———————-Being Focused – Novi Sad, Serbia – June 29_2008————

The question was also raised about association with devotees. We might find that certain types of association; even with sincere devotees diverts us
from our focus.

The key is to strengthen our focus, and to help others understand that their
needs are not really being met by being unfocused. In fact when I encounter
association that would tend to divert me, by remembering my goals this
challenge helps me focus more.

It is similar to when one is attempting to some athletic skill. Without
increasing the difficulty in the attempt, the strength is not increased.
Weight lifters have to keep increasing the amount of weight that they are
attempting to lift in order to build bigger muscles.

So, in other words we should welcome challenges as they facilitate us in
going inside our own hearts and refocusing on our goals

What steps can we take to strengthen our focus? Let me go back to the
example of the vegetarian society that I visited in Croatia (my visit to
this society started this whole topic of being focused).

One of the first things I noticed as I looked around their office were
pictures of various animals that had been mistreated by humans in the
cosmetic industry, food industry, pet industry, sport industry etc. There
were also various slogans around the room which basically stated the same theme: “Save the animals from torture.”

It was more than a verbal statement though. The combination of the pictures and words went right to the heart and evoked in all present a feeling of disgust and desire to help due to the natural human need for compassion (that is in everyone’s heart).

In other words one’s mission has to go beyond words and be implanted in one’s heart. In addition it should be very very simple, and one should constantly
remember it.

I know that I stated previously in this blog about being focused and that I
expressed my mission as follows:

———————————-
My personal mission is to realize my eternal relationship with Krishna and
thereby develop love for Him and all His parts and parcels. My interpersonal
mission is to serve Srila Prabhupada’s mission eternally by helping the
devotees and society at large develop a compassionate loving Krishna
conscious society.

Upon further contemplation I find a need to state my mission more
concisely-something like: “Serve Prabhupada and Love Krishna.” Of course by
using this short statement I will naturally understand that by loving
Krishna I mean to realize my relationship with him and love Him and all his
parts and parcels. Similarly I will naturally understand “serving
Prabhupada” means to help develop his mission as a compassionate mission.

The short statement makes it almost like a mantra that I can effectively
continually meditate on during the day.

In the business world they generally put the mission statement on the walls
of their offices and factories to remind them of what they are there for.
This way they are continually reminded of their goals. The most successful
business are the best at doing this.

In any case our personal mission statement (and society mission statement
too) can not simply be words and thoughts. It has to go deep to the heart.
Therefore each and every individual has to come up with one for
herself/himself.

Krishna consciousness is extremely personal. As long as we are feeling with
our brains the true expression and recognition of our nature, Krishna’s
nature and our relationships will never be fully understood.

I was just reading something very interesting this morning about Vaisnava
historical literature. Vaisnava historians are not that concerned with
chronology (dates) and super detailed external facts but rather they are
concerned with the siddhanta and Bhava. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Thakur even states about one of the foremost Vaisnava historical
literatures: “the historical significance of Bhakti-ratnakara is ati alpa —
‘very small’.” Yet he arranged for the publication and wide distribution of
this book because this book contains the important things for devotees:
siddhanta, Bhava and information about the holy places in the Navadvipa
area.

We are usually looking for something that is precise in a scientific sense.
We spend years learning dates of historical personalities (like Columbus who
in 1492 went to the “new world”), yet we never really learn about them; we
only learn of them and externally what they did. Of course to learn about
the inner most heart of Columbus would not be helpful for us!

But to learn about the inner most heart of a Vaisnava would inspire us
tremendously towards pure devotional service to Krishna. The inner most
heart of a Vaisnava is filled with emotions that can only be hinted at with
words.

Words that describe bhavas are ascriptive rather than descriptive. A
descriptive phrase is one for example that describes a particular objective
of an object-for example, “that desk is black.” An ascriptive word points to
something that can be understood with the heart and is a rough approximation
at best, such as “I am sad,” or the overused one by devotees: “That
[prasadam, kirtan, class, etc.] was ecstatic.

In other words spirituality and our mission in life has to be heartfelt and
words can be used to reach the heart, but words are not the heart.

——-end of blog on being focused——————–