Living at Death's Door

Although we have so many plans of what we are going to do in this world, at any minute those plans can be abruptly interrupted. I have been spending my days here at Denmark's national hospital giving my wife, Vishnupriya Mataji, some association while she recuperates from her brain hemorrhage. Yesterday the nurse informed me that I cannot use my mobile phone in Mataji's room that I have to go down to the hospital lobby to use it. So I did that to contact my disciple, Guru Das, to inform him of our new schedule for being picked up at the boat dock in Tallinn, Estonia. However, on the way back up the ninth floor in an elevator full of people the elevator got stuck for about twenty minutes. Many thoughts went through my mind at that time. I was thinking that here I am endeavoring to help Mataji regain her health but now in the midst of all this I could die in an elevator accident. What if the cable were to break and we were to drop to the bottom of the elevator shaft? I realized that in this world we are living at death's door at every minute. Therefore we must always remain in Krishna consciousness in all times, places, and circumstances so that when inevitable death finally comes we can peacefully and easily make a safe passage into the transcendental dimension, that wondrous spiritual sky.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Is Maya an Obstacle?

I need some guidance and thought I should turn to You. Is maya an obstacle? Or is it a requirement to achieve Krishna-prema, pure love of Krishna?

Your servant,

Hiten

Answer: Heavy Fog Blocks Us from Krishna

Maya means illusion, that which is not. It is an obstacle, the covering that separates us from the Krishna-prema, the pure love of God that is currently present within our hearts. Just as a heavy fog prevents us from seeing the sun, maya prevents us from being connected with Krishna. When we are under the influence of maya we misidentify ourselves with the material body taking it to be our actual self. And thus we dedicate ourselves to only serving our bodily needs neglecting the service of Krishna.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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