Sunday Chat: Love God above all things (Srila B.A. Paramadvaiti Maharaj)

  

India, January 25, 2015

My dear spiritual family,

A greeting from the heart from Berhampur, 

We were invited to a festival of the Sri Chaitanya Mission. All very nice here. Much love from the devotees. This is for me another gift from Srila Prabhupada. Being able to meet other Vaishnava families and celebrate together the love of our Gurus.

To love comes first. In Christianity what comes first? The first commandment. You must love God above all. Everything else you love is secondary. In this issue there are also certain hierarchies. My spiritual master, the sadhus are in a very high place in the hierarchy. Parents who are also spiritual teachers are also high in this hierarchy. And Mother Earth and the Sun are very high in this hierarchy as well. Mother Earth and the Sun come directly from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Practically in theology, in love, we can clearly see that Vivasvan, the Sun God, is compared to Krsna Himself. It is the power of God.

om tad vishnoh paramam padam sada

pashyanti surayo diviva chakshur-atatam

tad vipraso vipanyavo jagrivamsaha

samindhate vishnor yat paramam padam

"Just as the sun's rays in the sky are extended to the mundane vision, so in the same way the wise and learned devotees always see the supreme abode of Lord Vishnu. Because those highly praiseworthy and spiritually awake brahmanas are able to see the spiritual world, they are also able to reveal that supreme abode of Lord Vishnu." (Rig Veda 1.22.20)

The Lord Krishna said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga, the Bhagavad Gita to Vivasvan, the Sun God. In other words Lord Krishna had something to do with the Sun God. Rather the Sun God was His student. For example, one says: "General such and such was my student." Or "Bill Gates was a student in my class." Krishna says, the Sun God was my student billion years ago, I gave him the instructions of the Bhagavad Gita. Who? Vivasvan? The God of the Sun? Millions of years ago? Yes. The Guru of the Sun God was Krishna Himself.

I am the taste of water, sunlight and moon, the syllable om in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man. I am the intelligence of women. (BG 10.34)

I am the universal motherhood. I'm the one who maintains everyone. The origin of the material. And the spiritual. I am your father. I am the generating seed of your life. I am your well-wisher, who knows the past, present and future. I'm the one you should know if you want to know yourself. He is Bhagavan Sri Krishna. That's not anything small. It is not a secondary person who is some middle manager out there among men.

So now you understand why we should love Him. There is more. Loving God above all things is a privilege. To love God is a responsibility. It is a commitment and therefore we always want to sing His glories. Wherever, whenever unconditionally. This love develops by singing His glories. Serving His devotees. For me, the struggle for Mother Earth, to become guardians of Mother Earth, is like a compromise that is included in the commitment to Krishna completely. Fully enclosed. We should be eager to serve Mother Earth. Caring for the health of the earth is caring for health of the people. Srila Prabhupada is the founder of the first eco yoga villages, for example New Vrindavan. He sat on the grass and explained how to protect the cows. Krishna consciousness is such a great gift that it allows us to combine our practice and become guardians of Mother Nature. This looks like something new, for where does this appear in the Bhagavad Gita? Where?

Even some people have questioned me: "What is this about becoming a guardian of Mother Nature?" But the fact is that the Bhagavad Gita teaches us that we must be responsible with our mother. Our Mother Earth is suffering from the ignorance of modern man. In Caracas, we once read Christian prayers to Lord Jesus. It was very exciting. He was calling to God, "Please, be present", invoking his presence. When there is a temptation, "Lord, please save me from this temptation. Lord, please save me from this demon." When there are mega mining and pollution in this world, I pray: O my Lord, please save us from this and help us to become conscientious, because after all we are dependent. We are all dependent, He created us, He is maintaining us. If you're taking this seriously, naturally you become a leader.

You become a leader when you are determined to do something. When you become aware of others.

Always aware of the goodness of Krishna. For example, dependent upon nourishment.
For example, if you read The Nectar of Devotion, you read that one should give Krishna seasonal fruits, tasty fruits. At that time there were no airplanes spraying chemicals on fruits. Also, The Nectar of Devotion also says that one should offer fragrant flowers. Everything is outlined. The Hari Bhakti Vilas explains what is silk, which is wool, which is cotton, and how to use it in worshiping the Lord. Therefore, in Vedic culture farming without chemicals is obvious. No irresponsible procedures.
 

All of this is a part of what I learned from my spiritual master. Now I'm trying to put it into practice. And I am also seeking the alliance of people who are working on raising that kind of awareness of the people. And all this effort is favoring you immensely. Understanding this means becoming grateful and loving with others. Because the other commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. Love others as you love yourself. Now you must be an advocate against all forms of abuse against other beings. Are animals not our neighbors? The Spoon Revolution is the answer. 

Our love for our fellow creatures made us raise our voice in the form of the Spoon Revolution. They are our neighbors. And the human beings with the Ikwashenduna work is a movement beyond humanist. It is a movement to protect the Great Mother. The Great Mother is the mother of all. I can not see any other way. Why see her differently? Who can say it is not? I rely on the Bhagavad Gita and what I have learned from Srila Prabhupada. Thanks Srila Prabhupada. And thanks to all of you who follow me and help me in this plan of awareness which will only help us grow our love for all.

Srila Prabhupada ki jay.
 

Your always well-wisher,

B. A. Paramadvaiti Swami.