Last night I had a very strange dream. I was in the backyard of some one's house sitting around talking. Suddenly, a swarm of bees started trying to sting me. There was no pain, but rather a botheration. I began to roll on the ground attempting to flee, but had no luck. Then, I woke up.
I immediately went to our dream symbols book. There were a couple of meanings, but one struck me. It states that bees can be gossip, or piercing words. Yesterday, I engaged in a lot of prajalpa, unnecessary speaking. Some controversial news came out about two devotees and my tongue went wild. Living in a small community also has it's advantages and disadvantages. Everyone in the community wanted to talk about.
When I woke up today, I had been given a chance to see my faults. Now the problem is rectifying. So today I meditated on sound vibrations. Sounds are all around us in the ether. We can't see them, and sometimes we can't even hear them, but they are there. Radio waves, cell phone waves, and many other waves of subtle sound are passing through our bodies and surrounding us constantly.
Sound vibrations can either degrade us or elevate us. So when we talk, we either degrade or elevate ourselves. Every action, thought and speech effects us on many different levels. Our speech should be gentle, nonviolent, positive and mostly, centered around Krishna (God).
In Srimad-Bhagavatam Second Canto, Chapter 3, text 17 it says: "Both by rising and setting, the sun decreases the duration of life of everyone, except one who utilizes the time by discussing topics of the all-good Personality of Godhead."
By chanting and speaking the glories of God and God's servants, we not only purify ourselves, but we also purify the listener. Gossip, mundane talk, debating, takes away from talking about Krishna. I realize that I am failing in this department. The urge to speak is there. If we choose to talk something mundane then it is compared to the frog's croaking that's calling the snake. We are calling death.
Bhagavad-gita Chapter 10, text 9 says: "The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me."
In Caitanya-caritamrita, it is described that the soul has wandered all over the universe accepting and rejecting so many bodies. Finally, the soul is awarded the human form of life. By the Lord's mercy, the living entity comes in contact with the Lord's representative. The Lord's servant engages that person in the service of God by hearing and chanting about Krishna. In the heart is planted the seed of devotion. We water this seed by hearing and chanting. But, sometimes weeds grow up. We instead sometimes water the weed rather than the creeper of devotion.
So, I must beg for the mercy from Krishna and the devotees to give up mundane talk which includes gossip, politics, and especially fault finding.
Srila Raghunath das Gosvami writes in his Manah-siksha (Instructions to the Mind): "My dear mind, you must categorically relinquish frivolous and mundane talk, which is like a prostitute who steals all your intelligence and resolve."
Like prostitutes, mundane subjects plunder a man's knowledge and his resolve. A prostitute cunningly relieves her customers of their riches, and mundane talks rob a man of his wealth of knowledge. After all, one's predilection for spiritual upliftment is his only treasure, and such a treasure is everything to the sincere transcendentalist. Grossly materialistic subject matters and dealings with topics unrelated to the Absolute Truth plunder this treasure because they are unreal, illusory, and temporary.
