Sharanagati

(from a lecture of Swami Tirtha, 06.01.2018 evening, Sofia)

(continues from the previous Friday)

Our dear Mahaprabhu, who was living in Bengal 500 and more years ago, He came as a devotee, God as a devotee. He wanted to experience divine bliss, spiritual bliss. So, He came to the world just to check: ‘How do my devotees love me? How do they feel towards me?’ And in His birth as Mahaprabhu, after a long time He finally met His spiritual master. He went on a pilgrimage and on one very holy site He met His spiritual master, Isvara Puri. And there He received from him the holy name – this Hare Krishna mahamantra. It’s a very ancient prayer coming from the Vedic times – no, it comes from eternity, sorry! It’s only three words: Hare, Krishna and Rama. But these three words have a very deep meaning. Hare means ‘love’, Krishna means ‘beauty’ and Rama means ‘happiness’.

So, Ishvara Puri transferred this mantra to Mahaprabhu and then He started to chant and practice this mantra in a very committed way. Very soon, after few days He met His master again. And then He said: “Hey, master, hey, Guru, what kind of mantra have you given to me? Since I chant this mantra, I have started to behave in a very unusual way. I always dance and sing and I’m in ecstasy! What kind of mantra have you given to me?”

We need somebody to introduce us to this love, beauty and happiness. ‘How is it possible that I didn’t know what love is so far? Please, tell me, what is divine love?’ I said that to be dedicated to our masters is a very strong relationship. But there is one stronger – to be dedicated to your disciples. Then you feel like a father.

So, if you also want to behave in a strange way, sometimes dance and sing, and faint, just go on chanting this mantra: ‘Beauty, love, happiness!’ and then it will come to you. Isn’t that a beautiful mantra, a beautiful prayer? This should be a heart prayer, coming from the deepest core of our heart. This is the language of the heart; no – this is the language of the soul. A direct connection to the Supreme.

Then the power of this mantra will overpower our existence. Pray so that beauty, love and happiness are yours. I am very grateful to my masters and teachers. I have to express my eternal gratitude to them. And to you also, for giving me the chance to remember what I’ve learned from my masters. As we are eternally students and we shall always remain like that.

And if I may tell you one little secret – to make the secret public: it’s very good to be a newcomer. Everybody loves the newcomers. All the family pays extra attention to them. And our God also loves the newcomers. Of course after 20 lifetimes of practise how can you be a newcomer? Don’t think that we start today. We had started this eternal path a long time ago, but why not reach our goal in this lifetime. So that this is the last chapter of a long journey.

Nevertheless we should maintain the pure and innocent mentality of the newcomers. Because if we are so sincere, if we are so pure, then we can never commit any mistake.