{"id":139,"date":"2007-05-27T22:52:32","date_gmt":"2007-05-27T22:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/?p=139"},"modified":"2013-10-06T22:54:52","modified_gmt":"2013-10-06T22:54:52","slug":"synchronicity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/synchronicity\/","title":{"rendered":"Synchronicity"},"content":{"rendered":"

May 27, 2007<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a philosophy going around that if you desire something enough in a
\npositive way, and you visualize it continually the universe will deliver the
\nfruits of that desire.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are some instances depicted where a man really wants something like a
\nnew sports car and he meditates on it (don’t try this!), sees it in his
\nminds eye, tries it out in his imagination, surrounds himself with picture
\nof it, etc; and lo a behold this sports car manifests one day on the gross
\nplane and he is able to possess the object of his desire.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course possessing the object of your material desire does not give you
\nhappiness. I will talk about that subject after talking about the conception
\nof the universe as one big Kalpa Vrksa (desire) tree or Aladdin’s Genie for
\neveryone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Does the universe fulfill all your desires if the desires are strong enough?<\/span><\/p>\n

There is an interesting word “synchronicity”, which means that events which
\nare not causally related (one event being the cause of the other) occur
\ntogether by the action of some unknown (in this case the universe) factor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes we are speaking about someone else, and at the same time the
\nperson calls on the phone. That would be an example of synchronicity.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, what is actually happening, and how to explain this through the lens of
\nVedic knowledge?<\/span><\/p>\n

The universe is not unconscious nor it a big genie responding to everyone’s
\nwishes, nor is it impersonal energy responding to our mental energetic
\nradiation!<\/span><\/p>\n

We know that behind all the universal functions there is Krishna as the
\ncreator, law giver, overseer, permitter, proprietor, universal Supersoul,
\nindividual Supersoul, etc. So, in other words “not a blade of grass moves
\nwithout the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Also there are 33 million demigods who control the universe under Krishna’s
\ndirection.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, why does it seem that when people desire things with great intensity and
\nthey meditate on the fruits of their desire, the universe responds to their
\ndesires? Srila Prabhupada explains this nicely in a purport:<\/span><\/p>\n

========
\nAnd so, when the living entity is bewildered in his desires, the Lord allows
\nhim to fulfill those desires, but the Lord is never responsible for the
\nactions and reactions of the particular situation which may be desired.
\nBeing in a bewildered condition, therefore, the embodied soul identifies
\nhimself with the circumstantial material body and becomes subjected to the
\ntemporary misery and happiness of life. The Lord is the constant companion
\nof the living entity as Paramatma, or the Supersoul, and therefore He can
\nunderstand the desires of the individual soul, as one can smell the flavor
\nof a flower by being near it. Desire is a subtle form of conditioning for
\nthe living entity. The Lord fulfills his desire as he deserves: Man proposes
\nand God disposes. The individual is not, therefore, omnipotent in fulfilling
\nhis desires. The Lord, however, can fulfill all desires, and the Lord, being
\nneutral to everyone, does not interfere with the desires of the minute
\nindependent living entities. Purport Bg 5.15<\/span><\/p>\n


\nThe key phrase in Prabhupada’s purport is: “The Lord fulfills his desire as
\nhe deserves\u2026”<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words if one is functioning under the laws of Karma one has a
\ncertain stock of good karma and a certain stock of bad karma. The good karma
\nwe can compare to a positive balance in our bank account.<\/span><\/p>\n

When we have a strong desire to buy something, at a certain point that
\ndesire motivates us to take the money out of our bank account so that we can
\npurchase the item. In the same way when we have a strong desire to get
\nsomething in this world, Krishna as the Supersoul is aware of this, and this
\ndesire is fulfilled, if (and this is a big if) we have enough good karma in
\nour bank account.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, when we take the good karma out of our karmic bank account, guess what?
\nThe amount of good karma in our karmic bank account is reduced by the amount
\nof the withdrawal. So after some time there will be no more good karma left
\nand we can desire till the cow jumps over the moon, but there will be no
\nresponse.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, the person who is desiring to get a new sports car, beautiful wife, etc
\nis simply exhausting the fruits of his previous pious activities. If he knew
\nthis he would be more careful about his desires!<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the same concept Krishna describes in the Gita when he describes the
\nplight of the souls who go to the heavenly planets because their good karma
\nhas bought them a vacation there. ksine punye martya-lokam visanti (Gita
\n9.21)-When their good Karma runs out they get kicked out of heaven and have
\nto come back here.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, what about the devotee’s desires? A devotee has no bad or good karma.
\nAll karma bad and good is eradicated even by namabhasa chanting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Krishna reciprocates with a devotees desires, but He will only fulfill those
\ndesires that are helpful to the devotee’s spiritual progress.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, it is important for devotees to have proper desires and the stronger the
\ndevotional desire is the quicker that desire will be fulfilled.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is a desire? Oftentimes we confuse thoughts with desires, or we confuse
\nwishes with desires. A desire is something you really want with your heart
\nand soul. Of course there are degrees of intensity of desires. When someone
\nwants something with great intensity that is called in Sanskrit laulyam (or
\nintense greed). Tatra laulyam ekalam mulam; Prabhupada describes this
\nintense greed for pure devotional service as the “best path available.”<\/span><\/p>\n

How do we develop this intense greed? In the material world greed is
\ndeveloped by the process of thinking, feeling and willing.<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words we think of something (take some food like pizza for
\nexample). The more we think about (contemplate) that sense object the more
\nwe get attached to it (Gita 2.62).<\/span><\/p>\n

Then we begin to feel that object of our senses. In the case of pizza we
\nbegin to salivate and almost taste it as we are visualizing our interacting
\nwith that object.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then the stage of willing comes where the desire is so intense, we act.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Krishna consciousness, we contemplate Krishna, His Pastimes, His
\ndevotees, His service, etc-all in a very positive joyous way.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is very important. If we are negative we are meditating on a negative
\nand this is what we will get-a negative. In other words if we are
\ncontemplating giving up this or not thinking about that we will develop a
\nstronger attachment to this or that by that negative contemplation.<\/span><\/p>\n

After contemplation of Krishna in a positive way we enter the stage of
\nfeelings. What does that mean?<\/span><\/p>\n

We picture ourselves the way we want to be.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just like the person who really wants a new sports car will envision himself
\nseated at the driver’s seat zooming down the highway with the top down.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, we picture (visualize) ourselves performing the nine processes of bhakti
\nwith great attention and devotion. We visualize ourselves as enthusiastic
\npreachers. We visualize ourselves as humble servants of our spiritual
\nmaster.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course when we come to the stage of Raganuga Bhakti the visualizations
\nand meditations change. But, the principle is the same.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you picture yourself in this way, the intensity of your desire will
\nincrease.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only can you picture yourself in this way, you can also picture others
\nas advanced Vaisnavas. Your expectation for them will shape them too. Not
\nonly because the expectation will be communicated by you, but also because
\nif you are a real Vaisnava and you desire some good fortune for someone
\nelse, Krishna will reciprocate with your intense desire.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

One example of this can be found in Srila Prabhupada’s pastimes is that when
\nhe arrived in the United States he had a vision of 108 temples. His
\nmeditation was so intense that he understood that these temples already
\nexisted. He expressed this very clearly when he stated: “We have 108
\ntemples. Only time separates us.” He also envisioned devotees, books,
\nsankirtan parties, and the rest.<\/span><\/p>\n

His vision became a physical reality. Krishna fulfills the desires of His
\npure devotees.<\/span><\/p>\n

We need to develop an intense internal vision and an intense external (the
\nentire world taking up Krishna consciousness) vision of Krishna
\nconsciousness. These wishes will come true. Krishna will fulfill them.<\/span><\/p>\n

When our meditation\/vision is harmonious with Krishna’s desires, success is
\nsure.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May 27, 2007 There is a philosophy going around that if you desire something enough in a positive way, and you visualize it continually the universe will deliver the fruits of that desire. There are some instances depicted where a man really wants something like a new sports car and he meditates on it (don’t read more>><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[21,28],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":140,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions\/140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}