Measuring Importance by eternity

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Measuring Importance by eternity

via KKS Blog by noreply@blogger.com (aatish) on 11/23/10

Transcribed by Frederick Prabhu

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Sweden May 2010)

So the Bhagavad-gita is training us in different ways to prepare for this final moment, to remember Krsna. One way is to always have one eye on eternity. To see things from an eternal perspective; to see the world from an eternal perspective, whatever we look at, to measure it next to eternity.

So what is the benefit, or what is the importance of anything? Measure it next to eternity - If you give importance to something you have to put it next to something else, because you have to measure it. So something important, you have to put it next to something unimportant - You cannot make something important without measuring it. Important is a way of measuring - Is It something big. Yeah? ...So we are measuring.

So importance: well, we can measure it with money. Let's measure it that way - so, whatever brings a lot of money, that's important. Right? That's one way of measuring

importance.

We can measure importance with ... health. Important! Whatever gives you good health, that's important. That's good - Green and like lots of natural things and fresh milk from the goat or something! So measure it all by health...

So like this, we measure by health. Importance measured by health - but then health is such a thing, you can't win anyway. Right?

No matter what you do, right? I spoke with the minister of health of ISKCON, and ....he wasn't well!

What to do? Health; you can't win even if you try, even if you do everything right. The minister of health is certainly doing lots of right things, eats the right things, does the right exercises, but even he is not always healthy. No one can stay healthy.

Money, ah well, we all know, you have it and then you don't! That's the nature of money. Money is cancala, you can't keep it. Money has to move. You have some money, and then *snatch* then he has the money - because, he's a business man from India! -They're very good!:

" For you I make no profit!"

and before you know it, money has changed from pocket to pocket, but even they cannot keep the money, although they are good at it. That's the nature.

So, important- If we measure importance by all these kind of temporary things, then what's the benefit? But if we measure importance by eternity, then we have come to something that is of lasting importance. So now that we measure everything by eternity, what is the importance of anything? Measure it by eternity, and suddenly the whole world falls into place, everything!

Srila Prabhupada once said that there are so many anarthas, so many unimportant material things and then he said that actually, the whole material body is an anartha. It's actually not important, because it's temporary - Of course that doesn't mean that we neglect it, We use it for a while, but it's something that we use for a while, like a hired car. Yudhistira is here from Oslo and he hired a car, and sure enough he doesn't wanna make any scratches on the car, but tonight he's going to turn it back in. He's going turn it back in and then he'll never think of that hired car again. Why would he? He couldn't care less if someone makes a scratch on it.

So the body is the same, it's like a hired car. We temporarily use it, take care of it, but how important is it? So certainly, while we're in it, we give it attention, but it's not the main focus. So how nice, if we look at everything from a perspective of eternity. It prepares us for the ultimate goal of life, any time that we remember eternity, immediately everything falls into place.

Bhagavatam says: we even go beyond eternity, because we understand that behind eternity is Krsna, - the eternal Supreme Personality of Godhead. So therefore Bhagavatam measures everything in relation to Krsna:

"ṛte 'rthaḿ yat pratīyeta na pratīyeta cātmani tad vidyād ātmano māyāḿ yathābhāso yathā tamaḥ". [SB 2.9.34]

It's one of the nutshell verses of the Bhagavatam. One of the four verses in which the whole Bhagavatam is contained. In that verse it is said that the value of anything is measured in relationship to Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So that's very nice. If one lives like that, then everything makes sense, everything falls into place. Just whatever it is, put Krsna next to it - Is this good for Krsna, is this beneficial for the service of Krsna?

Transcribed by Frederick Prabhu

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Sweden May 2010)