Swamiji says …
” The veracity of these words cannot be denied, and they, undoubtedly, are true.The ‘karma’ of our past lives will quite certainly bear fruit in this lifetime, in the form of ‘sukha’ and ‘dukha’, and we will be subject to their taste ; ‘sweet’ or ‘bitter’ in one way or another.That is the inescapable law of the cosmos.”
“Yet, this principle of life is quite often misconstrued. We infer this message as one that says, that our fate is decided and sealed, and that we can do nothing about it further. At times, we truly believe that there is no point in trying to achieve anything in particular, as the outcome of our lives is already pre-decided and thus our efforts will go in vain.This leads us to live a life of resignation; of accepting anything that comes our way, with no zest and sense of direction.”
” But one must ask oneself – Did God create us to simply resign ourselves to our fate and do nothing to change the situation ? Unexpected situations and unpredictable circumstances should not throw us off balance and leave us shattered, to such an extent, that we stop doing good ‘karma’, and completely forget the main purpose of our life, which is to free oneself from the cycle of life and death.Should a gardener not tend to flowers just because they will wither one day ! Does a forest not grow due to the fear of a forest fire !”
“In essence, there are obstacles and unexpected circumstances that we will face in life which are pre-determined by our past actions. But, it is how we act and behave in the face of these obstacles, in these trying circumstances that matters the most now.”
“It is here that we need to remember that a life of ‘shudh bhakti’ ; pure devotion to God prepares us to face life’s greatest challenges with a smile. ‘Bhakti’ enlightens the mind, and an enlightened mind does not ‘suffer’; rather, it only observes the trying times that it is faced with, and acts in the best possible way that the situation demands. A man on being robbed off his wealth, and facing various financial difficulties, holds his past bad ‘karma’ accountable for his present plight. Yet, ‘shudh bhakti’ is what drives him, to dutifully keep working, and slowly, but surely, he will get back what he had lost. In such a case, convincing himself that he was meant to be poor in this lifetime, and, not trying to get back on his feet, would be a sure-shot way of ensuring a life of poverty for himself and his family.”
‘Jo honi hoti hai , woh hokay rehti hai , lekin uss samay agar hum haath par haath rakh kar na baithein, par achche ‘karma’ karte jaayein aur ‘sacchi bhakti’ se Ishwar ka dhyaan karein, toh kaafi baar honi tal bhi sakti hai ! Dard bhi kam ho jaata hai; honi bhi tal jaati hai aur woh samay bhi kat jaata hai !
‘Bhagwan’ mein apne vishwas ko jagao; apne andar ki shakti ko jagao ; nek ‘karam’ karo; apne vichar shubh rakho, ashubh nahi ! Sampoorna, ‘shudh bhakti’ ka hona bahut zaroori hota hai ! Apni bhakti aur vishwas ke dwaara Sati Savitri , apne mritya pati, ‘Satyavaan’ ko Yamraj se wapas liyayi thi ; toh socho ki tum bhi apni ‘shudh bhakti’ se kya nahi kar sakte ho ! ‘