“After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.19)

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बहूनां जन्मनाम् अन्ते
ज्ञानवान् मां प्रपद्यते
वासुदेवः सर्वम् इति
स महात्मा सु-दुर्लभः

bahūnāṁ janmanām ante
jñānavān māṁ prapadyate
vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti
sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ

1. College

“I always meant to attend. I had the opportunity to work, instead. I went ahead and took it. The classroom never appealed to me. It still doesn’t, but now I lack something very important: a piece of paper. I have no credential from a higher institution to substantiate my ability in the field. I have to constantly prove myself. At this point, I feel it is too late to join together with people who are fresh out of high school to learn academic knowledge for which I already have sufficient training in the field.”

2. Professional sports

“It started by randomly clicking on recommended videos on the smartphone app. It is like someone was listening to me, but I know it is likely based on past search parameters secretly retained in memory. Anyway, the videos were appealing enough that I began to apply the principles out in the field. In other words, I started playing.

“I have become fairly skilled in a short amount of time. The thing is, I am well beyond the age where entry into the professional ranks is possible. Even if I did everything correctly, my skill level does not compare to those who are twenty years younger than me. It is simply too late; that door is closed.”

3. Learning a language

“I am amazed at how quickly children pick things up. They hear something one time and remember it for months and months. It would have been great to take advantage of that ability when I had it. I am trying to learn a new language now and it is proving difficult. I always have to take time to mentally translate whatever it is I want to say. Nothing comes naturally.”

4. Giving up intoxicants

“Yes, it violates one of the four regulative principles. What can I say? I am guilty. Go ahead and tell the world. I have no shame at this point. Life as an adult is too difficult to cope without this indulgence. I think it is actually dangerous to quit cold turkey, especially for someone who drives a car. I wish I would never have indulged. I wish I would have stayed away when I was younger. Right now the only hope is if I go on a two-month vacation somewhere, where I can try to quit under less stressful conditions. Even that is not a guarantee for success.”

5. Starting a family

“I tried. Trust me. I wanted to start much earlier, but nothing managed to happen. People kept telling me to focus on career. Okay, that is going well, but just see how difficult raising children is when you are older. No one is around to help. No one wants to help. It is like I am a security guard whose shift never ends. Raising a family is really easy if you don’t care, if you simply let others running demoniac institutions say and do whatever during the day while you have fun the entire time at a different location. I cannot be that neglectful. I have to step up to the occasion, but I sure wish I had more energy to utilize.”

…

“He who hesitates is lost. The early bird gets the worm. Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. You have to start them young. The most important task in each day, that should be completed first. Ninety percent of success is showing up.”

These are different ways to recommend assertiveness. Time is of the essence in so many areas of endeavor. If you simply recognize a little urgency, if you take some initiative, that goes a long way as opposed to the ideas remaining just that, ideas. They have substance within contemplation only, since the mind never gets applied.

बचन बेष तें जो बनइ सो बिगरइ परिनाम।
तुलसी मन तें जो बनइ बनी बनाई राम ॥

bacana beṣa teṃ jo banai so bigarai parināma।
tulasī mana teṃ jo banai banī banāī rāma ॥

“That which is built only upon words and appearance gets ruined in the end, whereas that which is done with a pure mind meets the proper end and is successful by the grace of Shri Rama, says Tulsi.” (Dohavali, 154)

We could certainly say that a similar level of urgency applies to success in genuine spiritual life. The Vedic aphorism is athato brahma-jijnasa. Athato is the urgency. Now is the time for inquiring into spiritual topics. Now, right at this moment, today, in the valuable human birth is the best opportunity for escaping the dreaded cycle of birth and death once and forever.

बिगरी जनम अनेक की सुधरै अबहीं आजु |
होहि राम को नाम जपु तुलसी तजि कुसमाजु ||

bigarī janama aneka kī sudharai abahīṃ āju |
hohi rāma ko nāma japu tulasī taji kusamāju ||

“The many past births you spoiled can be rectified right now, today, if you start chanting Shri Rama’s holy name and renounce bad association, says Tulsi.” (Dohavali, 22)

Those who are keenly aware of the urgency try to get their dependents started as soon as possible. Maybe not in a military style exercise where the children are forced to memorize seven hundred shlokas from a Sanskrit text, in a manner so cumbersome and difficult that they will grow up to later hate the entire culture. But at least providing some familiarity with the need for worship, for the direction in where to turn when coming upon the difficult questions in life.

The parents are the first guru. They are authorities in how to act, in how to behave, in how to travel, in how to prioritize, and in how to restrain urges that may be destructive. The spiritual guide is also a guru. One literal translation for the word is “heavy.” The guru carries weight because of their authority. They have gravitas; at least as compared to the child, who is still learning.

There is urgency in the ideal scenario, but what if the conditions growing up are not ideal? The parents are to be treated as guru, but they end up prioritizing sense gratification, instead. They should be offering guidance, but all they show is neglect.

The spiritual guide, the one officially recognized as a guru, ends up being a fake. They speak softly. They have the proper clothes, but their mind is bitter. Their deeds, carefully covered up behind the scenes of the large institution, are wicked in nature. They are actually stuck in the ocean of material miseries; they cannot liberate anyone.

बेष बिसद बोलनि मधुर मन कटु करम मलीन।
तुलसी राम न पाइऐ भएँ बिषय जल मीन ॥

beṣa bisada bolani madhura mana kaṭu karama malīna।
tulasī rāma na pāiai bhae~ biṣaya jala mīna ॥

“If a person has the dress of a sadhu and speaks sweet words but is bitter and unclean in their mind and deeds, then Tulsi says they have no prayer of attaining Shri Rama, as they are like the fish stuck in the dark ocean of material sense objects.” (Dohavali, 153)

As we see in the above referenced examples, a delay in entry can be costly. The entire opportunity for success can vanish. If not entering the discipline at the appropriate time, with admission corresponding to full vibrancy in action, then there is no hope.

Genuine spiritual life does not carry these limitations. Up until the last moment, the final breath, when the soul is about to depart for the next destination, there is the opportunity for perfection. This is because success is based on consciousness. Whatever state of being a person has at anta-kale, in that state they will continue.

यं यं वापि स्मरन् भावं
त्यजत्य् अन्ते कलेवरम्
तं तम् एवैति कौन्तेय
सदा तद्-भाव-भावितः

yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ
tyajaty ante kalevaram
taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya
sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.6)

Shri Krishna even remarks that only after many births does a person come to know Him in truth. Such a fortunate soul is rare, as it is quite easy to go the other way. There are so many opportunities to forget. There are so many chances at failure, in spite of the best efforts made. Since consciousness can be shaped by devotion, and that devotion is free of barriers relating to intention and obstruction, it is never too late to connect again with our greatest well-wishing friend.

In Closing:

Chance for money could not resist,
So that education opportunity missed.

Too old to play that game,
Vibrancy in spirit not the same.

Penalty applying in this way,
When admission with a delay.

But with Krishna right until the end,
Through consciousness to ascend.

Categories: the five

Tags: bhakti, college, god, hare krishna, learning, poem, poems, poetry, religion