THE BREATHING BELLOWS

Every morning when I wake up and notice my breathing and observe my chest swelling up and down being pumped with air, I invariably remember a verse from the Srimad-bhagvatam which states that our breathing is like the breathing of the bellows of a blacksmith. Both the bellow and our body is made of leather. The bellow may feel that it is breathing on it's own and is fully independent but, it does not know that as soon as the blacksmith stops pumping air in it, it will stop breathing and lay lifeless. Similarly, we may be proud of our breathing and our life and may feel fully independent but, we don't realise that as soon as God decides to stop pumping air into our system, our body will stop breathing and lay lifeless.

What is there to be proud of when we don't even have control over our breath? We should be grateful to God for giving us the wonderful opportunity and gift to breathe and live. And, the way we express that gratitude is by using our breathes and our very lives to serve Him, The One who pumps life into us. We shouldn't squander away the opportunity to serve God because we really don't know which breathe of ours will be the last. Therefore, one great Acharya has prayed beautifully in his song, Sri Kevalashtakam as follows -

niḥśvāse nāhi Viśvāsaḥ

Kadā Ruddho Bhaviṣyati

Kīrtanīya Mato bālyād

Harer Nāmaiva kevalam

"We don't know which breath of ours will be our final breath. Therefore, it is wise to always practice chanting the Holynames from one's very childhood knowing that the Holynames of Krishna alone is everything."

- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

THE MASTERSTROKE - Reflections on the retirement of Dhoni & Raina

"Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it." - Ann Landers Everyone is sad about the retirement of M.S. Dhoni and Suresh Raina from international cricket. This shows how much love and respect these players have earned from their fellow Indians. Indians also should be proud of the example these players are setting by retiring timely, thereby setting a healthy precedent for the other players to follow. Voluntarily retiring at the right time by the elder generation in order to make space for newer and younger generation is a sign of maturity and wisdom. This has been the mindset of great leaders of this great land of India - to live with dignity and leave with dignity. This is the spirit and ethos of India. To hold onto a position till one is made to forcibly quit it, is not a dignified life. Only those wh...

LIVING WITH THE END IN MIND

“ If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right. ” Two months ago, I had visited a small town in South India for a few days. As I was on my way to this place from the airport, a funeral procession carrying a dead body crossed right in front of me. Just halfway through my stay, as I was sitting beside a shop, out of the blue another death procession crossed inches away from me. What's more interesting is, as I was leaving this town another death procession crossed my way. I was thinking - "Oh God, what is the message for me!". The story doesn't end here, as I reached Goa, a friend of mine who came to pick me up gave me another news of the departure of one of our congregation member's mother-in-law. That same night, another elderly congregation lady and a close college friend of mine passed away. The message was very clear - Death can come at any moment. The story doesn't stop here either - the news of death keeps happen...

The Wisdom Park

Search This Blog