How to handle work pressure and practice devotion?

Question by a Sadhak :  I am working with a finance firm. My dilemma is my job asks for too much of sales pressure and by the time I go home, my head is filled with the hardships of my work. I am not able to do sadhana because of that. I had read in one of your message that enthusiasm is very necessary for sadhana. Because of my work, I am not able to do anything and nirasha, or disappointment, is covering me completely. I am feeling very helpless. Not able to remember Maharajji, not able to go and meet him.

Answer by Swami Mukundanandaji : There are two ways of remembering God and Guru. The first way is to sit down and meditate on Them. The second way is to work with this consciousness, “I am doing this work for their pleasure.” The second may be more difficult, but it takes us to a higher level of Divine love. This is because it develops the spirit of service, or seva.

Even though your present job may be burdensome, you can easily do the second kind of remembrance. Whatever you earn from your job, use a portion of it to serve the mission of your Gurudev. In this way, by offering the fruits of your work to God, after having met your basic needs, you will develop the consciousness that you are working for His pleasure. You will then not look at your work as separate from your devotion, but as an integral part of it.

This is the Karmyog of the Bhagavad Geeta:

yatkaroṣhi yadaśhnāsi yajjuhoṣhi dadāsi yat |

yattpasyasi kaunteya tatkuruṣhva madarpaṇaṁ ||

“Arjun! Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever austerities you perform, and whatever you give away, do it as an offering to Me.”

Along with working in this spirit, whenever you find the time, you should also practice the first kind of remembrance. Whenever you can spare the time, simply sit and think of Them. This will help you block out worldly consciousness from your mind and strengthen your devotional sentiment. So, do go and spend some days a year with your Gurudev as well, whenever your yearly schedule permits.

You may be thinking that if you did not have to work at all, then you could have spent all your time in devotion. However, there are two kinds of vairagya, or detachment. The first kind is when you find the world as painful and burdensome, and want to run away from it. Shree Krishna calls it rajasic detachment (detachment in the mode of passion):

duḥkhamityeva yatkarma kāyakleśhabhayātyajet |

sa kṛitvā rājasaṁ tyāgaṁ naiva tyāgaphalaṁ labhet ||

“Giving up one’s work, thinking it to burdensome and painful, is to be considered rajasic detachment, which it does not lead to divine fruits.”

The second kind of detachment is where you continue working, while giving up attachment to the results. In other words, you practice to become equanimous in pain and pleasure, success and failure, hardship and luxury, favourable and unfavourable situations. Shree Krishna calls this sattvic detachment (detachment in the mode of goodness):

kāryamityeva yatkarma niyataṁ kṛiyaterjuna |

saṅg tyaktvā phalaṁ chaiva sa tyāgaḥ sātviko mataḥ ||

“Performing one’s work, simply because it is to be performed, while giving up attachment to the fruits, is sattvic detachment.”

Hence, the proper path for spiritual progress is to practice devotion along with our prescribed work, even though it may be painful and burdensome. When our detachment develops to such an extent that we no longer find our work burdensome, no matter how difficult it may be, on then should we consider giving up work, and performing devotion full time. However, this step of karma sanyas is taken only under the guidance of the Guru. The vast majority of the people will have to do karmyog, where they continue doing their work, but make their consciousness divine.

While doing karmyog, you can remember God and Guru in other ways as well. Practice to feel Their presence with you. Think that They are with you and are watching you. Make Them your witness in every activity that you perform. This will help you keep your mind in the Divine realm, while you do your worldly duties with your body.

How to decide which God to worship?

Question by a Sadhak to H.H.Swami Mukundanandaji : There was a Ram temple in our house; I was in the habit of hearing the Tulsi Ramayan, and meditating on the form of Lord Ram.  But after marriage, in my in-laws’ house, I began reading the Durga Saptaśhati and observing Navrātras.  When I heard the Bhāgavat saptāha, I liked the leelas of Shree Krishna.  How should I decide which God to worship?

Answer by H.H.Swami Mukundanandaji :  Although Ram, Durga, Krishna are all different forms of the one Supreme Lord, yet it is advisable to focus your devotion on a single form.  There is a Hindi saying:

eka sādhe saba sadhe, saba sādhe saba jāya

 “If you focus all your attention on a single activity, you will succeed in it.  But if you try to succeed in multifarious things at the same time, you will fail in all of them.”  With the same logic, if you try to love all the forms of God, you will end up loving none.  But if you devote your mind to one form, you will develop love for all of them.  So you must choose one form to worship, which is called “Iṣhṭa Dev”, or the devotee’s chosen form of God for devotion.

Now the question you have asked is about how to choose your Iṣhṭa Dev.  In deciding this, you must consider which form of God is attractive to the mind.  If your Iṣhṭa Dev has a beautiful form, you will find it much easier to meditate on Him.  Also, if your Iṣhṭa Dev has wonderful pastimes, it will be very helpful in your devotion.  To turn your mind towards God, leelas also play an important role.  By hearing and chanting those leelas, devotees increase their love for God.  From both these view points, devotion to Shree Ram and Shree Krishna is both sweet and easy.  Hence, They are also the most popular Iṣhṭa Devs in India.  Their sweet pastimes are lovingly sung and remembered in temples and houses in every part of the country.

Amongst Them, Shree Krishna manifests four special nectars, above and beyond any other Avatar of God:

Exceptionally attractive form (His famous three-fold bending form with a flute on His lips).

1. Amazing sweetness of His flute that attracts even Lord Shankar.
2. The sweetest childhood pastimes that enchant the minds of devotees.
3. Leelas displaying the greatness of love, which reveal how God forgets His Almightiness because of the love of His devotees.
4. For all these reasons, I would highly recommend that you make Shree Krishna and His Divine Consort, Shree Radha Rani, as your Iṣhṭa Dev.  However, if you decide to choose any other forms of God, that is also fine.

How can I insulate my mood from fluctuations based on the behavior of others?

Question by a Sadhak

When anyone criticizes me or gets annoyed with me, it disturbs me to no end; so much so, that sometimes the whole day is spent in brooding. How can I insulate my mood from fluctuations based on the behavior of others?

Answer by H.H.Swami Mukundanandaji

The solution is to develop a better understanding of the world, based on scriptural knowledge. The Vedas say that this material energy, Maya, consists of three guṇas: sattva guṇa, or the mode of goodness, rajo guṇa, or the mode of passion, and tamo guṇa, or the mode of ignorance.

Everyone’s mind too is made from Maya, and so the three modes of Maya exist in the mind as well. Depending upon the environment and where we focus our thoughts, one of the guṇas becomes prominent and our mind takes on that quality. If sattva guṇa dominates, one becomes peaceful, contented, generous, kind, helpful and serene. When rajo guṇa gains prominence, one becomes passionate, agitated, ambitious, envious of others success, and desirous for sense pleasures. When tamo guṇa becomes prominent, one is overcome by sleep, laziness, hatred, anger, resentment, violence, and doubt.

For example, let us suppose you are sitting in your library, engaged in study. There is no worldly disturbance, and your mind has become sāttvic. After finishing your study, you sit in your drawing room and switch on the television. Seeing all the imagery makes your mind rājasic, and increases your hankering for sense pleasures. While you are watching your favorite channel, your family member comes and changes the channel to her liking. This disturbance causes tamo guṇa to develop in your mind, and you are filled with anger. In this way, the mind sways between the three guṇas, and takes on the corresponding qualities.

This fluctuation takes place constantly in everyone’s minds, altering their thoughts amongst the three modes. When two people’s guṇas are divergent, their ideas, interests, desires and tastes also become divergent, and that causes strife. This strife exists everywhere, between husband-wife, father-son, brother-sister, friend-companion, and so on. Congruence can happen only when two people have the same guṇas. However, since everyone’s guṇas are fluctuating, it is unreasonable to expect that the other person’s guṇas will constantly match ours.

The reason for our anxiety is that we have unreasonable expectations. We want others to always think in the same manner as we do. And when this does not happen, we get disturbed. Instead if we could realize that invariably people will have views differing from ours, and this is very natural due to the three modes of material nature, we will not be disturbed when they oppose us or criticize us.

So by increasing our understanding of the world, we can insulate ourselves from the fluctuating moods of others.

DIVINE EXPERIENCES OF INAUGURATION OF PREM MANDIR,VRIDAVAN

We arrive in Vrindavan, the land where Shri Radha Krishna spent their childhood days, and head over to our ashram.  After freshening up, we head directly over to Prem Mandir by pedal cart through the streets of Vrindavan.  We finally arrive near Prem Mandir and we can see the beautiful pure white Italian marble structure erected by skilled artisans from across India.  From afar, just one glimpse and one would think what is this marvelous structure that is grandeur than the Taj Mahal.  It’s when you arrive at Prem Mandir, then you realize the sheer beauty and gift of divine love that is erected on the very ground that Shri Krishna and Radha Rani used as their play ground.

There are so many gates on the main road that one would get confused as to which gate to enter through.  Luckily, there were security guards directing traffic and showing the way into the mandir.  The first gate is the main entrance and opens to a beautifully landscaped garden thus leading to the main entry of the mandir.  The second gate leads to the Jagadguru Dham and Sadhana Hall (the Sadhna Hall is under construction [for the Prem Mandir opening a temporary hall was created which would take a whole page just to describe it which would be fully air-conditioned and would seem to hold more than 1,000 people respectively.  The third gate is for vehicle parking.  The last two gates lead to the charity hospital which will provide free medical services to all those that need it.

Throughout the entire festival period, Maharaji has fed everyone with three excellent meals and at various times a sweet was also provided.  The management was excellent as so many devotees had volunteered to assist with the kitchen and dining areas.  There were separate dining quarters for women, for foreigners and disabled people, and for men.   This helped alleviate the traffic in a big way and at most times there was very minimal waiting periods to receive the Prasad of Maharaji.

Sitting inside the mandir or even outside one gets a true feeling of divine love that is flowing from within the mandir.  With every thought in Radha Krishna, we will be so much closer to reaching our divine destination.

Day 1 – Kalash Yatra & Start of Havan

Our day begins as per Brahma Murat at 4:30 am with Prathna, Aarti, and Sadhna.  This is a daily routine which will continue for the next 3 days.  Today the hall is full with over 2000 people with almost 1500 of them dressed in a Yellow Saree, Dhoti or Paijama (matching Thakorji).  Everyone has wrapped a Radhe Shami around their body to show their love and appreciation of Shri Maharaji.  At 5:30 am, the participants of the Kalash Yatra leave the Sadhna hall to prepare.  As a dress code was mandatory, Kalash yatra participants were dressed in yellow.  As each person scrambles to get their Kalash and form an orderly line, almost 2 hours pass.  Now, there are over 2700 Kalash yatra participants lined up to perform Kalash Yatra.  Everyone has a nicely decorated copper Kalash filled with the water of River Yamuna.   What’s mind boggling is the monstorous task of decorating 3000 Kalash’s for each participant

We sit, wait, and watch in the garden for this long line of Kalash Yatra participants.  The Havan has already begun with Maharaji’s immediately family sitting at the head of the Havan.  We wait for Maharaji to appear.  The weather is quite gloomy and foggy today, with no sun in sight.  It’s also very cold outside and we feel for the Kalash Yatra participants as they are only wearing dhotis and sarees to cover themselves and have been standing in line for 3 hours now while either holding the Kalash filled with water on their head.  Suddenly, a slight drizzle comes as if Yugal Sarkar is crying to wash Prem Mandir from the outside.  As we sit and wait, we see a flock of birds (probably about 20 or so) fly around Prem Mandir and slowly swoop towards the entrance to get a glimpse of Yugal Sarkar.  The doors are not open so they get a beautiful darshan of Yugal Sarkar and all of Shree Krishna Leelas from the various 3D plates created and attached to the walls of the mandir.  The birds then swoop forward and head on their way, being enlightened by the darshan of Yugal Sarkar. 

Finally, Maharaji appears and immediately heads to the Havan area.The band is ordered now to begin their march and slowly everyone proceeds to Prem Mandir.   Now each participant places the Kalash on their head and move towards Prem Mandir along with the various orchestras.  There is a standing order as follows:  The three Didi’s, Maharajji’s Pracharaks, Foreigners – both men and women, then last come Indian Men followed by Indian women.  In between each group there are bands and orchestras performing dances, playing loud music on drums, gants, etc, and a beautiful row of children dressed as peacocks.  This is one sight to see as the group marches up towards Prem Mandir.  The group now moves into the mandir and each participant is given an area of the mandir to wash with Yamuna Jal.  Some are fortunate enough to have Maharaji stand next to them and give them clear instructions of scrubbing a little harder to clean the mandir.  The mandir is now cleaned by over 2700 people and more than 2000 litres of Yamuna Jal.  Surprisingly, Maharaji makes an announcement during the day that there will be another opportunity tomorrow for Kalash Yatra.  This is not with new devotees but with existing participants.  How lucky the participants are to be able to repeat Kalash Yatra.

The Havan continues throughout the day and all Devotees are led to the sadhna hall to perform sadhna.  Sadhna continues throughout the day till evening with the occasional lunch, dinner, and tea breaks.  For the next 3 days, there will be continuous sadhna by all devotees.

The evening holds a special event for all devotees.Maharaji has arranged for Vrindavan’s famous Raas Leela performing group to perform for all that have come.  Maharaji starts with aarti of Yugal Sarkar, this is the Yugal Sarkar from the Raas Leela.  Many devotees felt that it was the real Yugal Sarkar that had appeared for aarti.  Then the entertainment begins with the live performance of Raas Leela.  What a most enjoyable time everyone had on their first day of Prem Mandir inauguration.

Day 2 – Repeat Kalash Yatra and visit Rangeeli Mahal

Today we repeat the Kalash Yatra but with a different tone. After the aarti is completed, Kalash Yatra participants start the line formation process.  It’s the same as the previous day but with a twist.  Today, participants have increased to a total of 3,000.  In addition to this, Maharaji is also participating by carrying a golden Kalash on his head along with the three Didi’s and various Pracharaks.  He starts the march to the mandir with the rest of the pracharak’s and devotees following.  As Maharaji and the Pracharaks enter Prem Mandir and perform the ritual, the other devotees encircle prem mandir three times while carrying the Kalash on their heads.

After the Kalash Yatra is completed, then almost 600 foreigner devotees and 400 indian devotees went to Barsana to perform Abhishek, Jagadguru Aarti, as well as Satsung with Maharaji.  Fourteen buses were arranged to move devotees from Vrindavan to Barsana.  As we arrive in Barsana, Maharaji just announces that Abhishek and Aarti will now commence at 4:30pm.  So he says, please enjoy the wonderful lunch and we will meet in the afternoon.

After lunch, we decided that it made sense to see Barsana and Radha Rani mandir.  As the ashram is only minutes from Barsana we decide to talk the path most travelled by foot.  We arrive within seconds of the mandir closing the curtains and we get the last darshan of Radha Rani.  As we still had time we decided that it made sense to see some of the sites like Maan Mandir and  Mandir Shri Kushal Bihariji.  We then return back to Rangeeli Mahal to await our meeting with Maharaji. 

We arrive at Rangeeli Mahal and there is a line queued to enter the main sadhna hall.  As each person enters slowly, we find a place to sit as close to Maharaji as possible.  The devotees that have signed up to perform Jagadguru aarti are sitting in the front while abhishek devotees are right behind them.  Men to the left and women to the right.  Maharaji enters the sadhna hall and we immediately start the Jagadguru aarti.  After the aarti is finished, Maharaji goes into his private chamber and we proceed to a queue for abhishek.  Each devotee is allowed to wash the feet of Maharaji and then receive a gift from him.  After abhishek is finished, Maharaji has also provided prashad in the form of Samosas and Soan Papdi.  Then we re-enter the hall and Maharaji has now announced a special photo session where one can have his/her picture taken with Maharaji.  This photo will be cherished for a life-time.  After the photo session, devotees form a queue to receive the Jal of Maharaji’s charan. 

We wait now to proceed back to Vrindavan.  Maharaji then makes a special announcement that everyone must eat dinner at the ashram and also take part in Kirtan after dinner, afterwards the bus will take everyone back to Vrindavan.  We immediately eat dinner and proceed to the small sadhna hall next to Maharaji’s living quarters.  Maharaji then appears in a great mood and sings along with us his favorite Kirtan, Topiwala Barsana Wari.  Afterwards, we board our respective buses and return back to Vrindavan.

Meanwhile, the entertainment continues in the evening at Prem Mandir with the Raas Leela group and their performance of Dayand avatar.   Additionally, the importance of the name of Radha is explained, lucky are those that were able to attend this session.

Day 3 – Opening Day

Today is the big day and thus we again start at 4:30 am with Prathna, Aarti, and Sadhna.  There will be a balloon launching, Prem Mandir aarti, as well as the official opening of Prem Mandir to the public.  There are over 12,000 devotees present for the opening ceremony of which 600 are foreigner devotees that have flown in from around the world to partake in this unique celebration of divine love. 

The food is extra special today with special boondi ladoo prasad being distributed to all that come.  Sadhu bhog also takes place with gifts  given to all Sadhu’s that have turned up for the Prem Mandir celebration.  The Sadhu’s are given food, Prasad, and also gifts such as blankets from Maharaji.

In the evening, the Raas Mandri group continues their performance and plays holi with the Devotees. 

The balloon launching begins with all devotees gathered around the Gowardhan sculpture in front of the main entrance of the mandir.  Each is a given a balloon to launch.  There is chanting of Hare Rama Hare Krishna as there is word that Yugal Sarkar is coming.   Maharaji arrives and the fun begins with Maharaji launching the first balloon followed by the rest of the balloons by the devotees.  The sky is filled with colorful helium balloons providing for the grand entry of Yugal Sarkar.

Surrounding Prem Mandir, are beautifully landscaped gardens, water falls, laser show water fountains and many different sculpted objects within the gardens.  A Kadamb tree sits in the main garden with Radha Krishna sitting on a Jhula hanging beneath the tree.  There is a great structure erected in front of the main entry of the mandir.  This structure is what looks like a real life-like Govardhan hill with Shree Krishna holding it up with his pinky and the Brajwasi’s all looking for protection from their beloved.  What’s amazing about this structure is that it’s Shree Krishna’s pinky that is holding the man-made Govardhan Hill, with no other supports to be seen.

The divine love that is flowing from Prem Mandir is not only captured from the outside but also within the mandir itself.  All around the mandir, there are many plates created in white marble using a special 3D engraving machine depicting the various leelas of Shri Krishna.   As you enter the mandir, you’ll notice large doors for the entry way and on both sides of the entryway are 3d carvings of Yugal Sarkar thus following around the mandir from birth to full age leelas of Shri Krishna.  One that is very memorable is the Maha Raas Leela.  There are so many doors all around the mandir giving one a feeling of Radha Krishn calling out to any and all with open arms to experience the bliss of divine love.

The first prem mandir aarti will be performed by devotees.  There are so many devotees lined up to perform the aarti.  They are all lead in with foreigner devotees standing on the ground floor and Indian devotees on the first floor.  Maharaji appears and the Ram Sita “Vigrah” is revealed.  Maharaji now start the aarti with the devotees followed by Mahraji’s parivar from the Havan.  Afterwards, he heads downstairs and reveals the Yugal Sarkar “Vigrah” and immediately starts the Yugal Sarkar aarti.  After the aarti is finished, then the devotees that are present inside the mandir take aarti and view the beauty of the mandir from the inside.  The remaining devotees and guests will only be able to visit the inside of the mandir after 2:00 pm when the mandir will be officially open to the public.

Inside the mandir there are two levels.   On the ground floor there is a Yugal Sarkar “Vigrah” and on the first floor a Ram Sita “Vigrah”.  Words cannot describe the sheer beauty of both Murtis.  Yugal Sarkar look as if they are really in front of us and talking to us. 

The Shringhar is absolutely beautiful and looks as if it’s radiating from afar.  All around the mandir there are so many decorated pillars and 3D carvings everywhere you look.  These 3D carvings are once again of Shree Krishna Leela, Maharaji, the four other Jagadguru’s,  Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and of course the Jagadguru Parivar.  There is one beautiful wax figure of Maharaji while he is creating his beautiful padhs.  Just looking at this wax figure one would get the feeling that Maharaji is really right in front of you.    The ceilings have beautiful chandaliers hanging to provide light and decorative beauty.  The internal dome structure is delicately carved and one would have to wonder how the artisans were able to climb so high to carve the designs.  Every wall inside and out is filled with Radha Krishna prem.   The internal walls have couplets of Radha Govind Geet to once again remind the visitor of the divine love of Radha Krishn.  Each 3D carving is so beautifully painted that it gives the feeling that this must be the real Radha or real Krishna performing leelas in front of us.

The first floor also has a structure which has not been revealed.  Some say it’s a robotic structure designed by a devotee in the US.   The mystery entices us to visit the mandir again to find out what Maharaji will reveal.  In my opinion, there is no mandir in the world that displays the clear bliss of divine love of Yugal Sarkar.

ATTACH YOUR MIND TO GOD

Whenever you practice devotion to God, you should first understand that the mind must be attached to God. Worldly work can be performed even without the attachment of the mind, and people of the world will accept that work as genuine work.  However, God cannot be fooled, He does not accept the external formalities if the mind is not involved. Resolve to yourself that from today onwards, you will involve the mind in devotional practice. Then you will see how far you will reach within even one week’s time.

GOD RESIDES IN ALL CREATURES

Once, Saint Eknath was traveling from Kashi to Rameshwaram. He was carrying his kamandal which he had filled up with the water of river Ganga. It was summer, and it was difficult to get water for miles. Suddenly he saw a donkey, which was dying of thirst. He poured the water from his kamandal into its mouth. When His disciples saw this, were astonished, and asked him, “What have you done? Now, how will the consecration of Lord Shiv be done?” Saint Eknath replied in a voice of absolute contentment, “Oh! Did you not see that it was Lord Shiv (Rameshwaram) Himself, Who came here in the form of a donkey! He is so graceful! He did not want us to take the trouble to go there, so He came here Himself."