LEARNING THE LANGUAGE OF "NEEDS"

Before the lockdown, I never wanted to stay in the ashram throughout the day. I always wanted to go out and do programs or meet people. I always felt that I am "on the move guy" and always wanted action. Now after the lockdown period and being at ashram for quite sometime, I must confess that I have begun to love staying here. I guess once the lockdown opens, it will be difficult for me to move out. I was reflecting on how our mind functions. The situation that was not all to my liking has now become most likable. The mind after all gets adjusted to whatever the situation is. It keeps constantly fluctuating between likes and dislikes without any rationale. Probably, that's the reason sages and scriptures warn us not to trust our minds. We can't take it's thinking, feeling and willing too seriously.

Even though the mind has no rationale, there is another rationale which we need to understand. That is the rationale of "our needs". This is the reason why am I happy now, even amidst this lockdown. I realized that my need was not to move out of the ashram but my need was to preach and be engaged in some productive way. Now that, I can get to do online classes and preach even being put up in one place only, I am happy. Once, we connect to what our needs are then, we can find a way to fulfill our needs even in different circumstances. Understanding the language of our needs is so important if we want to be happy and peaceful in world filled with changing circumstances. There is always a way to fulfill our needs if we are just open and flexible. We should be attached to the principle of understanding our needs and fulfilling them but we should be detached from the ways in which we fulfill this principle of fulfilling our needs.

- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

GOD answers "KNEE MAIL" not EMAIL

I once heard a very interesting quote which said - " The distance between the problem and the solution is the distance between the knees and the ground. " It means that - when we are hit by a problem that seems too overwhelming, we need to hit the ground and offer our earnest prayer to God . This is called "Knee mail" - it is more faster and efficiently than email. You see, many problems can't be solved by us - they are too big for us but definitely not too big for God. When we bring God into our life by sincere, heartful prayers then problems eject out of our life. That is the power of prayers. The greatest power is to realize that we are powerless and thus seek refuge in the greatest power - the power of God. That is wisdom. This is the mood in which we offer our prayers, chant our rounds and participate in Kirtans - the mood of surrender. In Sanskrit it is called "sharanagati" or "prapannam" - it is the essence of all scriptures an...

GETTING OUR ATTITUDES RIGHT

" Our altitude in life depends not on our aptitude but our attitude in life. " A few days ago was the appearance day of Sri Advait Acharya. Advaita Acharya is non different from Lord Vishnu and appeared as one of the most confidential associates of Lord Chaitanya. His life is filled with great lessons for all devotees in the line of Lord Chaitanya. Here are two most prominent and crucial lessons from His life that is very very important for devotees to understand. RIGHT ATTITUDE OF A PREACHER Advaita Acharya even though was Lord Vishnu Himself, still seeing the suffering condition of the human society, prayed to Lord Krishna to personally descend. Why? Because He thought, He was powerless to transform the hearts of the living entities. Just see, He Himself is the powerful Lord but still felt incapable. This is a true quality of a powerful preacher - he considers himself powerless and thus seeks and prays to access powers, higher than himself. By His earnest prayers, Lord Kr...

ALAS, HOW STRONG IS THE DESIRE TO ENJOY!!

Even though covid is spreading so rapidly with the possibility of death lingering very close to us still, the desire to enjoy this world is still strong. Isn't it surprising? Probably not because Maya after all is very strong and clever. She keeps the hope to enjoy this world even in the face of the greatest dangers alive and burning in our hearts and thus keeps us stuck here birth after birth. As Adi Shankaracharya prays in his famous Bhaja Govindam song - "Angam Galitam Palitam Mundam Dasanavihinam Jatam Tundam Vrddho Yati Grhitva Dandam Tadapi Na Muncatyasapindam Bhaja Govindam Bhaja Govindam……."_ "The body has become worn out. The head has turned grey. The mouth has become toothless. The old man moves about leaning on his staff. Even then he doesn't give up the bundle of his desires. O foolish mind! seek Govinda!" The body may become weak but the desires to enjoy still remains strong until we weaken them by practicing strong Bhakti. - Achyut Gopal D...

The Wisdom Park

Search This Blog