Suppose we are working on a deadline-driven project. While we are racing against time, suppose our clock suddenly stops, giving us the illusory feeling that we have a lot of time. Later, when we realize that the clock had stopped and that we have missed our deadline, we will feel foolish.

Our situation becomes similar when we forget our mortality. We all have a finite amount of time in our lives. From the moment of birth, we are inexorably moving toward death. Sometimes, we are aware of our inevitable mortality, but most of the time, we aren’t. We are so caught in pursuing worldly pleasures and treasures that we don’t even think that we are running out of time. Nonetheless, whether we are aware or not, time is passing relentlessly, pushing us inexorably toward death.

The Bhagavad-gita (11.32) states that time is a manifestation of the divine; time manifests the divine’s omnipotent destructive power. Just as God’s will can’t be thwarted, the flow of time with its attendant destruction can’t be thwarted.

Thankfully however, we can save ourselves from this destruction if we strive to do during our finite lifespan something that transcends destruction. The best such something is pursuing our spiritual evolution and help others pursue their spiritual evolution.

Gita wisdom explains that we are at our core indestructible spiritual beings, souls, who are parts of the supreme spiritual being, Krishna. By linking with him in love, we are meant to attain life in his abode where we relish eternity and ecstasy.

If we use our time to love and serve Krishna – and to center our whole life on such loving service – such time will be an investment that will give us the return of immortal life.

 

Think it over:

  • Why do we forget our mortality?
  • Why do we recoil from thoughts of our mortality?
  • How can we best use our time?

 

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11.32 The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Time I am, the great destroyer of the worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people. With the exception of you [the Pandavas], all the soldiers here on both sides will be slain.

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