Skip to main content

Christmas Meditation

Every festival be it Christmas, Janmashtami or Diwali should simultaneously be a day of celebration and a day of contemplation. Christmas is as much about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ as it is about remembering his life, his sacrifices and his teachings.



I thought of sharing a few teachings of Jesus Christ which when contemplated, practised and applied can truly make our lives meaningful.

What shall it profit a man, if he  gains the whole world and suffers the loss of his own soul?
  1. If God is all you have, you have all you need. 
  2. The kingdom of God is within your own hearts. 
  3. Knock and the door shall open, seek and you shall find.
  4. Don't build your treasures in this world - for it will be stolen by thieves, corroded by rust and rotten by time 
  5. If you have faith as much as a mustard seed and you tell a mountain to move - it will move.
  6. The meek and humble inherit the kingdom of God.
  7. Love God with all your heart and soul
  8. Love your neighbors as yourself.
  9. Those among you who is sinless can cast the first stone.
When Srila Prabhupada went to the West, one reporter asked him if he had come to America to convert Christians into Hindus. Prabhupada answered "No, I have come to make them better Christians". Whatever our religion may be, the true purpose of every religion is to help us develop our love for God.

So, on this joyous occasion of Christmas let us follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and try to mould our lives in such a way that we can deepen our connection with God, develop genuine integrity and be an instrument of God's compassion and love in this world.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas.

- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

FROM THIS OCEAN TO THAT

A few days ago, there was our annual Ratha Yatra of Lord Jagannath in Panjim, the capital city of Goa. Lord Jagannath rode majestically in His majestic chariot in the most majestic street of Goa. It was a beautiful procession with devotees chanting and dancing enthusiastically for the pleasure of the Lord. Towards the end of the procession, it started to rain very heavily. Most devotees were still continuing to chant and dance undettered by the heavy down pour. But, I chose to shelter myself under the umbrella of one of my devotee friends. As we were standing by a tree and waiting for the rains to subside, I noticed the waters of the adjacent Mandovi river. It appeared very turbulent and agitated. It was a little fearful to look at. I was thinking, "If waters of a small river can be so agitating and fearful, how much more fearful and scary it will be to be in between the ocean with rain and storm in full swing." Even if you are in a huge ship still, in front of the massive ...

STEP OUT to STEP UP

Don't live the same day over and over again and call that a life. Life is about evolving mentally, spiritually and emotionally . -   Germany Kent We all have our own comfort zones which we don't want to leave. Why? Because life is very predictable and set according to our convenience. "Why should you leave all this to embrace a life of risk, unpredictability and inconvenience", reasons the mind. This may be true but it also true that life without challenges is not life at all - it is just survival. We are born not to survive but to thrive. Thrive means growth and growth means the growth process. And the growth process is always not easy but the result is always amazing.   THE PROCESS OF GROWTH Just like a caterpillar goes through a struggle to come out of the cocoon, but that struggle, that growth, transforms it into the most beautiful butterfly similarly coming out of our cocoon of comfort may be difficult but the fruits are exceedingly wonderful. Or just li...

GIVING UP PETTINESS to EXPERIENCE PRETTINESS

"The process of Krishna consciousness will empower us when we empower it." The other day as I was taking a bath, the plastic bucket I was using, slipped and cracked. A piece from the rim of the bucket broke off and cut my finger. As I was waiting for the bucket to refill with water, I noticed that even after a long time the bucket wasn't filling up. It's at that time, I noticed a "not so apparent" crack at the bottom of the bucket which was causing all the water to leak out. I drew a lesson from this incident which is applicable to my spiritual life. SEALING THE LEAKS The process of spiritual life or Krishna consciousness which includes the nine fold limbs beginning with Shravanam (hearing) and Kirtanam (chanting) is like filling the container - the vessel of our hearts. For the vessel of our hearts to fill up, it should be leak free. If the container is faulty and contains many holes, the best of content, in the best of quantity will not help it fill. Ana...