A Victim of affection

[Guest guest]

Humble Pranams at the divine lotus feet Of our beloved Bhagawan, Continued..................... King Rahugana,who had been trained in spiritual science,was astonished to hear the tachings of Jada Bharata,recognizing him as a saintly person,the King quickly

descended from his palanquin.His material conception of himself as a great monarch had been obliterated,offerring obeisances,his head at the feet of the holy man. "O saintly person,why are you moving through the world unknown to others?who are you?where do you live/why have you come to this place?O spiritual master,I am blind to spiritual knowledge.Please tell me how I may advance in spiritual life." King Rahugana's behavior is exemplary.The Veds declare that everyone,even Kings,must approach a spiritual master in order to gainKnowledge of the soul and the process of reincarnation. Jada Bharata replied,"Because his mind is full of material desire,the living entity takes on different bodies in this material world,to enjoy and suffer the pleasures and pains brought

about by material activity." When one sleeps at night,one's mind creates many dreamlike situations of enjoyment and suffering.A man may dream that he is assciating with a beautiful woman,but this enjoyment is illusory.He may also dream that he is being chased by a tiger,but the anxiety he experiences is also unreal.In the same way,material happiness and distress are simply mental creations,bases on identification with material body and material possessions. When one awakens to his original,spiritual consciousness,he sees that he has nohing to do with these things.One accomplishes this by concentrating one's mind in meditation upon the Supreme LORD. If one fails to constantly fix one's mind on the Supreme Lord and render service to HIM,he must undergo the cycle of

birth and death described by Jada Bharata. "The condition of the mind causes births in different types of bodies,"Jada Bharat said."These bodies may be those of many different species,for when one uses the mind to understand spiritual knowledge,he geta a higher body,and when one uses it only for obtaining material pleasure,he recives a lower body." Jada Bharta compared the mind to a flame in a lamp."When the flame burns properly,the lamp produces brilliant illumination.The mind absorbed in material life brings endless suffering in the cycle of reincarnation,but when the mind is used to cultivate spiritual knowledge,it brings about the original brightness of spiritual life." Jada Bharata then warned the King,"As long as one identifies with material body,one must

wander through out the unlimited universe in different species of life.There fore,the uncontrolled mind is the greatest enemy of the living being. to be continued............. Jai Sai Ram