Makes sense, as otherwise we could just be "another face in the crowd."
Be a sheep.
So why the reversal?
Because to be inspired by others is natural...to have a role model....a hero or heroine....someone we look up to...some we aspire to be like.
The question is: who is it for you?
Your parents?
A close friend?
The latest fashionable personality in the media - here today and gone tomorrow?
A famous personality that made great achievements in the history of the world?
Look back on each day as it ends....
Who did we talk about?
Who did we read about?
Who did we listen to?
Who did we spend time with?
Who was on our minds?
Who influenced the decisions we made? What was the result? Did we make meaningful progress?
Who did we trust?
Who brought out the best in us?
Who brought out the worst in us?
Who helped us grow?
The timeless wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita says:
sańgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ
And Srila Prabhupada explains this statement of Lord Krishna's:
"In Bhagavad-gita (2.62) it is stated, sangat sanjayate kamah: one's desires and ambitions develop according to the company one keeps. It is often said that a man is known by his company, and if an ordinary man associates with devotees, he will certainly develop his dormant Kṛṣṇa consciousness." ~ The Nectar of Instruction, Srila Prabhupada's purport to verse 4.
Life's a journey - where are we going?
That's where our trusty Sat-Nav comes in !! :D
What does the Sat-Nav do?
Cue - cheesy Sat-Nav voice:
"Turn right here"
"Take the third exit"
"You have now reached your final destination."
Without our Sat-Nav, we are lost as to how to get to where we want to.
In the Srimad Bhagavatam 7.5.31, the saintly child prince Prahlad Maharaj says:
na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiḿ hi viṣṇuḿ
In other words, those who get distracted by superficial pursuits and goals, forget that the real goal of life is to go back home, back to Godhead and engage in the service of Lord Vishnu (Krishna).
So today I share: The Lesson of the Wise Sat-Nav - Be a sheep.
How to be a sheep?
Shravanam - hear
If we don't listen to the Sat-Nav:
* ATTENTIVELY
* WITH ABSORPTION
* AND COMPLETE UNDIVIDED FOCUS
....we miss the turning and end up somewhere we don't want to be.
As we get in our cars each day, the destination of true success and happiness is certainly reached by hearing attentively from the spiritual Sat-Nav association around us:
** The Hare Krishna maha mantra
** Srila Prabhupada - who speaks through his books and classes
** Spiritual teachers - our gurus
** Spiritual friends, who also eagerly want to get to that forgotten destination of the heart.
Be the right kind of sheep.... follow truly inspiring personalities, and go baaaaaaaaa-ck to Godhead :D
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