Sharanagati
Collected words from talks of Swami Tirtha(from a lecture of Swami Tirtha, 07.01.2017 morning, Sofia)
(continues from the previous Monday)
Swami Tirtha: We can say that family is like association, like a meeting. And we have different features that can meet. What happens if the egos meet?
Krishna Priya: Fight.
Swami Tirtha: Correct, if the egos meet, fight is coming. And actually in this way you lose energy – both parties. This is a destructive association. Therefore we can say that if only the egos meet in a relationship, this brings some diseased state of mind. Fight will bring more fight. This is called roga – ‘disease’. If the egos meet, the result is roga.
What happens if the bodies meet? What is the result of the union of the bodies?
Sanatana: Pleasure, sex.
Swami Tirtha: Yeah, pleasure. Correct – if the bodies meet, the result is pleasure. It’s better than union of the egos – which brings disease. The union of the bodies brings pleasure – at least something that we like. This brings bhoga. Bhoga is ‘pleasure’ – when we enjoy. But unfortunately this type of enjoyment usually doesn’t last long. If your relationship is based only on sexual attraction, that can change very fast.
So, we have our ego, we have our body – to meet, to unite, to associate. What else do we have?
Manjari: Mind.
Swami Tirtha: Uh, don’t mention the mind! The next step we can say is the heart – the meeting of the hearts. But better I say ‘the hearts’ and not ‘the minds’ – when the best emotional part of you meets, unites with another person, what is the result of that?
Hayagriva: Affection.
Swami Tirtha: Correct! Real, deep connection – yoga. If the egos meet – roga, disease. If the bodies meet – bhoga, pleasure. If the hearts meet – yoga, you are united, you feel that ‘he is my partner, she is my partner’. This is high union. To find your life partner – it’s such a good feeling.
There is only one more feature that we have to unite and this is the soul. If the atman meets another atman, this should become prema, divine love.
So, whenever you have any experience in your life, try to analyze it according to this list: which part of you takes part in this meeting. ‘Is this my ego? Is this my body? Is this my heart? Is this my soul?’ And as our ambition, our goal is to come more and more to the spiritual platform, when you reach that, only your soul can unite, only your soul can function.
Sanatana: These levels are interrelated and we have to keep the focus always high on yoga, because if it’s only focused on bhoga, separation comes. And if it’s focused on yoga, then maybe we can achieve prema. Did I understand correctly?
Swami Tirtha: I think so. But what are the priorities? And what is more actual goal in my life today? Maybe in the beginning bhoga is very important. But bhoga very easily can turn into roga. And if we go through all the difficulties of this enjoying mentality and this rejecting or fighting mentality, they are like two extremes, then we might achieve the higher synthesis of yoga – like a higher type of union.
Because family is an ashram, grihastha-ashram. This is a place of spiritual progress. Not a place of running away: ‘I failed today and I’ll run away’ – no! One lifetime – one partner. I know it’s strict, but this should be the ideal. One lifetime – one partner. Why? Because Bhaktivinod Thakur says: We, the living entities, we have a biological tendency of multiplication. You have to control that impulse somehow – by sacred marriage. Not to visit all the flowers in the field as a butterfly. One flower.