How to Meditate on Shree Krishna Part 6 of 7

Jagadguru Shree Kripalu Ji Maharaj

Understand one more point.

For doing devotion alone in a quiet room at home, you should fix a time - it doesn’t matter if it’s morning, noon, or evening. Whenever you find time, and according to your schedule, sit in a quiet place.

Many sūtras (aphorisms) in Vedānt (Vedic philosophy) are for devotion. (They recommend that) you should sit carefully. Even here, people sit carelessly. Especially at night or early morning, some people wrap themselves in their shawls and tuck their hands inside. In a little while they feel warm, and it feels so nice, they fall asleep.

When Maharaj Ji says, “Are you sleeping?”

“No! You are mistaken! How could I be sleeping?”

This happens because you are not sitting carefully. You have to sit carefully. So when you sit carefully in a quiet room and do remembrance as I described then sing the kīrtan (devotional chant) or pad (devotional song) of a Saint, or do nām-saṅkīrtan (chanting of the Divine Name), whichever you prefer, and shed tears. Increase your longing to have Their actual Divine vision.

But while doing this, instead of remembering Krishna, your mind goes to your mother, or to your father, or to your wife, or to your husband, or anywhere else. Because this is its practice. How long could you do Krishna’s remembrance?

When your mind wanders elsewhere, you get mad, “The rascal ran away again!”

When you get mad, your mind gets more disturbed. This is the wrong medicine which makes your disease grow. Quietly let your mind go. Release it. Where is it going? To see the Taj Mahal? Alright, see the Taj Mahal. How it shines in the moonlight! That’s fine. Keep on looking. Now visualize Krishna standing on top of the Taj Mahal’s shining stones. Now look at the Taj Mahal; Who will stop you? You like your mother’s or your wife’s eyes a lot. In those eyes imagine Krishna’s enchanting curved form. Now gaze at her eyes continuously. The world will think, “Are they the reincarnation of Romeo and Juliet?”

You don’t have to be afraid, you don’t have to worry, you don’t have to get mad. Meditate peacefully. Wherever your mind wanders, visualize Krishna there.

When a street performer trains a monkey, his technique is first to tie the monkey with a 100-ft. rope. When the monkey tries to go beyond 100 feet, the rope tightens around his neck. When he feels pain he says,

“It’s useless! I’ll jump around in a 100-foot area.”

Then he is tied to a 50-ft. Rope.

“Yesterday I went 100 feet! Today my limit is only this much!”

But when he tries to go, the rope around his neck gives him pain. So he jumps around in a 50-foot area.

Like this, when the monkey is tied to only one foot of rope, he sits quietly,

“Why should I drive myself crazy? I’ll just sit here!”

Your mind is like the monkey’s nature, extremely restless. You have to keep it tied with the rope of Krishna. Let it go wherever it goes. If it goes to the most dirty place, let it go. If it goes to a garbage heap or a brothel, let it go. Visualize Krishna standing there.

When you practice this for some time, then your mind will say, “Wherever I go, He is standing there. So what’s the use? I’ll just stay here!” The mind gets tired. It gives up.

In our village the fields are plowed by oxen. The oxen are yoked to a plough. When the oxen are young, if a plough is placed on them, they jump and farmers get injured. They feel, “We are not here to carry this load. We have been playing and jumping. What is this?” How long will it last? So the farmers yoke a heavy log between two young oxen and make them walk 4 to 6 miles on the road. Now if they run, the heavy log prevents them. They get tired and start walking slowly. The farmers make them practice this for 4–6 days. After this, they again put on the plough. The oxen now understand they have to walk slowly. This is how farming has been done all over India for thousands of years. And see how properly oxen walk; there is barely a difference from line to line. If you see carefully, you’ll notice that oxen do all work more intelligently than man, but in the beginning the oxen were restless.

In the same way the mind is restless, but through practice and renunciation it is controlled. It has been done by uncountable souls like us who became Saints. No one is setting a new example. Since eternity there have been uncountable Saints. Some have been great sinners. We were also one of them. We just have to work harder. In one birth, if we don’t cross over māyā (Divine illusion), it might take two births or ten, but eventually we have to reach there. Without effort, we won’t reach our goal.

If you say, “Forget about it!” then you will have to deal with the 8.4 million species of life. This is a terrible situation to deal with.

Those who talk nonsense such as, “What do I have left? I’m 70 years old. My life is finished. Now what is left? After this, I’m free.”

“Son, think about it. You have your whole life ahead of you.”

“Father, what freedom will you have after this?”

“Once I die, I am free!”

“(Sanskrit verse)”

Are you a follower of Chārvāka’s (atheistic) philosophy?

“No! I believe in God. I believe in Ram and Krishna.”

Then how can you say, “I will be free”?

Freedom means liberation, and that happens after God-realization. How will you be free? You die and leave this body and go to another. The human body may seem like a burden, but only the human form is the most fortunate. Otherwise there are 8.4 million (less one) other forms of life.

In this way, if your mind wanders anywhere, practice visualizing Krishna there. This is the devotion you do by yourself. Apart from this, whatever time you get, wherever you are going, practice the same thing. Practice first after every hour.

“It’s four o’clock. At five o’clock I will remember Krishna.” Now do your office work.

Now it’s five o’clock. Can anyone in your office ask, “Why did you look at the clock?” or “Why did you scratch your head?” Everyone does this.

For just a few seconds while sitting at work, imagine a place and visualize, “My Krishna is here.” Imagine Him in the sky, on the ground, or on top of the table. Imagine He is sitting or standing there. Now do your work.

After one hour feel, “He is standing here.” Keep on doing your work. “He is standing here.”

Now within one hour, all the wrong things that you are doing or thinking will be interrupted,

“Krishna is here. He is watching. Are you misbehaving? Be careful!”

Now from one hour make it every half an hour. After half an hour: “He is standing here.”

Don’t meditate on His features, on how His eyes or ears look. You don’t have to do this. Just feel, “He is standing here. I am not alone.”

Our feelings of privacy are destroying us. These feelings of privacy have to end. We think,

“No one knows what I’m thinking.” We also keep on saying, “Krishna notes everything.” We believe, “No one knows what I am thinking.”

So this wrong attitude, which should be called atheism, will end eventually.

Do remembrance every 30 minutes, then every 15 minutes, then every second. You won’t waste time, and no one in your office will know. Simply look to one place: “Krishna is standing here,” and do your work, only have this feeling: “I am not alone; we are two — always two.” You should practice this all the time.

Source: Excerpt from the lecture published on Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat Philanthropy YouTube channel.