


Sharanagati
Collected words from talks of Swami Tirtha
Jan
31
(continues from the previous issue)
Question of Krishna Priya: From one hand you said that there is a thin material covering over Vrindavana and I suppose not only over Vrindavana but everywhere…
Tirtha Maharaj: No. In other places the covering is very thick.
Krishna Priya: From the other hand you said that invitation is always there. How to understand this?
Tirtha Maharaj: Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is penetrating the coverings. He is opening the doors and windows and curtains and veils. Because it is said that the treasure of divine love was in a treasure house in Vrindavana. But this treasure house was closed and sealed down. Nobody knew! It was just like the Federal Reserve – nobody knows what kind of treasure is there inside. Many people think some gold is there, but nobody knows how much or how less. In the same way the treasure of divine love was hidden in this treasure house of Vrindavana. But then Mahaprabhu came. He broke the seal, He opened the door and entered the treasure house.
Imagine yourself: you get the information that there is a big treasure hidden somewhere! You have the ability to break the seal. You have the code for opening the doors and very special tricky locks. You type on the dial 108 and it immediately is opening up. And what do you do? You try to fill up your pocket, right? To keep everything for yourself. But, you know, Mahaprabhu was a sannyasi. And on a sannyas dhoti there are not much pockets. So what did He do? He just entered the treasure house, grabbed all the treasure, went out and started to distribute. And He had some good helpers, because by the door some of His great stalwarts were standing. And they helped, because Mahaprabhu in this case had only two hands. But with His devotees He had hundreds and thousands of hands to distribute.
So, the secrets we can understand by the help of others. We can obtain the treasure if someone gives it to us. Although the treasure is there! So the invitation is ever there. But somebody has to activate the whole process.
This is the explanation why there is a covering and there is an opening all the time. Because it is there, but we do not see. As soon as you think you can grab it, it disappears. This is a mystic process, it is not a calculation. Usually the things on the material sphere you can calculate: I invest hundred leva and I lose two hundred. That is obvious, this is the way how material things work. This you can calculate. But when you invest your efforts in spiritual practice, you expect some returns: 50% of my life to Krishna – and gaining eternal life. This is your expectation. But then, as it is said, some “unpredictable ecstatic emotions” are manifested and you feel like everything is lost. You have invested your energy, your attention, your efforts to Krishna and… ah, I am standing here empty-handed! But this – to be empty-handed – is very good; because then you can receive all the treasures that Mahaprabhu brings to you. Just imagine, if you hold on all your material attachments, then you cannot take what is given to you. If we have excrement in our hands then it is very difficult to accept the halava that is given to us. First throw it away! Empty your hands in order to be able to receive.
But as I told you, this is a mystic and secret process. And there are some places in Vrindavana which are kept secret, even today. You cannot enter after a certain time. The doors are open during the day, but during the day only the monkeys are there. During the night the doors are closed. You can imagine who is there behind the doors. So better approach divinity in a very humble state of mind.
(to be continued)
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