Faith is the only means through which we can see, hear, or feel the higher world; otherwise, it is all meaningless to us. To understand that plane, an inner awakenment is necessary. We can connect with the upper world only through a higher source. Therefore, divyam jnanam, knowledge of the higher plane, is not ordinary knowledge; it is transcendental, supramental feeling and sense.
But to realise this, surrender is compulsory. After that, we may go on hearing and chanting, remembering, and worshipping and praising the Lord, or rendering so many other kinds of service, but the first thing — the foundation of devotion — must be self-surrender. Otherwise, nothing will be effected; our show of devotion will all be imitation.
We must sincerely feel, «I shall be faithful in my service to the Supreme Lord. I am meant for Him. I am ready to die to live. I want to live for Him only and not for fulfilling any separate interest. I want nothing less than the Absolute. I want to be His completely.» This sort of intensity is an indispensable necessity for a devotee. A devotee has to conceive, to feel, that he is meant for Krishna. He is not an independent entity; He is dependent on Krishna — the highest absolute centre — and nothing else.
To identify with the interests of our family, society, or country is extended selfishness, but all false identification must be eliminated. We must be neither selfish nor entangled in extended selfishness. Rather, all sorts of foreign contamination must be eliminated from our conception of self. All outside demands must be canceled. Then, we shall feel in our innermost hearts that we are connected with the whole of the infinite, the Absolute.
And nothing external is required for our success. The only thing required of us is that we dismantle the ego’s cover. The ego is collecting some foreign elements, but that foreign collection box must be dissolved — finished — and then, in our innermost hearts, we shall find our connection with the fundamental plane of loving service to the organic whole.
Both enjoyment and renunciation are abnormal. They are two kinds of demons: enjoyment or exploitation and eternal rest or renunciation. These two tendencies are our enemies. A higher, positive life is possible only when we become fully independent of both exploitation and renunciation.
Everything will help us if we can see it in connection with the Centre. On the other hand, the kind of exclusive renunciation practiced by the Sankarites and Buddhists is not recommended by our line. We are concerned to harmonise things so that everything will remind us of our duty towards the Absolute, and encourage us to dedicate ourselves to Him.
prapanchikataya buddhya hari-sambandhi-vastunah
mumuksubhih parityago vairagyam phalgu kathyate
anasaktasya visayan yatharham upayunjatah
nirbandhah krishna-sambandhe yuktam vairagyam uchyate
To neglect the environment, thinking that it is filled with undesirable material things, won’t help us. That is not correct. Everything within the environment should remind us of the Absolute. In that spirit, we should move, thinking: «Accept me and connect me with the service of our Lord.» When the environment is seen with the correct vision, everything will help encourage and excite us in our service to the Centre. We are living in an organic whole, a system. And that system is composed of the owner and the owned, the possessor of the potency and the different types of potencies (sakti-saktiman).