Don't Waste a Single Moment

Every minute is unlimitedly precious. We cannot buy back even one minute of lost time, even if we possess all the world's wealth. Therefore time should not be squandered in unnecessary sense gratification. We should instead fully dedicate our every thought, word, and deed in all times, places, and circumstances to awakening our dormant Krishna consciousness and the Krishna consciousness of others. This is the proper utilization of the human form of life, nothing else. This scrupulous use of our limited time in this body assures us of entrance into the transcendental kingdom of God at the time of our passing from our present body.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: How to Become Attached to Krishna?

In the 15 March 2008 "Thought for the Day" you wrote the following..

"The way to make sure that you will remember Krishna at the time of death is to train yourself to always remember Him at every moment as you go through your life. Whatever consciousness you cultivate on a moment to moment basis is the kind of consciousness you will automatically have at the time of death. If a student attends the lectures and hears them nicely and also does all of his assigned homework on time he will be in a good position to perform well at any moment that his teacher gives him a pop quiz. Death is a pop quiz. It we absorb ourselves every day in chanting, hearing, and reading as much as possible about Krishna, when death comes our minds will naturally turn to the Lord and we will easily attain His eternal kingdom."

Regarding chanting at the time of death, I have a little story...

When I was a teenager I went to a party with my friends, and one friend, Oli, consumed a really large quantity of LSD. He took so much LSD that it triggered inside of him the experience of dying (as he later told us). Itt is interesting because during this "dying" experience he did nothing but run around the garden in circles chanting the names of people he was attached to. He had a crush on a girl called "Imogen" and also a crush on a girl called "Sophy". So he was just running around chanting, "Imogen! Imogen! Sophy! Sophy!" being chased by a police officer, 2 paramedics and about 4 of my friends.

I tell you this story because it really demonstrated to me how the mind cries out to what it is attached to at the time of death. I also understood from this that there is no chance of intellectually deciding who you will call out to at death, that the intelligence is quite inoperative and that it is what/who we are deeply attached to in our heart that we spontaneously call out to. Is this the case?

If this is the case, then I am in big trouble because I have no emotional attachment to Krishna whatsoever. Although intellectually I know to call on Krishna when I am in fear of my life. I do not find that chanting Hare Krishna gives me any emotional attachment to Krishna, although on an intellectual level Krishna is at the top of my mind. How is it that my friend Oli so easily became perfectly attached to Imogen and Sophy, but I, even with lots of effort, am not even remotely attached to Krishna? I feel it is because I do not know Krishna as a real living person who is in my life. How do I come to know this? I find it very difficult to see and understand that Krishna has anything to do with my life.

Alex

Answer: Beg this Benediction from Someone Who is Attached to Krishna

You have realized very wonderfully that you must now become attached to Krishna. Krishna does not bestow such feelings of attachment very easily upon the fallen, conditioned souls because He becomes under the control of those who are attached to Him. If you want to receive this supreme benedictions of all benedictions, you must sincerely beg Krishna for it and continue doing so until He finally answers your prayers.

The following verse describes the state you need to attain:

satam ayam sara-bhrtam nisargo
yad-artha-vani-sruti-cetasam api
prati-ksanam navya-vad acyutasya yat
striya vitanam iva sadhu varta

"Paramahamsas, devotees who have accepted the essence of life, are attached to Krishna in the core of their hearts, and He is the aim of their lives. It is their nature to talk only of Krishna at every moment, as if such topics were newer and newer. They are attached to such topics, just as materialists are attached to topics of women and sex." SB 10.13.2

The insider's secret for awakening your dormant Krishna bhakti is the get the mercy of a person who has already awakened his dormant love for Krishna. This is described as follows by Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur in the concluding lines of his song, "Ohe! Vaisnava Thakura":

krsna se tomara, krsna dite paro,
tomara sakati ache
ami to' kangala, 'krsna' 'krsna' boli',
dhai tava pache pache

"Krishna is yours; you have the power to give Him to me. I am simply running behind you shouting, 'Krishna! Krishna!'"

Sankarshan Das Adhikari