How to Meditate on Shree Krishna Part 7 of 7
Jagadguru Shree Kripalu Ji Maharaj
In your spare time, do not allow your mind to be idle. Otherwise, you will have wrong thoughts. Practice doing your work properly and in the least amount of time.
“What things need to be brought from the store? Just write it down and give it to me.” She wrote it, he brought it. The work is finished.
“Why don’t you sit down? You never talk to me. What’s happening today?”
“I talked to you a lot. Now I want to use my time properly. Just tell me what work needs to be done, and I won’t waste my time with you. I would request you to adopt this approach; otherwise, you will have tension.”
You have a wrong habit that when you come from the office, you sit, drink tea, and chat.
“You know what happened today? That relative came. He is so rude!”
Unnecessary gossiping goes on at home. Then both start arguing. After this, fighting starts. This keeps growing to the point where husband and wife stop talking to each other.
“Son, tell your father…!” Then this chapter starts. This goes on for a few days, and then the same thing starts over again.
Limit the time you spend on daily work so you can find more time for devotion (sādhana). Just as you carefully save money, “Buy this TV, not that one. That one is $5000; this $1000 one will do the job.” You will save $4000. Like this, save your time.
Your life, this human form, nar deh (human body), is unattainable by celestial gods. Don’t misuse it. Put it to good use. Even if misuse happens, keep it to a minimum. As much time as you give for your body, give at least that much time for your soul (ātman); or let’s give equally, 50–50. You slept for 6 hours. Now 18 hours are left. So dedicate 9 hours for your body and 9 hours for your soul.
“Nine hours! Oh Maharaj Ji, what are you saying?”
Even if it is one hour, it is by His mercy! You should show mercy towards yourself; why are you asking for God’s mercy? Your body is so important that every arrangement for its needs has been made. If you stopped work today, you could stay alive eating a couple of pieces of bread a day. Why are you accumulating more wealth? What answer will you give?
“Do you plan to take it with you?”
“No, I will give it to my grandchildren.”
If those grandchildren get ready-made wealth, they will be more spoiled. Are you benefiting them? Who told you to do that? Besides eating and other basic necessities, if something is left, give it away to charity. Don’t keep it with you. It is dangerous. Don’t waste so much time in earning. Have restraint in your life.
You may think, “People will criticize me.” Even now people say bad things about you daily. Who speaks well of you in the world? When even a wife doesn’t speak well of her husband, who in the world will speak well of you? If a husband listens to his wife, she thinks, “My husband is really good.” If after ten minutes he doesn’t listen, “Why am I so unlucky to get such a husband?” What kind of drama is this? The temperature of love increases so much and then reduces so much that it goes below zero degrees daily! They start scolding and insulting each other. I haven’t actually heard this; I just have an idea! You people don’t exhibit such behavior in front of me. If you are fighting and I arrive,
“Shhh! Maharaj Ji has come!”
Then you become like one soul in two bodies! I’m not fortunate enough to have a glimpse of that, but this is everyone’s experience.
In this way, do sādhana (spiritual practice) in daily activity, and for as much time as you can spare, do devotion by yourself. You should do this sādhana of karm-yog (path of action) and karm-sannyās (renunciation of doership) continuously. Along with this, the most important thing is to avoid wrong association (kusang - bad association]). This is the final philosophy: saving yourself from wrong association.
Meaning: save $10; don’t waste them. Then $10 every day will be $300 in a month and $3650 in one year. But if you save $10 and spend $11, you would be in debt $1 daily, which would be a $365 debt in a year. So save yourself from wrong association. However close your relatives are, you sit and chat with them, but now you know that they have no interest in Divine matters. So don’t associate with them. They will keep talking about unnecessary things: politics, criticizing others, etc. Because of this, you shouldn’t associate with them.
“But they will feel offended and gossip more.”
They may do that once, but what next? They might say, “You’ve become a great holy person!”
“Yes, that’s right, now go!”
Everyone talks badly about you behind your back. If they say it once in front of you, what difference does it make? If you do bad, then good people will call you bad. One side is going to call you bad anyway. So do good, in the future so you can become good in the future.
Don’t care about the world. Don’t associate with such people who could adversely affect you or waste your time. When those people understand after one or two times that “Oh, he is like that!” You are like that! Now you are free.
And especially, it is the worst spiritual transgression to hear any criticism against God’s (Divine) name (nām), form (roop -Divine form), virtues (guṇ - Divine qualities]), leelās (Divine pastimes), abode (dham - Divine realm) or His Saints. If you think listening to criticism of God and Saint won’t affect you, that it’s just gossip, and the speaker doesn’t know anything, what will happen? Be careful! You are going towards danger! Just listening to this is a spiritual transgression. Don’t go there.
Great Divine personalities like Saraswati (goddess of knowledge), Brihaspati (celestial preceptor) and Garud (carrier of God) tried this and were harmed. Don’t apply your intellect to Divine subjects. Don’t argue and question. If you have to question, then ask this: although you receive the kickings of māyā (illusion) every day, why aren’t you detached? Ask this question. And because you aren’t detached, you don’t love God - this is obvious. If you could ever take your mind from here, it could be attached there.
Thus, wrong association is that which is against Divine subjects. There is one “ku” and one “su.” The Divine field is su and the māyic (material) field is ku. Association with the Divine field is satsang - susang (good association). Association with the māyic world is kusang (bad association), whether it is a material thing or person, live or lifeless - whatever it may be. In this way, save yourself from kusang.
Source: Excerpt from the lecture published on Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat Philanthropy YouTube channel.