THE BREATHING BELLOWS

Every morning when I wake up and notice my breathing and observe my chest swelling up and down being pumped with air, I invariably remember a verse from the Srimad-bhagvatam which states that our breathing is like the breathing of the bellows of a blacksmith. Both the bellow and our body is made of leather. The bellow may feel that it is breathing on it's own and is fully independent but, it does not know that as soon as the blacksmith stops pumping air in it, it will stop breathing and lay lifeless. Similarly, we may be proud of our breathing and our life and may feel fully independent but, we don't realise that as soon as God decides to stop pumping air into our system, our body will stop breathing and lay lifeless.

What is there to be proud of when we don't even have control over our breath? We should be grateful to God for giving us the wonderful opportunity and gift to breathe and live. And, the way we express that gratitude is by using our breathes and our very lives to serve Him, The One who pumps life into us. We shouldn't squander away the opportunity to serve God because we really don't know which breathe of ours will be the last. Therefore, one great Acharya has prayed beautifully in his song, Sri Kevalashtakam as follows -

niḥśvāse nāhi Viśvāsaḥ

Kadā Ruddho Bhaviṣyati

Kīrtanīya Mato bālyād

Harer Nāmaiva kevalam

"We don't know which breath of ours will be our final breath. Therefore, it is wise to always practice chanting the Holynames from one's very childhood knowing that the Holynames of Krishna alone is everything."

- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

Overcoming Pride By Gratitude

We, ISKCON devotees are made from head to toe only by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and the Vaishnava's. We are products of mercy . Nothing actually belongs to us. So, how can we be proud of borrowed plumes! Think about it. When people applaud us for our classes, if we think properly none of the points we speak is ours. We are just repeating what we have heard or read. And even if we get some new insights it's by the mercy of Krishna in our hearts. We should always remember that whatever respect, facilities and honor we get is only by the mercy of Krishna and the Vaishnavas. It's only because we have some connection with great souls, we are given respect. All great devotees live their lives in alignment with this fact. When Lord Krishna left this world to depart to His eternal abode, Arjuna remembers all the incidents in his life where he achieved extraordinary success. But he doesn't take an iota of credit. He is fully convinced that it is on...

THE QUEST FOR SUCCESS

"In the end we only regret the chances we didn't take." A few weeks ago, I was doing a training program for our devotees at our ISKCON center in Siolim. My theme that day was to highlight the need for devotees to find their hidden potential. I was explaining, how important it is for every devotee to feel successful in life; how the growth of every organisation depends on the growth of the individuals within the organisation. I explained to them, how in the name of growth of the organisation, we can't overlook individual growth - both are interconnected. One devotee asked me a very intelligent question. He asked me, "What does success mean?" I told him, "Success, doesn't mean to become successful in the eyes of people. It doesn't mean name, fame or any other external things." I told him that, " Success means to feel that you have done your best, that you have lived up to your full potential. Others are not the judge of our succe...

WHEN DOES OUR SEARCH END?

Today a simple incident thought me an important lesson. Few days back, the nada string of the pyjama that I wear during my Yoga practice had come out. I stopped doing my Yoga practice due to this reason. Probably an excuse to take a break. I tried to find a safety pin to try to insert the thread back into it's socket. I searched a few places in the ashram where the safety pin could likely be found but, to no avail. I resigned from the endeavour to search and convinced myself that I will search for it some other day. Today, I made up my mind to somehow resume my Yoga session. Which means, I had to find the safety pin - some how or the other. I searched one drawer but to no avail. Then, I searched the most obvious drawer. With a little searching, I found one safety pin lying in the corner of the drawer, as if waiting to be found. I was amazed and shocked to find it. It was as if someone magically put it there from the heavens. I had s...

The Wisdom Park

Search This Blog