Lessons from the Srimad Speeding Ticketvatam

I was just noticing that my blog entires have been slowly dwindling from month to month. I guess that's expected as the end of the school semester comes to and end and the frantic race to complete school work comes bearing down. It's almost over though. Just two more weeks.

I wanted to take this time to reflect on an event that just happened this past Monday night as I was driving home from school. I was pulled over for speeding. I didn't even notice or realize that perhaps I was going over the speed limit. I'm still not sure how I was, but the policeman said he clocked me on his radar. I mean, how can you dispute that? "No you didn't. I'm sure of it. You weren't looking at the radar. In fact, you don't even have a radar gun in your car!" So yeah, I was pretty much screwed. Now I have to make a court appearance in January. It's a whole mess.

After it happened I was trying to understand it from a Krishna Conscious perspective. After all, isn't that what we, as aspiring devotees, are supposed to do, i.e. - see everything as Krishna's arrangement? These were some of the realizations I garnered from the experience:

1. We may do something illegal (a metaphor for sinful activity or "breaking the regs") for an extended period of time without getting in trouble or getting caught (a metaphor for experiencing vikarmic reactions), but eventually the time will come when we have to experience the negative reactions for our activities.

I don't know anyone that follows the speed limit ALL of the time and many of us are guilty for driving well over the speed limit. We think nothing of it, but eventually we're going to get caught in a speed trap or not notice the police car behind us, etc. We may speed not necessarily because we're thrill seekers or because we want to break the law, but we may just be thinking, "I really need to get where I'm going quickly" or we may just be driving at a comfortable speed which isn't necessarily the speed limit.

The fact is, we're not thinking about the law, we're just thinking about OUR SELVES and what we want. "I want to drive fast or at whatever speed I want, so therefore I will!" It's a conscious choice. We all know speeding is against the law, but we don't consider it. We don't think we'll ever be that poor sap pulled over on the side of the road. But sooner or later we'll see the flashing lights in our rearview mirror and think, "Crap." It's karma coming to get us.

In the same way, we may think we can go on doing sinful, sense gratificatory (I know that's not a word. I just made it up!) activity and never have to experience the negative results, but eventually it's going to catch up with us. Sometimes as devotees we can look at the so-called karmis or materialists and think, "Well gee, that guy owns a meat shop, but he's got millions of dollars, he's handsome, he's got a beautiful wife and wonderful children, he's never sick, things are always going his way, etc., so why isn't he suffering like me? Or why are some devotees suffering more than him?" But the fact is this person WILL have to suffer, just perhaps not at this present moment in time. Karma is one of those subtle things that's sometimes hard to understand, even though as devotees we think, "Oh yeah, karma, I know what that is." All of our activities are building up a karmic bank account. Sooner or later we'll cash in on it, whether it's negative (vikarma) or positive (karma).

2. The other realization I was thinking about was the topic of choice. We all have the freedom to choose our thoughts and actions. I was making a choice (albeit perhaps an unconscious one) to drive over the speed limit. I can't blame anyone for getting a ticket except myself. It was in my hands, in my control. This goes back to karma and the quality of our lives. Sometimes we like to complain about our circumstances, but we're the ones who have created them! Such irony! Every time we choose not to chant our rounds, not to read the sastras, not to worship the Deities or choose to watch TV or watch a movie or listen to karmi music or break a regulative principle, etc., every time we make these choices there will be an investment into our karmic bank account. There will also be an affect on our consciousness, which will affect our perception of the world and ultimately our quality of life. Every moment we're making choices and decisions to influence our reality, yet we're not always aware of the seriousness or consequences our actions have. This goes back to us not really, truly understanding the laws of karma.

If we continually choose maya over Krishna, then we can't complain when the suffering comes. We can't complain when seemingly bad things happen to us. Karma is, as the Beatles sang, "gonna hit you right in the face". How can we be shocked when our lives become full of suffering and misery, both physically and mentally? It's a science. If I choose to speed, the consequence will be that I get a ticket and have to pay fines, go to court, etc. If I choose sinful activity (maya) over Krishna Conscious, devotional activities, then I will have to suffer the three-fold pangs of material existence.

Anyway, this is turning into a dissertation and I really should be studying for a quiz that I'm supposed to be taking in an hour. But as you can see, there are no limits to the lessons learned from the Srimad Speeding Ticketvatam. I could easily go on with other points, but like I said, this is already too long and I have work to do. As Tim Gunn would say, "Carry on".