Today we're going to focus on Krishna, Radha Krishna. Think of Krishna. Now your mind, now it becomes natural for your mind, “Oh yeah, I know what Krishna looks like. I've seen so many murtis, I've seen so many paintings, I've even seen plays and movies where people were playing the part of Krishna. So, I know what Krishna looks like. If you tell me to think of Krishna, an image comes in my mind.”
Now what's the difference between thinking of an actor who played the part of Krishna and thinking of actual Krishna? Because it doesn't make sense that thinking of an actor, how can that count as devotion, right? Or thinking of a piece of stone that's carved to look like Krishna, why would that count as devotion? Or thinking of a painting that a material person drew, thinking of Krishna in that way, why would that have devotional value?
Those things don't have devotional value on their own. What gives them devotional value is you realize Krishna is in that. So when you, for example, look at the murti of Krishna over here, just seeing it as a beautifully carved and painted piece of stone, a beautifully decorated murti, that doesn't count as devotion. Krishna is omnipresent, so real Krishna is in the murti also, in His personal form.
So, if you look with those eyes, faithful eyes, then you're having darshan, and you're actually joining your mind with Krishna. It's the same thing in your mind. If you're just imagining a form, “Oh yeah, these are the paintings I've seen,” or “I saw this actor dressed like Krishna,” and you think like that; that's not enough.
You have to realize this image I'm creating in my mind, this is Krishna, because Krishna is in my mind also, so He's also inhabiting this form that I have imagined. Therefore, it is not just imagination. The imagination is the means of joining your mind with God, but you have to infuse faith into it, “This form of Krishna that I've created in my mind, this is real Krishna!”
