Letter from Swamiji on Reaching USA for the 2011 Tour

Dear Devotees,
The last five months in India whizzed by in a whirlwind of activity, which was so fast-paced that it did not leave much time to communicate with the members of the Google group, Facebook, and Twitter.  I reached the USA yesterday, 30th March 2011, and spent the day helping with preparations for the tour ahead.   This will be my longest stay in the USA—a full seven months—and will include lecture series in 24 cities and 3 retreats.  I am looking forward to meeting all the wonderful devotees who have been in touch with me over the last few years, and am eager to meet many more new ones.
I am thankful to God and Guru for utilizing an undeserving soul as myself as Their tiny instrument for propagating Their glories and teaching the path to Divine Love.  The life of a preacher has been a very absorbing, engaging and fulfilling one, and after two-and-a-half decades in this service, I look back with satisfaction that I have tried my best, and look forward with hope and optimism about the work yet to be done.
The preparation for this year’s tour has required the combined efforts of many people, and I would like to convey my gratitude to all of them.  I would also like to thank all the volunteers of JKYog who have been devotedly contributing their time and energy in running the Satsang centers and Bal-Mukund classes in their cities.  My heartfelt appreciations also go out to the dedicated team that takes care of the administrative responsibilities of JKYog.
We all are fortunate to be worshipping the Lord in His sweetest forms as Radha Krishna, under the guidance of Kripaluji Maharaj who is the fifth original Jagadguru in history, on the most Blissful path of Bhaktiyog.  Let this faith spur our enthusiasm to ever-increasing heights, as we strive forward on the path to God.  One poet Saint put it very beautifully:

Jina khoja tina paiyan, gehere pani paith.
Main bauri dooban dari, rahi kinare baith.

“Those souls were able to find God who, with faith, dove deep into the ocean.  Those, who lacked the faith and were scared of drowning, remained sitting at the edge.”  Let this be the motto for this year, as we endeavor to increase our dedicated efforts in personal sadhana and service to the Lord.

With best wishes,
Swami Mukundananda

JKYOG - Swami Mukundananda's Tour of USA 2011

How to train our mind that there is no happiness in the material world?

Question:  My question is about how to teach and train mind that there is no happiness in the material world.  My mind is revolting while accepting that there is no happiness in material things. Is it ok if we will go through these circumstances and get realization that there is no happiness?  For example, there is no happiness in consuming alcohol.  So, is it ok if we first test alcohol and then get to realize that there is no happiness? Without going through something how we will know that there is no happiness in it?

Answer by Swamiji:  There are innumerable things in the world, and each thing has endless varieties.  If you go by the modus operandi of experiencing everything first, your whole life will pass in the endeavor.  Besides, is there any formula regarding how long you will consume alcohol before coming to the conclusion that there is no happiness in it?  There are people who run after money all their lives, and yet do not decide that it does not have the happiness they are seeking.  Again, if you finally do come to the conclusion that the world is not a place of happiness, but the mind doubts whether there is happiness in God, then what will you do?  You wouldn't be able to demand to see and experience God before concluding that He is an ocean of Divine Bliss. 

   As human beings, God has bestowed us with subtle intellects that can make this decision even without experience.  Broadly, the intellect of living beings can be classified into four categories:

 

1. The lowest is the intellect of an insect.  It is attracted to the fire.  On coming near the flame, it gets burnt.  But it does not learn, and commits the same mistake again and again.

2. The intellect of a cat is subtler.  If it sits on a hot plate, it learns from its experience.  In future, it even refuses to sit on a cold plate, in apprehension that it may get burnt.   

3. The intellect of sheep is even subtler.  They have never been attacked by a wolf.  But the moment they see a wolf, they perceive impending danger and run for their lives.

4. The intellect of humans is even subtler. Merely by intellectual discrimination, without seeing or experiencing, they are expected to reach the conclusion that there is no happiness in the world.

 

Actually, everyone has had experience of the world to a lesser or greater extent.  We made the desires of the senses and put in great effort to satisfy them.  What was the experience?  For a moment the desire was quenched, but then it arose again with redoubled intensity.  This is the nature of worldly desires, whether they are the teeny-weeny cravings that you have made innumerable times in your lives or the bigger desires that loom more largely in your mind.  The principle is exactly the same.  So we should utilize our experience to date, to reach a blanket conclusion about the nature of all worldly desires.  That is what God expects us to do, and that is the instruction of the scriptures.

   

upāsate puruṣham ye hyākāmāste śhukrametadivartanti dhīrāḥ |  (Mundakopanishad)

 "One who engages in devotion to God, giving up worldly desires, crosses over the ocean of life and death."