Skip to main content

A DEVOTEE OF SUBSTANCE

By changing our externals our internals is not going to change. By wearing dhoti - kurta, our desires are not going to change. By wearing a Vaishnava tilak, our desires are not going to change. Yes, the external appearance of a devotee is an important aspect of Bhakti and it does have some effect on our consciousness but it is not the all in all of being a devotee. The real challenge is to bring changes from within.

Donning the dress of a devotee externally is difficult but not that difficult - the real difficultly is in donning the attire of a devotee internally because who we are is not a product of our externals but our internals. God doesn't see our externals, He is more interested in our internals. The world may be impressed with the externals but God is impressed only by the internals. A devotee is not a person of form but a person of substance. Our internals change not by changing our externals but by working on changing our internals.


- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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? If God is all you have, you have all you need.  The kingdom of God is within your own hearts.  Knock and the door shall open, seek and you shall find. Don't build your treasures in this world - for it will be stolen by thieves, corroded by rust and rotten by time  If you have faith as much as a mustard seed and you tell a mountain to move - it will move. The meek and humble inherit the kingdom of God. Love God with all your heart and soul Love your...

NO GAURANTEE

There is no guarantee that a strong person will live long or a weak person will die soon. There is no guarantee that an educated person will be successful or an uneducated person will be a failure. There is no guarantee that a pious person will not become sinner or an impious person will not become a saint. There is no guarantee that a rich man's son will not become poor or a poor man's son will not become rich. There is no guarantee that one who joined the race early will be the first to finish it or one who joined late will be last to finish it. Life is such that nothing is guaranteed - everything is predictably unpredictable. God's plan and logic will defy all our logic and short-circuit it. If He wishes, He can make a plum into an apple or an apple into a plum. If He wishes, He can make a King into a pauper or a pauper into a King. God's ways of working are inconceivable. We are always subordinate to His wishes . That's why, whenever any disciple of Bhak...

HEART PAIN to SOUL GAIN - the panacea for broken hearts

"When love is lost, do not bow your head in sadness; instead, keep your head up high and gaze into Heaven for that is where your broken heart has been sent to heal." I am sure all of you'll have experienced a feeling of being let down by someone whom you loved and trusted, a feeling of heartbreak, a feeling of pain when people whom you loved didn't reciprocate back to leave you broken. This world is such that instances like these keep happening now and then. Sometimes they are intentional but many times unintentional. That's the nature of this world. Just like a forest fire sets off without anyone igniting it similarly, misunderstandings and heartbreaks happen even without intentionally creating them . In any case, these heart-pains leave their scar deep in our hearts. We all know and have experienced that the pain of the heart, emotional pain is more difficult to tolerate than physical pain. For physical pain, you can apply a balm or a band-aid or take painkill...