JUST BECAUSE...

Just because we give good discourses, doesn't mean that we are spiritually advanced. Just because we write nicely, doesn't mean that we are spiritually advanced. Just because we manage the temple nicely, doesn't mean that we are spiritually advanced. Just because we cook nice bhoga, doesn't mean that we are spiritually advanced. Just because we start many temples and centers, doesn't mean that we are spiritually advanced. Just because we have completed many projects, doesn't mean that we are spiritually advanced. Just because we have many followers and have made many devotees, doesn't mean that we are spiritually advanced. Just because we have organised many events, doesn't mean that we are spiritually advanced. Just because we dress the deities nicely, doesn't mean that we are spiritually advanced.

Yes, these services are wonderful and laudable but we shouldn't forget the purpose of doing all these various services. Somehow, the nature of our conditioned mind and intellect is to judge our internal success by the yardstick of external success. We tend to confuse skills with devotion. Skills are a wonderful blessing given to us by Krishna but just possessing them and displaying them is not a sign of our spiritual growth. Whatever gifts we are bestowed with, we should always remember that the only purpose of using them is to please Krishna and nothing else. So the yardstick of being spiritually advanced is how much we have pleased Krishna. And how is Krishna pleased? He is only pleased seeing the devotion of our heart, the purification of our minds, the evolution of our consciousness and the eradication of our anarthas.

So, let us not get caught in the superficialities and forget the essence, let us not get caught in the form and forget the substance beneath the form and let us not get caught in the game of impressing others and forget to impress the heart of Krishna.

- Achyut Gopal Das