JUST A GUEST

"People are guests in our story, the same way we are guests in theirs. But we all meet each other for a reason because every person is a personal lesson waiting to be told." - Lauren Klarfeld
These days I regularly go to our ISKCON center at Ponda (a city in Goa) to assist in the preaching activities there. One night as I was about to sleep in the bedding provided to me by the devotees there, I noticed that on the mat was written, "Guest mat". The word "guest" caught my attention and I wondered at the wonder of life. Years back, I was one of the hosts in Ponda who spent nearly 12 years in developing the preaching in this place. Now, I come back again to preach but more like a guest than a host. How life moves and changes is something astonishing to witness. I sat on this "guest mat" seeing through my mind's eye, the change in the roles I played with the passing of time. Due to the training I received in spirituality, I could now perceive these shifts in a happy mood because I knew that, it is the sign of growth - to keep moving on and becoming detached from the very place you once invested your precious time and energy in. We are not meant to be permanently stuck in one post, role or place forever. We are meant to contribute our best and then at the right time hand over that role and responsibility to another and walk off in a detached spirit to embrace another role and responsibility. When we remain stuck, we become stagnant. The principle of life is to keep moving. As the saying goes - rolling stones gather no moss. Excitement and fun in life is to keep walking ahead leaving our contribution and efforts behind for others to enjoy. Holding onto our attachments life long is a sign of immaturity while gracefully letting go of them is the sign of maturity.

THE MATURE MASTER
This is how the leaders and Kings of Vedic times were trained. To develop their area, project or kingdom with one's full heart while simultaneously training someone else to handle the responsibility so that, at the right time one can happily hand over their role to their successor and walk off to perform higher roles especially that of perfecting one's spiritual life. One cannot develop this mindset of letting go of one's lucrative post until one is convinced of a lucrative post far higher than the present one. And what is that post? The scriptures remind us again and again that the most lucrative of all lucrative posts is to become a permanent resident in the spiritual world. They remind us that becoming a permanent servant in the spiritual world is far greater than becoming a temporary master in this material world. When that becomes one's goal, such a person is at once ready to let go of the so called temporary posts of this world.
Krishna was the perfection of this principle of letting go and moving on. He never stayed at any place more than what His role was. As soon as He performed His role and set things right, He moved on. From Vrindavan to Mathura - from Mathura to Dwarka - from Dwarka to Hastinapur, He kept moving wherever He was needed the most. He was more attached to serving than to enjoying. He loved creating leaders and Kings rather than just being a leader and a King. He believed in empowering others than controlling others. This detached yet responsible life that He lived is what adheres Him to millions of people since His descend in this world. He lived a great life and left a even greater legacy of detached yet responsible leaders. The proof of this is that those trained under Him, performed their role perfectly and at the right time, they too gracefully and happily walked away following in their Master's footsteps. Success in life is in mastering not only the art of leading in style but also in mastering the art of leaving in style. Such a life is a glorious life. The world badly needs such exemplary leaders and not those who stagnate their growth and the growth of those under them by adamantly holding onto their posts as if they are going to be there for ever.

THE LIGHT TRAVELLER
Long back I had read this interesting story of a person who came to visit a renowned Yogi in his little ashram in which he was residing for years. The person was surprised to see a bare room with hardly any furniture. Not able withhold his curiosity he asked the Yogi, "Why don't you have any furniture in your room?" The Yogi replied, "I am sorry that I can't offer you a comfortable seat." Hearing this reply, the visitor clarified, "I think you have misunderstood me. I am not bothered about my comforts after all I am just a guest here. I was asking about your comforts." The Yogi without missing a beat replied, "I too am a guest in this world for a brief period of time." The visitor left the ashram with a lesson learnt. The lesson to remain as a lifelong guest. This is the best way to live life. We are like a traveller in this world with a short duration of time. There is no point in carrying excessive baggage of attachments when we have to anyway leave everything behind and walk empty handed. Better is to cultivate our attachments to the permanent spiritual world, our eternal home and the activities that connect us to that realm. That's the purpose of human life. But so often we get so distracted and carried away that we develop temporary attachments to the permanent spiritual things and permanent attachments to the temporary material things. That's the reason we need to regularly remind ourselves of the nature of this world and our life by associating with the truths through the medium of saints and scriptures.

Just like I was reminded of being a guest in this world by seeing the word "guest" written in the sleeping mat, we need to mentally add the "guest" label to everything we have including our house and possessions because after all we are just a guest in this world.

- Achyut Gopal Das