Skip to main content

I Don't Have a Long Life!

 The other day, a friend of mine who knows palmistry, looked into an old woman's hand. She must be around 85 years old. 

He smiled at her and said, "Madam, you have indeed a long life."

The elderly lady looked at my friend grimly and said, "Who said so? I don't have a long life!"

My friend and I looked at each other. We were not really perplexed at what the lady just said. It only shows how very correct our scriptures are. No matter how long we live, we still feel we don't have a long life. We may have those around us, leaving their mortal bodies, but we still feel, death will not come to us and we still want to enjoy this material world to the fullest. This is how Maya, the illusory energy of the Lord, tricks us into thinking thus.  

Ultimately, what is the use of a long life, if it is not used in devotion?  What is the use of a long life, if it is not used to serve the Vaishnavas? 




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Life & Times of Sripad Bhakti Prakash Hrishikesh Maharaja in Malaysia

When I heard about the passing away of Sripad Bhakti Prakash Hrishikesh Maharaja, I was a little numb at first. My feelings were not completely settled to his passing. But after looking at his pictures, it finally dawned upon me that His Holiness was no more in this planet. Maharaja reminded me of someone so dynamic in serving Sri Hari, Guru & Vaishnavas. Nothing was impossible for him. Maharaja used to go heads on without thinking of any consequences. He did not believe much in meetings and talking about how to do a seva because he was an action man. He always said to me, “Let’s just do it. Krsna will take care of everything!!!” Maharaja was the first person to assist me in printing the book “Shower of Love.” When Srila Gurudeva ordered me to always write, I was totally lost as what to do. With whatever little knowledge I had, the compilation of lectures took place. But it was Maharaja who showed me the ropes of how to put in the footnotes, headings, sub-headings, titles etc. I re...

Of the Possessed and the Maha Mantra

 I was working in a publishing house some time back. Most of my colleagues were of different faith but that did not deter us in working together for a project or meeting deadlines. Amongst them was this fairly nice-looking girl who always dresses fashionably to work. Many of my colleagues will comment on her nice fashion sense which is not over the top.  One hectic day while I was busy cracking my head for a story, Suzie (not her real name) who sat opposite of me started to shiver and said it was too cold. I thought it was the air conditioning and offered to turn up the temperature.  While trying to get the remote to do so, my other colleagues rushed her to the back room of the office. I was still a little perplexed by the turn of events. A little while later, I saw my office mates rushing out of the back room without Suzie.  Without wasting any time, I went to the back room. What I saw confused me even more. Suzie was lying on the floor and was shivering. I asked he...

Toll Collection---Drama Within A Drama

It sure was a frantic night, having to stage a drama on Krsna-lila called Dan-ghati or toll collection. The children whose ages range from 5 to 18 years did a good job performing on Radhasthami. They were really nervous. Performing in front of so many people obviously saw some glitches. 3 days later, with a proper stage put up, courtesy by one of the parents, the children were to perform live yet again. Now, in front of Sripad Bhaktivedanta Vana Maharaja and Sripad Bhaktivedanta Bhiksu Maharaja. All the kids came to the temple at around 6:30 p.m. or earlier. I did a trial run on stage with them, pointing out their positioning and everything. It was almost 7:00 p.m. One of the main actress as "Srimati Radhika" was no where to be found. After some panic, one of the older girls in the cast said, "'Srimati Radhika" will come, and that she will be delayed as she had to attend a function." The time now was almost 7:30 p.m. Panic turned into desperation. The young...