Hari Aum.
I would like to wish all readers a very happy Janmashtami. May Lord Krishna bless us all, our families and the world at large.
One of the best ways to worship the Divine, aside from mantra japa, is donating to worthy causes. One worthy cause that I would like to suggest is supporting the relief work in Nepal. The horrific flooding that affected that portion of Himalayas last week has left many people in need as entire communities were washed away. There are various aid agencies that are working to provide relief to the people there and I would suggest that donating to support their work would be a good way to celebrate the birthday of Lord Krishna.
I was watching the Mahabharata online recently (the 2013-14 version). I had watched it years ago in Hindi, but this time I am watching it in Malayalam (as I am presently learning this language--which is my mother tongue spoken by my ancestors in Kerala-- and my teacher told me to watch some programmes in the language). Although it has elements of the usual Bollywood drama, it is actually very well made in my view. It truly brings to life the various aspects of human nature, and most of all, the futility of war.
It also shows that there are no real winners in any war-- either on a small scale between people, or on a large scale between countries. We are all parts of a single Divine being. It is not truly in our nature to fight with each other.
We do fight because of our individual egos, something that we each have to deal with all our lives until we attain Self Realisation. But, it is important to keep our egos in check-- otherwise, we will find ourselves in the middle of a Mahabharata in our own lives. And that would very unfortunate.
While tackling our own egos, we also have to deal with other people's egos all our lives-- whether at home, or at work, or in society at large. The best way to deal with our own ego, and those of others, is of course to invoke the Divine. And, in my view, one of the best forms of the Divine to invoke is Sri Krishna, the playful yet serious avatar of Narayana.
Some years ago, I wrote some books on His Lilas as described in the Bhagavatam. However, a substantial portion of His life is described in the Mahabharata-- I have read condensed versions but not the full original one. I am hoping to get hold of this and read it in the coming months. I might then write about bits of it (as I did recently with regard to the bond between Draupadi and Krishna). (As you might have noticed, my reading of the Ramayana has been paused currently; I will return to this again later).
On Krishna's birthday, I just want to say that He is truly a very unique avatar of the Divine. I have read books about many divine avatars and their divine Lilas-- but, in my view anyway, there is no avatar quite so extraordinary and interesting as Him.
Every word, every action of His from birth till His departure involved blessing His devotees, teaching them important lessons about life and protecting them. Although, He is said to have withdrawn His physical form from this planet five-thousand years ago, many people still feel His blessings and protection daily.
Our Gurus tells us that it is not very difficult to connect with Him and to obtain His grace (and many of us who follow their teachings have experienced the truth of their words on some level). All is takes, they say, is to repeat one of His mantras daily, and try on some level to be a decent person (to keep one's own ego in check, and be restrained when dealing with the egos of others). It is very strange but true. He is here today, just as He was all those years ago.
Regarding my own spiritual practice, I am plodding on with my seventh purascharana at a very gentle pace (have committed to 5-9 malas a day based upon my circumstances). I am in the midst of my life as a householder-- there are plenty of responsibilities related to both home and work.
Yet, in some ways, after all these years of being a householder, He has on some level made a sannyasi out of me. I feel more of a sannyasi today than I did many years ago when I was contemplating formal vows of sannyasa.
The reason is very simple. It is one thing to choose God over the world when one has not really experienced what the world really is. It is quite another to choose God over the world after one has experienced a great deal of it-- both the highs and the lows. (When I say 'sannyasa' here, I am talking about an internal state, not the external robes and lifestyle of sannyasa).
Ultimately, when one has been walking the spiritual path for some years, it becomes very clear to most spiritual seekers that God alone is one's true refuge in life. We see that we cannot find true peace and bliss anywhere else. Not in ourselves, and not in others. It is not our fault and it is not the fault of others either. This is just the way we are all made.
All our minds, filled with the three gunas of Prakriti (sattva, rajas and tamas) are designed to be ever-moving, ever-changing and ever-restless on some level. They are not designed to produce lasting peace and happiness-- to ourselves or anyone else (looking for happiness here is like looking for water in the mirage of a desert-- a complete waste of time).
This is the reason Krishna tells Arjuna 'Abhyasena tu Kaunteya!' (Keep practicing, Arjuna/son of Kunti!) when the latter declares the mind is impossible to control (in the Bhagavad Gita). And that is what we all must do if we wish to attain the spiritual goal of life-- abhayasa or practice, every single day.
On that note, I will conclude this post and go off and do some more abhyasa of my own. As usual, the Krishna books that I wrote and published on Amazon Kindle will be available for free download around Janmashtami-- the dates this year are Sunday September 6 to Thursday Sept 10 inclusive (starting midnight PDT); I hope you find inspiration from them for your sadhana.
Shri Krishna sharanam mama. Om Namo Narayanaya, dasoham tava Keshava (the mantra recited in the Sivananda centres).
Hari Aum Tat Sat.
