All the scriptures.....

All the scriptures, from the Vedas to the Ramayana, and all other religious books and spiritual paths to God believe that God is omnipresent. He doesn’t merely permeate everything, but He also resides in ours hearts as paramatma. In this form He is not just a divine presence but also a performer of action. He calculates the consequences of our uncountable accumulated karmas or actions of the past, gives those consequences in the form of our present destiny, and most importantly, He notes our current actions. Actions in this sense are our thoughts, not our physical actions.

Karmas were performed by all great Saints. For example, Arjuna killed millions in the war of the Mahabharat. Hanuman destroyed Lanka. But what was the internal state of their mind? This is what God observed, not their external actions. Similarly, our government has particular rules and laws. Only if a person commits a crime with premeditated intention to cause harm is his action called a crime. If it was an accident, his action won’t be judged a crime. For example, the car a person was driving was in good operating condition, he had a license, and suddenly a man walked in front of his car to commit suicide. He won’t be found guilty of any crime, because he had no premeditated intention. A worldly court can only examine physical evidence. God is not like this. He notes our internal intention, judges it and gives a consequence. God Himself does all this work. If we were to reflect upon and practice this understanding, all crime and wrong actions would come to an end. It also would put an end to all police departments and armies. Otherwise, if a government gave an opportunity for its citizens in the next 24 hours to do whatever they wanted with no consequences, then after 24 hours you could imagine what condition that country would be in. The capacity for this wrongdoing is in all of us, hidden. But due to fear of the law and punishment, we resist acting out in this way.

So what we have to realize is that God is really and truly seated within and He is noting our every thought and organizing the consequences we will receive for that. He won’t listen to our excuses or give us time in court for our case. He will straightaway give us a punishment. This realization has to be practiced. You heard it – that’s fine. You also read it – that is also fine. Still, it’s not enough. It has to be practiced.

For example, you believe your physical father is your father. This is very firm in your understanding. Why? You repeatedly thought, “He is my father.” You did this on the basis of what he and others told you. So to practise the understanding of God’s presence, repeatedly think, “God is seated in my Heart. I am not alone. We are together.”

Dva suparna sayuja sakhaya samannam vriksham parikhasvajatey.

(Shvetashvataropanishad, 4/6)

Ur prerak raghuvansh vibhushana.

(Ramayana)

He is residing in everyone, even in evil rakshasas. Look at the situation that occurred with Hiranyakashipu. He said to Prahlad, “Does God dwell in the home of demons?” Prahlad said, “Yes, He does.” “Well,  is He in this pillar?” “Yes, He is.” Finally when Bhagwan Narsingh appeared, Hiranyakashipu had no doubt about this. So we have to practice this. Everything we have achieved in the world we have accomplished through practice. When you are driving, you simultaneously talk to friends in the car, talk on the phone, see what is behind you, avoid what is on the road, look to the left and right. Is this some special skill that we humans possess? No, this was all accomplished through practice. All the amazing things that you see circus performers do is the result of practice. Just add one more practice to what you already know – practice the presence of God. If you do, you will become peaceful. The amount of anxiety, restlessness and lack of peace in the world is escalating. Whether we become a victim of this or transcend it is in our hands.

God gave us such a machine in the form of the mind, that the intellect can’t go against its own judgments. The mind acts according to the intellect, and the senses act according to the mind. None of these can revolt against each other or strike. Whatever the intellect decides, it follows in a straight line all the way down.

A five year old boy is on his way to school and he passes by a shop that is making jalebis, “Oh, yummy!” But he didn’t bring any money with him today. He thinks, “If I take even one, the shopkeeper will punish me! He has a terrible temper.” With great regret, he longingly gazes at the jalebis as he walks past the store, just because his intellect said, “You will get a beating.” So everything is dependent on the intellect.

Atmanagwam rathinam vidhi shariragwam ratha meva cha…

(Kathopanishad 1/3/3-4)

God gave us a chariot. There is a passenger seated on this. There are horses, who are being guided by bridles. The reins of the bridles are in the hands of a driver, who is determining the direction of the chariot. Why were we given the chariot? The Vedas say you were given this chariot in the form of the body to go to God. The passenger is the soul. The horses are the senses. The reins are the mind. The driver is the intellect. In the world, horses can run away with a chariot, but our chariot is different – as the intellect dictates, so the other parts have to obediently follow.

In the heat of the hot season, who wants to get up in the morning? No matter who it is, everyone feels sleepy. Your spouse shakes you, “Hey, it’s six o’clock.” “6:00??? Oh, no I have to get up to go to the office.” You don’t think, “Just go to sleep! Forget about the office!” If you forget about the office, they will forget about you by firing you. So in all these instances of life, we are careful. Similarly, we have to come to this realization of God’s presence through practice. If we say, “No, I won’t do it,” we will still have to come back to this even if it is after 10,000 lifetimes. Plus if we do it, we attain peace.

If everyone were to accept and follow this, the pious age of satyuga would come again on this earth. Otherwise, every rule and manner of civil behavior we have to externally enforce. This doesn’t create true peace. Instead we think the really important things to do in life are to make more money, act according to our whims, and engage in as many sensual entertainments as possible. These tendencies will only go away when we remember God’s presence. If we don’t practice remembering Him, then the consequence is tension and the suffering that comes from incarnating in lower species – because there is no guarantee that we will receive a human birth in our next life.

Iha che dashkadbodhum prasharirasya visrasah.

 (Vedas)

The human form is only occasionally received in millions of lifetimes.

 Kabahunk kari karuna nar dehi,
deta Isha binu hetu sanehi.

(Ramayana)

God grants this sometimes according to our karmas. Thus, begin by practising this every hour. Don’t say anything aloud. No one has to know what you are doing. For just one second think, “He is seated within.” Then repeat this every 30 minutes. You can still do this while working. You don’t have to enter into meditative trance to do this. Then repeat this every 15 minutes. After this, the feeling, “He really is seated within,” will come naturally.

Think of the pride that a billionaire like Mukesh Ambani or Bill Gates has when they think about their position in life. But what would we feel if we fully realized that supreme God who is the Lord of the universe is seated in our hearts? This feeling would remain and we wouldn’t be able to perform wrong action.

कहौं हरि कहा ? कौन मुहँ लाय ...

कहौं हरि कहा ? कौन मुहँ लाय |

तुम सों पाय पतित पावन प्रभु, चरन शरन नहिं आय |

पढ्यो सुन्यो सब वेद पुरानन, गुन्यो नाहिं इठलाय |

... नित रह लक्ष्य लोकरंजन को, बातन विविध बनाय |

औरन की झूठी निंदा करि, चाहत रसिक कहाय |

अबहूँ नाथ ! ‘कृपालु’ न चेतत, नर तनु बीत्यो जाय ||

भावार्थ- हे श्यामसुन्दर ! तुमसे कौन सा मुँह लेकर, क्या कहूँ ? तुम सरीखा पतितपावन स्वामी पाकर भी तुम्हारी शरण में नहीं आ सका | वेदों, शास्त्रों एवं पुराणों को भली-भाँति पढ़ा और सुना भी, किन्तु अहंकारवश नहीं माना | प्रतिक्षण अनेक प्रकार की रंग-बिरंगी बातों के द्वारा संसार को ही प्रसन्न करने का लक्ष्य रखा | वास्तविक संतों की भी झूठी निन्दा करके अपने आपको संत कहलवाने का प्रयत्न किया | ‘श्री कृपालु जी’ कहते हैं यह अमूल्य मनुष्य शरीर समाप्त होता जा रहा है, फिर भी चेतना नहीं आ रही है |

Hari Guru chumbak Govinda Radhey...

  

Hari Guru chumbak Govinda Radhey,

Man loha shuddhi matra so kinchva dey.

A mother and father have four children. They all live in the same home, share the same environment and eat the same food, but the aim and interest of each is different. All four children went to see a Saint. One of them sincerely followed the Saint’s teachings. One half-heartedly following them and then stopped. One didn’t follow them at all. One criticised the family member who was practising devotion, “Why has he started this ‘Radhey Radhey’ in our home?” Why is there so much difference? This verse gives the reason.

Our mind is filled with the stored impressions of actions from uncountable past lifetimes. This is collectively called sanchit karma. During this time we have committed uncountable sins. There is no such sin, even one such as murder, that we have committed just two or three thousand times. We have performed such actions uncountable times. Because we have been in existence as long as God, we have had uncountable births. If we had committed one murder in uncountable lifetimes, then we have committed uncountable murders, because our lifetimes are innumerable. There is no such sin that we have committed in the thousands and millions; we have committed them all uncountable times.

When all of Dhritarashtra’s sons were killed in the Mahabharat War, he called Shri Krishna. Dhritarashtra knew that Shri Krishna was supreme God. He asked, “You know everything. What sin did I commit that all my children died?” Blind Dhritarashtra at that time was sitting alone and weeping. Shri Krishna said, “How many of your previous lifetimes do you remember?” Dhritarashtra said, “Three lifetimes.” Shri Krishna said, “What is uncountable minus three? Can you calculate this? You can’t even calculate the sins from three lifetimes.” We only see the present, and even in the present we don’t understand what is a right action and what is a wrong action. Not even 1%  of the people in the world understand this, including those who are very knowledgeable. During my lifetime, I have met many great scriptural scholars. They would come to me and ask, “What is sin? What is virtue? What is good? What is bad?” The definition of this is very simple. That amount of time that we remember God or Guru is the amount of time that we do not commit sin. Everything we do apart from this is a sin.

Now a person can calculate how much remembrance of God he has done during the course of his lifetime. He alone is our only relation. It is for realising God that we were given a human birth. Why have we forgotten this and instead of loving Him we love each other? So there is one philosophy that applies to sin and virtue: Whatever time your mind is absorbed in loving remembrance of God is the amount of time you are saved from performing wrong actions. Otherwise, we are always performing wrong actions. For example, you loved our mother. Is this wrong? When you go to the temple and say,

Tvameva mata cha pita tvameva tvameva bandhusch sakha tvameva,

tvameva vidya dravinam tvameva tvameva sarvam mam deva deva.

Do you know the meaning of ‘tvameva‘? It means ‘only You’, not  ‘also You’. This prayer says, “Oh my beloved God, You are my only father, You are my only mother, and You are my only property and wealth.” Yet if a hungry beggar comes comes to the window of your car and starts speaking to you, even though you have $10,000 in your pocket, you will turn your face the other way and say to the driver, “Let’s get out of here!” If you takes something out of your pocket for that beggar, you give the smallest bill you have and throw it at the beggar disdainfully, “Here! Take it!” You have all been like this beggar in uncountable births. How must that poor person have felt when that money was thrown at him? Yet we have all heard and read and believe that God dwells in everyone’s heart. If you are going to give him something, even if it’s just a few pennies, give it with love. This is just your pride. The different ways in which you have hurt others is part of your sin.

So the amount of attraction one feels for God and Guru depends on the extent of the sin he has committed. This is proof positive of how sinful we are. Is our mind attracted to God and Guru or is it attracted to our worldly relations and property? When you are alone you can assess both and then you will know what is your status. It is our material attachment that has not allowed us to go towards God. If we did go towards God, we were just pretending. If we sincerely went towards God, we went some distance and then turned around and went back to our material attachments. Take a magnet, for example. Place a variety of needles around it. Some needles are pure iron, some are 10% iron, some are 20% iron and so on. The needles of pure iron will be immediately attracted to the magnet. The ones mixed with another metal will be attracted slowly. The needles that have very little iron will remain where they are. Our minds are similar to the needles.

Papvant kar sahaj subhau, bhajan mor tehi bhavana.

You people are so lucky. You may be traveling by train or airplane and if someone says, “Radhey” even while yawning, you will immediately think he is a good person, “Oh, he said ‘Radhey’!” You have acquired this attraction through the grace of God and Guru. Otherwise you would never have these positive feelings. You might feel instead that God’s name was painfully piercing your ear like an arrow.

When we were building Shyama Shyam Dham, we set up loudspeakers to start playing kirtan at 3 am. I thought, “Everyone will hear God’s name and feel happy.” It didn’t take even a month before I started receiving complaints and that, too, from so-called holy men who have renounced family and home to live in Vrindaban, “Could you please request the Jagadguru Ji to change the position of the speakers so they are not facing in our direction?” It is only our sins that do not allow us to feel receptive to the divine name.

Yavatpapaistu malinam hridayam tava deva hi.

Our attraction to God and Guru is related to the extent of our sin. If one has a perfectly pure mind, he will be attracted immediately, and that, too, just by sight. So if in the future you wish to know how far you have advanced, you can use this as a measure.