What type of king would you be? Swamini Supriyananda vivaciously retells one of his timeless stories: a powerful annecdote reminding us to think about how we we choose to live our lives.

Our lives are uncertain as we don’t know what will come next. Everyday the news is filled with natural disasters, political unrest and economic crisis. We see our loved ones suffer through health issues or relationships. Bhaja Govindam keeps reminding us that we don’t know what tomorrow holds. The past is gone - so be present in the moment.

Swamini Supriyananda invites us to reflect on some thought provoking questions and leaves us pondering on whether we are preparing ourselves for that which is certain? 

We all get so easily distracted by things that we even know we don't want. When there's something we really want, we talk ourselves into it, and if there's something we don't want, we talk ourselves out of it. In the text, Bhaja Govindam, Adi Shankaracharya recognizes that we often have that internal conversation, but shifts us into a deeper practice of repeated action, so we do things that are conducive for us. Not just saying it once, but over and over again. Swamini Supriyananda explains that changing our default mindset requires effort - it's not as easy as a changing our phone settings. She expounds on a very easy tool which then lets us start seeing things for what they are.

Thinking about sex takes up so much energy. With a limited amount of time and resources, we end up allowing it to consume our thoughts and giving it more importance than it deserves. It's definitely necessary for so many reasons, but Swamini Supriyananda helps us understand how we can optimise our life with it. 

So many of our life goals are defined by wealth. Wealth is necessary to keep us within our needs, but often the desire for wealth means we quickly want to upgrade our standard of living. The desire for wealth very quickly turns into greed. Nothing is then enough. Swamini Supriyananda uplifts us, reminding us to truly value the smallest things we have. Running after something we don't have, is indeed foolish, whilst we can just choose to enjoy what we already do have.

So many of our life goals are defined by wealth. Wealth is necessary to keep us within our needs, but often the desire for wealth means we quickly want to upgrade our standard of living. The desire for wealth very quickly turns into greed. Nothing is then enough. Swamini Supriyananda uplifts us, reminding us to truly value the smallest things we have. Running after something we don't have, is indeed foolish, whilst we can just choose to enjoy what we already do have.

We spend so much of our life preparing, acquiring and accomplishing. We spend so much time learning the sciences of life, the economic markets of different countries, the improvements in technology; yet are any of these going to help us at the most crucial times of our life? Whilst analysis of markets, improvement in medicine and technology make our life more efficient and thus improve the 'standard of living'. What will help us improve our 'standard of life'? What will help us deal with our past regrets or our biggest worries of the future? Swamini Supriyananda helps us understand how spiritual knowledge enables us to tackle issues wisely on a daily basis and also at the time of death.

We have so many foolish notions in our head that need to be clarified. One of the greatest masters , Adi Shankaracharya, brings to our attention all the fallacies we may have through his composition, Bhaja Govindam.

Swamini Supriyananda will be reflecting on the essence of these verses and points on what should have been obvious, but we don't quite notice.

The commentary by Swami Chinmayananda can be purchased on these platforms: Kindle | iTunes  | Google Play