Sharanagati

(from a lecture of Swami Tirtha, 10.01.2019 morning, Sofia)

(continues from the previous Friday)

This is our vision about the spiritual sky: the Divine Couple is in the center, divine energies are around Them. The mahamantra is written on the petals of this lotus flower. Beautiful! All the partners of Krishna are around. All the spiritual achievements like siddhis and powers and knowledge and everything are in resplendent form there. All the protection is there as well, so no interference is there. And this is the place where we want to go.

“The Lord of Gokula is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, full in eternal ecstatic bliss. He is the best and supreme in all these supremely powerful personalities. And with a happy heart He enjoys the bliss of his divine realm. The material energy has no contact, no connection there.”[1] 

Don’t forget, the mahamantra is written on the petals of this divine lotus flower. Whenever your heart is a little heavy and you feel like you are losing the taste of the Holy Name, just remember this picture. It’s so beautiful! Maybe you have some questions?

Question of Shyama Tulasi: Yesterday we agreed that to purify the heart we have to chant more. And in Shikshashtaka, Mahaprabhu says that if we want to chant always, we have to be humbler than a blade of grass. My question concerns humility, because I cannot understand it. 

Swami Tirtha: This is a good sign. If somebody is interested in humility, most probably he or she will become a devotee. 

Shyama Tulasi: Is there dignity and self-respect in humility?

Swami Tirtha: Sure! Of course! 

Shyama Tulasi: Because often we mistake humility with denying our abilities…

Swami Tirtha: Yes. This is false ego. I mentioned the other day, if you overestimate or underestimate yourself – that’s the same problem. You still focus on yourself. ‘Oh, I’m the most surrendered servant.’ 

But I think this is an important question, an important topic. Because in my humble understanding, humility is sometimes very proud. We are very proud. Proud of God. Proud of our superiors. But humble about ourselves. If we are compared to a speck of dust, then where is our prestige? Once I heard a person’s story. “I went to a fortune-teller”. You see, there are some clients for such an office. “And I wanted to understand about my previous lifetimes. Then it turned out that I was living in Jesus’ time. Not a very high type of life – a speck of dust. But actually a speck of dust in a special place – very close to the cross of Jesus, to the crucifixion. And what happened? One drop of the Lord’s blood came upon me”. My dear ones, would you buy such a story? I think you understand something about humility. “I’m a speck of dust. But a special one. With a drop of blood of Lord Jesus on me.” Come on! 

So, humility. In this way we express our gratitude. In this way we express our respect and our willingness to learn, to serve. Real humility I think should be very positive. Self-reflection should be real, so that we can face our positive sides and shortcomings as well. And if somehow we are integrated nicely into a spiritual community, then we can understand that all our merits and all our prestige is for service, for serving the others. So, if we are great in any respect, we are great for service. We want to use our abilities as an offering. And if somehow we are integrated into this loving partnership, divine partnership – I think this is the real encouragement for proper spiritual self-esteem. So don’t deny; dedicate. Don’t kill your false identity, rather purify and offer it. 

1. Brahma Samhita, 5.6