Welcome to this episode of Pilgrim Heart where Krishna Das describes unconditional love, acceptance, and helping others.
Watch these full sessions live on the official Krishna Das channel: youtube.com/c/KrishnaDasMusic
Maharaj-ji’s Unconditional Love
Krishna Das serenades us before explaining the sensation of Maharaj-ji’s unconditional love. This type of love is very unusual and difficult to find. Often our friends, families, and religious communities place a lot of conditions upon us (knowingly and unknowingly). We may need to dress a certain way, act a certain way, or do certain things in order to feel loved. With Maharaj-ji, this was not so. He simply loved everyone completely in all of their imperfect humanness. Nothing was required, yet everything was given.
“Maharaji knew how we thought about ourselves, he knew why we had so much self loathing and couldn’t really accept love or give real love. He knew everything and he loved us, loves us, as we are. There was no pressure there to be anything other than we are.” – Krishna Das
Tune into Ep. 192 of Here and Now to hear Ram Dass discuss the possibility of unconditional love
Let People Be Who They Are (29:34)
A viewer asks Krishna Das how to help someone who does not learn from mistakes and prefers to stay miserable. While this situation may seem complex, Krishna Das gives us a delightfully straightforward answer. It is better to let people be who they are. We can not change anyone. Let them be miserable, but do not let yourself get dragged down with them. If you attempt to change someone who is not ready, you will only become miserable yourself. Instead, focus on accepting their state and fostering your own inner truth and joy. Consider Maharaj-ji’s unconditional love. When people are ready to work on themselves, they will find you in your bliss and you will have the energy to help them. Until then, offer them unconditional love and allow them to be exactly what they are.
To learn more about acceptance of yourself and others, check out Ep. 434 of Mindrolling: Divine Love and Accepting our Humanity with Pete Holmes
No Reason for Guilt (43:05)
Expanding on the topic of wanting to help others, Krishna Das offers advice to a widower. When we lose someone we love, especially to self-inflicted death, it can be difficult to not feel a sense of guilt or regret. Krishna Das says it is still possible to help our loved ones on their journey outside of the body. We can talk to them, sing to them, pray for them, and devote our practice to them. We do not need to feel guilty because we typically do everything we can for those we love. Some things are simply out of our control and we can not go backward. The best thing to do now is to let go of guilt, accept reality, and continue to love those you have lost. Keep listening for more music from Krishna Das at the end of this episode.
“People don’t die, they just drop their bodies. They don’t go anywhere…by remembering them we can send them love and we can smooth out the channels between us and allow that love to flow.” – Krishna Das