When we sit in an aircraft which is flying at the speed of 250 miles per second, we don't even realise the movement. Time too flies…at an unimaginable speed! And we who are carried around in time, foolishly believe in stability!! So Shankaracharya lifts the window shutter a little, so that we get a glimpse of what really is going on…
Silently, time is passing and engulfing an entire lifetime. We do not realise when we grow up. We do not realise when we grow old. We do not realise how hours turn into days. We do not realise how days turn into months and months into years. And one fine day, it will be time for each of us to say goodbye!
The idea of mentioning the temporariness of life or the momentariness of time, is not to turn all of us into some pessimistic philosophical idlers! But, the point is that yes, Time is powerful, fast, and unpredictable. Time is a bad motorist. It rarely signals before taking a turn. So this is an alert! Beware, Time is passing! Understanding time must allow us to value it.
How do we value time? By knowing that there is no unimportant day. Yes, never. This day is what will be your week, your month, your years, your lifetime. Each day is an opportunity to evolve. And how do we spend it? In mundane and meaningless pursuits, in ephemeral entertainments and engagements, in drab desires and empty cravings, in inappropriate attachments and noisy broodings, we spend an entire lifetime, ending up exhausted and empty at the doors of Death. What use is such a life?
And do you know why so many lives are thus wasted? Not because we do not know what better can be done. But because we feel that can be done "later"!!! We wait the entire week for the weekend, we wait the entire year for the holiday, we wait entire life for Happiness.
We keep feeling that there are other urgencies and emergencies to handle, and that life can wait. Spirituality can happen later. Evolution can be taken up when everything else is done with. But everything else never gets done! Life gets done! THINK!
One must do duties, enjoy life, take care of others, see the world…all this is important. Shankaracharya is not denying you anything. But Shankaracharya says something simple: Don't lose what is most important for what is just important.
:) Hope we know the difference.
Right now we are all mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, friends, students, employees, employers, citizens etc, who are also spiritual seekers. Shankara is asking us to just reverse this identity. Let us be spiritual seekers who are mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, friends, students, employees, employers, citizens etc, and that will make all the difference! Today, now, shed off the lethargies of the mind, renounce all ordinary living, and get committed to seek Your Best, Your Self. Why delay? Roll up your sleeves and tie up your belts. It is time to walk the Path.
Seek the Eternal! NOW. TODAY.
Gurudev writes:
Life is at Time's mercy …In not recognising this, we desire to enjoy the sense-objects, strive, sweat and toil endlessly to acquire, to possess and to aggrandise - to hope, to spend… And death snatches away everything in a moment. …We are compelled to leave everything here - and with painful bundles of vasanas acquired in our desire-ridden selfish life, we miserably depart. How sad! Indeed, how tragic!!
THINK!
Life steadily ebbs away, but desire fed by the sense-gratifications only grows the more and more. Body decays and becomes infirm; it has grown to have no more strength to enjoy, but the (wo)man hungers all the more for sense-enjoyments. Death crawls behind; disease and decay accompany him/her. Piloted by worries and anxieties, this mournful procession reaches the edge of the grave….Still the (wo)man wants the joys of the pain-ridden objects. Be wise. Give up desires. Seek the all-satisfying Reality that lies behind the mental show of change and sorrow. The Infinite alone will satisfy you. Seek it with a mind withdrawn from the fever of all passions.
Practice:
1) Consciously refrain from useless activities which have no meaning in your evolution and life. Eg. Gossiping, Watching Idle TV Serials, Cribbing, etc.
2) Get organised. Research shows we waste almost 1/4th of our lives searching for things we don't remember where we have kept. What a waste! Save that time! Get organised: A place for everything and everything in its place.
3) Strictly do not procrastinate. When we procrastinate in our daily life, the mind gets used to putting off things for later. Such a person will end-up procrastinating one's own evolution too.
4) There is no unimportant day. Don't let a single day pass in such a way that you would regret if you do not wake up the next morning. Each day is a new opportunity to head forward on the divine pilgrimage into our Self.
5) Every day, do at least one act of prayer, one act of love and one act of wisdom. Minimum one of each.
Silently, time is passing and engulfing an entire lifetime. We do not realise when we grow up. We do not realise when we grow old. We do not realise how hours turn into days. We do not realise how days turn into months and months into years. And one fine day, it will be time for each of us to say goodbye!
The idea of mentioning the temporariness of life or the momentariness of time, is not to turn all of us into some pessimistic philosophical idlers! But, the point is that yes, Time is powerful, fast, and unpredictable. Time is a bad motorist. It rarely signals before taking a turn. So this is an alert! Beware, Time is passing! Understanding time must allow us to value it.
How do we value time? By knowing that there is no unimportant day. Yes, never. This day is what will be your week, your month, your years, your lifetime. Each day is an opportunity to evolve. And how do we spend it? In mundane and meaningless pursuits, in ephemeral entertainments and engagements, in drab desires and empty cravings, in inappropriate attachments and noisy broodings, we spend an entire lifetime, ending up exhausted and empty at the doors of Death. What use is such a life?
And do you know why so many lives are thus wasted? Not because we do not know what better can be done. But because we feel that can be done "later"!!! We wait the entire week for the weekend, we wait the entire year for the holiday, we wait entire life for Happiness.
We keep feeling that there are other urgencies and emergencies to handle, and that life can wait. Spirituality can happen later. Evolution can be taken up when everything else is done with. But everything else never gets done! Life gets done! THINK!
One must do duties, enjoy life, take care of others, see the world…all this is important. Shankaracharya is not denying you anything. But Shankaracharya says something simple: Don't lose what is most important for what is just important.
:) Hope we know the difference.
Right now we are all mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, friends, students, employees, employers, citizens etc, who are also spiritual seekers. Shankara is asking us to just reverse this identity. Let us be spiritual seekers who are mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, friends, students, employees, employers, citizens etc, and that will make all the difference! Today, now, shed off the lethargies of the mind, renounce all ordinary living, and get committed to seek Your Best, Your Self. Why delay? Roll up your sleeves and tie up your belts. It is time to walk the Path.
Seek the Eternal! NOW. TODAY.
Gurudev writes:
Life is at Time's mercy …In not recognising this, we desire to enjoy the sense-objects, strive, sweat and toil endlessly to acquire, to possess and to aggrandise - to hope, to spend… And death snatches away everything in a moment. …We are compelled to leave everything here - and with painful bundles of vasanas acquired in our desire-ridden selfish life, we miserably depart. How sad! Indeed, how tragic!!
THINK!
Life steadily ebbs away, but desire fed by the sense-gratifications only grows the more and more. Body decays and becomes infirm; it has grown to have no more strength to enjoy, but the (wo)man hungers all the more for sense-enjoyments. Death crawls behind; disease and decay accompany him/her. Piloted by worries and anxieties, this mournful procession reaches the edge of the grave….Still the (wo)man wants the joys of the pain-ridden objects. Be wise. Give up desires. Seek the all-satisfying Reality that lies behind the mental show of change and sorrow. The Infinite alone will satisfy you. Seek it with a mind withdrawn from the fever of all passions.
Practice:
1) Consciously refrain from useless activities which have no meaning in your evolution and life. Eg. Gossiping, Watching Idle TV Serials, Cribbing, etc.
2) Get organised. Research shows we waste almost 1/4th of our lives searching for things we don't remember where we have kept. What a waste! Save that time! Get organised: A place for everything and everything in its place.
3) Strictly do not procrastinate. When we procrastinate in our daily life, the mind gets used to putting off things for later. Such a person will end-up procrastinating one's own evolution too.
4) There is no unimportant day. Don't let a single day pass in such a way that you would regret if you do not wake up the next morning. Each day is a new opportunity to head forward on the divine pilgrimage into our Self.
5) Every day, do at least one act of prayer, one act of love and one act of wisdom. Minimum one of each.
TODAY'S REFLECTION IS BASED ON BHAJA GOVINDAM VERSE 12
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