Everything is sweet (Srila Sridhar Maharaj)

In this fantastic informal talk on his veranda, Srila Sridhar Maharaj describes how to make your transition from the path of this nether-world to the path to the Gracious World, from the land of bondage to the Land of Freedom, in 3 easy steps. You can start from wherever you are.

1. Stop acting on a personal agenda. Do your duties, your responsibilities, what's "on your table", but don't cash in the fruits from it.

2. Accept your karma as it comes to you, without resistance or trying to enjoy it.

3. Think of Krishna, the Supersoul/Superconsciousness, the Absolute Person, the Supreme Will behind the Universal Flow, and surrender everything to Him. Chanting the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra is the best method for that. If you want to add power to it, think of its inner meaning as "Please let me be an instrument of Your love".

Then just watch your surroundings change, and follow what unfolds in that flow. 

*

Srila Sridhar Maharaj

Everything is Sweet

(27 July 1982)

Long ago, one German scholar [Hegel] stressed his opinion that the Bhagavad Gita is the highest spiritual book. And his point was that Gita clearly advises us not to correct the environment but to correct our own self to adjust with the environment. That is the key of the advice of Gita. Cure thyself. You have no power to bring about change in the environment. That is the Divine Will. That is irremovable. The result of all the forces that are acting from outside, you have no hand to interfere with that. That will only be a useless waste of energy. Try to correct yourself to adjust with the circumstances outside. This is the key to success of life. 

tat te 'nukampām su-samīksamāno

bhunjāna evātma-krtam vipākam

hrd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te

jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk

“One who, in the hope of achieving Your grace, goes on enduring the inauspicious fruit of his own karma, and passes his days practising devotion unto You in every thought, word, and deed – such a person is heir to the land of freedom: he attains to the plane of positive immortality.”

– Srimad-Bhagavatam, 10.14.8

You have your duty to do but don't aspire after the result, mā phalesu kadācana:

karmany evādhikāras te

mā phalesu kadācana

mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr

mā te sango 'stv akarmani

“I shall now describe niskama karma-yoga, the path of selfless action. You have a right to perform your natural prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to any fruits of that action. You should neither act with desire to enjoy the fruits of your work, nor, as a result, should you be attached to neglecting your duties.”

– Bhagavad-Gita 2.47

The result depends on the external force. You have your contribution. There are millions and millions of contributions from others and the result, that will create the environment. So you may contribute, you may give up your quota. But whatever you find, you are to take it as the best because it is the interference of the highest, of the Absolute. There are so many results of so many individual activities but they are all harmonised by the Absolute Will. You are to see and look at it like that and adjust yourself accordingly. 

In Gita it is said: karmany evādhikāras te, you have responsibility only to discharge your duty, your quota, mā phalesu kadācana, and never aspire after any particular environment. It will come in its own way. You cannot transform it, you cannot change it. You have no power to change the circumstance, the environment. You should try your best to change your own self to suit the environment. karmany evādhikāras te, mā phalesu kadācana, never consider yourself the cause of the result, never the consequence of your action. You are doing one thing but the result is giving another thing. So because I work for a particular result and I don't achieve it should I be discouraged? No. You go on doing your own duty and it will be offered to the Infinite and the Infinite will shape the result in Its own way. Whatever you are contributing, contribute it towards the Infinite and the Infinite will mould the result in Its own way. You are not to detect that. If you do that you are lost. karmany evādhikāras te, mā phalesu kadācana, mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr, never aspire after any particular consequence of your action. mā te sango 'stv akarmani, at the same time don't be idle, don't be worthless. Go on discharging your duty independently of the external consequences. 

While doing this you have to remember Krsna and then you will be able to come in the relativity of Krsna, the Autocrat outside. And you will gradually come to realise that the environment is friendly. When your previous actions disappear in this way, you will find everything, every wave, is carrying good news to you. When your egoistic attitude has vanished you will find yourself in the midst of the sweet wave all around. To do away with what wrong you have done hitherto, such attitude is necessary. Do your duty, but never expect any definite result. You cast it towards the Infinite and then one day will come when you will find that your egoistic feeling will be dissolved and from within your real self, a real member of the Infinite, will spring up, awaken, and you will find yourself in the sweet wave of the environment, where everything is sweet. 

Sweet, sweet, sweet, everything. The breeze is sweet, the water is sweet, the trees are sweet. Whatever you come in contact with, everything is sweet. Your false ego is your enemy and to dissolve that ego such process is necessary. Do your duty as you see fit but never expect any reward according to your will. 

Then if you adopt this karma-yoga in no time you will find that the false ego that was expecting something crooked for your selfish purpose, that vanishes, and the broad, wide ego that is within, that has come out, and you are in harmony with the whole universe. The harmonious world will come before you. The cover will disappear, the cover of our selfish desire, selfish end, that will disappear. The disease is within. The cause is not outside, and this applies to everyone. A paramahamsa Vaisnava, a saint, he sees that everything is all right, nothing to complain. To the furthest extremity everything is good, everything is sweet. Then he comes to live in the plane of divinity. The selfish false ego is creating disturbance, and that ego should be dissolved.

In Bhagavatam, tat te 'nukampām, not only is the environment not my enemy but we shall find out that this is the grace of the Lord. Whatever is coming to me like an enemy, this is the grace of the Lord. I can't see this. The dirt is on my eye. Rather, I see the opposite. But everything is divine. Such a searching attitude is necessary. All is the grace of the Lord. Really it is so but the disease is in my eye, the disease is in my feeling, the disease is in my ear. I am diseased and if that disease is cured I shall find I am in the midst of the graceful world, I am a member of the gracious world. Only the cover is deceiving me from having the real estimation of the world. 

We will become a bona fide student of the devotional school if we are able to accept such an attitude towards the environment, towards the Lord. We are to think that His will is everywhere. Even a straw that is shaking, it can't do so if not sanctioned by the Supreme Authority. Every detail is detected and controlled by Him. In this way we are to see that the environment is optimistic and the pessimism is with me. My ego is responsible for all sorts of evil. This is Vaisnavism. If we can do this then in no time our disease will be cured and we will be in the midst ofample, infinite blissfulness. Don't try to cure what we see on the outside. Our tendency at present is like this, that “Everything must be favourable to my will, my understanding.” We all want that. “Let everything follow my control, my sweet will.” Then we are happy. “Everything will obey me then I am happy.” But we are to take just the opposite direction. 

trinad api sunicena
taror api sahishnuna
amanina manadena 

kirtaniyah sada harihi

“One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a tree, who gives due honour to others without desiring it for himself is qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Krsna.”

        – Sri Siksastakam, 3

We should create no resistance to the environment. Even if there is some attack and undesirable things come towards me, I am to forbear that. To my utmost patience I am to tolerate it. I won't do harm but if some attack comes to me I shall have forbearance to the extreme. amanina manadena: I shall honour everyone but won't seek any honour for myself. In this way we can make contact with the sound aspect of the Lord Himself in the holy Name. Thus with minimal energy and in the least amount of time we can attain our highest goal. The plane of Krsna where He is living, that is the most fundamental plane. It is possible. All these mundane engagements will vanish, die, and our inner heart, inner soul will awaken and that soul will find that he is in a sweet wave dancing, dancing and merry making in Vrindavana in relation to Krsna and His followers, His group.

What do you think? Is it unreasonable? 

Devotee: No. It's completely ecstatic.

*

See also 

Absolute Harmony 

and 

Beyond immortality, beyond liberation, beyond oneness

and

So the real current is His pastimes

and the rest of the Srila Sridhar Maharaj-posts on Nimaihuset blog here