1 – Bhagavata Dharma Takes Us Beyond All Fear| King Nimi’s First Question | 2016 Jain Temple| Swami Tattwamayananda

-The Srimad Bhagavata Purana is as sacred as the Bhagavad Gita, as authentic as the Vedas themselves, and as metaphysically deep as the Upanishads. -Vyasa says that the Vedas (shruti) take precedence over the Smrti, which in turn take precedence over the Puranas such as the Srimad Bhagavata Purana. -The Bhagavatam teaches transcendental values. What should we do after we have obtained enough wealth and enjoyment? A noble-hearted person will seek for something higher. Narada asked Vyasa to write the Bhagavatam to explain this.-King Parikshit, an ideal ruler, had only 7 days to live so asked a sage, “What should a dying man do?” One should be able to die with the form of God in our heart. The whole Bhagavatam is narrated as a response to this question.-Highest devotee of God feels the presence of God in all beings (immanence) and everything is in God (omnipresent)-The permanent residential address of God is the heart of a pure unselfish person.-The episode of King Nimi and the nine yogis comes in the 11th skanda of the Bhagavatam. Nine questions are asked to nine sages and the dialogue constitutes the essence of the Bhagavata Purana.-Question 1) Please teach me about the Bhagavata Dharma. -Kavi explains Bhagavata Dharma vs. Dharma-Link all actions to a spiritual reality.-This gets rid of fear, of divine discontentment.-Lord Krishna also tells Arjuna to never fear because all good actions will carry one forward in the next life.-Spiritualize the secular, do not secularize the spiritual.-Seeing God everywhere means there is no fear because there is oneness everywhere. -When we forget our true nature (avarana shakti), we inevitability think of ourselves as a physical/mental body and there is no end to problems. -At the highest level of Bhakti, you get the same experience as Advaita. –Question 2) What are the characteristics of a Bhagavatam (devotee)?-Hari answers that the highest devotee sees God in everything and everything in God. There is an identity between God and the creation. -At the experience level, it is the same as Advaita. Shankaracharya says Advaitins have no quarrel with anybody!-It is a distant goal, but just as in the Sthitaprajna sections of the Bhagavad Gita, we can practice these characteristics to evolve.-At the middle (Madhyama) stage, we practice prema, maitri, kripa, upeksha.-Maitri means living in the company of people who are on the spiritual path. This association is a highly effective way to reinforce our spiritual life.-Prema means having love for God.-Kripa means helping those good people who are less knowledgeable about spirituality and who want to progress.-Upeksha means remaining indifferent and at a long distance from those who may harm your interest in spiritual life. You need an inner filtering mechanism.-At the middle stage, we can learn to harmonize the need for God's grace and self-effort. A farmer needs to clear the weeds and grass (self-effort) before the rain (God's grace) will be of help. Similarly, we achieve grace-worthiness through self-effort. We are able to understand the usefulness of God's grace. Through this, we develop an inner filtering mechanism and evolve in the Madhyama stage.