Sharanagati

On the relative platform, there are too many dharmas. Dharma, or duty, first of all like taking care of the body. And you can see how nicely this material world serves this purpose. You can have this cream, you can have this ointment, you can have these special make-ups and bodily lotions, and this and that. Once a shopping center advertised itself: “In our shop you can find body lotions for hundred meters!” Hundred meters long we serve body lotions. I said: Very interesting! And how many spirit lotions do you have? Not so many. And if you examine closer, there you can find really horrible things in these lotions, make-ups and this and that. Do you want to hear just a few ideas? Lipsticks – most of them are made from the brain substance of whales. Or special body lotions are made from placenta; because the placenta takes care very nicely of the skin of the baby inside the womb, so we can apply it on our own face! Just imagine yourself, smearing your face with placenta.

If you want to take care of your body – use pure oil. The maharajas in India – they knew how to live. They were using the oil of saffron. And saffron is more expensive by the weight than gold. You can imagine from those little pieces of flowers to press the oil and to smear it on your body. Anyway, if you don’t have the maharajas’ style, no problem, pure olive oil is also accepted.

We have to take care of our body – be healthy, take care of your health – this is the message: do not destroy your health. Therefore we follow certain rules: give up bad habits, control your eating, control your sleeping, go to sleep not at two after midnight, etc. This will help the body to flourish, this is one duty. Because if we have surrendered, if we have dedicated our efforts, our life, our body in the service of God, then we should take care of this instrument. If you ride your own car, you might be neglectful sometimes. But if you ride the car of your friend – or what to speak of your boss – then you take very nice care of that car and you try to preserve it in the best way. The body is like a car, given to you to reach your destination, so take care.

Other dharma is to perform our job, to contribute to the benefit of the society, to be useful for others. Therefore we are ready to work; we are not hanging around. We work – for the benefit of the country, for the benefit of other human beings – to make the world go round. What do you think, what moves the world? Is that money? Money makes the world go round? No. Sacrifice makes the world go round. By sacrifice the world will go forward. Therefore we chant at the end of certain mantras “svaha” – “I dedicate myself for the benefit of the world. Svaha. I make a sacrifice.”

Then: we have to raise our kids – another dharma. We have to provide the chance for life for other souls. There are two ways to help this spiritual elevation: one is bodily genetics, the other is spiritual genetics. If you are a family man, you practice the bodily genetics – you multiply. But unfortunately in these days we are limited, we cannot have hundred sons, as in the ancient times. Right, many times we read in the books that “this king had hundred sons”. Show me one person these days who has hundred sons. But in spiritual sense you can have hundred sons; it is a little less restricted. Anyway, either spiritually or bodily, we have to provide for others a chance. This is also dharma. By serving our fellow human beings, we shall be elevated also.

Still dharma is very complicated, it makes life very complicated. I mean not the dharma, but these different duties make life very complicated. So if we forget about the ultimate goal, we shall see only these step-by-step many duties. Therefore we must meditate, we must focus on our ultimate goal. Because all these relative duties will be finished once. You will be kicked out from your job, your kids will say good bye to you – in a good case. And even your body will perish. So these duties are changing. But there is a permanent duty and this is the real sva-dharma, my spiritual duty, my spiritual dharma. This is loving worship of God. It never changes. This is the original position of the soul – to be a loving servant of God and this is real permanent sva-dharma, real permanent duty, my personal way. This is not some official religion, or some expectations, or rules. No, this is my loving contact to the Lord. Sva-dharma, this is my way of expressing myself – that I offer these flowers to You, my Lord. I chant these prayers to You. I do the practices for You. And I try to dedicate my life to You. This is sva-dharma: I am Your eternal servant.

Even while we practice the relative duties, we should have this ultimate goal: I do these little things in order to achieve the ultimate goal – to be a loving servant of God. And this sva-dharma should be performed, it is a must! If we miss this chance, then we lose. If you miss chances on the relative platform, you do not really lose. Relative things are coming and going, but do not miss the ultimate duty. If a ship does not have destination, no winds will be favorable for him. Our body is a ship; the hymns of the Vedas are the winds; guru is the captain; and the destination is the lotus feet of the Lord. This is our sva-dharma – to chant the holy names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.