Pause for Thought. BBC Radio 2, March 24th Posted in: Broadcasts
Holy Week
One of my favourite quotes is from the business mentor Stephen Covey, who said that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. In other words, don’t lose your focus. To achieve that of course, I need to have a clear aim in life on which to focus. For many years I grappled with that, not being altogether clear what I was trying to achieve beyond survival and hopefully a bit of fun now and again. Finding myself struggling on both counts I eventually consulted the intelligent Mr Covey via his books. This resulted in a bit of navel-gazing and, after I recovered from that, I constructed a personal mission statement which I actually look at from time to time.
For me life’s chief aim is a spiritual one. It’s about finding out who I really am, beyond the temporary names and labels given by this world. Ultimately it’s about attaining the divine abode of God, where I believe I truly belong. I therefore welcome holy celebrations and festivals, because they bring my often misaligned endeavours back into focus, reminding me of the sacred goal of life. Easter is not in my tradition but I have always been an admirer of Christ and his teachings. I see his messages to be very much in line with those of my own Krishna faith, and indeed with those given most spiritual traditions. From my own experience it seems to me that most faith’s teach that we are not merely material beings, and instead are spiritual souls meant for everlasting happiness, not just the ephemeral variety offered by this world.
Christ famously said that it profits a man nothing if he gains the world but loses his soul. In other words, if our happiness depends only upon the temporary things of this world it will be lost sooner or later. So, as we remember Christ this Easter I shall revisit my mission statement and make sure I’ve got the main thing of my spiritual practise firmly front and centre.