ISCON Temple - Nourishment for the soul

Wg Cdr Sankar Narayanan met with a tragic accident and passed away on 10 Apr 1996. All his children, grandchildren, relatives and friends gathered in the ISCON temple to remember him on his 100^th birthday on 12.12.12. Krishna Shankar very nostalgically recalled a few events from his father’s long and distinguished life. The children also released a very interesting compilation of their childhood memory of growing up with their father, travel, transfers and such other tidbits. This was followed by a prayer and lecture – amongst many things the priest talked about, one was on ‘Nourishment for the soul’. The priest touched a chord when he said “Modern life has all the ingredients required to nurture the body’ but when it comes to ‘nourishing the soul’ we have very little time or effort. He went on to say”we are very adept at polishing and cleaning the cage – we are so preoccupied with this task we have neither any interest nor the inclination to feed the bird inside. The neglect will certainly decay the bird and eventually there will be no bird left – what is the use of the cage then?”

Come to think of it our daily life revolves around our body. The number of hair oils, shampoos’, gels to make the hair attractive is mind boggling. Not to be left behind there are numerous hats, scarves and other gear to cover the poor head. Lady Gaga takes the lead with outlandish head gears.

Modern technology has given man and woman an unlimited range of cosmetics for the face, perfumes, body lotions,oils, soaps, creams, deodorant etc to enhance beauty - the list is endless. Body worship has reached ridiculous levels. Entire TV adverts revolve around these body enhancers. Plastic surgery to look young and beautiful has opened new vistas for the human kind for body sculpting. Clothes, jewellery, accessories, foot wear complete the list.

Having said that let me now take a look at how to ‘Nourish the Soul’. It’s not easy to find it on the net – no sites telling you ‘nourish the soul in 10 easy steps’ money back guarantee. There are no CD’s VCD, books, classes to educate you. I found an interesting site, which said - Seek out inner beauty, Find a new book that feeds your soul, Turn off your computer and television for an entire day, Do something out of the ordinary, Say NO to something that is draining your energy and distracting you from what is really important, Beautify your home, Write in a journal, Take a hot bath with essential oils.

If you take a closer look at these tips, one will realize that, they are all very inexpensive and very easy to perform. They are asking you to take time off, to reflect and give a chance to your mind to tell you what it wants. An opportunity to do your own things, rather blindly copy others or do something to please others and so on. Mostly, all the advice relate to spending more time with one’s own self and in understanding the self. Nature plays a large role in bringing calm and serenity. Keeping a pet, sleeping in the open and star gazing – letting the mind wander, going for long walks on the beach or forest, watching sunset are some of the tricks to treat your soul. Some find peace in prayers and meditation. An honest day’s work can give you a lot of satisfaction. Doing a good turn each day can be very refreshing to the soul. Take up a hobby and practice it with passion, a healthy sport, cooking, gardening, singing and the list is endless. Holidays with friends and family can be very invigorating.

As far as I am concerned i practice the ‘3G Mantra’ - Grand Children, Golf and God.

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