Soul-Deep Cultivation

Question: How can we increase and develop our faith?

We can do it by improving our serving attitude and by coming in connection with sadhu and sastra. Sastra is a scripture, and sadhu is a living scripture. For example, if we want to improve our pecuniary (financial) position, we must first anyhow come to a place where there is money, then we will see how we can get some money from there. Similarly, if we want divine love, then we are to anyhow come to a place where there is that love. We can find a trace of pure, divine love in the heart of a sadhu.

It is necessary to differentiate between lust and love. Love means sacrifice and dedication; it means to die to live. Love always wants to give, so we can attain love by giving. By taking we lose, we incur a loan, but by giving we can get something good. Also, the nature of what we get will depend on how much we can give, with a free spirit – the quality of our giving will determine the quality of the thing we get in return. Offer and have. Dedicate yourself and you will automatically get benefit. Do not want anything for yourself. Your surrender and dedication must be unconditional – be noble, be generous in your gift, in your dedication, in your quality, then you will also get noble things in return. The nature is not bankrupt, the Lord is not bankrupt. As much as you will risk in your dedication, that much you will be benefitted, and you will find that it has come within you automatically, unconsciously.

আদৌশ্রদ্ধা ততঃ সাধুসঙ্গোঽথ ভজনক্রিয়া ।
ততোঽনর্থনিবৃত্তিঃ স্যাৎ ততো নিষ্ঠা রুচিস্ততঃ ॥
অথাসক্তিস্ততো ভাবস্ততঃ প্রেমাভ্যুদঞ্চতি ।
সাধকানাময়ং প্রেম্ণঃ প্রাদুর্ভাবে ভবেৎ ক্রমঃ ॥

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya
tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha ruchis tatah
athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudanchati
sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah

'First, there is faith; then, saintly association and practising life. After that, unwanted habits gradually go away, spiritual life becomes stable, and spiritual taste comes. Then comes attachment, feeling and, finally, transcendental love. This is how love for the Lord comes to those who practise Krishna consciousness.'

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, 1.4.15-16)

Here, Srila Rupa Goswami describes the gradual development of love. The first stage is faith (sraddha). Before faith comes, one accumulates ajnata-sukrti (unconscious spiritual merit) and jnata-sukrti (conscious spiritual merit). The definition of sraddha is this:

'শ্রদ্ধা' শব্দে—বিস্বাস কহে সুদৃঢ় নিশ্চয় ।
কৃষ্ণে ভক্তি কৈলে সর্ব্বকর্ম্ম কৃত হয় ॥

'sraddha'-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

'Sraddha is a firm, determined faith that by serving Krishna all actions are accomplished.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.62)

If we discharge our duty towards the central truth with love, then everything will be automatically done. We should concentrate on controlling the whole of our energy and dedicating ourselves to a particular central position, and all others will be served automatically. Just as if you put food into the stomach and the whole body is served, pour water onto the root of the tree and the whole tree will be nourished.

So, we must get such faith within our hearts that it is the most important thing for us, and that it is possible – the central truth is there. We must have this conviction that if we discharge our duty in His connection, then everything is done. We should not be partial or prejudiced. We must leave all our prejudices and try to find the centre, eliminating all branches. If we can focus our minds on the centre without suffering from any prejudice, with open-mindedness, then we must find it.

সর্ব্বধর্ম্মান্ পরিত্যজ্য মামেকং শরণং ব্রজ ।
অহং ত্বাং সর্ব্বপাপেভ্যো মোক্ষয়িষ্যামি মা শুচঃ ॥

sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma suchah

'Give up all kinds of religion and surrender to Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, do not despair.'

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

'Give up all your duties that you are so busy discharging!' We can easily eliminate everything, get rid of all our engagements and direct ourselves towards the centre. We will not be losers thereby. We must have faith that such a policy of life is possible, and not only possible but it is the most beneficial for us. If we disconnect from the whole of the environment and concentrate on the centre, there will be no elimination as such because everything will be centred. To be centred is what is necessary for the progress of our lives. We must have this kind of faith (sraddha).

Next is sadhu-sanga. We must come in connection with those who are engaged in this campaign. It is necessary for us to select their association, their company, and there, the transaction will be to 'give and take': 'What should I do? What are you doing? I see that you are moving in such-and-such way and you are improving, so please instruct me how I can move in my present position to improve it, to make progress further towards the truth.' This is the meaning of sadhu-sanga.

Sadhu-sanga results in sravan and kirtan. We must listen (sravan) to the sadhu and reproduce what we have heard to the public (kirtan). Kirtan means to cultivate it within ourselves and to strengthen our own faith and position by reproducing it to others.

Next is smaran (remembrance). Even when we are at leisure, we must also think about it, 'What am I doing? What is my prospect? How can I attain all these things?'

After that comes pada-sevanam. Our practising lives will take us to the stage when we realise that there is a figure and there is a duty of the heart to discharge. There is a head, a mouth, a hand, all these things that we find in the human society, and they all have got their original position in the highest ideal. Pada-sevanam means aspiring to help in some lowest way. 'Help' means to render some soothing service. The feeling for a particular service to the Absolute will come within us and we will feel the need to satisfy it by some activity. He is personal, so He has a head, He has eyes, He has legs, everything; otherwise, where would all these parts in human beings and animals come from? If something is not there in the cause, it cannot be there in the effect. Everything that is there in the effect must be there in the cause. So, all these humanlike features do exist in the ideal.

কৃষ্ণের যতেক খেলা, সর্ব্বোত্তম নরলীলা,
নরবপু তাহার স্বরূপ ।

krsnera yateka khela, sarvottama nara-lila,
nara-vapu tahara svarupa

'The highest form of Godhead is Krishna who performs His eternal divine pastimes in His human form.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.21.101)

Mahaprabhu relishes, in a very lamenting mood, 'Oh, we are so near to Krishna! His pastimes of the highest order are very near to this human fashion. So, in one sense, we are very near to Him...'

After pada-sevanam comes archanam (worshipping Him) and vandanam (praying to Him). Vandavam means to appreciate from the core of our hearts His existence, His nature, His dealings with us and His various pastimes.

Then, sakhyam (serving the Lord as His friend): we come nearer to His service, entering a confidential area of service to the Supreme.

Finally, atma-nivedanam. On the whole, the general spirit everywhere will be that of self-dedication. The noble nature of our lives and our inherent quality is to dedicate ourselves, to make ourselves empty by giving. Generally, we think that by giving we lose, but it is not so. By giving we gain! Although we give something in a gross form, in return we get something in a subtle and higher form. So, we do not lose anything by giving – rather, we gain by giving, especially when we give something to a higher place. When we give and serve, the remuneration we get for our service comes in noble coin – it produces noble reaction.

So, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam, etc. – we are required to deal with the higher nature in all these ways, and thereby we will gain a clear conception: 'Bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir anyatra.'

ভক্তিঃ পরেশানুভবো বিরক্তি-
রন্যত্র চৈষ ত্রিক এককালঃ ।
প্রপদ্যমানস্য যথাশ্নতঃ স্যু-
স্তুষ্টিঃ পুষ্টিঃ ক্ষুদপায়োঽনুঘাসম্ ॥

bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir
anyatra chaisa trika eka-kalah
prapadyamanasya yathasnatah syus
tustih pustih ksud-apayo 'nughasam

'As one who eats feels satisfaction, nourishment and relief from hunger with each mouthful, so a surrendered soul simultaneously develops devotion, realisation of the Supreme Lord and detachment from everything else.'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.2.42)

Generally, as we learn the conception of the object of our service (what His nature is, and so on), our serving attitude will increase, we will feel indifference to what is non-God will grow, and the desire to enjoy or to renounce will decrease, so much so that we will shudder if we anyhow come in connection with the spirit of renunciation or exploitation (encroachment). There will be no question of exploitation and no question of renunciation for us because we will feel fulfilment in the noble line of all our lives. Why not renunciation? Because renunciation is a negative side. 'Bhaktya sanjataya bhaktya (ভক্ত্যা সঞ্জাতয়া ভক্ত্যা). Devotion increases devotion' (Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.3.31). Dedication will help us progress in the line of dedication. 'Jale jal bandhe (জলে জল বাঁধে). Money attracts money.' There is a similar saying in English, something like, 'Nothing succeeds like success.'

So, having got sadhu-sanga (association of saints) and sat-sastra-sanga (saints' statements and advice collected in books), try to understand, follow and cultivate what they give. You can understand scriptures with the help of a living scripture (a saint): 'Bhagavata pada Vaisnavera sthane (ভাগবত পড় বৈষ্ণবের স্থানে). Read Bhagavatam under the guidance of a bona fide Vaishnav' (Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.5.131). To obtain the real standpoint in our learning from the scriptures, we need a teacher, a befitting, proper teacher from whom we are to understand everything. 'Acharyavan puruso veda (আচার্য্যবান পুরুষো বেদ). You can understand the meaning of the revealed scriptures if you have a real guide, or a real professor, to teach you.' It is very hard to extract the real purpose of what is embodied in the revealed scriptures, so it is necessary for us to receive this knowledge from a proper guide, a proper teacher; we shall study under his guidance and instruction. The process of studying is pranipata, pariprasna and seva: surrender, honest enquiry and service.

To be promoted and progress further, we generally need a higher living agent. Only a proper cultivation of the truth will give us progress. 'Proper' means that it must be in the presence of experts in the department, because if there is any error, they will detect it and help us, guide us. It is like this in every case when we want to learn something; it is also like this in Krishna consciousness, and it applies taking the Holy Name, too.

We must dismiss nama-aparadha (offences to the Holy Name) and namabhasa (shadow chanting of the Holy Name) and make progress towards suddha-nama (pure Holy Name).

অসাধুসঙ্গে ভাই কৃষ্ণনাম নাহি হয় ।
নামাক্ষর বাহিরায় বটে তবু নাম কভু নয় ॥

asadhu-sange bhai krsna-nama nahi haya
namaksara bahiraya bate tabu nama kabhu naya

'Brother, the Name of Krishna never appears in bad association: the letters of the Name may appear, but the Name never does.'

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 7.1, Sri Jagadananda Pandit)

When we take the divine Name of the Lord, the process I have described is the most helpful in achieving devotion. Here, too, we find that we cannot take the Name properly in the company of non-devotees (asadhu-sangete krsna-nama nahi haya). We may be seen to labour, to pronounce the sound, but a mere form cannot produce the essence that is within it (namaksara bahiraya bate). We need help, it is essential for us, and such help can be attained only through service and dedication. So, dedication and devotion are everything.

Otherwise, a mayavadi can also take the Name, a parrot also can take the Name, even a machine can also take the Name, but mere sound – a particular vibration in the physical ether – is not the real thing. The inner vibration is where the man is, where the soul is. This is where the vibration must come from. It is something that must be produced and cultivated there, in the soul, in the heart. Who is the receiver? Who is searching for satisfaction? All this must come to us when we come in the association of that plane.

The Holy Name, as well as every other process in devotion, must touch the soul, the inner party, the real party. The cultivation must be in the real plane, not in the physical or mental aspect of the soul. These are all coverings – a physical covering, a mental covering, and so on; the party, the person, is the soul, so all cultivation, whatever it may be, must anyhow take place in that plane. We are to take it all the way to the soul's plane. We must arouse, awaken the soul because only the soul can cooperate with the Supersoul and the plane of Krishna (Vaikuntha, Goloka, etc.). Our activity must be of such character. 'Vaikuntha-nama-grahanam asesagham haram (বৈকুণ্ঠনামগ্রহণমশেষাঘহরং). Innumerable sins can be destroyed by taking the transcendental Holy Name of the Lord' (Srimad Bhagavatam, 6.2.14). The Name, the sound we take must belong to Vaikuntha: that is, it must be of infinite character, not just part of this phenomenal world. Words must not be confined to this phenomenal plane. Therefore, taking the Name must be a deep culture, a soul culture. Our attempts at cultivation must be in the plane of the soul and the Supersoul.

We must be very careful about the depth of our cultivation. What we do must come from within, from the core of our hearts, from the very essence of our existence. We must be very mindful of this. This is not lip-deep but heart-deep – we must reach the plane where we are, where the man (the soul) is, then our innermost thirst can be quenched. We must detect and locate where our thirst is. It lies is in the core of our hearts, so our actions must be directed to satisfy that. Our progress must be of that type, that quality.

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