Shiva and Krishna are One

Who is Lord Shankar? Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj explains in this beautiful video, taken from one of his lectures.

God is our true father

What should be our goal in celebrating Father's Day? Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj explains in this enlightening lecture, where he emphasizes that God alone is our one true father. 

How Maya Help Us

The world itself is a teacher that is always teaching the individual soul by constantly showering unhappiness and pain, thereby feeding detachment. This detachment from the world constantly pushes the soul towards God.  Maya is like the loving mother who slaps her child so that the child does not walk on the wrong path, and pushes the child towards God.

Find out more in this video where Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj explains how Maya help us in directing our mind towards God.

God Alone is Ours

Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj explains that God alone is ours, while the world can never be ours.  He alone is our Mother, Father, Friend and Beloved.

Why do we have desires?

This is because, all souls desire true happiness, i.e. happiness associated with God.  To fulfill this natural desire for bliss, the mind constantly creates 'desires' every moment.  There are five types of desires - the desire to see, desire to hear, desire to smell, desire to taste and desire to touch or feel.

The mind desires to enjoy subjects related to these five senses, and it can desire for objects only in two areas - either related to God or related to Maya, the material world.  Hence, this mind can either desire for God or for material objects. There is no third area where the mind can seek for happiness.

If we believe that happiness can be achieved from this material world, we will aim to fulfill our desires in this realm. If we believe that happiness can be achieved from God, we will automatically desire to attain Him.  This is a natural tendency and not learnt from anyone.  Not just humans, but even animals and birds have this innate understanding. The mind works in accordance with the decision of the intellect, and has to desire what the intellect thinks is the source of true happiness.

svatantraḥ kriyamāṇe vai kṛito bhagavatā vidā

The material world is readily visible, but God is not easily seen. It is the nature of the mind to desire material pleasure, as it is made of the same elements (Panchmahabhut) that constitute the material world.  It is very natural and easy to get attracted to things that we can see, and we can see this material world and not God.  Although the Vedas, Shastras and Puranas praise God, and the message is repeated by the saints, our mind is not able to concentrate in that direction. The mind is easily attached to material objects of pleasure, and seeks happiness in them.

How should one constantly contemplate upon God?

For this, Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj discloses a secret.  He tells us to chant the divine name of God with every breathe that we take.  Our mind needs a base to which it can get attached.  Otherwise, how will you attach your mind?  So the solution is to firstly, chant his divine name.  When you chant his name, your mind will naturally think about God.  So, chanting of God's name is a very good means of absorbing your mind in God.  Besides chanting, you can also visualize and meditate upon the divine form of God.  The third point is to think and sing the glories of God's qualities.  He is the friend of humble souls and purifier of sinners; He is the ocean of mercy and Grace, more beautiful than infinite cupids.  He is the soul of our soul.  By contemplating upon these qualities of God, we should divert our mind towards him.

You should think about the leelas (pastimes) of God - He is sitting, we are fanning him while he rests, he is sitting on a swing, etc.  You can imagine any leela of God as per your wish and meditate upon it.  In addition to the leelas, think of his divine abodes.  If you are unable to concentrate upon God then you can think about Vrindavan.  Think that the tree nearby is a divine tree from Vrindavan.  From every leaf, the sound of chanting of 'Radhey Radhey' is emanating.  Or, you can meditate on the form of the Guru.  The main point we have to remember is that God has infinite Names, infinite Forms, infinite Attributes, infinite Pastimes, and infinite Associates, and that are all one.  They all reside within each other.  Therefore, God's divine Names, Forms, Pastimes, Abodes, Qualities, and Associates, all belong to the divine realm of God.  By meditating on any of these areas, your devotion is strengthened.  This is the foundation for practicing devotion.  If you attach your mind to any of these divine attributes, it is divine and you will get the divine result. 

Significance of Human Birth

 

If we could realize the significance of human birth, it would not even take a day to attain God.  The human body is so important that even Indra, the king of heaven, who is worshiped by human beings, desires to be born as a human himself.  The human body is a very complex machine and there is no other body as complex as that of a human.  We strive to maintain a very healthy body, yet suffer from many an ailment due to improper habits and the prevailing environment.  In addition, an average human suffers innumerable miseries as a result of illness and death of loved ones.  It is amazing how we humans are able to continue living.  However, there is a wonderful power that we humans possess - knowledge.
 

Granted that we attained human birth due to our own actions, but it was God who took note of our actions, and rewarded us by making us human.  God did all this for us.  Actions cannot yield results on their own.  Let us say you donated $100,000. This act of charity will not yield fruit by itself.  God will have to intervene and give you the fruits of your donation.  So, God is merciful in that he rewards us for our actions.  Otherwise, we would never have attained human birth.

kabahunk kari karuṇā nar dehī  | 

det īśh binu hetu sanehī ||

God has gifted us a human body due to his compassionate nature.  Reflect upon this repeatedly; reflect upon this fact thousands of times.  We are suffering because we fail to contemplate properly.  What are we thinking?  "How should I spend my time?"  We are constantly planning on how to earn more wealth, constructing a house and leaving behind a large fortune for wife and kids.  There seems to be no concern about our own spiritual upliftment.  We must think about why we have come to this world.  Our lives are wasted in planning how to make the body happy, and we work towards those plans.  Still, we fail because our desires keep tormenting us.  We may sleep on a bed of gold studded with diamonds, but we still suffer from inside.  Happiness comes from within, not from external objects. 

Inspirational Quotes by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj

• The world itself is a teacher that is always teaching the individual soul by constantly showering unhappiness and pain, thereby feeding detachment. This detachment from the world constantly pushes the soul towards God.  Maya is like the loving mother who slaps her child so that the child does not walk on the wrong path, and pushes the child towards God.

• One who aspires for divine love should aim to be more humble than a blade of grass and more forbearing than a tree.  Believe all to be superior to oneself, and believe oneself to be the most sinful of all.  This feeling will destroy the ego and give rise to true humility, only then will the mind and heart be purified.

• Just as by watering the root of a tree, its branches, leaves, flowers and fruits etc. automatically receive water, in the same way all the various gods and goddesses are automatically worshipped when the Supreme Lord Krishna is worshipped.  But on the other hand, if one puts water on all the leaves, flowers, branches and fruits of a tree without watering the root, the tree would dry up eventually (in a very short amount of time).  Likewise, even if one worships all the heavenly gods and goddesses, this worship is absolutely useless unless and until the Supreme Lord Krishna is worshipped.

• Do not bear ill-will toward anyone, even those who bear ill-will toward you.  Remain neutral.  Even if someone has committed sins, a true aspirant should not think or speak of them.  Prior to God-realization everyone in the world is a sinner.  It does not take more than a moment for a great aspirant to fall and for a sinner to rise.

Who should we meditate on, Guru or God? Explanation by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj

 

It is not that the Guru will grant more power upon you if you meditate on him, or that God will bestow less if you meditate on him.  The result is exactly the same whether you meditate on the Guru or God.  However, meditating on Guru is more convenient, in the sense that everything related to him is directly perceptible, whereas we have to make use of our imagination to meditate on God's divine pastimes and actions.

For example, if the Guru has given some prasad to you from his own hand, you will certainly derive great benefit whether you accept it with full faith or not.  It will help you in your devotional practice.  Moreover, the variety of actions or leelas that the Guru performs are done right before your eyes, and so you can easily recall them for meditative purposes and derive great happiness from doing so.  Since God is not yet perceptible to you, you have to imagine his leelas in order to meditate upon him.  In truth, it is much easier to meditate on what we can directly perceive with our own eyes. 

Nevertheless, a devotee is free to meditate on either, depending on his or her personal preference.  What is proper and the best option is that you should meditate on both Guru and God, since by doing so you will not give rise to any conflict in your mind while you are practicing sadhana.

Watch this video lecture by Shree Maharajji on the topic, "Who is a Guru" with
English Subtitles:

 

Book Review - Bhagavad Bhakti (True Devotion)

Bhagavad Bhakti contains the transcripts translated into English of all eight discourses in their entirety and sequential order, complete with all the scriptural quotations given by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj.  As each discourse is complete within itself, Bhagavad Bhakti is compelling reading as a series and also as a collection of individual discourses.

Shree Maharajji delivered a series of discourses elaborating on a devotional couplet:

hari anurāg ho yā govind rādhe,

jaga virāga ho, ho mana se batā de

In the elaborate explanation of this couplet, Shree Maharajji clarifies the nature of attachment and detachment. He discusses the importance of 'desire' in a devotees journey towards God, clarifying that desire for God is in fact devotion, and this can flourish when one firmly decides that there is no true happiness in this world.   He further says, "We have to replace our desires for the world with desires for God.  It is that simple.  This is what is called true devotion or bhakti.  In this practice, desires remain.  You don't have to eliminate desires, and in any case you are incapable of eliminating desires even if you tired for millions of years."

To purchase this book online, Indian customers click here

Satsang - Explanation by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj

 

You would be familiar with the word satsang.  Sat means "Saint" or "Divine Personality" and sang means "to associate".  If sat, the Saint, is genuine and our sang, association with him, is also genuine, then we will attain our ultimate goal of God-realization and divine bliss.  The Vedas state:

                                            tadvigyānārthaṁ sa gurumevābhigachchhet
                                   samitpāṇiḥ śhrotriyaṁ brahmaniṣhṭham (Mundakopanishad)

A true Saint is one who has complete knowledge of the scriptures, and also practical realization of God.  He should be able to impart to us the theoretical knowledge of the Vedas.  Furthermore, he should have attained divine vision of God.  He must possess the treasure of divine love bliss.  If someone has a cheque book but nothing in the bank, what can the cheque book achieve?  If one merely talks about God, without having surrendered to him and having attained divine love, then that talk will merely increase ones pride.

What do we mean by sang or association?  It can be of three kinds.  We possess three things: body, mind, and soul.  Amongst these three, what must we associate with God and the Saints?  Scriptures say that we must associate all three.  The surrender must be complete.  God says we must offer all that we have in our possession.  It is true that whatever we have is impure and dirty, but we must offer it anyway.  God does not expect us to offer him divine things from Golok.  He says, "Whatever you possess, offer it all to Me."  Of our three possessions, the mind is the most important.  This mind has two states: mind and intellect.  The advaitis (monists) mention four states, but that is not important.  In the Bhagavad Gita, Shree Krishna has himself mentioned only two states of the mind: 

                                                    mayyeva mana ādhatsva mayi buddhiṁ niveśhaya

"Arjun!  Offer your mind to me, and offer your intellect also to me."  Arjun thought, "The mind is one, then how is he is asking for two things?"  Shree Krishna said, "Yes!  Yes!  There is only one mind, but it has two states.  When it thinks, it is called the mind, and when it takes decisions, it is called the intellect."

Thus, it is mainly the mind and the intellect that must associate with the Saint.  And of these two, the intellect is more important.  The mind is a mere servant of the intellect.  It simply does what the intellect tells it to do.  You people say time and time again, "Oh!  My mind does not want to think of God.  My mind is telling me to sleep.  My mind is telling me to go away from here."  Granted the mind may be telling you to do all this, but you must learn to control it with the intellect that God has given you.