Food for Thought by Krishna Premarupa Dasa
Have you ever wondered what would happen if we treated our Bhagavad Gita like we treat our mobile phones? An interesting question, isn't it?
If we are honest, most of us must admit that, to some degree, we are addicted to our mobile phones.
Some facts: in 2019, 2.71 billion people worldwide owned a smartphone; by 2023, it will most likely increase to 7.33 billion users. Smartphone usage statistics suggest that an average person spends 2 hours and 51 minutes daily on their mobile device. (1) The typical cellphone user touches their phone 2,617 times daily; extreme cellphone users — meaning the top 10% — touch their phones more than 5,400 times daily. As for iPhone users, Apple recently confirmed that its device users unlock their phones 80 times every day. (2)
What if we would touch the Bhagavad Gita (or any Holy Scripture) as many times a day as we touch our mobile phone?
What if we felt such a strong urge to keep the Bhagavad Gita close to us all the time?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we turned back to get it if we forgot it?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave it to children as gifts?
What if we used it when we travelled?
What if we used it in case of an emergency?
This is something to make you go, "Hmm… Where is my Bhagavad Gita?“
Yes, a mobile phone can connect us to the people we love, get important messages from it and get guidance and directions in times of need, but that is also true for the Bhagavad Gita.
One who carefully reads and studies the Bhagavad Gita, deeply absorbs the knowledge and applies the wisdom will start to see the world with different eyes. For such a person, the Bhagavad Gita becomes a means to connect with the Lord directly. After all, the Lord and His instructions are non-different.
Realizing this fact, should we not become more eager to carry the Gita with us and study it whenever we can? Should we not strive to become addicted to gain more spiritual knowledge?
And to answer our question at the beginning: Have you ever wondered what would happen if we treated our Bhagavad Gita like we treat our mobile phone? Most probably, we would make a lot of advancements in our spiritual journey!
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2 - https://www.businessinsider.com/dscout-research-people-touch-cell-phones-2617-times-a-day-2016-7?r=US&IR=T (Actions like typing, tapping, and swiping the phone's screen count as a "touch.“)
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