The Supreme Secret

The cinema theater is dark except for the huge, brightly lit screen. We are there to watch a science fiction thriller. As the events unfold on the screen, we are absorbed into the movie. We smile, laugh, cry and despair with the characters; we search frantically, but in vain, for the answer to the shrouded mystery in the movie. Finally, in the last scene, when the answer is revealed, when the “twist” in the tale is presented, our eyes light up in wonder. How did we miss that! The clues were everywhere, yet no one noticed. The twist was clearly obvious, but no one saw it coming. The answer was there all along, apparent yet cloaked.

If a mere human director can make his prime secret hidden yet plainly obvious to those who can “see”, then what to say of the Master Director of the entire creation? Although He is most merciful and willing to easily give whatever is asked for, yet it seems that He loves to conceal His most valuable gifts in ways that are revealed only to those who truly and deeply desire to find them. And rightfully so, for that is what preserves their value.

For example, Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji says, “If one’s urge to attain God is absolutely true, it will definitely take him to the holy feet of a Self-Realized Guru. Conversely , if a person seeking spiritual guidance is stuck in a wrong place it simply means that his urge for God realization is not true and the wish for a Self-Realized Guru has not arisen in that birth.”

The password to unlocking all the secrets of life is simply nurturing a burning desire to find the answers. It is completely hack-proof; simply because the “burning” desire cannot be faked. But thanks to the compassion of great saints who have actually unlocked those secrets, we can be aware (if we wish) of their existence.

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Among such deeply veiled truths about the Lord, the shining crown jewel is that of Love. The hidden fact here is that it is only through love that the Lord can be easily captured. The Master Director here gives us hints about this in our everyday lives. In life, we see that it is only love that moves people to accomplish great things. A touching poem, a stunning portrait, a heartrending song are all invariably the products of that beautiful emotion. World-changing movements, path-breaking organizations, even successful businesses are the result of one person’s love (for a person, for a thing, for a cause, for money, for power).

Is it any surprise then that this subtle yet most powerful emotion of all, Love, when directed towards the Lord can actually tie and pull Him right to us? Love showered on the Lord in any form— as a child, as a friend, as a master, as the beloved—can equally bestow His company on us.  And only to prove and demonstrate this to us did He come down as the endearing, mischievous, brave, handsome, valiant, clever, intelligent Lord Sri Krishna, a personification of Love. In that incarnation, He showed time and again that He (the boundless) could be bound only by the cord of Love, as He was by Yashoda, by Radha and the Gopis, Arjuna and the Pandavas, Uddhava, Kuchela and numerous others. And simply due to His compassion, knowing that it is hard for us worldly folks to imagine the Lord as our son, friend or beloved, He actually played those roles so that all we have to do is simply  direct our hearts to Him through His stories.

Sri Swamiji, in a beautiful kirtan of his, Sangaruchir manava, says , “If you desire the company of a beautiful child, seek the company of the Divine Child of Gokula; if you desire the company of a handsome young man, seek the company of the Lord of Radha; if you desire the company of a scholar, seek the company of the disciple of Sandeepani; if you yearn for the company of a valiant one, seek the company of the charioteer of Arjuna; if you desire the company of the most affluent person, seek the company of the Lord of Lakshmi; if you desire the company of the most beautiful lady, seek the company of the Lord who deluded the Asuras in the form of Mohini…”

The Lord has made each one of us capable of immense, intense love. But His secret desire is that we should shower Him, and none else, with it. When will we ever do it?

Nisha Giri, Houston TX