[Posted September 18, 2007]

True Love

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

The ins and outs of love...

AnanovaAugust 12, 2007 -

Couple divorce after online 'affair'

A Bosnian couple are getting divorced after finding out they had been secretly chatting each other up online under fake names.

Sana Klaric, 27, and husband Adnan, 32, from Zenica, poured out their hearts to each other over their marriage troubles, and both felt they had found their real soul mate.

The couple met on an online chat forum while he was at work and she in an internet cafe, and started chatting under the names Sweetie and Prince of Joy.

They eventually decided to meet up - but there was no happy ending when they realised what had happened.

Now they are both filing for divorce - with each accusing the other of being unfaithful. go to story

Sri Guru and Gauranga

In love with the wrong person

excerpt from conversation with Allen Ginsberg, Columbus, Ohio, May 13, 1969

Bilvamangala Thakur, in his previous life, he elevated himself to the loving stage of Krishna. Not exactly, just prior, bhava. It is called bhava, ecstasy. But some way or other, he could not finish, so according to the instruction of Bhagavad-gita, he was given birth to a nice brahmana family. So very rich. Rich family, and at the same time, brahmana family. But richness, generally, sometimes glides down to wine, women, and intoxication. So by bad company he became woman-hunter, prostitute-hunter. So he was too much addicted to one woman, Chintamani. So his father died, and he was... He did not marry. In your country it is called girlfriend, and in our country it is called prostitute. So he was mad about that prostitute, Chintamani. While he was performing the rituals, he was thinking of his girlfriend, that Chintamani, "When I shall go there?" So he asked his servants, "Give me some food. I shall go to Chintamani." So anyway, he performed, but did not perform. His mind was elsewhere. He took some nice foodstuff, and when he went, there was a big river, and it was raining heavily, and the river was flooded. So he thought, "How shall I go to the other side?" One dead body was floating. So he thought, "It is a log," and he took the help of the log and went to the other side. And it was heavy raining. And then, when he reached that Chintamani's home, he saw the door was locked already. Blocked. So he jumped over the wall, taking the tail of a serpent, and when he reached inside, he knocked the door, and Chintamani was astonished. "How did you come? So heavy rain. You had to cross the river." He said everything, that "Oh, I cannot stay without you." So she was much inquisitive: "How did you come? How did you jump over this wall?" And so he showed everything, that there was a big snake, and so he thought it as rope and jumped it. And then, when he went to the riverside, he saw that was a dead body. At that time Chintamani thought, "Oh, this man is so much addicted to me." So she told, "Oh, this much attraction if you would have with Krishna, oh, how nice your life would have been." So immediately he came to his senses because he was lifted to that position in his previous life.

Perverted reflection

excerpt from lecture at Upsala University, Stockholm, September 9, 1973

In the Vedanta-sutra, it is said, janmady asya yatah [Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.1]. This Absolute Truth means wherefrom everything comes, emanates. Just like here we find love between mother and son, love between wife and husband, love between master and servant, love between friends and friends, love between master and the dog or the cat or the cow. Same thing. These are only reflection of the spiritual world. The same thing is there. Krishna is also good lover of the animals, calves and cows. As we love here dogs and cats, Krishna loves there cows and calves. You have seen the picture of Krishna. So the propensity to love even an animal is there. Otherwise how it can be reflected here? This is simply shadow reflection. If, in the reality, there is nothing like that, then how it can be reflected here? So everything is there. Therefore, that mellow, to understand, you have to practice. Here we have got frustration. Here we love. A man loves a woman or woman loves a man. But there is frustration. After some time, they are separated, they divorce, because it is perverted reflection. There is no real love in this material world. It is simply lust. Real love is in the spiritual world between Radha and Krishna. Real love is between Krishna and the gopis. Real love, the friendship is there between Krishna and His cowherds boys. Real love between animal and man is there. Krishna is loving the cows and calves. Real love between trees, flowers, water, simply that is the platform of love. That is spiritual world. Everything love. So we are simply satisfied within this material world by the shadow reflection of such thing, as in the spiritual world.

Therefore now we have got this opportunity of human life, let us understand Krishna. That is Krishna consciousness movement. Let us understand Krishna. And if you simply understand Krishna, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, janma karma me divyam yo janati tattvatah... Tattvatah, in truth, not superficially. Learn this science of Krishna. Janma karma me divyam yo janati tattvatah. Tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti kaunteya [Bhagavad-gita 4.9]. This is the instruction: you simply try to love. The process is that you worship the Deity, you take the prasadam, you chant the holy name, you follow the instruction of the spiritual master. In this way you'll be trained up how to understand Krishna, and then you life is successful. This is Krishna consciousness movement.

Always on your mind

excerpt from lecture, Introduction to Gitopanishad

Lord advises that "You need not give up your occupation, but at the same time you can remember Me." Mam anusmara [Bhagavad-gita 8.7]. That will make you, that will help you in remembering Me at the time of death. If you don't practice remembering Me always, along with your struggle for existence, then it is not possible." It is not possible. The same thing is advised by Lord Chaitanya, kirtaniyah sada harih [Chaitanya-charitamrita adi 17.31]. One should practice to chant the name of the Lord always. The name of Lord and the Lord is not different. So here the instruction of Lord Krishna to Arjuna, "You just remember Me," and Lord Chaitanya's instruction that "You chant always the name of Krishna." Here Krishna says that "You always remember Me," or you remember Krishna, and Lord Chaitanya says, "You always chant the name of Krishna." So there is no difference because Krishna and Krishna's name are nondifferent in the Absolute. In the absolute status there is no difference between one thing to another. That is the absolute status. So the Lord being absolute, there is no difference between His name and Himself. So we have to practice like that. Tasmat sarveshu kaleshu [Bg. 8.7]. Always, 24 hours, we have to mold our activities of life in such way that we can remember it 24 hours.

How it is possible? Yes, it is possible. It is possible. A very crude example is set by the acharyas in this connection. And what is that example? It is said that a woman who is attached to another man, although she has got a husband, still, she's attached to another man. And this sort of attachment becomes very strong. This is called parakiya-rasa. Either in case of man or woman. If man has got attachment for another woman besides his wife, or a woman has got attachment for another man besides her husband, that attachment is very strong. That attachment is very strong. So the acaryas give this example as a bad character woman who has got attachment for other's husband, she always thinks, at the same time, shows her husband that she is very much busy in the family affairs so that her husband may not doubt her character. So as she is always remembering the time of meeting with her lover at night, in spite of doing all this household work very nicely, similarly one has to remember the supreme husband, Sri Krishna, always in spite of doing his material duties very nicely. That is possible. It requires a strong sense of love. When you have got a strong sense of love for the Supreme Lord, then it is possible that we can go on discharging our duty, at the same time remember the Lord.

So we have to develop that sense. Just like Arjuna was always thinking of Lord. He, out of 24 hours, not for a second he could forget Krishna. Constant companion of Krishna. At the same time, a warrior. Lord Krishna did not advise Arjuna to give up his fighting, go to the forest, go to the Himalaya and meditate. When yoga system was advised to Arjuna, Arjuna declined, that "This system is not possible for me." Then the Lord said, yoginam api sarvesham mad-gatenantaratmana [Bg. 6.47]. Mad-gatenantaratmana shraddhavan bhajate yo mam sa me yuktatamo matah. So one who thinks of the Supreme Lord always, he's the greatest yogi, he is the supermost jñani, and he is also the greatest devotee at the same time. The Lord advises, "As a kshatriya you cannot give up your fighting business. You have to fight. So at the same time if you practice remembering Me always, then it will be possible," anta-kale cha mam eva smaran [Bg. 8.5], "then it will be possible to remember Me also at the time of death." Mayy arpita-mano-buddhir mam evaishyasy asamshayah. Again He says that there is no doubt. If one is completely surrendered into the service of the Lord, into the transcendental loving service of the Lord, mayy arpita-mano-buddhir [Bg. 8.7]. Because we work not with our body actually. We work with our mind and intelligence. So if our intelligence and mind are always engaged in the thought of the Supreme Lord, then naturally our senses are also engaged in the service of the Lord. That is the secret of Bhagavad-gita. One has to learn this art, how one can be absorbed both by the mind and intelligence 24 hours thinking of the Lord. And that will help one to transfer himself into the kingdom of God or in the spiritual atmosphere after leaving this material body.