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The greatest enemy of all

The greatest enemy of allThe recent incident where the modesty of a Delhi girl was brutally outraged has drawn lot of public attention not only in the nation but also globally. Many are crying hoarse that the judicial system metes out severe punishment to the rapists. It has become yet another issue which ‘somebody out there’ is responsible for and ‘some others’ will fight to resolve while we will sit in the cozy comforts of our house and become spectators of the ongoing volley of words and at best exchange sympathetic comments.

Do we want to be mere spectators or is there some learning that we can draw from this shocking incident and apply in our own lives and thereby change the world a little bit, for the better? We can probably use this opportunity to introspect and clean our own houses!

When a woman who had committed adultery was being stoned, Jesus Christ said ‘He that is without sin among you, let him first cast the first stone at her’ and one by one everyone dropped their stones. Likewise, the very fact that we live in this material world shows that all of us are sinners to some degree or the other. Such lustful propensities lie deep within us. The Bhagavad Gita claims that this ‘Lust’ is the greatest enemy of the living entity and it covers the living entity by different degrees. It is said that this lust is never satisfied and the more you feed it, the more it burns like fire.

Vedic scriptures call this material world as maithunya-āgāra or the shackles of sex life. While one enjoys sense gratification, it may be that there is some feeling of happiness, but actually that so-called feeling of happiness is the ultimate enemy of the sense enjoyer as it keeps him tied down to this miserable material existence birth after birth.

Radhanath Swami answers the question as to what the truth is? He reiterates that our true identity is that we’re eternal souls. We’re stranded like strangers in a foreign land. For the eternal souls to try to be happy with the cheap thrills with the temporary pleasures of this material existence is really an embarrassment, he says. But sometimes when a person is so intoxicated and consumed, he puts himself to do things that are so humiliating and embarrassing that he does not even know that he’s doing it. That’s the deluding potency of the material energy or maya. So, how do we get out of the shackles of this material energy? Radhanath Swami gives a simple answer. He says, all we have to do to get out of it is to choose to ‘get out of it.’

When a living entity comes in contact with the material creation, his eternal love for the Lord is transformed into lust. Service attitude is transformed into the propensity for sense enjoyment. Designations and attachments are due to our lust and desire, our wanting to lord it over the material nature. In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna tells us that the senses, the mind and the intelligence are the sitting places of this lust. Through them lust covers the real knowledge of the living entity and bewilders him. Cure is also given by Lord Krishna in the Gita, He says, ‘In the very beginning curb this great symbol of sin [lust] by regulating the senses, and slay this destroyer of knowledge and self-realization.’

To bring about clarity of understanding, Radhanath Swami narrates a parallel from our scriptures how the Supreme Lord showed how this all devouring sinful enemy can be conquered through the example of lust personified Ravana.

Goddess of Fortune, Sita devi is the wife of Lord Rama and she is eternally in loving service of Lord Rama but Ravana wanted to take Sita for himself. This is called kama or lust. In Caitanya Caritamrita, a holy scripture of the Lord in which the author Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami describes love as the natural inclination of the soul wanting to give pleasure to God. But when that natural affection for God is misplaced, we are trying to enjoy the property of God for our own selfish desire, then that love is transformed into lust. Prema or love is when our energies are placed towards God. When it is placed anywhere else, it is called Kama or lust.

So, Ravana disguised himself and stole Sita. He was so powerful that no one could defeat him, demigods were living in utter fear of Ravana and he was unconquerable. Lord Rama shows us how powerful lust really is. Everytime He cut off the heads of Ravana, another one grew. Doesn’t that sound like our own material desires? Everytime you perform some yajna or sacrifice to give up one material sinful desire, immediately another one shoots up. Those on the spiritual path know that as soon as you cut down one lusty desire, 10 more grow. It is seemingly an endless battle. Finally, Lord Rama shot His arrow into Ravana’s heart. When the arrow pierced the heart, Ravana fell to the ground.

The Lord is the only one who has this arrow. The arrow cannot be obtained by any mortal, living entity. It is the exclusive power of the Lord. That is why Lord Krishna says in the Gita, that this material energy of mine is very very difficult to overcome. But one who surrenders unto Me, I fight their battles with My own hands, I will conquer lust. I will conquer Ravana within your heart. So, when we surrender our sinful desires and
propensities to the Lord, the merciful Lord appears within our heart. Through the process of Bhakti i,e by remembering the Lord, by worshipping Him and chanting His holy names, by offering loving service unto Him, we make place for the Lord to appear within our heart and with His mighty arrows, he can shoot right into the heart of Ravana and make our sinful desires disappear forever from our hearts. That is the recommended process in the vedic scriptures.

So, let us all take this opportunity to introspect and bring out the Ravana hidden deep within each of us. Let us make a prayerful attempt to the Lord to help us by conquering this greatest enemy of all!

– Mrs. Preethi Dhiman

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Gratitude

Gratitude - Radhanath SwamiAttitude of Gratitude: No.1 success factor in a marriage

Gratitude is to seek beyond the immediate circumstances that come upon us, and to actually seek the essence of that situation- Radhanath Swami

Gratitude, is a quality of the heart. Radhanath Swami says, “If we want true progress, we must develop this quality, especially in a husband-wife relationship, for it is one of the most important success factors in a marriage.” Without gratitude, even in the most favorable situation in our marriage, we cannot really progress. When we are ungrateful, even if we have the best companion, we start to complain and blame the other. Without gratitude, you cannot satisfy the heart. Because whatever you get, you feel you deserve better and you want something more. To seek the essence is real wisdom, and the essence of every situation is that we can feel and find a beautiful opportunity to grow—if we are grateful.

The universal principle of all spiritual paths and a very basic principle that Sri Bhagavad Gita teaches us is that we should be grateful for whatever God gives us. Radhanath Swami teaches us how to learn to feel grateful. He says when good things come our way, we should think,”I don’t deserve this, but I am so grateful.” Any little bit of kindness that a person shows us, we should be grateful. Any blessing we receive we should be grateful. And when difficulties, pain, or failures cross our paths, we must learn to be grateful for those as well. For we could learn and we could grow through that invaluable experience. Otherwise, we miss a precious chance. By learning to be grateful, we learn to come closer to our spouse and understand them better. Eventually, with a grateful heart, one can even come closer to God Himself. Thus, by nurturing the quality of Gratitude, we improve the qualities of our own lives & it enables us to overcome the obstacles that keep us from our progress.

– Mrs. Preethi Dhiman

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Love

Quenching the Thirst for Love

True Love“Some years ago, I met Mother Teresa at Kolkata. She told me that the greatest problem in the world is hunger; not hunger of the belly, but hunger of the heart.” — Radhanath Swami

Finding love is our greatest need; it brings true fulfillment in life. Without love, we are lonely and emotionally starving. But what is real love? We often mistake temporary pleasures exchanged between husband and wife to be love. But these flickering sensations are like a mirage. A person lost in the desert searches desperately for an oasis of water, and in that desperation, due to longing and hopefulness, sometimes a mirage appears before him or her. That person thinks that the mirage can quench the thirst, but all that is got is a mouthful of hot sand. This is the story of many married couples today – they hope for true love from the mirage of mere bodily relationships.

To understand what real love is, we have to understand who we really are. The basic teaching of the Bhagavad-Gita is that we are not the body nor the mind, but that we are the living force. Our potential is to love and our need is to be loved. Exchange of spiritual love is what we long for. Our mind and senses (e.g. eyes, ears, etc.) are merely the instruments through which we experience life; they cannot quench our thirst for spiritual love.

The Bhagavad Gita explains that every living being is a part of God just like every ray emanating from the sun is a part of the sun. When we discover the love of God that is within our own hearts, we see an inseparable part of God in the heart of every living being—and also see it in our own husband or wife. When we actually understand our spiritual relationship with God, we also understand our spouse’s spiritual relationship with God, and start seeing him or her in that light.

Our natural position is that we are eternal servants of God. This is a universal principle. In the Bible, Jesus says, “What is the use if you gain the whole world but lose your eternal soul?” The first great commandment is to love God with all one’s heart, mind, and soul. The natural consequence of such love of God is that we start loving our neighbor as dearly as we love ourselves. And our closest neighbor is in our own house – our own spouse.

 

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Love without a cause!!

Unconditional LoveTears streaming down my face, I just completed the last few words of the classic novel ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Bronte. The book is all about love without any reason, love with intense abandon—just like Heathcliff loved his Catherine. Emily Bronte in this classic book brings out the destructive and obsessive nature of love. What is love? That raging fury of emotions which threatens to burn our insides and tears our heart till it flows out like a river, out of control. In this book we see the power of love that can destroy everything in its path. It is truly a love without a cause, a pain that drives a knife through the heart and makes our stomach churn. Oh! What havoc has this love created in this world—unimaginable pain and suffering! They say love has a brighter side which illuminates and elevates. But where is that to be found in this world? Does it even exist?

Like an animal searching for food for existence the dried up heart searches for this most elusive thing. A person may search for his whole life and still be left bereft of it. There are countless people who have died searching for it. Blessed are those who find this love – everlasting and eternal, that not only liberates one but also enlivens one.

Surely, this is not the love of this world, because the love of this world torments and tortures and breaks our heart as we live. If not, then definitely at death. But still there are fools like us who keep on searching. Oh, when will this search end? Great poets and writers whose lives end tragically realize like Heathcliff that love is beyond this body and one has to look for a love which will transcend everything. Is there really such a love?

Yes, Bhagvad Gita speaks of a love which is eternal. That is the love between the Supreme Lord and the living entity. But how elusive this love is too! You feel that you have almost touched it but then next moment you are miles away. Understanding this divine love is difficult without the causeless mercy of the Lord. Yes, truly this is love without a cause. The lord reciprocates with us causelessly. His love is all encompassing and most compassionate. He like a true lover fulfills our each and every desire and finally when we reach his lotus feet we finally experience that love which we have been searching all our lives.

Radhanath Swami, my spiritual father once told me “Even if the whole world is against you , I will always love you”. And believe me that was the most emotional moment of my life. Such all encompassing compassion, I could see, can come only from a true representative of God. Such is God’s love!! Leaving this spiritual divine love behind how foolish I am that I am searching for this love through mundane relationships of this world!

– Dr. Sandhya Subramanian

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