<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
By Praghosa dasa<\/strong><\/p>\n Something that every embodied soul has in common is their search for love and affection but how many of us know where to find that love, affection, shelter, security and bliss of real loving reciprocation?<\/p>\n It is generally understood that when a child cries or a husband gets moody, a wife becomes demanding or a teenager becomes rebellious, it is often a hidden plea for some attention.<\/p>\n This desire for attention manifests in many odd ways in today’s world. In the last few years there has been the phenomena of reality TV wherein people will literally do the most absolutely bizarre things to get some attention. Attention via this medium is of course the poor, impoverished relation of real love, a genuine pauper, and in the case of reality TV often those seeking such attention become little more than freaks in a freak show. While reality TV is not the only culprit offering false imitations of love, it does somehow encapsulate the obvious desperation of the lost souls need for being loved. It should also be mentioned that we do not have to focus exclusively on the non devotee community to observe this phenomena, I am sure that we all have experience of this dynamic in our devotee communities, indeed it is likely that most of us have also cried out for such attention ourselves. As devotees we know that this love that is being sought cannot be found in any endeavour that does include discussion about the supreme Personality of Godhead;<\/p>\n \u201cKrsna is our most intimate master, friend, father or son and object of conjugal love. Forgetting Krsna, we have created so many objects of questions and answers, but none of them are able to give us complete satisfaction. All things–but Krsna–give temporary satisfaction only, so if we are to have complete satisfaction we must take to the questions and answers about Krsna.<\/p>\n SB 1.2.5 purport<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Srila Prabhupada also mentions that whether we are an insignificant ant or Lord Brahma we can never be happy seeking love in this material world as no matter what plans and arrangements we make they will all be fully thwarted by the relentless march of time.<\/p>\n Devotees of Krsna are so fortunate, not least because of their awareness of this relentless march of time, so naturally (even though still prone to material allurements) they know that real happiness cannot be found in this temporary world. How unfortunate though are those souls who are not even aware of this reality? What to speak of actually trying to addressing it as they relentlessly engage in the futile pursuit of trying to become happy by endeavouring to become the centre of the universe, the centre of all attention.<\/p>\n While we know that when the senses are engaged in this way they are effectively out of control;<\/p>\n Under the spell of illusion, living entities are trying to be lords of all they survey, but actually they are dominated by the material energy of the Lord. The Lord is the master of material nature, and the conditioned souls are under the stringent rules of material nature. Unless one understands these bare facts, it is not possible to achieve peace in the world either individually or collectively. <\/p>\n SB 5.29 purport<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Still many times Srila Prabhupada stresses how the vast majority of people are more or less innocent and are lacking direction. So what a sad and paradoxical scenario we have, wherein unlimited numbers of living entities are all searching for that which we are all looking for, that which can only satisfy our real needs and interests yet due to a lack of direction are instead making rapid progress toward achieving the exact opposite of what they need and crave.<\/p>\n In that sense the material world is the mother of all frauds and unless we have the good fortune and insight to accept the help of one who knows the science of self realisation we will end up attracted to that which will simply result in further suffering.<\/p>\n The moth is captivated by the glaring beauty of the fire, and when he comes to enjoy it, the blazing fire consumes him. <\/p>\n SB 2.2.17 purport<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Even as practising devotees we have to remain vigilant and always be eager to deal with our anarthas. The essence is to always remain fixed in servant as opposed to master conciousness, otherwise even as we advance pitfalls remain. We understand that there are four main anarthas of which weakness of the heart is the first and a few manifestations of weakness of the heart are – attachment to objects which have no relationship to Krsna and the desire for recognition. So we can see that while desiring recognition maybe a plea for wanting real love, in and of itself it is not enough, we have to eventually turn it from a selfish desire to a selfless one. This of course is a bona fide part of the Krsna conscious process \u2013 facing such anarthas head on and not trying to avoid them or convincing ourselves that they are something negative in our spiritual journey.<\/p>\n So all of us are in need of direction, whether we are taking the first and even unknown steps in spiritual life or whether we have been endeavouring on the bhakti-marg for many years. And what better direction or instruction for all of us than the following definition of love (what we are all searching for) as given by Rupa Goswami;<\/p>\n \u201cto give everything and expect nothing in return\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Srila Prabhupada tells us that the closest we’ll find to real love (spiritual love) in this material world is the love shown by a mother to her child, which generally means she gives everything and expects nothing in return. Such selfless service as evidenced by a mothers love for her child is also often – ahaituky apratihata<\/em> \u2013 unmotivated and uninterrupted, which when transferred to our service to Krsna results in us being completely satisfied.<\/p>\n When there is not a single hint of any personal motivation or selfish agenda in our service to Krsna, everyone is ever-increasingly blissful and satiated. The whole philosophy of sambhoga<\/em> (meeting) and vipralambha<\/em> (separation) between Krsna and His pure devotees is such an amazing science of how the interaction between these two elements can result in unlimited and unimaginable ecstasy. The emotions evoked by the agony of separation are the very reason why the bliss of meeting is ever intensified and vice versa.<\/p>\n We understand that this material world is a perverted reflection of the spiritual world and we can see how perverse the search for love in the material world is when compared to what is available to us in the spiritual world.<\/p>\n So whether it be reality TV, a house by the sea, a career in DC or a bomb mission in Govi (indas) all are painful substitutes for the genuine article. Let me elaborate on the ‘bomb mission’ in Govindas.<\/p>\n Recently in one of our Govinda’s restaurants, shortly before closing time, a staff member (Pancajanya) came across a bag in one of the bathrooms. They thought it looked suspicious so they phoned me (I was out of the country at the time) and explained how they could see wires and metal tubes inside the bag and while they were no experts, they thought it was either a bomb or something passing off as a bomb. Being the good boss that I am :) I told Panca to get everyone out of the building and I would call the police. Panca responded by saying \u201cOh don’t call the police, it is probably nothing and they will either laugh at me or worse get on my case for wasting their time, maybe I should just go and have a closer look at it myself?\u201d To which I replied \u201cWell why didn’t you have a closer look at it when you first saw it?\u201d To which Panca answered \u201cBecause I thought it was a bomb\u201d \u201cWell [I said] so you now want me to agree that you go back up and have a closer look at something you thought was a bomb? I don’t think so………\u201d<\/p>\n With that I called the police and within minutes two uniformed officers arrived and went upstairs to look at the suspicious object and they concluded (the same as Panca had) yep that looks suspicious \u2013 we’re not touching it! So they called in some plain clothes detectives (not sure what difference a change of dress makes) who also went up and had a look and they then concluded – yep that looks suspicious \u2013 we’re not touching it! Next the army bomb disposal unit were called in and they sent two of their members up to have a look at the dubious package and surprise surprise they also concluded that – yep that looks suspicious \u2013 we’re not touching it! At this point they evacuated the whole street and all the buildings on it. Now we had a full-scale alert on our hands. The next step was they put on their special suits and sent one of their robots up to check the bag and yes you guessed it the robot came out and said – yep that looks suspicious \u2013 I’m not touching it :)<\/p>\n At this point I was getting a little worried because either it was a bomb and the whole building would be history or it was a hoax but they might decide to do a ‘controlled explosion’ which would still result in significant damage. In my mind I was rehearsing the phone call to the insurance company the next day and all I was hearing back was \u201cUnfortunately your policy does not cover you for acts of terrorism\u201d……..<\/p>\n As I was out of town while all this was going on, my only means of influence was via the phone with one of the detectives at the scene. I was pleading with him to avoid the controlled explosion scenario at all costs. As it happened the robot concerned was able to x-ray the bag and the conclusion was that there were no explosives inside, therefore they removed the bag without any damage whatsoever. They then sealed off the bathrooms and did a full ‘forensic sweep’.<\/p>\n Below you can see fotos from the restaurant of Dublin where it all happened. There are also fotos of the new one (which is now the 3rd Govindas restaurant in Dublin). Click on the thumbs to see the pictures enlarged<\/font><\/p>\n