Welcome to the 2010 Raas Purnima issue of e-Sanai

By

Sri Sandip Dasgupta

Joy Babathakur. Joy Babathakur. Joy Babathakur.

Welcome to the Raaspurnima issue of e-Sanai. With this issue, we are completing our second year of existence. With His everlasting blessings, we are now receiving articles from many new people and this is very encouraging for us. The effort that our editors (Smt. Sroddha Patranabis and Sri Anjan Dasgupta – even after having relocated to India) have put into this magazine is simply commendable. On the advice of Saccidananda Society, Kolkata, we are renaming our magazine as e-Sanai.

Coincidentally, it is also the first anniversary of the departure of the mundane existence of our Master. However He had always told us that He is “Nitya Vartaman” – always present. In the past year, I can personally say that I have thought much more about Him, His teachings and tried to reflect on them more than ever before. I can also honestly say that when I have done that sincerely, my mind has cleared up significantly and I have been able to function much better as an individual. That in my mind is indeed “Nitya Vartaman” as He continues to guide us and function amongst all of us, all the time.

According to Sri Sri Babathakur, ‘Raas Leela’ means Divine Sport. It was enacted at Vrindavan on Raaspurnima. It was a spiritual performance on the transcendental level, the plane of YogaMaya. Lord Krishna had expanded himself in many forms and stood besides each Gopi (milkmaid) placing His hands on the shoulders of the gopis on both sides of Him and then began dancing in their midst. Each gopi thought that Krishna was dancing with her alone’.

Sri Sri Babathakur’s august proclamation “All Divine For All Time As It Is” is actually a summation of the Raas Leela that is happening all of the time in this world. If we consider each and every individual in this world to be the “individual I-Reality”, then all the players of this world are nothing but Sri Krishna personified – only that we are not aware of that true nature. Personalities like our Master are ever conscious of their true nature and are constantly reminding us of that because of divine love. Sri Sri Babathakur further proclaimed that this Leela is happening all the time, ceaselessly – and while this Leela is happening, the Divine itself doesn’t change. Perhaps this will be better clarified by some examples from our mundane world:

• Can we draw a circle without a center? However there can be many many circles with the same center! In some respects, the circle owes its existence to its center. Even if you change the circle (expand, color it etc.), the center remains as it is.
• A gold ornament owes its existence to the gold that it is made up of. The same gold ornament can be melted and transformed into a completely different ornament – but the original gold always remains the same.
• A wave in the ocean, owes its existence to the water. The wave changes in shape, size, appearance – but the water remains the same.

Just like the circle, the gold ornaments and the wave – each individual “I-Reality” owes its existence to the “Absolute I-Reality” – Brahman/Absolute, whose nature is Sat-Cit-Ananda (Always True, Always Conscious and full of Bliss). Therefore Sri Sri Babathakur repeatedly told us to keep some time away in daily life to meditate on our true nature and to get a taste of that Bliss that is present in Saccidananda. We do get similar bliss in our sleep – but we are not conscious of it at that time and hence do not receive the same benefit that we would were we to reflect on the ever present “I”, consciously.