What Are You Investing In?

In a talk at the annual Self-Realization Fellowship Convocation today, Brother Bhumananda spoke of the folly of investing so much time and attention in the care of the body.

He used the analogy of a banker telling a customer, “We don’t know when it will happen—it could be ten years, twenty years or forty years—but one day everything will collapse and you’ll lose everything. Now how much would you like to invest?”

It’s an apt comparison. As the old saw goes, “You can’t take it with you.” What you can take with you, however, are the soul lessons you’ve learned in this lifetime. Consequently, the more you focus on your spiritual progress rather than your material gains, the better off you’ll be.

As a longtime bodybuilder and weightlifter, I’m as guilty as anyone about lavishing so much care and attention on the body. This classic New Yorker cartoon by Lee Lorenz sums up the argument with equal amounts precision and humor.

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Tags: attention, body, physical, priorities, soul lessons, spiritual