“One should concentrate his mind upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who alone distributes Himself in so many manifestations just as ordinary persons create thousands of manifestations in dreams. One must concentrate the mind on Him, the only all-blissful Absolute Truth. Otherwise one will be misled and will cause his own degradation.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.1.39)

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स सर्वधीवृत्त्यनुभूतसर्व
आत्मा यथा स्वप्नजनेक्षितैक: ।
तं सत्यमानन्दनिधिं भजेत
नान्यत्र सज्जेद् यत आत्मपात: ॥

sa sarva-dhī-vṛtty-anubhūta-sarva
ātmā yathā svapna-janekṣitaikaḥ
taṁ satyam ānanda-nidhiṁ bhajeta
nānyatra sajjed yata ātma-pātaḥ

“Something I have pondered recently. What do people think about when they are alone? I get it that not everyone has that luxury, of being isolated with their thoughts. Some people are too afraid of that situation. They are always running around, creating busywork, manufacturing crises, in order to avoid having to think.

“Nevertheless, people do sleep. The mind continues to work. They can’t avoid dreaming. In that case, what do people dream about? Good or bad, there are so many images which flash before the vision. These could be entirely made-up.

“For instance, I dream that I have the ability to fly. I can easily glide down stairs. I don’t have to touch the ground. I can float in the air. Just as I am about to fall down, I have a mechanism by which to lift myself up.

“This is entirely false, as I certainly do not have the ability to fly. Yet, the experience within the dream feels so real. In other cases, there is revisiting past moments. Perhaps trauma. Some were really great times. I meet up with people who are no longer in this world. It is as if they have something important to tell me.

“What I am getting at is that these are all just images. Our entire focus is on these images. They aren’t real, though. Do you get what I am saying? If I want to be happy, why not make up my own images? Create my own sort of illusion.

“On the other side of things, what kind of existence is this where we are so swayed by images? Why should we care so much? How can a single image influence us to the point of madness? We should know better, don’t you think?”

This is why Shrimad Bhagavatam gives the recommendation to focus the mind on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is this singular source which is responsible for what we see around us. He essentially copies Himself or expands Himself into the different areas to create the varieties of images.

This is why one of the names for the universal form is virat-purusha. It is a single person displaying the entire whole. At least to the extent of what we can comprehend in a whole. There is someone behind the virat-purusha.

He essentially turns on the projector. Those who are interested to see can witness the variety. They can see detail in what is actually an abstract image. They can see motion, beginning and after. They can perceive the different dimensions. There is one person behind it all.

The recommendation for such meditation is not for the benefit of the virat-purusha. He is self-sufficient. He replicates in the different environments through His own potency. He is not dependent on anyone.

Rather, if we fail to concentrate on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we will have no choice but to focus on other images. We will be so into those images that it feels like we are being controlled. The illusion becomes our deity, and this factor is not even a person. The illusion is a figment of our imagination.

Better to be controlled by reality. Better to focus on the real thing. Better to have the mind steadied by the vision of transcendental images. This is the ultimate purpose to meditation. Shrimad Bhagavatam and shastra in general descend from the original projector, so to speak, to help give substance to those images upon which the mind should focus.

If I have never seen the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the descriptions of His transcendental form are enough to create the necessary images. This is the unique position of the historical personality known as Rukmini Devi. That princess was intent on having Shri Krishna as her husband. She reached this decision after hearing about Him.

The image was fixed in her mind. The situation of married life was the home she took refuge in. The dream became a reality, due in large part to her own eagerness and intelligence in crafting a strategy to bring the original one, the virat-purusha, to her side.

In Closing:

So many images to display,
Our consciousness to sway.

Despite with value none,
Influence by experience done.

Better on virat-purusha to land,
With focused attention to stand.

Such that the image to remain,
Eventually of nature the same.

Categories: questions

Tags: god, hare krishna, hinduism, poem, poems, poetry, yoga