It's said that if you want to truly understand someone that you should "walk a mile in their shoes." This is especially helpful if you want to improve relationships. So, I decided to apply this saying to figure out how I could improve my relationship with Krsna.
The first thing I noticed is that I am either doing one of two things: I either spend most of my time complaining or lamenting to Krsna about things I don't have or things that happened in the past, or else I spend my time informing him about my "desire list." Then something powerful really struck me. Would I always want to be around someone who was constantly complaining or requesting things from me? The answer is a RESOUNDING NO! That person would be such a drag and then I realized, "Oh oh! That person that I wouldn't want to be around is the exact person that Krsna has to deal with constantly (me)!" :( Poor Krsna!
This ties back into a point that I had briefly mentioned yesterday about living either in the past or in the future. When I analyze my tendencies, I notice that I tend to lament about the past and hanker about the future. This type of meditation results in me forgetting about the present and actually results in a very dis-empowering pattern. See the thing is, I have no power to change the past and although I can plan and desire for things in the future, the future is still yet to come. Instead if I can find a way to focus on the present, that is the place where I can be the most empowered. Actually BEING in the present allows me to see what is in front of me and thus work with those circumstances instead of dreaming of what is "the most ideal."
Unfortunately this is the conditioned state of the soul. The living entity is constantly flickering between lamentation and desiring and because of that is never satisfied. In fact, when it comes to material desires, those very things we desire later on become the objects of our lamentation and then what do we do? Why desire to get rid of those very things that we wanted in the first place! It's such a vicious cycle!
But how can one live in the present? By developing gratitude, consciously developing a positive attitude and learning to change what are oftentimes a very narrow minded perspective. If we become thankful for whatever circumstances and situations we are placed in, that allows us to look for the good. There are positives in any situation, they just might be really well hidden! By unearthing those positives, this sheds new light and helps us to change our perspective. Instead we can see how we can use the situation to turn to Krsna more and also practically come up with ways to use the situation to our advantage.
So, despite all the complaints and requests, I need to start adding a lot more thanks when I pray to Krsna. No time like the present to begin. I'd like to end by saying, "Thank you Krsna for giving me the realization that you are always arranging whatever is best for me."
1 comment:
and thank YOU for sharing your wonderful realizations. we miss you so much.
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