It$[l*+ltlui,l+ fi*r*ll$*$jfi

****urtffi
r
,...

..'r

,'.

,,. .,i,.r..

+**
iir:iiliir

ililr+riXiiXiixi

,-'.'. '.t.'., . .t..",',, '.'"'

-.'.. . :'' " ,,

,t'

'

.'.'",

Crffice ffiffi'Fiiverof -ffi

.it'.,.:r . :.

t .-r",. #itili, 'i'difib'iil;ffi;;;' ffi-us,16]turntowardsouitruenatufe,andindsingsototurn

ffi'ffaRuman f "

ffi]{i..I{anurnanisabeingofextraordinaryenergyandstrength, ****rffi ;.ahd ttuq.glyyays in the sgfVicg of goddijn the service -t!e ***uilffi of purity of trelrt. What we nqed to .,',,,:....,,.,
t,,;' ',t1" ',' t l'. '
:,

',.'

1..

"'frdffi;il;;;;

ffi*aWdyfromournegativeidentiIicationsandprogramming. has'the power to do that. nv%nlsulun DAs

WI-oRME/nayGunu,,Ho*u,o^.he,scrying,andthenhemeetsHanuman.And '11TlYl'::Ly:'-y::h'fed Y:lq1-1*s'fluman,sitais'oro,,*:, f,, , f ' as anAvatar or incamation of demon is destroyed, and Rama is reunited with ffi

ffi

].HHanuman.A]Ihisdevoteeshiswife'Sothereisan.esotericstoryandqMoteric

ffi.,...ITuaie;;,!rrrm.::.,TY,T?:f.,story.TheysaythatRama.,.,Yu,,,oh.*atmnn,g ffiI-uS,aIlthoSequalitieshehad-thetheSupremeBeing,andSitaistheatman,the strength,thecompassiorythelove, personal,individualsoul.Ravanais'theego. ffiffi *I ffi",*Istrength,thecompassiorytheIove,personal,individualsoul.Ravanais.theego.'+ ffit.I,thewisdom-were,aspectsand.,.Histenheadsrepresentthefivesens"'i,,au.'"ii

ffi....,ffio".,,.'.,"i,,,."-i'Hanumanis.Iikeaobjects.Sotheegostolethesou1,coverfl""'-.",, chanftbl of Grace that is always flowing, a river d{ but could not possess the soul. Then.Flanu-ar,- * ffi}
ffiGrace.orrceyoti,,ent.9rintothatflowofHanuman,reestablishedt1.,""o,o""tionbetweenSitaand youarecarriedalong"i-rntilyouhawmerged, Rama.
-n4m*

ffiffi

ffitrntilyouhaverealized.HanumanisworshipedAnotherlevelofthestoryisthatRamaand:' ffiaSaremoveIofobstaclesa4ddestroyerofSitaqrenottwobeings;theyareone.Theycan
ffisuffering.ThestoryofHanumanisencompassedneverbeseparated,buti,.ippu,",'trca1iry ffi*bythestoryofRama.Hanumantakesbirthto"relativereality,thatiswhatitlooks1ike.Hanuman ffiserveRamabecauseRamaisthewholeuniverseknowsthisrelativerealitybuthealsoknowsthe ffi.1ranifestedinonebeing,#hvatar,abeingwhotruthofita11'SoevenwhLnhefindsSitahesees ffi".hasthepowertoremoveanddestroydarknessthatsh,aandRamaarethesame'Theyarealways

z
F *i

ffiandirnpurity...-ineachoffi,spresence.ThisisGod,sleelaorplay
,,",,

Sffi

ffi.Irrthestories,Ramaisborntodestroytheoftheuniverse:toliberatebeingsfromsuffering. ,.{emonRavana,whohastakenovertheworld. ffi

Rama is married to Sita (Janaki) and they go

sg r
t!H 4 ,l a;^ z.! :ll

off

Grace and Desires

=i tr6
t4
I-.]

ffiarorrndlookingforhiswifewhohasbeen$tt]atHanumanistoniybestowsliberationbut
ffi'....1bd,,.,"dbythisdemonandhecan,tfindheI,'idisoEsatisfiesandcompletesourdesiies.Thisis

$ffiffi,

ffitothejunglewhereRavanakidnapsSita.TheroleHaNuvraNISPUREGRAeEthatflows,thatwakes ffi.....Ramaha{frop1ayinthisincamationwasthatuSup/thatremindsusofourdpiritua1strength
of the perfect human being. So he is

wandering

and removes obstacles from our path. They'say

Z5
IEU

,flf;.,-;

-o*,'.

m*\

-:"

ffi
,.,: ,,itt

ffi

ffi
,,',,1,

tl

ru

that desires are a no-no, but Hanuman gives us all our desires as well as liberation-"Here, take this, this and this." Maharajtwas like that. People #'bnt to him for everything: babies, jobs, cars. Anythi^g anybody wanted, they came and asked him, which is why he sent everybody away all the tirne! But this is what he did: he gave everybody everythrng,24/ 7. One time a couple came to him that was childless, and Maharaji said , "Where am I going to get a baby from? Here, eat thi s chappati llndian tortillal. Get out of here." They ate the chappati and they had ababy. There was a Krishna temple in Mathura and the priest was veryr nasty to kids. He never let them come into the temple. It also happened that he was childless, and he and his wife were getting advanced in age. So Maharaji came to that temple and the priest bowed before him and said, "Baba, please, I have no children. P1ease give me a child." And Maharaji said , "When you let the children come to play with the child Krishna in the temple, then you can have your child." The priest opened the temple for all the children and within ayear he had a kid. Maharaji wandered around distributing alms to people, sHtisfvirg
l

their desires, giving them,what they needed so they

'

could b"e fulfilled in life.

Hanuman
never thought
he'Was doing

anythi.g.He knew and

experienced and,expressed

that "Rama is the doer." He made the effort but it was all by Rama's grace. Hanuman is a being of extraordin ary energy and strength, and it is always in the service of the good, in the service of

in the service of purity of heart. Everything he does is to remove negativi{r, What we need to find is that inner strength to turn towards the love within us, to turn towards our true nature, and in doing so to turn away from our negative
love7

'irrffi

tt .
n.
-t ,t.

. ,,.'t ,$ftilItXxl'

ilffirrtr.,ri.il;.i,.r,1,.'i':,l,,,,'...,,',."fl

.,..

l;,

,' '- ,, " ,.' i

ilui
",'

identifications and programming. Hanuman has the powef to do that. It is not somethi^g outside us. When Ram asayst"Flanuman, how did you do all that? " he replies , "What are you talking about? It was all by your grace that it got done. I was just a puppet." And that's what he sees.
We look around and we see: this is real, this is our world.But these great beings see deeper. One

,' ,, ' i t 1j ,,,,, i; i' jI ..i ' "' -'r ii t,', '' , " i* ii t-' rrn
,

time when I was in Kainchi, at Mah arajt'sAshram in north India, it was onbandara day,a day when tens of thqusands of people came from all over India to have a blessed meal and then go back home. It was so crowded that the main road was closed, no trafftc,no buses, nothing. People were irg from the nearest town. I was standing in theback of the temple and looking out over this scene and my mind kind of opened up. I saw that all these people had thought, "Hey,let's go
tb thatrbandara. We can get that bus, then we'll catch the trann,then get another bus, then we'lln reach and have our meal Each person thought they were doing"it. We also think, "I'mdoing this I'm going to the store. I'm going to buy some donuts. . .." So I was standing there lookitg at this scene and suddenly I saw that realIy Maharaji was draggi^g them there. He was pulling them out of their houses, pushirg the food in their mouths, and then draggi^g them back home. The reason I'm tetling you this is to illustrate what happens appearances that we call daily life.
'
;ij;r':ir

:,,,r ',
.rt

there is less room in your own psyche for the stuff that hurts you. It comes toward you but it doesn't enter into you the way it used to because you are full of positive things in a different way. There was at$reat saint in Ben galin the late r8oos, Sri Ramakrishna, and he described the way practice works. FIe said that every repetition of one of these Names has power, Shaktt You might not experience it immediately but every repetition of the Name is like a seed. He said the seed gets caughtby the wind and carried miles and miles away and"it lands on the rooj of an old house in the middle of nowhere. In those dafs, sometimes the roofs were made from clay or earthen tiles, but they weren't kiln-baked, they were just baked in the sun. So this seed gets caught between the tiles, and after wind and rain and snow and sun and all the change of the seasons, the tiles start to break down. And at that point the seed can take root and start to grow, and they destroy the roof of the house. Ramakrishna days this house is who we think we are: our ego, our sense of separatenesS from the universe, from ev,:,, ybody else. Our unconscious belief in a separate sq,*F that's what's destroyed.And when even the walls of the house are no longer there, there is only Presence everywhere. There's nothing t cut it off and separate us from everybody else. We're just in that Light, in that Love.' I"read this over and over and I finally realized that what he doesn't say is how we feelabout
ii.

r;:;ii,;ri:*

:,, r ' 'r ,i,i., ', '*,i'"r '

Repeating the Name of God PnecucE GIVES us rHE sTRENGTH to live a good Hfe , to really engage with life full on, with our eyes
open. Because from practice we get some leverage to release the stuff that pushes us around. Without practice, it's like trying to pick yourself up with no leverage; you can't do it. From practice we learn 'how to let go and sit in ourselves more deeply. And then tn" stuff that used to kill us just kind damages us severely. Then after a while you hardly notice it. But it takes time. Every repetition of one of these mantras, these Names of God, is planting a seed. Seeds do not grow overni ght,but if you keep planting them for years after years after years, you start to be surrounded by alt those things you need in your life to help you.And

"'

matter! It isn't aboutme and what / feel. It's about the process of dissolvi^g our stuff and opening our hearts to include the whole universe. It isn't about feeling a little hit of bliss or if you don't feel so good today. A11 these become things that we simply.let go of and come back to the fullness in our own hearts . eW
zot3 by Krishna Das, the internationally beloved kirtanwallah. Thisarticle.,was excerpted with permission from two workshops given by Krishna Das: 3/ t7113 at the Church of the Holy Crty, Washington DC, and g/ +/ rz at The Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, Rhinebeck, NY. To see and hear more, and download MP3 workshops by Krishna Das, visit www.krishnadasmusic.c om. One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das, a newly released documentary fi.}5n by Jeremy Frindef is reviewed on page 46 of this issue.
@

iI*'

,i

,,:

,,'

,: ,'' r,, I ,i. ,,,

i(,JIJ

t**i*lirlir*:n***Ai*u*u*nirui*tuz*ruruztizs

ffi