" Dhyana yoga is like the privacy of the couple after their wedding. The people in dhyana yoga banish the society. They don't want society; they want privacy like the newly wed couple who is alone, away from society. Strictly speaking, they must be alone without any interference from society. The couple is far away from society. Wedding is celebrated amidst society - printing wedding cards, invitations, decorations, arrangements, attendance, welcome etc. Soon after the show is over, they need privacy. Nobody has a place there! The Vedic scriptures give this example while explaining about dhyana yoga. Except the sadhaka and his Ishtha (person in dhyana yoga and his deity), the whole world is void and non existent. They don't need the world. The gopikas forgot about the world; they rejected the world. Mira Bai also followed the same path of gopikas. 'Mere Giridhar Gopala doosara na koyi '(except my Lord Krishna, there is nobody else). She gave up the world and societal customs and obligations. She even rejected the status of a princess, left the palace and the royal relatives. In fact she left behind everybody who was hers at one time. She thought there is only one person who is hers - Gopala! "

" That is the importance of dhyana yoga! Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would teach about dhyana yoga in Pandit Srinivasa's house while he was deeply immersed in dhyana. The conversation on dhyana yoga can take place only in the presence of rasikas. Without rasikas, the effect of dhyana yoga is lost. There is no use of teaching about dhyana. That's why he used Yogamaya everyday. Before he reached that place at around 10 a.m. everyday, he would send yogamaya. That maya enters inside the people who are unnecessary, disinterested and unrelated. It makes them feel 'why am I here, listening to this useless talk? What do I gain? I can do other works or relax. What will I get from these sanyasis?' Yogamaya does not do anything externally. It does not physically push him out. He will retaliate if you ask him to leave! It works silently from within them. Finally about 7-8 deserving sadhakas only remain. Chaitanya would close the door from inside. The doors would be open only after the session. "

" Number is not important; rasikatwa is important. This means the sadhaka must realize the importance of dhyana and yearn for it, become one with it. He is a rasika! He must yearn for oneness with God when he listens about God. The people who reach that stage may be only a handful, it does not matter. Even those few people reaching that state are a great achievement. One must understand the real secret of dhyana yoga. The opposite of dhyana yoga desires society. Vivekananda confidently stated in Chicago that 'the crux of Christianity is dhyana yoga only; nothing else.' Nobody contradicted him, not even the bishops and arch bishops. 'I am quoting Jesus Christ from the Bible - Go into your room. Close the doors and pray in secret.' Christianity is spreading all over the world only due to these three principles. 'Go into your room.' This has an external and inner meaning too. It implies solitude. Pray in solitude near your beloved. "

" Each one who enters bhava loka has his own bhava. This tattwa belongs to the world of bhava, the highest plane. There are infinite bhavas in that world. There are six rasas -santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya, madhura and madini. All the six rasas do not apply to everybody. Depending on the inherent path of man, that particular bhava deha is formed within him and they become bhavukas. Everybody does not attain bhavadeha. We don't have bhava deha now. "

" The gopikas adopt nissadhana sadhana (sadhana without sadhana). Though they are among their family, they are always in Krishna bhava. How did the gopikas reach that state? Because they are bhavukas! That is the secret. Once he has the bhava, there is no sadhana. He remains in that bhava. It is God's responsibility to provide the yearning and strength to remain in bhava. We can't do anything ourselves. The little child does not ask her mother for milk or food. The mother takes care of the child's needs on her own. That is her duty. This is the beauty of nissadhana sadhana. God provides the sustenance every moment. "

" Our destination is prema bhakti, devotional love. Once we went to meet a mahatma, Goswami, the chief of 150 priests in Banke Biharji temple in Brindavan. He said 'Brindavan dham is the dham of love and devotion. That is what we want. Once you obtain devotion with love, he will come to you. Shyam cannot stay away from you. So why do you talk about Krishna? We are not interested. We want to preserve our devotion. He will come to us. He is not present there, where there is no love and devotion. He will never leave the place where there is love and devotion. This is the secret of tattwa. Concentrate on devotion. "

" Devotion means being in God's presence. Where is God? He is on the other side of maya, not within maya. The human being is in maya. God is beyond maya. He is above the three gunas. Only devotion is present in his world. By nature, devotion is above the three gunas and maya. So if one has devotion, it means he does not belong to these 14 worlds of maya. He has no link with the world which contains the three base modes. Devotion is at such a highest plane. The real sadhana is to attain that highest devotion. We will obtain whatever we need automatically. We need not have any desire for God. "

" The little boy Rehman had some inherent virtuous quality (of previous births). Otherwise, at that young age, he did not bother when his father was beating him; he did not care when he was not given food; he did not care when he was made to wear only a small loin cloth in the biting winter cold. He lost all attachments towards his house and people. He left the house in the freezing cold. Pramod Kumar Chattopadhyaya described the sanctity of this love. 'I realized the importance of the love and devotion by experience. Though I was in Arobindo Ashram for 45-50 years, I actually understand the true form, the real secret, the rasa tattwa of love and devotion only now. "

" Rasa tattwa is the highest. Once the rasa awakens in the heart, it belongs to the highest order. How will this rasa arise? Only through dhyana yoga! Radha is the personification of rasa! That is why She is praised thus: "

" Since we say Raseswari, Rasamandali, Rasa jagat - Radha is related only to rasa. In this description from Devi Bhagawata in Her praise, there is no mention of the name Radha anywhere. That's the great wonder! "

" The entire verse is praise of Radha but there is no mention of Her name. Why? Because Radha is not Her name! No form has the name of Radha. It is a title given to Her! Mother's actual name is Sarveswari. Only the Sriji temple member truly realized Her! Their magazine is also known as Sarveswari.(Sarva Eswari - Sovereign of all !)What about Krishna? She is the sovereign of Krishna too! She is in no way inferior to him. She is the Sovereign. That is why there is one temple, Sevakunj where Krishna is seen serving Her feet. He holds Her feet and presses them. Do not understand this from the physical perspective. The bhava implied is that everybody surrenders to rasa. That is the greatness of rasa tattwa! Once he tastes that rasa, he cannot live without it. "

" Once Ramakrishna Paramahamsa had the experience of rasa tattwa; just once. Mother did not grant it to him again. As days passed, his state became miserable. 'Mother, it is Tuesday evening, you did not come so far. I did not have your darshan. Your darshan means, you in the form of rasa tattwa.' He was weeping because he did not experience rasa. He was fed up of his life. 'My life is useless. My mother did not grant me Her darshan because I lack the eligibility. Then what is the use of this life'. He was in Kalimandir. He took a huge sword to chop off his head, weeping 'I cannot live like this anymore, away from you'. When his sword came half way towards his head, a tender hand wearing bangles and with divine perfume held his hand and stopped him. He turned back. He could not see any form; only aura! He went into Samadhi. So rasatattwa is very great. It is beyond our imagination. "

" The last 12 days of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's life are recorded in a book. The author went to London, visited the Indian High Commissioner's office, the museum and the inscriptions on palm leaves and then printed the book in English. The book narrates the last 12 days of his life. We can't imagine what power he had! He proved that power of rasa is beyond imagination. He gathered a few of his close associates and said 'In 15 days, I want the light of devotion to shine in every house. Disperse in all the four directions and return within 10-15 days. You must visit each and every house. Light the lamp of devotion in every house'. They only went . They did not even know what happened! Some power overcame them. When they spoke a few words and sang God's name a few times, people became mad with ecstasy and followed them wherever they went. We can't even imagine the power of that loving devotion! "

" Prabhupada, a Bengali, came to Brindavan from Kolkata at the age of 65 years. He did penance in Brindavan and finally went to America to spread the religion. He realized that not even a dog looked at him for one year. He was all alone, without money, without food and clothes. He sat alone in the biting cold on the pavement, in the streets of America with just a box containing some books. The Americans even published this photo in their local newspaper. This is the initial life of the great guru! He was sitting alone with a depressed expression on his face. Within a few days, thousands of people flocked behind him with frenzied madness. That madness was to such an extent that they constructed a golden temple for their guru spending several millions of rupees. He, who did not even have a morsel of food now has a golden temple! When God showered his grace and granted him the power of rasa; his whole life was transformed. When Mother showers Her grace; the impossible becomes possible. "

" My deity is Radhadevi. My Mother is all pervading. There is no such place where She is not present. She is present here this moment. When Prahlada's father (Hiranyakasapa) asked him where God is, the little boy smiled and replied, 'Father, My God is not visible to your eyes. He is present everywhere. There is no doubt that he is here, there, everywhere. My God is not an ordinary person. If he is a man, he can be defined by height. But he is all pervading. He is formless. He is listening to us as we are speaking now. That is why I can show you my God wherever you want." His father pointed out to a pillar and asked him to show God in the pillar. 'Ok'. The Lord shattered that iron pillar and came out. That is the incarnation of Lord Narasimha! "

" God is always all pervading. Our duty is to worship the all pervading God. You may have an idol. There is nothing wrong in that. But when you contemplate on a small form; you will become small and again take birth as human being. If you do dhyana on the all prevailing God, he will grant you darshan and you will attain moksha. So don't love small objects. If you love small objects, you will be born as a small man again and again. This is clearly shown in the life of Sage Jada Bharatha. He brought a little deer and looked after it. When he was dying, his only worry was about the deer; that who would look after the deer when he died. He took birth as a deer! 'Yadbhavo tadbhavati' - so the bhava, so is the result! Wife, children, family - love them but remember that 'if you love small object, you will be born as a small object'. The scriptures particularly stress on this point - Yadbhavo tadbhavati. You cannot reach the higher object, the all pervading Mother. So don't love small objects. "

" Adi Sankaracharya traveled all over India. When he was about to attain siddhi, he wrote a verse. "

" You have mother and father as long as this body is present. But this body will perish after sometime. You must shed this body when you die. Once the body is destroyed, you have no link with them. You (soul) will leave the body behind here and leave. You will be born again, somewhere else. Now they will be your mother and father. Again for how long? Till the body remains. Then you will leave them also! So everything is only as long as your body is present, otherwise there is nothing. So you must contemplate on the all pervading God. Don't have excessive love for small objects and small people. The scriptures mention that man is one among the living beings. He loves many things - house, vehicle, brother, relatives. He thinks that they all belong to him. When he loves so many objects, his mind has so many thoughts. He wishes for many things, so his mind is filled with these thoughts. When the mind is filled with so many thoughts, it is no longer pure. When you wish for some object, it forms an image on the mind and appears in your dream. In this way, every man has 500 - 600 impressions on the mind. Then how can you be peaceful and calm? How can you concentrate? These thoughts repeatedly come back to you in your dreams. You think of your relatives sickness; your own illness; you weep when your wife or son dies ....... this is life. You have no peace. "

" One day, a lady came to Buddha. 'My life is full of sorrow. My husband, two sons and a daughter are dead. I am in deep sorrow.' 'Bring me a handful of cumin seeds tomorrow morning. I will add some medicine to it and give it to you. You will not have any sorrows. You must bring seeds from different houses. While taking them, be sure to ask whether they have some suffering or sorrow in their house. If they have, do not accept the seeds from them. They are not useful.' She traveled house to house in the whole village. 'You are ready to give me the seeds. But please tell me whether you have any sorrows or any problems at your home.' 'Of course. My son died. I lost my property. I lost everything'. 'Then I cannot take the seeds from you.' She went all over the village in search of seeds but could not find even a single house where there is no suffering. Each one had some problem, some suffering and some sorrow. Then she realized 'this is why Buddha gave me this exercise. He wanted me to understand that not only in my house, there is suffering in every house.' She came near Buddha, bowed to him and left. "

" So if you love small objects, worldly objects, you are left with suffering only. Our duty is to love and do dhyana on Sri Radha devi, the all pervading Sovereign of the world of rasa. She is the supreme deity worshipped by Krishna himself. She is unparalleled. There is nothing that She does not know or cannot do. There are things which Rama and Krishna cannot do. But there is nothing which is not possible for Her to accomplish. 'Krishnena aradhyathethi Radha' - She is Radha because She is worshipped by Krishna. She is filled in all worlds. There is no place where She is not present. She is all pervading! She is with you, here today and in America tomorrow. She is with you wherever you go. Radha is all pervading! We must worship only Radhaji who is the embodiment of rasa sakthi and provides rasa to us. "