Skip to main content

THE ART OF HEART


"Devotion means attention to details." - Radhanath Swami

As I was having my breakfast at our ISKCON-run restaurant at Vrindavan, I saw one lady chef cut a piece of cake, neatly place it on the center of the plate and wipe the excess cake markings very meticulously with a tissue paper. It was then served to the customer with a knife and fork. I very much appreciated the devotion this lady put in her job. No wonder, why people spend so much extra money in going to high-quality restaurants which not only focuses on the quality of the preparation but also on the quality of the presentation of the preparation. When "the giver" puts their heart in something, it is felt in the heart of "the receiver". Eating is not just an activity of filling one's belly and satisfying one's palate, it is also about satisfying one's heart.

I took a lesson from this incident. In life, we are all "givers" in some instances and "receivers" in some instances. As receivers, we all want to receive the best but very often in our role as givers, we don't give our best. We don't put our hearts fully into what we are giving God, giving others and giving society. We do a lousy job, shortcut job and try to get on to our main job of putting our heart in satisfying ourselves. Our philosophy is - best for ourselves and average for others. This is the life philosophy for the less evolved. The more evolved people believe in giving the best for others because they know that, that is the only way best comes to oneself. One cannot have the best crop if one's neighbors have the worst crop - one cannot be happy if one's neighbors are unhappy. By giving our best to others, we receive the best.

And doing our best and giving our best is not dependent on whether the job in hand is small or big. Giving one's best and doing one's best is an attitude. It should take hold in us and become part of our very nature. Then, life becomes beautiful. "Our job is not just to do our job- our job is to do our job well." Imagine, how God will feel if we put our heart in every Holy-name we chant and in every service we perform. He is also a person with feelings and emotions. He becomes pleased when someone offers and serves Him with love and devotion. Therefore, the most important art we need to master is the art of putting our heart in every art we do.

- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

  1. FREESPIRITED6 November 2019 at 20:53

    Very well said, unless we put our hearts in things we do we would never contribute wholly. Giving comes with a choice, service comes with love, to serve is to please.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TRANSFORMING CURSES TO BLESSINGS - A tale of two trees

"Perhaps someday I'll crawl back home, beaten, defeated. But not as long as I can make stories out of my heartbreak, beauty out of sorrow." - Sylvia Plath, American poet and writer. Who doesn't like stories. Stories have always been loved by human civilization for eons probably because in the story of others, humans find semblance of their own stories. Some stories are entertaining, some inspiring, some touching and some enlightening. Here is one such story from the Srimad-Bhagvatam which contains all these aspects. This is a story of two trees - a story of the journey from bondage to freedom. This is a story of hope - a story of transformation. Even though this story happened 5000 years back, the lessons from it are still relevant and fresh. As you read this story, you may find clues to write or rewrite your personal story of transformation, hope, bliss and freedom.   THE TURNING POINT This is the story of the deliverance of the twin Yamala Arjuna trees by L...
Post a Comment
Read more

LEARNING THE LANGUAGE OF "NEEDS"

  Before the lockdown, I never wanted to stay in the ashram throughout the day. I always wanted to go out and do programs or meet people. I always felt that I am "on the move guy" and always wanted action. Now after the lockdown period and being at ashram for quite sometime, I must confess that I have begun to love staying here. I guess once the lockdown opens, it will be difficult for me to move out. I was reflecting on how our mind functions. The situation that was not all to my liking has now become most likable. The mind after all gets adjusted to whatever the situation is. It keeps constantly fluctuating between likes and dislikes without any rationale. Probably, that's the reason sages and scriptures warn us not to trust our minds. We can't take it's thinking, feeling and willing too seriously.   Even though the mind has no rationale, there is another rationale which we need to understand. That is the rationale of "our needs"...
Post a Comment
Read more

RACE AGAINST TIME

Time and tide wait for none. Time is one of the most powerful feature of this world. In fact, Lord Krishna introduces Himself as time in the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita. However powerful a personality one may be, at the end everyone has to bow down in front of time and surrender to it. History is the proof of the power of time. Big, big people reduced to dust by time. Time is so imperceptible in it's working that we don't even realize how days, weeks, months and years pass away - until it's too late . Our life can be compared to a video game with a timer on. Only, the one who wins the game before the time runs out is declared the winner. The only difference between the video game and and the game of life is that in the video game, you know how much time is left but in the game of life, you don't know how much time is left. If while playing a simple game we have to be fully focused and conscious not to waste time to win it, how much more, we hav...
Post a Comment
Read more