Sharanagati

(from a lecture of Swami Tirtha, 03.01.2019 evening, Sofia)

I feel that your doors are ever open. And therefore I come from time to time to learn this from you – how to have open doors, how to put the invitation, “please come, join us”. Usually people like company, isn’t that so? Usually people come together. They say even the lonely wolves have some conference sometimes. And if we come together for some good spiritual purpose, I think this is the best way of association. So, thank you for having your doors open. And help others to enter through your doors and gates. 

Mahadev: I would like to share something about the gates. I was in Jerusalem and I saw the Golden Gate where Jesus entered the city on a donkey. And it is said that through this door the next Messiah will come. But when after the Crusades the Muslims took the city, they completely walled this gate. This was the moment when Christianity separated into Catholicism and Orthodox. And from then on there is a decrease in the Christian church. 

Swami Tirtha: Well, don’t worry, Mahaprabhu has already come. And it is said that He had found the treasure-house of divine love closed and sealed. So what did He do? He broke the seal, opened the door and started to grab all the treasures. But not preserving it for Himself, rather distributing it freely. But you know, for a big job it is not enough to be alone. To construct a huge church building, you need at least five. And to rob the treasure-house of divine love, He also had some helpers. The goswamis, Haridas Thakur and many others were helping Him to distribute the treasure of the Holy Name. And this is the real treasure of this age. Therefore it is said in the Lord’s Prayer: “Hallowed be Thy name!” The Holy Name, the focus is on the Holy Name. Irrespective of religious practice, the focus is there. Therefore our doors are ever open, because Mahaprabhu has broken the doors and the seals. Yes, the Golden Gate – this is very important. 

Question of Krishnapriya: I want to ask about these opened doors of the heart – isn’t it so that you cannot just let anybody in? It is a special place for special persons. 

Swami Tirtha: Yes, definitely. Some ghosts, some witches, some black magicians – usually they occupy our heart. Our bad desires and attachments and all the misconceptions that we have, they are on the throne of our heart. So we preserve it for them. And we decorate it with darkness, with cobwebs and with this very bad dump smell you feel when you enter. So the garland is the cobweb; instead of candles – darkness; and the incense is this very ugly smell. And they feel very well. They feel adored. 

Expel them from your hearts – all the false conceptions, all the frustrations, all the trouble that you have. Actually, they all happened in the past, so they don’t exist anymore. Finish your past. As long as the material desires and the false concepts and the hope of liberation are there as ghosts in our heart, then the very tender Goddess of devotion cannot come. Clean up this place first. Replace the darkness with light. Instead of these cobwebs, prepare some real garlands. Bring the best incense and then you can prepare the place nicely. And then you can pray, so that the Goddess of devotion enters. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. 

And I agree, we have to preserve the best part of our existence for the best purpose. So don’t be satisfied with love. Because usually it comes and goes. Go for divine love. That will come and it will never leave you. 

(to be continued)