Reach out to Krishna’s heart by intensely longing for his mercy, so much so, that it blends out all other projects.
DAY 2 . 14 OCTOBER, 2019. The Great Longing.
The most important question on the spiritual path is: when is my experience real? When do I have substantial insights that can even carry me through troubling times? In other words, we are searching for a substantial and a very very real connection with Krishna, an experience of the Lord.
The Damodara-lila, which took place in this month, gives a deep answer to this question. First of all, Krishna has many names and one of them is Durdurdara – One, who remains unknown even to great yogis. Yogis try to realize Him, they chase after Him with the speed of the mind, but they can’t always reach the Lord.
Also when mother Yashoda ran after Krishna, at first He didn’t agree to be caught. He thought, ‘I can’t be bound – I have so many important things to do, like stealing butter’ (this means He is busy reciprocating the love of His devotees). So He ran and ran and ran. And even when He finally agreed to be caught, He wanted to spell out a message for all of His devotees after He had seen the drops of sweat on His mother’s face from her tremendous effort to catch Him.
Remember, after mother Yashoda had finally caught Him, she tried to bind Him, but the rope always remained two fingers too short. The two missing fingers represent the two main elements on the spiritual path: one finger represents effort, the other Krishna’s mercy. Yes, even if we invest our effort, the rope will remain too short. Only when Krishna agrees to give His mercy, He appears in the heart of the devotee and He and the devotee come together.
Now, what does it mean to get Krishna’s mercy? Or to ask it in a better way: When does Krishna feel inclined to give His mercy?
Although Krishna wants to see our effort, effort doesn’t conquer Him. The one thing that reaches His heart is: longing for His mercy. Longing for His mercy so much, that it blends out other desires, other longings and pushes this one project into the center of your attention. ‘I want divine grace, I want an investment from above!’ That’s why in our songbooks you find the great acharyas singing songs of longing, utkantha, sincere hankering after the not yet attained perfection.
This is what will imbue your practice with even more life: longing. And it is this longing which will reach Krishna’s heart and conquer Him.
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