All-famous yet shy, heroic yet respectful, happy yet grave, the supreme controller yet controlled by love; these are just some of the transcendental qualities found in the person of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such combinations of qualities rock the very foundation of our materialistic experience of qualities exhibited within the three modes of material nature, and meditation on such qualities elevates the consciousness to the transcendental abode of the Lord.
Our acharyas advise us to meditate deeply on the Lord’s nama (Name), rupa (form), guna (qualities) and lila (pastimes). As devotees of ISKCON, our daily activities given by Srila Prabhupada are built around remembrance of these aspects of the Lord. We chant a prescribed number of rounds to meditate on the Lord’s holy name, we see the Deity form of the Lord in the temple to fix His form in our minds, and we can read and hear about the qualities and pastimes of the Lord from books and classes.
While all these aspects are essential, we can discern that they appeal to different aspects of our being in different degrees. The Lord’s form is especially pleasing to our eyes and sense of artistry. The holy name is not only pleasing to hear, it is like a shower of cooling rain for our whole being, soothing the pangs of material tribulations. The pastimes of the Lord are especially pleasing to the mind and intelligence, enlivening us with the wonder of the Lord’s activities.
The special attraction of the Lord’s qualities, however, is in the attraction to our emotions and our innermost feelings for exchanges of love with other people. By meditating deeply on the Lord’s qualities of compassion, mercy, strength, happiness, shyness, respect, truthfulness etc, our emotional attachments, that have been battered and troubled by material attachments from time immemorial, find their true repose in the deeply satisfying qualities of the Lord.
In the world of business, it is said that people will buy on emotion, and then justify later with logic; it is emotion that impels people to take action and make a change in their lives. It is also said that family affection is the basis for economic development, because it is the emotion that the parents feel for the child that is the real motivation to work for the child’s future, not merely the intellectual understanding of the child’s dependance on them.
Discussion of personal qualities is the most intensely personal experience possible, because only a person has personal qualities. Even in mundane dealings, people are not as interested in the quantity of a famous person’s wealth or achievements, as they are in the discussion of their qualities. There is some enjoyment in hearing about the inventions of a famous scientist, or the compositions of a famous musician, but people’s ears really spring up when there is some inside information into the actual person’s qualities, whether honest or cheating, religious or irreligious, expert or clumsy, forgiving or quick to bear a grudge, self-controlled or having uncontrolled senses.
Similarly, in spiritual life, it is the personal qualities and emotional exchanges between the devotee and the Lord, or between devotee and devotee, that really touches the heart and gives an intense desire to further experience this sweet exchange. The other side of this is the message that comes from devotees who have unfortunately drifted away from devotional service. They often say that they felt emotionally unfulfilled in the association of devotees, even though they believe the philosophy; again it is the emotional exchange or lack thereof, that impels people to act.
Krishna gives us the insight in the Bhagavad–gita where he explains that we can only give up the lower taste of material rasa or relationship, when we experience the higher taste of spiritual emotion. Rasa varjam raso py asya, param dristva nivartate. Knowing our true existence as infinitesimal spirit souls, who are prone to be attracted at any time by either spiritual or material emotions, we can take proactive steps to ensure that our minds always stay fixed in the thought of the qualities of the Lord.
Krishna gives another indication of how important qualities are by exlaining that the cause of our future happiness or suffering is a direct result of the qualities we are associating with right now, either materialistic or spiritual. Karanam guna sango ‘sya, sad-asad yoni janmasu. At any moment we can decide to replace our association with the various material qualities, or gunas, and associate with the transcendental gunas of the Lord.
This experience is open to us at every moment, we merely need to take advantage of the opportunity to immerse our minds and emotions in the sublime qualities of Lord Sri Krishna. Srila Prabhupada has mercifully given us the Nectar of Devotion which is full of the descriptions of Sri Krishna’s loving dealings and relationships, and chapters 21 and 22 are dedicated entirely to the qualities of Sri Krishna. The constant remembrance of these qualities is both the means to attain perfection and the goal of our lives as aspiring devotees of the Lord.
O Lord, we pray that You let us be born in any hellish condition of life, just as long as our hearts and minds are always engaged in the service of Your lotus feet, our words are made beautiful [by speaking of Your activities] just as tulasi leaves are beautified when offered unto Your lotus feet, and as long as our ears are always filled with the chanting of Your transcendental qualities.
Srimad Bhagavatam 3.15.49 (The four Kumaras speaking to Lord Visnu)
