asa[e] - yoga ladder, guru, sadhu, sastra
Hare Krishna Gurudeva
Please accept my obeisances
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
I thought that this was something very intimate in the spiritual life and that it should not be revealed openly to other people, but following your instruction, I am now making the contents of the letter public.
I want to reveal my mind regarding a situation that has been happening to me for a few weeks. Today, April 1, 2023, I am writing this letter to you again.
On several occasions in the past I have tried to have a mystical connection to be able to make decisions in my life. On one occasion I asked questions in my mind and felt the answer in different parts of my body, but I found that it was not something reliable. I also paid attention to what was happening around me to have answers, but that can eventually turn into paranoia.
Before and after meeting the devotees I have practiced different methods of meditation, and recently I tried to meditate and have an answer within. And indeed I had an answer, either positive or negative.
As the days passed, I began to have answers in meditation that seemed contradictory, and the question arose in me: Could it be my false ego?
After that experience I tried to connect with who I really am, the soul, momentarily freeing myself from the false ego, and at the same time visualizing you: Hanumatpresaka Swami, Srila Prabhupada and Sri Krishna Caitanya (his feet), as an altar in the heart or in consciousness.
When I began to meditate and receive an answer, either positive or negative from this altar in my heart. The contradictory answers stopped and such a great clarity and peace came within me that I felt happy and surprised at the same time.
I have realized that I need to go into a state of deep meditation to have a clear answer, otherwise the false ego gets mixed up in the communication.
I have been able to organize my life better, have peace and be able to make decisions that are difficult to make due to my indecision and insecurity.
However, I come to you to confirm this communication in the heart. This may be my speculation or something similar, even more so for a mental patient like me.
Is this real Gurudeva or should I avoid doing it?
Thank you very much Gurudeva
Your Servant
Piyari Mohan das
PS: After receiving your response to the previous letter on this topic, this fact of communication in the heart began to be contradictory and finally stopped working.
Anyway, if this is not real, it has helped me to realize the implementation of intelligence, and make decisions through it.
Thank you Gurudeva.
HpS - AGTSP. Thank you so much for these comments and questions. Honestly, as far as we know, they are so useful for many people. Some are in a very similar situation as you and may not present it, and for others it is a chance to understand people of different mentalities than themselves.
Our Yoga is "sublime". That means it works directly on the root connection, directly from our current situation. We can be inclined to Tama and Raja guna in a body like Jayananda Das, a Sudra or woman or a child or a dog... but that does not matter. Krsna incarnates in a gross form like the Rathayatra cart or bread and potatoes, and we can do Yoga straight from the heart through that incarnation.
Our stuggles with building or assembling the Rathyatra cart touch our heart.
Yes, the mind and intellect, manas and buddhi, must become purified, but no direct effort is needed. If you see the light house and try to go towards it, automatically you negotiate all the obstacles in the path.
O.K.?
Maybe you are influenced by Tama and Sattva guna, so you can do very inspired art, but then sometimes very gross physical desires are activated in a very artistic way.
So, you must learn how to engage your body, words and mind in Krsna's service. Direct experiments with Yoga might be a natural part of your work, just as Anandamaya Devi Dasi or Jaya-prema Devi Dasi in their letters might be involved with children and mothers or aunts.
It is Visvannatha cakra Varti, as we remember, who says that whatever realization we have, we should check it with Guru, Sadhu and Sastra.
So, you may be in contact with the Paramatma, Deities on your gross or subtle altars, but then you check that with Guru... we are acting as Diksa guru, Siksa guru and Srila Prabhupada is your Siksa guru and Founder-Acharya (Samstapaka-acharya) Siksa and Diksa guru. He gives tons of information in his books, by his examples,
Sadhus --- There are the examples and preaching of the previous Acharyas through him, and our godbrothers in ISKCON.
Sastra - Does your inspiration agree with Srila Prabhupada's books.
If the answer is yes, yes, yes, then you can have trust in the details you get by inspiration. All of us must become Gosvamis. All of us just develop connection with Prabhupada in our intelligence. After that we can become completely pure devotees.
If there are very fine, necessary details to discuss, that you cannot solve by detailed discussion with other devotees, then we can communicate quickly about these details in more confidential communications.
