Rat Race

In olden days, people didnt pray for materialistic desires or lavish lives, they actually prayed for "Anayasa Jeevitam and Sunayasa Maranam" - meaning "Smooth and Peaceful life and Painless, Natural Death" . They lead quite simple but inspirational
lives following rules of dharma.

We have come a long way from it. As we get bombarded with the high decibel marketing of various goods and services ,available very close to our neighbourhoods, there is an unknown compulsion and peer pressure, which propels us to indulge in a cat race to earn huge money to fulfill those desires, most of the times at the expense of our relationships (with parents,siblings,relatives,friends,society at large) and our own health.

But do we get satisfied having quenched our desires. No we dont get satisfied with what we have , we get more greedy, aspire for bigger, higher, larger, brighter things, increase the pace of making money (sometimes through illegal and unethical
ways), to finally procure them. This cycle , which always ends with discontentment and unease, continues, so long as we have energy left within us

And by this time we are too old to do anything. Your family realising your inability to make further moolah might not find time for you, since they themselves get busy in their money making possibilities. At this time you feel lonely. Throughout your life when you were energetic you never remembered god and felt it important to visit a temple and suddenly you realise how desolate and meaningless your life has been. Things for which you were behind, have become obsolete now, no one takes pride in you for procuring them. Suddenly , what has been a very successful life, becomes a
life worn out of materiastic pursuits and one which was un-enriched of spiritual outlook

Where did things go wrong. Why is this frustration and feeling of failure.
Jagatguru Sri Adi Sankaracharya says :

"bhajagovindaM bhajagovindaM
govindaM bhajamuuDhamate .
saMpraapte sannihite kaale
nahi nahi rakshati DukR^iJNkaraNe"

Meaning

Adi Sankaracharya is trying to bring home the point that human being has no other escape except immersing oneself in the thoughts of Lord, and praying with utmost sincerity, reciting the Divine Namas of the Lord rather than getting engrossed in anxieties to possess wealth or acquire social status or achievements.

The purport of these words is that any amount of knowledge cannot save the soul when death knocks at the door of this limited body. At that time, one has to leave behind one's material benefits and social status. These acquisitions will not help one
gain the knowledge of the Soul, which is permanent, when the impermanent body withers, it turns out to be a dead-wood.

It does not mean that one should shun away the pursuit of living for knowledge, but, at the same time, one should understand its limited capacity, and one should seriously try to acquire that knowledge which alone can save a person from the slavery of imperfections. We should remember the truth that it is a manifested world and it is impermanent.

Other than God or Soul,everything else is temporary. Death will snatch away the existence of the body and the manifested world. What is the use of all the acquisitions and secural knowledge then? So, while living in this secular world, or materialistic world, one should endeavour to understand and master the secret of purposeful life. One should identify oneself with the Lord, who can only
give solace to the parched materialistic lives. One should progress spiritually after each death, instead of getting deeper and deeper into mundane pleasures. It is rather sad that quite a few of us are of the opinion that spirituality is for those
who retired from employment or aged people.

The intellect, which has not been trained to remember God till one attains sixty years, will never resort to spirituality after that. Even if it does, for argument sake, what is guarantee that the cruel hands of death will not embrace one before that. So, one should understand the fallacy of this argument and train the mind from the childhood itself to start practicing recitation of the Lord's name with every breath that one inhales and exhales, otherwise it is just impossible to remember God's name at the time of death. It is, therefore, imperative that one should keep repeating the Divine Namas of Lord at every possible moment