Today, as I was thinking about Lord Caitanya and the upcoming celebration this week, I received three reminders of his teachings.
1. On the internet I came across a saying by St. Augustine – “He who sings prays twice.” One of the trademarks of the Krishna Bhakti movement of Sri Caitanya is the coming together and singing of Krishna’s names. We do it all the time! This is called kirtan – the call and response chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra. I think we can all appreciate how singing can evoke feelings that may otherwise be hard to express. Lord Caitanya promoted kirtan as the most effective way to revive our love for Krishna.
2. Later in the day I was out exploring the woods behind my house. I followed a path that lead up to a wide open field, newly green with spring grass. As I approached, a band of at least 20 deer stood still, watched me come closer and then took flight. Bounding across the field, white tails and hind legs in motion, within seconds they were gone. I was all alone. And this reminded me of the teachings of Lord Caitanya on humility.
Krishna, and his holy name, will not stay if we don’t have humility. They will flee away from us like the deer. To approach the Lord in love and be successful on this chanting path to truth we have to really want it, really know we need it, and really know we can’t do it on our own. That is the beginning of humility. Only when we are humbler than a blade of grass, Lord Caitanya says, and more tolerant than a tree, can we chant Krishna’s name always.
3. My third reminder came towards the end of the day. I was sitting in the late afternoon sun and feeling it’s warmth on my upturned face. I began to feel one with the sun, receiving the energy of the sun and knowing that I am also part of that same energy. One with the sun and one with everything. It was a good feeling.
Here’s the interesting thing – I wouldn’t be able to feel ‘one’ with the sun unless I was separate or different from the sun. This is a key teaching of Lord Caitanya – we are simultaneously one and different from Krishna. We are ‘part and parcel of Krishna’. Like sparks from a great fire, we are the same in quality, not in quantity. One and different. Always.
We will be celebrating Lord Caitanya this week – on Saturday with big outdoor kirtan in Silver Spring, on Sunday a great talk at the Temple, and on Tuesday, March 22nd, a fabulous festival in the evening at the Temple, singing together, with one voice, the praises of this beautiful golden Avatar, Lord Caitanya. See you there!
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