I am in Vrndavana. Vrndavana is a town in north India, specially known for an atmosphere conducive for developing prema, the highest love between the individual spirit and the Supreme. I awoke this morning to the pre-dawn chorus of Vrndavana kirtan and bhajan, radiating from hundreds of chakras of transcendental sound vibration throughout the sacred village. Immersion in such sound vibration before sunrise invites the soul towards profound spiritual joys as an auspicious start for the day.

Prema- The Source of all Love

Prema, personal loving relation with the Divine, is all-inclusive, free from limitation. Just as by watering the root we automatically nourish all branches, leaves and twigs, we similarly nurture our relationships with all persons by cultivating love for the source of all creation.

The First Duty of Love is to Listen

My specific purpose here in Vrndavana is to conduct experiential seminars on transformative communication. We might wonder about the connection between communication skills and the sublime love called prema. In this regard I am reminded of the quote from theologian and philosopher Paul Tillich, “The first duty of love is to listen.” Sometimes it’s helpful to distinguish between the feeling of love, and love as a verb. A vital action in loving relations is high-level communication, beginning with deep, attentive listening.

About 500 years ago the Six Goswamis of Vrndavana inspired a renaissance, centered in Vrndavana, of prema-bhakti, personal devotional love as a means for self- and God-realization. The writings of these sages carefully differentiate between spiritual prema and material lust. One of these Goswamis, Srila Rupa Goswami, a leading Vedic scholar of the age, wrote Sri Upadesamrita, The Nectar of Instruction. This short treatise on spiritual life concludes with a depiction of Radha-kunda, a place and consciousness where prema is the sweetest. Indeed, Rupa Goswami describes those who have attained Radha-kunda as “the most fortunate people in the universe.”

Interestingly, the first words of Nectar of Instruction are “vaco vegam”, referring to the urge to speak. Herein Rupa Goswami expresses that the first step on the journey of spiritual realization, and ultimately towards absorption in the most intense and inspirational love, is to be conscious with our speech.

This illuminates the fundamental principle of transformative communication. Skills, or technique, are external, mechanics meant to serve the essence. At its essence, the principles of conscious communication comprise a systematic process of self-realization. This process utilizes mastery of hearing and expression to create sacred space. In that space we get to support each other and ourselves to unlock the mysteries of prema within our hearts, and experience infinite and untainted love.

A client recently shared with me about horrendous mistreatment she suffered when she was a small child, at the hands of her own family members. This sort of story is, unfortunately, not unusual for me to hear, as I regularly counsel, coach and facilitate groups of adults who were neglected and abused as children. Individually and societally we increasingly experience and hear about catastrophes and traumas resulting from human iniquity, economic collapse and natural disasters. Clearly we are spiraling downward towards darkness and calamity. And for some this is no surprise, as the prophecies of ancient traditions confirm just what we are witnessing.

Yesterday a client shared about a momentous spiritual breakthrough, internally, in his relationships with people dear to him, and with the Divine. This type of realization I also find to be an increasingly common occurrence as more and more people sincerely apply themselves to genuine processes of consciousness-raising, personal transformation and social betterment. This too is consistent with predictions from sources of ancient wisdom.

Kali Yuga

So, we might wonder what’s happening here, with these apparently contradictory forecasts. The Vedic literatures from ancient India describe the current time as an “age of quarrel and hypocrisy”, called the Kali-yuga, the most degraded period in the universal cycle of four ages. Also the Vedas, as communicated through personalities such as Sri Caitanya, a 16th Century sage from West Bengal, describe that within the eons that comprise the Age of Kali, there will be a Golden Age of enlightenment.

Our Choice

We stand at the dawn of this age of auspiciousness, while simultaneously Kali-yuga is in full force. The raging river of Kali-yuga wreaks havoc, while the golden age is an eddy in the current. We might imagine that Kali-yuga is an ever-increasingly ferocious storm, and the movement towards spiritual awareness is an ever-expanding umbrella.

These epochal influences are present. Our choice is the extent to which we take shelter in the umbrella, and contribute to its expansion. Prophesized disasters or visions of heaven on earth represent possibilities, not fixed fate. By cultivation of conscious living we can augment the eddy, and dissipate the destructive forces of Kali-yuga.

The Golden Age

We get to nurture golden age consciousness at each moment, through our responses to external events. How quickly, for example, do we realize opportunities for growth, awareness-raising and deepening connections, when encountering apparently cataclysmic crises? To what extent do we react automatically from past conditioning, and to what extent do we respond consciously, from a platform of true and transcendent spiritual consciousness?

To focus on our inner state of being does not supplant endeavors for change at the macro level. Still, whatever political, economic or cultural systems are in place, their value and effectiveness will be determined by the consciousness of the members who energize the systems. Thus, while recognizing historical movements that influence the age, let us live in the present and create the future through finding our shelter in the eddy in the current.