The meaning of "Home"

Some of my friends and family members have read and appreciated this book by Radhanatha Swami entitled "The Journey Home." In this video Radhanatha Swami describes what he means by "home." I have posted only the first part (out of 7 parts) of the talk he gave at the Mumbai launch of his book. The rest of the talk can be found here. At this site there are also many other wonderful video clips. The site is entitled Radhanatha Swami Weekly.

Missing Mayapur

It has been almost three months since I have left Mayapur. Due to unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances I had to leave that glorious place with only a three day notice. Needless to say I am in painful separation from that place that I consider my eternal home. It is such a a special place.

Sometimes the Lord takes us away from His devotees, Himself and His abode in order to increase our appreciation of the object of affection. This is in fact probably one of the most esoteric subjects in the philosophy of Bhakti Yoga. The two opposing poles of separation and meeting are known in sanskrit as vipralambha and sambhog respectively. The meeting is accompanied with joy, celebration, personal interaction and all of the things that come with meeting one's beloved. In this world of matter the meeting aspect is the only type of association we can appreciate. In spiritual consciousness the separation from the beloved is also a source of happiness. No doubt there is the common saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder. In spiritual consciousness however, this " heart growing fonder" is increased to a degree that we cannot imagine. The great souls describe that the separation of pure souls from the all attractive Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna is actually a form of unfathomable bliss. This is where the spiritual consciousness and material consciousness diverge. I will not go into detail regarding the great science of the bliss of spiritual separation and meeting, but suffice it to say that for the pure soul they are both on the platform of pure happiness.

I cannot say that I am in ecstatic bliss in separation from Mayapur dhama. It is encouraging however to know that that the more I cultivate this attachment for the holy dhama of Mayapur, the closer I will come to experiencing ecstasy in both the meeting and separation of this place. For now....I am doing everything I can to get back to this sacred place we call Mayapur.