PERFECTION OF MEDITATION

[Guest guest]

In Bhagavad-gita (9.22) Krsna says that He provides for His devotees by giving

them what they lack and preserving what they have. People are very fond of

saying that God helps those who help themselves,

but they do not understand that helping yourself means putting yourself under

Krsna's protection. If one thinks, " Oh, I can help myself. I can protect

myself, " one is thinking foolishly. As long as my finger is

attached to my body, it is useful, and I may spend thousands of dollars to

preserve it. But if this finger is cut off, it is useless and is thrown away.

Similarly, we are part and parcel of Krsna, and helping ourselves means putting

ourselves in our proper position as His parts and parcels. Otherwise we are only

fit to be cast away. The finger can help itself only when situated properly on

the hand and working on behalf of the entire body. If the finger thinks, " I will

separate myself from this body and simply help myself, " that finger will be cast

away and will die. As soon as we think, " I shall live independently of Krsna, "

that is our spiritual death, and as soon as we engage in Krsna's service, as His

part and parcel, that is our spiritual life. Therefore,

helping oneself means knowing one's actual position and working accordingly. It

is not possible to help oneself without knowing one's position. Service means

activity, for when we serve someone, we are acting.

When we serve Krsna, we are preaching Krsna consciousness, or cooking, or

cleansing the temple, or distributing books about Krsna, or writing about Him,

or shopping for foodstuff to offer Him. There are so many ways to serve. Helping

Krsna means acting for Him, not sitting down in one place and artificially

meditating. Krsna consciousness means activity. Whatever assets we have should

be utilized for Krsna. That is the process of bhakti-yoga. Krsna has given us a

mind, and we must utilize this mind to think of Krsna. We have been given these

hands, and we must use them to wash the temple or cook for Krsna. We have been

given these legs, and we should use them to go to the temple of Krsna. We have

been given a nose, and we should use it to smell the flowers that have been

offered to Krsna. Through the process of bhakti-yoga, we engage all these senses

in the service of Krsna, and in this way the senses are spiritualized. In

Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna was

refusing to act, and Krsna was inspiring him to engage in activity. The entire

Bhagavad-gita is an inspiration to work, to engage in Krsna consciousness, to

act on Krsna's

behalf. Krsna never tells Arjuna, " My dear friend Arjuna, don't concern yourself

with this war. Just sit down and meditate upon Me. " This is not the message of

Bhagavad-gita. We are not to refrain from all activity,

but only from those activities that impede our consciousness of Krsna.

Meditation means stopping all nonsensical activity. Those who are advanced in

Krsna consciousness are constantly working for Krsna.

A mother tells only her bad child to sit down and do nothing. If a child can do

nothing but disturb his mother, the mother says, " My dear child, just sit down

here and keep quiet. " But if the child can work nicely, the mother says, " My

dear child, will you please help me do this? Will you go over there and do

that? " Sitting still in one place is just for those who do not know how to work

sensibly. As long as the child sits in one place, he does not raise havoc.

Sitting still means negating nonsense; it is not positive activity. In negation,

there is no life. Positive activities constitute life, and positive activity is

the message of Bhagavad-gita. Spiritual life is not " Don't do this. " Spiritual

life is " Do this! " In order to act properly, there are certain

things that one must know not to do; therefore certain activities are forbidden.

The whole Bhagavad-gita, however, is " do. " Krsna says, " Fight for Me. " At the

beginning of Bhagavad-gita, when Arjuna told Krsna, " I

will not fight, " Sri Krsna said,

kutas tva kasmalam idam

visame samupasthitam

anarya justam asvargyam

akirti-karam ariuna

" My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you? They are not at all

befitting a man who knows the progressive values of life. They lead not to

higher planets, but to infamy. " (Bg. 2.2) Krsna directly tells Arjuna that he is

speaking like a non-Aryan--that is, like one who does not know the spiritual

values of life. So Krsna consciousness does not mean sitting down idly. Krsna

Himself does not sit down idly. All His pastimes are filled with activity. When

we go to the spiritual world, we will see that Krsna is always engaged in

dancing, eating, and enjoying. He does not sit down to meditate. Is there any

account of the gopis meditating? Did Caitanya Mahaprabhu sit down to meditate?

No, He was always dancing and chanting

Hare Krsna. The spirit soul is naturally active. How can we sit down silently

and do nothing? It is not possible. Therefore, after Sri Krsna outlined the

sankhya-yoga system in the Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna frankly said,

yo 'yam yogas tvaya proktah

samyena madhusudana

etasyaham na pasyami

cancalatvat sthitim sthiram

" O Madhusudana [Krsna], the system of yoga which You have summarized appears

impractical and durable to me, for the mind is restless and unsteady. " (Bg.

6.33) Although Arjuna was highly elevated and was Krsna's intimate friend, he

immediately refused to take up this sankhya-yoga system. In essence, he said,

" It is not possible for me. " How could it have been possible? Arjuna was a

warrior, a householder, and he wanted a kingdom. What time did he have for

meditation? He flatly refused to practice this type of editational yoga, saying

that the mind is as difficult to control as the wind (Bg.6.34). That is a fact.

It is

not possible to control the mind artificially; therefore we must engage the mind

in Krsna consciousness. Then it is controlled. If Arjuna found this process more

difficult than controlling the wind, then what of us?

After all, Arjuna was not an ordinary man. He was personally talking with the

Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna, and he proclaimed the mind to be like a great wind. How

can we control the wind? We can control the mind only

by fixing it on Krsna's lotus feet. That is the perfection of meditation.

FOR THE COMPLETE BOOK 'PATH OF PERFECTION' AND OTHER SUCH GREAT BOOKS BY SRILA

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ALWAYS CHANT HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE/ HARE RAMA HARE RAMA

RAMA RAMA HARE HARE.

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Wonderfully said,Sir.Act,act,act, be fully active always,but all our

activity must be related to Krishna,offering to Him; great.Thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

, Pranjal Johry <pranjal_johry

wrote:

>

.. How can we control the wind? We can control

the mind only

> by fixing it on Krsna's lotus feet. That is the perfection of

meditation.

> FOR THE COMPLETE BOOK 'PATH OF PERFECTION' AND OTHER SUCH GREAT