A day ago, a friend of mine requested me to wake him up in the morning to ensure he came for the early morning prayers.
I did my duty, woke him up and left for the temple room, expecting him to be there on time. Almost four hours later, when I returned to the ashram, I found a friend still in sleeping gear.
“Why didn’t you come?” I asked him.
“Well, my mind has cheated me again,” he replied. “After you left, I went back to sleep”.
“It appears to me that you don’t mind getting cheated,” I commented as we walked for breakfast.
Whilst eating prasadam, I reflected:
Devotees are constantly looking for the opportunity for spiritual advancement. Besides regular sadhana and service, devotees are trying to see Krishna in all circumstances. They are always alert to ensure they “catch” the messages Krishna may send through different devotees, and various experiences throughout the day.
We pray daily to the Lord, asking for empowerment, blessings and help with life challenges. Day after day, we come up with yet another request for help, often forgetting our previous prayers to the Lord. As our prayer list grows, we keep losing track of them, forgetting what we prayed for yesterday or a week ago and what to speak about the previous year.
If we forget our prayers, how can we recognise when the Lord is trying to help us?
We pray for spiritual growth, and when the Lord, through devotees, tries to help us, we can’t recognise Him because we have forgotten about our prayers, or maybe the desire to advance is not a priority anymore.
Lord Krishna is known as bhakta vatsala – He is very affectionate to devotees – He wants to bring devotees closer to Him. Due to our strong material desires or perhaps negligence in spiritual practice, we cannot notice when the Lord sends us help.
After breakfast, my friend approached me again and shared his realisation:
“Perhaps I should not pray for new things every day but instead ask the Lord, what is the lesson for me today?”
The following day, he was on time for the morning prayers.
Srimad Bhagavatam 8.5.24 purport- Lord Kṛṣṇa is very much pleased with His devotees, even if they are not on the topmost stage of devotional service. Even on the lower stages of devotional service one is transcendental, and if one continues with devotional life, he continues to be a deva or sura. If one continues in this way, Kṛṣṇa will always be pleased with him and will give him all instructions so that he may very easily return home, back to Godhead.
Ananta Gopal Das
06.06.2024
Bhakti Wisdom 