this is really cool:
This story practically illustrates how by the grace of the Supreme Lord a devotee can create reality simply by directing his thoughts. There are mystics who know this secret but who use their power of visualization for their own enrichment. The devotees can use this technique for serving Krishna. One who feels trapped and limited by karma—whether poor, not favored by others, physically unappealing or mentally slow—such limitations can be changed somewhat through meditation on devotional service.
A devotee is imbued with the power to bless others. When walking on the street he may see unhappy people but in his mind he can immediately imagine them as happy and dancing in ecstasy devotees, chanting the holy names of Shri Krishna. Walking down the street he can see ugly building and immediately visualize them as temples or houses where devotees worship Shri Krishna. With the power of his imagination a devotee can turn a negative situation into positive and spiritual situation. This is how imagination should be used. Imagination ultimately is the power to change reality when used in Krishna’s service. But it takes strong belief in the process, and not being distracted by any tinge of disbelief, that a devotee’s imagination can become reality.
We often think that if we imagine something it is only a picture and has nothing to do with reality. But we cannot imagine anything that we have not experienced. In other words, we cannot imagine things that do not exist. Imagination means to put together two or more things that do not normally relate to each other. This is an art form and for this reason art is based on imagination. For example, artists can take things that have happened hundreds of years ago and mix them with the present. This mixture can create a paradox and evoke astonishment in the onlookers. Ordinary people are surprised at the possibilities that art creates. Many artists are considered to be geniuses that deserve to be placed alongside some scientists who “invent things.” In fact nobody invents things that are not already there. Those genius people simply put things together with the help of their imagination or creative thinking. But this kind of imagination—whether artistic or scientific—is useless when seen against the grand scheme of things because it leads only to temporary sense enjoyment.
This same mystical power is practiced by mystic yogis who know very well that they can create reality with the power of thought. But the result of their imagination is also temporary as it is aimed at ego gratification. The only real use of imagination is found when it is applied to devotional service.
The reality of the material world is that the manifestation of desires is always separated by time. During the intermission between desire and its manifestation, a doubt may appear in the mind that the desire would ever come true. But a devotee of Shri Krishna knows better. Everything is the energy of the Supreme Lord Shri Krishna. Our karma is ruled by desires. What we desired in the past we reap in the present. And a desire starts by imagining its end result. Knowing this simple rule, a devotee can dovetail his imagination towards obtaining results for Shri Krishna. A devotee imagines the results as already existing, and avoids the delays of three-dimensional time consisting of past, present and future. In short, the desires of a pure devotee manifest as reality. That is how the energy of the Supreme Lord Shri Krishna works. A pure devotee can imagine anything for the benefit of Shri Krishna and it will happen.
The conditioned souls in the material world tend to be very negative in what they imagine simply because they are conditioned by constant suffering. Their imaginary world is filled with scenes of revenge, jealousy and negative expressions. The art to imagine positive things is the way to bless others rather than punish them for what they have not given to us. To really bless others is to visualize them in their connection with Shri Krishna and ultimately this is the way to change the world. When we change the world into a spiritual reality we are no longer actually living in the material world because we understand that Shri Krishna is everything. In the Spiritual World which is self-effulgent there is not delay in manifestation as there is only the time of “now” that exists.
Everyone feels that they have been born to do something important. They wait for the time when something special will happen to them, when some bright star will shine upon them. But why wait for something that may never happen? After all, favorable material circumstances depend on karma. Karma-phala is very complicated and is difficult to turn from negative to positive. Why wait when we can start imagining right now? Armed with this mystic power of visualizing everything in Shri Krishna’s service we can offer everything to the Lord despite our present circumstances. We can cross the material world and never come back. We can understand our constitutional position as servants of Shri Krishna like the advanced devotees who have truly developed mystic powers. Just like Hanuman with his mystic powers burnt the entire city of Ravana alone, so the devotee can also in his lone meditation visualize the transformation of the today’s world of Rakshasas into a world of transcendental bliss. And by following the footsteps of Shrila Prabhupada, this movement will continue to grow all over the world and be the cause of liberating the planet through the vision of the pure devotee’s empowered servants.
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