Be With Me!
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Be With Me!

Arjuna is still recovering from the magnificence of Krishna’s Cosmic Vision from Chapter 11. Krishna had spoken about the formless Parabrahman that he is. He then gave Arjuna eyes to see his Cosmic form, which cannot be seen by mortals. Terrified, inspired, awed, and hopeful, Arjuna asks:

What is the best way to worship and reach you, through form or as formless?

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Krishna answers:

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Those who seek me with their mind fixed on me, steadfast with dedication, are perfect in terms of uniting with me. Those who with their senses restrained and mind stilled and selfless, seek me as the formless, who is imperishable, indefinable, omnipresent, unknowable, changeless, and eternal, reach me as well. However, it’s much more difficult to envision the formless, when you are still embodied in the mindbody form.

Seek me as the goal, surrendering all actions to me, with thoughts set on me in meditation. You will be rescued from the life cycle of birth and death and be united in me. Still your mindbody in me in meditation. If meditation is difficult for you and you prefer action, act in selfless service.

?Knowledge is better than practice alone. Meditation is better than knowledge. Better still than both is the renunciation of the outcome of action, rendering it selfless. Peace then follows. One who is dear to me is one without hatred, loving to all, free from the ego of ‘I and Mine’, treats alike pain and pleasure, and whose mind and heart are fixed on me in devotion. Such a person is not impacted by the world or impacting it is free from joy, anger, fear and stress, and accepts whatever happens with equanimity and gratitude. Such a person is detached, pure, efficient, and selfless surrendering everything to me. They stay detached from pain and pleasures, not grieving or joyful, and are in the present in acceptance and gratitude. They do not differentiate between friend and foe in serving, detached from praise and blame, heart and cold, free from attachment, content and devoted to me.

You are dear to me, Arjuna. Seek me in faith, unwavering as your goal in life. You will be free in eternal bliss. Thus ends Krishna.

There are many pathways to reach the formless and unknowable Parabrahman as Krishna enunciated. Selfless service, renunciation, and meditation are among them. Seeking in form is another for those who, being in mindbody matter, need another such form to connect. Even the form may be difficult for some to worship.

An elderly woman complained to Ramakrishna that she could not love Kali the way he did. Kali was too fierce. Ramakrishna told her to look at a young relative of her, whom she loved, as the divine. Once the woman learnt to love another human in form without conditions, she found she could love Kali in form and without form.

?Ramana used a cognitive rational self-inquiry approach to seek the Self. Millions follow this, I among them. Ramana also composed songs in praise of Arunachala Shiva, which can melt one’s heart.

Shankara was the archetypal cognitive seeker, denying his human nature at age eight. He commented on the most abstruse scriptures by sixteen. Shankara’s devotional poems peak in energy. Soundarya Lahiri, Shankara’s 100 verses on Shakti, half on her form, and another half on her energy, is the best example of integrating the form and the formless in the divine.

Reflection

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As Krishna says seeking the formless for a human encased in mindbody matter is not easy, yet it is not difficult. Almost all practising Hindus learn to worship the form first from childhood and become familiar with the multiplicity of deities, incarnations and metaphors. All these have meaning. Some learn to perceive the formless energy beyond the form.

At some stage, it may be worth moving further into an understanding of the formless energy beyond these divine forms. It’s only then one can fully unshackle oneself from the bonds of guna, maya and prakriti, and glimpse one’s energy Self. Meditation is a pathway. One can still love the form and delight in it, as I do with Krishna and Ganesa, while still basking in their energy.

The Bhagavad Gita is the message for today. If you liked what you read, share with another 20 or 30, and request them to share. We may open closed minds, hearts and will.

Ram is a co-founder and mentor at Coacharya?https://coacharya.com. Ram's focus is the integration of Eastern wisdom with modern science, spiritually, systemically and sustainably. Visit Coacharya.

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