Sharanagati

(from a lecture of Swami Tirtha, 04.01.2017 evening, Sofia)

This is our hope – that Krishna never forsakes us. Although we are separated from divine reality and we are visiting this material realm, nevertheless we should be ready to hope for the best. And fortunately there is one truth that never changes – that Krishna is there in our hearts.

You know that beautiful story when the Supreme Lord was in despair. He didn’t know what to do. He said: “I need a break. I’m so much busy with this and that. I need a place for hiding.” So He called all the angels: “Do you have any suggestion for a hiding place where people cannot find Me? Because they always approach Me with different prayers: ‘Give me this and give me that’. I need a break. But wherever I go they will always find Me. Do you have any suggestion?” Then the angels said: “Ah, we have one place where people will not search for You. Hide in their hearts. Nobody will search for You there.” Of course this is a romantic story. But the truth is the truth – divine presence is there in the heart of every human being.

Do you want to hear another story? A little more yogic, so to say. When our Supreme Lord started to create the universe, He was so much surcharged with emotional surplus that He wanted to share this. And as at the beginning He was alone, He was looking around and He didn’t see anything – there was nobody to share. So finally, the human beings were created. But then they felt very much left alone. They didn’t know how to find each other. Then the Supreme decided: ‘I will enter the bodies of the humans.’ There is a gate for this entrance – it is on the crown chakra or the brahma-randhra – the little opening on the top of the head, the fontanel. Now it’s already closed. You try to find where this entrance gate for the Supreme is, but it’s closed already. Yet many of you have kids – you can see that their head is pulsating there, it’s so tender, so open. This is the gate where He can enter.

In the body of human beings we have some 80,000 different channels starting from the heart. One of these energy channels is directed to the top of the head. Actually through these channels this whole body is pervaded by the consciousness of the soul. But when the moment of death comes, it is said that the heart is illuminated and then the soul starts its journey. If he is fortunate enough, he will take this only channel leading up to the top of the skull. Then through this gate where the soul enters, he can exit the body. This channel doesn’t only lead to the top of the skull, but it’s connected to the Sun. So this is the ultimate channel of illumination. If we follow the path of this divine light, then we can enter the gate of the Sun, from where there is no return. This should be our goal – if we have entered this material body, we should find the proper exit.

The body is compared to a city. The city is defended by a wall. And on the wall there are certain gates through you can enter and cross to go inside. In the same way the sense organs are the gates of the body. The eyes or the ear holes are on the top part and there are some openings on the lower parts also. Up or down – both are gates. But it makes a big difference through which gate you exit your body. If we exit the body by the lower gates, we cannot expect a very elevated next birth. These gates are leading to the lower levels of existence. While if somebody leaves through the upper gates, then the person can expect a very glorious next chapter. And if somebody can exit through the top gate of the body, then this is very fortunate, then you can decide your spiritual future.

So, first we had a romantic story – some angels giving advice to God. Second we had some mystic yoga path of perfection – through the nadi channels, reach the topmost gate of your body and then shoot your spirit soul to the divine realm. But we need something practical. What if at the last moment we cannot fix our mind and instead of the brahma-randhra your soul will pass through some other channel? Therefore you have to clean the dead bodies, because they pass through some lower chakras. So, something practical. Because actually right now, we are not at the beginning of our life, probably we are not at the end of our journey, but somewhere in between. What to do today?

(to be continued)