Thoughts lead to Actions, Action to habits, habits to character. The collective characters of individuals forms the culture of a nation. Its really not so hard to connect the dots. In the past three months, on two occasions I have received racist comments from young boys in the age group of twenties. I was called names and when I responded by laughing it away and thanking the person, I guess it irked them more. I do not want to go into details of the last incident because it pains me to see a nation that has embraced a culture of swearing. It seems to have become the national language, that anyone who doesn't speak that language is considered a misfit. The whole of last week one thought rewound and played itself back in my mind. It were the words of HH Bhakti Vasudev Maharaja. The thought was that Krishna gives the best to His devotees! I was very deeply affected by this simple story. Maharaja spoke on determination and about the cowherd boy Swarup who returns to the spiritual kingdom after a long sojourn and is seated with Krishna for a meal. The meal is cooked by none other than Radharani and brought before Krishna. Krishna takes a bite, contorts His face in mock distaste and puts it into the mouth of Swarup. By doing so Krishna wants Swarup to taste the best. Radharani's cooking can never contain any flaws, Krishna just wants to give the best to His devotees and hence hatches this plan.
The best however is not defined in our terms, but in Krishna's terms. The best could be an embrace, pat on the back or a kick in the face. Knowledge sharpened by the words of the shastra is absolute knowledge they say and, though you cannot alter any situation, the way you react to a situation is certainly under your control. By reacting aggressively to the remarks, I would have stooped down and betrayed the words of shastra, guru and sadhu. Though I put on a brave front and smiled at the comments, as I turned around hose pipe in hand, my face flushed with anger and hot tears spilled out onto my cheeks. Tears of anger at the lack of proper leadership, tears of anger at the media that exploits the mind of young children making them zombies and filling them with hatred. I wiped my eyes and tried to justify it as my karma, as Krishna's love coming in another form but my tears indicated that I had failed in my understanding. I had let anger to take control of me even if momentarily. I had succumbed to the taunts of identifying with this body. This material world is a School of Love and to learn to Love one has to pay a hefty price involving stepping out of our comfort zone. I reflected on the bumper stickers God Bless America! and thought yes America does need blessings special Blessings.
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