Spiritual Emergency

Date: 2004-06-10 Author: Govind Cowlagi

Dearest Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

It was 5 am. The alarm on my mobile phone rang. I silenced it. My thoughts were, I have not slept enough; I need adequate rest before I go for work to function effectively. I then received a phone call at around 5.30 am. It was a call from my colleague in Houston. It was an emergency. I immediately started making phone calls, sending mails, etc and I suddenly realized that it was 7 am.

It then dawned on me that I did not realize the time pass by. I was totally focused, concentrating on my job, not one bit sleepy. If this is the way a man reacts in a material world to an emergency, how should a man react when he realizes the urgency of spiritual development? Prabhupada used to say that spiritual development is a matter of urgency.

I then realized that what I was doing was only lip service when I spoke of bhakti and Prabhupada's teachings. In actual fact I was not making any effort towards increasing my bhakti.

During Mahavishnu Maharaj's last visit a devotee had posed a question asking what a person should do if he has a hectic schedule and finds little time for chanting and reading. Maharaj answered, "One must try to get up at least by 5 am. Srila Prabhupada says in his purport that Morning is the best time to perform devotional activities. Therefore, preferably one should chant at least some of his rounds in the morning time. But if one's schedule is such that they have to go to work early in the morning or have other things to do, then they have to adjust their other activities during the rest of the day and squeeze some time out of it to chant their allotted quota of chanting. As the devotee shows more and more inclination, Krishna will position him in such a way as to be able to perform devotional service in a better way."

If the realization had sunk in me I would be up each day before Brahma Muhurtha and I would be as focused, as I was today, while chanting.

Another related point that comes to my mind is the one that was mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita discourse last Saturday at Lakshmi Narayan Mandir. When we offer anything to the Lord we should always endeavour to offer the best. What better to offer to the Lord than the best time of the day, i.e. the Brahma Muhurtha? Time - which is the most precious commodity in this material world.

O Lord ! When will I stop doing lip service? When will I make a genuine effort to attain Your love? When will I realize the emergency of the position I am in? When will I stop being a hypocrite?

I sincerely plead to our spiritual master and Lord Krishna to guide me in the right path and keep me that way.

Your humble servant, Govind Cowlagi Singapore.