Chapter 1 God's Name (Cont'd)
Kirtan--Tasting Real Pleasure
It enables us to fully taste the nectar for
which we are
always
anxious.--Shikshastaka
We're Mystified
We are part and parcel of Krishna, servants of God,
but because
we have diverted our attention solely to material affairs, we are left
confused
and mystified. Sometimes, when people think of God, yoga or religion,
they
think of something mysterious or impersonal. There is actually nothing
mysterious
about God, religion or chanting Hare Krishna.
The mystery is that everyone is godless. God is the
source of
everything.
Everything is emanating or vibrating from Him, and yet we are godless.
Our
vibrations are godless. Everywhere people say, "I don't believe in
God,"
or "God is dead." If God doesn't fit into our mysterious and
mind-boggling
conception, we cannot accept Him. Therefore this age is called
Kali-yuga,
the age of darkness and ignorance.
Can You See God?
We cannot exist outside God, Krishna, because
everyone is part
and
parcel of God. The solution to all our disagreements, our differences,
our
frustrations and confusion is to become conscious of God, Krishna. Once
we
become conscious of our eternal relationship with Krishna, we
automatically
become conscious of all other living entities and our relationship with
them.
Although we are different and individual, through Krishna we can get
along
with everyone peacefully and happily.
If we do not recognise Krishna as the centre of
everything, we
cannot
get along with anyone. As soon as we accept Krishna, then immediately
we
can communicate with everyone. Everything becomes clear, intelligible
and
harmonious. I cannot call from my house to your house, avoiding the
telephone
exchange. If I go through the exchange, however, the phone will ring in
your
house. Krishna is like the telephone exchange. If we go through
Krishna,
we can communicate with anyone.
We must see Krishna in everything, then everything will
be seen in
its proper perspective. The sun enables us to see ourselves and
everything
else. Without the sun, we are in darkness. Similarly, without Krishna
we
cannot see or understand anything. We are simply in ignorance. We can
only
see God, Krishna, by chanting His holy name.
Who is Number One?
Krishna is the leader, the number one eternal
amongst all
eternals.
He is maintaining everyone, and He is fulfilling everyone's desires.
All
living creatures are being looked after by Krishna according to their
karma--actions
and reactions. This fact can be easily understood simply by performing
Kirtan
(congregational chanting of Hare Krishna), especially on the street. At
once
we understand, "The whole world is going on without me. It's going on
under
Krishna's direction." When we serve the supreme leader, Krishna, by
performing
Kirtan, we get actual happiness, spiritual happiness. We feel ananda,
bliss.
God is eternally blissful. Because He is God, He has
nothing to
worry
about. There is no one greater than Him, and there is no one equal to
Him.
Everything originates in God, everything is being maintained by Him and
everything
again enters into Him. When we understand that we are eternally part
and
parcel of Krishna, we will be happy, complete in our original, joyful
existence.
Krishna says,
One who is thus transcendentally situated at
once realises
the Supreme Brahman. He never laments nor desires to have anything; he
is
equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure
devotional
service unto Me.--Bhagavad-gita 18.54
Just by vibrating Hare Krishna, we feel happy.
We reach a
point where we feel unhappy if we are not chanting Hare Krishna. When
we
stop chanting, we feel that there is something missing. We want to be
joyful,
free from the material anxieties of eating, sleeping, defending and
having
sex. We want to be self-satisfied and self-realised. The purpose of
chanting
Hare Krishna is to develop love for Krishna, and the result of chanting
Hare
Krishna is love of God, eternal bliss.
Taste Real Intoxication
In the present day, people ingest so many
intoxicating
substances
to experience relief from their constant material anxieties. Everyone
wants
a taste of bliss. They want to experience some supramundane happiness.
Even
the most powerful drug ultimately brings misery. But the holy name of
Krishna
allows one to taste the highest, most relishable kind of bliss. Krishna
is
ananda. He is never unhappy. His form is sach-chid-ananda: eternity,
knowledge
and bliss.
The material body is composed of earth, water, fire,
air and ether.
The material body is miserable, ignorant and temporary. In our search
for
relief from this miserable, temporary body, we become entangled with
other
bodies. The more we become entangled in material activities, the more
we
suffer. The more we become engaged in chanting Hare Krishna, the more
we
experience relief by awakening to the spiritual reality.
Under the gloom of death, one ignorantly scrambles for
so-called
material happiness. Seeking happiness, an ignorant person will take
intoxicant
and obliterate his brain for an hour or two, a day, a week or even a
lifetime.
Some children are even born intoxicated because the mother and father
are
taking heroin, LSD or other intoxicants. Consequently, when the baby is
born,
he is intoxicated. Naturally, such children become easily addicted to
smoking
and drinking.
Pure and Unconditional
Devotees also dance, sing, work, eat, sleep and
have children.
Devotees
also get intoxicated--not with drugs, but with Krishna. Devotees become
mad
after Krishna, addicted to chanting Krishna's name. When they chant,
they
experience relief from material misery.
The materialists get relief from material misery by
taking drugs
like heroin. Intoxicated, he feels everything is all right. Heroin is a
material
substance which gives a semblance of relief or pleasure. However, when
heroin
wears off, it reacts with pain, and each time, the pain is more acute
than
the time before. In chanting Hare Krishna, there is no pain or bad
reaction.
Chanting is pure and unconditional. Krishna is the intoxication of
devotees.
Kirtan is the song and dance of ecstasy. The word
ecstasy comes
from
the word exit. When one is in ecstasy, the false things must exit,
leave
or be driven out. When everything false and misleading is stripped
away,
we feel ecstasy. This ecstasy is our natural, joyful
consciousness--Krishna
consciousness.
Kirtan is an appeal to Krishna--"O Krishna, please
protect me. O
Krishna, please engage me." It is also an appeal to the conditioned
souls
who are in ignorance--"Be Krishna conscious, be happy. Don't suffer.
Come
chant Hare Krishna, surrender to Krishna and go home, back to Godhead."
Every
endeavour in Krishna consciousness thus aims at spiritual
happiness--for
ourselves and others.
Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu