India is mourning for the bloodshed that happened in the past week. Personally, I was upset as well…not sure why but this is reality. Death…whether it comes in the form of raging hate bullets or in the form of time…either way we have to face it. Along with the proposition of death is the thought of fear of death. So, more than the actual death…it is the fear that causes immense anxiety. The fear of losing everything that we hold as sacred. The fear of the unknown after death. Our cultural conditioning of attachment to family, friends and material life. All this combined causes an upset in our tummy and manifests as fear.
So whether we are mourning for the horrific incident or whether we are mourning about the harsh reality of death is hard to tell. As devotees we should be prepared always…at least this is the teachings of our previous acharyas. Our sadhana (devotional practice) will be surely tested at the time of death. Our unalloyed love for Krishna or our love to our own ego and mind will be surely tested. If by practicing Krishna Consciousness we do not cultivate true knowledge of detachment and renunciation of ego and mind and practice attachment towards Krishna…then we will have fear in our hearts while approaching death. In other words, the fact that we have fear is an indication that our sadhana is poor.
Therefore, Krishna is eternally teaching us through world incidents such as the one last week and through personal life incidents that what our purpose on this planet is? If we diligently submit to the teachings of Guru and Krishna we can cross over this miserable condition called material life…if not we are on our own!
We have to practice to die before dying!
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
aśocyān anvaśocas tvaḿ
prajñā-vādāḿś ca bhāṣase
gatāsūn agatāsūḿś ca
nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor for the dead- BG 2.11
Hare Krishna
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