“अपनी ‘आत्मा’ की आवाज़ सुनो…”

Swami ji said…

The soul is what truly exists… the rest – body, mind, family, friends, society etc. all are destructible and temporary. Yet, we all love to talk and interact with the world around us – rather than making an attempt to interact with our soul. We want to tell others about ourselves – to acquaint people with – what and who we are – our ambitions and achievements. We take it for granted that it is essential for us to make our presence felt. Be it in a social gathering or through social media – there is always an urge to say something. Even if we are too shy to speak up in a large gathering, the mind still thinks of what could have been said. A suggestion here – a piece of advice there.There is always something that can be said or added – we feel.

Yet, all this talk, all this noise is of little value as the world around us is only ‘maya’ – an illusion. It cannot give us true knowledge. True knowledge, however, can only be gained from that which has existed forever, that which has known the world from before its creation – the soul – the आत्मा | Have we ever heard of saints who spent their time like the rest of us? Why did they observe silence – मौन? Why did they meditate in isolation ? ‘ध्यान’ को इतनी महत्वता क्यों दी जाती है ? It was simply to let them hear the voice of their inner self – their soul. They learnt to switch off the thoughts of the mind, the voices of others and simply hear what their soul told them.The greatest spiritual books of the world do not tell us anything new – they only reveal what the soul already knew. The joy and ecstasy we feel on attaining knowledge is not because we have obtained knowledge, but , that the veil of ignorance has been lifted to reveal a little more of what the spirit knows.

This does not mean that we must not talk at all. Such a thought in itself is absurd. But all talk must be thoughtful. Words must be spent wisely, and , that can only be done by one who has had time to think, to reflect well , before speaking. Our words should be a reflection of what our soul reveals to us , during the time, we listen to it attentively – when we are conscious of its communication with us. That is what makes our words truly worth being listened too.

Prayers themselves are a form of dialogue between God and us. Here, it is we who do the talking and God who does the listening. But how much time do we give to the reverse ? Meditation is us listening for God’s signals – our soul’s message to us. Only on listening keenly are we able to understand what we must do, what direction we must take that will be good for us. The answers to our prayers come only in contemplation. Without contemplation, prayers only amount to wishful thinking.

It so happens, that , many a times the mind prods us to ask God to fulfil a desire …’मन’ हमे अक्सर उकसाता है कि ‘ईश्वर’ से कुछ मांग लो, ‘आत्मा’ रोक देती है यह कहकर – कि प्रभु ने जितना दिया है, क्या हम उसके काबिल भी थे।’