Today I was sitting in a temple (dedicated to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu) reflecting on a few minuscule thoughts scribbled in my notepad so many years ago.
The first was the word Upanishad.
Upanishad means: Enlightenment that comes to a disciple by sitting at the feet of an enlightened being.
It is absolutely necessary to sit at the feet of an enlightened being if you truly desire enlightenment and not only listen to the sound coming from the Guru's mouth but to experience his Divine Grace. Sometimes the arraignment of words or language may not be understood logically, but that is not so important. The important thing is to hear and feel the transcendental presents of a realized soul. After sometime the entangled mind will be liberated enough that whatever the Guru has said will begin to make absolute sense. A transformation of consciousness will automatically take place. There is a nice example used by many Jagat Guru's from the past that goes something like this; "An aspiring devotee should never touch stool because stool is very impure and nasty". Later on during the same discourse it was said, "stool of a Cow is pure". This creates an apparent contradiction and may confuse a person who doesn't know the subtle teaching embedded in the example.
Let me try and explain.
We all have experience that stool is the waist by-product of a body, it contains bacteria, germs, poison and a very foul order, and these impurities can cause disease and even death. The stool of a Cow however has antiseptic qualities and can be used in many ways that benefit human society. From the stool of a Cow one can make incense, fire logs, fuel for cooking, mosquito repellent etc. The contradiction goes away and the logical brain can then digest the example and go forward. Logic was not really necessary if one had faith in the Guru but logic is now serving as an assistant to the neophyte devotee. On many levels the enlightened being is distributing his Grace and depending on our own level we benefit, some more than others.
On the other side of the coin, if you sit with and hear from a non-sense man you will become non-sense. If you associate with a womanizer you will become lusty and exploitative. If you associate with a criminal you will most likely become a criminal. That is why the most important principle when desiring enlightenment is to sit at the feet and absorb the enlightened energy of a self realized devotee of the lord.
The 2nd thought was:
Freedom can not be forced upon us.
If I were forced to become enlightened it would be bondage. Sri Krsna allows enlightened beings to broadcast his glories far and wide because they want to. They feel something in the core of their hearts that drives them. Call it compassion, mercy, love, devotion, whatever the label; if they were forced it will sooner or later become a burden and a source of misery for them. As students sitting at the feet of our Guru Maharaj, we went everywhere inviting people to come and sit with us, take the mercy of this enlightened being. Some came and many did not, our duty was to invite everyone we came in contact with to take advantage of this human life, sit with us and together associate with an enlightened being who was in our midst. No qualification required, just come visit and associate, chant the holy name and be happy.
There will always be enlightened beings (Jagat Gurus) roaming the earth and it is the duty of the seeker to find them and associate with them. Now that you are in a human body take advantage of it and don't waste your valuable life like the cats and dogs.
The 3rd thought took me back to when I was about 11 years old:
I was at a friend's house and was sitting in a lotus position next to the family swimming pool. Near the edge of the pool was a green lawn leading toward the side of the house near a cement walkway. I was facing the pool with my eyes closed feeling the warmth of the sun on my face and body when all of a sudden I heard what sounded like large stone boulders hitting the ground and simultaneously I could hear hundreds of individual screams of pain and suffering. I quickly turned around and saw my friend walking on the grass crushing them. I realized at that moment that the blades of grass had consciousness and felt pain. I never said anything about this to anyone. When I met My Gurudev (9 yrs later) he said in a talk as I was sitting at his feet, that "each and every blade of grass is an individual being and does not move unless sanctioned by the supreme lord. Life (consciousness) is in the body; the body is a covering of the spirit soul. In the material world there are 8,400,000 types of bodies. Consciousness is everywhere within and with-out the human body".
The first was the word Upanishad.
Upanishad means: Enlightenment that comes to a disciple by sitting at the feet of an enlightened being.
It is absolutely necessary to sit at the feet of an enlightened being if you truly desire enlightenment and not only listen to the sound coming from the Guru's mouth but to experience his Divine Grace. Sometimes the arraignment of words or language may not be understood logically, but that is not so important. The important thing is to hear and feel the transcendental presents of a realized soul. After sometime the entangled mind will be liberated enough that whatever the Guru has said will begin to make absolute sense. A transformation of consciousness will automatically take place. There is a nice example used by many Jagat Guru's from the past that goes something like this; "An aspiring devotee should never touch stool because stool is very impure and nasty". Later on during the same discourse it was said, "stool of a Cow is pure". This creates an apparent contradiction and may confuse a person who doesn't know the subtle teaching embedded in the example.
Let me try and explain.
We all have experience that stool is the waist by-product of a body, it contains bacteria, germs, poison and a very foul order, and these impurities can cause disease and even death. The stool of a Cow however has antiseptic qualities and can be used in many ways that benefit human society. From the stool of a Cow one can make incense, fire logs, fuel for cooking, mosquito repellent etc. The contradiction goes away and the logical brain can then digest the example and go forward. Logic was not really necessary if one had faith in the Guru but logic is now serving as an assistant to the neophyte devotee. On many levels the enlightened being is distributing his Grace and depending on our own level we benefit, some more than others.
On the other side of the coin, if you sit with and hear from a non-sense man you will become non-sense. If you associate with a womanizer you will become lusty and exploitative. If you associate with a criminal you will most likely become a criminal. That is why the most important principle when desiring enlightenment is to sit at the feet and absorb the enlightened energy of a self realized devotee of the lord.
The 2nd thought was:
Freedom can not be forced upon us.
If I were forced to become enlightened it would be bondage. Sri Krsna allows enlightened beings to broadcast his glories far and wide because they want to. They feel something in the core of their hearts that drives them. Call it compassion, mercy, love, devotion, whatever the label; if they were forced it will sooner or later become a burden and a source of misery for them. As students sitting at the feet of our Guru Maharaj, we went everywhere inviting people to come and sit with us, take the mercy of this enlightened being. Some came and many did not, our duty was to invite everyone we came in contact with to take advantage of this human life, sit with us and together associate with an enlightened being who was in our midst. No qualification required, just come visit and associate, chant the holy name and be happy.
There will always be enlightened beings (Jagat Gurus) roaming the earth and it is the duty of the seeker to find them and associate with them. Now that you are in a human body take advantage of it and don't waste your valuable life like the cats and dogs.
The 3rd thought took me back to when I was about 11 years old:
I was at a friend's house and was sitting in a lotus position next to the family swimming pool. Near the edge of the pool was a green lawn leading toward the side of the house near a cement walkway. I was facing the pool with my eyes closed feeling the warmth of the sun on my face and body when all of a sudden I heard what sounded like large stone boulders hitting the ground and simultaneously I could hear hundreds of individual screams of pain and suffering. I quickly turned around and saw my friend walking on the grass crushing them. I realized at that moment that the blades of grass had consciousness and felt pain. I never said anything about this to anyone. When I met My Gurudev (9 yrs later) he said in a talk as I was sitting at his feet, that "each and every blade of grass is an individual being and does not move unless sanctioned by the supreme lord. Life (consciousness) is in the body; the body is a covering of the spirit soul. In the material world there are 8,400,000 types of bodies. Consciousness is everywhere within and with-out the human body".
Bits and Pieces.
AJD
AJD
