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

GLORIOUS LIFE OF A GLORIOUS DEVOTEE

"What is the value of a prolonged life which is wasted, inexperienced by years in this world? Better a moment of full consciousness, because that gives one a start in searching after his supreme interest." - Srimad-bhagvatam 2.1.12 THE WINNER OF HEARTS Today is the disappearance day of His Grace Jayananda Prabhu. He left his body, a day before Narasimha chaturdashi in the year 1977. Jayananda Prabhu is an example of a perfect devotee whom every devotee should follow. Born as Jim Khor, Jayananda Prabhu became one of the intital and senior most disciple of Srila Prabhupada. He was a mechanical engineer by education but he chose a simple, humble profession of a taxi driver in order to be free from an artificial life of name and fame. He was already a kind of spiritual seeker therefore, as soon as he came in touch with Srila Prabhupada and the Krishna Conscious movement, he got hooked onto it and took it up with all seriousness right from day one. He was enthusiasm ...
Post a Comment
Read more

LIFE OF PI - A Tribute to Irfan Khan

"I  suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye." - Irfan Khan from the movie "Life of Pi" Probably one of the best movie of Irfan Khan is the "Life of Pi" (that is the only movie I have seen of his). The movie shows how Irfan Khan as Pi, was saved once during the drowning of the ship in which his family was relocating to Europe and the second time, while being stranded alone in the Pacific Ocean along with a ferocious Bengal tiger called Richard Parker in a small sail boat. But in the movie of life, he sadly couldn't be saved from the cancer that was ravaging him. We may get saved many times from many life-threatening circumstances but there will be one situation when we will not survive. Whoever one is, however famous one may be, however educated and successful one may be, everyone has to meet this inev...
Post a Comment
Read more

FAULT OF FINDING FAULT

" When faults in others misguide and delude you – have patience, introspect, find faults in yourself. Know that others cannot harm you unless you harm yourself. " - Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur One time when Jesus was in Jerusalem, he saw some people chasing a prostitute and trying to stone her to death. When Jesus stopped them and asked them why they were doing so. They replied that it is mentioned in the laws of the scriptures that one who commits adultery must be stoned to death. They said that they had caught her red handed and were just following the law. When they asked Jesus his opinion he replied, "Yes, you can very much stone this lady to death but one who hasn't sinned in his life can cast the stone on her." One by one, everyone put down the stone in their hands and quietly walked away. This lady fell at the feet of Jesus and surrendered to him. Jesus told this lady to not commit sin again and walked away.  The compassion of Jesus ...
Post a Comment
Read more