They contain. That is to say, they confine other objects to a certain set of dimensions. They restrict, they incarcerate. Just as a bucket contains milk, or a glass contains water, the glass imposes boundaries on the water, gives it form and definition.
There are many important containers, called material bodies, which contain jiva souls. They keep the souls from floating out into the white light, and they give them personality and a field of activity. There’s 8,400,000 varieties of these containers, which jivas are always entering and exiting. Every jiva thinks that his container is the all in all. This is the world of containment.
This body container gives the jiva a sense of "I" and "mine." Under the spell of Maya, the jiva thinks his container to be "I," and other containers to be "mine." There are many various material containers which surround the jiva soul, which he desires to possess and enjoy. Family members, clothes, cars, houses, etc. are a few among the many of these containers. Nice clothes or cars give the jiva a sense of worth. The house container serves by containing him from harsh elements of the world, such as rain and heat and cold. Thus the jiva soul is totally absorbed in the world of containers such as cell phones, computers, TV’s, cars, etc, and especially the bank, which contains money.
The whole essence of the material world is containment, or restriction of freedom. Its essence is the incarceration of objects, for the profit and pleasure of various bewildered jiva souls. But in the spiritual world, just the opposite is happening, that is, non-containment, and non-restriction.
Many of the best things in life are actually free. Krishna gives us free energy, such as sunshine and rain and foodstuffs growing free all the time. But people like to take God’s energy and confine it. The take the fruits and veggies and put them in containers, such as cans and bottles and boxes, and put them in large containers called stores, to sell them for money, to put in their bank containers, so they can get more and better and nicer containers, such as TV;s and cars, etc, more than their envious neighbors. In this way, they claim ownership and lordship over God’s free energy, trying to contain it for their own enjoyment.
The act of eating itself is containment. The jiva opens the potato chip bag and frees the chips, only to contain them in his mouth and stomach. Jivas often oppose each other, as some try to get more containers than alloted as their quota, and thus there’s always a fight. In defense, the other jiva tries to contain his enemy, and restrict his freedom, or incarcerate him in a prison. In mating, one jiva tries to contain another jiva for him or herself, for a lifetime. Actually this is very good for human society. Thus we see in all the animal propensities, a sense of containment.
When the contained jiva finally gets fortunate, he meets the bona fide spiritual master, in whose words all the vedas are contained. Then the jiva gets injected with the Maha-mantra, which contains 16 holy names with 32 syllables. By chanting this mantra, the jiva cannot contain his joy. His spiritual freedom and ecstasy is virtually uncontainable. Then he breaks out of the containment of this material world and goes to the spiritual world where there is complete un-containment.
The spiritual world is opposite, no containment. Kalpavrksa trees give freely, as does Cintamani dhama, and surabir cows. Prema flows freely every where, especially from Krishna’s flute. His devotees are not in material cases, with no need of cars or houses to protect from foul weather. Even here on this earth, when the devotee dances with arms upraised, this is a gesture of opening up and letting it all out. Its blowing the lid off the countless containers of millions of years of inward anxiety and letting out the pent up love for Krishna, that had so long been transformed into lust. The joy of coming to Krishna Consciousness has no containment.
A thing that we should always remember, is never try to contain other devotees. As Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Maharaja said, "The idea that one should be master of God’s devotees leads to inferno." Also, the Talaba Upanishad says, "those who aspire to be masters of the devotees, who are the masters of God Himself, are indeed most culpably arrogant." Srila Prabhupada is the only master, and we should verily refrain from the urge to contain other devotees of the Lord. We should only work on our own containers, and let Srila Prabhupada be the master, and know that Krishna is always in control.
You know… the funny thing about containers … is that they contain things … but it doesn’t have to be that way eternally ... Om Tat Sat
Thanks, Visoka das, dear friend, one of my favorite articles, well done, ys, mahaksadasa
For more of these first class articles and stories by Visoka dasa, see his website, titled, GUNGA EXPRESS. Guaranteed the reader will not be disappointed.
© 1997 mahaksa_d@hotmail.com
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