Spiritual Message for the Day – Strive for The Goal of Life, Right Now by Sri Swami Chidananda

Baba Times Digest© | 28 October 2014 15.50 EST | New York Edition

Strive for The Goal of Life, Right Now

Divine Life Society Publication: Essentials of The Higher Values of Life by Sri Swami Chidananda

The truth that all of you must always remember and which you cannot afford to forget even a single day of your life is proclaimed at the very beginning of Lord Krishna’s teachings in Bhagavad-Gita. That great truth is: The absolute certainty of death.  You should ponder over the importance of this truth: ‘In what way this concerns me? How should I relate myself to this great truth?

 Jagadguru Purnavatara Bhagavan Krishna  says, Jaatasya hi dhruvo mrityuh (Certain is the death for the born. II-27). He told this to Arjuna in order to bring him out of delusion, in order to take him out of nervous break-down, in order to bring him out of the weeping condition. He asks, ‘For whom are you weeping? If you don’t kill them, do you think that they will live for ever? Even at this moment many are being born and many are dying. This is the plain truth of life. Why don’t you realise it fully? What is the use of breaking your head for something which is inevitable, for the truth which cannot be changed or altered?’

What was Arjuna’s delusion? He thinks: ‘All these people will die in the battle-field.’ All of them had to die, death is inevitable for all of them. But Arjuna thinks: ‘If he does not fight they will not die, they will live.’ Krishna says: ‘What a foolish notion! Whether you fight or not, all are going to die and you too will die.’

The lesson is: If we do not recognise and realise the certainty of death very plainly and clearly, and if we do not accept this truth in living our daily life, we are also living in delusion. We do not want to face the hard reality of life. If we are living our life setting aside this truth, we live our life in a state of ignorance and delusion. The root cause of all sorrow is this delusion. When someone near to us dies, we are dismayed and despaired as if something most unexpected has happened. But it is not at all unexpected. Lord Krishna clearly says: ‘Everyone who is born has to die.’ The time of death is most uncertain; but sooner or later everyone has to die. This truth is based on the actuality and we must accept it and always remember it.

Let us now see the constructive dimension of this truth. In what way it can be useful to us? If we recognise this first truth so forcefully brought out by Lord Krishna in Bhagavad-Gita wisdom teachings and if we always keep it in mind, we will never postpone anything that is important, we will never postpone our duties, we will never say: ‘I will do my duty later’. Who is sure of tomorrow? Then how can you say: ‘I will do it tomorrow?’ It is said, alone you come and alone you go back. It is so correct from one point of view. But if we look from another point of view, one is never alone. From the very moment an individual jivatma is born, it is never alone; it is always accompanied by the Lord of Death. The whole life is a slow process of death, a constant march towards death. With every breath, with the passing of every moment, we are moving closer to death. You are never alone; the shadow of death always accompany you. The Lord of Death takes away your life every moment, little by little. At the last moment, he takes away the pranas and goes away and the body becomes lifeless.

If you recognise this truth: One day this life will terminate, one day I will die, I will not be here. I must ponder over this and resolve: ‘Whatever I have to do, I must apply myself to it now itself, right at this moment; I will never postpone it to tomorrow.’ Now you cannot be a loser. You are free from the delusion of tomorrow. Guru Maharaj used to say: Never say I will do it tomorrow. Tomorrow is the most deceptive word. There is no such thing like tomorrow. If you postpone something on tomorrow and go to sleep today; but when you wake up, it is already today and not tomorrow. God’s ration is today only; tomorrow is our concept.

Past is finished, it has slipped from your hands and you cannot recover it again. There is no use projecting your important work and duty in future, because it has not yet come, it is not in your hands. What you have in your hands is now, the present moment only. Remember this always, every moment of your life.

You should always remember the death; remember that this life must terminate one day and you have to leave this world. Therefore resolve with firm determination: ‘I will attain whatever I have to attain, whatever the goal of life I have. Right now, from this moment itself I shall engage myself in it, I shall strive for the goal of life, right now. I will attend to all my aspiration, duties and obligations, my kartavya karmas. Let me apply myself to it right now calmly and quietly, without tension or anxiety. I shall not postpone it, I shall not show any laziness or lethargy.’

God has wonderful sense of justice and has given to all of us enough time. Everyone has twenty-four hours a day, the same ration to everyone without any discrimination. Whether you are a professor or doctor, a big man or a beggar, you have the same ration. If you plan your time properly, there is time for everything and everything can be achieved in this life itself.

There is an English writer called Arnold Benett. He has written a wonderful book, ‘How to live on 24 hours a day?’ It implies that no one really lives for all the 24 hours a day. We fritter away little, little moments from morning to evening. This book proves that if you can make use of those moments which are unnecessarily wasted on trifle, irrelevant things, you have enough time for everything.

So, the very first truth proclaimed by Bhagavad-Gita is of great importance. You must live with full awareness that one day the life must end in death. Therefore, whatever you have to do, should be done right now. Start doing it right now. You cannot afford to remain idle and waste away the precious time. Time wasted is the time lost forever; you can never get it back; you can never use it. Time does not give you a second chance. Whatever you have to do, whatever effort and exertion you have to put forth to achieve the goal, you have to do it right now. In this way, you will be able to achieve what has to be achieved.

Excerpts from: Strive for The Goal of Life, Right Now - Essentials of The Higher Values of Life by Sri Swami Chidananda

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