Page 24 - Lekha-mala (English)
P. 24

14                                               Lekha-mālā

          develop a great desire to please you with no consideration of
          my pleasure?” The second option seems inconceivable in our
          present conditioned state because we have no experience of
          such selfless service. To pray to the Lord at this platform will
          be a great austerity. But if it is desired then we should be ready
          to take up that austerity.

          So, please tell me what is the correct understanding?

          It is the constitutional propensity of the jiva to seek ananda,
          for anandamaya is his natural state. Actual ananda is inherent
          in the jiva’s unmotivated attitude of service towards Krishna.
          When he serves Krishna without motivation then ananda is
          automatically experienced. Even though a pure devotee is
          attached to serving the Lord rather than to his own happiness,
          happiness is the inseparable result of such an attitude. Pure love
          means there is not the slightest thought of one’s own ananda;
          one in such consciousness experiences the highest ananda.

          In the conditional state the foolish jiva tries to enjoy separately
          from Krishna. Because his consciousness is polluted he is
          induced to serve the Lord with the promise of achieving actual
          happiness. Gradually he comes to perceive that by serving
          Him without personal motive, he experiences a quality of
          ananda previously  unimaginable  to  him.  As he becomes
          increasingly purified, his desire to enjoy conversely decreases
          and his actual happiness increases. That happiness is not to
          be rejected as is the false happiness of sense enjoyment. That
          happiness may be purely enjoyed, for Krishna’s happiness is
          derived from performing joyful pastimes with His devotees.
          Krishna likes to be happy with His devotees. He does not like
          them to be unhappy. This has to be understood very carefully.
          Misunderstanding can lead to the sahajiya mentality of
          materially gratifying one’s senses in the name of devotional
          service.
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