The Importance of Character: BT Swami
Bhishmadeva: "Dharma (religiosity), integrity, right action, and morality are the watch words of a king."
Nothing is more powerful than dharma and integrity. When we fail to follow dharma, we lose integrity. Death is approaching each of us at every moment. What we planned to do tomorrow must be done today. Death is ruthless. It will not wait until our projects are complete. Readiness is important. The world is but a passing parade. We are born alone and die alone. We have not a single lasting companion in our march through this incident called life.
Bhishmadeva: "The spouse, the mother, the father, the sons, the kinsmen, the friends-all will walk away from our bodies at death to go on with their own work. Only dharma follows the soul."
After death, when the body is cremated, buried, etc., the survivors turn away from it, leaving it for the empty shell it is. And the soul, no longer encased in the body, travels on, followed only by its integrity, right action, morality, and truthfulness. Bhishmadeva adds, "Truthfulness is the only friend of a man and the only thing he should seek."
After this instruction, Bhishmadeva noticed that the sun was moving toward the north. He stopped speaking, focused his eyes on Krishnas lotus form, and prepared to leave his body.
From Leadership For an Age of Higher Consciousness,
Volume 2 - The Importance of Character
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