Life is not about being a bystander and watching life just pass by you, it is about taking a stand, jumping on the center stage, picking up on the opportunities hiding in the dust and make the best out of the diamonds in the rough. All you have to do, is make the first attempt, try, have the guts to act and make life happen for you.Krishna confirms for us in the Gita that we need to act in knowledge without attachment to the results, when duty calls nothing can stand in the way of actions that speak louder,”Having said this in the battle field and casting aside his bow and arrow, Arjuna sat down on the seat of the chariot with his mind overwhelmed with sorrow. (1.47) Lord Krishna spoke these words to Arjuna whose eyes were tearful and downcast, and who was overwhelmed with compassion and despair. (2.01) The Supreme Lord [Krishna] said: How has the dejection come to you at this juncture? This is not fit for an Aryan (or the people of noble mind and deeds). It is disgraceful, and it does not lead one to heaven, O Arjuna. (2.02) Do not become a coward, O Arjuna, because it does not befit you. Shake off this weakness of your heart and get up (for the battle), O Arjuna. (2.03).” These actions we take, do not have to be mammoth goals, but rather simpler, smaller and more subtle but significant steps to help us reach closer and closer to the ultimate success, which is Bhakti (Yoga of Love). This morning while I was chanting in my mother’s juliet balcony, and as I was desperately trying to close my eyes shut pretending not to look elsewhere, however my attention was so strongly diverted to Violet. Although I do not know Violet, or have never met her, she is neither a close acquaintance or a familiar face, she was a complete stranger, whose actions I observed in the few minutes my mind wandered onto the streets of Nairobi. Violet was a complete inspiration and in the short company we shared we became good friends. This is the magic of the yoga of love, Krishna makes you see things he cannot express in words, so He orchestrates a wonderful drama in front of your eyes, for you to understand His deep love for Him, and accept His ineffable plan of love.

Firstly, we just have to understand there is no loss in failing, but there is a greater loss in never trying, failing to launch the rocket that will take us to the moon, is the greatest failure, even if we crash at die half way there to the moon we will never know if we could reach the moon, if we don’t try to seek it. Just think about it, how are we supposed to reach for the stars if we don’t even aim for the moon? We might as well fail at one task a million times, before we can actually succeed at it for a single time. The greater lesson is that while you failed at it again and again, you succeeded at trying to understand it again and again as well. Secondly, love speaks right to the heart, so although you may think you do not know what you are doing, when you learn to hear the unheard you will soon understand that we are not acting on our own merit, we are acting on the mercy of those who love us. Just like a child, though the parents may make the child feel He is in control just for awhile, a minute or two, to make the child happy, in reality you always know the child is always under the shelter of the parents, and if the child falls the parents are their to catch Him. The child is always under the protection of the parents, whether the child is near or far, He is always traced by the footsteps of longing love His parents have for Him. Love is just this simple, it touches us one time and it lasts for a lifetime or more, without holding us down, it sets us free to experience our desires. Love is a wish fulfilled, and Krishna is such that He will always reciprocate, so be very careful what you wish for, for you might just get it all. Lastly, the story of Violet, made me realise that when you are truly in love, you are determined and fully swept by the powers of diligence. Violet was a street hawker selling bananas to the many passengers sitting in their cars, she was fully determined to sell all her bananas, and she walked across the street with such confidence she almost resembled the a model walking towards her Miss World crown. She knew what she wanted and was fully focused on the goal. She looked so glorious in her march and she looked like the beauty of the silent streets, raising her own kingdom, she was somewhere in Africa an African Queen. This got me thinking, why is Krishna making me witness this, what is He silently, magically and simply trying to communicate to me? I listened long enough to understand the message.Those bananas in her hand represented Prabhupada’s book, her diligence represented our service mood, and her confidence represented faith in the process of love, Bhakti. Violet, herself represented the sankirtan movement, travelling from every town and village, in her case travelling from passenger to driver, spreading the glories of the holy name. Violet was a street hawker, but she looked handsomely happy and perhaps the only person happy on that street. This is the power of love, you don’t only feel it, you see it happen, the magic, the sweet caress of twilight, you watch the whole story come to life in front of your blind eyes. This is what love does to us, it makes us instruments in a greater plan, and like fools we simply follow, we go out distributing the love we have in our hearts, without thinking twice what will be left in the end for us, we simply give and give. Like a Roberta Flack song we fall in love,”Strumming my pain with his fingers. Singing my life with his words. Killing me softly with his song,”as said the greater the heartbreak the deeper the love. The yoga of love, is not a painful journey rather it is pleasant discovery that makes every pain a sweet pleasure. Violet, or whoever she was, i would like to always remember her as that Violet who taught me a great lesson on love, don’t be like me, who just sat there in a balcony view watching Violet, become Violet herself and most importantly become an example of love in actions. Though it may not be easy, who said it would, but truth is something worth having is worth every good struggle. Just as Prabhupada’s life taught us, Bhakti is not cheap yet it is simple for simple.

Prabhupada, came into our lives similarly like a ray of hope as Violet visited me this morning, just like the sun comes after a dark night, He shared with the whole world the unlimited sunshine of a simply wonderful gift, the love of Krishna. He took our pain away with the magic of his words, his books and his actions. Prabhupada taught us the power of love hidden in a prayer of actions. We are blessed, that we have this precious time to fall in love, now to act or never, that remains in our hands.

One minute! That is Krishna Consciousness Movement! One minute!

Srila Prabhupada