Recipe for Mental Health

I was apreciating my son's good fortune yesterday. He is in a school with many other young vaisnavas. It is a healthy social and spiritual situation for him. Most likely, regardless of where he or the other students live, he will be in touch with his friends for the rest of his life. It is my observation that the older kids that have gone to theses "gurukula" schools have known many of their friends since early childhood. They meet with each other every summer at Ratha Yatras and other spiritual festivals. THis is certainly a recipe for mental health. It is satisfying to watch these children grow up.

Sugar Cane

We are reading the Chaitany Bhagavat every morning in our classroom. This morning we read about Haridas Thakura's extreme humility and devotion. The students especially liked the story of the snake charmer and Haridas THakura. After hearing the story of Krishna and Kaliya, Haridas Thakur expressed natural emotional ecstasies and was praised for his actions. The proud Brahman thought that he would also be popular if he pretended to exhibit these symptoms . While the snake charmer praised Haridas Thakura's natural ecstasies he attacked and punished the pretender. Spiritual ecstasy and pride are an impossible combination. Humility is the foremost characteristic of one who can experience the natural bliss of the soul.

There is a great deal of discussion on the extent to which science can be used in order to understand the Absolute Truth. While the scientific process is indeed a tool that may be used in order to understand the Absolute Truth, it is still only a tool. The process is useless without the association of a pure and humble soul. Spiritual experience, which is the only actual "proof" of the absolute truth, is a gift. The gift is given by those pure souls who also received the gift from another pure, humble soul. This is the experiment. Associate with and serve pure souls and you can receive this experience. What makes this "experiment" different from most others is that the false ego is not separated from or comforted by the results. The scientists must give up the idea that they are the controllers and enjoyers of the situation. To the degree the scientists let go of their false ego, to that degree they can have spiritual experiences, which is the proof that they seek.

I took the kids out to a field behind the school and we found some sugar cane growing there. It is amazing how such simple things can be so amusing to children. We must be simple (non duplicitous) in order to taste the natural sweetness of life.