“Ananta, you aged so much since I saw you last time”, a visiting friend said.
He is a travelling preacher and only comes every few years to our temple.
He continued to enquire about my health; “you lost so much weight, is your health ok?
Do you take enough vitamins? Are you sleeping enough? Do you eat properly?”
“So many questions! Are you my mother?” I thought to myself.
I reflected on how to answer his questions.
“Well, my service description gives an answer to your questions,” I said.
A friend looked at me with raised eyebrows as I continued to speak;
“The very word managing means; man-aging,” I said, and paused for a few seconds before I added; Managing people means there would be disagreements, differences in opinions and challenges in relationships which naturally affects the health, well being and sleep of a person who is more of an introvert. Perhaps this is the answer to why I aged so much since you saw me last time!”
“Why are you then doing this service? You are a brahmachari, you could engage in simple service and look after your health instead ?” a friend asked.
“I could”, I said, “but would that please my spiritual master and Srila Prabhupad who expected their students to take responsibility in spiritual life?”
“Answer to that is obvious” the friend added.
We stopped our conversation here to go for lunch.
Later as I went on the parikrama around the temple I reflected on the words from my Siksa Guru, “If you want to advance spiritually, you need to take responsibility for the mission of Srila Prabhupad.”
Time waits for no man. Some things are inevitable, such as birth, death, the sun rising in the morning, and the passage of time. No man can control such inevitable natural phenomena or facts of life.
We are all bound by time and are all aging.
Man-aging…. I’m aging, probably faster than others but let’s face it! We will get old anyways, so why not get old whilst doing Krishna’s service?
Let’s manage our way to Krishna!
Ananta Gopal das
19.12.2022
Bhakti Wisdom 