ESSENCE OF ALL ESSENCE

essence

Material world is the world of diseased people where-
* Everyone is suffering from never-ending
disease of cycle of birth and death.
* Everyone may/may not bear qualification like
B.A., C.A., M.A. but everyone is
undoubtedly M.F. (Master of Failure).
An intelligent person understands the disease and progresses to become healthy.
Ask yourself- Are you intelligent?

 

Uprooting the cause :

From morning till night 24*7, we do each and every activity for just ONE thing- Happiness.

We want to eat good food. Why? For happiness!

We want to holiday abroad. Why? For happiness! etc.

Desire for happiness is not wrong. But do we really get success in our endeavors? No !!
What is the reason?
The reason behind this is we are not moving in the right direction. Happiness cannot be attained by these things.
According to Çästras, Happiness is Lord Çré Kåñëa.

raso vai saù (Taittiréya Upaniñad 2.7.1)
The Supreme Lord is Rasa.

Only by attaining Him, one can attain Happiness.

rasaà hy eväyaà labdhvänandé bhavati (Taittiréya Upaniñad 2.7.1)
Only by attaining Rasmaya, Rasa-svarüpa Lord, a living being gets happiness.

Attaining Lord does not mean mere offering of ghee lamps etc. It actually means establishing relationship with Him in one particular rasa (mood of worship)- däsya (mood of servant), säkhya (mood of friendship), vätsalya (mood of parental affection) or mädhurya (mood of conjugal affection- gopé bhäva or maïjaré bhäva)- by rendering loving devotional service.
In this golden age of Kaliyuga, Lord Kåñëa descended as Lord Mahäprabhu to bestow the Highest Rasa- Maïjaré Bhäva (servant-hood of Çrématé Rädhäräné) through which a living entity attains the highest happiness ever, even higher than what Lord Himself relishes.
So, we can understand-

What is to be done?           Bhakti- Maïjaré Bhäva sädhanä.

Why it is to be done?         To attain our eternal need- Happiness.

These questions are usually clear to devotees, who dedicate their lives to bhakti. But still they fail in attaining Happiness…still they have to go through the repeated cycle of birth and death. Why?

bahu-janme yadi kare çravaëa kirtana
tabo tau na päye kåñëa pate prema dhan

This is because one fails to understand HOW to do bhakti.
It is commonly seen that some believe by just talking about Rädhä Kåñëa, one can attain siddhi. According to some, dedicating life in Vaiñëava sevä will do everything. There are yet another who refrain themselves from gross and subtle sense gratification. But it should be understood that just as one needs to take wholesome diet to be healthy (not mere taking of carbohydrates alone or fats alone or proteins alone etc.; rather carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals, vitamins etc. in appropriate proportions), similarly one needs to take wholesome spiritual diet.
Alternatively, in a diseased state of body, one is prescribed medicine and is advised to take precautions as well. Similarly, there are 2 Dos and 2 Don’ts which are to be followed to attain our only need, our eternal need of Happiness/Love. This is the Essence of Spirituality.

2dos2donts

Essence of All Essence

Maïjaré Bhäva sädhanä                                       Gross Sense Gratification
Hådya-sparñé Vaiñëava sevä                              Subtle Sense Gratification

Bhakti means LOVING devotional service. It usually happens that as years pass by, devotees forget this word ‘Love’ and just become ritualistic. Every limb of devotional service should be rendered with Love.

Maïjaré Bhäva sädhanä-

It is the unique gift of the causeless mercy of Çréman Mahäprabhu for all the living entities of this Kaliyuga, through which a jéva can attain the highest happiness.

One can inculcate Maïjaré Bhäva sädhanä by-
By reading Gosvämés’ Granthas (who are the Eternal Maïjarés)- Viläpa kusumäïjalé, Rädhärasa sudhänidhi, etc. and learning sevä paripäöé (the expertise with which the nitya siddha maïjarés render service to Çrématé Rädhäräné).
By associating with maïjaré bhäva sädhakas.

Heart-touching Vaiñëava sevä-

Rendering not just vaiñëava sevä but ‘heart touching, manomayé  vaiñëava sevä. It implies that service should be done as per the mind of the vaiñëava being served- the way the Guru/Vaiñëava wants, not as per one’s own likes/dislikes. In fact, that which is not manomayé is not sevä, it is just satisfying one’s own false ego.

Gross sense gratification-

Sense gratification is actually a misnomer, for that which is dead, cannot be gratified. The senses- eyes, ears, nose, skin, tongue are all dead. They can never be gratified. But out of ignorance, one engages in providing so-called good food (pizza, burger etc.- which are also dead) to the tongue (dead), music (dead) to the ears (dead), fragrance (dead) to the nose (dead), movies etc. (dead) to the eyes (dead) etc. Think rationally- if one dead thing (sense object) meets another dead thing (senses), how can you, the totally spiritually being, be happy. Intelligent person understands this and it is natural for him to refrain from such silly activities.

Subtle sense gratification-

Desire to make or actually making the other person act according to oneself is subtle sense gratification. This desire arises out of ignorance. Mind, intelligence and false ego form the subtle body (which are all dead). Desire to make others act according to oneself is the desire of the mind. You are not mind! So, if anyone’s gross/subtle body (dead) acts according to your subtle body, how can one attain anything?
Moreover, Lord being All- Perfect, All-complete never becomes obstacle in any jéva’s little independence.

iti te jñānam ākhyātaṁ
guhyād guhya-taraṁ mayā
vimṛśyaitad aśeṣeṇa
yathecchasi tathā kuru
(Bg 18.63)
One can truly live this çloka only when one is in particle of service consciousness.
Thus, by following 2 Dos and 2 Don’ts simultaneously, one can become healthy and his eternal need of happiness can end.
One thing we all must understand that just as a diseased person can become well under the guidance of physician, similarly, we are eternally diseased and can get rid off our illness (repeated birth and death, miseries) following 2 Dos and 2 Don’ts ONLY under constant guidance/close observation of the Spiritual Master.

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