Krishna as ‘Icon’

Nothing in existence perishes, nor does anything new come into being. Forms change, appearances change, but the deepest mysteries of life remain ever the same. Individuals come and go; waves in the ocean rise and disappear, but that which is hidden in the individual, in the wave is eternal. We have to look at Krishna in two different ways, and then we can look at ourselves in the same way. We exist at two levels- one at the level of waves and another at the level of ocean. As waves we are individual human beings, and as the ocean we are the Supreme Being. 

Krishna’s physical form, his voice, his music are like the waves. His soul, hidden inside the body is like ocean. Waves come and go, but the ocean is everlasting. While the forms of existence change, its soul, its spirit which abides in its elan vital is deathless, eternal. Spirit was there when Krishna was not yet born and is there even when he is no more. It is the same case in all of us. Krishna was like a wave that arose from the ocean, danced for a while with the winds and disappeared again in the same ocean. All of us are like Krishna, but there is a difference. When Krishna is dancing as wave he is aware that he is part of ocean, he is the ocean itself. But us human, we know ourselves only as waves, we forget that we are the ocean. And since we know ourselves only as waves, we fail to understand the oceanic form of Krishna. Krishna’s physical body, his picture and statue can be used to come in contact with his soul. But it is just a play that belongs to the world of appearances. And to understand it we have to approach it from two or three sides. Even today we can make contact with the oceanic form of Krishna- his soul. In the same way we can make contact with the souls of Mahavira and Buddha. And to contact the essential Krishna we can make use of his physical form as a medium, an instrument. When statues of men like Krishna was first made, they were not meant for worship. In fact these statues came in the wake of esoteric science which has become almost extinct. Before leaving their physical forms, the awakened ones had given a promise and technique to their lovers, their disciples, which they could contact their oceanic life by meditating on unconscious mind that whenever they repeat the process they will go into sleep, and then their unconscious mind will begin to operate on them. 

The power of our unconscious mind is enormous; what we cannot do in our conscious state, we can do with the help of our unconscious mind. Our unconscious mind is much more sensitive than the conscious. In deep hypnotic sleep we can see, hear things we can never see or hear while awake. It is not the talisman, but the post hypnotic suggestion associated with it that works. This is the esoteric science for which statues of Krishna, Buddha and others like them were first made. Before persons like Krishna, Buddha and Jesus, depart from earth, they leave such techniques and instructions with their trusted groups of disciples; those who are worthy of it. The generations of disciples take advantage of this special transmission. And when this generation passes it to next, the system is kept alive. It was for this purpose the statues, icons, sounds, chants, symbols were made. 

Let us understand Krishna to understand Gita.

Wishing you all good health & happiness,

Dr.Dwarakanath, Director, Mitran Foundation- the stress management people