Book2

Inspiration 8



The Questions Asked by A Seeker

Seeker: "If I am to represent you in this knowledge, then how should I, based upon the instruction you gave thus far, speak about the basic qualities of nature and their transcendence? And to whom should I explain such matters?
Dear teacher, what intrigues me most is the position of those who know the truth of the Lord whose stories are so beneficial to all and whose potencies are so wonderful. Continue with your explanations, oh man of fortune, for by those stories my mind is perfectly focussed on Him; by that attention there will soon come an end to the attachments of my materially conditioned body. I understand that when one with faith regularly listens to this kind of stories and thereto is serious in one's endeavor to respect His natural order of time, one soon will see the Lord appear in one's heart. With the aural reception of the message of this 'Story of the Fortunate One', the Bhāgavatam, one's heart, blossoming with the lotus flower of an authentic loving relationship with Kṛṣṇa - He who is the essence of all avatāras - will be freed from all impurities, the way autumnal rains purify the water in the pools. I am sure that the person whose heart found purification in Him, being liberated from all misery in life, never will want to give up the shelter Kṛṣṇa offers, just like someone traveling will never give up his home.

Furthermore I would like to know whether one in the material body, with which one as an immaterial soul engages in action, oh brahmin, ends up by accident or that one acquires it for a specific reason. How can the body of the Original Person in the form of this gigantic universe, which is considered a lotus flower that appeared from His navel, be compared with the manifestation of His much smaller personal appearances in this world?
The material spinning whirl of this galaxy was the foundation for the essential integrity that conditioned all living beings with a material form. How could this first created being, also called the 'unseen one' or the 'unborn Creator', constitute a separate person and realize that he by the mercy of the Primeval Person originated from the lotus of His navel? How is it possible that the Original Person, He who as the Lord of all energies abides in the heart of everyone, He who from within maintains, creates and annihilates the material worlds, remains untouched by His own external energy? You formerly spoke about the different worlds with their different rulers as being parts of the Great Person. What can you tell about these different rulers?

There are more questions I would like you to answer. What does a period of creation mean and how are such periods connected? What can you say about the time in relation to what we call the past, the present and the future? And what about the duration of our physical existence? Oh best among the scholars, when has the time begun and how about the indication of time in longer and shorter periods as passing with a certain activity? Living beings accumulate karma because they get fixed in their desires when they do not meditate. What is the consequence of this entanglement in de three qualities of nature? How came the ether about, the stars, our planet and the other planets with their high and low worlds of living, mountains, rivers, oceans and islands? How big is the universe, how far does the outer and inner space reach? What are the qualities and actions of the great souls and please describe the age and status groups of the system of civil identities. Can you describe the different consecutive ages, how long they take and what their special characteristics are? Which avatāras of the Person of All Persons engage in what kind of activities in each of those ages?

Can you explain what the moral duties are of society at large and what the specific duties are of the different occupations, including the wise governmental top of society? And what is our holy duty towards people in distress? What rules are there for honoring the Supreme Person and what are the rules for relating to the inner self when one unites one's consciousness in yoga? Experienced yogi's acquire special abilities. What are they and where do they lead to? How does a yogi turn away from his transcendental body, his last form of attachment, and what type of spiritual knowledge is found in the Vedas, in their corollaries, in the law books and in the collections of Vedic stories called the Purāṇas and in the specific histories called the itihāsas ? How should one build up a life, how should one maintain one's life and how should one take leave of one's life? What are the rules for performing rituals, for the performance of good works and for the management of one's self-interest? What are the rules concerning money and capital, concerning religious engagements and concerning the gratification of lust? How can souls burdened with karma start a new life again? How does one arrive at opposition with the spiritual authorities as an heretic? What does it mean to be bound or liberated and what does it mean to realize one's actual self? With the Lord being that independent, how can He out of His own will lose Himself in adventures in the form of an avatāra? And I also wonder how it is possible that He does not engage in action when He, as the Almighty One in the Beyond, only remains a witness to what goes on in the outside world?

There are many questions in my mind that I cannot all pose now, but please do not hesitate to answer them also while responding to the ones I asked. And be then, with me of surrender to your person, as truthful as you can, oh great man of wisdom. Everybody speaks from borrowed knowledge about this kind of matters, but you do not, you constitute an authentic, self-realized authority, like the self-born Lord of Creation. Your words about the Infallible Lord are like an ocean of nectar to me. I never tire of listening to them."

Teacher: "You make me, as an instrument of the Original Creator, very happy with your words and questions about these topics concerning the Supreme Truth. You are a real servant of Viṣṇu, a real Vaishnava. As I told you, this discourse about 'The Person' the way I present it to you now, from the very first page originated from the inspiration offered by the Supreme Person in the form of 'The Story of the Fortunate One', the Bhāgavatam. Not having meditated on Him as the Cause of All Causes this would not have happened. Thus brought to this adaptation to time and place, I will try to answer all the questions you posed and the ones you will ask more."

Source for this Inspiration:
S.B. Canto 2, Chapter 8






The Person

De Persoon

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