Journey to the Holiest of Holy Lands | Jagannath Dham Puri

A visit to Jagannath Dham Puri is really a spiritually uplifting experience.  Just the thought that for centuries devotees have adored Lord Jagannath, the Supreme Lord of all Cosmos and have thronged to this holy place to bow down to Him, makes one feel humbled and privileged for being able to follow their footsteps.

Lord Jagannath is none other than our very own Lord Krishna. The legend of how he appeared in this form, makes for an amazing reading.

My family has been coming here for many generations. I remember my father bringing my brother and I to this holy place during our boyhood for our very first darshan of the Lord. What an amazing experience it was. On that trip our respected Choto Kaku, my father's brother had come with us. My brother has been to Puri with my niece a few years back to offer pranams and obeisance to the Lord.  Therefore I experienced a great joy to be able to, finally, make this trip with my son and thus add another link into this tradition.   

The Darshan

The highlight of any trip to Jagannath Dham is obviously the Darshan, at the act of seeing the Lord in his abode, the Temple and being seen by Him performing that act.  Seeing His image in a temple where his has been worshiped for centuries is no less than actually seeing Him face to face.  

How so, you ask. Isn't this the idolatry which many faiths have decried?  

Well, different traditions have different understanding of the same Truth, which is why there are so many religions, each claiming to be the one one true faith.  The basis of Hinduism, the Sanatana Dharma, is the divinity of all creation as being One with Brahman.  Only God Is.  However, a direct response to the query  How Lord God, the Supreme Ishwara comes to reside in His properly consecrated image which is worshiped regularly was recently given by Swami Sarvapriyananda ji, in the lecture "Where is God?"  Please do watch. 

The Darshan in the morning however is not for the faint of heart or the frail of the body.  My son and I found myself thrust into a sea of eager devotees pushing and pulling in all directions wishing to catch a glimpse of the Lord. No system exists and chaos reigns supreme. My Mom and wife decided not to hazard this, so son and I plunged headlong into this tumultuous sea of knees, elbow and frayed tempers. After about 30 mins of relentless struggle we found ourselves in front of the Lord. The experience of Darshan is very personal and hard to describe. For me such experiences almost always blanks out all thoughts initially and I look on awestruck at the face of lord. Once my mind rebooted, I chanted a few mantras, said a small prayer. Soon offspring and I were pushed out of the sanctum by the crowd.  

However here what I will tell, even in the midst of such jostling, the few minutes that you get to spend in front of the Lord is just divine. For Spiritual Masters such as Adi Shankara, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Ramakrishna Paramhansa, such encounters must have been nothing less than actual communion with the Supreme Lord. But even the hearts of fallen sinners like me can't but come alight with the glow of Bhakti, in the divine presence of Lord.  The crowd appears to melt away, the din and chaos momentarily falls silent and all that remains is you looking at your Master. No words need be spoken.

Jagannatha Swami Nayana Patha Gami Bhabatu me.     

                                           -- Jagannatha Astakam 

Once outside we found my mom, mother-in-law and wife, who happily recounted that they too were able to get a Darshan with much less struggle taking help from a local Panda. Well, when Lord Himself wants to grant a darshan, it is bound to come to pass. 

Gambhira and Siddha Bakula 

A visit to Puri is never complete without a visit to Gambhira where Lord Chaithanya Mahaprabhu had stayed for 12 years in divine ecstasy.  It was such an amazing experience to be in the same premises and chant the Mahamantra.

When I shared the details of this visit with the revered missionaries and fellow devotees from Srila Prabhupada's Iskcon Bangalore, the blessings and encouragement I received made the entire experience even more nectarine.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare 

This time at Puri, I also learnt about a new pasttime of Lord Chaithanya Mahaprabhu, the One at Siddha Bakul. I was able to find the place due to a fortunate coincidence and spent considerable amount of time talking to the devotees who take care of the premises as well as just exploring everything there. 

Information about Siddha Bakula may be found here

The Joys of Puri

During our few days at Puri we took a dolphin sighting boat cruise, visited Konarak Sun temple, enjoyed frolicking at the sea, honored Lord Jagannath's Mahaprasad and enjoyed amazing street food as well as gourmet cuisine.  An interesting episode was when Mom did a solo trip to Sakshi Gopal. She managed is rather well, though she was a little cross with the Pandas at the temple.  But then what is a spiritual trip without a few such adventures here and there.  

Jai Baba Jagannath

Finally with heart filled with good memories,  many photographs and most importantly blessings of Lord Jagannath and Lord Chaithanya, we returned home renewed and refreshed.

References

1.  Jagannath Puri Dham Darshan   

2.  "Where is God" Special Lecture by Swami Sarvapriyananda ji

Be Still and Know that I am God | Meditations on Brahman

 Recently I encountered a veritable treasure hidden within the pages of the Old Testament. A statement so profound, so exquisite that it had within it the echoes of the Upanishadic Mahavakyas, which state the Ultimate Truth about Existence and Being. What was even more amazing was that it also hinted at an amazing concept on enlightenment that I have found elaborated in Bhagavad Gita alone.

The treasure, what appears as a verse, is

Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God,”

Here's the truth on how I came across this verse 😊

It is not that I was reading the Bible and chanced upon this verse.  YouTube recommended a video by the well-known thinker and teacher Eckhart Tolle where he beautifully expounded on this topic.  I listened mesmerized and with awe.  I have had a long exposure to Old Testament as an account of the early patriarchs of Israel and an indicator of how the early Abrahamic worldview evolved.  There is a lot to learn from those experiences, and one of them was this treasure that that I re-discovered. 

And as treasures go it was valuable indeed.  But to realize that value one has to excavate and understand the true meaning of what is meant here.

Let’s start to explore the many paths to the Truth within.

The Path of Bhakti

The meaning of this sentence, as explained by the pages that a web search throws up, is on the usual lines of us needing to be quiet, be calm, be still in front of the exalted majesty of God.  This is how many theistic traditions have typically viewed God: a ruler, a heavenly father, the Supreme Bhagavan. There is reverence in this viewpoint, a faith. Sometimes Faith in God is all that we need, but it must be supreme devotion, Para Bhakti.

Thakur Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa often said a childlike faith in God, crying out Ma Kali’s name in love, like a child calls out to his or her mother, at the exclusion of all else, would compel our divine mother to pick us up. He would further say, “Mother is an object of great love. One is able to realize God just through love. Ecstasy of feeling, devotion, love, and faith-these are the means”.  This is Para Bhakti.   

 

The Path of Meditation and Yoga

Eckhart Tolle takes another approach and draws simile between Being Still and the act of Mediation and how in the stillness of Mediation when the final chitta-vritti has died down, you encounter the One Consciousness, the One Existence, the Infinite that is you truly are.  The One is Brahman, and the Brahman alone Is.  Patanjali’s Astanga Yoga, that Tolle draws from, provides the path to such Chitta-Vritti Nirodha.  Please do listen to this talk by Tolle, it is wonderful [1].

Paramahansa Yogananda’s Yogada posits Jesus as an enlightened Yogi as described here.  Many other traditions have similar points of view, which I find fascinating.

The Path of Knowledge and Discernment

The most sublime and beautiful interpretation of this verse is from Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. Let’s unpack this completely, get to the treasure and make it truly ours.

Be Still and Know

In Gita, Lord Krishna introduces this wonderful term called Sthitaprajna to indicate an enlightened master.  Stitha means to be firmly established, to be still. Prajna means knowledge, to know. 

The literal translation of this term Sthitaprajna means to be know established in knowledge. To be Still and to know! 

How wonderful is that?   

So, who is a Sthitaprajna?

Sthitaprajna is a person who has achieved enlightenment and has centered himself in the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Reality. 

In BG 2.55 The Supreme Lord Krishna says:

O Parth, when one discards all selfish desires and cravings of the senses that torment the mind, and becomes satisfied in the realization of the self, such a person is said to be transcendentally situated.

To the enlightened Sthitaprajna, all illusion of duality is removed, and he/she remains firmly established in his real Self, the One Brahman. He/she realizes that this Jagat, this cosmos is just an appearance of the one Brahman.

A boy and a cake may both appear on the TV screen and superficially it may appear that the boy wants the cake. But imagine what would happen if the boy appearing on the TV screen were to realize that in reality, he is just a few lit pixels in the TV screen, as is the cake, as is the table on which the cake is sitting or his mom who is loving watching him. That the only reality is the TV, which is appearing as all these images on the surface of the screen? Would he still crave for the cake?  

An amazing and extremely deep explanation on what it means to be Enlightened based on the Wisdom of Gita is provided by Swami Sarvapriyananda ji in this talk.  I haven’t come across a better talk on this subject, and I will highly recommend this [2]. This is an advanced Vedanta topic.

That I am God

Aham Brahmasmi, a Mahavakya, from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad literally translates as I am Brahman.   

Very often this statement is grossly misunderstood and has been even called sacrilegious. It is because sometimes people think this posits this insignificant I, is being equated God.  Absolutely not.  What is being said instead my fundamental reality is Brahman and that’s the ONLY reality that exists.  Another way to put this is:

Isness is Brahman. I am.

From the TV and boy example above, if the boy were to exclaim, I am the TV, to his exasperated mother and proceed to tell her that he doesn’t want the cake because neither is it real, nor is it anything other than what the boy really is himself, i.e., the TV Manifesting upon the screen; you could perhaps call the boy a Sthitaprajna in the TV Screen Universe. 

As Swami Vivekananda once remarked:  Only God Is, the World Isn’t.

However, such realizations are not restricted to the great Vedanta saints alone.   There are many in other traditions who have arrived at the same Conclusion.

Meister Eckhart, a 13^th Century Christian Mystic, who emphasized on Direct experience of the Divine and didn’t hold God as someone out there other than one's own Self, had famously claimed: “God's ground is my ground and my ground is God's ground”. 

And who in India doesn’t know these famous lines from Sant Kabir Das:  Moko kahan dhunde re bande, Mein to tere paas re, Wherefore do you seek me my man, I am with you always.[3]

It very important to differentiate between our understanding of Brahman and Ishwara. We all can say I am Brahman, but only Lord Krishna can say, I am Ishwara.  This is another deep philosophical detail where we have deal with Maya as well, that is best left for another day. 

A point to ponder on, meantime, would be the relation between the TV and Screen, in the example above.

So, what does the Verse Finally Mean?

"Be still and know that I am God,” 

Means

As a Sthitapajna Realize that Aham Brahmasmi.

In Other Words:

Be established in your Self  such that you know your Self to be the One Infinite Existence, Consciousness (Brahman) 

Swami Sarvapriyananda ji often quotes one Sadhu from the Himalayas:

Yeh bada ulta Darshan hai Mahatmaji 

Tum Jano Ya Na Jano

Tum Mano Ya Na Mano

Tum hi Ram (Brahm) Ho.  

And this, my dear friends, is what enlightenment really is. Knowing your True Self. Seeing that truth with your eyes closed and open. Becoming a Sthitaprajna in the true sense.

My prayer to Sri Krishna, Lord God Himself, to bless us all, for only by His grace and the blessing of his devotees who have come in all land and in all ages, may we all receive the true treasure of Enlightenment.

 

Sri Krishna Saranam Mamah

 

References:

[1] What is God? | Eckhart Tolle Explains  https://youtu.be/LFsPIj6pmcY

[2] Enlightened Life |  Swami Sarvapriyananda https://youtu.be/j26vC73nyWo

[3]  Kabir Bhajan | Ustad Shujaat Hussain Khan  https://youtu.be/HunoK5PCGMQ

 

Postscript

In my last blogpost I had said the following: 

Bhagavad Gita has given three paths to realize truth.  Follow any one of them or follow all of them. They all lead to the same realization- The Oneness of Brahman."

That, however, is a discussion for another day!

Well, that day is today and the discussion is what I presented above.

The three paths are Bhakti, Yoga and Jnana as I have referenced in this post.  There are not one or the other path. The way to make progress towards enlightenment is to include practices from all of these paths in your Sadhana.

This of course comes from the Bhagavad Gita and as I have always said there is no better pathway to enlightenment than what is given in those 700 verse.