Seeing But Not Seeing
When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.
Just like wearing yellow shades would make the world appear yellow before your eyes.
sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ
tat-paratvena nirmalam
hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-
sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate [NOD 1.1.12]
This verse touches the point that perfection of our senses is when we engage them in the service of the Lord.
Therefore, the perfection of the eyes is to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And when we actually do see him, he so kindly replies with this verse:
yo māṁ paśyati sarvatra
sarvaṁ ca mayi paśyati
tasyāhaṁ na praṇaśyāmi
sa ca me na praṇaśyati [BG 6.30]
“For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.”
At an advanced stage, the following verse would sum up one’s experience:
sthāvara-jaṅgama dekhe, nā dekhe tāra mūrti
sarvatra haya nija iṣṭa-deva-sphūrti [CC Madhya 8.274]
“The mahā-bhāgavata, the advanced devotee, certainly sees everything mobile and immobile, but he does not exactly see their forms. Rather, everywhere he immediately sees manifest the form of the Supreme Lord.”
And this is technically explained by Brahmaji in his compilation:
premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena
santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti
yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā 5.38]
“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṇa Himself with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love.”
The easiest process to see Kṛṣṇa everywhere is to chant his names everywhere and when we hear or look at the name, Kṛṣṇa, we are automatically in his personal presence, as confirmed by the verse:
nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś
caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ
pūrṇaḥ śuddho nitya-mukto
’bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ [CC Madhya 17.133]
“The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is Kṛṣṇa Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Kṛṣṇa’s name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Kṛṣṇa Himself. Since Kṛṣṇa’s name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no question of its being involved with māyā. Kṛṣṇa’s name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name of Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa Himself are identical.”
Lastly, A vaishnava poet, Srila Bilvamangala Thakur writes:
vaktuḿ samartho ‘pi na vakti kaścid
aho janānāḿ vyasanābhimukhyam
jihve pibasvāmṛtam etad eva
govinda dāmodara mādhaveti
“Even though anyone is able to chant, still no one does. Alas! How determined people are for their own undoing! O tongue, just drink the nectar of these names–‘Govinda, Damodara, Madhava!”
