The right vision (Srila Sridhar Maharaj)

From The Loving Search for the Lost Servant 

by His Divine Grace Srila B.R. Sridhar Maharaj

Devotion to Krsna means sacrifice — “die to live.” By devotion to Krsna, our whole conception of mundane, self-centered, selfinterested life will be finished totally.

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As we progress in Krsna consciousness, our karma, our connection with this material world, will evaporate in no time, and spacious knowledge will come to satisfy us. At that time, we shall feel the object of our life everywhere. mayi drste 'khilatmani. (See footnote)

When we can see that the fulfillment of life has embraced us, we shall see that everything within the environment is helping us, everything is sympathetic to us from all sides. In that spiritual domain, everyone shall take interest in loving us. We may be careless about our own interest, but the environment there is more favorable and affectionate to us than we can even estimate, just as a child cannot estimate the extent of his mother's affection. In this way, friends and home comforts will surround us, and with this realization we shall go back to God, back to home.

We must try to look deeper and then we will find our friend. If we are liberal in our attitude towards the environment, we cannot but come in connection with the plane which is really liberal. Prahlada saw that Krsna is everywhere. And Krsna consciousness is commanding the whole. So we must not allow ourselves to be discouraged under any circumstances, however acute they may apparently seem to us. Krsna is there. If only we can develop the right vision, the smiling face of the Lord will appear from behind the screen. Krsna is beautiful, and He is eagerly awaiting to accept our services.

Footnote:

mayi drste 'khilatmani is the last line of a verse in Srimad Bhagavatam (11.20.30):

bhidyate hrdaya-granthis
chidyante sarva-samsayah
ksiyante casya karmani
mayi drste 'khilatmani

Srila Sridhar Maharaj on this verse in The Golden Volcano of Divine Love:

Our inner aspiration for rasa, ecstasy, is buried within our hearts which are tied down and sealed. But hearing and chanting the glories of Krsna breaks the seal on the heart and allows it to awaken and open to receive Krsna, the reservoir of pleasure, ecstasy Himself. 

Here, Srimad-Bhagavatam is saying: “There is a knot within our hearts, but that knot will be torn asunder by Krsna consciousness. At that time, the flow of our innate tendency for divine love (svarupa sakti) will inundate the whole heart. When the knot of the heart is torn apart, then, as the sleeping soul awakens, the Goloka conception within will emerge and inundate his entire being.”