Darshan Vienna Talk & Comment Response

Swami Vishwananda Darshan Vienna
We are happy to say that many more people came to Gurudev's Darshan in Austria than were expected. However, this necessitated that the people come into the hall in groups as the size of the room dictated. Happily, everyone had the opportunity to spend time with Gurudev and receive his blessing.

Excerpt of Swami Vishwananda’s Talk at Vienna Darshan, October 10, 2009: The heart is much stronger than the mind and therefore the mind cannot comprehend the heart. God can only be found within the heart.

Once, a King sent his two sons to the most highly reputed ashram in his kingdom. After some years of teaching and training at the ashram, the King's two sons returned to their father. The King asked his sons to tell him what they had learned about the “Self” during their long years of study away from home. The first son sang mantras and praises of the Divine. Weeping, the second son lowered his head and looked at the ground. The wise King, reflecting His own Divinity, told the people of his kingdom: “My second son has received the blessing of the Divine: He has received a glimpse of the Divine!"

God is like the King in his palace. When someone enters the palace [God’s Consciousness], in the first room is a well-dressed man. He asks: “Are you the King?”The man answers “No!”

The person continues from room to room, each room more “splendid” than the last. He asks his question in every room: “Are you the King?” Eventually he reaches the seventh room. And in this seventh chamber the King is sitting on a high throne with surrounding splendor and with his royal household in attendance. The visitor has nothing else to say, no more questions! He knows that is he standing in front of the King.

The person going through seven rooms asking, “Are you the King?” is like the same experience everyone has of the Divine [the King] going through the seven different levels or chakras within the human form. Each chakra becomes more and more “splendid” and one asks questions in every chakra. Like the man who found the answer to his question with the King sitting in the seventh room, finally when one reaches the seventh chakra , he has found the answers to his questions. Then there are no more questions, because all the questions arise from the mind. By the time one reaches the Seventh Chakra, the heart is experiencing God!

Swami Vishwananda
Anonymous says: Dear Babaji, Dear Guruji: You are like magnets for me. But I am living on this Earth with pain and happiness. There is duality around me every day, and sometimes I would like to run away without end, although not knowing where to go. I see You living in a way which seems not manageable to me. Sometimes it´s too much but I can´t stop loving You. This makes me angry.

Utpalavati Says: To this part of your Comment we offer for your contemplation the following familiar story told again recently by Swami Vishwananda. Perhaps placing yourself in the role of Yashoda [mother of Krishna] will provide some understanding of your relationship with our Beloved Gurudev. Remember that this simply is a suggestion and we request also that you search inside yourself for guidance.

Swami Vishwananda: The Lord is Bound by Love Only– Yashoda Attempts to Bind Bala Krishna With Rope: When we look at the life of Krishna, what could bind Him? He was always free, ever free; He was born free. The only thing that could bind or limit Him was the love of His devotees. There is this beautiful story of when Krishna was small. He was very naughty, always breaking all the makhan, butter pots. [Swami said once, “…butter in Krishna’s day was really makhan, whipped cream, you know…and fresh!]. Krishna annoyed everybody because He wanted the center of attention to be on Him only, nothing else.

One day Yashoda had Krishna on Her lap and She had some milk on the fire. The milk started to boil and spill into the fire. How great was this milk? It was crying even that the Lord is so near to Him, but yet it could not come to Him. So Yashoda let Krishna down and rushed to remove the milk. Here you see the Lord, who even great Yogis try to attain through meditation and penance and they can’t attain Him. Here He is playing on the lap of Yashoda, but yet she let herself be distracted to the outside forgetting about the Lord. So what did Krishna do? He went in and broke the pots of buttermilk and started feeding it to the monkeys.

When Yashoda came and saw the pots were broken and monkeys all around, she knew that Krishna had done this. Then she started to look for Krishna. Asking, “Where is Krishna,” She ran searching for Krishna everywhere. Of course Krishna with His little legs started running around, but she could not catch Him. So finally Krishna let Himself be caught by Yashoda and She tried to tie Krishna to a pillar with a rope. Every time She tried to tie Him, the rope was short by some inches. So each time she got more rope, but again it was too short. She tried more rope, again it was too short. Yashoda became really, really tired. Seeing how much love she had at that moment, Krishna said, “Okay, I succeeded in getting her attention fully on me.” Then He let Himself be tied with Yashoda’s rope [representing Her Love]. Love is the only thing that binds or ties the Lord.

Anonymous Continues: “…Also I don´t know why somebody has to give up everything to be loved from Jesus Christ or God. He is the One who gives everything. Why is it necessary to give up somebody who I love (for example) to receive His Love? . . . Guruji, You are killing me.”

Utpalavati says: To this part of your Comment we offer the following suggestion — We request that again you go inside and search for your own guidance. . . When a teacher is “killing” someone it is traditionally understood that He is “killing” the human ego. When a devotee gives up “somebody” to attain God or the Love of the teacher, a representative of God, it is traditionally understood that the spiritual aspirant does NOT necessarily need to give up the love or the person but instead gives up the illusion that is maya…that is the “attachment” to the person.

We offer the following excerpt of a talk given by Swami Vishwananda as an example of His teaching on detachment from the ego and maya:

Swami Vishwananda Speaks About the Freedom of Detachment: Often people talk about liberation or freedom. When we talk about freedom, what are the things we think about at first? We think about freedom of our country, our political freedom, our economic freedom. But the Inner freedom is the most important among all the different kinds of freedom, and that is what mankind really wants to achieve. This is the reason why each soul has come on Earth. They come to achieve this freedom, this love of God.

Let me interpret this kind of freedom: If you want something you shall have it. But you can also detach from the desire by your own will. You see, mankind desires many things, but when they have them they get attached to them. This attachment brings unhappiness. The more you are attached to things which are limited or not eternal, the more you feel miserable. You lose this inner freedom. You become limited in the mind. You become limited with your body, which in turn makes your soul limited. So, to free one’s self, one must surrender the body, mind and soul to God, to the Unlimited.

It’s true that everybody can’t renounce the world and live only for God, but you can continuously try to remember God wherever you are. Remember that the soul inside you is the light of God. The more you think of yourself being part of this light of God, this great love, the more you will reflect this love. But the more you think that you are just a normal human being, the more you will just be a normal human being with all of its limited qualities and you cover all of your divine qualities. Take time every day, just five minutes, to be with your Self. Forget about the world outside, forget everything. Forget about your husband or wife; forget about all your relationships with the outside. Only think of the relationship with your Self.

Do you know what treasure you will find? You will find the biggest treasure of all, a treasure that nobody can steal from you. And that treasure is love. Love is such a big gift. We feel it with our heart, we know it with our mind, but to realize it is to become One with this love. To spread this love, unconditionally is the aim of mankind. The more you spread it and the more you reflect it, the more you will discover your Self.