Be Whole and Holy

I am 22 pages into Sri Vrindavan Mahimamrita by Prabodhananda Sarasvati (it’s a 640 page book that I paid a good amount for), and I really can’t stand to go on reading it. It is the last and largest of several books I bought at the same time. It looked like it had a lot of potential and I saved it for last.

It’s full of things like: “Dear friends, do not fear to transgress Vedic injunctions, do not fear to disobey the instructions of your parents, do not bother to follow worldly customs, do not show compassion to your poor relatives anymore, and do not be repeatedly bound by affection in this material world anymore. Just immediately start for the abode of Vrindaban!” (Text 52)

And, “A sinful person who comes to Vrindavan and then suddenly leaves for another place is like a person who has attained the platform of liberation yet runs towards hell. Such a person, even after obtaining a touchstone in his hand, throws it away in the ocean. Moreover, such a person, having been able to control the Supreme Lord, becomes as abominable as a dog.” (Text 60) That’s where I stopped.

I can’t take such a negative, judgemental approach to life in the material world. Sure, it isn’t the spiritual world, but I think we are here for a purpose that is more than just escaping from a prison. We are here to learn to love and live in such a way that we become qualified to live in the spiritual world. We should look for Radha Krishna and Vrindaban everywhere and act in loving ways like we would there.

I agree with Osho when he says, “In the East people have condemned the body, condemned matter, called matter ‘illusory’, maya–it does not really exist, it only appears to exist; it is made of the same stuff as dreams are made of. They denied the world, and that is the reason for the East remaining poor, sick, in starvation. Half of humanity has been accepting the inner world but denying the outer world. The other half of humanity has been accepting the material world and denying the inner world. Both are half, and no man who is half can be contented.

“You have to be whole: rich in the body, rich in science; rich in meditation, rich in consciousness. Only a whole person is a holy person, according to me.”

The good news is that I am 38 pages into Krishnahnika Kaumudi by Srila Kavi-karnapur. It is a delightful short (66 pages) description of Radha Krishna’s pastimes through the 24 hours. A little lacking in Radha’s pastimes when she’s not with Krishna, but good none-the-less.

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