Because today we remember the auspicious appearance of Srila B. R. Sridhar Maharaja, I thought I'd share a nice quotation from Loving Search for the Lost Servant. This is also appropriate to our discussion of Damodarstakam in the Classroom.
Love’s power is unthinkable. Although it is impossible, the infinite is defeated by the finite. Wha is that unthinkable position? It can only be attained through love. And how adorable and precious and valuable a drop of that love is! To acquire a drop of that divine love, no sacrifice is sufficient. So we are encouraged to “die to live.”
This quotation, especially the last two sentences, call to mind something I heard in a Buddhist teacher's talk. (This is a Buddhist teacher with whom my sister has some association.) He told about a novelist friend who is often invited to give readings. For such readings, she needed small sections of her novels that made some point. One she used a lot was about a woman trying to help her daughter learn the importance of focused discipline, setting priorities in our lives. While playing chess, she noticed that the girl scoffed at the fact that the mother was losing quite a few pieces. Then, as the girl’s confidence continued to build, she suddenly found herself in checkmate. The point of this story was that if you want to be happy, you have to find one thing you want more than anything else, that you’d be willing to sacrifice everything else for.