Chapter 21  ·  Contents  ·  Chapter 23

22. DEVELOP LOVE AND SURRENDER TO REALIZE FREEDOM

Swami sang in Telugu,

One's body is like an iron box that has no value. Like the jewel it encases, God dwells in the heart as Love.

Embodiments of Divine Love,

Every heart is the temple of God. Tyagaraja has declared that God is present in an ant as well as throughout the entire cosmos. We should pray, "O Lord, You are present as Shiva and Keshava, please Love me and protect me." Tyagaraja has declared that Satchitananda (Being, Awareness, Bliss) is present in all living creatures. But the modern man is investigating everything external and not what is internal. Though we know that God is present in everything, we still make mistakes and commit sins.

If we want to know who is greater, the devotee or God, we must make an investigation. Pariprashna means a prayer offered to God in order to clarify one's doubts.

Once Narada said to God, "Narayana, You are everywhere. Even though all names are Yours, it is still not possible to fully describe Your greatness." Narayana replied, "Narada, you are mistaken; I am not the greatest as I submit myself to the devotee." Every person should pray that he should be permitted to be the servant of God's servants. Narada said, "Narayana considers Himself a servant of God's servants." Narayana declared that Narada who is always thinking of God, is a great devotee. Narayana asked Narada, "You have travelled throughout the world. What do you think is the most important thing in the world?"

Narada told Narayana that the most important, greatest thing must be the earth. But Narayana answered, "How can earth be greatest when three-fourths of the earth is covered by water?" So Narada acknowledged that water must be greater because it has swallowed the earth.

The Lord continued with His questioning. He said, "But Narada, we have the ancient tale that when the demons hid in the waters, then in order to find them, Sage Agasthya came and swallowed up the whole ocean in one sip. Do you think Agasthya is greater or the ocean is greater?" Narada had to agree that without doubt Agasthya is certainly greater than the water he swallowed. "But," continued the Lord "it is said that when he left his earthly body, this same Agasthya is now appearing only as a small star in the vast expanse of the sky. Then what do you think is bigger, Agasthya or the sky?" Narada answered, "Swami, the sky is surely bigger than Agasthya." Then the Lord asked, "Yet we know that one time when the Lord came as Avatar, He was able to fit both the earth and the sky under His one foot. Do you think God's foot or the sky is bigger?" "Oh, God's foot is certainly bigger," Narada replied. But then the Lord asked, "If His foot Itself is so big, what about His infinite form?"

Now Narada felt that he had come to the final conclusion. "Yes," he said exultantly, "the Lord is the biggest of all. He is infinite beyond measure. In all the world there is nothing greater than He." But the Lord still had one more question. "What about the devotee who has been able to imprison this infinite Lord within his own heart? Now tell me, Narada, who is greater, the devotee who has locked up the Lord or the Lord who is locked up by the devotee?" Narada had to admit that the devotee is even greater than the Lord, and that, therefore, the devotee must rank first in importance over everything, surpassing even the Lord.

So such a devotee should never consider himself weak, as God is a servant of such devotees. If we have God installed in our hearts through our love for Him, we can have the whole world. So we must develop devotion. We should shape our hearts into purer more suitable dwelling places for God.

Once a devotee prayed, "Oh God, if you were a tree, I would climb around you like a creeper. It is my desire to never be separate from you. Oh God, if You were a fragrant flower, I would go around You like a bee making a humming sound until I finished drinking the nectar from You. If You were the ocean, I would be a river and merge into You. If You were the sky, I would be the star shining there in You. If You were a mountain, I would be the stream running over you. That is the kind of feeling and intimate relationship that should exist between God and the devotee. As a flower blooms, it does not invite the honeybee to come to it. So also, the devotee on his own should go and merge himself in God. There is no fundamental difference between a river and the ocean, but so long as they are separate they carry different names. When once they merge together, they would have the same name and taste. If I am not there, then there is no taste in you. If you are not there, there is no taste in me. God without the devotee and the devotee without God cannot exist. Some people think that God is stone-hearted, but God is softer than butter. What must one do to melt this soft, sweet butter that is God? One must apply Love; that is the heat. The more Love (heat) that is applied, the faster God will melt. This heat is generated by repetition of the name and simultaneous remembrance of the form of God. When the name and form are rubbed together, the necessary heat is generated. Nothing melts the heart of God except the devotion of the devotee.

One day there was a priest praying to Lord Shiva in the temple. He noticed that a yogi was keeping both of his feet on the lingam and resting his head on Nandi (the bull (dharma), the vehicle of Lord Shiva). The priest became very angry and exclaimed to himself, "He is not a yogi, he must be a madman." The priest asked him, "Are you in your right mind?" The yogi replied, "Tell me where there is no Eashwara (God), so I can rest my feet there." The priest was still very angry. At that moment a lingam manifested in the temple; lingams continued to manifest wherever this yogi placed his feet. This story illustrates that with broad-mindedness one will be able to realize that everything is Divine, and that one's own heart is the temple of God.

Narada once requested Narayana to publicize His permanent address for the entire world to know. Narayana replied, "Wherever My devotee sings My glory, there I will install Myself. Kailash and Vaikunta are only My branch offices; the heart of the devotee is My head office."

Radha told Krishna, "The priest has not permitted me entry to the temple because I am a woman. O my mind, the Ganga and Yamuna rivers containing pure water meet at the centre of the two eyebrows. The Ganga and Yamuna Rivers, symbolizing the devotee's flow of pure Love and Devotion, meet between the eyebrows." It is here that the devotee realizes God. The physical form of God can be seen with one's naked eye, but the Divine form can be seen with wisdom's eye (the third eye or the sixth chakra centre). Having travelled all the distance to visit a temple, we close our eyes to experience the Divine form. The formless God is seen by the eye of wisdom, so when you close your eyes you will have inner vision as there is no greater temple than one's own body. One must develop Love to know consciousness, the indweller. In the process of developing the inner vision, though one will face many obstacles, one must continue to do spiritual practice in all aspects of one's life. As we retreat more and more from the unreal, material life, God advances nearer and nearer to us. God feels that the devotee has spoilt himself, so God wants to catch him and reform and transform him.

Birth, life on earth, family life, childhood, old age, failure and death are all full of worries. Happiness and misery are both worries. Human life is like the fruit of a tamarind tree (at the first taste, sour, but later sweet) with twelve types of worries, but where inside sweetness lies. Man fulfils his material desires, but never attains permanent happiness. A couple may celebrate their marriage happily, but up until the marriage they would have had many worries. When the couple marries, the mothers weep; people cry in happiness too. In this world every action is full of worry. When there is a plan to build a house, there is worry. In old age at last, people desire to develop devotion to God to get rid of all their worries. If one has devotion to God he will have no worries.

One goes on labelling rooms in one's home as the bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen, etc., but it is only the walls in between that are the cause for the rooms. If one removed the walls, there would be no bedroom or bathroom, etc.; there would only be a big hall. These walls symbolize the attachments that prevent the realization of the unity of existence. Develop attachment to God instead, so that one can develop broad mindedness. What is the disposition of a parrot within a cage? Is it happy? Man is also confined like a parrot within a cage; His freedom lies in merging with Divine Love. In order for one to be successful in any endeavour, he should have Love for God. Man is presently searching for freedom but it will only come to his feet with Divine selfless Love. God is not greater than a devotee; when one acquires devotional Love, God will submit Himself to that devotee.

There exists a fort with seven rounds of walls containing a garden in the centre. We must sing the glory of Rama to light the lamp in the interior garden. Truth is the wick for this lamp. Anger, lust, greed, envy, delusion, hate, and jealousy are the seven walls that prevent man from knowledge of the way to enter the garden inside the fort. If one sings the glory of Lord Rama, God will make him reach the inner garden so that neither the fort with the walls nor the inner courtyard could keep him bound.

Man is always standing on one limb of a tree (ego), and at the same time is holding onto another branch (attachment). When man gives up his hold and lets go (surrenders), he will reach God. With continuous thoughts of God, make God the tree and yourself the creeper.

Swami ended His Discourse by singing, "Rama, Rama, Rama Sita; Rama, Rama, Rama Sita."

April 28, 1996

Chapter 23