Why Doesn't Priya-Lal Give Us His Darshan?

"If the Lord is omnipresent and supremely compassionate, why does He not come before us? Does He not hear our pitiful cries, or does He simply not wish to meet us?" Often we take this absence of His to be His cruelty or our neglect. That the Lord does not grant us His darshan is not His cruelty, but rather His overflowing compassion. He does not come before us because we are not yet ready to bear that 'supreme bliss'.

The Lord's Direct Beauty

We often demand the Lord's darshan, but we have no sense of what impact that darshan would have on our gross body. When we cannot even bear trivial worldly joys and sorrows, and lose our mental equilibrium at the slightest adversity, how can our heart bear the 'supreme love's bliss' with its overwhelming force? The Lord's darshan is not merely a sight; it is a burst of infinite energy, boundless beauty, and otherworldly love that causes every particle of the body to vibrate.

Why Does the Initial Bliss Now Seem to Fade?

Many sadhak become disheartened saying, "When we first began bhakti, we felt such thrill and bliss—why don't we feel it now?" The diminishing of bliss is actually the growing of your capacity.

• When someone uses an intoxicant (like bhang) for the first time, even a small dose creates a deep effect.
• But as they become accustomed to it, that same dose becomes 'normal' (baseline) for them. Now they need a larger dose to experience a higher intoxication.

In the same way, when a new sadhak begins naam jap or comes to the dust of Vrindavan for the first time, they receive great bliss. Gradually that bliss seems 'normal'. This is not a diminishing of bliss, but rather a sign that the previous bliss has been 'digested' within you. Your heart has now expanded and is preparing itself to bear even deeper transcendental bliss.

Through Gradual Stages, Bhakti Grows

The Lord and the guru sometimes give the sadhak boundless bliss and sometimes 'burning' (the anguish of separation). This burning is not punishment, but rather a process of 'tempering' the heart. Just as metal is strengthened by being tempered in fire, this fire of separation matures the sadhak's heart. The guru gradually bestows grace and trains the bhakt to bear that supreme bliss. The ultimate aim of this gradual development is that the bhakt may see 'the eternal play' (the Lord's divine lila) with open eyes, and at that time neither will their heart burst nor will they faint and fall. When the heart becomes fully mature, then they can remain steady even upon beholding the ocean of the Lord's own beauty and love.

Conclusion

The true aim of sadhana is not merely to 'obtain darshan', but to make oneself 'worthy of that darshan'. That the Lord has not yet met us is actually His protective compassion, so that when He does meet us, we can live that bliss permanently, rather than being destroyed by it. The path of bhakti is not merely one of enthusiasm, but of patiently developing our capacity and worthiness.

Lastly, ask yourself this question: "Are we seeking only momentary enthusiasm in our bhakti, or do we have the patience to develop that capacity which can bear the direct beauty of the supreme?"

Original article: bhajanmarg.com