mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagadvyaktamūrtinā🔗

'I am all-pervading, great, ultimate, divine.'

Now He says even though He is all-pervading, even though He is big, He accepts any small thing given with love and devotion.

One major problem: Even if we know somebody is big or great, we can't relate with him unless he relates with us, unless he comes down to our level.

Real greatness is not only being great. He must be able to relate with everybody. Otherwise, even if he is great, what can be done about it?

Many people in Bharat know that great masters are there. Again and again, they tell me, 'Yes I know they are there, Swamiji. But how can I relate with them? I have no use of them. I can't do anything. I can't relate with them. They are somewhere. They are great, no doubt. Yet I have no way to relate with them. I have no way to establish communication with them.'

Here Krishna creates a way, even for ordinary people to relate with Him. On the one side, He shows His greatness. He declares with authority His greatness. On the other side, He shows us how to relate with Him. He says, 'Even if you offer a leaf, flower, fruit or water with love, I accept it. I relate with it.'

That is why, from time immemorial, enlightened masters are requested to live by begging, so that people can relate with them. In Bharat, sanyāsis live by begging. Even Buddha lived by begging. See, Buddha didn't beg because He wanted food. He can sit in His place and kings will bring food for Him! He comes down to beg so that we can relate with Him. We will feel He is a human being. When we give food, we talk to Him, we relate with Him, we feel that He is like us.

To make us feel comfortable, He comes down to our level. Modern day psychology has a beautiful term, 'zeroing down the distance'. Zeroing down the distance! To zero down the distance, Buddha begs. Here Krishna zeroes down the distance completely. This verse zeroes down the distance between the Divine and us:

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁyo me bhaktyā prayacchati tadahaṁ bhaktyupahṛtaṁ aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ

'If you give even a simple leaf, flower, fruit or a little water with love, I accept it.'

The distance between the Divine and us is zeroed down. That is the next important truth Krishna reveals.

First thing Krishna reveals is: He proves that the whole cosmic energy, the whole universe is intelligence. Next, the moment we understand it is intelligence, we relax from all tension, worry, fear and insecurity. He makes us understand that He is next to us and we can relate with Him easily.

See, as long as we think the world is material, matter, we feel like protecting ourselves from it. We feel that is the Whole and we are part. We fight with the Whole. That is why we feel deeply uprooted. We don't feel connected. We don't feel like relaxing. We don't feel homely because we fight with the Whole.

The moment we understand we are part of the Whole, the Whole is the intelligence that responds to our thoughts, which responds to our being, which responds to our consciousness, we relax into enlightenment!

I tell people, this verse is the lazy man's guide to enlightenment! If we are lazy, if we want enlightenment, this verse is the right way! The only way!

Understand that the universe is intelligence. It responds to our thoughts, deeds and consciousness. When we understand this, we immediately relax and rest and enter divine consciousness, eternal consciousness.

Next, He says, 'When you drop yourself into the eternal consciousness, I take care of your yoga and kṣema. I take care of whatever you lack. I will supply what you lack and preserve what you have.'

Next He says, 'Even a simple leaf, water or a fruit or flower when you offer with love and devotion, I accept it.' Please be very clear, He is not asking because He doesn't have these things.

When we bring a package of cookies to our child, when we give it to the child and he opens it, we say, 'Give one to mummy!' It is not that we don't have a cookie or we want it. But if the child opens the package and picks up a cookie and gives it to us, how happy we feel! We brought the cookies. However, when the child gives it back to us, we feel beautiful. We feel connected. And we know he wants to connect to us; he wants to relate with us.

Similarly, when we offer something to the Divine, don't think that He does not have and so you are offering. He is the one who gives everything to us in the first place! But when we offer, we show to the Divine: I want to connect to you. We show the master, 'Oh Lord, I want to connect to you.' And the master feels, 'When he wants to connect to Me, let Me connect to him.' We show a green signal for the Divine to enter into our space.

He is always ready. Please be very clear, the Bible says, 'Knock and the door shall open.' I say, God is knocking, just open! We don't need to knock; He is knocking. Just open. Naturally we will be ushered in.

I tell people, 'Don't go to the temple empty-handed. Take at least two or three fruits or whatever you have. At least, take a few dollars. Take whatever you have. Always offer something to God. Always offer something to the Divine. Never think that the Divine doesn't have and so I am asking you to take these things. By giving to the Divine, you show a positive sign. You express a willing attitude to relate with Him. When you offer it to the Divine, He accepts it and He relates.'

Again and again, out of His compassion Krishna reveals truths and techniques to Arjuna. He gives different techniques to Arjuna to liberate himself. That is the job of an enlightened master. He comes down to the earth to liberate as many as He can. There are many scriptures in which enlightened masters speak on techniques that lead mankind to enlightenment. In the Shiva Sutras, Shiva gives one hundred and twelve great truths and techniques to enlighten us. Enlightened masters are compassionate. They want everyone to become enlightened. They want everyone to become liberated.

In these verses, Krishna asks Arjuna to surrender everything to Him. I tell you, surrendering to an enlightened master is the easiest way to become enlightened. Be very clear, if we can surrender completely to the universal energy or an enlightened master, we become enlightened. If we can surrender every action to the supreme Self, we experience a great sense of liberation.

We constantly worry. We are always tense. Again and again we think of the future or past. Why do we do that? Why do we always have a long face?

We take too much on our shoulders. We think we do everything. We boost our ego when we do things successfully. When they do not go according to our plan, our ego is hurt. We think, 'How can it be? How can I go wrong? How can my plan go wrong?'

Our ego is working continuously. It is either getting excited or getting hurt. In this process, what do we do? We think, 'How can I keep the ego continuously excited or how can I stop the ego from getting hurt?' Can you understand what I am saying? We again and again think of ways to keep our ego in the excited state or look for ways to stop our ego from getting hurt.

We do not understand that by letting go, by surrendering to the Existential energy, we will be free. We will be completely free. All our burdens will be gone. We do not realize this. All enlightened masters have spoken about surrender. It is the easiest way; however we make it the most difficult due to our ego.

There are three levels in which we can surrender to the Existential energy. The first level, or basic level of surrender, is that of our actions. Whatever we do, whatever our actions are, surrender them to the universal energy. All our actions, whether good or bad, when we surrender, will be taken care of. This is the basic level. Krishna clearly says this in these verses, 'All your reactions to good and evil will be taken care of, if you offer all your actions, all your austerities to me.'

So many people offer worship every day in the temple. If they do that with the ego that they are doing it, then all they do is chant some verses mechanically and throw some flowers on the deity, that's all. These temple priests simply vomit out whatever they have been chanting for the past ten or twenty years.

When worship is done, when you chant verses, do it with full surrende to the Divine. Do it as if it were your last prayer. Do it as if the world is coming to an end and this is the last time you will do it. Feel the prayer. Put in your complete awareness and surrender it to the Divine. That should be the feeling when you do anything.

Not just prayers, everything that we do should be done with that level of surrender. When we surrender, we feel light. You see, when we surrender, our efficiency goes up. This is true! When we surrender our actions, we are not bothered about what will happen in the future. We know that now the ball is in His court; He will take care of whatever is going to happen; He knows best.

When we surrender our actions, we put our entire burden on His shoulders. Whatever good or bad happens, He is now responsible and we also know that He can never do anything wrong.

The second level of surrender is that of intellect and mind. The first level is easier compared to this. When I say surrender our actions, we can say, 'Okay, I have done it.' But surrendering our mind is more difficult because it is not in our hands. You see, we can see our actions. We can say, 'O God, I have surrendered my actions to you.' But now will our mind keep quiet? No. It will keep saying, 'No, no, no. How can you do that? How can you not think about your future?' Our mind continuously analyzes!

One more thing, when I speak great truths, your mind analyzes them. It starts to analyze using its limited intellect. It thinks, 'What is He saying? How is that possible? Maybe it is possible for Him; however it is not for me. I can't think of completely surrendering myself to the Divine.' Your mind always looks for opportunities to hold you back. It again and again logically analyzes using the intelligence it has.

You see, hundreds of years ago when someone said that the earth rotates around the sun, people stoned that person. Now it is has been established scientifically itself. Two hundred years ago, if someone said you can talk to someone living on the other side of the world, people would laugh at him. Now it has become a reality.

Our mind, based on its limited intellect, cannot comprehend certain things. When I say there are eleven dimensions in our system, you think, 'What are you saying, Swamiji? How is it possible?' This is what I mean by surrender of mind and intellect. When you surrender your mind and intellect to the universal energy, you experience great truths. When you do not surrender, you are stuck. Your intellect continuously stops you from moving forward. Once you surrender, you experiment and you see quantum progress. You go beyond words. You start to experience.

The third and the most difficult level of surrender is that of the senses.

A story from Mahabharata illustrates this:

Once, Krishna and Arjuna were walking outdoors. While they walked, Krishna suddenly pointed at a crow on the tree and told Arjuna, 'Hey Arjuna, can you see that green crow?' Arjuna replied, 'Yes Krishna, I see it. I see the green crow.'

After some time, Krishna pointed to another crow and said, 'Arjuna, can you see that black crow?' Arjuna immediately replied, 'Yes Krishna, I see the black crow.'

Krishna asked Arjuna, 'Are you a fool? Earlier when I showed a green crow, you said you can see a green crow. Now when I showed a black crow, you say you can see a black crow. Are you a fool? How can a crow be green?'

Arjuna replied, 'O Krishna, I don't know all that. When you asked me to see a green crow, I saw a green crow. Now when you asked me to see a black crow, I saw a black crow.'

This is surrender of the senses! Arjuna had surrendered completely to Krishna. Even his senses, he had surrendered to Krishna. If the master says something, the disciple takes it as it is. That is the level of surrender. When we reach this level of surrender, we are one with the Divine. The Divine takes cares of us.

Krishna says this clearly. Every enlightened master makes this promise. When we surrender ourselves to the master, to the Divine, to the universal energy, it takes care of us. When we offer all our actions to the universal energy, It takes care of us. The entire burden on our shoulders is offloaded. We are free from all the results of our actions. This is the promise of every enlightened master.

Q: Swamiji, I am unclear even after you explained, the purpose of rituals. We see so many things happening in a temple. So many pūjās and prayer rituals are done in a temple. Even in the home, people do puja. What is the need to do so many things? I can pray to Existence directly. Why are we doing so many things? What is the concept of pūjā?

Be very clear, there is great power in pūjā. Logical people call it superstition. They say it is not for modern man because they do not know what it does. Pūjā is receiving the guest (God) with all respect. Actually, what priests do in the temple is receiving the guest (God) with all respect. When a guest visits our home, we receive that person with respect: we offer a chair, give water to wash his feet or hands. We offer a seat.

Then we ask him, 'Do you want to use the restroom?' We offer water to wash his feet. We offer flowers to the guest. After the flowers have been offered, we arrange for his bath and comfortable stay. Then naturally we ask him to eat. Then in the end, at the end of the day we send the guest to sleep. The same thing happens when we do pūjā. This is the reason why pūjā in Hindu system is called · Sevā (service).

We need to understand the concept of serving. It is difficult for logic-centered people to understand that energy can be alive in a stone and we can continuously serve that energy day in and day out. Serving living energy inside an idol is difficult to understand. However I have seen people feel the devotional service, not only feeling but also expressing that devotional feeling towards stone deities at the time of worship.

Let me tell you a story from Ramakrishna Paramahamsa's life. It is not a story. It really happened. It shows the power of worship and devotion.

Ramakrishna was a priest in the Mother Kali temple at Dakshineshwar, near Kolkata, Bharat. Devotees habitually offer conch and seashell bracelets to the Mother. Once a devotee brought four bracelets as an offering for Mother. She has four hands: on the right side, one hand represents the posture of assurance and the other hand represents boon-giving. On the left side She holds a sword which represents wisdom, in one hand and the head of a demon that represents the ego, in the other hand. The sword is removable.

Ramakrishna while offering the bracelets managed to put on the bracelets in the three hands of Mother but not on the fourth hand that held the demon's head. Because the bracelet can't go on that hand, he didn't put the bracelet on.

A priest jokingly asked Ramakrishna why he was unable to put the bracelet on Mother's fourth hand. Ramakrishna said that the hand holds the head. The priest said, 'You are a great devotee, can't you request Mother to open leave the head down while you can insert the bracelet?'

Ramakrishna took this seriously and he asked Mother Kali to let him put the bracelet on. She dropped the head; he placed the bracelet on Her hand and he gave the head back to the Mother's hand to hold!

You can see these four bangles at the Dakshineshwar temple even today. Neither the statue is broken nor is the bracelet broken. The bracelet is on Mother's hand. You will be surprised to see how it was put on!

Of course, one can only believe and respect the devotion of Ramakrishna to Kali. If you go to Kolkata, don't miss seeing it. When I went to the temple, I was in their ashram, so I went as an ashramite. So I was allowed to touch the bracelet and see. Not only did I touch the bracelet, I rotated the bracelet completely to see whether it was broken at any point. I inspected it to see whether Ramakrishna had broken the bracelet and glued it!

I tell you, the bracelet is complete; it is not broken and the statue also is full. It is difficult to believe and it is not a 300 or 400-year-old incident. It happened only 130 years ago. In 1886, Ramakrishna passed away, so it is only 130 years. There is no logical explanation to this, yet it is true. The power of devotion can manifest itself in the physical plane in such ways.

That is the power of devoted worship. When we offer worship, we offer ourselves to the energy behind the idol. We surrender ourselves to Existence. That should be the feeling with which we offer it. We should not be stuck at the idol level. We should see the energy behind the idol. All rituals should be done like a meditation. We should put complete awareness into performing them. Only then they become meditation and not just rituals.