On my arrival in Cologne on the 28th of March I was invited to speak at a house program in Dhara Mataji's home. She regularly arranges very wonderful programs with excellent prasadam, and she knows the art of bringing in new people from her yoga- and cooking classes. And the atmosphere is always very personal and cozy.
I chose the topic of consciousness, which is a nice theme for newcomers as well as practicing devotees.
In the BG 13.34. Krishna explains:
"O son of Bharata, as the sun alone illuminates all this universe, so does the living entity, one within the body, illuminate the entire body by consciousness."
Consciousness is a very powerful energy coming from the soul - the life force which floods the entire body, just like the sun illuminates the entire universe. It is in every cell of the body and keeps it alive. Without consciousness being present the cells will die. Consciousness also emanates from the body as a powerful energy - it comes through every pore of the skin. This is what we call the 'aura' of a person. A saintly person emanates an effulgence, coming from his pure and sublime consciousness. Therefore even in Christianity, saintly personalities are always depicted with a halo, a golden effulgence emanating especially from the head.
When Srila Prabhupada was once on a morning walk in the US, surrounded by a group of disciples, they overheard a conversation which two police men had when seeing Srila Prabhupada: "Look at this man! He is glowing!" So even non-devotees could perceive Srila Prabhupada's effulgence.
In the BG 13.34. Krishna explains:
"O son of Bharata, as the sun alone illuminates all this universe, so does the living entity, one within the body, illuminate the entire body by consciousness."
Consciousness is a very powerful energy coming from the soul - the life force which floods the entire body, just like the sun illuminates the entire universe. It is in every cell of the body and keeps it alive. Without consciousness being present the cells will die. Consciousness also emanates from the body as a powerful energy - it comes through every pore of the skin. This is what we call the 'aura' of a person. A saintly person emanates an effulgence, coming from his pure and sublime consciousness. Therefore even in Christianity, saintly personalities are always depicted with a halo, a golden effulgence emanating especially from the head.
When Srila Prabhupada was once on a morning walk in the US, surrounded by a group of disciples, they overheard a conversation which two police men had when seeing Srila Prabhupada: "Look at this man! He is glowing!" So even non-devotees could perceive Srila Prabhupada's effulgence.
Also material consciousness emanates from every pore of the skin - not only pure and sublime consciousness. A person who is very lusty, envious, angry or greedy will have a negative energy emanating from every pore of his skin. It is subtle, yet factual. The more purified we become, the more perceptive will we be towards such subtleties. We probably have all had the experience of being in a room with somebody who we had some tension and conflict with. The atmosphere can be surcharged with negativity and tension, coming from our consciousness - almost as if electrified.
Every movement is executed through consciousness. Again, Srila Prabhupada is the most wonderful example, how saintly consciousness allows every movement to be so beautiful and attractive - in fact spiritually uplifting to others who see it. Sometimes we hear disciples of Srila Prabhupada remember, how everything Srila Prabhupada did was so sublime: how he walked, how he smiled, how he would flick a piece of prasadam into his mouth, how he would scratch his nose - simply everything!
And on the other hand, a person who wants to be the center of attention and always tries to show off - who is driven by false-ego consciousness, also such mind-set manifests in every movement he does: how he walks, laughs, speaks, etc. A person who is perceptive can feel a negative and contaminating energy coming from every movement of such a person.
Consciousness is in every cell of our body and keeps it alive. And it is also there in every organ. I know one family in Australia, where the wife and mother is the only one in the family who is attached to eating chocolate. And she has her chocolate stash in one of her drawers. Nobody else in the family eats chocolate. Her husband was for many years struggling with severe kidney problems, and one day they decided that his wife would donate one of her kidneys to him. Some time after the successful surgery, she felt like having some chocolate, but to her surprise it was all gone - her stash in the drawers had disappeared. She turned to her husband, wondering whether he knew what happened to her chocolate. And he shamefully admitted that a craving for chocolate had overcome him, and thus he had pinched it and eaten it.
They were wondering whether this could be connected to the kidney transplantation, and on the next check-up they told the story to their doctor. And he laughingly responded: "Oh yes, this is a well-known fact! Every time we transplant an organ, the receiving patient has for some time the same cravings as the person giving the organ." And he added:"It seems as if organs can remember things!"
Of course, organs cannot remember things. But organs are flooded with consciousness, which carries our desires and attachments. So his new kidney was flooded with 'chocolate consciousness' - only for some days, until his new organ was well connected to the powerhouse of his consciousness, which was devoid of chocolate consciousness. This serves as a medical proof of the power of consciousness.....
In Cologne temple I also offered the Sunday feast lecture and spent quite some time with devotees privately, accompanying them through their ups and downs. I am always grateful to have Cologne as my base in the Western world, where I can also do some errands and keep a suitcase with stuff in the cellar - re-packing from one traveling program to another....
On the 2nd of April I flew off to Houston, embarking on my tour around the US.....
Your servant, Devaki dd
Every movement is executed through consciousness. Again, Srila Prabhupada is the most wonderful example, how saintly consciousness allows every movement to be so beautiful and attractive - in fact spiritually uplifting to others who see it. Sometimes we hear disciples of Srila Prabhupada remember, how everything Srila Prabhupada did was so sublime: how he walked, how he smiled, how he would flick a piece of prasadam into his mouth, how he would scratch his nose - simply everything!
And on the other hand, a person who wants to be the center of attention and always tries to show off - who is driven by false-ego consciousness, also such mind-set manifests in every movement he does: how he walks, laughs, speaks, etc. A person who is perceptive can feel a negative and contaminating energy coming from every movement of such a person.
Consciousness is in every cell of our body and keeps it alive. And it is also there in every organ. I know one family in Australia, where the wife and mother is the only one in the family who is attached to eating chocolate. And she has her chocolate stash in one of her drawers. Nobody else in the family eats chocolate. Her husband was for many years struggling with severe kidney problems, and one day they decided that his wife would donate one of her kidneys to him. Some time after the successful surgery, she felt like having some chocolate, but to her surprise it was all gone - her stash in the drawers had disappeared. She turned to her husband, wondering whether he knew what happened to her chocolate. And he shamefully admitted that a craving for chocolate had overcome him, and thus he had pinched it and eaten it.
They were wondering whether this could be connected to the kidney transplantation, and on the next check-up they told the story to their doctor. And he laughingly responded: "Oh yes, this is a well-known fact! Every time we transplant an organ, the receiving patient has for some time the same cravings as the person giving the organ." And he added:"It seems as if organs can remember things!"
Of course, organs cannot remember things. But organs are flooded with consciousness, which carries our desires and attachments. So his new kidney was flooded with 'chocolate consciousness' - only for some days, until his new organ was well connected to the powerhouse of his consciousness, which was devoid of chocolate consciousness. This serves as a medical proof of the power of consciousness.....
In Cologne temple I also offered the Sunday feast lecture and spent quite some time with devotees privately, accompanying them through their ups and downs. I am always grateful to have Cologne as my base in the Western world, where I can also do some errands and keep a suitcase with stuff in the cellar - re-packing from one traveling program to another....
On the 2nd of April I flew off to Houston, embarking on my tour around the US.....
Your servant, Devaki dd
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