07.03 – Focus on how close you are, not how far you are

Our struggles as a devotee-seeker may dishearten us: “I have no love for Krishna. Even when I pray, chant or take darshan, my mind goes off in nasty directions. I am so far away from Krishna.”

Yes, we have a long way to go in our journey to Krishna. But that’s only a part of the story.

The other part is that we are so close to Krishna. The Bhagavad-gita (07.03) underscores that those who have made even a little headway on the journey to him are rare and special – they are one among thousands. By Krishna’s inconceivable and causeless mercy, we are among those few souls.

If we look at the vastness of material existence and the sheer number of mazes in which souls can stay lost in forgetfulness of Krishna, we can realize how fortunate we are to have found the way to Krishna and to be moving forward along that way. Considering that we too have probably wandered among those mazes in various nonhuman and human bodies, we are actually so close to Krishna.

Far closer than most living beings in material existence.

And far closer than what we have ever been since the start of our material existence.

Despite our conditionings, despite our half-heartedness, against all odds, Krishna has got us so close. He will take us all the way across the finishing line back to him – if we just let him.

If we obsess on how far we are, we will give up and ruin our chance of returning home. A chance that we have got after so many lifetimes.

If instead we focus on how close we are to the finishing line, we will stay encouraged and enthused to keep pressing on – even when the finishing line seems far away.

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07.03 – Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth.