By Radhanath Swami
To understand the greatness of God is a very special, sacred ornament to our lives. It carries us above all sectarian differences and illusions. The constitutional position of the spirit soul is that we are servants of God, the Absolute Truth.
In this world we have each become so forgetful of our true spiritual nature and of our relationship with the Supreme. We act in so many ways by which the bondage of illusion is more and more perpetuated. Very few people truly endeavor to understand the truth. Oftentimes, intelligent and sensible people reject the concept of God simply because of what they see done in the name of God. And how can you blame them? What has brought a pure spirit soul, a child of God, a lover of God by nature, to the point of hating God? Such a person has seen that most people who believe in God are hypocrites. They have so many superficial sectarian ideas.
But Srila Prabhupada explained tattva, the truth, and transformed the hearts of millions of people. God is not a Christian God or a Jewish or a Hindu God. The Absolute Truth is the source of everything – the father and mother of all living beings. To understand God means to understand this. The rarest thing in human life is the opportunity to understand the Absolute Truth – who I am, who is God and what is our relationship. And also, how to realize that relationship and what makes God such a perfect object of love.
Real bhakti is only possible when we become purified of all superficial designations. Unfortunately, people are so attached to these superficial designations and quick to judge, label and categorize people by these designations. But they are all just upadis, temporary designations. Real purification means purification of these upadis – to understand and know I am an eternal servant of God. The most powerful way to purify oneself of these false designations is to chant the holy names of God with humility and tolerance, while offering all respects to others and expecting none in return.
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