Transforming "I and Mine" to "You and Yours"

Transform the I and MINE into YOU an YOURS. I am not this body and nothing is mine. Everything belongs to YOU, Oh Lord Krishna!! And everything is for YOUR enjoyment. This is our new mantra, without which there is no transformation.

From time immemorial we are stuck in the cycle of birth and death, going up and down like a Ferris wheel of the material world, thinking it’s I who is born here to take this material body, and all that I see is mine to enjoy. The root cause of our problems in material life is this very belief we have, that I am this body and everything I see in my vision is for my enjoyment. If we can just turn the light switch on from the off position then we can get liberated from this idea. The lights off position is the darkness of ignorance and when the light switch is on it’s the light of knowledge. Who gives us this knowledge? Gurudev is the kripa shakti moorti (most merciful) who gives us this knowledge to set us free. Without his causeless mercy we cannot and will not realize this even if we have read it a million times in scriptures and books. When Gurudev sees our desperate desire and effort to control our senses and control the mind, he sheds his causeless mercy upon us. It is causeless, as by our sadhana (practice of devotion) we are only coming to the stage of expressing the desire to serve the Lord in our original eternal form.

The mundane material world tells us to repeat a task again and again or to say something again and again and we will perfect that task or we will believe in those words. Like the famous Louise Hay says repeat that “I am beautiful“ or “I am intelligent” and you will start believing you are beautiful and intelligent. That practice makes perfect. But when Lord Krishna tells us something we refuse to believe it and refuse to listen to Him. Krishna Says in Bhagavad Gita 8.15

mām upetya punar janma
duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam
nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ
saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ

After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.

Clearly, Lord Krishna tells us that this material world is temporary and full of miseries, but yet we are trying to extract some juice out of it. It’s like chewing the sugarcane after someone has already chewed it, or chewing gum which has been chewed before. Repeatedly we are chewing the same old same old, life after life, we are believing that all this is real and let me enjoy this now. I am this body, I am here for enjoyment and everything belongs to me. How does it belong to us? We come empty handed and we go empty handed. We come here, we are told this is your father and this is your mother, brother, and sister. When we have our own children we can feel them in the womb of the mother but where did it come from, who is it? Is it a girl or a boy? We don’t know, but when the baby is born we call him or her our own. So this is the illusion, Maya. This I and mine has to go. How does it go? How does it transform into YOU and YOURS?

Well, Krishna says by Abhyasa, it takes practice.

In Bhagavad Gita, 8.8 He says

abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena
cetasā nānya-gāminā
paramaṁ puruṣaṁ divyaṁ
yāti pārthānucintayan

He who meditates on Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Pārtha, is sure to reach Me.

In BG 6.35 & 6.36 He says

śrī-bhagavān uvāca

asaṁśayaṁ mahā-bāho
mano durnigrahaṁ calam
abhyāsena tu kaunteya
vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate

Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: O mighty-armed son of Kuntī, it is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind, but it is possible by suitable practice and by detachment.

asaṁyatātmanā yogo
duṣprāpa iti me matiḥ
vaśyātmanā tu yatatā
śakyo ’vāptum upāyataḥ

For one whose mind is unbridled, self-realization is difficult work. But he whose mind is controlled and who strives by appropriate means is assured of success. That is My opinion.

What practice is it by which we can transform?

Our sweet Lord explicitly says meditate on Me, remember Me, undeviated from the path, you will surely reach Me. Krishna say the mind, which is very difficult to control, can be controlled by suitable practice and detachment. For an unbridled mind which is out of control, self realization is not possible, but a person who strives, who is making an endeavor by the appropriate means is assured of success. So let’s break it down.

The easiest path given to us in this age of Kali is the path of Naam Kirtan, chanting the holy names. We see in all faiths of the world, there is singing the glories of the Lord in mantras or hymns, chanting on beads or rosary of some kind. Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave us the appropriate mantra for this age of Kali, the Hare Krishna Maha mantra.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

When we chant, we are meditating on the Lord by hearing the sound vibration of His Names. We are remembering Him and with Abhyasa, practice, undeviated from this path. Why undeviated? Because we cannot achieve any success in life by doing a little of this and little of that. We fix our minds on a path and just do it. A wavering mind cannot achieve any success. Furthermore Krishna says unbridled mind. An unbridled mind is rampant, it’s like a runaway bunny hopping from place to place. Its thirst is unquenchable, as it is unsteady. So first we repeat to ourselves daily, as a practice, that I am not this body and nothing here belongs to me. That I am an eternal servant of Krishna, always was and always will be. Then I utilize the easiest method given to me by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is non-different from Krishna. Krishna says suitable practice. What is suitable practice? The all knowing, all loving Lord knows that in the age of Kali man is lazy, and conservation of energy is the first principle a baby learns very quickly. So he gave us the Lazy Yoga, the chanting of the holy names. Our minds, bodies and circumstances in life are not equipped to do to other practices of yoga to perfection. Yes, the other practices defined in Bhagavad Gita are all correct.

Karma-yoga emphasizes working (karma) for the Supreme, jnana-yoga emphasizes focusing one's knowledge (jnana) on the Supreme, dhyana-yoga involves contemplating (dhyana) the Supreme, buddhi-yoga is about directing the intellect (buddhi) toward the Supreme, and bhakti-yoga—the perfection of all yogas—occurs when devotion (bhakti) is emphasized in relation to the Supreme. The main principle of yoga, in whatever form, is to direct our activity toward linking with God.

Source: http://www.krishna.com/yoga-bhagavad-gita

But these other methods of yoga are very very difficult to reach perfection in this day and age of Kali where quarrel and hypocrisy are predominant in nature. Symptoms of Kali are very elaborately described here.

That is why the holy names are important. The Lord’s names are non-different from Him. Unlike mundane names, His names are all powerful and ever fresh. We don’t get tired of repeating the holy names as they are sweet yet powerful to get us to the stage of realizing our real spiritual identity, as an eternal servant of the Lord. They have the power to cleanse our hearts and to achieve that perfection, to develop love of God. So this is a suitable practice.

Last but not least, Gurudev who is non-different and is a representative of the Lord, is watching us from within and without, lovingly guiding us. Are we making that appropriate endeavor? Krishna says He wants us to make an endeavor, that’s all. The results are up to Him. Which endeavor is that? The endeavor of trying to detach from the objects of the senses. The beginning of the line is these senses. The false ego in combination with an unintelligent, uncontrolled mind drives the senses wild. So if we understand who we are and what is our relationship with the Lord, then the senses can be controlled and we can be detached from them. But we don’t want to endeavor for this detachment. We want the material enjoyment for ourselves and we want spiritual salvation too? Not possible. Both are two separate tracks of the railroad. One leads to hell and the other leads to Krishna. You cannot be thinking ‘I am this body and this is all for my enjoyment’ and at the same time think ‘oh Krishna please please get me out of this miserable temporary world’. No, not possible. Only by understanding that this temporary and miserable world as it may seem is Krishna’s world. It’s his to enjoy and I am his servant whether I am here serving Him or I am in Goloka Dham (spiritual world) serving Him. The other living entities I see in my life are here to teach me some lesson. A lesson of love, a lesson of compassion, tolerance and ultimately detachment. He then develops all the qualities of a pure devotee. We slowly start to understand that actually I am not the doer. I am not this body. My subtle body that carries over life after life, our mind, intelligence, and false ego are contaminated. I need to purify this subtle body by the methods described. And therefore reach the understanding that I AM NOT THIS BODY, NOTHING IS MINE, EVERYTHING IS DONE BY YOU AND BELONGS TO YOU AND EVERYTHING IS YOURS KRISHNA, TO ENJOY.

I and MINE transforms into YOU and YOURS.

(26 qualities of a devotee given here http://harekrishnatemple.com/chapter23.html)