Woodcutters who try to cut trees with a blunt axe waste their time. Taking time out to sharpen the axe is prudent. How can we be similarly prudent in our daily life?

Whatever we do, we do with our consciousness. For example, to study well, we need to focus our consciousness on studies. Thus, if we compare the activity we are doing with cutting a tree, then our consciousness is the axe. And whatever distracts and dissipates our consciousness is like the rust on the axe. The greatest distractor and dissipater of consciousness is sensuality. If students studying on a computer get distracted by the desire to see some sensual images on the net, they waste the time meant for studies.

Significantly, the Bhagavad-gita (03.16) cautions that those who live for sensual desires waste their lives. That sensuality may waste a few hours is understandable, but isn’t saying that it wastes our life an exaggeration? Not if we understand the philosophical perspective provided by Gita wisdom. We are spiritual beings, parts of Krishna, the all-attractive reservoir of happiness. We have the potential to attain eternal happiness by purifying our consciousness. But sensuality strangles that potential – it deprives us of the opportunity to relish that spiritual happiness and perpetuates the mundane consciousness that binds us to distressful material existence.

By understanding how wasteful the rust of sensuality is, we can resolve to sharpen the axe of our consciousness. The most effective sharpening method is bhakti-yoga, which trains us to fix our consciousness on all-pure Krishna. Bhakti-yoga, when practiced diligently, purifies our consciousness, enabling us to focus it on whatever constructive things we wish to do. Ultimately, our spiritualized consciousness helps us relish the peace and bliss of connection with Krishna in all our activities.

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