I am staying with Christopher and Kimberly in Opelika, Alabama for 2 weeks. Their child's name is Asha. Asha is 7 months old. Many nights, Asha's crying wakes my body up, and I can feel the grumpiness. "I'm tired, it's loud," says the mind. But she drifts off to sleep quite quickly after someone soothes her. One night at around 2am, she cried for a long time in spite of all the soothing. Perhaps she was sick, perhaps her teeth were hurting. Then Kimberly got desperate. She said, "Will you play the harmonium and chant mantra for her?" I agreed. So she placed Asha on the floor in front of the harmonium and I started to play. Soon she was not crying anymore and her mouth agape, listening to the singing. She appeared to be stunned. Every time I quieted down, she started to complain again. So I chanted and chanted with Kim for 40 minutes or so. "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare" - the great Mahamantra. And as I chanted, the holy mantra took over the mind and my mood became happier and happier until soon, I was absorbed in the energy. It seemed to be a rather transcendental state. And then Asha was asleep, and she went back to bed, content with the sound of Krishna.
This was the case with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, an incarnation of Krishna who cried as a baby until everyone started chanting Hari. Then he stopped and smiled happily. His purpose was to teach people to sing the name of Hari all the time, for it would purify the sins of the heart, mind, and soul. Asha was teaching this lesson too. It is beautiful how the mind can move from a grumpy state to a deep meditation within minutes even in the middle of the night. Now I wake up to the crying and pray for Asha's healing, and the mind does not dwell in negativity.
May the Lord Hari bless our meditations and bring happiness in our lives.
With love,
Brian
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