Radha Ashtmi Message
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| Baby Radha in the courtyard of Mother Kriti and King Vrishabhanu in Barsana |
The blessed souls. Those who are here, they have a desire to know more about Radha Rani, to experience Her Grace, and to have Her vision. That’s why you have come here on this celebration of the appearance day of Radha Rani. This desire has to be deepened. That’s all you have to do, nothing else. We sometimes know something, and we forget. So we keep on reminding you every time that you must remember your true desire of finding Radha and Krishna.
Not very long, just 5,000 years ago, Radha Rani was on this earth planet for 125 years, in Barsana, in India. And very recently, 500 years ago, the same Radha Rani appeared as Chaitanya Mahaprabhuji and revealed the true Bliss of Her leelas through chanting and Hari bol, to all the souls, whoever came close to him. Like a free gift to every soul. But those who came to him, they had different experiences. Some received something. Some received enlightenment of Radha Rani. And some went back with a critical heart. It depends what kind of heart and mind you have. You have to have a faithful mind and dedicated heart. Then you receive the Grace of Radha Rani—not without that. She is Gracing all the time, 24 hours, to all the souls of the world, but you have to desire to experience that Grace. That’s all you have to do.
In desiring to experience Her Grace, we have some problems. Our attachments, our commitments, our faith, our belief, our rituals, our style of study, all those things come in front: “Oh! This mahatma has said that thing, this book says that thing, he has said this thing, what shall I follow?” All these confusions. If you go to the true desire of your heart, directly, without any ifs and buts, only one thing you will find: “Oh, I desire the supreme love of God.” That’s all. Your heart only desires the supreme love of God, nothing else. But that desire is clouded with your intellectual confusions. So you have to remove your confusion and keep desiring. You see, you start a small fire, like lighting a candle. Just blow and it is gone. But if you protect that fire, it may grow into a big fire. It could even become a very big fire, but you have to protect it at first. Likewise, you have the desire to find supreme God, Radha Krishna. This means you have the desire to find true love. And love is Radha and Krishna. You have the desire to find Radha and Krishna.
So, this desire you already have, but it’s clouded with your mental confusions. Remove your confusions...desire will itself grow, by itself. The only duty of a soul is to love God, and there’s no other duty. That’s it. Sarvadharman parityajya mamekam sharanam vraj (Gita 18/66), Gita says. Parityajya. No other commitment, except one commitment. If you leave this one commitment, to love God, only then you have other commitments.
There are three steps of devotion. Just like when you are going to make some food, you prepare something. Preparation. Then cooking. Then eating. There are three steps.
Preparation...so preparation is that if you do your work, your duties, fulfill your commitments, be a good person, help others, perform good works—these are all good things. You have to rise from that. When you rise to the next level (devotion), then you are automatically doing good things, without thinking. But if you don’t do devotion, and don’t do good work, then you go down and do wrong work. So when you rise higher, automatically you are doing all the duties of the world, automatically. So Krishna says, “Sarvadharman parityajya. Don’t think of any other thing, just come to Me. If you come to Me, then you have done all duties of the family and nation and the society and everything. It’s all done.”
So, we have to remove this kind of confusion about the path of devotion. Here is a very simple way to understand: you always wish to pick the topmost. Suppose you have some disease. Go to a doctor. No, no, go to a specialist. Hmm no, go to a big specialist, the top doctor of America. Yes. What he says, that will be right. They are all doctors, but to get the best advice you go to the top, top specialist. Then you forget the rest and what they say.
So, likewise, go to the very, very top Masters, and forget the rest. There’s only four top Masters in the world, and then two more; so you can say six top Masters. That’s all. Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Nimbarkacharya, Madhvacharya, Vallabhacharya, Chaitanya Mahaprabhuji. Out of six, four were called Jagadgurus. They are top, top Masters. And the last one, Chaitanya Mahaprabhuji, he incorporated the philosophy of all the previous five top Masters. Whatever they say, that is the path. What do others say? Just forget the rest. This is a simple way to find the true path to God—a very simple path.
Shankaracharya (who did Krishna devotion himself) said, “Shudhayatiheenantaratma krishnpadambhoj bhaktimrite. Without Krishna devotion the heart cannot be purified.” And he wrote a full book “Prabodh Sudhakar” in the praise of Krishna. That’s Shankaracharya. He never said, “Follow the path of gyan.” He described the path of gyan but he did not say to follow it. He explained who could follow it: only the one who is extremely renounced, who has absolutely no attachment, no desire of the world—that person may follow the path. He explained about this path, but he didn’t advise everyone to follow this path. He never advised that. He said, “Do bhakti, Krishna bhakti.” That’s what he said.
Nimbarkacharya also only showed the path to Radha and Krishna. Love Him; that’s all. Adore Him. Vallabhacharya, love Krishna. Madhvacharya, love any form of God, Vishnu, Ram or Krishna. Ramanujacharya, love Krishna, Ram, Vishnu, any Form of God you want. So all these acharyas, they are saying love. Dedicate yourself with humbleness; that’s the path. There is no other path.
Gyan and karm, they are not the path; they are just physical practices. You do good karm physically. You do some yog physically. Where is your mind? Mind must have bhakti. Mind should be in bhakti. Then you do whatever you like. If you are doing bhakti whole-heartedly, you are on the path. So all these top Masters described and prescribed doing bhakti.
Bhakti means humbleness. Mahaprabhuji thought, “Bhakti with humbleness? But how to do bhakti? Loving Krishna, thinking of Krishna? How to do it in daily life?” So he introduced a very simple practice of devotion—very simple: “Oh, just think of Radha and Krishna, and chant the name of Radha and Krishna. Sing Their leelas. If you talk to each other, discuss about devotional things.” He called it nam sankirtan, pad sankirtan. So for his whole life he distributed the love through nam sankirtan and pad sankirtan. A simple path. And other paths? He says they are not for kaliyug (the age we are in now). They are for other yugas. The simple path of devotion to Radha and Krishna is loving Him through chanting of His name or chanting of His leelas. That’s what we teach through our organization and through Radha Madhav Dham: that you should follow the right path of devotion, through chanting, remembrance, and loving Radha and Krishna. And one day you may experience the true Bliss of Radha Krishna. So in this way there is no intellectual confusion.
What happens if you keep on practicing something wrong for a long time? It creates a conditioned reflex in your mind. Then mind goes to the wrong thing—not to the right thing. This is what happens. Suppose a person is reading a lot of books on yog and gyan and advait and vedant and this thing or that thing, and the he starts doing Krishna devotion. His mind goes back...gyan, gyan, gyan. What happens is that by reading and thinking of those wrong practices and following the wrong path, you commit transgressions indirectly, unknowingly. This means neglecting or ignoring knowingly or unknowingly any form of bhakti or any form of God becomes a transgression. So those who follow other kinds of paths, they indirectly ignore the personal Grace of the personal form of God. Then that creates a negativity in the mind and that blocks their receptivity for pure Divine love. But again if they are determined they can understand intellectually and follow the right path. They may come to the right path.
There is no confusion in our scriptures. All our Saints have described the path to God very clearly—all the Saints. They proclaimed: “I am telling with my raised hand! Please follow this path.” What else could they have said! Krishna says, “It’s My promise. Na me bhaktah pranashyati! My devotee never falls. Become My devotee, then I’ll help you and protect you from falling. And if you are not My devotee then maya will grab you and you will fall by yourself.”
So in this way, the path is very simple, but you have to understand it. And when your understanding is firm and deepened, then automatically your desire to find Radha and Krishna will grow and you will feel that really you are experiencing devotional bliss in your heart. It’s a simple path which all the Saints have described in their writings. I told you in gist.
So this occasion of Radha Ashtmi is something very, very special. Remember Radha Rani and Krishna both are one, not two. Radha is Krishna, Krishna is Radha. Love both, or either of Them, and it is all correct. They appear on the earth planet for us, for the souls, so you can understand the greatness of Their love. God Shiv witnessed it Himself. He became evidence that Radha’s love is so great that He said, “I also desire to receive that love.” Maha Lakchmi and Maha Vishnu also did such leelas that proved that Krishna love is so great. Maha Lakchmi came from Vaikunth abode to experience the Bliss of maharas, but She could not experience that Bliss. She had to stand outside the raas mandal. She could only watch maharas happen. It is so great? Yes, it is so great. And such a great love could be given to any soul in the world? That’s correct, to any soul. So how do I receive it? Only by desiring it whole-heartedly all the time, 24 hours a day. That’s all you have to do. How do I increase the flame of desire? Reduce your intellectual confusions, and do your devotions regularly, that’s all.
Courtesy of Radha Madhav Dham Texas USA ( JKP Main Ashram in USA )
Not very long, just 5,000 years ago, Radha Rani was on this earth planet for 125 years, in Barsana, in India. And very recently, 500 years ago, the same Radha Rani appeared as Chaitanya Mahaprabhuji and revealed the true Bliss of Her leelas through chanting and Hari bol, to all the souls, whoever came close to him. Like a free gift to every soul. But those who came to him, they had different experiences. Some received something. Some received enlightenment of Radha Rani. And some went back with a critical heart. It depends what kind of heart and mind you have. You have to have a faithful mind and dedicated heart. Then you receive the Grace of Radha Rani—not without that. She is Gracing all the time, 24 hours, to all the souls of the world, but you have to desire to experience that Grace. That’s all you have to do.
In desiring to experience Her Grace, we have some problems. Our attachments, our commitments, our faith, our belief, our rituals, our style of study, all those things come in front: “Oh! This mahatma has said that thing, this book says that thing, he has said this thing, what shall I follow?” All these confusions. If you go to the true desire of your heart, directly, without any ifs and buts, only one thing you will find: “Oh, I desire the supreme love of God.” That’s all. Your heart only desires the supreme love of God, nothing else. But that desire is clouded with your intellectual confusions. So you have to remove your confusion and keep desiring. You see, you start a small fire, like lighting a candle. Just blow and it is gone. But if you protect that fire, it may grow into a big fire. It could even become a very big fire, but you have to protect it at first. Likewise, you have the desire to find supreme God, Radha Krishna. This means you have the desire to find true love. And love is Radha and Krishna. You have the desire to find Radha and Krishna.
So, this desire you already have, but it’s clouded with your mental confusions. Remove your confusions...desire will itself grow, by itself. The only duty of a soul is to love God, and there’s no other duty. That’s it. Sarvadharman parityajya mamekam sharanam vraj (Gita 18/66), Gita says. Parityajya. No other commitment, except one commitment. If you leave this one commitment, to love God, only then you have other commitments.
There are three steps of devotion. Just like when you are going to make some food, you prepare something. Preparation. Then cooking. Then eating. There are three steps.
Preparation...so preparation is that if you do your work, your duties, fulfill your commitments, be a good person, help others, perform good works—these are all good things. You have to rise from that. When you rise to the next level (devotion), then you are automatically doing good things, without thinking. But if you don’t do devotion, and don’t do good work, then you go down and do wrong work. So when you rise higher, automatically you are doing all the duties of the world, automatically. So Krishna says, “Sarvadharman parityajya. Don’t think of any other thing, just come to Me. If you come to Me, then you have done all duties of the family and nation and the society and everything. It’s all done.”
So, we have to remove this kind of confusion about the path of devotion. Here is a very simple way to understand: you always wish to pick the topmost. Suppose you have some disease. Go to a doctor. No, no, go to a specialist. Hmm no, go to a big specialist, the top doctor of America. Yes. What he says, that will be right. They are all doctors, but to get the best advice you go to the top, top specialist. Then you forget the rest and what they say.
So, likewise, go to the very, very top Masters, and forget the rest. There’s only four top Masters in the world, and then two more; so you can say six top Masters. That’s all. Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Nimbarkacharya, Madhvacharya, Vallabhacharya, Chaitanya Mahaprabhuji. Out of six, four were called Jagadgurus. They are top, top Masters. And the last one, Chaitanya Mahaprabhuji, he incorporated the philosophy of all the previous five top Masters. Whatever they say, that is the path. What do others say? Just forget the rest. This is a simple way to find the true path to God—a very simple path.
Shankaracharya (who did Krishna devotion himself) said, “Shudhayatiheenantaratma krishnpadambhoj bhaktimrite. Without Krishna devotion the heart cannot be purified.” And he wrote a full book “Prabodh Sudhakar” in the praise of Krishna. That’s Shankaracharya. He never said, “Follow the path of gyan.” He described the path of gyan but he did not say to follow it. He explained who could follow it: only the one who is extremely renounced, who has absolutely no attachment, no desire of the world—that person may follow the path. He explained about this path, but he didn’t advise everyone to follow this path. He never advised that. He said, “Do bhakti, Krishna bhakti.” That’s what he said.
Nimbarkacharya also only showed the path to Radha and Krishna. Love Him; that’s all. Adore Him. Vallabhacharya, love Krishna. Madhvacharya, love any form of God, Vishnu, Ram or Krishna. Ramanujacharya, love Krishna, Ram, Vishnu, any Form of God you want. So all these acharyas, they are saying love. Dedicate yourself with humbleness; that’s the path. There is no other path.
Gyan and karm, they are not the path; they are just physical practices. You do good karm physically. You do some yog physically. Where is your mind? Mind must have bhakti. Mind should be in bhakti. Then you do whatever you like. If you are doing bhakti whole-heartedly, you are on the path. So all these top Masters described and prescribed doing bhakti.
Bhakti means humbleness. Mahaprabhuji thought, “Bhakti with humbleness? But how to do bhakti? Loving Krishna, thinking of Krishna? How to do it in daily life?” So he introduced a very simple practice of devotion—very simple: “Oh, just think of Radha and Krishna, and chant the name of Radha and Krishna. Sing Their leelas. If you talk to each other, discuss about devotional things.” He called it nam sankirtan, pad sankirtan. So for his whole life he distributed the love through nam sankirtan and pad sankirtan. A simple path. And other paths? He says they are not for kaliyug (the age we are in now). They are for other yugas. The simple path of devotion to Radha and Krishna is loving Him through chanting of His name or chanting of His leelas. That’s what we teach through our organization and through Radha Madhav Dham: that you should follow the right path of devotion, through chanting, remembrance, and loving Radha and Krishna. And one day you may experience the true Bliss of Radha Krishna. So in this way there is no intellectual confusion.
What happens if you keep on practicing something wrong for a long time? It creates a conditioned reflex in your mind. Then mind goes to the wrong thing—not to the right thing. This is what happens. Suppose a person is reading a lot of books on yog and gyan and advait and vedant and this thing or that thing, and the he starts doing Krishna devotion. His mind goes back...gyan, gyan, gyan. What happens is that by reading and thinking of those wrong practices and following the wrong path, you commit transgressions indirectly, unknowingly. This means neglecting or ignoring knowingly or unknowingly any form of bhakti or any form of God becomes a transgression. So those who follow other kinds of paths, they indirectly ignore the personal Grace of the personal form of God. Then that creates a negativity in the mind and that blocks their receptivity for pure Divine love. But again if they are determined they can understand intellectually and follow the right path. They may come to the right path.
There is no confusion in our scriptures. All our Saints have described the path to God very clearly—all the Saints. They proclaimed: “I am telling with my raised hand! Please follow this path.” What else could they have said! Krishna says, “It’s My promise. Na me bhaktah pranashyati! My devotee never falls. Become My devotee, then I’ll help you and protect you from falling. And if you are not My devotee then maya will grab you and you will fall by yourself.”
So in this way, the path is very simple, but you have to understand it. And when your understanding is firm and deepened, then automatically your desire to find Radha and Krishna will grow and you will feel that really you are experiencing devotional bliss in your heart. It’s a simple path which all the Saints have described in their writings. I told you in gist.
So this occasion of Radha Ashtmi is something very, very special. Remember Radha Rani and Krishna both are one, not two. Radha is Krishna, Krishna is Radha. Love both, or either of Them, and it is all correct. They appear on the earth planet for us, for the souls, so you can understand the greatness of Their love. God Shiv witnessed it Himself. He became evidence that Radha’s love is so great that He said, “I also desire to receive that love.” Maha Lakchmi and Maha Vishnu also did such leelas that proved that Krishna love is so great. Maha Lakchmi came from Vaikunth abode to experience the Bliss of maharas, but She could not experience that Bliss. She had to stand outside the raas mandal. She could only watch maharas happen. It is so great? Yes, it is so great. And such a great love could be given to any soul in the world? That’s correct, to any soul. So how do I receive it? Only by desiring it whole-heartedly all the time, 24 hours a day. That’s all you have to do. How do I increase the flame of desire? Reduce your intellectual confusions, and do your devotions regularly, that’s all.
Courtesy of Radha Madhav Dham Texas USA ( JKP Main Ashram in USA )
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