Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18

One of these days” is none of these days by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18

“I will do it one of these days.” This is how we often respond when asked to take up spiritual life seriously.

We feel that we are too busy now because of this or that – and some other this or that keeps coming up, always. Thus, “one of these days” ends up as none of these days. The Bhagavad-gita (18.28) deems procrastination a hallmark of working in the mode of ignorance. This ignorance is an animal-like obliviousness to the truth that we have limited time before death, with that finite time-stock being depleted by each passing moment.

Spiritual practices help us to not only eventually attain the eternal, but to also here-and-now get the shelter of that eternal

We are like a person on a raft in an ocean. Life’s many distractions are like waves that destabilize the raft. The purpose of being on the raft is not just staying on it, but also navigating towards the land. Similarly, our purpose is not just to survive life’s dualities, but also to head towards the land of eternal life by spiritual realization. Those who simply try to stay on the raft will eventually get exhausted and will sink. So too will we sink in the ocean of material existence if we let our attention be consumed by worldly dualities.

To avoid such a fate, we need to replace “one of these days” with today. Spiritual practices help us to not only eventually attain the eternal, but to also here-and-now get the shelter of that eternal, somewhat like the raft being stabilized by an anchor. The supreme anchor is Krishna, the highest spiritual truth; connecting with him by our spiritual practices makes our consciousness calmer and clearer, thereby enabling us to act more intelligently and effectively. Thus, focusing on Krishna today also empowers us to deal better with today’s challenges, the very challenges due to which we ignorantly put off focusing on him.