(H H Kadamba Kanana Swami, Cape Town, South Africa, 29th June 2012) Lecture: Ranchors Gita
The stream of thoughts is just going on and on, but it is not just randomly going on, since it is echoing. It is echoing things that we have been absorbing, and of course it is centred on our desires, but many thoughts are echoing on things that we have seen, and things that we have heard – they are echoing in our minds. So sometimes people say:
‘You know whenever I read; I just forget it the next moment. I read it and the next moment I already forgot it.’
Don’t worry about it! Just keep on reading. It is okay, don’t punish yourself:
‘I’m so bad, for forgetting all these things. I’m so terrible, I have no bhakti.’
Stop beating yourself, it’s all right. Don’t worry about it. It will work in the consciousness. It will emerge just when you are in the middle of the supermarket, then suddenly a fragment of the Bhagavad-Gita comes up in your head for some reason. So little by little, and with time our thoughts become purified automatically with more thoughts of Krishna, just by hearing about Krishna! So this is how the association with the Bhagavad-Gita is very helpful! So we are trying to be absorbed in Krishna, and there are different levels of absorptions in Krishna, with love for Krishna as being the highest…
So the Bhagavad-Gita is giving different ways, and in this part of chapter 12 the focus is on our consciousness, and on how we can approach Krishna, and what we should do. And the second half of the chapter 12 is dealing with how Krishna is responding (because that is the nature of devotional service) so it’s not us on our own, since it is Krishna who is also relating to us. So the chapter is describing devotional service and it’s interesting how it is divided in two halves…So it then asks:
‘Who is dear to the Lord?’
Yes it is describing Krishna’s perspective:
‘One who bears no hatred, who is a compassionate friend to all creatures, who is not possessive or selfish, equal in happiness and distress, and forgiving… An equal minded person – someone who in happiness and distress is equal minded.’
So these are the qualities of a devotee. One who is dedicated to the spiritual path. That means it’s an endeavour, it is not automatic in the spiritual path. Not one who is spiritual, but no the spiritual path. There a many paths. A path is narrow. A path means you have to make a choice, ‘I’m turning this way.’ So one who is dedicated to the spiritual path, and then one who is satisfied. It is said in the Bhagavad-Gita:
‘Austerity of the mind is to be satisfied.’
So since when has one been satisfied in austerity? It means to be satisfied when the conditions are right. So it’s like when you have a house and you have Krishna in the house. You have an altar and are chanting Hare Krishna. You have the books and basically you have a Krishna Conscious life and of course the mind is not satisfied… So we have to be satisfied with the spiritual life that we have and that means to make a mental adjustment, because the habit is not to be austere but to always want something more. So we need to preach to ourselves, tell ourselves:
‘It’s all right now. Now it is actually good. Be satisfied with this, and do not change it. No it’s all right. Krishna is in the centre, good. So now there is no need to make a change anyway!’
The mind still wants to change out of habit, but no, such a person is dear to Krishna:
‘One who troubles no one and is troubled by no one, who is unmoved by happiness, anger fear and distress is very dear to me.’
So we can hang it on the wall next to the mirror and meditate upon this. Some people do, they have a sticker on the mirror and in the morning when they brush their teeth they meditate upon such verses. We need to do such things – to create some meditations!
