"If we took a holiday
Took some time to celebrate
Just one day out of life
It would be, it would be so nice"
[Madonna]
Followers of Sri Krsna Caitanya meditate on him during eight periods of each day and every day and night. Eight time periods consists in the eight divisions of a twenty-four hour day while Sri Krsna Caitanya performs his pastimes (gaura-lila) that make up his daily schedule.
Devotees meditate on these lilas, following Sri Krsna Caitanya’s pastimes, according to their specific inner mood (nitya-siddha). This process has been mentioned in the ancient Vedic literatures and is described for example in
Sri Gauranga-Lilamrita by Visvanath Cakravarti Thakur.
As Sri Krsna Caitanya is often believed to be both Radha and Krsna, his followers simultaneously meditate on Radha and Krsna’s pastimes (krsna-lila), which are considered parallel pastimes. This eight time periods are described for example in
Sri-Sri Radha-Krsnayoh Asta-kaliya-lila Smarana-mangala Stotram by Sri Rupa Goswami. There are also other descriptions of gaura-lila and krsna-lila, but I’m not very familiar to them.
In the eight time periods of Sri Krsna caitanya my favourite is madhyana-lila, which in
Sri Gauranga-Lilamrita is described as follows:
"In the period from a noon, he enters
a very charming garden of flowers
and becomes absorbed into playful waves
of the infinite pastime after pastime,
with his close associates."
Performing these meditations we may become aware of transcendental reality, which takes a place here and now, while our earthy existence is on. We may see what is unlimited in limited manifestation and taste various spiritual flavours. Together with Sri Krsna Caitanya and his associates we may dive into the waves of bliss and joy that elude verbal descriptions. One day and night always the same though every time different.
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Written for
Peace on Earth.
