Re: Inner Meaning of Guruji's Prayer

Dear Swamiji and all Vaisnavas,

         Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krishna! Jaya Guru Parampara! Please accept my respectful obeisances!

         Bhakta Matus prabhu was definitely right when he said that the form of the Lord inside was completely non-different from the form of the Lord seen outside. But then Jiva Gosvami is perfectly right too! Things in the Lord aren't black or white, but they are black and white. But the question is asked : Nevertheless why does seeing the Lord outside overrules seeing him inside? The answer is that it is not so simple as it looks.

          In the beginning, the devotee starts by seeing whichever form of the Lord he is meditating on within his heart -- i.e. the heart of the jiva soul. While seeing the form of Krishna in the heart, there is still a separation between inside and outside. The outer vision sees the external world whereas the inner eye sees the Lord within. This is the preliminary stage where the feature of the Lord within oneself, known as antaryami is realized. This the process of visualising on the Lord's form as in the Srimad Bhagavatam as done by Dhruva Maharaja.

           The first realisations of devotees as far as what they have revealed to me goes, they see the Lord within themselves, then this vision expands more and more. Then one sees the Lord in others, then in everything around them, then eventually they see only the Lord everywhere. At that time the material world effectively ceases to exist as something separate and everything becomes fully included in the vision of the Lord.

          " .... In the beginning when we see Lord Gauranga Krishna with our inner eyes within our hearts there is still separation with the outer world. But as soon as we start to see Lord Gauranga Krishna in everything we see, in the screen in front of us, the table we sit at, the floor, the ceiling, through the window, in the people, the animals, in the plants, in the things, wherever we look: our being is transformed and has become the expression of the Lord Himself. When we see the spiritual world right here and now we have become the active principle of the absolute Truth revitalizing everyone and everything we come in contact with....."  -- Hadai Nityananda Dasa prabhu. Remember his wonderful realization of seeing Jagannatha's eyes everywhere and everything happening within them?

          So in the beginning the devotee has to meditate within, but then he stops the yoga process when he sees the Lord face to face. Why is that? Actually when the Lord is seen outside, then at that time inside and outside have become one! At that time what is outside is the same as what is inside, so there is no more a need for meditation within anymore. At that time the devotee is actually living in the spiritual world, and he experiences the Lord inside and out. The experience becomes complete and the picture becomes perfect.  After that there is no need for yogic meditation because the devotee sees the Lord everywhere all the time.

          SB 11.14.44: Being established in meditation on the Lord's face, one should then withdraw the consciousness and fix it in the sky. Then giving up such meditation, one should become established in Me and give up the process of meditation altogether.

          SB 11.14.45: One who has completely fixed his mind on Me should see Me within his own soul and should see the individual soul within Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus, he sees the individual souls united with the Supreme Soul, just as one sees the sun's rays completely united with the sun.

          This is the vision of the topmost paramahamsas, the uttama adhikaris who are jivan mukta, liberated while in the material world to external eyes, actually they are in the spiritual world.

           What about the deity form of the Lord? Thakur Bhaktivinode has given the best explanation for it. He says that the form of the Lord appears in the heart of the devotee who then as far as possible tries to manifest that form in mind or in the material element. However the devotee does not see the material image while taking darshana of the deity, he sees the Lord himself in his sat-cit-ananda vigraha. The Prana pratishta philosophy on the other hand has the opposite order, of material body first before spiritual incarnation of the Lord as the deity, which however is not experienced by Vaisnavas. That's why in our sampradaya, any need for a prana pratishta is negated, because first thing it assumes the deity is material and has to be made spiritual. However, the fact that the deity is already manifest spiritually before manifesting in the material element.

            When the devotee takes darshana of the deity, it is exactly the same as seeing the Lord face to face. The form of the Lord within the heart becomes one with the form without. Then there is no more inside and outside.

             This is about as far as I can write. The whole thing is so wonderful when a devotee sees his beloved Lord everywhere, seeing the Lord within him and everyting within the Lord. The conclusion of the statement of the Srimad Bhagavatam is that a devotee sees the Lord everywhere both internally and externally, to the level where the distinction between the internal and the external has vanished completely. The devotee now eternally resides in the spiritual world. On the relative platform of duality inside and outside are two different things. But from the absolute point of view, there's no inside and outside, only the spritual world existing everywhere with everything in love and unlimited bliss!

             I hope that this helps to shed some light on the subject. Those who realise it can really understand how all dualities and all contradictions are resolved in the Lord. I write based on what the devotees tell me, but someday by your mercy I hope I can realise what is there in this article. Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna!

Daasa Daaso'smi,

Srinath

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