If leaders leading a country through recession urge citizens
to adopt austerity measures, but live in luxury themselves, their choice will
belie their voice and will provoke citizens into non-cooperation. The
Bhagavad-gita (03.21) stresses this principle of actions speaking louder than
words when it states that leaders set the standards for others by their
actions.
This principle applies to spiritual life too. Many people
become anti-religious on seeing godmen who sermonize about simple living but
head ultra-commercialized corporate empires. Similarly, some social leaders
speak eloquently about the importance of spirituality in strengthening
society’s ethical fabric, but live materialistically themselves. Again, their
choice drowns out their voice.
We all are leaders in some capacity, small or large. If we
harmonize our choice and voice in adopting and advocating a more spiritual way
of living, we can contribute to society’s spiritual rejuvenation.
Harmonizing our choice with our voice is important in our
own spiritual life too. If we say that we want to love Krishna, but keep
choosing worldly objects over him whenever temptation beckons, our choice will
speak to him far louder than our voice.
Thankfully, Krishna is so merciful that he sees even our
voice as a choice. If we consistently voice our aspiration to put him first
through our prayers and chants, this verbalization itself comprises a limb of
bhakti; it can attract his mercy and purify us, enabling us to make better
choices. However, such divine assistance comes only when our voice is an
expression of a sincere intention that we are presently unable to implement,
not a cover-up for our wanting the prestige of appearing spiritually advanced
without paying the price of purification.
The more we strive to take our choice closer to our voice,
the more we move closer to Krishna and relish sublime spiritual fulfillment.
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