God and Olympics
The Olympic Games are leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. This year Olympic Games are played in Rio, Brazil. Practically everyone's eyes are on their country's player, who is winning which medal?
Now someone may ask what's the relation between God and Olympic Games, yes there is relation, because sporting tendency also comes from God only, He has this tendency in fullest but in minute quantity within us. Srimad Bhagavatam explains when Lord Krishna was in Vrindavan, as a young boy He would play so many games with his cowherd friends. Prabhupad writes in Krishna book, "The boys played at catching ball with fruits such as bael and amalaka. They played blindman’s buff, challenging and touching one another. Sometimes they imitated the forest deer and various kinds of birds. They joked with one another by imitating croaking frogs, and they enjoyed swinging underneath the trees. Sometimes they would play amongst themselves like a king and his subjects. In this way, Balarama and Krsna, along with all Their friends, played all kinds of sports and enjoyed the soothing atmosphere of Vrndavana, full of rivers, lakes, rivulets, fine trees and excellent gardens filled with fruits and flowers."
Such a innovative and interesting sports Krishna and his friends played. In Vrindavan no one did 'Doping' but still everyone was enthusiastic and energetic because their aim was to please God and not to win the medals. In Vrindavan sports no one is looser, but everyone is gold medalist, everyone gets an opportunity to please the Krishna. Prabhupad was always against the frivolous sports, which were made for only sense gratification and which included exposing the body parts(in case of women), but he encouraged the sports where there was some connection with Krishna. History tells devotees of lord like Uddhava and King Parikshita would play with doll of Krishna when they were small kids.
Today's sports are nothing but imitation of these real games, they are filled with passion and impurities, I just heard a news saying, in game village, Rio, they have distributed around 5 lac contraceptive packets to athletes, means encouraging illicit sex. Also most of these athletes are non-vegetarians and meat eaters, some of them even eat dog(Ki-ko Bay, female archer from Korea), that means violence, cruelty and mercilessness towards poor animals for own benefits.So it's our choice to play a game which will eventually purify and elevate us to God consciousness or to support and play the games which are degrading human values.
2) Don't become Workaholic or Idle but make your work Holy and Ideal
There are two kinds of extremist generally seen in society, one is workaholic( who works compulsively, enjoying his work more than anything) and other is idle( who doesn't want to work at all), off course hard working people are different from workaholics, there is wide gap between both hardworking and workaholics. Workaholics doesn't bother anything other than work including personal priorities and family issues, when work is not there they feel lonely and stressed, their mind is constantly at work even they are not.
Whereas idle is lazy and don't want to work at all. Both cases are non exemplary for us because they don't fulfill the mission of human life that is to develop love for God, we are not only meant to work day and night or not doing any work but we are meant to do something substantial in life.
How to make our work holy and ideal? By not performing our duties for our own sense enjoyment but as an offering of love to Krishna, it should be an act of sacrifice. Lord Krishna in 3rd chapter of Bhagavad Gita says, "one who works only for his satisfaction his life is vain but who performs activities being unattached he attains the supreme. Work for our own sense pleasure will create bondage but work done for satisfaction of Lord will make work holy and one will get liberation from reactions." Many people think by reading Bhagavad Gita or following the God given process our inclination for our work will reduce and we will become idle but this is not a reality, after hearing Gita from Lord, Arjun didn't give up his bow and arrow and went to forest for austerities but he fought more diligently and tactfully because he realized this work is going to give pleasure to Lord. Lord also speaks no one can remain idle, everyone has to work at lest for his body maintenance. After all Bhagavad Gita is not against our work but it teaches us in what attitude we should perform our work. In Fact Lord glorifies Janak Maharaja for executing his prescribed duties properly.
Lord Krishna speaks in 8th chapter, “Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Kṛṣṇa and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt.” Prabhupad explains in the purport that, "this instruction is for all humans, Lord doesn't recommend to give up the duties. One can continue them but at the same time remember Krishna, this will free one from material contamination."
So let's not become workaholic or idle but make our work holy and ideal by adding Krishna to our work by following the path of Bhakti under guidance of expert devotees.
3) Stressed, depressed but Well Dressed
Few days back I was traveling in a local train and I was really amazed to see one sight in 1st class coach, there were 2 sophisticated gentlemen quarreling and fighting for Window seat, they were in 3 piece suit and seemed like coming from good background but such a horrible abusive words they were using for each other. I concluded good clothes, ironed dress and higher education doesn't means that one is cultured and well nurtured. People are so much stressed due to work pressure, family and relationship issues, EMIs and many other things, so they utilize these petty things like window seat and other to vent out their anger and frustration. Stress does not see whether a person is rich or poor, old or young or celebrity or a commoner before affecting him. Stress is a disorder that may affect people from all walks of life. Some of the richest and celebrated people suffer from anxiety, like panic disorder, compulsive disorder and obsession.
We all know the story of carrots, eggs and coffee beans, when each one kept for boiling, carrot which was strong it became soft, egg was fragile but after boiling became hardened from inside. But coffee beans were unique they changed the water during boiling. Boiling is compared to stressful situations in life. Carrot seems strong but under adversities it is softened. Egg is fragile and under stress it becomes hard, but beans changes the hot water, the external circumstances. We should be like coffee beans, we should learn to convert adversities into opportunities under proper guidance and not become depressed.
Arjuna was also very much distressed during the Kurukshetra war, because the enemy party was his own kinsmen headed by his loving grandfather and teacher, he says, “seeing my friends and relatives present before me in such a fighting spirit, I feel the limbs of my body quivering and my mouth drying up”, he rejected to fight, but when he heard Bhagavad Gita from Lord Krishna, the first Stress Management seminar in which Lord talked about the soul, God and purpose of human life, by hearing his all distress went away, he realized his mistakes and actual goal of fighting the war. Similarly whenever we get stressed or depressed we should not get panicked but take shelter of words from Bhagavad Gita, these words have power to destroy the sorrows of life and to give new hope, it offers the intelligence to deal with each and every kind of situation in life.
After listening to Bhagavadgita Arjuna's perception changed to see the world, he says, "my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions". Once Gandhiji told, "When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day", So let's not be only well dressed but also learn how to deal with stress and anxieties of life by reading scriptures like Gita everyday.
4) Old Age Homes- Harsh Reality of 21st century
Once an old man went to a phone repair shop with his phone and asked the man standing at the shop to check the working of phone, man said, "phone is completely fine", old man replied, "then why I am not receiving any call from my sons since last 2 years?, who will tell him that problem is not in phone but problem is in his sons. This is the story of today's world where we are neglecting our old parents, depriving their right to get love which we have received from them. Eighty-year-old Leelabai Lowatkar from one of the old age home, opened her heart and shared her story dejectedly: “My son threw me out of the home because his wife did not like my interference in their nuclear family. My daughter brought me here because she, too, was not economically well off to look after me.” When she was young and ready to take on any challenge, Leelabai had worked as a maid to provide the basic facilities to her children. Then, she never imagined that she would be confined to an old age home even after shaping up future of the two children.
Just try to remember our past days, when we took birth from womb how much trouble our mother had gone through? It was pain, labour pain. When we were tiny kids, who couldn't speak and couldn't do anything but loving parents so nicely took care of us without thinking of themselves, how many nights our mother had remained awake so that we can have sound sleep, she didn't abandon us. How parents have fulfilled our desires to have clothes, good food, to have toys, then schooling, college and graduation it's just unimaginable, they have only supported us, provided us whatever we required. Why so much sacrifice, so much struggle, just so that they could be thrown away from their home when they become unproductive? Parents love is considered to be pure because it doesn't have any expectations and demands but they have only small desire that our child should take care of us when we become invalid. But their ruthless and ungrateful children send them to old age homes where they feel worthless, neglected and hopeless because nobody is there to give them love. Yes, old age home will provide medical facility, good food but who will give emotional fulfillment, money can't buy love. Like Leelabai, there are many seniors with the same background. With the pain of separation from their families, they are counting remaining days of their lives miserably.
Are we running away from our responsibility towards elders in our families? Have we become so selfish that we consider seniors in our homes useless? This is not an Indian culture, scriptures never taught us this, there is no mention of such a thing called as old-age homes in Scriptures, this is just a sign of ungratefulness. Those who send their old parents to old age homes they go through various problems, like they miss the years of experience and wisdom from them, there is no one in home who will teach children the good habits and culture and give them love of grand parents, there is no one to support and guide on crucial stages of life. Olds are the main pillars of maintaining culture in society. And such people who give up their parents should not wonder if their children also send them to the old age home, as you sow so shall you reap.
So let's not give up our parents but give them love and care just like they have given us when we were in need, now understand they are in need.
