Absolute Harmony (Srila Sridhar Maharaj)

Today is the appearance day of one of the greatest Vaishnavas of recent time, the sannyasa guru of our guru Srila B.A. Paramadvaiti Maharaj, and a great favourite in Nimaihuset: Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. And the blog gives you another precious gem: Absolute Harmony, a talk from his veranda in Navadvip, wherein he expounds on the harmonizing capacity of the Krishna conception of the Absolute, which supersedes the mere Oneness of impersonal Brahman.
This is Srila Sridhar Maharaj as we know him. The philosopher and the poet, deep-diving and high-flying, yet practical and down to earth. Soft, low-voiced and relaxed, yet intense, concentrated and exacting. And underlying it all: his main teaching surrender – unconditional – and the unyielding focus on beauty.

*

Transcription (with minor edits)

Harmony, how the things of opposite types can be harmonized by higher principle.

To harmonize things of a particular plane, energy of the higher plane is necessary. Thesis, antithesis — synthesis! Anything — and there must be something anti that. This cannot but be. Some opposition, some opposite conception. Any statement, some opposition, and to harmonize that. Hegel says that this is the process of progress. Progress means this. Whatever there would be — some opposite conception, some opposition, possibility. The possibility of opposition. And then, to do away with the opposition, some greater harmony is necessary. The highest type of harmony is so. The diversity ultimately helps it.

The opposition helps the main flow. Not only is it harmonized, but it enhances the beauty of the harmony. When harmony is successful, then it becomes the necessity of beauty.

The necessity of beauty.

Beauty and harmony are the same thing. Harmony is used in the sound-world, and beauty in the eye-world.

So the opposition enhances the beauty. If there would not be any diversity, then beauty was not possible.

Different things will be, and they will be harmonized, and that is beauty — vilasa. Otherwise it would be jumbled together, and this is Brahman.*

So Krishna represents beauty, and His harmonizing capacity supercedes everything. Even stealing is beautiful, lying is beautiful — whatever He does. His wickedness is also beautiful. The conception of the greatest harmony is that you can harmonize anything and everything. Nothing can be there which He cannot harmonize.

So the opposition which is very objectionable — the stealing, the lying, debauchery so to say — is inconceivable in Him. All is harmonized, all is harmonized, so sweet.

No enemy. Enemy also becomes friend in harmony.

Beauty means that. Harmony means that.

Not afraid — advaya jnana. The origin of fear only comes from the lack of harmony.

Fear is born from disappointment of harmony. Otherwise there is no place of any fear.

Undesirability in Sanskrit is bhayam. Bhaya means apprehension. Apprehension, fear, originates from lack of harmony. Of second interest.

Common interest — one interest. If we can reduce many interests into one interest, as parts of one interest, then there is harmony — no fear. There is only fear from separate interests. Clash between separate interests. But if that can be linked in common interest — no fear.

The first stage is that we are afraid, we have got apprehension. Why? We are suffering from the mania of second interest, separate interest. So, we are afraid, we have got apprehension.

When does it come to take place, this apprehension? When we deviate from the common Master, from the idea of a common Master, common Controller, common Guardian. Then only do we suffer from apprehension. The disease of apprehension arises only when we separate ourselves from the common Controller, the common Guardian of all.

Isa apetasya, the Master consciousness — that we have got a Master, we have got a Controller, and He is common to all. And He is our interest represented there. That common Master, Isa. 

Isa jnana. I have got my Master, and He is to look after that. And He is the Master of all. So no apprehension.

So the deviation from the consciousness of a common Master, common Guardian, is how the apprehension comes to rise. And then, when deviated, he is minus of the common Guardian. Then he comes in very unfavourable circumstances. Losing that Master consciousness, he comes in a very dreadful position, and forgets. He is puzzled and forgets his own self, his real self. And self interest he also loses. He is beside himself.

Then it is if he can come to knowledge somehow by the help of the external sadhu. But he sees maya. Who can control the maya? He does not go to fight with maya — illusion, misconception, the forgetfulness of the Center, the forgetfulness of his Guardian.

Then he appeals to the Guardian, the Guardian Himself. 
If we fall on the ground, with the help of the ground we stand again.

So, our forgetfulness of our Guardian, that is the cause of all the disaster in which we find ourselves. And again, the only way to get out of it, is to be reinstated in that idea of a Guardian, a common Guardianship. And that is effected by the sadhus, that are normal, that are not deviated from God consciousness. With their help we have to appeal to that All-controlling Agency, and then we can again be reinstated in that Isa-jnana, that I have got my Master. I have got my Master, at whose holy feet I am to take shelter. I am to surrender to my Master. The life of surrender again comes. We take to surrender. We take, and everything is there. Only we should always be conscious of our Guardian, the highest Harmonizer.

So the problem is one – there is only one problem: that we deviate from the consciousness of our Guardian. And the only way to get out of the trouble is to become conscious of our common Guardian. That is God consciousness — Krishna consciousness. Back to God, back to Home, back to Godhead. 
The only one problem is that we are deviated from Godhead, and we shall try to go towards Godhead. We shall go back to Godhead. That is the only one work that is necessary — back to Godhead, back to Home.

Back to God, back to Home. 

The general problem is this. And by serving in variegated ways, that is to be promoted. But the main thing is this.

Krishna consciousness — the center of highest harmony. Highest harmony.

And harmony is sweetness, harmony is beautiful.

Harmony is Krishna, harmony is our Guardian. Harmony is our Mother, Guardian — harmony is our Master.

That is sweetness, that is love.

No enemy. No enemy. No apprehension that I will be devoured by the inauspicious elements around.

Devotee: How practically to understand the principle of harmony?

SSM: What is the meaning of harmony? What is harmony?

Devotee: Strictly speaking it is a musical term and it refers to different musical tones that are in balance, and they sound nice.

SSM: So different sounds are tuned to one — that is harmony. Different instruments, different tones, from different men — many, plural, which are connected with one, and on the whole giving some sweet and soothing feeling or sentiment — that is harmony.

There must be different things, different kinds of sounds from different kinds of instruments, and different kinds of voices. That is harmony.

The Earth and the planets, they are moving in their own way, and again, they are connected with another movement, another force.

The moon is moving around the Earth. There are so many sub-planets that are moving around another planet. They are moving in their own way. And with all those movements, the Earth is moving around the sun. In this way, in one year the Earth is circumambulating the sun. Again there is a time when everyone can complete his one-year movement.

LCN mathematics — to find the Lowest Common Nominator. A common. So many figures will meet their common, divided. Some five times, some hundred times — they will meet at one point. In this way, in variety, variety meets at one point. It represents in One. 

All meet in One. That is harmony. Variety, meeting, unity. In different planes. In the plane of sound, in the plane of colour, in the plane of movement. It may be of different phases, but many meets one, in one point. That is harmony.

Just as there are so many branches of the tree – they meet in the trunk. The trunk harmonizes so many branches. The tree harmonizes so many leaves. In this way.

The beauty, the harmony, the unity, and many similar words that can represent. The Master, the Guardian, the Controller, the Well-wisher — in different phases it may be applied.

And many in one. Many represented in one point.

An interest of the many, represented in one place.

Devotee: So in the Absolute, even discord brings harmony?

SSM: Yes. In the Highest Absolute there is room for the accomodation of anything and everything. Otherwise it can not be absolute. If something is outside, it is not absolute. Absolute: one. One accomodates everything. 

The enemy is no enemy to Him. All is relative. Absolute means absolute good.

Everything will have got its fullest representation. Still, the Absolute Whole is so great that It can accomodate them. They are in full swing. All the parts, they have got their full interest. And the Controller, the General, is so high and tactful that He can control the soldiers.

...They are so brave, that suicidal squad.

The suicidal squad soldiers, they must be very brave. 

And the general of that squad must be very, very brave [chuckles].

The bold and the brave and the desperate soldiers also can be harmonized in a particular army. They can be controlled.

There's such bravery and such genius that must be, as to become their General.

___________________

* Note: 

Swami B. V. Tripurari: “Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan are well known Vedantic terms referring to the Absolute — terms that are often considered synonymous. However, while Gaudiya Vaishnavas agree that Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan are different names for the Absolute, they emphasize that the three are, at the same time, not synonymous. They are God’s effulgence, his manifestation as the oversoul of the world, and his form for lila in the world beyond, respectively. The Gaudiyas further contend that the former two manifestations arise from the latter.” (From “Existing to love”) 

Brahman is the impersonal aspect of God, partial, realized as Oneness. — Sd