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 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...

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 PLEASURE RIDE OF LIFE

A few days back, I had to come from our Vasco center to our Panjim center. I took, three different vehicles to reach the destination. From the Vasco center, my friend dropped me to the Verna bus stop in a brand new, high end, air conditioned car. From there I took a crowded, government Kadamba bus to Panjim. The contrast of the previous ride in the comfortable car to this one was distance apart. At the Panjim bus stand, I was picked up by another colleague of mine in our old rundown car. Again, a huge contrast to the previous two vehicles. But, I thoroughly enjoyed all the three rides in the three different vehicles. Just in a short journey, three completely different situations. Isn't life also something like this, where situations change completely and quickly! I reflected that our experience of life is not in the situation per se but in our interpretation of the situation. No situation, is entirely good or bad in and of itself - it is depends on our perception of the sit...

The Wisdom Park

Search This Blog