Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Siddhaswarupananda - Practical Wisdom

The mind and the soul are hostile to each other. There is an eternal enmity between them. In soul the four characteristic errors of the defective mind are totally wanting viz., (1) mistaking the mirage for water, the rope for the serpent; (2) misapprehensive intoxication, (3) knowing things with imperfect senses; (4) deceiving itself and others. As the horse can not hold its own reins, so the mind can not guide itself - it is ever being guided by an unending and unsatiable bundle of desires in the shape of enjoyment or indifference - of doing good or evil. Each individual mind differs from the other, no two identical minds are to be found. The proverb goes 'so many Rishis, so many minds'. A mind can more easily hold a wolf by the ears than steady itself in spiritual experience. Beware of this mind which, like a bad guide, appears before you and others in sheep's clothing with all the ferocity of a ravening wolf and like a professional running thief crying "thief, thief". In the following song of our preceptor the deceptive nature of the mind has been fully and clearly described:

Ye wicked mind! Thou art not a Vaishnava. Thy apparent chanting of Hari's name in a lonely house is for attaining worldly supremacy; it is nothing but pure hypocrisy! Dost thou not know that worldly supremacy is as valueless as the dung of a boar and that it is one of the splendours of Maya or illusion Why shouldst thou think, year in and year out, of wealth and enjoyment ? These are all fleeting and transitory!

When thou claimest wealth as thine own, it creates in thee lusts for enjoyment. Madhava, the Lord of all wealth, should only and always be served with it. Why dost thou trespass on the lusts of women whose only and eternal proprietor is Yadava, Krishna, the charmer of all enjoyers?

Ravana - lust-incarnate, fought in vain with Raghava, the Love-incarnate, for the imagi- nary tree of the supremacy which is but a mirage. The supremacy thou seekest is like quicksand ever receding from thy foothold. Thou canst never stand upon it and if thou insist on doing so, it will lead you to rack and ruin. If thou can place thyself on the steady and solid standing ground whereon a Vaishnava ever stands, thy feet will never slip.

Why dost thou suffer under the false hope of profaning Hari's men - the devotees, and attaining their inherent spiritual eminence and boast of thy fruitless and foolish efforts? An unworldly and eternal pre-eminence spontaneously follows the holy heels of a Vaishnava.

The relation between a Vaishnava (devotee) and Vishnu (the Lord) does not smell of Maya (illusion) or worldly deceit. Knowest thou that thy seeming supremacy is as treacherous as a woman devouring a dog's flesh and thy feigning loneliness is totally hellish.

"I shall give up 'Kirtana' - chanting Lord's name, and besmear myself with supremacy, what is the good in searching for such eminence?" if this be thy thought, knowest thou for certain that Madhavendra Puri did never deceive himself and commit theft in his own store house of perception like thee!

Thou shouldst never compare the unsolicited eminence following Madhavendra Puri like an attending maid, with your seeming one which is like the dung of a boar. Thou hast drowned thyself out of envy in the filthy waters of enjoyment and hast abandoned the perfections of kirtan.

Ye wicked mind, bearest in mind that solitary devotion is propagated in disguise by the adopters of evil means. Thinkest thou over and over again what Supreme Lord Gauranga kindly taught us addressing Sanatana Prabhu with the utmost care. Dost not forget for a moment the two most valuable words He taught - apparent and real, apathy and sympathy, freed and enslaved - never confuse the one with the other. Singest thou the Lord's name aloud.

He is a Vaishnava who is never a victim to the tigress of wealth, beauty and fame. He is indeed apathetic and a pure devotee. The transitory world is to him as a snake is to its charmer.

He is indeed apathetic who moderately partakes of things necessary for, and in favour of devotion, neither below nor above par avoids all enjoyments and is ever free from diseases. He looks upon every thing as his Lord as well as Madhava's, and not meant for his own enjoyment. This identity with, as well as attachment for, the things of Madhava - is real apathy. Fortunate indeed is he who is thus attached to Hari and who sees Hari's Lila or splendour in the realm of matter. He is rich in hypocrisy who sings the Lord's name to attain eminence.

Forsakers of matter out of fear or desire and enjoyers thereof are both equally Non-Vaishnavas. Shun the company of both. Thou canst neither own nor disown the things of Vishnu and thus run mad after enjoyment or renunciation.

The mind of Mayavadins can never think of Krishna and in a mood of imaginary salvation condemn a Vaishnava. Oh mind! Thou art a servant of the Vaishnavas and thou shouldst always hope for attaining devotion. Why shouldst thou hanker after solitude?

A false renouncer calls himself a forsaker - and can never be a Vaishnava, as he abandons his servitorship and drowns himself in solitude. What's the gain in acquiring that seeming good?

Ever engagest thyself in the service of Shri Radha and keepest aloof from the snaky enjoyment. Singest the Lord's name not for glory or supremacy. Why shouldst thou run after false retirement for devotion, leaving aside the worship of Shri Radha, your eternal Object of worship?

The dwellers of Braja are the real objects of preaching, and they being living agents and meant for preaching do not aspire after supremacy and are strong enough to instil life into the audience. Preaching is the symptom of vitality. Song of Krishna does not smell of any attempt for supremacy.

The Humble servant of Shri Radha and her Lover always hopes for kirtan and begs of all to sing the name of his Lord aloud. When meditation will spontaneously follow kirtana, then and then only solitary devotion and renunciation will be natural.