Brampton, Ontario
THREE PATHS
I had received a call from a Vancouver devotional enthusiast who is combing through the Bhagavad-gita for about the third time. Ralph Waldo Emerson describes the Gita as "the voice of an old intelligence." My caller is exploring the beauty of its message and with particular reference to the personal versus impersonal spiritual direction to take. To explain a bit deeper, in spiritual searching, one may be drawn to the aspect of the Absolute as a force or energy of light or may be attracted to God as a supreme divine person. Both thrusts are historically pursued depending on one's particular attraction. Much clarity on the topic of these two paths is elaborated upon by the purport of Srila Prabhupada.
What was fascinating to my caller from British Columbia was the discovery of a middle path referred to as paramatma realization. On this path of transcendentalism, the yogi sits in solitude and feels a satisfaction in having the presence of an impartial God manifested in the heart. On this path there is little sense of emotional feeling, but more a sense of 'being' as a soul accompanied by a supersoul, God.
I chose this very topic, the middle path, to speak on at the ISKCON Brampton Centre. As the Gita itself confirms in Chapter Six, the path of devotion, the realm of personalism, the notion and practice of service is most favourable amongst the three paths and is the most emphasized in the Gita. For the rest of the evening I had been moving my mouth more than my legs. A second talk about a pilgrim, Madhavendra Puri, at ISKCON Toronto which I delivered helped me to recall the extraordinary life of this personalist ascetic. From what we know of Madhavendra's life, there were no options open towards the various approaches of God for him. He was profoundly in love with the Absolute.
And when we speak of success on the spiritual path, love (or prema) is the thing.
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