Monday, October 12th, 2015
Mississauga, Ontario
Sorting Out The Trails
“Since the Supreme is the origin of all facets of life, including ourselves, where does hate come into the picture?” asked Raj as we stepped through the trees on a trail near his home.
Raj had been questioning this for years, wondering how hate or contempt could be a component of God’s personality. As we were walking, he and I discussed how Krishna, in His pastimes, eliminated demonic forces. Yet, it appears that hate or malice was not necessarily found in the character of Krishna during the time of His subduing such nasty forces. Raj insisted, “He doesn’t show hate but where does this hate come from since whatever is within us can be traced back to the Source?”
While I was looking deeply within for the best way to respond to Raj’s wonder, we had to make choices as to which path to tread. All trails were laden with autumn leaves but some were broad in width while some were less defined, obscured, and less travelled. We chose to tackle them all. We found other people from the same neighbourhood doing the same type of exploration. Searching for answers through adventurous avenues might be a very good thing.
Here is the gist of my contribution to Raj’s query. The Absolute (God, the Divine, whatever is your preferred terminology) is definitely the root or the seed behind all things good and bad. Yes, even when Krishna does some of His dissolution work, He invokes some anger but with a charm that moves the emotions. It is executed in the spirit of detachment. Now, why is our hate so strong and so vindictive at times? In other words, why are we so extreme? What comes to mind is something that our guru, Srila Prabhupada, and his guru explained. It goes as such:
All things in the material world are perverted reflections of the spiritual world. Here’s one example to illustrate our malicious intentions. When a rod is placed in a pool of water, the image in the water is refracted or distorted. Similarly, whatever we do in this world tends to get twisted and our attitude becomes extreme and this happens by choice. Choice is another trait we have inherited from the Supreme. Our obligation is to just get clean, to go for a purging.
May the Source be with you!
1.9 miles / 3 km
Mississauga, Ontario
Sorting Out The Trails
“Since the Supreme is the origin of all facets of life, including ourselves, where does hate come into the picture?” asked Raj as we stepped through the trees on a trail near his home.
Raj had been questioning this for years, wondering how hate or contempt could be a component of God’s personality. As we were walking, he and I discussed how Krishna, in His pastimes, eliminated demonic forces. Yet, it appears that hate or malice was not necessarily found in the character of Krishna during the time of His subduing such nasty forces. Raj insisted, “He doesn’t show hate but where does this hate come from since whatever is within us can be traced back to the Source?”
While I was looking deeply within for the best way to respond to Raj’s wonder, we had to make choices as to which path to tread. All trails were laden with autumn leaves but some were broad in width while some were less defined, obscured, and less travelled. We chose to tackle them all. We found other people from the same neighbourhood doing the same type of exploration. Searching for answers through adventurous avenues might be a very good thing.
Here is the gist of my contribution to Raj’s query. The Absolute (God, the Divine, whatever is your preferred terminology) is definitely the root or the seed behind all things good and bad. Yes, even when Krishna does some of His dissolution work, He invokes some anger but with a charm that moves the emotions. It is executed in the spirit of detachment. Now, why is our hate so strong and so vindictive at times? In other words, why are we so extreme? What comes to mind is something that our guru, Srila Prabhupada, and his guru explained. It goes as such:
All things in the material world are perverted reflections of the spiritual world. Here’s one example to illustrate our malicious intentions. When a rod is placed in a pool of water, the image in the water is refracted or distorted. Similarly, whatever we do in this world tends to get twisted and our attitude becomes extreme and this happens by choice. Choice is another trait we have inherited from the Supreme. Our obligation is to just get clean, to go for a purging.
May the Source be with you!
1.9 miles / 3 km
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