Wordless Experience – In Gita Verse 18.54 One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realises the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or desires to have anything. He is equally disposed toward every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me.
Bhagavad Gita Verse 18.54 elucidates that an individual who attains a transcendental state immediately realises the Supreme Brahman and becomes profoundly joyful. This person neither laments nor desires anything and maintains an equal disposition towards all living entities. In this state, one achieves pure devotional service unto the Supreme.
True devotion, or para-bhakti, is characterised by the absence of desires and demands. If one seeks anything, be it salvation, happiness, or truth, the devotion is not yet supreme. The presence of any form of demand signifies that one approaches the divine as a beggar rather than an emperor. True devotion is marked by the joy and fulfilment found in the act of devotion itself, devoid of any other desires.
Krishna imparts that devotion represents the elevated essence of love, characterised by a profound and overflowing commitment that originates from the heart. It is an ineffable experience beyond words. As para-bhakti – this form of devotion – blossoms within us, our love grows in tandem. Birth, love, and death are profound aspects of life that arise mysteriously from the unknown, akin to a breeze that flows in and out of our lives. These experiences cannot be fully understood or solved, but they can be transcended by embracing them as a natural part of existence.
Instead of seeing them as obstacles, perceiving them as enigmatic mysteries paves the way for transcending them. This shift in perspective allows us to recognise that every action, when approached with this understanding, becomes a form of devotional service to the Supreme Being.
When one perceives these aspects of life as mysteries, a harmonious connection with life is established, leading to celebration and trust. This state is achievable only when the mind ceases its manipulative games. The heart is the centre where genuine experiences occur – birth, love, and death. The mind, on the other hand, is the realm of the unreal, the fictitious, and the games.
The essential transformation required is the shift of energy from the mind to the heart. The mind struggles to accept the inexplicable and has an insatiable urge to explain everything. This urge drives the entirety of history, philosophy, religion, science, and mathematics. The common root of all these fields is the mind’s need to demystify existence.
Ideas serve as substitutes where life remains mysterious, filling gaps that reality cannot. However, life remains an unfathomable mystery regardless of one’s efforts to understand it. Existence is always welcoming, and a little courage is all that is needed to leap into the mysterious.
Love, in particular, is a profound mystery. We often question why we fall in love, but this question is unanswerable, highlighting its beauty. When confronted with an unanswerable question, one is close to the truth. Love can be lived but not solved; it is not a question but a mystery that cannot be reduced to a linguistic formulation.
The mind, however, only knows how to create questions and struggles to accept mysteries. The mysterious induces fear in the mind because it cannot manipulate it, leading to a barrage of questions. If these questions remain unanswered, the mind tends to deny the phenomenon altogether, rejecting the existence of love, godliness, and mystery.
The mind’s denial stems from its inability to manipulate the mysterious. It denies godliness, love, and beauty because they cannot be reduced to knowledge. The mysterious is vast and frightening, causing the mind to feel lost.
To transcend, one must drop the “why.” Embrace love fully, for it is a bottomless abyss with endless depths and mysteries. Life then transforms into poetry, melody, and godliness. For Krishna, transcendence means living in the present moment without seeking answers. One’s life will be imbued with a profound presence but devoid of knowledge.
Knowing is distinct from knowledge. Love is an experience that can be known but not communicated in words. It remains a deep, indescribable taste within. Words are suitable for mundane, marketplace interactions but fail in the realms of love, prayer, and the unknown. At the boundary of the known and unknown, words fall away, giving rise to a new, wordless experience.
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