Kirtan
Lakho re mana, Vrinda vipina-bahar (Prem Ras Madira, Dham Madhuri, pad no. 3)
Hamaro dhan Radha Krishna Radha Krishna Radha (Braj Ras Madhuri, part 1, page no. 242, kirtan no. 130)
Shyama Shyam sharan gahu re mana (Prem Ras Madira, Siddhant Madhuri, pad no. 101)
Radhey Radhey Govind bolo re (in the same tune)
Lecture notes:
Purification of the mind -
We have only one task to accomplish - to purify our mind. We cannot attain God, nor can we transcend Maya on our own. Not just us - even great yogis and sages who perform severe penances cannot overcome Maya nor attain God. This is because all the means at our disposal are material; they are made of Maya. We can only perform spiritual practices or austerities through our body, senses, mind, and intellect. All these are made of Maya – go gocara jahaṁ lagi mana jāī। so saba māyā jānehu bhāī॥ Everything we see, hear, touch, think, and decide is material, while God is divine. Therefore, it is impossible to attain God using the material tools of Maya.
The only thing within our capability is to purify our mind. In other words, we can remove its impurities - the mayic vices such as lust, anger, greed, attachment, ego, envy, jealousy, hatred, etc. This process is what we call purification of the mind. We can only do this much. Beyond this, we can do nothing, even if we were to stand on our heads and perform austerities for countless ages. Devotional practice is needed for those like us who are fallen to purify the mind.
For this, two essential conditions must be fulfilled:
- You must have genuine (100%) faith - like Valmiki, who, even as termites ate away his body, remained steadfast in following the Guru's instructions without doubt or question. In contrast, we waver between faith and doubt, at times believing in saints while doubting them at others. Faith that is 10%, 20%, 30%, or even 50% mixed with doubt is insufficient. We must remain unwavering in our faith in a saint, without any doubt.
- Have a genuine association with a genuine saint, i.e., True Satsang - meaning the saint, too, must be genuine. The saint with whom you associate must be authentic. Even with unwavering faith, progress is impossible if the saint is fraudulent.
For a magnet to instantly attract a piece of iron, both the iron and the magnet must be pure. If the iron is impure, it will be attracted to the magnet only to the extent of its purity. This means we will naturally associate with a true saint if we have genuine faith. However, despite meeting innumerable saints, we never developed 100% faith in any of them. This is why we have not yet attained God.
When one has "true" hunger, the food tastes extraordinarily delicious. With little hunger, the desire to eat diminishes. Similarly, when faith is weak, the subject matter of God does not interest us. After a brief period of devotional practice, one starts feeling sleepy. However, if something that interests the mind is available, one can stay up all night without feeling tired or sleepy. Thus, when the faith is true, the saint's 'association' will also be genuine. Then, we will inevitably do sadhana. After that, we will stop applying our intellect.dharmātmā
"Kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā śaśvacchāntiṁ nigacchati" -
Surrendering the mind to God is sadhana. It can be done in a single day or even in a minute. Many have attained God within just four days through complete surrender. The time taken depends on the extent of our faith. We have been attached to the world for eternity. This is why our faith isn't as strong as it should be. That's why there's a delay. So, the right form of devotional practice will only manifest when we have true faith, and the saint is also genuine. Then, the path will also be true, and we will immediately tread it. Our mind will be purified, and the Guru and God will take care of the rest.
yahāṃ hai (wealthy in the material world), vahāṃ nahīṃ hai (poor in the spiritual realm), and yahāṃ nahīṃ hai (poor here), vahāṃ hai (wealthy in the spiritual realm) - these two rules are natural in the world.
In other words -
Those who possess worldly opulence cannot progress spiritually because they remain attached to the world.
nahiṃ kou asa janamā jaga māhīṃ, prabhutā pāi jāhi mada nāhīṃ। śrīmada vakra na kīnha kehi prabhutā badhira na kāhi।
When someone attains worldly objects, their intellect becomes filled with pride. A wealthy person is constantly surrounded by people trying to extract money from him. They also shower false praise upon him. This inflates their ego, making them think, “Ten people bow down to me. I must be an assistant God.” As their pride grows, they forget God. This is a natural rule.
Even an ordinary sub-inspector walks around flaunting his badge, puffed up with his position, thinking, "I am in charge of this area. I can put anyone in jail." The higher the post, the greater this feeling of superiority. Who can get rid of it? He will forget God because people will worship and cling to him to fulfill their self-interest. Otherwise, no one pays attention to others. Everyone is attracted to others only for their own selfish motives. This is because everyone’s underlying goal is the same: to attain happiness. People constantly devise strategies to extract happiness from others, thinking, “What should I say so they accept my words? How should I behave to gain what I want?” This is the only contemplation, reflection, planning, and practice we engage in.
This is why when God told Kunti to ask for a boon, Kunti said to God, "Give me calamity." This means sorrow and a lack of worldly possessions. "If I have worldly possessions due to my destiny, then take them away, too."
sukha ke māthe sila pare nāma hiye te jāya। balihārī vā duḥkha kī jo pala pala nāma raṭāya॥ -
However great an atheist one may be, when one gets into severe trouble, he becomes a theist, visiting temples, mosques, and holy men, asking for his wishes to be granted. However, this devotion lasts only until their problem is resolved. Once their work is done, they revert to their earlier state.
Those who lack worldly wealth (e.g., paupers, who starve, are sick, bear ill-fame, people talk ill of them, even their relatives do not inquire about their well-being, and so on) but have spiritual wealth. No one cares for such people. The world's nature is such that when a tree bears fruit, birds flock to it uninvited, chirp, eat the fruit, and then fly away. When the fruits fall off, even if it "calls" out, the birds don’t return, saying they will return when the tree bears fruits again. A millionaire who used to be surrounded by crowds loses those "admirers" if he becomes bankrupt. When a high-ranking official retires, even a constable no longer shows him respect. His life becomes sorrowful, dwelling on his past glory. He thinks he was a governor one day, but no one cares for him anymore. In the absence of worldly possessions, however, one believes in God in some form or another.
And these two are rare -
Rare is the individual who possesses both worldly wealth and spiritual wealth. This is seen in those who have practiced devotion in past lives or took shelter of a genuine saint in this birth and received divine philosophical knowledge from their Guru - even if wealthy, they walk towards God. That's why even high-ranking officials attend Shri Maharaj Ji's Satsang. Due to the sadhana they did in their previous life, they forcibly turned towards God. But this is not a common occurrence.
Even rarer and more unfortunate ones are those who possess neither worldly wealth nor have the inclination to tread towards God. Instead, they talk ill of God. Instead of blaming their own karma, they verbally attack God.
Therefore, one should not chase after attaining more of the material wealth because doing so is a sin. Having material wealth as per one’s destiny is acceptable, but it is essential to remember that material possessions are not permanent. We came into this world with nothing and will leave even the body behind. Only our karma will accompany us.
So those blessed with material wealth should remain extra careful and keep control of themselves, go to Satsang, and always have humility and the realization that God resides in all. Such a person will not commit sins by misusing their wealth. Even if he walks slowly towards God, he will at least get a human body in the next life. Otherwise, one will have to roam in 84 lakh species after death. By misusing the human body, what can we say of a prime minister? Even Indra becomes a dog in his next birth. God has graced us with a human body in this birth for devotion. Instead, if we trouble others, create conflicts, and accumulate endless material wealth, then it is considered a sin for which we will have to suffer the consequences.
Kirtan
Lecture notes:
Purification of the mind -
We have only one task to accomplish - to purify our mind. We cannot attain God, nor can we transcend Maya on our own. Not just us - even great yogis and sages who perform severe penances cannot overcome Maya nor attain God. This is because all the means at our disposal are material; they are made of Maya. We can only perform spiritual practices or austerities through our body, senses, mind, and intellect. All these are made of Maya – go gocara jahaṁ lagi mana jāī। so saba māyā jānehu bhāī॥ Everything we see, hear, touch, think, and decide is material, while God is divine. Therefore, it is impossible to attain God using the material tools of Maya.
The only thing within our capability is to purify our mind. In other words, we can remove its impurities - the mayic vices such as lust, anger, greed, attachment, ego, envy, jealousy, hatred, etc. This process is what we call purification of the mind. We can only do this much. Beyond this, we can do nothing, even if we were to stand on our heads and perform austerities for countless ages. Devotional practice is needed for those like us who are fallen to purify the mind.
For this, two essential conditions must be fulfilled:
For a magnet to instantly attract a piece of iron, both the iron and the magnet must be pure. If the iron is impure, it will be attracted to the magnet only to the extent of its purity. This means we will naturally associate with a true saint if we have genuine faith. However, despite meeting innumerable saints, we never developed 100% faith in any of them. This is why we have not yet attained God.
When one has "true" hunger, the food tastes extraordinarily delicious. With little hunger, the desire to eat diminishes. Similarly, when faith is weak, the subject matter of God does not interest us. After a brief period of devotional practice, one starts feeling sleepy. However, if something that interests the mind is available, one can stay up all night without feeling tired or sleepy. Thus, when the faith is true, the saint's 'association' will also be genuine. Then, we will inevitably do sadhana. After that, we will stop applying our intellect.dharmātmā
Surrendering the mind to God is sadhana. It can be done in a single day or even in a minute. Many have attained God within just four days through complete surrender. The time taken depends on the extent of our faith. We have been attached to the world for eternity. This is why our faith isn't as strong as it should be. That's why there's a delay. So, the right form of devotional practice will only manifest when we have true faith, and the saint is also genuine. Then, the path will also be true, and we will immediately tread it. Our mind will be purified, and the Guru and God will take care of the rest.
yahāṃ hai (wealthy in the material world), vahāṃ nahīṃ hai (poor in the spiritual realm), and yahāṃ nahīṃ hai (poor here), vahāṃ hai (wealthy in the spiritual realm) - these two rules are natural in the world.
In other words -
Those who possess worldly opulence cannot progress spiritually because they remain attached to the world.
When someone attains worldly objects, their intellect becomes filled with pride. A wealthy person is constantly surrounded by people trying to extract money from him. They also shower false praise upon him. This inflates their ego, making them think, “Ten people bow down to me. I must be an assistant God.” As their pride grows, they forget God. This is a natural rule.
Even an ordinary sub-inspector walks around flaunting his badge, puffed up with his position, thinking, "I am in charge of this area. I can put anyone in jail." The higher the post, the greater this feeling of superiority. Who can get rid of it? He will forget God because people will worship and cling to him to fulfill their self-interest. Otherwise, no one pays attention to others. Everyone is attracted to others only for their own selfish motives. This is because everyone’s underlying goal is the same: to attain happiness. People constantly devise strategies to extract happiness from others, thinking, “What should I say so they accept my words? How should I behave to gain what I want?” This is the only contemplation, reflection, planning, and practice we engage in.
This is why when God told Kunti to ask for a boon, Kunti said to God, "Give me calamity." This means sorrow and a lack of worldly possessions. "If I have worldly possessions due to my destiny, then take them away, too."
However great an atheist one may be, when one gets into severe trouble, he becomes a theist, visiting temples, mosques, and holy men, asking for his wishes to be granted. However, this devotion lasts only until their problem is resolved. Once their work is done, they revert to their earlier state.
Those who lack worldly wealth (e.g., paupers, who starve, are sick, bear ill-fame, people talk ill of them, even their relatives do not inquire about their well-being, and so on) but have spiritual wealth. No one cares for such people. The world's nature is such that when a tree bears fruit, birds flock to it uninvited, chirp, eat the fruit, and then fly away. When the fruits fall off, even if it "calls" out, the birds don’t return, saying they will return when the tree bears fruits again. A millionaire who used to be surrounded by crowds loses those "admirers" if he becomes bankrupt. When a high-ranking official retires, even a constable no longer shows him respect. His life becomes sorrowful, dwelling on his past glory. He thinks he was a governor one day, but no one cares for him anymore. In the absence of worldly possessions, however, one believes in God in some form or another.
And these two are rare -
Rare is the individual who possesses both worldly wealth and spiritual wealth. This is seen in those who have practiced devotion in past lives or took shelter of a genuine saint in this birth and received divine philosophical knowledge from their Guru - even if wealthy, they walk towards God. That's why even high-ranking officials attend Shri Maharaj Ji's Satsang. Due to the sadhana they did in their previous life, they forcibly turned towards God. But this is not a common occurrence.
Even rarer and more unfortunate ones are those who possess neither worldly wealth nor have the inclination to tread towards God. Instead, they talk ill of God. Instead of blaming their own karma, they verbally attack God.
Therefore, one should not chase after attaining more of the material wealth because doing so is a sin. Having material wealth as per one’s destiny is acceptable, but it is essential to remember that material possessions are not permanent. We came into this world with nothing and will leave even the body behind. Only our karma will accompany us.
So those blessed with material wealth should remain extra careful and keep control of themselves, go to Satsang, and always have humility and the realization that God resides in all. Such a person will not commit sins by misusing their wealth. Even if he walks slowly towards God, he will at least get a human body in the next life. Otherwise, one will have to roam in 84 lakh species after death. By misusing the human body, what can we say of a prime minister? Even Indra becomes a dog in his next birth. God has graced us with a human body in this birth for devotion. Instead, if we trouble others, create conflicts, and accumulate endless material wealth, then it is considered a sin for which we will have to suffer the consequences.
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