Krishna Das – Ep. 46 – Desire and Enlightenment
Krishna Das answers questions about practice, desire, and enlightenment.
How do we balance our desires? Does a person need to travel to the other side of the world to find enlightenment? Krishna Das addresses these questions and more on this week’s episode of Pilgrim Heart.
Show Notes
Hiding the Old Man in the Blanket (Opening) – An audience member talks about her relationship with Neem Karoli Baba. Despite the love and connection that she feels to Maharajji, she finds herself hiding his picture when company comes over. What do we make of this kind of unease around sharing our practice with the those who might not get it?
“In the long run, it’s only the difficult stuff that forces us to activate our true will and wisdom. To deal with it, so it doesn’t destroy us.” – Ram Dass
Mantra and Desire (5:30) – Krishna Das talks about learning Hindi and chanting mantra correctly. He reminds us to not be so serious and sing from the heart.
What about the connection between desire and living life. Krishna Das talks about finding balance in life and not allowing natural desires to control us or cause harm. He warns how easy it is to manipulate desires and how to avoid that sort of evil in the world.
“In India they talk about the four Yugas, the four ages. These are the dark ages, as far as they are concerned. Which means the light is buried so deeply within us, that we barely know it’s there.”
Finding Enlightenment (18:05) – Is India the only place to find enlightenment? Enlightenment comes wherever you are, it’s inside of you. Krishna Das, Ram Dass, and the whole Maharajji Satsang found their way in India, but that does not mean we all have to. There are people all over the world who are able to give you all the teachings and guidance you need along the path.
Krishna Das reminds us that Enlightenment is not something we are getting to, it is our natural state of being. Our thoughts, emotions, and programming are what covers it. It is better to think of Enlightenment as something we uncover through practice, rather than a goal we reach.
“Enlightenment, you get right here; it’s where you are, wherever that is. There is nowhere to go to get it, it’s already inside of you. . . However, if you are called to India, go. Just don’t drink the water.”
