Association with Heaven or Hell

The principle of association is really a beautiful thing, one should learn early in spiritual life to avoid bad company, like is said one knows a man by the company he keeps. But what about the company one keeps on the mental level. We learn from Bhaktivinode Thakur that the heavenly and hellish worlds are emanations from a particular potency of the Lord, this creation inacts in such a way as in an interaction with the human mind who is in freedom. The contents of our mind is the result of what Emanuel Swedenborg calls influx. In a atheistic naturalist influx is primarily ascribed to the senses of the body and the external world. One who is a little elevated in spiritual life ascribes influx to the spiritual world. The first teaching of yoga is that we are not our bodies, further we are not our minds either. Understanding influx helps the process of disindentifying with the mind because one comes to understand that what enters the mind enters from either Heavenly or Hellish societies. Likewise we first learn to be mindful of the association of our bodies with other physical beings as we are in the process of disidentifying with our bodies, further we can learn to watch our association on the level of the mind as we are disindentifying with our subtle body. It is beautiful that one has the opportunity to avoid the association of hell even when one is not directly met with it in any particular physical scenario, one simply recognisises the thought - that is not heavenly influx - and chooses to disassociate from it, as this battle is won the opposing heavenly state is 'plugged in' in its place. In this way a persons mind can be gradually raised into love by the understanding of the will. One should chant and always remember the Lord and his devotees, because by chanting their names and remembering them we are associating with them and their good qualities.

Contemplations on Maha-Mantra

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare In the Maha Mantra it can be understood that Rama indicates Balarama, Krishnas brother Ananta Sesh or Nityananda in relation to Sri Krishna Chaitanya. In 'teachings of Lord Chaitanya' Srila Prabhupada states in the Introduction "That maha-Vishnu who lies on the Causal Ocean is actually an expansion of Balarama, who is Krishnas first expansion, and, in the Vrndavana pastimes, is the brother of Krishna. In the Maha-Mantra Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, the word Rama refers to Balarama." But how are we, especially those of Christian background to understand Krishna having a brother and what is the significance of chanting his name? And how is it that all the names Hare, Krishna, and Rama indicate that one supreme inseparable Lord of the Universe? These are questions I came to consider after discussing Balarama with my Christian mother, and the Lord enlightened me to some degree while reading Emanuel Swedenborgs 'The New Jerusalem and the Heavenly Doctrine'. We are to understand from Christianity that their are two commandments on which all other commandments are for the purpose of serving, these are love to the Lord, and Love to the Neighbour. Further it is understood from Swedenborgs teachings that Love is manifested in use or service for what is Love if not expressed through use or service? Use is it's container. It is important to understand who is the neighbour to be loved, Swedenborg explains "What the Neighbour is must first be told; for it is the neighbour who is to be loved and towards whom charity is to be exercised. For unless one knows what the neighbour is, one may exercise charity in a similar way without any discrimination towards the evil as well as the good, and in that case, charity becomes no charity; for the evil, thanks to the benefactions they receive, do evil to the neighbour, but the good do good." further he explains love to the neighbour is expressed in higher and higher degrees depending on what you could say is the consciousness of he who is exercising charity or love toward him. In the first degree that neighbour is an individual, then a higher degree of Love to the neighbour is Love to a society, that society being loved for the goods of uses it performs, higher still is love to the neighbour as ones country, higher still is the Church, higher still is The Lords Kingdom and then in the highest sense The Lord himself is the neighbour to be loved. I believe this is what is meant by 'Rama' Rama represents love towards the neighbour which in the highest sense indicates love towards the Lord as neighbour, hence why it is said Krishna and Balarama are non-different, also why Balarama is the representative emanation of the spiritual master for the neighbour is more the neighbour when he is more in Love and Wisdom from the Lord and the spiritual master is the embodiment of that individual who is the neighbour to be loved. The perfection of the Maha-Mantra runs deeper however as we see that 'Hare' indicates the energy of the Lord which personified is Radha. Hare is the use, the service itself otherwise called the Holy Spirit, Swedenborg explains The Father Son and Holy Spirit is Soul, Body and Operation, that operation is that service which contains that Love in it, what is Love towards God or Love towards the Neighbour if not expressed in service or use, when one really Loves they can feel this urge saying 'Yes I Love, what can I DO?' What can I do, this is this Holy Spirit. Use can be expressed in infinate ways as many as there are spritual sparks of consciousness in the entirety, use is unique to each individual, but without Love of God, indicated by 'Krishna' it has no meaning as Radha has no meaning without Krishna. 'Hare' "Krishna' and 'Rama'