Skip to main content

AGENTS OF CHANGE

The first chapter of Bhagvad-Gita is entitled 'Observing the armies on the battlefield of Kurukshetra'. This chapter is all about Arjuna seeing the world through his eyes, interpreting the situation according to what he thinks is right. The result - confusion and stress. This the turning point in his life, where he surrenders to Krishna and asks Him for guidance. Lord Krishna then starts to speak the timeless wisdom of the Bhagvad-Gita only to give Arjuna the right vision.

If we honestly glance into our hearts, we will come to the same conclusion that Arjuna came to - that observing life through our present perceptions has not helped us, we still feel unhappy and incomplete. We probably need a change of lenses, a vision change. 

That's exactly what the Bhagvad-Gita does for us. It helps us change our vision from "What I think is correct" to "What is actually correct", it helps us change from saying "Let my will be done" to "Oh Lord, let Thy will be done", it helps us change our attitude from that of "I am a competitor to God's plan" to "I am a co-operator to God's plan". In simple words Bhagvad-Gita helps us to make this shift from seeing the world through our eyes to seeing the world through God's eyes. That's why it so important to regularly read and understand the  scriptures to clearly know without ambiguity what God expects of us, what is His plan for us.

It is explained that there are four kinds of servants -
  1. One who instead of serving the master, takes service from him.
  2. One who does what is told to him but with a lot of mistakes.
  3. One who does what is told to him perfectly.
  4. One who knows the heart of his master and does it even before being asked
Which of these four do you think pleases the master the most. Naturally, the last one - one who understands the mood and mission of His master and makes it his own. Such a servant naturally gains more trust of the master and is entrusted with more responsibilities. Similarly the Supreme Lord becomes very pleased and dearly loves that person who is ready to align himself with His desires. Such a person is chosen to be His instrument of compassion in this world.  

What the world badly needs is people who are ready to be instruments of God's compassion and love in this world. The world needs people who have changed their vision from passion to compassion, from selfishness to selflessness, from impurity of mind to purity of mind. 

It is said that - the biggest problem in this world is hunger - not hunger of the belly but hunger of the heart. Both the rich and the poor are equally hungry. And the only thing that can satisfy the hunger of the heart is God's love.

The question is are we ready to be instruments of God's love in this world, are we ready to be agents of change? If yes, then we first need to BE THE CHANGE WE WANT TO SEE IN THIS WORLD.

- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

THE SPEAKING RIVER

Rivers are considered lifelines of humanity. They not only nourish us physically but also emotionally and spiritually. No wonder, our culture has rightly given them status as mother's. Imagine, if rivers could speak, what message they would like to give us. Here are few lessons that we can learn from them. In fact if we remain in the mood of submissive students of life, there is so much we can learn even from "so called" inanimate objects. Many of these lessons are from Radhanath Maharaj's memoir - 'The Journey Home'. Lesson 1 - MAGIC OF SETTING GOALS The river is so desperate, so determined, so focused to reach the sea that nothing can stop it. It goes over, under or around all impediments. It never gives up. It has learnt the art of overcoming all obstacles. In fact it is said that, obstacles are those things that you see when you loose focus of your goals . The river teaches us that the first and most important key to overcome obstacles in lif...

MAKE IT A POINT TO MAKE THE POINT

A few days ago, as I was traveling on the ferry that takes us to our ISKCON Center at Chodan island, a relatively young man approached me and started to talk to me. My Vaishnava (devotee) attire probably attracted him to me. He was asking me if I was a preist in a temple. To which I said "Yes". I asked him where he stays and what he does. He told me that he stays in Panjim and runs a chicken shop in Porvorim. I asked him his name and as I guessed, he happened to be a Muslim. I could see marks of dried up blood stains in different places in his shirt. I at once told him to try to switch his profession to one which involves less violence. I suggested to him to start a vegetable or a grocery shop.  He seemed to be taken a little aback by what might have appeared to him to be a stange suggestion by a stranger. I told him that killing innocent animals is not right. They too have life and feelings like us. He was hearing me out. He then asked me, if one can eat chicken ...

RELAX YOUR WAY THROUGH LIFE

We all have problems in life, that's given but the question is - how do we deal with them? Generally when faced with difficulties, we panic and stress out, but this doesn't solve the problem rather aggravates it. The best way to deal with our problems is by being calm . How can one remain calm amidst problems? That's a question of practice. The point is unless we are calm we will not be able to see the problem for what it is, what to speak of solving it. Just like if a pond is agitated we can't see our reflection, similarly we can't see the obvious as long as our mind remains agitated. We always think that peace is obtained by solving our problems. That may be true but we forget that to solve our problems we need to be at peace first. This is something most of us don't get. By being calm and relaxed in face of a difficulty, we are placing ourselves in the mode of goodness and only in goodness can solutions come forth because the symptoms of the mode of g...