Crash of hard disk & that of life!

I was again back in the Medical college at Gulbarga to meet my good friends who are slowly appreciating & applying the principles of the Godly life. I went to meet my friend Dr Pramod in his hostel room. He is a MDS student & very hospitable, genuine & caring in nature.He is pursuing last year of his college studies this year.

 He looked gloomy, when I started talking with him. Looking at his dismal face, I asked him the reason for his dismay. He told me that his hard disk crashed & it contained his work for last 2.5 years. His work included photos of patients, his solutions for the problems of his patients, reports etc. It all vanished in a second when he was working on his laptop. He also told that he won't be able to appear for final exam if he fails to recover the data back. Even the data recovery from hard disk using advanced techniques didn't give guarantee of the percentage of the data which can be recovered & it was really very costly.

 Generally whenever we meet we read few pages from spiritual books. I decided to read a section of Bhagava Gita in which, Arjuna asks about the fate of the unsuccessful spiritualist & Krishna says he continues in next life from wherever he has left. That is advantage of the spiritual life, that little advancement in spiritual life is permanent, And in material life, whatever we do it's made nil at the time of death.

So I told him to remember 2 lessons from his hard disk crash incident
1> Having habit of taking back up for the work he is doing.
2>  And more important lesson, the two & half years work mutilated in just a second & he was very resentful for that, same way whole life's work will be undone at the time of death.
Whatever money one has amassed, whoever friends, relatives one has gathered, whatever fame one has earned, everything will be grounded to zero at the time of death.  With a big  money one may recover the hard disk, but one can not recover anything material of this life to next life for any amount of money. It will be a permanent loss. It's really important to understand what is real progress, And where the priorities of the life should be given. Unfortunately everybody knows this, but very few have courage & guts to really dive deeper into finding solutions for the actual problems of life which Bhagavad Gita enlists viz. Birth, Old age, Disease and Death.
Basic fundamental principle of Spiritual life is to understand that we are anti material spiritual beings & we don't destroy, when the covering- this body is destroyed. Perhaps we change the covering to get new one as soul (our actual self) changes the body. If we purify our existence by reconnecting with Krishna, then we go back to his abode never to come back into in this vicious cycle of birth & death & to be eternally happy & cheerful in his company  :-)

Please hear from the Radhanath Swami about the nature of the Soul & how to uncover it from the dress of the body!

Did Ghanshyam waste his life?

I was avid reader in my college & people would be calling me Novel because I used to read the Novels sitting on the back bench during boring classes.
But one of the most thrilling books read is the 'The Journey Home' book By HH Radhanath Swami. This book is a real life story of the American Boy who in the age of 19 took a historic ride. When the passion for money,honor,sex & worldly things fumes in the heart of most of the youths of this age, this person was searching the deep meaning behind the life, leaving behind the cares and comforts of well to do family in Chicago he was risking his life in search of God.Radhanath Swami in his book 'The Journey Home' writes about his encounter with Ghanshyam Baba in Vrindavan. He came with His Father, Mother all family members on a pilgrimage tour
to Vrindavana. They spent a few days and what the dhama of Vrindavana did to his heart was something wonderful. He became so deeply attached to Vrindavana. Just by being here he became completely detached from everything in life. He saw no other purpose or meaning to existence except surrendering to Sri Radha and Krishna in Vrindavana. So when it was time to go he said I will stay here I will not
leave. Being true to his words he never left Vrindavan for rest o his life. There he lovingly served his deities of their Lordships Radha Gopijanavallabha(The deity form of the supreme lord & his consort) for rest of his life. In 'The Journey Home' book Radhanath Swami narrates his incidents with Ghanshyam Baba, which brings forward his heart melting humility, his devotion & his love.

I was sitting in the hostel room of IIT boy, reading the book, The Journey Home. I read the interaction of Radhanath Swami with Ghanashyam. How Radhanath Swami was moved by the humanity & deep service attitude of Ghanashyam. But this shrude boy could not appreciate the the character of Ghanshyam. He coldly proclaimed I don't appreciate Ghanshyam & I think he wasted his life fanning the deities, fetching water for them & staying in one place for almost all of his life, he should have done something practical for the society. Many people have similar question for the people who choose the path of service to the God as the way of their life. I felt obliged to reply this question & post it here because Ghanshyam represented the age old tradition of devotees who dedicated their Life for the service of the supreme. We will find similar dedicated examples not only in the Vedic tradition but also in all different faiths of the world.

Although Ghanshyam lived his life with natural inclination to serve the Lord without thinking of his personal happiness. I will write how the way of living his life justifies personally for him & socially for others both as per the modern standards of criterion for judging the success of ones life.

Reply:--
1>Personally: Modern philosophy says, if you like to do something & if its fits in the ever changing modern standards of ethical behaviour, don't bother about anything,just do it, keeping in mind underlining principle that every individual has right to become happy, by doing the things he likes.
the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs told following words to a graduating class at Stanford : When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
So simple analysis of how many people will like to do things they are doing on the last day of their life will show there are hardly few people who really want to do that, because current rat race for money,fame,things of this world will make very little sense on the last day of the life when one is going to loose everything of this. Infact The report, based on a Fall 2011 survey of U.S. households conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen describes survey results in summary as "Workers Less Miserable, but Hardly Happy". So it can be easily seen that very few people in the world would be doing all time they really love to do. And even in those little number of people there would be hardly few, whose goal set for life while doing the things they like to do matches with goal set by scriptures for human life, to develope the loving attachment for the Supreme Lord, to stop the cycle of the birth & death & to reach the supreme abode of the Lord after this life.
But in this case the Ghanshyam baba proves out champion. His only hobby in the life was to serve his beloved deities Radha Gopijanavallabha. He was full time engaged in their service so much absorbed that he had transcended the bodily limits of eating & sleeping. His only goal in life was to render the selfless service to his deities. Scriptures states that if the occupational duty does not produce the loving attachment to the Lord then its merely a waste of time.So in  case of Ghanshyam, there was no conflict in his hobby,his interest, his occupation, his goal of life & the goal set by shastras for the human form of life, everything matched perfectly. And when somebody has such a surety,confidence & coherence in life he is naturally most happy, which he spreads everywhere whoever comes in touch with him.So althought externally looking Ghanshyam lived a life of indigence internally he was experiencing highest treasure of bliss by serving his deities, his life & soul

2>Socially: By living life of total surrender to the Lord, Ghanshyam developed most divine qualities like humility, forbearance & deep service attitude to humanity seeing everybody in connection with his beloved GopijanaVallabha. Now thousands of people go to his place. hear about him & take deep inspiration in their life to develop these divine qualities. When Radhanath Swami took the pilgrimage to his temple with thousands of devotees, everybody was deepy moved in the heart;hearing his natural quality of making sacrifices for the serivce of others.Any materialist even if makes big empire at the cost working very hard & accepting cheating techniques whenever needed,when people see or hear about that, they may respect his possessions but they will despise that person. They can not learn any good quality from his example. So even when Ghanshyan has left his body, he has left behind the enormous treasure of his good character & his divine qualities which are going to inspire innumerable number of people for all time to come. This service is much greater & imperishable by the effect of time. This was scipturally confirmed when day after in morning I was reading the chapter describing the visit of Sudama Brahmana to Krisha in the Krishna book of Srila prabhupada, When Krishna snatched chipped rice from Sudama & he ate that, Lord told to Sudma “I consider that this quantity of chipped rice will satisfy not only Me but the whole creation.” We can understand from this statement of the Lord that When service is rendered to God, its like watering the root of the tree, the water is distributed to all the twigs, branches & leaves to all parts. When service is rendered to God with pure intentions & when He is satisfied everyone being his part & parcel also get satisfaction. So the easiest way to good to do society is to render to service to Krishna. So actually serving his deities, Ghanshyam was doing highest service for the welfare of the humanity, even for whole life he was sitting in his own little place.

Ghanshyams example is symbolic in this case. It applies to anybody who dedicates his life for the service of Lord with pure heart.

Please find the video below in 2 parts in which Radhanath Swami describes his association with Ghanshyam Baba. Radhanath Swami starts talking about Ghanshyam after some minutes in first video.

http://www.radhanathswamivideo.com/tag/ghanshyam-baba

Be attentive, be blessed

Today morning when I sat for japa the thoughts of starting new college program were swirling in the mind as I was relatively free after coming to Pune. Many times when people approach me & ask why are you spending time & money uselessly on others, I tell them "What will you do if you see somebody  committing suicide , wont you go & try to save that person", similarly a person trained in spiritual knowledge when sees a person not taking the human form of life seriously to perfect the life is committing spiritual suicide. And he can't allow that to happen
But it was a japa time & first I needed to purify myself then I could think of being instrument of assistance for others.

In spiritual life what makes any ordinary task as spiritual is the consciousness in which it done.
Any task which is done after taking blessings from the Lord & his devotees for his pleasure, brings the activity from mundane level to spiritual platform.
So the main key is being attentive, understanding that service is being done for the pleasure of the Lord.

In Kaliyuga the Lord incarnates as his Holy Names "Kalikale naam rupi Krishna Avatar"
So while chanting if I am not attentive to holyname & doing some other planning then very purpose of chanting & even activity we are planning to do is lost.
So I thought if I want to take the blessings of Krishna for the activity I am planning to do then I must be attentive in chanting & take blessings of the holynames.

So directing the mind in applying the conclusions of these thoughts I could chant remaining rounds as good as I could.

Combats with mind!

Chanting the holy names of the Lord is the most essential process of the Bhakti,
Srila Prabhupad said 99% of the advancement comes by chanting the holy names of the Lord.
Srila Prabhupad has given process of Daily chanting the names of the Lord in the morning.

So when I sit for chanting many times mind is distracted from the holyname's. After such deviation I try to fix my mind on the holyname while trying to take shelter of the shastras, or realizations which have come after studying them or after hearing from devotees. I find it very useful.

I thought of enlisting the Japa meditations for my own reference in future & it may be useful for others.


09th July 2012: Today when my mind was getting distracted while chanting. My meditation today was: Many times in neophyte stage the Sadhaka struggles with the fact "Does the Lord really exist?".
Although theoretically convinced, without practical realization, this thought sometimes haunts a devotee.
But Srila Prabhupada has written in his books that name, form , qualities & pastimes are orderly revealed to the devotee. means first the name of the Lord is revealed thne form then qualties & then pastimes.
So to expect to see to Krishna directly or perceive or get entrance into the eternal pasttimes of Krishna without first realizing the transcendence of Holy name is not possible atleast in Sadhaka bhakti process. Only when one chants sincerely, takes shelter of the holy name he will get realization that Absolute truth is fully contained in the holy names and it is non different from the holy name & then by the grace of the holy name every thing else will be revealed.

This really helped to get more focus on the chanting!