Most human beings in our challenging and competitive world, seek the treasure of health and wealth on multiple levels.

However hitting pay dirt - totally satisfying body, mind, emotions and spirit is rarely achieved - just ask the richest people you know, or anyone.

Humankind generally exhibits an obsessive tendency and tenacity to secure gold in it's various manifestations such as wealth, power, prestige, and privilege - at almost any cost, including at the cost of one's own health and integrity in some cases, or at the cost of other people's lives or well-being in other cases.

Seeking satisfaction is not inherently wrong. Seeking happiness is actually a part of one's eternal constitution and fundamental purpose, provided it's consciously sought out with divine energetic grace rather than mundane exploitation.

But mostly due to lack of information or a constricted heart, one's gold-quest usually looks to material assets to hold and bodies to plunder for happiness, rather than mining the underlying gold strata of spiritual reality; a reality that is hidden from those not purposefully prospecting for it.

Seeking union (yoga) with supreme happiness, is the object and longing of many of us, and is well-expressed in poetry and music - whether one is seeking a mortal love, or eternal satisfaction.

"Golden...as I open my eyes, holding focus, hoping, take me back to the light.... Lovin' you's the antidote.. Golden..You're so Golden"

Transcendent gold is discoverable, by consciously re-connecting with the Source of all love and consciousness, through sacred sound manifesting in song/prayer/mantra/meditation.

Such a relationship with the Supreme Person is possible; a love affair which can transcend all time and space and satisfy the heart in a way like no other.

Fortunately, if one discovers a transcendent treasure map in the form of guidance from those who have successfully walked the trail, the path to success clearly opens up.

Information/guidance is found in different traditions, cultures and holy texts. One such text, the Bhagavad-Gita (The Song of God), describes each living entity as a spark eternal consciousness.

Consciousness is distinctly different from the mountains of minerals and chemical compounds that surround it. As such, mountains of gold, chemical infusions or palaces of marble can't provide lasting pleasure. Disconnected dull matter, is not the same stuff that consciousness is made of, or excessively needs.

When consciousness connects with the Source of all energy, both material and spiritual, a golden synergy is formed. How to become God/Source conscious, is revealed directly by Source within and without, and also through saints and holy texts.

Bhagavad Gita As It Is - Chapter 4 Texts 6,9,10, 11
TRANSLATION
Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all sentient beings, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form.

TRANSLATION
One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.

TRANSLATION
Being freed from attachment, fear and anger, being fully absorbed in Me and taking refuge in Me, many, many persons in the past became purified by knowledge of Me—and thus they all attained transcendental love for Me.

TRANSLATION
All of them—as they surrender unto Me—I reward accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā (Arjuna).

PURPORT - by AC Bhaktivedanta Swami

"Everyone is searching for Kṛṣṇa in the different aspects of His manifestations. Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is partially realized in His impersonal brahmajyoti effulgence and as the all-pervading Supersoul dwelling within everything, including the particles of atoms. But Kṛṣṇa is only fully realized by His pure devotees. Consequently, Kṛṣṇa is the object of everyone's realization, and thus anyone and everyone is satisfied according to one's desire to have Him. In the transcendental world also, Kṛṣṇa reciprocates with His pure devotees in the transcendental attitude, just as the devotee wants Him. One devotee may want Kṛṣṇa as supreme master, another as his personal friend, another as his son, and still another as his lover. Kṛṣṇa rewards all the devotees equally, according to their different intensities of love for Him...."

Here are some gold-themed songs for and perhaps by, musically inspired treasure-seekers.

Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight / The End.. by the Beatles
(more recently performed by Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins and more)

"Once there was a way, to get back home..
...Golden slumbers fill your eyes, smiles await you when you rise ..... 
......And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make."

The Supreme extends His hand through His own incarnations and sometimes through his various representatives, in different cultures throughout time, for those who wish to reclaim the treasure of re-linking with Godhead, and thus re-discovering one's own golden life.

More recently, Krishna descended again about 500 years ago and was known as "The Golden Avatar" named Sri Krishna Chaitanya.

Lord Chaitanya came to show and experience the unlimited bliss and ecstasy, of being totally connected to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as the goal of all yoga and religious practice.

Described as Bhakti-yoga or devotional service, Lord Chaitanya taught spiritual perfection through chanting/singing the holy names of God, and adopting a submissive loving and serving mood - the same mood personified and embodied by the divine feminine energy, Srimati Radharani, who captures Sri Krishna's heart.

More information about Radha, Krishna and Lord Chaitanya is presented in an archived post (on the right of this screen) from March 2018, entitled "An Ocean Of Mercy"

Here's another classic golden oldie..

"I've been to Hollywood, I've been to Redwood, I crossed the ocean for a heart of gold, I've been in my mind, it's such a fine line, that keeps me searchin' for a heart of gold.. and I'm gettin' old..."

PS
Found. One heart of gold.

His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada 1896-1977 who spread love of Godhead, Bhakti Yoga, all over the world, starting alone and practically penniless in New York City in 1965. He built a worldwide following and establishing 108 temple on six continents, plus published 70 volumes of Vedic Holy texts with English translations and commentary, from 1965 to 1977 at the age of 69 to 81. Truly a miracle man of a very different kind. His followers continue to expand his mission throughout the world.

Here in the USA, the push is on to vote in the presidential election for one of two candidates - which in theory is a candidate reflecting one's own values - even when the choice of candidates and their espoused values, may be extremely limited.

Voting for a candidate as a civic duty, if one has decided to vote at all, is a personal choice. In the flurry of campaign rhetoric, mud-slinging and self-promotion of national politics, one may also consider the duty one has to oneself as an independent thinker, making choices affecting one's own sphere of activities.

Beyond one's political leanings, knowing oneself as a spark energetic consciousness helps in balancing perspective. Knowing the self as a spark of consciousness, transcends the box of one's physical body and limited conditioning, thinking of oneself as only being male/female, white/color, rich/poor, right/left, young/old etc.

Knowing oneself as a spiritual being, is transcendent information like no other, which evaporates heaps of misinformation about the self, some of which may be culturally self-imposed.

In a secular society, we are encouraged, if not admonished, to totally identify primarily with the circumstance pertaining to the physical body and it's relationships to family, community, nationality as one's only real identity, even though such external factors are constantly in flux - but we remain.

In the midst of being mistakenly self-identified as a skeleton covered with 30 trillion cells of flesh, and bone, many times we are pushed to focus on polarizing choices that are external to our own circumstance and real self-interest, as eternal beings in a temporary social construct.

When one embraces oneself as the conscious energy which is actually animating the physical body, and knowing that consciousness energy is never actually destroyed when the body breaks down and dies, establishes a type of personal eternal sovereignty which can withstand any external political or circumstantial upheavals.

The freedom of choosing not to misidentify with the circumstance one is born into - such as class/gender/race, etc., frees one from massive societal disinformation, while simultaneously  establishing ones spiritual connection to a greater body of eternal truth.

Knowing oneself as different from a changing body or grander body politic, establishes one in a sovereign state of freedom and awareness. Such real, yet scarcely reported information precipitates self-actuation in relationship to a greater spiritual reality, which anyone can safely experience.

It is a major relief, discovering another real life beyond cultural and bodily conditioning; knowing that while heading towards a fake finish line, that we are all deathless and part of a greater reality.

Seeing that we have been in Halloween season, here is a musical segue; perhaps an anthem for the temporary costumes and parties we may have found ourselves misidentifying with.

Monster costumes and politics may be a little scary for a child, but can be quite funny when considering that one's identity is conscious energy which changes form, but cannot destroyed by time, or politics.

Here is a song in the same mood as Sri Krishna speaking the Bhagavad Gita; it is a mood of unconditional love and support, when reaching out to his friend Arjuna - that's how I hear it anyway.

All props and respect to Jacob Collier, from whom I seek forgiveness rather than permission for any possible objection, for my interpretation and non-commercial use of his brilliant creative offering.

As mentioned in the sacred Vedic text Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna advises his friend and student Arjuna as follows:

2.20
TRANSLATION
For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.


10.11
TRANSLATION
Out of compassion for them, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance.

Living the dream... the point when all desires are being fulfilled, so one can truly enjoy life. Arguably, a concept many of us aspire to, and why not?

According to ancient spiritual wisdom, an ever-increasing sense of satisfaction and happiness is the spiritual birthright of each soul, once re-connected to one's spiritual Source.

The fact that we go through the ups and downs of daily life, points to the reality of a disconnect at some point from our spiritual essence and identity - which in it's pure state has an intimate and loving connection to God/Source/Higher Power.

As an eternal spark of spirit having free will, at one point we chose to go it on our own - to try to enjoy separately from the Source of all energetic enjoyment.

Constitutionally, each soul is allowed eternal free will to choose unity or separation from one's Creator. Those of us choosing so-called separation (although we are never truly disconnected from spirit) have been placed in a universal delusion - a dream-like reality where one's eternal spiritual identity has been covered by subtle elements (mind, intelligence, false ego) plus gross elements of the material body.

As such, we find ourselves encased in a temporary material body that we consider to be the self or "I" and things connected to the body are claimed as "mine" (family, community, party, country, planet, etc.).

Assigned to a realm competing with similarly conditioned souls seeking to be No. 1, happiness becomes a fleeting experience of putting out the fires of distress arising from one's own body and mind, other people's bodies and minds, and the onslaught of material nature in the form of heat, cold, fire, earthquakes, hurricanes, etc.

Even if finding some temporary respite in the seeming chaos, eventually death comes along and says, "roll it up buddy, you're outta here."

We may dream of unconditional happiness and love, but along with the birth of one's body, comes eventual death, and usually disease and old age. The illusion of accepting one's body as the self, is very strong, along with the struggle for survival and staving off death, as a concomitant part of life.

We have imposed all of this upon ourselves, being ignorant of our spiritual identity which is now hosted in matter, having chosen separation over union with the Supreme. But its never too late to change.

Bhagavad Gita 2.20 describes:

"For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain."

How one misidentifies the material body for the self, is under the direction of the Supreme Lord, who is sitting next to individual soul, in the region of heart. This has been described nicely in Sriman Bhagavatam 2nd Canto, 9th Chapter, Text 1  (Translated and commented on by AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada).

TRANSLATION

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O King, unless one is influenced by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no meaning to the relationship of the pure soul in pure consciousness with the material body. That relationship is just like a dreamer's seeing his own body working.

PURPORT
"Mahārāja Parīkṣit's question as to how a living entity began his material life, although he is apart from the material body and mind, is perfectly answered. The spirit soul is distinct from the material conception of his life, but he is absorbed in such a material conception because of being influenced by the external energy of the Lord, called ātma-māyā. This has already been explained in the First Canto in connection with Vyāsadeva's realization of the Supreme Lord and His external energy. The external energy is controlled by the Lord, and the living entities are controlled by the external energy-by the will of the Lord. Therefore, although the living entity is purely conscious in his pure state, he is subordinate to the will of the Lord in being influenced by the external energy of the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) also the same thing is confirmed; the Lord is present within the heart of every living entity, and all the living entity's consciousness and forgetfulness are influenced by the Lord.

Now the next question automatically made will be why the Lord influences the living entity to such consciousness and forgetfulness. The answer is that the Lord clearly wishes that every living entity be in his pure consciousness as a part and parcel of the Lord and thus be engaged in the loving service of the Lord as he is constitutionally made; but because the living entity is partially independent also, he may not be willing to serve the Lord, but may try to become as independent as the Lord is. All the nondevotee living entities are desirous of becoming equally as powerful as the Lord, although they are not fit to become so. The living entities are illusioned by the will of the Lord because they wanted to become like Him. Like a person who thinks of becoming a king without possessing the necessary qualification, when the living entity desires to become the Lord Himself, he is put in a condition of dreaming that he is a king.

 Therefore the first sinful will of the living entity is to become the Lord, and the consequent will of the Lord is that the living entity forget his factual life and thus dream of the land of utopia where he may become one like the Lord. The child cries to have the moon from the mother, and the mother gives the child a mirror to satisfy the crying and disturbing child with the reflection of the moon. Similarly, the crying child of the Lord is given over to the reflection, the material world, to lord it over as karmī and to give this up in frustration to become one with the Lord. Both these stages are dreaming illusions only. There is no necessity of tracing out the history of when the living entity desired this. But the fact is that as soon as he desired it, he was put under the control of ātma-māyā by the direction of the Lord. Therefore the living entity in his material condition is dreaming falsely that this is "mine" and this is "I." The dream is that the conditioned soul thinks of his material body as "I" or falsely thinks that he is the Lord and that everything in connection with that material body is "mine." Thus only in dream does the misconception of "I" and "mine" persist life after life. This continues life after life, as long as the living entity is not purely conscious of his identity as the subordinate part and parcel of the Lord.

In his pure consciousness, however, there is no such misconceived dream, and in that pure conscious state the living entity does not forget that he is never the Lord, but that he is eternally the servitor of the Lord in transcendental love."

In the dream of pursuing love and happiness while embodied in matter, when looking only to temporary situations without any spiritual vision, most dreams are at best temporarily fulfilled, or at worst, become nightmare.

The Supreme knows our hearts and constantly reaches out, hoping we will reach back, according to our own circumstances, knowledge, and willingness.

Personally, I can't help thinking that many of the love songs we hear, are knowingly or unknowingly  expressions of one's heart seeking that eternal true love; a love connection that is waiting for us at every moment. It is a love to be found in our spiritual heart-of-hearts - even while living in this temporary dream-like world where we are tempted to settle for fleeting sensuality, rather than seeking fully awakened, heart-and-soul love of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

A highly recommended approach to re-connect to the Supreme is by repeating the prayer/mantra
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare
"My dear Lord, Oh divine energy of the Lord, please engage me in Your loving service"

The epiphany, the "Ah ha" moment, the download - they usually appear suddenly from a seemingly independent source and broaden one's consciousness. When sincere inquiry about the nature of life takes place, the Universe/God/Source responds according to one's capacity to receive. One doesn't have to retreat a cave or forest to find insight; it can be found as near as one's own heart.

Finding the time and space to be introspective separates humans from animals - animals lack the capacity to question Who am I, where did I come from, where am I going, and why am I discontent?

Practically speaking, almost conversations throughout one's day consist of questions and answers,  both common and uncommon. In questioning all things big and small, some seek answers in the sub-atomic quantum realm, while others look to the astrophysics of distant galaxies. Still others probe their own minds, hearts, and consciousness in the moment, preferring to connect the dots through personal experiences and conscious revelations, as to the nature of reality and the purpose of existence. Intellectualism and sense perception, both have natural limitations, which is why revelation from divinity in the heart, or from revealed scriptures can help spark transcendent realization which gracefully descends according to time, place, and circumstance, according to each situation and individual.

Ancient Vedic spiritual wisdom asserts that by studying oneself and nature, coded truths will be revealed - because the Absolute Truth / Godhead / Spiritual Essence is fully present everywhere and in everything - connected at every level of reality through consciousness, both local and universal.

As both heat and light radiate from the sun, both material and spiritual energy radiate from Source/Godhead.

In the backyard photo above, both the material and spiritual energies are well represented as physical specimens and conceptual symbols.

Earth, Water, Fire, and Air have their signatures in the image. Earth, water and sunlight grew the trees, with other harvested trees being made into the wooden chairs. Fire also participated in the heating of the clay/earth for making the patio bricks. Air is invisible but noted - in the distant blue sky.

The symptom of spirit as individual conscious energy, also played a role here in making the chairs and bricks, as well as in aligning the table and chairs, in an intentional way.

On the far side of the fence is nature untouched. On the near side of the fence is nature utilized for man's needs, wants and desires. Objects on far side of the fence are alive and growing. Objects on the near side of the fence are lifeless and slowly decaying. Living force and dead matter are both here in our extended backyard.

The material nature supports and nurtures human existence, but once utilized for human desire, the life force is lost and decay sets in. The same is true in human consciousness; one's desires which ignores the living source from which everything is produced - results in unconscious decay as well as the lost physicality of objectified materials of desire.
 
Reductionist Approach / Inclusive Approach

One could take apart the chairs and bricks and search for truth in the structure of their atoms while seeking revelation of reality.

Another approach, is to view reality from the information given by saints and holy texts which inform from a perspective of higher consciousness - liberated from the confinement of limited sense perception.

Through conscious revelation and knowledge, another view of you in this backyard could be symbolically envisioned:

Imagine you are seated in the chair on the left which was made to support your form, as an observer of nature. As you view the meadow, your physical form is not in your line of vision while sitting in the chair. The chair is supporting your body with you inside as the viewer within. Your body, like the chair is a structure to support one's vision and consciousness, but the consciousness itself is invisible. It is one's consciousness that is said to be the symptom of one's eternal essence; the chair and one's body may eventually return to dust, but the energy of one's consciousness/soul continues on, being a spark of divine, eternal life force.

ghtly to your right and behind you, God/Source/Universal consciousness sits with you as a friend, but is also invisible to mundane vision. Guiding and protecting from time immemorial, localized Godhead as Supersoul (Paramatma as described in Bhagavad Gita) connects the individual spirit (Atma) to the temporary material body as well as to universal energy. As is said in Western traditions also "Not a blade of grass moves without the sanction of the Lord". Your non-visible feet are resting in the under the shadow of the table, which blocks the light. Once taking steps out of the shadow, being guided by light, your direction is clear to avoid pitfalls of darkness and misconception.

We share space in the Universe. We are connected by consciousness which is local, but can interact universally. Our identities are the same in regards to our non-material/spiritual nature - in that we are all a quantum measure of conscious energy. it is one's conscious energy which is the symptom of one's spirit, which is able to interact consciously with others as well as Source/Universal Energy/God.

Metaphysically, water represents emotion which can run both hot and cold, be steamy or frozen.

Tears are water and emotion flowing, sometimes of joy, other times of sorrow.

In a sacred text called "The Nectar Of Devotion" it is described that tears of ecstasy can flow without stop as one progresses through stages of loving spiritual emotion. This is a good thing. Even tears of sadness can be a good thing when processing emotions as necessary, as emotions are not meant to be locked up - but rather flow in pure loving expression once freed from mundane or selfish shackles. This occurs spontaneously as one enters into pure eternal consciousness.

These tears of loving joy can happen even while present in one's earthly body, as our connection with Godhead and universal forces deepen and flow. Here is a tear-related track from Jacob Collier.

As kid growing up in LA in the 60's close to the beach, I embraced the Beach Boys as a local surf-flavored pop band. Without much thought I just considered them as one of the waves in the tsunami of new music flooding the airwaves. Little did I know that across the pond, the Beatles considered the structure and harmonies of the Beach Boys as ground-breaking, and were inspired to be as creative, in their upcoming epic album "Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band".

In the same vein of appreciating extremely gifted young musicians - while listening to a recent podcast with Jahnavi Harrison and Willow Smith, I heard of their appreciation for Jacob Collier as an amazing new talent.

Wow! Were they ever right! Now 25, Jacob Collier was discovered at 18 and signed by Quincy Jones. He's a multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter, composer, arranger and all-around musical genius.

If not known to you already, here is short sample introduction to Jacob Collier, with a show-ending encore, performing Brian Wilson's / Beach Boy's  "In My Room"

I was totally unaware in the 1960's when this song was released, that Brian Wilson suffered from depression and emotional abuse while growing up and during his song-writing and performing days, which to me, make these lyrics and his harmonic offering all the more healing and amazing.

Finding the personal time and space literally, or as meditational metaphor, to feel safe and reflect, to dream, scheme, sigh, pray, and laugh at yesterday, is a common need or value we could all share.

In my room.
I woke up today, proded to comtemplate the duality of matter and spirit, represented by darkness and light. I awoke feeling the sun shining on part of my body with warming rays, while the other half of my body was enjoying the cool shade, being out of the sunlight. I know - perhaps not super-profound on the surface, but it did occur to me how we are continuously experiencing light and dark, or spirit and matter in some form or another - continuously at the same time.

Spirit, whose symptom is consciousness, is mixed with the grosser elements of matter which make up the material body - yet consciousness is distinct from the body that houses it. One may cut their hair or even have a body part removed, but the conscious self remains intact. You and me, are not the body we walk and run and sleep through life with.
We are not the black, white, young, old, German, Japanese or American cars we may drive.

Outside my room.

It is the subtle seed of consciousness that animates the body and makes it sing, dance and act.

I was thinking along similar lines - how the subtle energies move the grosser ones, when this example appeared outside my room yesterday.

The material elements feature earth, water, fire, air, and ether, with ether being the most subtle (where thoughts are present), down to the grosser level of the earth (where trees are present).

Like this image, we generally think of trees as fixed and immobile.

This website and blog is dedicated to the how the joy of music and the joy of spirit, can be and are connected on so many levels. One can also understand how all life expressions are connected, if one is introduced to knowledge of the energetic web of spiritual presence which underlies all things. That underlying spiritual presence is like the non-visible thread, holding together a string of pearls.**

That presence as energy has one energetic source, which is not less than it's creation - meaning that the energetic Source of all energy, is also conscious individually, while being all-pervasive.

It may be difficult to initially comprehend, but understanding in microcosm how one can also individually experience many things simultaneously, may help. Consider feeling the firmness of sitting in a chair, while listening to music, while eating a snack, while watching the sunset, while thinking about work, while feeling tired and ready for bed.

Multiply that by infinity, and the fact that some aspects of divinity may be inconceivable to the human mind. This possibility leaves room for personal revelation to occur, as to understanding universal connectivity and consciousness.

The passageway to the safest, and most loving and secure room - leads to one's heart. It is in one's liberated heart-space where both the pure authentic self and God/Source, both reside and can be realized.

Fortunately for us in these challenging times, we can sing our way there, via sacred song and intention.

Props/Pranams to Jahnavi Harrison, for providing her inspirations online and in person.
Here is one of her offerings which started slowly, then ended up rocking the house.

*
**
Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7, Verses 3-8. describes the approach of perfection, the connection of different universal energies, and the practice of seeing divine presence energetically integrated in the world.

Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth.

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—altogether these eight comprise My separated material energies.

Besides this inferior nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is a superior energy of Mine, which are all living entities who are struggling with material nature and are sustaining the universe.

Of all that is material and all that is spiritual in this world, know for certain that I am both its origin and dissolution.

O conquerer of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.

O son of Kuntī [Arjuna], I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable om in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.

Also from the Brahma Samhita, prayers to Govinda, Krishna

8) He is an undifferentiated entity as there is no distinction between potency and the possessor thereof.
In His work of creation of millions of worlds, His potency remains inseparable. All the universes exist in
Him and He is present in His fullness in every one of the atoms that are scattered throughout the
universe, at one and the same time. Such is the primeval Lord whom I adore.