The Expression Of The Divine🔗

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THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

maṁ ca yo'vyabhicāreṇa bhaktiyogena sevate sa guṇān-samatītyaitān brahmabhūyāya kalpate

One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.

Through devotion to THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM one is able to transcend the three gunas or natural qualities and attain our true nature or cosmic consciousness.

brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham amṛtasyāvyayasya ca śāśvatasya ca dharmasya sukhasyaikāntikasya ca

And I am the basis of Brahman, which is the rightful state of ultimate happiness, and which is immortal, imperishable and eternal.

The transcendental state beyond the three attributes of nature, guṇas, is Brahman, the ultimate Cosmic Consciousness, the ultimate space of Completion.

Kṛṣṇa concludes the chapter by saying that the transcendental state beyond the three attributes of nature, guṇas, is Brahman, the ultimate Cosmic Consciousness, the ultimate space of Completion. He says you reach this through devotion. Kṛṣṇa speaks as Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa, the supreme energy and not as Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa, the individual. He is in the expanded consciousness of Brahman, and beyond the three guṇas. He is the Source of the guṇas.

What is the difference between Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa (Ultimate Consciousness) and Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa? In the case of an ordinary human being, even though he has the potential of Divinity, he has not realized it. That is the difference between you and an Enlightened Master, an Incarnation. Both of you are Divine to the same extent. Yet you are unaware of your Divinity, whereas the Enlightened Master, the Incarnation is fully aware of it.

In the case of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, He is the Master, the Complete Incarnation. Why then the difference? The difference is not to do with Him. It is to do with us.

In Vedic tradition, we narrate hundreds of Purāṇas, the recorded historical happenings, where Māhadeva Himself comes, where Kṛṣṇa appears to give victory and protection, to their devotees.

What is the gap between the life during Vedic times and now? Surely, our Masters are very logical, scientific people, never spreading superstition. But, in the modern days, all these things are thought to be superstitious. Why is it that all which happened at that time, is not happening now? Why is there so much gap? The only gap, why it was happening then and why it is not happening now, the answer is — Incompletions!

and complete, then everything what you read in the Vedic tradition becomes reality. It can be reality. Completion is the bridge to reach the Vedic tradition, to reach extraordinary powers, to experience Divine expressions in your life. Completion is life at every level. The only difference between you and Śrīnivāsan Rāmānujan, the genius mathematician is the level of completion. The only difference between you and Ādī Śaṅkara is the level of completion. The only difference between Arjuna and Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa is the level of completion. With completion you start living with God directly!

When you complete, complete,

The frequency of Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa is not visible to and approachable by mortals. That is why Arjuna had to be given the Divine vision to perceive Parabrahma rūpa or viśvarūpa. In order for humans to perceive Him and interact with Him, Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa must become Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa. To a certain extent He must subject Himself to the play of the guṇas. When an Enlightened being has merged with the Universal energy and incarnates in human form, that Incarnation must have some satva guṇa infused into Him in order to take human form. Within some time, this satva guṇa also disappears, leaving the being beyond the three guṇas and once again in an Enlightened state.

Each Enlightened Master, each Incarnation is unique in His expression of the experience as the Divine. Some express experiences and some don't. Our scriptures say that if two enlightened masters say the same thing, one is a fake! The experience is the same, yet the expression is different. Kṛṣṇa is different from Buddha and Śiva. Each has the same theme of compassion, yet the way the compassion is expressed is different. Buddha expressed it as contemplation and Kṛṣṇa in joyous loving completion. So we choose a Master based upon how we vibrate to

His expression. If our path is devotion, we gravitate to Kṛṣṇa; He is lovable. If we are the meditative type, we go to Śiva, the Master who teaches in vibrating, alive silence.

It does not matter who our Master is. What matters is our faith, trust and the attitude or space of surrender. Our Master can be an unenlightened being. If we trust him, we can become enlightened, even though he may not be. What matters more is our attitude and feeling connection based on the level of our completion, our guṇa, and not the Master's state. Even if we worship a stone and surrender to it from a complete inner space, cognizing it to be our ultimate savior, we will be liberated. It is true.

When you practice the right reason, right results come. When you practice even the same values with smaller reasons, only the small results come. More than what actions you do, what matters is the space from which the actions are done. If you do not have the right context, even when you worship a deity or a God, it is useless. Because even while you pray, if you strengthen the space that you are poor, you are weak, if that gets strengthened more and more, even your prayer will make you weak.

Understand, humbleness as a fact not as a quality is the right context, the right space. Humbleness as a quality can bring ego, incompletion. 'I am very humble, I am very humble'. No! Humbleness as an effect of the space of completion, this is the way—'I am in humbleness without feeling humiliated.' These are different qualities, guṇas.

I can surrender in front of any stone, I have no problem at all. Not just here, at any temple, anywhere, any deity, any stone. You can see very clearly, that is one job I do very sincerely. Because I have the space of surrender, I can surrender to Śiva, I can surrender to Viṣṇu. I can surrender to my own Pādukas (sacred foot-sandal of master)

• THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

So, don't even bother to whom you are surrendering. It is the joy of surrender, the celebration of surrender.

In Vedic tradition, we can surrender to even a tree or a tulasi plant (holy basil plant). In Hindu houses, even doorframes are worshipped, one lamp is worshipped.

The faith and the surrender help us transcend the nature of all activities. We surrender the result of our actions to that Master, whomsoever He may be, whomsoever It may be. We do everything meditating on that Master and surrender it all at His feet. That space of completion alone liberates us.

This is what Kṛṣṇa means by devotion, which is unfailing in all circumstances. Nothing more is needed. Kṛṣṇa is not talking about the flute-playing, yellow-robed Kṛṣṇa. Anyone that we surrender to totally, is Kṛṣṇa and we then fall into Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the Consciousness of Completion.

Impress on the students that through devotion, surrender and faith one is able to transcend the three gunas or natural qualities and attain our true nature or cosmic consciousness.

• ❖ What is the difference between Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa (Ultimate Consciousness) and Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa?
• ❖ What is the difference between a seeker and an Enlightened Master?

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• 1. Paper
• 2. Pencil

• 3. Eraser
• 4. Crayons

PROCEDURE

Let us draw a picture based on one of the following themes: Krishna expressing joyous love; or Shiva's alive silence.

INFERENCE

Each Enlightened Master, each Incarnation is unique in His expression of the experience as the Divine.

PROCEDURE:

Let us narrate to you a short story from the Epic Ramayana to understand the concept of Surrender. In Rāmāyaṇa, the great Hindu epic history of Lord Śrī Rāma's incarnation, Lakṣman is the younger brother of Lord Rāma, who devoted his whole life in selflessly serving the feet of Śrī Rama and Mātā Sītā.

When Sītā is kidnapped by Rāvaṇa, some of the vānaras (monkeys) who went in search of her, gathered some of the jewels thrown by her as she was being taken away and bring it back to Rāma for identifying them. Lakṣman could only recognize the anklets of Sītā.

Rāma asked, 'why are you not able to recognize the jewelry?' Lakṣman said, 'No. I have never seen Mother Sita above her feet. I look at both of you only when I do nāmaskār (surrendering salutation), but I never looked directly or intensely.'

Lakṣman never ever saw the upper jewelry of Mātā Sītā. Lakṣman did not even know whose feet he was falling at, he just saw the feet. He was clear in his realization that he was not that big; he felt humbleness without humility the power of concentration in both the reciter and the listener.

INFERENCE:

Lakṣman's surrender to Rama and Sita rose out of his completion.

PROCEDURE

The topic of discussion is: "It does not matter to what we surrender but the attitude of surrender leads us to liberation".

CONCLUSION

What matters is our faith, trust and the attitude or space of surrender. If we can surrender to anyone or anything totally, it takes the form of Kṛṣṇa for us and we then fall into Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the Consciousness of Completion