The fruit of meditation is taste for meditation

In worldly life, we usually do an action for some fruit other than that action – we may work not because we love the work but because it enables us to buy our dream house.

When we come to spiritual life, we often carry this action-fruit dichotomy. So, while meditating on Krishna by, say, chanting his holy names, we frequently expect something else from meditation – maybe a mystical vision of some shining light.

Starting devotional meditation is always good, whatever the initial stimulus. But to progress steadily, we need to disabuse ourselves of the action-fruit dichotomy. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (12.09) indicates that endeavoring to meditate on Krishna grants desire for him.

What’s special about desire for Krishna?

It makes meditation on him natural and relishable. Natural because our thoughts naturally flow towards the object we desire. And relishable because only when we desire Krishna strongly, more than other things, can we relish his supreme sweetness.

Factually, Krishna is always all-attractive; whatever attracts us gets its power to attract from Krishna, as the Gita (10.41) states. However, as long as we are attached to material things, we stay under their spell, imagining them to be irresistibly attractive, even more attractive than Krishna. This misguided imagination doesn’t allow us to relish Krishna’s sweetness when we meditate on him and makes us expect something else as a fruit of meditation.

Nonetheless, if we meditate on Krishna as a discipline without expecting any other result, then we slowly experience how that meditation is pacifying and fulfilling – far better than anything else. Over time, taste for Krishna stays with us even when we are not exclusively meditating on him. Even while engaged externally in various activities, we can still relish the peace and bliss of internally remembering Krishna. Thus life becomes joyful, constantly, eternally.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12 Text 09

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