Thursday, September 8, 2011
Ousting Differences
God is the Father of all species and forms of life. Besides that, we take this body as a dress. For example, your white shirt is not you. You are different from the white shirt. Similarly, one may have a body, white or black, but he, as spirit soul, is different from the body. Now, we are taking account of the person who is possessing the dress—not the dress but the person. I am talking with you; I am not talking with your shirt. I don’t look to see whether you have put on a white shirt or black shirt. That is not my concern. I am concerned with you as a living being. This is our philosophy. We don’t take account of the outward shirt and coat. This body, this gross body, is just like a coat, and within this gross body there is a subtle body—mind, intelligence and ego. Within that subtle body, the spirit soul is there. And we are trying to deliver the spirit soul from these two kinds of entanglement, subtle and gross. That is our mission. National and religious movements are more or less on the basis of the outward dress. One is Christian because he is born of a Christian father. Is it not? One is American because he is born in the land of America. We say that we are neither Christian nor American, Hindu, Muslim or Indian. We are eternal servants of God. Try to understand this fact and mold your life in this way; then your life will be successful. This is our program. Simple.
A really educated man does not look over the fleshy tabernacle of a living being but he introspects the spirit within the body. A sane man does not see the dress of another man but he sees the man of whom dress is a covering only.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Dealing with incompetence
Like so many things, incompetence seems to be represented by a bell shaped curve. There is always going to be a small percentage of people who are near the top, most people will fall somewhere near the middle, and a few will lie toward the bottom.
A few people in each field will be really good, most will be sort of average, and there will always be a few that make you wonder how in the world they manage to make a living.Many people complain about incompetence, are bothered by it, discuss its rampant trend with others, and spend valuable time and energy hoping and wishing it would go away. I’ve seen people so upset about obvious incompetence that I thought they might have a heart attack or a nervous breakdown. Instead of seeing it as a necessary evil, they get all worked up, often compound the problem with their harsh reaction, and bang their head against the wall in frustration. In the end, nothing was accomplished except that the frustrated person had an emotional meltdown and made himself look bad.In no way am I saying it’s pleasant to deal with incompetence, but if you want to avoid feeling so irritated, it’s important that you stop being so surprised and caught off guard by it. It’s helpful to understand that some degree of incompetence is about as predictable as an occasional rainy day.The next time you run into incompetence, even if it’s deliberate, see if you can make the best of it, rectify the situation if possible, and then go on with your day.
Freedom from hankering, lamentation and fear
The grace of the Lord is abhaya, free from fearfulness. The benediction of the Lord is never to be lost. It is simply to be enjoyed. One simply gains and enjoys gaining. Bhagavad-gita also confirms this: when one achieves the grace of the Lord, the result is that all distresses are destroyed. When situated in the transcendental position, one is freed from the two kinds of material diseases—hankering and lamentation. Lamentation is for loss, and hankering is for gain. Hankering means, “I have no money, but if I get a million dollars, then I'll be happy." And when we have a million dollars, somehow it will be lost. So lamentation, "Oh, I have lost it!" So both hankering and lamentation are distresses. If someone accumulates a million dollars, he is always full of fear thinking, "What if the money is lost?" When one is situated in his own spiritual consciousness, then he will have no hankering and no lamentation. If we know that Krishna is the source and proprietor of the entire material energy, we understand that everything belongs to Him and that anything gained is given by Him for His service. Thus we do not hanker for the things of this world. Furthermore, if something is taken away by Krishna, then what is the need for lamentation? We should think, "Krishna wanted to take it away from me. Therefore, why should I lament? The Supreme Lord is the cause of all causes. He takes away, He also gives." When one is thus in full knowledge, there is no more lamentation and no more hankering. That is the spiritual platform. This is the best education, by which you become anxiety-less. That is perfection of education.
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