Page 154 - Wisdom Unfurled
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has been held in our scriptures. The Gopikas are praised by Uddhava as those who have attained to the highest fulfillment in life and become worthy of worship by all the worlds for their minds are always fixed on Lord Krishna the Supreme Being. The purifying power of remembrance is extolled by the great Suka when he says that if a person fixes his mind on Srikrishna’a feet even once with a fervent appreciation of His excellences that person would have atoned for all his sins of the past and Yama with his noose can never approach him. Again addressing Parikshit who was awaiting imminent death and for whom the whole Bhagavata purana itself was narrated by him, the great sage asks him to fix his mind on Srihari in a firm and steady way whereby he will attain the supreme state for the Lord draws into Himself one who meditates on Him at the time of death. The Lord declares in the Gita (VIII.13-14) that one who departs leaving the body uttering the one syllabled Brahman-Om and remembering Him (mamanusmrtya) attains the Supreme Goal (yati paraam gatim) and further that He is easily attainable by that ever steadfastyogi and who remembers me constantly and daily with a single mind (ananyachetah satatam yo mam smarati nityasah l tasyaaham sulabha partha nityayuktasya yoginah ll)
Now we may see what our beloved Master says about constant remembrance; He says that constant remembrance of God is a special feature in spirituality showing its great importance straightaway. The minds of ordinary people are absorbed every moment thinking about the various problems of their material life and their attention is seldom drawn towards God except when they are in deep distress or misery. The reason is that they attach primary importance to their worldly interest alone which constantly remains in their view and thus they remain entangled within Maya without thinking even for a moment of getting out of it at any stage. This suggests immediately that without goal clarity and the arising and development of vivekaand vairagya it is not possible for a person to enter into the state of remembrance in the real sense. We can remember easily only that which has become the most important thing in our lives without which our lives become meaningless. It is a supreme value proposition in that life shall exist and derive meaning only from the actualization and upholding of that supreme value. All else should pale into utter insignificance before it like a blade of grass. Naturally we will remain attached with such a value and be remembering it always without a break till its realization and continue the remembrance in an unconscious or subconscious manner even after the realization as now the value has become us and we the value, none can separate the two!
Master has said repeatedly that it is the supreme duty of every man to realize his true nature and further his oneness with the Supreme. He states elsewhere (SS p 284) that realization is very easy if one only diverts his attention
































































































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