or challenges the principal of love one will have to accept defeat. It is the most substantial principal.
The key to understanding the difference between the two types of bliss mentioned, impersonal liberation and devotion to God, is to appreciate the nature of love. “To love” is a verb, so it follows that we will consider whom to love. The bliss derived upon attaining impersonal liberation is only a cessation of misery, which provides a peaceful state of consciousness, free from gross material desires. It cannot be called love, or really have anything to do with love. In this state the heartfelt warmth of a loving relationship does not exist. That highest state of absolute pure love can only truly exist between the soul and God, which are both eternal personalities.
Our Western conditioning has denied us an acceptance of the personal form of God. This is because in the West man seeks his own power and glory in an endeavour to usurp the rightful place in our lives of that most wonderful personality, God. This misfortune has lead us away from a spiritual, theistic path into an atheistic one where all—dominating love has been replaced by all dominating fear. The inquiring soul, however, can only be misled and misguided for so long until he again raises his head to inquire as to the reality of eternal love.
THE PATH OF DIVINE LOVE
This path of devotion, or loving service to God (bhakti),has been thoroughly described by the Vedic scriptures.The sages of the past understood man’s heartfelt needs and have clearly shown how we can fully achieve complete satisfaction by again linking with our supreme master and beloved Lord. In the story of the King who wanted to see God, the King was asked if there was butter in the milk. He replied, “Yes, but a process must be followed.” Similarly, if we desire to reawaken our eternal relationship with God we must follow the process outlined by the sages and follow their instructions. Without this divine instruction we can never awaken our spiritual relationship. It cannot be done on the strength of our own efforts. Strength other than that of this world is required.
WHERE TO FIND THAT STRENGTH?
Perfect Spiritual Masters
To tread this exalted path we will need knowledge and strength from someone who is already situated on it. Just as a man who has fallen into a deep well can only be saved by one who is himself free and can lower us a rope being fixed himself on the safe, firm ground above. Similarly, we can only be saved from our suffering condition by one who understands and knows these essential truths of life. There is, in fact, no other way out of our dilemma! We must make it our priority to find such a person. With this desire in our hearts for sure that representative of God will quickly come to us. Our only requirement is to be greedy enough to meet such a personality.
WHO CAN WE LOVE AND HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH?
Meditate upon Krishna, not a loveless light or loveless nothing and love will come
The scriptures describe the name of Krishna to be the topmost name of God. Krishna literally means “the most attractive one”. This name gives us an understanding of His personality. Although Krishna is the cause of everything and the supreme ultimate truth, in His eternal spiritual realm Krishna relishes astonishingly affectionate relationships with an enormous number of family members and friends in the most beautiful and charming of all His abodes, Vrindavan. These eternal friends and relatives are with Him when He performs various amorous activities that are so wonderful they stun the mind and heart.
Radha and Krishna, The Divine Couple
These activities have been elaborately described by great personalities who in their meditation have witnessed these wonderful exchanges of loving affection between Krishna and those very close to Him.
Our eternal home is in this spiritual world with Krishna. There we experience the highest bliss and the most powerful and ecstatic sense of self in our eternal relationship with Him. Those who aspire for impersonal liberation ultimately aspire to be Krishna Himself, but that can never be possible, just as you can never be me and I can never be you.
Impersonal light has no love, no qualities, no attributes, no activity, no form, no personality, nothing
Impersonal Liberation is self centered and limited.
The bliss of impersonal liberation is self centred and without any personal exchanges it is thus limited. When, however, we enter a loving relationship with Krishna in a sincere mood of rendering service to Him, the bliss we experience is boundless.
The goal of all our practices is to reawaken our dormant consciousness; that is, our true nature as Krishna’s eternal loving servant. By reading about Him and hearing about Him from others, especially those who are in knowledge of His glorious qualities, we will be constantly inspired to come closer and closer to Him. Then, at the time death when we leave this body, we can go to Him forever.
HOW TO MEDITATE
Meditate on Krishnas Name, Form and Pastimes
We are most fortunate that in this present age the process prescribed to attain that blissful relationship with realisation is simply to chant Krishna’s holy names. Within these names He has implanted all His power and energy, as well as the opportunity for us to have the most fulfilling relationship with Him. This process is transcendental and as faith in it grows, the power of the holy name will illuminate our consciousness. We can, in fact, achieve any of the three goals described above simply by chanting. If you are not convinced of this, try it personally and taste the effect of the chanting for yourself. The most powerful names of God in this universe are called the “maha mantra” (the great mantra of deliverance). By chanting this mantra, the process of linking ourselves with God forever, begins. It is as follows:
The Hare Krishna Mantra. Man means mind and tra to free
If we practise chanting this we will most certainly experience a higher state of consciousness. Although careful, meditative chanting is recommended, the chanting of it
anytime, anywhere and in any condition will bring increasing bliss. This chanting when combined with the guidance of scripture and from those, whose loving rela-
tionship with Krishna is already developed, is assured to transport us into an ocean of love.
There are many names of God, such as Jehovah, Allah,
Buddha, Yahweh, Rama and Krishna. Of these holy
names the Vedic scriptures describe Krishna and Rama as
the most prominent and the best names to chant for the
greatest results.
CONCLUSION
Our aim and object in life is to become fully happy. The essential nature of the soul is to enjoy. We try to achieve this goal through three processes:
1) We will try to enjoy through our gross material senses;
2) Through our subtle senses by trying to become liberated;
3) Or by reawakening our original natures and offering our service and hearts to
God, Krishna.
These three paths individually do not ultimately lead to the same goal. The first two paths, namely that of enjoying with the material senses and that of impersonal liberation, will not necessarily lead us to the third and highest truth, that of engaging in a pure unalloyed loving relationship with Krishna Himself. The degree of pleasure derived from the first path is minuscule compared to the second one. And on the scale of bliss the second path does not even register when compared to the bliss of the third path, in which we
reawaken our loving relationship with Krishna, God Himself. The truth of this can only be understood and realised by the practitioner.
The information provided in this little booklet is a fraction of the vast amount of knowledge available in the Vedic literatures. Here we have described a small portion of it in very simple words, but if, as a result of readingthis, you have been inspired to inquire further from persons dedicated to serving Krishna, this booklet will be a
success.
If you would like more information on these fascinating topics, the Hare Krishna movement has translated many of these literatures into English, as well as so many other languages, for our eternal benefit. These books are available everywhere; you only need to desire one. As if by magic, it will very quickly arrive in your hands.
Hare Krishna
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