The Best Intoxication 

Once I was invited to France for a Harikatha program. During my talk, I advised the audience not to consume any kind of intoxications like alcohol or smoking. Addiction not only damages the health but also our consciousness. The next day, while I was cooking in the kitchen, a young boy came up to me and asked “Everything is alright, but why do you ask not to take any kind of intoxication “. He further added, “Why we cannot smoke or drink?”. “You did not hear me properly yesterday. I only suggested to consume the best intoxication, not something which is useless”, I replied. The boy looked puzzled and asked, “What kind of intoxication is that?”. “Chant the holy name of the lord”, I said. The boy later spent the day happily with us listening and performing Kirtan. 

The Holy name of the Lord is the highest intoxication; it can intoxicate the soul, the spirit. All these worldly intoxications or attachments are limited to the body and mind. Therefore, they can never give pleasure to the spirit, which is the master of this body. When it is not touching the spirit, not reaching closer to the spirit, then what kind of happiness does the person feel? Instead, it should touch life, not the matter. Like a cloth we wear. Now the cloth is moving, because the cloth is in contact with the person, who is wearing it. The cloth cannot move on it’s own. Similarly our body is worn by the spirit; so, at the moment the body is functioning, but as soon as the spirit leaves the body,it is dead and useless and is only meant for the graveyard. The attempts one makes to give pleasure to this body can never touch the spirit. To live life means to dointoxicate the spirit, not the body. This is what the Saints teach us, how one can intoxicate oneself, not one’s appearance.