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I feel Maharajji through his grace connected me with Swamiji who is whole heartedly carrying forward the mission and philosophy of his beloved Guru.  Today I feel very proud to be born in the age of Shree Maharajji, a time when he displayed his loving leelas for the welfare of all souls. But sometimes I also strongly regret not being born a few years earlier; I could have lived my whole life with Shree Maharajji doing his seva. If not that, at least I should have been introduced to him earlier. But like it is said, "Better late than never". Whatever opportunity I have received today to serve Maharajji I consider it as a rare blessing. I dedicate the rest of my life unto the lotus feet of my Gurudev."

Manish Kumar, Bangalore

 

'Devotees Speak' section is a new addition to Sumiran, your monthly spiritual energizer.  We invite you to share your thoughts and experiences with other readers through this section.  Write in to us at editor@jkyog.org

Mount Laurel Retreat with Swamiji - A Divine Experience

View More Photos:     Day 1    Day 2    Day 3    Yoga & Meditation   Parikrama  Bal-Mukund Activities

The East Coast Retreat at Mt Laurel, New Jersey was again a special experience for everyone.  The devotees were blessed to spend three blissful days of sadhana in the inspiring company of Swamiji.  Janmashtami was also celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm. Children also had a wonderful experience at the special Bal-Mukund sessions.

Do attend the Labor Day Retreat and be a part of a special spiritual holiday with Swamiji! Date: Aug 30th (Saturday) to Sept 1st (Monday), 2014  Venue: DFW Marriott Hotel & Golf Club, 3300 Championship Parkway, Fort Worth, TX 76177  Click here for ONLINE registration    Watch Retreat Video

Jul 26th to Aug 1st	Denver, CO	Aug 9th to 15th	Plano, TX
Aug 2nd to 8th	Fort Lauderdale,  FL	Aug 16th to 22nd	Fort Worth, TX

Up-coming Retreats 2014

Aug 30th to Sept 1st	Dallas, TX	Oct 10th to 12th	Radha Madhav Dham, Austin
Sept 19th to 21st	Chicago, IL

For details, click here

Kripalu Leelamrit -  Nectar from Shree Maharajji's Life

Janki Prasad Mathur had a very big house with many servants.  He instructed them that they should bathe Maharajji nicely, give him some nice clothes to wear and cut his hair.  A barber was called in to give Maharajji a good hair cut.  He asked Maharajji, "What kind of hair cut would you like?"  Maharajji said, "Whatever you want."  He said, "Should I do an English cut?"  Maharajji said, "Alright."  The barber gave Maharajji an English hair cut and he was given white kurta pajama to wear.  Maharajji decided to hold satsang at that place and few people were invited. When the invited guests came inside the house, they saw a young boy sitting on the sofa.  They thought that he must be some relative of Mathurji.  Later on they realized that he is the one who is supposed to do the satsang.  However, they were amazed to see how young and charming he looked. 

Maharajji started with the keertan, 'Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare'.  It was very special how Maharajji sang it.  There was so much love and feeling in his voice.  Everyone present really felt the vibrations within their heart.  Slowly, his intensity started increasing and people could see the shivers in Maharajji's body due to the satvika bhav.  Maharajji could be heard saying 'Ha Krishna, Ha Radhey' at times and collapse on the floor.  He had just sung a few times and he fainted unconscious right there. People couldn't believe their eyes.  Everybody was shocked to see such a level of absorption and trance.  No one knew what was going to happen next and their inquisitiveness increased because of that.  Everybody started doing keertan with more enhanced devotion.  After some time Maharajji came back to consciousness and led the keertan again.  They requested Maharajji to have satsang the next as well.  In this way, the satsang continued the next day and it went on for five days. 

Janki Prasad's brother-in-law, Mithan Lal requested Maharajji, "Please come to my house in Agra.  We will have satsang there."  Maharajji agreed and went off to Agra.  Again, regular satsang was organized each night.  On some occasions, Maharajji would chant 'Hari Bol' and start dancing in divine love ecstasy.  People who had known about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu knew that what they were witnessing was very special.  They felt so privileged and lucky to be there. 

While chanting 'Hari Bol', Shree Maharajji would become oblivious of his physical body.  In the highest state of mahabhav he would sometimes start revolving at great speed like a spinning top.  He would spin so fast that one could not see whether his lotus feet were on the ground or above it.  Sometimes he would dance on one foot.  While dancing he would become semi-conscious and sometimes he would lose consciousness altogether and fall on the ground.  He would remain unconscious for hours and everybody would watch him in utter amazement, eagerly hoping that he may regain consciousness. Some of the close devotees, who saw this, started knowing about this and would protect Maharajji from collapsing by holding him.  They would gently place him on the floor and put pillows underneath him for his comfort and safety. 

So for a few months he started doing satsang in western UP and then he came over to eastern UP.  Allahabad, Lucknow, Pratapgarh and Lukerganj became his main centers.

Lectures

Importance of a Guru   by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj     Who is a Mahapurush?  When a soul attains God, its personality changes from a purush (soul or a human being) to a Mahapurush.  That soul is no longer under the influence of Maya, nor does the soul rule over Maya.  He is now beyond the reach of Maya.  Such a personality is called a God-realized Saint, a Mahapurush or a Mahatma.      A soul under the influence of Maya cannot know God because the mind and the intellect are under the control of Maya, and God is beyond Maya.  At present, even if God were to come and stand before us, since our vision is material, we would not be able to receive his divine love.  We have seen God many times during the avatars (descension) of Lord Ram and Shree Krishna, etc.  But due to the influence of Maya, we perceived him as having a material form.  We were not able to perceive the divinity  in him due to material influence.   But a God-realized personality can help you reach God.   Go to him, and he will impart all the scriptural knowledge.  He will teach you who is God?  How does God look?  How to reach him?  He will explain all the required knowledge.  Only a guru can make a soul become God-realized.     The Vedas contain contradictory statements which cannot be reconciled by the human intellect.  Even the most learned of scholars cannot comprehend it.  Hence, one must surrender to a God-realized Saint to acquire knowledge of Vedas and other holy scriptures, instead of attempting to read them by oneself.   The Chandogyopanishad states:    āchāryavān puruṣho hi veda "Only that person can understand the importance of the Vedas who surrenders and takes guidance from a Guru."  This is the statement of the Vedas.  The Bhagavad Gita states: tadviddhi praṇipātena paripraśhnena sevayā  (Bhagavad Gita 4.34) Shree Krishna says to Arjun, "Surrender yourself to a Guru and serve him faithfully.  Learn the secrets of devotion from him by asking him spiritual questions with a curious mind."  Questions such as: Who is God?  What is the soul?  What is Maya?  What is the mind?  What is the intellect? Why are we under Maya?  What is the goal of our life?  How we will attain God?  What should we do to attain God? upadekṣhyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninastattvadarśhinaḥ "It is only through the grace of a Guru that we can attain divine knowledge.  This is because he has practically realized God and also possesses theoretical knowledge of the scriptures." The definition of a true Saint is that he or she should be shrotriya as well as brahmanishth.  Shotriya means, one who has full and thorough knowledge of the scriptures; and Brahmanishtha means one who has practical experience of God. The Vedas say: yasya deve parābhaktihi yathā deve tathā gurau  (Shwetashwataropanishad) One has to do devotion and worship the Guru as good as God.  Why?  Because Guru and God are one, they are the same.  If somebody gives you a hundred rupee note or puts it in an envelope and places it in your hand, it is the same thing. Both have same value.  Similarly, after God-realization, God himself is seated inside the Mahapurush and governs his activities.  Thus, God performs every action of a Mahapurush and that is why God and a Mahapurush are considered one.  After God-realization, the duty of a Mahapurush gets over as he has attained his goal of divine bliss.  Such a saint now sits in the lap of God, who becomes the director, governor, and inspirer of his actions. God Shree Krishna himself says: āchāryaṁ mā vijāniyānnāvamanyeta karhichit  (Bhagavatam) "Do not consider Guru as separate from me.  I am seated in the Guru's body and perform all the actions".  So, the sayings of a Mahapurush are considered as the words of God, and they are devoid from all the faults and doubts.  That is why all the scriptures like Ramayana, which are written by Mahapurushas, are considered as the words of God, and are trusted by us.     So, after God-realization, a Mahapurush gets afflicted by the deep motivation of working for the welfare of humankind.  After this, the cause of all his actions is primarily for the welfare of humankind.  He writes various books, delivers discourses for the welfare of humankind, performs different types of actions, and tolerates various kinds of criticism and humiliation, only in the hope that one day, in some way or the other, individual souls will attain divine bliss  and get rid of all the miseries of the world.  Now, here arises a question.  Why did a Mahapurush get this deep motivation?  Why not God?  Because before God-realization, the Mahapurush was like one of us, an individual soul who experienced miseries and unhappiness in this material world.  Hence, he very well understands the condition of souls under Maya.  That is why he feels pity on us.  So, Saints are constantly concerned and care for the betterment of humankind.   That is why Ved Vyas says: nāsti tattvaṁ guroḥ paraṁ     "There is no entity higher than the Guru."  Also, the Guru has a higher and more important position with respect to the fulfillment of our self interest.  It is the Guru who will reveal to us the divine  knowledge of God.  Without having correct understanding of the philosophy, an individual soul cannot move forward in the spiritual path.  Only a Guru will teach us how to do spiritual practice and guide us in the path of God-realization by removing all the doubts that arise in our minds, so that we progress speedily in our path.

rasika śhiromaṇi śhyām ḍhiga, de ina ko mukha moṛa

At the time of death, most of the things we consider important will fade into insignificance.  How much did we purify our heart?  This will be of paramount importance which God will judge us upon and not our material achievements.  If we are intelligent, we do not have to reach the point of death to decide "Yes, this is important." We can decide right now and direct our life in that direction right away and emphasize on antahkaran shuddhi (purification of the heart).

What are the things that make the heart impure?  Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj has listed them as: lust, greed, anger, pride, hatred, and envy.  If we wish to purify the heart, we have to eliminate these faults.  In this context, heart refers to the ethereal heart, which is the mind and the intellect and ego, or the internal mechanism. 

These defects are the things we need to struggle with, to eliminate them in the process of heart purification.  We should also realize that these are the things which create tension that take away our peace of mind.  Let us discuss these defects one by one.

Greed is such a thing that to satiate it, people spend their whole lives running after it and it still they don't achieve satisfaction.  Similarly, anger is such a defect even the government has made laws for controlling anger.  If you hit somebody, you will be punished and yet people overcome with rage, kill others and commit all kinds of violence.  Government regulations are not sufficient to end it.

However, there is a third one, which is the cause of both anger and greed.  Kripaluji Maharaj names it as desire.  Desire is the mother of both greed and anger.  So how does all this work?  Our scriptures refer to these as diseases of the mind. They are called as manas rog.  Suppose we have one disease of the body, our whole day goes bad.  We say, "O Swamiji! My tooth kept aching all day long.  What a terrible day it was."  With one disease of the body our whole day became bad.  With so many mental diseases tormenting us, what will be the situation of that soul?

Let us try and figure out how all these work.  Why does anger arise?  When desire is not fulfilled, it leads to anger.  Suppose we desire for something and it is fulfilled, what happens then?  This leads to greed. 
The Ramayan says:
Suppose we create a desire.  It can have only two consequences.  Either it will be fulfilled or it will not be fulfilled.  If it is fulfilled, greed will be the result and if it is not, anger is the result.  The Bhagavad Gita says:

"From anger comes delusion.  Delusion gives rise to bewilderment of the memory.  When the memory is bewildered, the intellect is ruined; and when the intellect is destroyed, one suffers a downfall.  And the cause of this is desire."

Now let us find out the cause of desire.  Everybody has got different kinds of desires.  What is the cause of desire? The cause of desire is attachment.  Wherever our mind gets attached repeatedly, it will give rise to desire.  If somebody's mind is attached to tea, the desire for tea arises.  If somebody's mind is attached to his or her child, a repeated desire to see the child arises.  In other words, the cause for desire is not the intrinsic qualities of an object, as we may think, "Oh! Something is very beautiful, hence desire arises." Rather, it is our own attachment. 

This is the philosophy of Bhagavad Gita:

"While contemplating on the objects of the senses, one develops attachment to them.  Attachment leads to desire, fulfillment of desire leads to greed and unfulfillment leads to anger."  The root to all diseases of the mind is attachment.  If we are attached it is natural that desire, anger, greed, etc. will arise.  And if there is no attachment, it is natural there will be no desire, no anger no greed. 

So, let us try and find out what is the cause of attachment? When we repeatedly think that there is happiness in a particular object or person our own contemplation leads to attachment.  Suppose we don't contemplate happiness anywhere. What will happen?  We will have no attachment and when there is no attachment, there is no desire, no greed and no anger. 

Now let us come to the final question in this series.  Why do we contemplate happiness in any object or person?  It is because of our nature.  It is our nature to seek happiness as we are all tiny parts of God, who is the ocean of Bliss and being his tiny part, it is natural that we want happiness. 

Therefore, what is the solution to this problem?  Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj says, "O foolish mind, Do not think of renouncing anger, pride, desires, attachment and greed.   Instead divert them all towards Lord Krishna who is the crest jewel of the rasik Saints."

Sumiran 

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