God is ever present in all forms, names, ideas and consciousness. We should not identify Him with a specific name or form because He is present in all states of being and becoming. True acceptance of God lies in accepting him in all forms, names, ideas and consciousness. To illustrate this teaching, Sri Sri Babathakur related a story.
A Krishna devotee decided to go on an indefinite hunger strike at Vrindavan until he could get Lord Krishna’s darshan. Lord Krishna decided to disguise himself as a shepherd boy and appear before the devotee. As the devotee went to the river Yamuna to take a bath, he saw the shepherd boy happily feasting on mouth-watering food. Lord Krishna (in disguise) also sang “Whoever you are seeking with pride and ego, will never be visible to you on an empty stomach”. Lord Krishna then departed from the scene. Needless to say, the devotee was unable to recognize Lord Krishna given his ego had a certain preconceived image of Lord Krishna in mind.
After a while Lord Krishna decided to send Radharani -- disguised as a young girl carrying a basket of fruits for the devotee. The young girl asked the devotee if he had seen her aged father who was supposed to be present there. The devotee answered in the negative. Thereafter, the girl requested the devotee to take care of the basket of fruits while she went about looking for her father. The devotee wasn’t pleased with the plan and asked the girl how he would benefit from the plan. The young girl reassured the devotee that he would achieve what he desired. She also mentioned that her father had told her about a devotee:
● Who had stopped partaking of food unless he saw Lord Krishna.
● As a result the devotee’s body and senses had become weak, and his memory weakened.
● In such a state even if Lord Krishna appeared, he would not be able to see and recognize Him.
● So her father had sent the fruits and would soon come personally to feed him.
● But since the father was not present, she was just going to leave the fruits there and go looking for her father.
Hearing this, the devotee was able to relate his condition to the young girl's conversation - yet he still did not touch any of the fruit!! Thereafter, Lord Krishna disguised himself as the old man (the young girl’s father) and appeared before the devotee. Lord Krishna asked the devotee why he had not consumed the fruits. The devotee explained that he had vowed not to eat anything till he saw Lord Krishna.
The old man asked the devotee what he would gain by seeing Lord Krishna in person. He went on to say “If you want to get some work done by the Lord, tell me and I will ask Lord Krishna to come and meet you”.
The old man went on to explain to the devotee “Krishna assumes many forms; so please tell me in what exact form do you want to see Him. You (we) are not aware that God sustains you (us) at all times. Look around you! He is in all forms, titles, space, ideas -- gross, subtle, subtlest, transcendental - everything is Krishna everywhere!!”.
By now the devotee’s vision had become poor without nourishment, and he was uttering gibberish. Before departing, the old man advised him to consume the fruits and regain his strength in order to recognize Krishna.
The devotee offered pronam to the old man and went to sleep -- disheartened that he had not seen Lord Krishna. In his dreams Lord Krishna appeared before him and told him that Krishna presents himself in infinite forms, infinite names and infinite design patterns. He therefore asked the devotee to offer pronam to the first person he sees in the morning -- because Lord Krishna will be appearing in that form.
As per the above instructions, the devotee rushed to a toilet sweeper (first person he saw after waking up) and offered pronam. The sweeper reciprocated by bending over to offer pronam to the devotee. As he bent over, the bucket filled with waste spilled over on the devotee! The infuriated devotee started to verbally abuse the sweeper. The sweeper was none other than Krishna Himself in disguise. Reacting to the abusive language, the Lord told him that a true devotee needs to surrender all ego and pride to the Lord!!!
In analyzing the essence of the story, Sri Sri Babathakur pointed out to the fact that studying scriptures is not adequate in spiritual life. One has to assimilate the wisdom of the scriptures into one’s own life -- and that we should be able to recognize the Lord in all the names and forms. Lord Krishna is present everywhere in Vrindavan; however if there is even the slightest apprehension in one’s mind about the Lord's omnipresence, one fails to see Him.
The Gopis came very close to Lord Krishna -- but they had developed an ego thinking that they were the only ones who love Krishna! That’s why they lost Lord Krishna.
One has to acknowledge Krishna’s presence in all forms and expressions in order to attain Paramatman Krishna. Embracing Krishna in innumerable forms enables one to visualize Krishna. Only then the entire universe manifests as conscious Vrindavan. This is Paramatma darshan. This eternal consciousness is the true description of Krishna. Each and everything that we perceive through our senses is nothing but Krishna. As long as one is not established in this consciousness, one misses seeing Krishna in reality.
Kaliyo poison is an engulfing poison. Inside the body, this poison induces the desire to attain God. The effect of this poison is compared to the pain of separation from one's loved ones. A devotee’s super strong desire to be united with God is referred to as Kaliyo poison. When the mind is afflicted by the burning sensation of Kaliyo poison, one seeks the healing remedy. When a devotee is in this state, meeting the Sadguru and listening to His words are effective for the devotee. God is Guru and Guru is God -- all in one! Through Guru bhajan, the supreme God is satisfied, and God fulfills the desire of His devotees.
Dogmatism is a sign of Aajnana. This dogmatism does not fade easily unless Ishwar atma is remembered. In the world of spiritualism, attaining Dharma is inhibited by sectarianism, disagreement and dogmatism. The unrestrained mind cannot attain God. Soiled minds inquire as opposed to accept. No one can ever know the Absolute or the realized Sadguru. But accepting the Absolute and not trying to know or justify it certainly yields better results. Practicing inquiry leads to the propulsion of ego, whereas practicing “All Acceptance” helps to eradicate our ego. People who indulge in inquiry out of pride cannot accept others. His thirst for inquiry keeps increasing, which ultimately boosts his ego and pride -- turning him into a beast; He fails to become an acceptor.
“All acceptance” will lead one to be immortal, while “non-acceptance” will lead one to wage wars. Everyone can acquire the Science of All Accepance without any prior education.
To all, Sri Sri Babathakur said “Learn to accept, learn to accept.” What is He asking you to accept? Accept every form, every name, every idea as your own Self. There is no discrimination, differentiation when you learn to accept all as One.
In the story, the Krishna devotee went through dismay because he followed The Science of Inquiry and not the Science of All Acceptance as it is. He failed to identify Krishna even though he was a devotee of Krishna. If only he had followed The Science of All Acceptance, he would have recognized Krishna, Radha, and all -- and attained the goal he was striving for.
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