The Power of Time

52 Power of time
Take a glass filled with a fizzy drink, maybe Sprite. What do you see on the surface? Lot of small bubbles that fizzle out in a few seconds. Govinda Dasa, a Bengali poet, has said that our life in this world is as temporary and insignificant as a bubble of water on a lotus petal. Hence, the scriptures tell us not to aspire for a permanent settlement in this temporary world. All advances in technology and all attempts to prolong life in this world are akin to the attempt to prolong the life of a bubble in a glass of Sprite. In comparison to the sky of eternity, our life is as brief as a flash oflightning.

An old man and a young boy may both look at the same clock, but they see it differently. An old man is apprehensive and nervous as he sees the clock ticking away. A young boy, however, is impatient and wonders when the watch will speed up so that he can enjoy life. But the old man wishes that the clock stop moving. Well, a time piece may stop, but time won’t. When bored, we want to kill time,but no one can do so. It’s Mr. Time who kills all without discrimination.

I am always amazed to see the cemetery in New York. It’s a huge place extending over miles. You could drive for a long time seeing all the tombstones. It seems pretty impressive, but on closer examination we see it’s a sad reflection of the real world—devoid of all its glamour and glitz. A dead person is buried in an attractive casket that costs around $5000. Then there is the tombstone, which is made of granite or marble. I have a friend who’s in the tombstone business and he’s a millionaire. You will never go bust in this business because the market demand is always high and people are always dying. Then the dates of birth and death are written on the tombstone along with a message. A few friends drop by for a few years to remember the dead person.

Although the body is buried seven feet below the ground, still the insects feast on the casket and the body. There’s nothing in the cemetery about us except for the name and the years of our life. We thus become an insignificant statistic after a few years, lost in the teeming crowd of millions who are wandering in this material world.

– Radhanath Swami

By RNS Articles

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45 comments

  1. We may be successful in stopping a running watch but time will still go on, we may want to kill time when bored but it is the Mr time whcih kills everyone of us eventually. Very profound lines from Radhanath swami.

  8. We are so caught up in material perplexities that it is so difficult to realize how insignificant our existence is just like the bubbles in the sprite bottle. Maharaj is pointing out this mistake so as the value of time is not minimized by simply living a mundane life rather utilizing it in spiritual pursuits in order to go back to the spiritual sky where we actually belong.
    Thanks Maharaj for being a leading light of spiritual consciousness.

  12. Death an extremely powerful and logic defying part of everybody’s life. Thank you for sharing Radhanath Swami’s reflections on time.

  17. Conclusion of life…. that’s what we don’t understand.. like this article a lot.

  23. Radhanath Swami has wonderfully explained How Powerful time is through an excellent example of bubble in a sprite..thanks Radhanath Swami for sharing such wonderful realization.

  31. A stark reminder of the harsh truth of life. All that is left of our families is a list of names and statistics after a few years.

  33. the explanation of the perspective of different people towards time is simply amazing. It gives a sense of urgency to practice spirituality.

  35. Thank you Radhanath Swami for sounding this alarm. Time is really passing very fast for all of us. May we wake up from slumber soon.

  37. Thank you Radhanath swami for instructing and inspiring us to utilize every moment of life in the service of the God as the time in this is life is like a drop of water on the lotus leaf.

  40. Very nicely explained the hard truth of life which always keeps in a person in dream until he wakes and its too late. May we practice in a way such that next moment is our last.

  45. Its so simple to read and Mayadevi makes this simple understanding so difficult to implement…

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