Watch your Step!
Ananda Vrindavana Devi Dasi: I pushed through the crowd to hold the rope for a few moments. We were in New York, on 5th Avenue, and the 3 large carts of the Ratha Yatra festival – an annual parade held in cities all over the world – were being pulled.
I held the rope and made my prayer – ‘Krishna, as I pull you to Vrindavan (Ratha Yatra symbolizes Krishna’s return to his home, Vrindavan), please pull me back to the spiritual world, back to loving you with full heart.’
As I released the rope and moved away I stumbled. ‘Watch your step’ were the words I heard. Yes, I can pull you, Krishna acknowledged, but you also have to be pull-able because I do not force. I am not that kind of God, and not interested in that kind of love.
I need to be pulled as I am, in truth, a reluctant pilgrim on this path. The glitter of the world interests me, the promises of happiness in ordinary affairs allures me, and my tendency to self reliance instead of trust in great teachers and teachings slows me down.
Watch your step is a message for more than my feet. ‘Watch your step’ tells me to be careful with my spiritual practices, but more than that, to be careful the way I live. ‘Watch your step’ on how I move, how I eat, where I go, who I know. As we make our way out of this world, out of the restricting and ultimately diminishing bodily concept of life, how we live can help or hinder that.
Life is a journey from birth to death, and we are moved along by time. Where we walk on this journey is where we will end up. As the poet Robert Frost says – ‘Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.’ Attempting self-realization is the road less travelled. It’s the best road to be on, but not without its challenges. Watch your step Krishna reminded me in New York. He want’s me to make it. I do too.