Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-Sept.11

Scrutiny should not be Done beyond a Limit

You should try to make God your own. If you continue this effort dispassionately, you will certainly receive the grace of sadguru. If you try to practise under compulsion the sadhana advised by the sadguru and if the thoughts continue unchanged, then how can you experience the love of God? We complain that, after having worked hard for some five years and keeping away from the temptation of sense-objects, we still find no experience. Then the tempo of the sadhana slows down and faith gets diluted. We must have profound faith that whatever happens is according to the sadguru’s will and inspiration only. We forget that God alone generates love in sadhana. The whole effort will be of no avail, if we start feeling proud that from the earlier stage of doing nothing, now we are practising at least some sadhana. Some people achieve success immediately on dedicating themselves at the feet of the sadguru. But how can we allege that the sadguru is partial? One must examine where one has gone wrong. Till now we wished to take to nama but could not do so. Now that we have started the practice of nama-smarana, why should we not regard even this change as His grace?

Man must have patience in prapancha. We should have no fears if we are in continuous remembrance of God. Too critical scrutiny results into a loss. What is the fruit of entire learning? Whatever we like, we follow without scrutiny, and whatever we don’t want to do, we scrutinize it hyper-critically! Critical scrutiny should be only upto a limit. If continued beyond it, we do not understand what we talk.

In spite of the modern amenities that have helped man to travel with speed on water or in air, he is becoming more and more discontented every day. This is not true progress. Whatever be the circumstances and whatever be the times, we can remain blissful. If we look back, we shall find very little which we can claim as done by us. We should not therefore worry about the circumstances. We should do our duty and not allow our vritti to be affected. We shall achieve everything, if we establish firm faith in the doership of Rama.

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Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-Sept.10

Be at Rama’s Feet, Chant Nama Day and Night

Rama’s name is a formless saviour; chant it repeatedly. Hold to it firmly and you will be free from the cycle of birth and death. Shri Shiva recited nama for overcoming the effect of the poison he swallowed. The stories of Valmiki and Ajamela also show the importance of nama. In heaven, earth or hell, nama alone is the most effective remedy. Hanuman jumped across to Lanka by holding nama firmly in his heart. This sense  world is like an empty dream. Therefore, take the support of nama, the abiding truth.

Chanting of nama reduces sins to ashes. Many precious stones and other items came to surface when, in the mythological times, the oceans were churned. Nama is much more precious than those items. Even the teachings of the vedas are rectified in the process of chanting nama; it is simpler and achieves the same goal as yoga. The human mind itself is Shriram, and the soul animating the body is Atma-rama. It is the same Ultimate Reality that pervades and activates the entire universe, and therefore you should learn to recognize its manifestation among all the people; merge your own ‘self’ with this manifestation while maintaining nama on the tongue. The great Vasishtha merged with the ‘self’ and Shriram Himself became enslaved by accepting his tutorship. That is why, like a humble servant, I say that one who remembers Shriram does not have to worry about worldly affairs. Nama is a mine of truth, meditate on it. See Shriram everywhere, amongst all humans and animals. Protect the sacred cow, be compassionate to everybody, feed every visitor coming to you, discard sense pleasures by association with saints and remain in nama, unmindful of everything else.

Do not waste even a single breath, earnestly aspire for nama alone, don’t be carried away by the vagaries of the sensitive, subtle mind.
I take your leave now. But please listen to my last earnest request. I have told you today the sacred secret of Rama, nothing else is required. Follow this secret and become entitled to liberation. My sadguru has graced me with the name ‘Brahmachaitanya’. I am only a humble servant, constantly chanting nama.

* * * * *name is a formless saviour; chant it repeatedly. Hold to it firmly and you will be free from the cycle of birth and death. Shri Shiva recited nama for overcoming the effect of the poison he swallowed. The stories of Valmiki and Ajamela also show the importance of nama. In heaven, earth or hell, nama alone is the most effective remedy. Hanuman jumped across to Lanka by holding nama firmly in his heart. This sense  world is like an empty dream. Therefore, take the support of nama, the abiding truth.

Chanting of nama reduces sins to ashes. Many precious stones and other items came to surface when, in the mythological times, the oceans were churned. Nama is much more precious than those items. Even the teachings of the vedas are rectified in the process of chanting nama; it is simpler and achieves the same goal as yoga. The human mind itself is Shriram, and the soul animating the body is Atma-rama. It is the same Ultimate Reality that pervades and activates the entire universe, and therefore you should learn to recognize its manifestation among all the people; merge your own ‘self’ with this manifestation while maintaining nama on the tongue. The great Vasishtha merged with the ‘self’ and Shriram Himself became enslaved by accepting his tutorship. That is why, like a humble servant, I say that one who remembers Shriram does not have to worry about worldly affairs. Nama is a mine of truth, meditate on it. See Shriram everywhere, amongst all humans and animals. Protect the sacred cow, be compassionate to everybody, feed every visitor coming to you, discard sense pleasures by association with saints and remain in nama, unmindful of everything else.

Do not waste even a single breath, earnestly aspire for nama alone, don’t be carried away by the vagaries of the sensitive, subtle mind.

I take your leave now. But please listen to my last earnest request. I have told you today the sacred secret of Rama, nothing else is required. Follow this secret and become entitled to liberation. My sadguru has graced me with the name ‘Brahmachaitanya’. I am only a humble servant, constantly chanting nama.

Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-Sept.7

Earn Wealth Only by Moral Means

Some people have the habit of always harbouring anxiety for one reason or another, without any basis. Anxiety is a source of distraction in life. If the possession of money becomes a cause for anxiety, then is it not better to give up money? I do not mean that you should throw away money but, at the same time, do not get bound by attachment to it. What is the use of earning money with hard work, if it is to turn into a source of anxiety? Money is not the entire essence of life, nor it is the highest ideal in life. Money is necessary for livelihood; so acquire it by fair means and just sufficient for the needs. You should not allow your peace and contentment to get disturbed, whether you get a lot of money or by chance you lose it. God’s will should be seen behind both the events. Our honour or reputation does not depend only upon money but it depends mainly upon our behaviour; our honour is not lost with money. Everybody feels that one should earn money sufficient not only for the present needs but also for future, for the children. What do we find in the world? The more the wealth, the more the problems and disputes between the claimants. We are not sure of ourselves; how can we be sure of children? But no one really gives consideration to this.
There is a description in Yogavasishtha, that Ramachandra developed a sort of disgust for money. We also have similar feelings. The only difference is that Ramachandra’s disgust was over the surfeit of wealth while ours is for not having ‘enough’ money. We treat money as the means for acquiring happiness in our family life.
Let us divide our requirement for money into two parts. The first part, meant for our family life, should be acquired by honest means, do not covet for more. The second part, which we are fortunate to get in excess of our needs, really belongs to others. We should not entertain any greed for acquiring this.
A rich man spends his entire life in acquiring wealth, but in the absence of awareness of God, the wealth ultimately ruins him. However, if you acquire wealth while maintaining continuous remembrance of God, you will not get ruined but enjoy happiness due to it.

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Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-Sept.6

The Faith that Rama is Doer Gives Contentment

The early hours before sunrise are very pleasant. It is very nice indeed if some are performing manas-pooja, others may be in deep sleep, while some may be day-dreaming. From dawn till bed-time at night, everyone, from a king down to a pauper, all struggle for only one thing, and it is to attain peace and contentment. In life every one has an urge to achieve contentment. Real contentment is in fact, not dependent on anything. It can be achieved only through the faith that it is Rama who is the real doer of all actions. All saints, from their own personal experience, have shown us the easiest means of achieving contentment, and that is nama-smarana. Early hours before sunrise are very helpful for good studies. Let us, therefore, start this practice of nama-smarana in these early hours. You will achieve everything if you maintain unbroken remembrance of and faith in God. I am sure that Rama will bless you if you continue this practice with fondness and intense urge.

It is a common complaint that while chanting nama other thoughts crowd the mind. When you are walking on the road, you do not have control over who should come across your path. It is for you to pay attention to them or ignore them. Similarly, while chanting nama you should ignore other thoughts and not get carried away by them and waste time. You cannot forget a thing by merely repeating ‘I must forget it, I must forget it’. Pay more attention to nama so that other thoughts will automatically fade away.

If you have missed your way, you have to retrace your steps and walk back until you spot where the right road begins and then proceed on this road. This is the practice or abhyas and you have to continue this until you achieve your goal. Brahmanand, performed true penance. He was a man of great learning, but he dedicated all his talents and erudition at the feet of Rama. He adopted this path, realizing that doing nothing else except this will bring him spiritual welfare. Therefore, let us follow the path trodden by the great, without entertaining the least doubt. In that alone lies our spiritual welfare.
Remain ever in nama and have firm faith that Rama is the doer.

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Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-Sept.4

Be Prideless to Achieve Devotion

Vritti or impulse is only a reaction to the impact of the external world on us; It may be pleasure, pain, pride, desire, avarice, etc. It is the real spiritual task to keep this vritti steady. Diversion of vritti towards God amounts to devotion. Devotion to God results in the vanishing of sensuous attraction. Devotion is quite natural. Every one wants it, because devotion means fondness, and everyone is fond of something or other. However, devotion is not possible without becoming prideless, and you cannot attain God without devotion. No one except God Himself can give His love. The devotee and God are not separate. Therefore, just as God is omnipresent, the devotee is also present everywhere. The devotee gets merged into God, and therefore, like God, sees nothing but bliss everywhere. It is the essence of the spiritual path to realize and practise the feeling, ‘I do no exist, You (God) alone exist’ or ‘I am He (God)’; and the only means to achieve this is maintaining continuous awareness of God.

There is only one way available at present to realize God, and that is to remain in His name. Just as the Ganga remains sacred in spite of a number of rivulets and currents pouring their flows into its waters, our prapancha also, howsoever dirty it may be, could stand clean and pure, if we keep constant remembrance of God. There is no alternative to nama-smarana. To renounce all that leads to forgetting God is vairagya, and to follow only such things which help in remembering God is viveka. Rama is really steelhearted in the matter of duties, but at the same time, He is equally tender-hearted towards his devotees. He abandoned Seeta for the sake of duty, while He protected Bharata due to His love for devotees.

Out of my advice to you, whatever you may practise, that alone will come to your help. All of you should practise nama-smarana; there is no other path of your welfare. If there is anything which is naturally available to you, which is devoid of any upadhi, and which does not depend on anyone, it is nama. Rama will certainly bless him who takes it with a pure mind and heart.

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Be Prideless to Achieve Devotion

Vritti or impulse is only a reaction to the impact of the external world on us; It may be pleasure, pain, pride, desire, avarice, etc. It is the real spiritual task to keep this vritti steady. Diversion of vritti towards God amounts to devotion. Devotion to God results in the vanishing of sensuous attraction. Devotion is quite natural. Every one wants it, because devotion means fondness, and everyone is fond of something or other. However, devotion is not possible without becoming prideless, and you cannot attain God without devotion. No one except God Himself can give His love. The devotee and God are not separate. Therefore, just as God is omnipresent, the devotee is also present everywhere. The devotee gets merged into God, and therefore, like God, sees nothing but bliss everywhere. It is the essence of the spiritual path to realize and practise the feeling, ‘I do no exist, You (God) alone exist’ or ‘I am He (God)’; and the only means to achieve this is maintaining continuous awareness of God.
There is only one way available at present to realize God, and that is to remain in His name. Just as the Ganga remains sacred in spite of a number of rivulets and currents pouring their flows into its waters, our prapancha also, howsoever dirty it may be, could stand clean and pure, if we keep constant remembrance of God. There is no alternative to nama-smarana. To renounce all that leads to forgetting God is vairagya, and to follow only such things which help in remembering God is viveka. Rama is really steelhearted in the matter of duties, but at the same time, He is equally tender-hearted towards his devotees. He abandoned Seeta for the sake of duty, while He protected Bharata due to His love for devotees.
Out of my advice to you, whatever you may practise, that alone will come to your help. All of you should practise nama-smarana; there is no other path of your welfare. If there is anything which is naturally available to you, which is devoid of any upadhi, and which does not depend on anyone, it is nama. Rama will certainly bless him who takes it with a pure mind and heart.

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Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-Aug.20

A Slave to Sensual Pleasures

The body is the abode of all unhappiness, and a body in pain or illness is the climax of suffering. Body and pain are, indeed, inseparable, as are sugar and its whiteness. Even an able-bodied person cannot forget pain as a possibility. Just as the body has a shadow, equally unavoidable is the presence or possibility of illness. Even divine incarnations like Rama and Krishna had ultimately to discard the body. One cannot guarantee the well-being of one’s own body; and yet people lament over the death of a person. The threat of illness always makes one uneasy. The body has to bear pain itself; there is no proxy, nor can one take over another’s pain as proxy.
Whatever one has done so far has been in the interest of prapancha, that is, the body and matters related to it, or, in other words, sensual interests. Worldly authority of one kind or another, children, wealth, worldly action, popular acclaim – these are but different forms of sensual selfishness, and they invariably lead to sorrow. Every effort made so far has aimed at one earthly gain or another, imagining that it would bring one type of pleasure or another, but they are all illusory.
We should always remember that people are selfish by nature; not only they are basically not grateful for favours done, but quite likely to snarl if, on an occasion, we do not oblige them. Attachment to prapancha is no less perilous than clasping fire to the bosom. Naturally, therefore, all the trouble we have taken so far has failed to produce the happiness we strove for. However deep we probe into worldly activities, we shall never discover the pure, lasting happiness that we look for. Failure, sorrow, can be the only outcome.
Therefore we never come across nor hear of a person who has achieved lasting bliss through any worldly means. It is common experience that one has to adopt a servile attitude to one from whom we expect something; and one who becomes servile to sensual pleasures naturally loses true happiness. We get the fruit of the plant that we assiduously water and manure. Worldly life and sensuous pleasures are what we strive for; how can this yield contentment? A bitter fruit will not taste sweet however much you roll it in sugar; so, too, sensuous pleasures can never yield lasting happiness.
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Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-Aug. 19.

Do You Feel a Desperate Need for God?

A certain man started on a journey, well-equipped with the things he expected to need. Being a habitual betel leaf and tobacco chewer, he carried those accessories, too. After a while the train started, he took out the tobacco kit and proceeded to making ready the chew when, to his chagrin, he discovered that the lime box had been left out. He repeatedly searched his baggage but failed to find it. His longing for the chew whetted, he was almost beside himself; when he heard the sound of anything dropping on the floor, he thought it was the lime box. When anyone made as if to speak, he imagined that it was to ask if he wanted lime. How desperate one feels when one desires a certain thing with real longing!
Do we want God with the same degree of desperation? There are a hundred things about which we know the minutest detail – the wife and children and other things animate and inanimate; have we ever felt equally keen about the gods we worship every day? In this state of affairs, how can we expect love for God to arise in ourselves?
If we are really keen for the love of God, we must give up our great regard for worldly things and affairs. Not that we should disregard them and neglect practical needs and duties, but the keen attraction that we feel today for sensual pleasures and conveniences should be applied instead to God. There should arise a burning need for God, who should be a sine qua non for living.
Constant or frequent association leads to love, and love leads to yearning. This is a matter of common experience. For instance, we meet a congenial co-passenger in a journey; we sit with him, talk with him, perhaps share the meal with him. When his station arrives and he prepares to get off the train, we feel sorry to have to part, we express regret for briefness of the companionship. Far much more love will ensue if we keep constant company of nama. So maintain constant repetition of nama, and entrench yourself in the conviction that you are nobody, that it is God who is the doer in all happenings. Even what happens through you is prompted by Rama. He will surely rush to your succour if you earnestly call on Him to do so.

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Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-Aug.18

Surrender to Rama as the Sole Support

That life in the world needs thinking of God as the basis, is amply evident. If one only looks to one’s own experience, one will have to agree that all the grandeur and prosperity of today can only be attributed to Rama’s grace. We should therefore always remember that everything that happens is by His direction and will, that we should feel neither pride nor regret of doership of anything. If a feeling of pride does crop up, recollect Rama, and He will see that, that feeling is overcome. Pride of doership rears its head in times of ‘success’ or pleasing happenings, while, in times of undesired happenings, ‘fate’ comes in handy for blame. So take care that the feeling of pride is completely destroyed. The Lord cannot be propitiated so long as there is the smallest vestige of pride of doership. So think of Rama at all times, in all actions.
He is ever happy who attributes all doership to Rama; while one who takes doership on himself is paving the way to misery sooner or later. So let us ascribe everything to Rama and enjoy contentedness. Surrender utterly to Him, and thus freed, go through life with a light heart. Ask Him for nothing but love for nama-smarana.
Rest contented in the conviction that whatever happens is by God’s will. Be not disgusted with unpleasant happenings, nor elated with pleasant ones. This will gradually wear out the desire for or against anything, and efface all feeling of self-importance. So, I exhort you, put implicit faith in Rama. In utmost humility, vow to be happy in whatever circumstances He places you. He is ever eager ,to help us, but we, in self- pride, think it below dignity to ask His help. He can most certainly grant anything you can possibly ask for; but I would caution you to ask for nothing that may go against your ultimate good.
Ramadasa Swami acquired the appellation ‘Samartha’ because he became an unreservedly devoted servant of Rama. One who ceases looking up to worldly esteem and dedicates himself to the service of Rama will easily rule over the world. Old persons should dedicate themselves to upasana, while younger people should make it a point never to miss doing their duty, and keep constant awareness of God; this is the surest, the sole means of becoming contented.
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Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-Aug.17

Firm Faith is a Powerful Force

If we keep firm faith in God while doing our duty conscientiously, we need never have any occasion for pain, sorrow, or regret. This firm faith has helped so many people and seen them through trying circumstances.
The greatest advantage of saguna-bhakti is that the approach being through love, our emotions experience an upsurge when we bow at the feet of Rama. At such moments we should earnestly pray to Him, saying, “O Rama, I now have no ally, no support, but You; so now call me Yours. Doubtless I am the home of drawbacks and defects, but pray do not discard me on that count, for, unworthy as I may be, I approach You with utter surrender.”
We must possess the patience, the tolerance, that can only come from firm faith in God. Such a person will ever be trusted by the whole world. People will even set God aside and adore such a person. Worldly life led in firm faith in God is bound to be replete with happiness. Grieve not about what happened yesterday, nor worry about what may come tomorrow; live joyfully, unconcernedly, in the present, doing your duty; whenever you can withdraw your mind from the humdrum of life do so, and devote yourself to nama-smarana, eschewing idle talk.
For one who is immersed in love for God no advice or precept is necessary. Nowhere in the puranas is a mention of Lord Krishna having delivered to the gopis any philosophical discourse. There was never a need, for the gopis were steeped in the love of the Lord. Such love can be obtained only by nama-smarana. So, I say, live in nama and enjoy contentment and bliss in life. Take my word for it, God will shower His grace on you.
The activities we indulge in pursuit of worldly pleasures only yield mixed happiness and pain. Progeny, wealth, prosperity of various kinds, respect in the world, acquisition of material knowledge – these and such other things can never yield unalloyed, permanent bliss and contentment. The twin-sided coin of pleasure and pain will be our invariable lot. One who lives in ceaseless nama-smarana, one who is unaware of anything else, is ever supported by God. He alone can be called a true theist who is entrenched in the firm conviction that God is the real doer.

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Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-Aug.10.

What is Paramartha in Essence

Everyone who is solicitous about his own interest, I exhort you to listen to what I say. I feel true attachment for whoever is a devotee of Rama; I regard him as a genuine friend. My sole object in life is to guide everyone to what is in his ultimate interest. Life is meaningless if it does not exist for Rama. Once you dedicate yourself to me, I take it upon myself to look after you, to shoulder your worries and anxieties. You may rest contented. Have no worry about the end, for I undertake to see you successfully through. When I say I have taken you unto me, you should feel easy, disburdened, reassured. Trust in me, God will surely give you the cover of His mercy. My followers can depend on me to be by their side, wherever they may happen to be; I give this assurance confidently, in the name of the Lord. Know that I am present in your joy; do not drive me away by harbouring misery in the mind. One who maintains constant awareness of God, sees Him everywhere, and loves nama dearly, the Lord is with him everywhere, all the time. If you do what I have asked you to do, I guarantee that Rama will take you into the folds of His grace. All palpable things must eventually perish, cease to exist in visible form. My own physical body is also subject to this rule of nature; but my last wish, my parting message is, “Never quit nama while you breathe.” Do this, and Rama will undoubtedly shower His grace on you. Remain always contented, free of pleasure, pain, anxiety. I am ever by your side, for I am contentment incarnate. My sole desire, all my effort, is to unite you with Rama. In practice you will have to behave as circumstances demand, but at heart rest in utter surrender to Rama, and be inseparable from nama. This, and this alone, will lead you to contentment. I would exhort you again and again to be detached and discriminating at heart. Be devoted to God, attain to realization of the true nature of the Cosmic Soul, be in ceaseless awareness of it, and be ever attached to nama. I repeatedly assure you that I am ever there to back you up, so never lose courage. * * * * *