Krishna Das shares stories of Maharajji and his great devotees as he explores how spiritual practice is all about cleaning the heart.
It’s in the Blood
Krishna Das tells stories about his guru, Maharajji, and talks about how hard it is for us to understand the true nature of these great beings. He recounts some of the time he spent with the family of one of Maharajji’s great devotees, and how different it was from the Western notion of family.
“It’s so hard for us to understand that these great beings, the only reason they’re on this earth at all is for our sake. We can’t imagine that, because everything we do is pure, unadulterated selfishness.” – Krishna Das
Cleaning the Heart (20:05)
How do we get over the programming that causes us so much unhappiness? Krishna Das reflects on how we use spiritual practice as a way of cleaning our hearts. He talks about Metta practice, and how hard it can be to wish ourselves well.
“If we don’t clean our hearts from all this selfishness, and the fear, the shame, the guilt, and the anger, if we don’t clean that up, how are we ever going to be happy in ourselves? There’s no place else to go, there’s no place else to sit but in your own heart. And if we don’t clean that stuff up, it’s like sitting on a tack.” – Krishna Das
Krishna Das and Sharon Salzberg talk about connecting with your practice on Pilgrim Heart Ep. 76
A Wall Around the Heart (41:10)
After Maharajji died, Krishna Das built a wall around his heart. He tells the story of returning to India over a decade after Maharajji had left his body, and having to deal with no longer having the connection to his guru in the flesh.
“Then I saw that Maharajji was on the wall, over the wall, everywhere. The wall meant nothing to him. He had never left me.” – Krishna Das
