{"id":146,"date":"2007-06-06T23:05:05","date_gmt":"2007-06-06T23:05:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/?p=146"},"modified":"2013-10-06T23:07:13","modified_gmt":"2013-10-06T23:07:13","slug":"love-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/love-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"Love Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love Yourself!!!<\/span><\/p>\n

That’s an interesting title for a Krishna conscious blog-“Love Yourself.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Many devotees are under the impression that we should love Krishna and
\ndenigrate ourselves!<\/span><\/p>\n

It is understandable that they think this way because there are many
\nstatements that one may misunderstand such as:
\n1. Thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street
\n2. The soul is one ten thousandth the tip of the hair in size
\n3. The individual soul is tiny
\n4. One should be selfless
\n5. Etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also we may come in contact with people who in the name of Krishna
\nconsciousness authority denigrate us, telling us that we are useless,
\nhopeless, fallen, degraded, in maya, sense gratifiers, bhogis, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition we may be reminded about our past “wonderful” (vikarmic)
\nactivities in this world, and this remembrance will add to the negativity.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, this negativity may culminate in a lack of self esteem and even self
\nhate. This can lead to depression at worst and also deflate our enthusiasm
\nto serve Krishna as we may be think that we are a “hopeless case.”<\/span><\/p>\n

I am writing about this subject matter because many devotees have contacted
\nor talked to me about this mental state. When I hear devotees talking like
\nthis it causes tears to come to my eyes because I know that all the devotees
\nare very very dear to Krishna.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though ontologically we may be small-we are important to Krishna. We
\nare not small in Krishna’s eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Take the story of Gopa Kumar in the Brhad Bhagavatamrta for example. Krishna
\nwas feeling so much love for Gopa Kumar and so much hankering for his
\nassociation in the spiritual world, that Krishna personally became Gopa
\nKumar’s spiritual master.<\/span><\/p>\n

You may say that Gopa Kumar is a special devotee, and that is true. But, it
\nis a fact that Krishna personally is the Caitya Guru of all of us residing
\nin our hearts and personally takes the trouble to direct us to our spiritual
\nmaster.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even before we take to Krishna consciousness, Krishna is residing in the
\nheart waiting for us to realize that our real happiness is in relating to
\nHim rather than this external energy.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, Krishna considers us significant, important, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Gopa Kumar finally goes back to Krishnaloka, Krishna faints in ecstacy
\nupon receiving him. Even Krishna’s associates can not understand what is
\ngoing on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Krishna feels the same way about us.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is an interesting statement in the Isopanisad (Mantra 6):<\/span><\/p>\n

“He who sees systematically everything in relation to the Supreme Lord, who
\nsees all living entities as His parts and parcels, and who sees the Supreme
\nLord within everything never hates anything or any being.”
\nSo we are parts and parcels of Krishna. Therefore we should not hate
\nourselves. On the other hand since we are supposed to love Krishna we should
\nlove all his parts and parcels and that includes ourselves too!<\/span><\/p>\n

What does that mean, to love oneself?<\/span><\/p>\n

It means to picture or visualize or imagine how you want to be. Forget about
\nall the negativity; whether the negativity comes from yourself or from
\nothers.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you think negatively that is what you are meditating on and those
\nthoughts will impede your spiritual life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are some things you can think about:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Radha and Krishna love me and want me to be with Them in the
\nspiritual world!
\n2. Taking care of my spiritual needs will not impede my spiritual
\nprogress
\n3. Taking care of my material needs will not impede my spiritual
\nprogress
\n4. I am an eternal soul, full of bliss and knowledge!
\n5. I have an eternal relationship with Radha and Krishna and will
\nrealize this relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n

And don’t remain in a situation where others are denigrating you. You owe it
\nto yourself and to Krishna to reject situations that are unfavorable for
\nKrishna consciousness and accept favorable situations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Have positive spiritual self-esteem!<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Love Yourself!!! That’s an interesting title for a Krishna conscious blog-“Love Yourself.” Many devotees are under the impression that we should love Krishna and denigrate ourselves! It is understandable that they think this way because there are many statements that one may misunderstand such as: 1. Thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street 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":[13,35,25,36,37],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146"}],"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=146"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions\/147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}