There is one kind of sweet rice which is known as the amrta keli. Keli means it’s playing – it is like a play of nectar on the tongue – amrita is nectar – amrta keli ….Do you know how to make sweet rice? Maybe you don’t but I will tell you:
It is said that the perfect mix of rice sugar and milk – is one to sixteen – one rice two sugars and sixteen milk. Some people when they make sweet rice, they put the rice in and they boil it. When the rice is sort of cooked, “sweet rice hogaya! Baaniya!”. Then put some almond flakes in there and there you have it. Let it cool down and then serve it out, but then the rice is at the bottom and the milk is at the top. That is useless! That’s not sweet rice! That’s milk with rice!
Real sweet rice means that you have to stir! You are there and you are stirring and stirring and when the milk is on the fire – then do not leave it alone, not even for a second! Stay there and stir and stir and keep stirring it up. In this way we are stirring and stirring and gradually the natural water in the milk begins to evaporate and it becomes thicker. The rice is cooked and the two begins sort of merge into one substance, where you cannot separate the rice from the milk – it has become one! Now don’t keep stirring and stirring and make it thick like rice pudding, since it still needs to be liquid, but one substance –that’s called sweet rice.
But, that’s not amrta keli. In amrta keli, what you need to do is when it gets to the perfect substance then you add more milk and then you boil it down again and you keep on stirring… you stir more…and then at one point the rice just begins to dissolve and you cannot see the difference anymore between the rice and the rest of the substance – it has become one paste – this is amrta keli!
You can get that only in one place in the world. Mainly in Yamuna where the deity is known as a Khira Joyti Gopinath or the deity that stole the kheer. So that must be a good sweet rice – even the deities were stealing it! He stole it for his devotee – Madhavanda Puri. When Madhavanda Puri got the pot of that sweet rice – he ate the sweet rice and after that he also ate the pot! Seriously – everyday he broke it, and he ate a little piece of the clay pot. So,if the Lord has stolen it you, than that is the right mood.
Anyway, that is what we require. We have to make our spiritual life ‘amrta keli’ – so we have to make it more thick and we have to boil it down even more. First the quantity, such as – more time with the devotees, more servers, more chanting, more kirtan. Then improve the quality – try to become a real servant! Try and really bow down to the dust of the feet of the vaishnavas! In that way we can gradually get the taste – that’s the trick. So it’s not cheap! It’s not a matter of walking in and walking out, it’s not instant – but this is what we want!In this world nowadays people have instant coffee and everything – instant enlightenment:
“ I have already been chanting for 3 days and still no prem – I think it does not work!”
No! One has to stir and stir – and make it thick and rich! And fill ones life with worship of Krsna!
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Chowpatty, 11th December 2010
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