Thursday 23 February 2017

Friday, February 17th, 2017


Mayapur, India


Unwanted


I guess it was like a pedicure.  This nice devotee, Dhananjaya Pandit, an American follower, offered to help me with my feet.  With some experience he went at those feet for a second time, this time equipped with sand paper.

“This is better than pumice stone,” he confirmedly said.  So he went at those callouses at the toe edges, the balls of the feet and for those who sit in the lotus position, the ankles.  He seemed satisfied at his carving.  All that was dead in the way of skin was now being eliminated.

I thanked Dhananjaya for his help.  He took away what’s dead.  And that, in reality, is what you are achieving when cultivating devotional life.  You are shaving away anarthas, unwanted things.  Those items that stand in the way of spiritual progress.

To some extent, these anarthas or hurdles are mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita.  “Lust, anger, and greed are the gateways to a form of hell.”  The Bhagavatam addresses three more enemies—illusion, madness and envy.  That makes six demons to watch out for.  They are not outside of us, rather they reside inside.  They are sharing the space together with us.

Now, in the room where I’m staying I’m sharing space with an army of ants.  Through the electric sockets they have found their way to crawl through along the walls.  Forming incredible freeways they are drawn to the honey in the jar and anything sweet.  My roommate, Karuna Sindhu, has devised a structure made of sweet contents and formed a moat of water.  That settles the problem for now.  It didn’t solve the problem when some great massage oil was smeared on the leg at night.  A new traffic lane formed during sleep.  We’ll have to deal with it.

May the Source be with you!


5 km

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