Recovering The Lost Heart

Recovering the Lost Heart
SACINANDANA SWAMISATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2016
By Sacinandana Swami
I have been thinking often about the need to rediscover our lost heart. What do I
mean by this?
We all have a material heart - in other words the organ which pumps the blood
through our body.We also all have an emotional heart - the place where feelings
for friendship, family, happiness, integrity, love, inner peace, as well as pain and
loss, all reside.
There is, however, a third and most often overlooked heart, which is the most
important heart of all - the spiritual heart. In the spiritual heart reside devotion
and surrender to God. This spiritual heart was with us before we came to this
world. It is our true face throughout eternity.
Unfortunately, during the course of our daily activities in the present world, this
heart can easily get covered over. Then it is as good as lost...
To revive and uncover the spiritual heart is critical and urgent for our progress,
for when the spiritual heart is healthy, our spiritual life is healthy. And when the
spiritual heart is not healthy, we are nearly spiritually dead.
So how can we locate and revive our spiritual heart?
First, we must enter into a devotional relationship with Krishna. If we do spiritual

activities mechanically, inspired by a sense of duty or fear about what will happen
to us when we dont do all that is described in the sacred texts, then such a state
of consciousness will not really help us enter the life-giving realm we long for.
Only a vibrant devotional relationship can inspire the Lord to reciprocate with us
and answer our longings. The love the spiritual heart is built to experience and
express only appears in relationships that are genuinely nourished. Hence,
reaching out to Krishna with feelings of devotion and surrender is what will ignite
the start to the dynamic life we envision to have in bhakti, and thus, our three
hearts will becomes satisfied all together.
Obeisances to the Dog
MADHAVANANDA DASTUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2016
Yesterday morning during his class on our Puri yatra, Dhanurdhara Maharaja
was speaking from Caitanya-caritmta antya-ll chapter one, which tells
about the journey of Sivananda Sen and a group of devotees walking on
pilgrimage from West Bengal to Odisha.
During the trip, Sivananda was taking care of the needs of the devotees. On the
way a dog joined their party and began traveling with them. Seeing the dog as a
devotee, Sivananda Sen also provided for the poor beast. One day, while
Sivananda was busy with a toll-man, his servant forgot to feed the dog its cooked
rice. When Sivananda returned the dog was nowhere to be found. A few days later
when the devotees arrived in Puri they found the dog sitting at the feet of Sri
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, eating coconut from the Lord's hand and chanting the
names of Krishna.
Dhanurdhar Maharaja then read text thirty-one of the chapter:
ivnanda kukkura dekhi daavat kail dainya kari nija apardha kamil
"When he saw the dog sitting in that way and chanting the name of Krishna,
Sivananda, because of his natural humility, immediately offered his obeisances to
the dog just to counteract his offenses to it."
During the discussion after class, Hari Parshad Prabhu raised an interesting
point. He cited the first line of text five of Rupa Goswami's Upademta: keti
yasya giri ta manasdriyeta "If someone is chanting the holy name one
should offer respects to them in the mind."
Hari Parshad then pointed out that Sivananda Sen went so far as to offer
obeisances to the dog. In that connection he cited the next line of the same verse
of Upademta: dksti cet praatibhi ca bhajantam am "If someone has
receive initiation one should offer obeisances to them."
Hari Parshad suggested that following the principle taught by Srila Rupa
Goswami when Sivananda saw that the dog had been initiated by Mahaprabhu
into the holy names, Sivananda offered obeisances to it.
Later while walking with the harinma party on our parikram. I spoke with
Hari Parshad, "Nice point. However, you missed something important about the
dog."
"What was that?" he asked.
I jokingly told him, "The important question: Was it a male or a female dog? It
must have been a male dog, otherwise Sivananda would not offer obeisances to it,
right?"
Hare Krishna.
I don't think that Sivananda Sen noticed or cared.
Regardless of its gender, regardless of its species, our cryas have taught us that
if a living entity has gotten the mercy of the Lord and is chanting the holy name,
they should be respected and offered obeisances to.

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Recovering the Lost Heart

SACINANDANA SWAMISATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2016

So how can we locate and revive our spiritual heart?

First, we must enter into a devotional relationship with Krishna. If we do spiritual

Dhanurdhar Maharaja then read text thirty-one of the chapter:

"What was that?" he asked.

I don't think that Sivananda Sen noticed or cared.

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