Aropa: Spiritualization of the mundane

All living beings act for the benefit of their own happiness and strive day and night to satisfy their own ambitions for fulfillment, love, and success. In general, it is agreed that this type of endeavor on the physical and mental platform results only in suffering, frustration, and ultimately death. 

The behavior of such individuals degrades as the desires grow and lead to further fluctuations of pleasure and suffering. As the suffering intensifies the mental states of fear and anger increase to such a frequency in which lust, greed, envy, and ultimately hate fester. The moral metal of such persons is sacrificed at the altar of suffering in a desperate attempt to pacify the pains of mundane selfish existence.

This very unfortunate situation can be easily mitigated if, after having learned the truth from one who knows it, begins to offer the actions and fruits of his existence and all endeavors, pleasures, pains, and ambitions to the beautiful form of the supreme self residing in the core of one's heart.

A person is gifted with a particular nature as a result of his past activities, this nature is very hard for most to overcome and therefore many people who attempt to embark on a spiritual path fall due to the misconception that one must try to hide, curb, or repress this nature. This nature is a particularly powerful tool in spiritual life as it is inborn with the body and natural. Therefore in the early stages of spiritual life, one should simply live as one normally would, offering that as the sacrifice of action to the supreme self.

By this process, the actions no longer create karmic bonds and begin to purify the desires and mind of the seeker. The mundane becomes spiritualized and results in an increase of Knowledge, self-awareness, and especially devotion to the Supreme personality of godhead. He is so merciful that he does not distinguish between good and bad and he accepts all that merely feign taking shelter of his lotus like feet.

One should see that within the body all the deities of the luminaries, directions, and heavens are present as the senses, the senses of action, the mind, the intellect, and ego. Ultimately one should see that within the body in the heart region is a great temple, all experiential input and action should be directed to this space, and offered up to the supreme lord Narayana, lord of Sesha and Laksmi, the guru of the sages and devas, who sits upon the throne of the inner sanctum of that temple.

Without discrimination or hesitation live a life full of love, passion, and zest. Through the power of these offerings your taste and desires will become increasingly enlightened and full of knowledge, your power of discernment and intuition of what actually pleases that lord of your heart will become clearer and eventually your desire and his desire will become one in interest. In that state all actions transform in into pure devotion and one no longer even considers ones own benefit, he then takes pleasure fully in pleasing the lord without motive. Thus he lives immersed in the supreme bliss.

Let the process of Aropa be a stepping stone to the platform of transcendence and the bliss of pure devotion.

itah purvam prana-buddhi-dharmadhikarato jagrat-svapna-susupty-avasthasu manasa vaca karmana hastabhyam padbhyam udarena sisna yat smrtam yad uktam yat krtam tat sarvam sri-krsnarpanam bhavatu svaha. mam madiyam ca sakalam haraye samarpayami. om tat sat.

As a living entity endowed with life, intelligence, body, and the power to discriminate between right and wrong, I offer Krsna whatever I have thought with my mind, spoken with my words, and performed with my hands, feet, stomach, and genitals while awake, asleep, or in deep sleep. I offer myself and everything I have to the Lord.