WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE?

"It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching" - St. Francis of Assisi.

Every act of ours sends a message to others. If we come late for a meeting or a class, we are sending a message to others that, "this meeting or class is not very important." If we keep things untidy, we are sending a message across that, "cleanliness is not that important." If someone takes bribe, the message that person sends is, "corruption is normal." If someone keeps criticising others and engages in politics, the message he sends to others is, "it's normal to criticise and engage in politics."

If we are very active and fully utilize our time, we give the message that "time is very precious and valuable." If someone sits erect and chants with absorption, he sends a message across that, "chanting is the most wonderful experience in life." If someone continues on in life with hope even amidst unlimited problems, he sends a message that, "life may be difficult but it is always filled with adventurous lessons for which we can be grateful."

We don't have to speak a word to give a message to the world, our actions speak everything. As they say - actions speak louder than words. Every action of ours sends out either an empowering and a positive message or an dis-empowering and a negative message. Look at your life and see what message you are unconsciously sending out. And if you are not happy with that message, it's time to consciously change it to a meaningful and an inspiring one because after all, our life is just a message.

- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

MAKE IT A POINT TO MAKE THE POINT

A few days ago, as I was traveling on the ferry that takes us to our ISKCON Center at Chodan island, a relatively young man approached me and started to talk to me. My Vaishnava (devotee) attire probably attracted him to me. He was asking me if I was a preist in a temple. To which I said "Yes". I asked him where he stays and what he does. He told me that he stays in Panjim and runs a chicken shop in Porvorim. I asked him his name and as I guessed, he happened to be a Muslim. I could see marks of dried up blood stains in different places in his shirt. I at once told him to try to switch his profession to one which involves less violence. I suggested to him to start a vegetable or a grocery shop. He seemed to be taken a little aback by what might have appeared to him to be a stange suggestion by a stranger. I told him that killing innocent animals is not right. They too have life and feelings like us. He was hearing me out. He then asked me, if one can eat chicken ...

Thought on Thoughts

The problem with many of us is that we have given way too much importance to our thoughts. Just think about it. How many thoughts we have in a day? Hundreds or thousands. How many thoughts we have had in our life up until now? Millions or quadrillions. The irony is that the mind makes us believe that every thought is important and we foolishly subscribe to our mind. Just like in an ocean so many waves come and go, similarly we get so many thoughts. The problem is not the thought per se, but our attachment to our thoughts. Interesting thing is that thoughts are harmless - they come in awareness and pass away. Just like clouds pass through the clear sky. Our thoughts can harm us only if we give importance to them and hold on to them. That's why in the Bhagavad-Gita when Lord Krishna is explaining the flowchart of how a living entity suffers. The first step, He explains is contemplation of sense objects. Contemplation is nothing but holding on...

LOSING ONESELF TO GAIN ONESELF

The theory of oneness with God is something that is not very appealing to Vaishnavas, in fact it is the one thing that they vehemently oppose. But the oneness I am talking is not about loosing our soul - it's about gaining it. Losing oneself in any activity means to fully absorb ourselves into it or as they say, "to get into it fully". In the pages of the Srimad Bhagvatam there is mention of an Avadhoot Brahman who had 24 gurus. One of his guru was an arrow maker. This arrow maker was so absorbed in sharpening his arrow that he didn't even recognize the entourage of the King passing by. The Brahman learnt the quality of absorption from this arrow maker. If there is one word that is of utmost importance in spiritual life - it is ABSORPTION. In order to truly experience happiness in spiritual life, we need to fully absorb ourselves into the practice - kind of forget our present identity . We identify with so many things that we are not - our various aspects...

The Wisdom Park

Search This Blog