Bhakti and Time Management

I hope the following realisations I have had may be of some use to the devotees - please forgive me if there are any mistakes:

• Time is the most obvious representation of Krishna within our direct experience (pratyaksha). Time cannot be seen but we definitely agree that it exists because we directly experience it's effects, namely growth and deterioration of all things. In the same way, we cannot see God with our material eyes but we see the symptoms of God's existence in His creation - one such symptom is time.
• Therefore managing time effectively is effectively bhakti.
• Krishna says He is time, the destroyer in Bhagavad-gita.
• To manage our time in the best way is one way to make sure we don't waste Krishna's energy.
• One of the symptoms of an advanced devotee according to Nectar of Devotion is that he doesn't like to waste one second engaging in anything other than Krishna's service.
• In this regard, Prabhupada gives the example of a drunkard. He spends every second trying to find alcohol, he'll even pick bottles off the floor and drink the last drop, whenever he talks to someone, he'll ask them for money to buy a drink with. In the same way, we should spend all our time trying to serve Krishna. Not a second should go where we are engaged in maya's service.
• When we plan our time, we should leave a slack time just in case we experience some unexpected delay.
• But if we leave too much slack, we may do things too slowly thinking we have extra time, so we must work as if we don't have much time - after all in Krishna Consciousness, we try and remember that death can come at any moment.
• In this regard efficiency is important. For example, when cleaning pots, we try and get them as clean as possible, but we don't waste excessive time trying to get them 100% shiny if it is going to leave less time for other important activities also.
• Similarly, the saying goes that we should work as if everything depends on us but know that everything depends on Krishna. In terms of time this means to make the best use of the time we have, but know that ultimately although time seems fixed, Krishna can make arrangements to give us time to do more service if we endeavour and that is our sincere desire.
• There is also a saying "Prepare for the worst but expect the best" - plan our time as if we will take longer than normal to do our activities, but pray to Krishna and expect that He will empower us to complete our duties quickly and efficiently for His pleasure.

Gunagrahi Swami - Playing Around with Maya

Paraphrased from a Chaitanya Charitamrita Class given by H.H. Gunagrahi Swami at Bhaktivedanta Manor on Saturday 20th January 2007:

"Playing around with maya is dangerous. I remember when I was a child , I was fascinated by fire. So I would burn one blade of grass by lighting a match over it, thinking it's only one blade of grass so there can't be much damage. But then I thought ok, let me try two blades, then a bunch of grass, then before I knew it the whole meadow was on fire! Similarly, the problem we have is that we think its harmless to play with maya a little bit - but it gradually leads to worse and worse deviation and then it's too late - the fire is too big to prevent."

Sunit prabhu - Krishna as servant of His devotee

Paraphrased from a Bhagavad-gita Study Session given by Sunit prabhu at Bhaktivedanta Manor on Friday 19th January 2007:

"Krishna is bhakta-vatsalah, which means He becomes the servant of His devotee. In BG 1.21 it is indicated that Krishna has become the chariot driver of His devotee Arjuna. In such a role, the chariot driver is repeatedly kicked in the back by the warrior to indicate which direction the chariot should go in. But because Krishna loves Arjuna, He relishes such kicks in His back as the affection of His friend. Similarly, Bhishma is a great devotee of Krishna in the chivalrous mood. So when Bhishma repeatedly fired arrows at Krishna, and His body became wounded in all places, Krishna relished it like one who relishes the love-bites of a lover."

"In BG 1.25, it is described how Arjuna's chariot is put in front of his grandfather, Bhishma, and his teacher, Drona. This symbolises how we must face and become free of two major attachments to make spiritual progress and develop pure love for Krishna. One is family attachment (on an emotional material level) and the other is attachment to material education."

Service and Knowledge

Service and knowledge are both needed for spiritual advancement. If one doesn't serve then there is no practical realisation (vigyana) from the knowledge (gyana). For example, if I am not performing some devotional service, I cannot practically experience the theory from the scriptures in my own life, and thus there is no realisation of the knowledge. In the same way, if I don't make any effort to obtain knowledge (by reading Prabhupada's books), then I will go mad while performing service, because any difficulty in the service will disturb me. It is only by reading that the message is reinforced about why and for whom I am doing service. For example, if there is some disturbance, it must be because of my false ego and thus the service is purifying me.