We're All Crazy!

We are all crazy! Find out why in this wonderful video lecture by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj, given in 2002 in Odisha, India.

What is the importance of foot dust?

The scriptures have emphasized special significance of foot dust for devotees on the path of devotion.

It is stated in Chaitanya Charitamrita:

भक्त पदधूलि आर भक्त पद जल भक्त भुक्त अवशेष तिन महाबल,
एई तिन सेवा हैते कृष्ण प्रेम हय |

"The food dust, foot wash and food remnants of a devotee of Shree Krishna has such agreat spiritual power, that an aspiring devotee can easily obtain the divine love of Shree Krishna, through the grace of the Guru, by regularly using these as prasad."

 
Thus, the foot dust of the lotus feet of a Guru and Shree Krishna are extremely important in the process of devotional practice and on the path of devotion.  By using and consuming this as prasad, one can cleanse his heart and mind quicker, thereby become deserving soul of the divine love of Shree Radha Krishna sooner.

 

God is our eternal relative

Our relationship with God is eternal. We do not have this kind of everlasting and endless relationship in this material world. Our material father, mother and son will die one day. They are not our real father, mother or relatives. Our true relationship is only with God.   Why is that?  This word sambandh, or relation, is made from the Sanskrit root bandh, with the prefix sam, and the suffix un.  It means eternal and complete bond.  Do you have such a bond with your father?  No, he passed away twenty five years ago.  And recently my mother also passed away.  One of my daughters has also died.  That means they were not your sambandhis. That is why all the scriptures strongly state:
vedaiśhcha sarvairamevavedyo

vedāñtakṛit vedavidevidevachāham

Shree Krishna says "Arjun! What do you have to understand from all the Vedas and Vedic scriptures? Only this much that your relationship is only with Me, and you must love Me exclusively." Lord Brahma says:

bhagavān brahma kārtsnyen triranvīkṣhya manīśhayā 

tadadhyavatsatkuṭastho ratirātman yato bhavet

He says, "I have churned the Vedas and the other scriptures three times and have come to the conclusion that they declare only one thing - Your eternal relationship is with Shree Krishna alone, and you have to love Him." Shree Maharajji says that God keeps on watching us and eagerly waits in anticipation, "When will this soul come to me and love me? I shall liberate him from all bondages that very instant, and bestow upon him the nectar of Divine love." Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said:
                                                    tomār aham yadi kahe ek bār

Dear Soul! Just say it once with all your heart, "O Shree Krishna! Only you are mine." Not, "You are also mine and this material world is also mine."  Do not divide your affection between your material father at home and your eternal father, God.We could ask God, "You are never seen, and my father at home loves me dearly." God says, "Accept that you are mine." We can question again, "On what basis should we accept this statement?" God says, "Accept it on the basis of knowledge. Understand fully and decide firmly that you are not this material body but the eternal soul.  You will then realize that the soul's eternal relationship is only with God."

You will attain this knowledge of your relationship with God from the Guru.  Understand this from the Guru in various ways, so that you become convinced.  Then on the basis of this knowledge, you must repeated contemplate about your relationship with God.

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.

Meaning of the word 'Krishna' - By Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj

Let us understand the meaning of the word 'Krishna'.

kṛiṣhirbhvāchakaḥ  śhabdaḥ  ṇaṣhch  nivṛitti  vāchakaḥ tvayoraikya  parabrahm  kṛiṣhṇa  ityabhidhīyate  (gopālatāpaniyopaniṣhat)

In the Vedas, the meaning of the word "Krishna" is Satchidanand Brahman (the absolute divinity full of bliss, knowledge, and eternity).

karṣhati paramhañsānām chetañsi iti kṛiṣhṇaḥ

The one who attracts and entices everybody's heart (mind), the Supreme Soul, is Krishna. Even Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, and Lord Shankar (Shiva), are attracted to Shree Krishna. He attracts his own Self! Is it not astonishing?

The Supreme God, Shree Krishna has three main forms -  Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan. Just like the three forms of water - steam, ice, and water itself (liquid). If we decrease the temperature of water it becomes ice, and if we increase the temperature, it becomes steam. Even though we have three forms, they are fundamentally the same. Similarly, there is only one God who manifests himself in three different forms.

Let us now understand the meaning and qualities of these three forms of God.

Brahman - This refers to the all-pervading form of God. Two main powers that are revealed in this form. The first is self-protection and the second is Swaroopanand (personal bliss). The other powers are present but are not manifest. Another important aspect of Brahman is that he is formless.

Paramatma - This refers to that form of God that resides in everyone's heart. The Paramatma also manifests in the personal form as Vishnu, and various avatars such as Narsingh and Varaha.  Many more powers are manifest in the Paramatma form, than in the Brahman form.

Bhagavan - God reveals all his powers in this form. This is the form of Shree Krishna, in which he manifests his divine Names, Form, Pastimes, Abodes, and Associates.

Worldly happiness is temporary

 

Our experience of this world has taught us that there is no real happiness in material objects.  Initially, we may derive a lot of pleasure, but with time, happiness disappears.  We might have embraced our dear ones - mother, father, son, daughter, husband or wife thousands of times and cherished our favorite Indian sweet - rasgulla thousands of times, but we still remain tensed and disturbed.  We have not achieved eternal peace or happiness from any of them. Our ultimate goal is to find happiness but our experience seems to be the opposite.

Pleasures related to the senses are present in this material world as well as in heaven.  It is a myth of this material world that we get immense happiness.  After the initial pleasure, it keeps decreasing with time and finally turns to sadness.   For example, on the arrival of a newlywed bride, we dance, sing and spend lots of money.  Extra care is taken for her.  But after a few days or weeks of association, we tend to be disappointed with her.  We think that, "may be the other bride is good ; the others person's wife is better".

Everybody wants his / her own happiness.  The way you expect to get happiness from your wife, similarly, even your wife expects to get happiness from you.  It is very obvious that there will be a conflict since both are fooling each other to get happiness, but none of them have it.  Both say that they wish for happiness to the other.  But in reality no one wants the happiness of the other.

We think that the attainment of a material object or a person will make us happy.  But when we get it, we no longer derive happiness from it.  We get disturbed because that object no longer provides the same level of happiness as before.  We have all experienced this before, across countless lifetimes.  It is the intellect that must decide that the material world has been created for the body, and not to provide happiness for the soul.

Ananyata - Exclusive Devotion to God

One of the most important requirements for spiritual progress is single minded devotion to God, i.e. Ananyata. 'Ananya' means 'no other', exclusive, or undivided devotion.

'Ananya Prem' means to love just one - God and nobody else.  If an individual's mind is attached to anyone or anything other than God, then he will not be called as an 'Ananya' follower. Loving God alone is what ananyata means.

We are attached to this world because we have forgotten our real identity.  We are eternal souls and souls are servants of God. Just like a machine in a car's engine. If a single wire is not in its place or the battery fails, the car stops working. Similarly, if our mind gets attached to this material world even for a second then we will not achieve our goal.

Let us use another example. Our mind is like a dirty cloth that has accumulated filth since innumerable lifetimes. Our aim is to wash it and make it completely dirt free. If we wash it with fresh, dirt free water, it will become clean.  But, if we wash it with dirty water, the cloth will become dirtier. What do we mean by 'clean' or 'dirty' water? All mayic objects are considered dirty in the divine realm. Only elements related to God are considered clean. Primarily, God and Guru are the purest and divine personalities.

We have only one mind and that should be focused on the divine, and subjects related to the divine only. There should be no place for anything or anyone else related to the mayic modes of sattva, rajas, or tamas. If we detach ourselves from all of these three, then our devotion will be exclusive and will be considered as 'single minded devotion' or 'Ananya'.  Hence, God asks us to be 'Ananya'.  To love God and God alone is what 'Ananya' means.