Desires-spiritual or material?

On the streets of Manchester last week I met a lady who described to me her 'spiritual practice'. Inspired by a new book she was reading, she explained spiritual life as meaning how to practically realize our desires, understanding where we are and how to reach them. To some degree I was agreeing with her but mentioned that we must distinguish between desires that are spiritual and those that are material. There is an idea today that spirituality means learning how to get what you want by subtle means, subtle manipulations, whether or not those desires are actually in tune with our real spiritual identity. One may desire to become financially successful, powerful or to obtain a beautiful partner. The first time I stayed in India, I stayed in a Tantric school hoping to learn about spirituality. Upon hearing that they aimed at developing techniques such as how to steal another's wife, obtain secret information or kill someone using subtle means, naturally I quickly left. Often spirituality is seen as finding peace within oneself, but peace from what? Peace from the never-ending stream of material desires that fall upon us, peace from the frustrations that come from not being able to fulfill them or from not feeling satisfied once we have.

The ancient text from India, Bhagavad Gita, explains that by nature we are the conscious living entity, or soul, temporarily housed within this material body, a sort of biological machine. This machine or vehicle of the body allows us to interact in this world and fulfill our desires. Most often, these desires are actually in contradiction to our real-self benefit, as they are born from the misidentification of ourselves with these bodies and minds and that to satisfy them brings us pleasure. However, these bodies are temporary and therefore so is the pleasure derived from them. Furthermore, we seem to become attached to the temporary facilities connected to these bodies, thereby inviting dissatisfaction when they are inevitably lost.

If however, we utilize our present mindset and physical body to reawaken our dormant spiritual consciousness then we really benefit ourselves and those connected to us. Spiritual desires are those aimed at self realization, understanding our higher nature, and of consequently becoming free from our lower nature desires. Great teachers inform us that our higher nature is pure conscious spirit soul, part and parcel of Krishna, the reservoir of all consciousness. This is our dharma, our nature and essence. Spiritual desires are those that are based on this relationship of eternal love. By nature we are servants either of our spiritual nature or our lower nature. If we serve Krishna then we find a pleasure that deeply touches our soul, our very existence. On the other hand if we remain servant to our mind, our senses, our material desires then we will only find frustration with such uncaring masters. Real peace can be found when we truely understand our higher self and the love of Krishna. When we have such peace then only can we be truely happy, even in this flickering world of forgetfulness.

A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires — that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still — can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires. Bhagavad Gita As it is 2.70

Even a dog can chant

This chanting of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare is directly enacted from the spiritual platform, surpassing all lower states of consciousness-namely sensual, mental and intellectual. There is no need of understanding the language of the mantra, nor is there any need of mental speculation nor any intellectual adjustment for chanting this maha-mantra. It springs automatically from the spiritual platform, and as such, anyone can take part in this transcendental sound vibration, without any previous qualification, and dance in ecstasy. We have seen it practically. Even a child can take part in the chanting, or even a dog can take part in it.

Srila Prabhupada's purport to Hare Krsna Mantra

Woof woof

Behind the masks

Passing through life we may start to question our actual identity beneath the coverings of social interactions and familial relationships. Who are we really? Are we who we think we are? This is a very important point in life.

When I was growing up, especially through adolescence and early adulthood, I found myself playing various roles according to the different people I was interacting with. Sometimes I was a punk, sometimes a traveller, other times a professional diver or a new age person. It seemed as though I took on a different mask or image in relation to the time and circumstance. Now, knowing I didn't suffer from schizophrenia, still it was quite evident that I was really not being 'me'. But who was 'me"? I never felt I had truly found my real self. What was my actual identity, my real personality? Were my personal character and opinions actually mine or were they adopted from someone whom maybe I desired to be like?
The word personality is derived from the Latin 'persona', which means mask or character. More exactly it means 'to speak through', per sonare. Typically the actor would wear a mask or assume a character through which he would perform, hiding his own identity. Similarly we assume different identities according to how we live, how we like to be seen by others, what music scene we like. Music influences us so much that we imitate our idols dress and behaviour. Considering ourselves freely self-expressing, we just follow a general trend with millions of others.
Carl Jung on persona ;
'the individual's system of adaption to, or the manner he assumes in dealing with the rest of the world ... One could say that which in reality one is not, but which oneself as well as others think one is.'

Many people hide themselves behind masks or create many egos through multi blog pages.

Yet this image or mask covering our real self actually goes much deeper. Designations like English, Chinese, Hindu, Christian, man, woman, animal, all are subtle coverings or masks for the soul. By nature we are pure spirit soul, jivatma. Consciousness is the symptom of the soul. Wherever there is life, there is consciousness. Bhagavad Gita explains that we are the conscious driver of this biological machine or body, just as a man drives a car. The driver and the car are different, but due to attachment the driver may strongly identify with his car. We often see young men driving flash cars seemingly saying “look at me, how beautiful”, and when the car gets scratched they feel the pain as though their own limb was damaged. Yet if all focus goes to the car and one neglects the driver, one’s very self, then what? Polishing the car and using the best oils, yet starving himself is foolishness, madness.
We must take care of the body, but must not forget that we are the conscious element that lives on after the body gets scrapped. Gita explains the soul as being part and parcel of the supreme consciousness, Krishna. When we understand our actual identity, our real self as eternally connected to Krishna, then we can know what we should be doing. We will know how to act for our real benefit and for that of our conscious brothers and sisters. By trying to love and please Krishna we begin to truly love and please all life, as all is eternally connected to him. We are eternal by nature but have become illusioned to think we are these temporary bodies. Naturally fear arises from such misidentification as do all conflicts based on bodily consciousness. But by inquiring into spiritual teachings like Bhagavad Gita we can know our real identity and our real potential. We are fortunate to have this human life with powerful intelligence by which we can inquire into who are we and who is Krishna. We can learn that love is the basis of our eternal relationship to Krishna and that service is the way of expression. Pleasing Krishna pleases us as we are part of him. Chanting Hare Krishna will reawaken our pure love and pure consciousness, our real self.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Saintly person

"A saintly person is just like water because he is free from all contamination, gentle by nature, and by speaking creates a beautiful vibration like that of flowing water. Just by seeing, touching or hearing such a saintly person, the living entity is purified, just as one is cleansed by contact with pure water. Thus a saintly person, just like a holy place, purifies all those who contact him because he always chants the glories of the Lord."

The words, "just like water," can also mean that a saintly person purifies all living entities by accepting them as his personal friends, and saves them from their sinful reactions. The conditioned living entity falsely identifies with his gross material body and subtle mind and thus falls from the platform of spiritual knowledge. A conditioned living being is always lusty for material sense gratification, and if he does not acquire it, he becomes angry. Sometimes he is so obsessed with fear of losing his material gratification that he enters a stage approaching madness.

A saintly person, however, is like pure water, free from all contamination and capable of purifying all things. Just as pure water is transparent, a saintly person transparently manifests the Personality of Godhead within his heart. Such love of Godhead is the reservoir of all happiness. Water makes a most pleasing vibration as it flows and cascades, and similarly the sound vibration of the pure devotee, who is saturated with the glories of the Lord, is most charming and beautiful. Thus, by studying the nature of water one can understand the symptoms of a pure devotee.

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.7.45

We are very fortunate if we have such association,  we just have to be greedy for it. One most wonderful saintly person of our age was Srila Prabhupada who brought this great treasure of knowledge to the whole world. Srila Prabhupada said that he is non-different from his beautiful books, therefore we find shelter in their profound teachings and relish the privilege to distribute them to others. In this way so many can benefit from such priceless association.

Hare Krishna

Freedom

One windy spring day, I observed young people having fun using the wind to fly their kites. Multicolored creations of varying shapes and sizes filled the skies like beautiful birds darting and dancing in the heady atmosphere above the earth. As the strong winds gusted against the kites, a string kept them in check.
Instead of blowing away with the wind, they arose against it to achieve great heights. They shook and pulled, but the restraining string and the cumbersome tail kept them in tow, facing upward and against the wind. As the kites struggled and trembled against the string, they seemed to say, "Let me go! Let me go! I want to be free!" They soared beautifully even as they fought the imposed restriction of the string. Finally, one of the kites succeeded in breaking loose. "Free at last" it seemed to say. "Free to fly with the wind."
Yet freedom from restraint simply put it at the mercy of an unsympathetic breeze. It fluttered ungracefully to the ground and landed in a tangled mass of weeds and string against a dead bush. "Free at last" free to lie powerless in the dirt, to be blown helplessly along the ground, and to lodge lifeless against the first obstruction.

How much like kites we sometimes are. We all have potential to climb to great heights, but if we act unrestricted then we may find that we lose control of ourselves and our situation. Different spiritual traditions recommend following certain rules and regulations from which we can grow and gain strength. Restraint is a necessary counterpart to the winds of opposition. Without some restriction we may become victim to the material winds in forms like lust, anger and greed, which further deepen our conditioning and prevent spiritual growth. Personally I choose to observe 4 regulative principles avoiding; intoxication, animal slaughter, illicit sex and gambling. These four are said to destroy the four foundational pillars of spirituality; austerity, compassion, cleanliness and truthfulness, which may be seen as the qualities of the humane. To restrict our lower conditionings and urges facilitates our cultivation of higher qualities which are true to our real nature as pure spiritual loving persons, who love all forms of life and simply desire peace for all.

But a person free from all attachment and aversion and able to control his senses through regulative principles of freedom can obtain the complete mercy of the Lord. Bhagavad Gita 2.64

One who restrains his senses, keeping them under full control, and fixes his consciousness upon Me(Krishna), is known as a man of steady intelligence. Bhagavad Gita 2.61

St Francis of Assisi

Living in Italy for over two years, I have had numerous opportunities to visit the pilgrimage place of Assisi. It's a beautiful place not because of the medieval architecture, nor the wonderful view from upon the hill, but because of the great saint that resided there and example that he gave.

San Francesco, St Francis, is probably most famous as the patron saint of animals, as he showed love and compassion to all creatures, befriending them all and showing equality. He was known for seeing all life as his brothers and sisters to whom we share a common father. He is famous for taming an angry wolf and arranging that he not terrorize the local villagers any more, who in return would provide food for the wolf.

There is a beautiful film showing his life called Brother Sun Sister Moon. This film touches the heart and helps one to see that a simple life based on higher spiritual values is full of auspiciousness, and that by becoming a selfless servant one can attain real peace and joy.

Learn more about St Francis here.
In Assisi, one can still find the order of monks that descend from St Francis. They are in charge of the Basilica and very nice to speak to, although I was surprised that they eat meat, considering the mood of their saintly founder. They wear a rope around their waist that contains 3 knots representing; chastity, poverty and obedience.

Here is a special prayer that is worth deep meditation

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving

that we receive;

it is in pardoning

that we are pardoned;

and it is in dying

that we are born to eternal life.

Srila Prabhupada's analogies

Materialist and Camel
The camel sucks its own blood while chewing thorny twigs. The thorns the camel eats cut the tongue of the camel, and so blood begins to flow within the camel's mouth. The thorns, mixed with fresh blood, create a taste for the foolish camel, and so he enjoys the thorn‑eating business with false pleasure. Similarly, the great business magnates, industrialists who work very hard to earn money by different ways and questionable means, eat the thorny results of their actions mixed with their own blood, therefore the Bhagavatam has situated these diseased fellows along with the camels.

Srimad Bhagavatam 1:2:3

When one can learn to have higher principles in life, then the same daily activities can be opportunities for freedom and growth, whatever the path one may follow.

Meditation

There are many varieties of meditations offered on the market today, but do they really fulfill the spiritual needs of the practitioner? We find that alot of techniques work at silencing the mind and attaining consequent peace, but is that the spiritual perfection of meditation or just a preliminary stage?

Actually in astanga yoga there are steps to balance the life airs(prana) through breathing exercises called pranayama. As the subtle life airs have an intimate connection with the mind, when they become balanced then the mind quietens and can become focused, just as sunlight may be focused through a lens to intensify its properties to burn. Focusing on the flame of a candle is another technique often used to still the mind.

However all this practice is still within the realms of the material energy and as of yet not spiritual.

Once the mind is one-pointed, or having only one object, say the breath, then it has to be applied to spiritual focus. Traditionally Mantra was used to transport the mind beyond the material. Mantra means to deliver the mind. Being a repetition of sacred sounds, mantra gives great power in meditation. Mantra is not some chanting that is man-made but is actually sacred vibrations from the realm of pure consciousness. As all things around us are atomically vibrating, then also our consciousness has a specific frequency to which it naturally resonates. This is the level of pure consciousness or enlightenment, and is directly achieved through the chanting of mantra. Chanting of mantra may be performed in deep concentration during the quiet hours of the morning, or even on the bus at rush hour after work. Mantra may be chanted individually or musically as a group. Mantra is always accessible. Mantra gives one access to the true spiritual focus.

In sacred literature from India they recommend chanting the Maha-mantra (Maha-great) for quickly obtaining perfection in meditation, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. 

Hare means the energy of spiritual love, Krishna, the most beautiful, and Rama means the reservoir of unlimited joy. That is wonderful as it is these priceless things that everyone is looking for. All we have to do is chant and hear the sweet spiritual vibration.

When compared to other types of meditation, mantra seems much easier and more practical. Where in other practices one would have to empty the mind and ignore the senses, in mantra we fill the mind and engage the senses all in spiritual activities of chanting. Let the mantra fill the mind, the ears hear, the eyes may read, the hands may count on beads, all the senses can be engaged in meditation, which is much easier in today's busy world. All the same benefits of peace and freedom from stress can be obtained as well as much more due to contact with pure spiritual energy. Please chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, and observe the unlimited treasure available.

For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy. Bhagavad Gita 6.6

Hare Krishna

Srila Prabhupada's analogies

Karmic Reactions and Airplane Flight
The argument may be given that if a living entity were subject to the results of his previous activities there would be no scope for free will; once having committed a sinful action, the living entity would be bound in an endless chain of suffering, being perpetually subject to previous reactions. According to this speculation there cannot be a just and omniscient God, since the living entity is forced to commit sinful activities by the reactions of his previous activities, which were reactions to still previous activities. Since even an ordinary gentleman will not unfairly punish an innocent person, how could there be a God witnessing the helpless suffering of the conditioned souls within the world?
This foolish argument can easily be refuted by a practical example. If I purchase a ticket for an airline flight, board the plane and commence the flight, once the plane has taken off my decision to board the plane forces me to continue flying until the plane lands. But although I am forced to accept the reaction of this decision, on board the plane I have many new decisions I can make. Similarly, although the living entity is forced to accept a particular body by the laws of karma, within the human form of life there is always scope for free will and decision‑making.

Srimad Bhagavatam 11:3:6

Eagle in a storm

A nice story I received and often quote in lectures,
Did you know that an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks?
The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it.
The eagle does not escape the storm. It simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm.
When the storms of life come upon us - and all of us will experience them - we can rise above them by setting our minds on Krishna. The storms do not have to overcome us. We can allow the power of Krishna's names to lift us above them.
Krishna enables us to ride the winds of the storm that bring sickness, tragedy, failure and disappointment in our lives. We can soar above the storm.
Remember, it is not the burdens of life that weigh us down, it is how we handle them.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Meaning of peace

There once was a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them.
One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.
The other picture had mountains too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, and in which lightening played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest ........... perfect peace.
Which picture do you think won the prize?
The King chose the second picture. Do you know why?
"Because," explained the King, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."

As Krishna speaks in Bhagavad Gita 2.56

"One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries or elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind."

Hare Krishna