A simple pledge during a sacred month

Today was the beginning of an auspicious month called Kartikka, an opportunity for making a pledge to increase our spiritual activities in either quality and quantity, or both.  Over the past few months I have been contemplating what meditations I should adopt leading up to the month of Kartikka. 

While wracking my brain a thought came to mind, I reflected that simply being affiliated with a spiritual path for a few years does not infer that I am no longer a beginner and that it’s in taking to spiritual life in the humble mood of a beginner that real purification takes place. In the Purport to Bhagavad Gita 12.9 Srila Prabhupada writes:

“This love of God is now in a dormant state in everyone’s heart. And, there, love of God is manifested in different ways, but it is contaminated by material association. Now the heart has to be purified of the material association, and that dormant, natural love for Kṛṣṇa has to be revived. That is the whole process.”

It’s in these few sentences where the simplicity of spiritual progress can be found. It’s not something external that we need to acquire, it’s simply internal purification which leads us to reawakening our natural spiritual identity. The question then arises, how do we purify the heart of material association? And what does it feel like?

The room of the heart 

I’m entering a room which has been uninhabited for years and when I enter the room, I look around, at first it doesn’t seem so dirty, I acknowledge that it’s not spotless but it’s there, I can see it, feel it in the atmosphere. The sheer magnitude of dirt and dust which is present, only becomes apparent when I decide to start cleaning. The more I clean the more dirt I can perceive, it’s disheartening, like I’m getting nowhere, cleaning relentlessly with seemingly no results, just more dirt. It leaves me feeling uncomfortable, unclean and lethargic; the easiest thing to do is walk away and lock the door behind me.

Endeavouring to come back to our original spiritual position requires a similar kind of perseverance as it does to clean the dirt filled room. The room of our heart has been left untouched for lifetimes, accumulating the dirt of lust, envy, pride, greed, anger and illusion. Initially we may find comfort in a variety of things within our spiritual community; the comfort of belonging, camaraderie, loving relationships, fame, and prestige, but this can lull us into a false sense of security.  In reality, if we want to reawaken our dormant spiritual nature, every single one of us, at some point need to unlock the door to our heart, and as painful as it may seem, we also need to clean relentlessly.

Just as dust inundates this metaphorical room while cleaning, the bad qualities of envy, pride, greed anger and illusion present in our heart begin to surface when we make the conscious decision to clean it.  I’m starting to become much more aware of how these bad qualities are present within my own heart and I see them come to the forefront of my mind while I interact with others. Introspection is essential if we desire to become more aware of ourselves. If somebody else is glorified or the centre of attention, is the voice in my head asking “why it wasn’t me”? How far away is our consciousness in appreciating and celebrating the success of others?

Envy sucks the life out of any positive aspirations we may have, but to become aware of that voice, acknowledge its’ existence and make the distinction between the voice and ourselves is a great start. When this practice becomes difficult, the easiest thing to do is to walk out of the room of the heart and lock the door behind us, but we’ll know from our own life experiences that the same lessons and experiences will keep repeating themselves in different situations until we actually uproot these weeds which are detrimental to spiritual life.

The best of friends 

Mantra meditation is widely regarded as a practice which brings lasting stress relief and gives peace of mind to millions around the world, both of which are very important for a healthy and happy life. Even more importantly, mantra meditation is the foremost practice for purifying the heart of bad qualities and ultimately a heart devoid of bad qualities can situate us in our natural spiritual state. The ancient Vedic scriptures provide us with powerful mantras which are understood to be synonymous with God’s personal form or presence. So while chanting these mantras we can rest assured that we aren’t alone in trying to purify our heart, but that God is personally descending through these transcendental sound vibrations, entering through our ears, into our hearts and ultimately purifying us in the process. During this process of purification, just as a room being cleansed, we become more aware of the dirt in the room; similarly by applying ourselves strictly to the practice of mantra meditation, we become more aware of the qualities of lust, envy, pride, greed, anger and illusion in our own hearts. By becoming more conscious of these bad qualities within ourselves we become ever conscious of the havoc that our minds play with us when we harbour these unwanted qualities.  Eventually we begin to appreciate others more and reduce the propensity to criticise others. This process of mantra meditation is the best of friends which brings out the best in us and helps us to see the good in others, provided that we are able to stick to it rigidly with faith and determination.

From a personal point of view, I know I am still far away from a substantial relationship with God, but my prayer and meditation during this month of Kartikka is to give more attention to hearing the transcendental sound vibrations of Krishna’s names which can purify my heart, and I’m sure that somewhere along this journey I will begin to develop some devotion as I move closer to reawakening this dormant love of God.

If you feel inspired during the coming month, please have a go at attentively taking part in mantra meditation, all you need to do is hear yourself chant the following mantra with rapt attention:

“Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare”

Happy Kartikka!