THE MYSTERY OF LIFE

Today morning one of our very senior devotee from our Goa congregation, H.G. Gopanand Prabhu left his body. His life has been a glorious one, fully dedicated to practicing the principles of Krishna consciousness. Sitting near his body and chanting the Holynames in this final journey of his, I was wondering about the mystery of life. His body was appearing as if deep in sleep but this is such a sleep that one doesn't wake up from. What kind of mysterious life has God made! The body appears living but in actuality has no life of it's own. We realise the truth of this statement only when the soul leaves the body.

Participating in the departure ceremonies of so many devotees has left me a little wiser and sober in choosing the priorities of life. Life is such a mystery that we learn more about life from death than from life itself. Other than investing time and energy in Krishna consciousness, rest is just a vain. As they say, we need to learn to keep the main thing as the main thing. In this world of endless distractions and attractions, it is so crucial to keep focused on our main business.
I sincerely pray that the good and devoted soul of Gopanand Prabhu, attain shelter at the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna, His worshippable Lord and may we, who are still alive with a few more years to go, to meet our final destination always remember these two beautiful and meaningful verses from Sri Kevalashtakam and live our life in accordance to them -

ābrahmā-stamba-paryantaḿ
sarvaḿ māyā-mayaḿ jagat
satyaḿ satyaḿ punaḥ satyaḿ
harer nāmaiva kevalam

"The entire universe, from exalted Brahma down to the lowly clump of grass, is a product of the illusory energy of the Supreme Lord. The only thing that is reality, reality, again I say reality is the chanting of the Holynames. The holy name of Sri Hari alone is everything."

niḥśvāse nāhi viśvāsaḥ
kadā ruddho bhaviṣyati
kīrtanīya mato bālyād
harer nāmaiva kevalam
"There is no certainty when the last breath will come and put an abrupt halt to all one’s material plans; therefore, it is wise to always practice chanting from very childhood. The holy name of Sri Hari alone is everything."

- Achyut Gopal Das

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CHANGE OF HEART

In today's world, we are blessed to be surrounded by so much knowledge. In fact we are almost swimming in an ocean of knowledge. We have the best of spiritual books, best of the speakers who share deep wisdom still we feel there has been 'no' or 'very minimal' tangible transformation in our lives. Why? This could be one reason...We somehow inadvertently believe that just having access to knowledge will guarantee us success in spiritual life. But one may argue, Is knowledge not sufficient! True, knowledge is the first step to success. But it's not the only step. People say knowledge is power, but it is only potential power, latent power. Applied knowledge is power. Only when knowledge is applied in our lives can true transformation begin. That means we need to put some internal effort to realise the knowledge. It's not an automatic process. There's a difference between theoretical realisation and actual, true realisation. Theoretical ...

KEEPING THE MUSIC ON...

Yesterday night while sleeping I played on some devotional Bhajans on my mobile in a very low volume. In the early morning while I was awake, all of a sudden the music stopped playing. As you guessed it rightly - the mobile got discharged and it switched off. I was thinking that my life is like this mobile, anytime it can get fully discharged and stop functioning. After all, our body is also a mechanical material device like a mobile. That the body is going to fall dead is a given fact. What is important is what we do with our short life? I prayed to be like this mobile spending my life constantly chanting the glories of the Lord (the real music) till the last moment of my life - till the body switches off. Then our soul will be transferred to the spiritual kingdom where the music (chanting the glories of the Lord) is always on because the bodies there never ever switch off. Achyut Gopal Das

CHANGING THE WORLD FOR ONE PERSON

To reach our ashram at Chodan island, we need to cross the Mandovi river by the government run ferry service. As the ferry vessel was docking the other night, it scooped a tiny little fish out of the water onto the ground. The tiny fish was flapping desperately to live. I somehow managed to put the fish back into the river. The fish was happy to have got to live more and I was happy to be of some help to this small friend. I remembered a quote I had read long ago - "Helping one person might not change the world, but it could change the world for one person." How true it is. Whenever we get opportunities to be of help to someone, we should immediately grab it and try to do the best we can. Who knows, we may just save a life. Whenever, the ferryboat docks I try to be alert to look out for any fish that needs my help. Whether you travel in ferry or not, remember, there are always "fishes" out there who will need your help. Be watchful, be helpful. - Achyut Gopal Das

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