In order to be loved, there must be free will. Human life is especially meant for self-realisation. ‘Atatho Brahma Jigyasa’. This is the beginning of the Brahma sutra. Now you have attained human life, inquire into your real welfare. Inquire into things such as: Who am I? Who is God? What is truth? However, the birds, the animals, and the plants cannot make this inquiry because they have minimum free will. But as human beings, we can choose to be anything we want. We can be compassionate, instruments of God or we can be cruel, vicious killers. We can be charitable.
Philanthropy is to give ourselves and to help people who are physically and mentally in need. Paropkar—the greatest charity—is to be instruments of God’s love to awaken people’s souls even at the cost of inconvenience.
Prabhupada said we are not vegetarians, we are Krishnatarians. That means pure vegetarian food offered to God in love and devotion. So in human life, we have this free will and with this free will we can attain the aspiration that we are all longing to achieve to fill the void within our heart, to actually come face to face with the problem of life, to directly work to resolve it.
That is why time is so precious because we do not have much time. Depending on who we are, one-third of our life is spent in sleeping. We need sleep. We are not really doing anything; we are just resting so that we can do something. But then what can we do with our life? The scripture tells us there is no greater tragedy than to lose a single moment in this human life. Losing it means wasting it. Wasting it for the same pleasures, for same purposes as the lower species. Animals are eating, animals are sleeping, animals are mating, and animals are defending. These things are necessities, most of them. So what is our purpose? Our whole civilisation practically is just evolving to create and enjoy more sophisticated ways of just enjoying the senses.
Our sincere intent appeals to Krishna
In the scriptures it is said that Krishna is “Bhavagrahi” that means Krishna does not see what you offer. Krishna perceives our intention, the purpose, and the sentiment in which it is offered. And everyone regardless of our situation has the free will to be sincere. Even if you have practically nothing materially, you have the power to offer Krishna the most glorious temples, the most glorious offerings because Krishna sees our heart.
If you want to help people even if you don’t have much physical facility to do so, just the intention to help people and the earnest effort to do so according to your capacity is perfect and complete in God’s eyes.
Praise to criticism is like an antidote to poison
In this regard I would like to share the story of Narsimhananda Brahmachari, an associate of Lord Chaitanya. When Lord Chaitanya was living in Jagannathpuri, he decided to go to Vrindavan. He went with some of his close associates. They came to Navadweep where Chaitanya Mahaprabhu stayed in a place called Kuliyagram on the island of Koladweep. There, all those personalities who were hateful, envious and blasphemous came to the Lord to beg his forgiveness.
The Lord welcomed even those who blasphemed and had offended the Lord himself. One person said, “I have uttered so many horrible things against you, against your devotees, against innocent people. Now I regret it. What should I do?” Lord Chaitanya remarked, “To criticise others is like drinking poison because blasphemy and criticism is like poison. And when we speak with our tongue, this is not what is only coming out. We think that our word is going outside our mouth for the people who hear. But actually it’s being tasted by the tongue and digested deeply into the heart. And it is like poison—in the sense that it corrupts our consciousness and it kills our good qualities.”
He said there is only one antidote to that poison and that: ‘With your same mouth drink nectar, amrita’.
And what is that nectar? To praise the qualities of others, not in the matter of flattering for your own agenda, but to genuinely appreciate the good in others. The author is the spiritual leader of ISKCON