The “Love’s Lessons” Book.
Author: H.G. Bhakti Vijnana Goswami.
At the end of last summer, Bhakti Vijnana Maharaj published a new book called “Love’s Lessons”. It became apparent right away that it was going to be the pearl of spiritual literature. On one hand, “Love’s Lessons” permeates right into your heart, ignoring all those mental channels that have been stuffed with media noise and stereotypes. On the other hand, it is very rare to find such a brilliant description of a great personality through the idea behind that personality, rather than the biography.
“Love’s Lessons” – is a collection of stories about one of the greatest sage of India in the 20th century – A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. It is a deep look at the man who, following his spiritual master’s order, came to the West at an older age and by his own example was able to convince thousands of people from all over the world to take on a higher consciousness path.
The effect of some books can be compared to medication. Such effects can be experienced by reading “Bhagavad Gita” translated by Srila Prabhupada, “Journey Back Home” by Radhanath Swami, “Diary of a Traveling Monk” by Indradyumna Swami, the wonderful pieces by Sacinandana Swami, and by Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaj. If we commit to take these medications regularly, with faith and under doctor’s supervision, then the effect can be very dramatic. One’s mind and heart can be cured. The mind quiets down and becomes inspired to serve God. The heart becomes rejuvenated by the interaction with the Source. That is how the spiritual medication works – it transforms lives. Often, we do not even need a lot of time for that to happen. By reading only one chapter, one sentence or sutra, we can experience absolute happiness and purifying pain. Our eyes become watery and we want to read it over and over again, because there is a high chance that something very deep has just permeated into our hearts.
That is what “Love’s Lessons” is about. It is about transformation and how to transform. It talks about crossing the boundaries of the inert material world subduing all the obstacles for the benefit of our souls.
Bhakti Vijnana Goswami:
“I did not get a chance to meet Srila Prabhupada. I have only heard stories about him and associated with those, who met him. But looking back at my life, I can say that he has influenced my life much more than the people whom I met in person. So, this book that you are holding – is my attempt to explain this secret of influence, which, I am confident, has been experienced by many, who have never met Srila Prabhupada.
When I started collecting stories about his life, which were very touching to me, never did I ever imagine that there would someday be a book based on them. I simply enjoyed hearing and sharing those stories with others. Analyzing the stories and trying to imagine being in Srila Prabhupada’s shoes, I was learning about his attitude toward the world, trying to see the internal mechanisms that supported his words and actions, which at times were so paradoxical and unexpected.
It was not until later when I realized that all of that was an essential part of bhakti yoga. Bhakti begins with hearing the stories about love toward God. Namely with hearing: we hear about other beings’ love toward Krishna, the obstacles they overcome for the sake of this love, and the sacrifices they make. By hearing about the great sages, we unwillingly identify ourselves with them and their mood enters our hearts and becomes our reality. The feelings that drive the great sages get transferred to those who hear about their pastimes, just as the feelings of movie or drama characters get transferred to the viewers.”
THE LESSON ON OBTAINING MERCY
We can advance ourselves on the path of devotion only by the mercy of Krishna. Unfortunately, the lazy people of Kali Yuga often confuse “mercy” with “miracle”. Hoping for mercy, they are actually expecting a miracle, and when miracle does not happen, they become disappointed and lose faith in God’s mercy. There is, however, a considerable difference between miracle and mercy. Miracle happens all at once, while Krishna’s unconditional mercy is usually distributed in small, barely noticeable amounts. Krishna gives us a small piece of His mercy and then watches what we are going to do with it. If we appreciate His mercy and accept it with gratitude, Krishna give us a little more, but if we take it for granted, Krishna takes away everything He has given us before. So, it may seem like Krishna gives His mercy only to those who are patient and humble, but that is actually not true: Krishna showers everyone with Him mercy, but only the patient and the humble are able to preserve and grow it.
In his “Renunciation Through Wisdom” book Srila Prabhupada writes: “But because it is impossible to surrender to God in an instant, similarly we should not expect God’s mercy to come to us in an instant. Although certainly both God and even His servants sometimes create miracles, we still should not expect that those miracles would be happening with us. At the same time, we should never have any doubts that God’s mercy can exceed the level of our devotion. There is yet another danger: if we obtain all of God’s mercy at once, that would make us corrupt and fallen, which happens to many yogis who obtain mystical powers. For us, it is way much better to continue performing our duties by serving the Lord, with patience and enthusiasm; and at the end, that will lead to God gifting us with all of His mercy.”
THE LESSON ON TRUST
Srila Prabhupada had an unlimited faith in guru and Krishna – that is an unquestionable fact. One can praise and marvel that, but I think his other quality is way more marvelous – the trust in people, his incompetent and unexperienced but full of enthusiasm disciples and even simple people, who just happened to interact with him somehow. In actuality, his trust in people is part of his faith in guru and Krishna: he knew that Krishna and spiritual master could turn any person into a tool of service toward them. That is exactly what he was aiming at – to turn all and every person into Krishna’s servants to free them from suffering. This strong desire to engage both worthy and unworthy people in the service to Krishna has transformed the hearts of those who interacted with him.
THE LESSON ON HUMILITY AND PATIENCE
Born out of false ego the desire to enjoy, no matter its form, makes everything around us dead, distorting our original purpose, and eventually it slays our consciousness forcing our souls to be born again and again. But the spirit of service fills this slay and boring world with life and gives back natural immortality to our souls. Service is the only way to get rid of the influence of illusion. No matter how hard those prideful people try to comfort themselves with the belief that there are many paths leading to the spiritual kingdom, there is only one path from the material world to the spiritual reality – it is a narrow and thorny path of meekness and humility, and only the most patient ones can successfully complete it.
THE LESSON ON COMPASSION AND TRUTHFULNESS
At times, Srila Prabhupada’s compassion was ruthless and his truthfulness did not fit into the societal norms of good tone. He got it from his spiritual master, who was not afraid of publicly admitting that compassion is based on truth and that lie has nothing to do with it. “This is the reason “Bhagavatam” recommends to start life from scratch: “Intelligent people should get rid of bad association and start communicating with sadhus. There is no doubt that sadhus are capable of killing all the bad qualities of a person’s mind. Because of this ability, communication with sadhus is beneficial for all”. There are many things we can try to hide from sadhus, but a true sadhu will make us confess in everything we are hiding in our hearts. He then takes his knife out. There are no other meanings of the word “sadhu” except this one. He is standing by the sacrifice block with his knife raised up high above. Our lustful desires are like goats. Sadhus come into our lives and compassionately chops off all those desires with a sharp sacrificial knife of word. If a sadhu lies, then he is harmful to us just as an enemy. Sadhu’s lies can only push us to walk the path that leads to enjoyment, but it never to true happiness.”
More photos: http://hkls.ru/en/kniga-uroki-lubvi/
