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Seven Ways In Which Hearing Sacred Texts Purifies the Mind

January 30th, 2009

Seven Ways In Which Hearing Sacred Texts Purifies the Mind

Hearing (sravanam) is the conduit of knowledge. It is thus the first principle in the practice of spiritual life. Without gaining faith in a spiritual goal by first hearing about it from an authoritative source, why would anyone be inspired to take up an arduous path of spiritual practice? And even if one did, without sravanam how would one understand the intricacies of that practice?

Inspiration and instruction are just two of the ways in which sravanam purifies the mind. The following is an analysis of seven ways (including inspiration and instruction) in which hearing sacred bhakti texts purifies the mind of an aspiring bhakta:

  1. As yoga: “Yoga” means to restrain the mind. When one attentively hears bhakti-sastra the mind becomes concentrated with single pointed attention and neglects all other mental impulses. Sravanam is thus (bhakti) yoga.
  2. As very effective yoga: The efficacy of a particular yoga process is gauged in its ability to facilitate absorption in the object of one's meditation. When hearing, sastra, which is replete with appealing stories and philosophy about the all-attractive Divine, one's mind spontaneously flows to the object of meditation. Hearing sacred texts is thus a far more riveting meditation than controlling the mind by one's will power alone.
  3. As an object of meditation with potency: Absorption in an object serves as a conduit to imbibe the qualities of that object, just as an iron rod absorbed in fire becomes fire-like. Sastra is sabda-brahman, divinity in its sound form. Meditation on sastra thus makes one divine-like.
  4. As a source of knowledge: We have unlimited mental imprints (samskaras), many of them bad, which degrade our consciousness. Sacred texts elucidate dharma, the science of responding to the world to elevate the general tenor of the mind.
  5. As effective teaching: Sastra exposes illusion and promotes detachment. In bhakti-sastra this challenge is often placed carefully within charming stories and illustrated by memorable examples, helping the reader to more effectively imbibe spiritual wisdom.
  6. As a source of role models: The most powerful way to invoke positive self-transformation is the emulation of appropriate role models. Even adolescents who imitate the bravado of their favorite athletes, or follow the sensuous appeal of their favorite popular musician or movie star, gradually become like them. Similarly by sincerely hearing about the exemplars of devotion from bhakti-sastra, one naturally emulates their life and absorbs their devotion.
  7. As a process where one's spiritual attainment is not limited to the fruits of one's endeavor: The Divine is naturally responsive to devotion. Thus by attentively hearing with devotion about the Divine (which is the subject of bhakti-sastra), the obstacles to one's focus and meditation are naturally removed by Divine grace. This phenomenon—how the process of sravanam bears fruit beyond the limits of one's effort by grace—is described in the bhakti-sastras themselves:

     
    “Sri Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.” (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.1.17)

 

Karttika Journal | Japa Thought V

November 7th, 2008

November 7, 2008
Sri Govardhana

Japa Thought V

I felt bad this morning; digestion was not complete, sleep was interrupted— I felt fatigued. On such days, in terms of chanting, I almost feel like, “What's the use?” To my surprise I had my best chanting this month by far, despite being challenged from a yogic perspective. I contemplate why:

Chanting is not mechanical. It descends by mercy. Perhaps because of intense engagement in Karttika, I have no time for offenses to the holy name, especially vaisnava-aparadha. The channel of mercy is thus open and flows without obstruction from above.

Karttika Journal | Japa Thought IV

November 5th, 2008

November 5, 2008
Sri Govardhana

Japa Thought IV

Concentration is a faculty of the mind. To be a successful chanter it must be activated. In Bhajan Rahasya, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur recommends how: give special focus to just one couplet of the name. A friend similarly advised, “concentrate on one mantra at a time with single-mindedness.” It’s the same concept—if we activate our concentration in a limited focus, it will remain focused in a greater context.

In other words, if one focuses on the first couplet of the holy, it is likely that the faculty of concentration will remain active for the rest of the mantra, and by the time one’s concentration wanes, he is again activating it for the first couplet of the next mantra.

Karttika Journal | Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance Day Festival

November 2nd, 2008

November 2, 2008
Srila Prabhupada's Disappearance Day Festival
Sri Govardhana

I'm scheduled to speak next. Suddenly the gateman shows up at the temple door. A delivery awaits me downstairs. I've been pushing the printers to have my book, Japa Mediations: Contemplations on the Holy Name, ready by Karttika, but as usual, despite all promises, it was delayed. I ponder: “What a coincidence! My book appears exactly as I am about to speak on Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance Day. What does it mean?” Whatever it means, it is certainly auspicious. I place my book at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada as an offering for his pleasure. I pray that he may be pleased by my humble attempt to encourage the pure chanting of the holy name.

Karttika Journal | October 22, 2008

October 22nd, 2008

October 22, 2008
Vrindavana

Today I tagged along with Indradyumna Swami and BB Govinda Swami on their daily morning jaunt around Vrindavana at 4:00 AM. It's quite dark. While passing the Yamuna I heard sounds of joy to my left. The sounds were coming from a group of twenty or thirty pilgrims bathing in the early morning darkness. “It is austere!” I thought. I recalled the discussion from the previous day: the satisfaction of mind that comes from doing one's duty despite inconvenience.

Karttika Journal | Austerity

October 20th, 2008

October 20, 2008
Sri Govardhana

Austerity

According to the Bhagavad-gita, one of the symptoms of austerity in the mode of goodness is satisfaction of the mind (prasadamanah). It seems contradictory. How can something pleasing, such as satisfaction of the mind, be an austerity?

Austerity means to tolerate the pushing of the mind and senses for a higher cause. Satisfaction of the mind means attaining the feeling of happiness that comes in goodness when we act for purification. Austerity in the mode of goodness thus means to accept the mental satisfaction that naturally comes from doing what’s right despite the pushing of the impulses of the mind to satisfy those desires. In other words, it is difficult to sacrifice our drive and restlessness even for mental satisfaction.

As an example, one devotee discussed a life changing and extended obligation he had to undertake to become the personal care giver of a chronically ill relative that had no other means of help. He described how difficult it was to perform that arduous duty, but how purifying and satisfying it was for his consciousness.

Conclusion: We should be satisfied with the positive transformations of the mind in goodness that come from righteousness in lieu of the temporary happiness that comes from the fulfillment of lower modes.

Karttika Journal | Cooperation

October 19th, 2008

October 19, 2008
Sri Govardhana

Cooperation

Karttika means Vaisnava-sanga every night. It’s a thoughtful group; we read for two hours, first from Bhagavad-gita and then Caitanya-caritamrita. We patiently hear and if something needs clarification we consider it from different angles to elicit a clearer meaning.

One concept discussed today was cooperation. Cooperation, it was concluded, is difficult in the mode of passion as a symptom of passion is attachment. One attached to the results of one’s activities will resist accepting ideas that supplant or threaten those attachments. Cooperation is thus possible in the mode of goodness where one is detached and can enter discussions without prejudice. In such a sanga the will of God can manifest without resistance.

Karittka Journal – Japa Thoughts

October 14th, 2008

October 13, 2008
Sri Govardhana

My book, Japa Meditations: Contemplations on the Holy Name, is coming out by the end of the month. It describes over seven years of Karttika “Japa Thoughts”. This year I wasn't planning to focus on another journal for Karttika. “How many ‘Japa Thoughts’ could I come up with?” I thought. Today I got an encouraging request to be updated on my stay in Govardhana. I thus reconsidered my decision. I concluded that if the journal serves as an impetus to others in spiritual life, then I should continue it as a service to the devotees.

 

October 14, 2008
Sri Govardhana

Japa Thought I

Today I visited a friend, a serous sadhaka, who is here in Govardhana for Karttika. He shared his sincere objective for this month “to chant with affection.” He asked my opinion. I offered my humble realization:

“Affection comes from the experience of mercy. Mercy requires humility. If we want to chant with affection we have to beg the acaryas for help and experience their mercy.”

He then shared with me Maha-nidhi Swami's advice to him:

“The Gosvamis wrote astakams (prayers in eight verses) exactly for this reason. They didn't just write them for others. The astakams always end with a benediction that one will get devotion if they were chanted sincerely. Their actual method was to chant these astakams and pay full obeisances with each stanza, imbibing the meaning of the prayer and begging for mercy. That's substantiated in the sixth verse of the Sri Sad-gosvami-astakam where it is described that the Gosvamis ‘were engaged in chanting the holy names of the Lord and bowing down in a scheduled measurement.’ So this was their method for developing affection for nama bhajan.”

Vyasa Puja Offering to Srila Prabhupada

August 25th, 2008

nama om visnu padaya krsna prestaya bhutale
srimati bhaktivedanta swamin iti namine

namaste sarasvati deve gaura vani pracarine
nirvesesa sunyavadi pascatya desatarine

Every moment we are confronted with choices. If we make bad ones we suffer. How to know what choices to make? The answer is sastra, the infallible guide on how to respond to the innumerable changing permutations of destiny that fate throws in our path.

Take the simple example of food. We have so many decisions everyday about how to respond to the permutations of taste, just one of the objects of the senses: What to eat? How to eat? When to eat? How to control oneself? The answer is found in sastra.

If we doubt how important such knowledge is, we need only look around and observe the relationship people have with food when they don’t have sound instruction. And even when someone has a healthy diet, they still may not properly relate to food without sastra, not knowing how essential it is to offer it to God in devotion.

And there are tougher choices: What to do in the face of the unavoidable whips of the world, such as disease or even death? Just see how terrified people are when they lack vision of life’s inevitable challenges and how to respond to them.

We need knowledge not only to understand how to react to destiny, but how to see God in the world, beyond the world, and ultimately to realize our relationship with Him. All such realizations are dependent on the guidance of sastra.

So my faith rests in sastra. I am not talking about being a scholar, but having firm trust in a source of reference that helps one know the proper utility of the objects and situations that destiny puts in ones path. In other words, by solid testimony (sastra) I’ve learned to interact for my temporal and eternal benefit with the myriad of objects and situations placed on my life’s journey.

Sure, I’ve sometimes made mistakes in understanding its meaning. And yes, some of its details don’t always neatly fit into my present frame of reference. But if I am honest and reflect on my life, and especially if I compare it to the life of those lacking such guidance, I’ve been indubitably blessed with the most profound and practical knowledge.

And how did I become fortunate? It is grace only! And that grace appeared to me in the form of a pure devotee who not only taught me sastra, but also lived it fully. I am thus indebted beyond words to Srila Prabhupada. What greater blessing than a vision of reality through one who has seen the truth?

Properly fitted glasses can perfect one’s distorted vision, but one can easily forget how much his sight is dependent on external means. Similarly we tend to forget how much of our world is visible only by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada who fitted us with the lens of sastra. Thus everyday, and especially on his Vyasa-puja, I reflect how much I am dependent on the grace of Srila Prabhupada through the words of Srila Narottama dasa Thakur:

“He opened my darkened eyes and filled my heart with transcendental knowledge.”

I pray never to forget his mercy.

Dhanurdhara Swami

All Living Beings Subsist On Food Grains

July 28th, 2008

Hari-kirtana’s company, Mantra Media Design, was asked to film a luncheon for the most prestigious international economics think tank in Washington, whose board of directors boasts such notaries as Alan Greenspan (the former Chairmen of the Federal Reserve), David Rockefeller (former CEO of Chase Manhattan Bank), Paul O’Neil (former secretary of the Treasury) and other equally important luminaries. Between shoots (not lacking chutzpah) he casually mingled with the guests asking whoever he met a basic common sense question:

“Have you ever considered looking at the world economic situation from a new perspective, or paradigm, resting on the fact that today’s economic system is sustained on the rapidly increasing and practically unlimited need for certain natural resources, such as oil, in a world where these resources are obviously limited?”

He described to me the people there as quite polite and engaging, but was surprised that not one person could answer his question. No one could even confront the possibility that the present world economic system was not sustainable and that perhaps a solution had to be looked for in new directions.

“How is it possible,” I asked him incredulously, “that these brilliant people couldn’t recognize the obvious?” I liked his answer: “I guess that’s what Krishna means in Bhagavad-gita when He described those whose knowledge is stolen by illusion.”

The incident also reminded me of Srila Prabhupada’s clear and prophetic vision about the inevitable failure of an economic system focused on the production and need of increasing luxuries (things not absolutely essential) at the sacrifice of the production of basic necessities:

“But instead of producing food grains, we are producing Goodyear tires. So how we can eat? Now when there is scarcity of foodstuff you cannot eat the Goodyear tires. But people’s attention has been diverted in the industrial activities. They are given allurement, ‘Come here. I shall give you twenty rupees per day. You give up your agricultural activities. You come in the factory. Produce tire, tube, iron steel.’ And so on. So we are violating the orders of Krishna. Krishna says to produce food grain. But we are producing unnecessary things. And therefore you are suffering. Krishna is giving very good advice: annad bhavanti bhutani. You produce sufficient food grain, all over, not only here. Another anartha is this nationalism. Nationalism: ‘This is America.’ ‘This is India.’ ‘This is Africa.’ ‘This is Australia.’ Why? Isavasyam idam sarvam (Sri Isopanisad Mantra 1). Simple thing. Everything belongs to God. Isavasya. There will be no scarcity. I have studied very thoroughly that there are sufficient land still without any cultivation. In Africa I have seen sufficient land. But they are utilizing it for producing coffee and tea. No food grains. So these are the anarthas. Anartha. Unnecessary. People will not die without coffee and tea. But they have made the whole world self-dependent on coffee and tea, mercantile policy. There is anartha.” (Bhag. 1.7.6, September 5, 1976)

 

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