responsibility

Verse 1.41: An increase of unwanted population certainly causes hellish life both for the family and for those who destroy the family tradition. The ancestors of such corrupt families fall down, because the performances for offering them food and water are entirely stopped.

It's something that we've all been told throughout our lives, "Look ahead. Plan for the future." However, when it comes to the most important things in our lives, all this planning and foresight seem to fly right out the window.

I think one of the biggest reasons why this happens is the fact that most people want to live "spontaneously." We want to live in the moment and experience the now. However, the funny thing is often the choices we make "spontaneously" lead us to living in the past wondering why we ever made them once we are faced with living with the consequences that have arisen from them.

This type of thinking is largely due to a lack of education. This whole, "You only live once" philosophy is greatly to blame for this type of whimsical attitude. As aspiring bhakti yogis it is important to take into consideration what the Gita says. Our actions and consciousness in doing things have an effect not only in this lifetime but in lifetimes to come. This effectively nixes the whole concept of "You only live once" and more importantly forces one to take responsibility for their actions.

See it's much easier not to take responsibility for your actions if you genuinely believe that after this life, it's not only all over but you don't need to be held accountable.

That's one of the responsibilities of human life; we are held accountable. Just something to think about as you go through your day today. Whether you believe in future lives or not, do you feel you're taking responsibility for all the choices you make and actions you perform?