Month: April 2024

Swami ji said…

All of us have grown up hearing the proverb – ‘ Ignorance is bliss’. These are words, sometimes, used unkindly, for those who are unaware of , or , do not possess adequate knowledge to understand what their circumstances truly are, or, where they are headed to in life. Their ‘ignorance’ is what keeps them sheltered from the despair and anxiety that they would have experienced if they had truly been knowledgeable.

But , can even the most ‘educated’ among us – those of us who have degrees from premier institutions, who hold high positions in corporations and government, who have learnt to create wealth for themselves, claim not to be ‘ignorant’?

The majority of us are busy living superficial lives. We are trying to fill in time – by chasing material dreams, relationships, recognition, and validation from society at large. And, when we find success in these areas, we become content and are then, only focused on getting either more, or , preserving the same. In fact, so stuck are we in this illusionary world, that we even pray to God for only these things, and thank Him when we receive them – as we feel our cup is replete with happiness. After all , all we need is wealth ! Isn’t it ? This is what we tell ourselves.

But, then the question arises, despite all these worldly joys, and material success – are we truly ‘rich’? Are we truly ‘wealthy’? Is the satiation of material hunger the end all in life ? Should these alone be our true desires? Is the soul satisfied ? Is this all we need from God ?

Who then is truly ignorant ?Is it not us? On being satisfied with these false and mortal treasures of wealth, relationships and fame ; we do not even try to have any access to Him or to gain an understanding of Him. Why do we not feel ourselves ‘lacking’ – spiritually ? Why does it not agitate us and worry us that we have not made progress on the spiritual path? We treat our spiritual practice as if it were an indulgence – bereft of discipline and fervour. We do not even attempt to chart out a plan for our spiritual progress. Most of us follow a strict schedule to go to the gym ; to go for walks and dinners; but , rarely do we have a scheduled plan to delve into our ‘soul’. We track our calories and bank accounts, but, rarely do we track the hours we spend on meditation and praying.

The illusionary world of ‘maya’ – lulls our mind to sleep in the comfort of materialism ; keeps it away from seeking ‘true happiness’ – from reflecting on the ‘true purpose’ of our birth. When God fulfills our material needs, He does it in the hope that we ‘sense’ Him ; that we internalize and accept His existence in our lives ; understand that there is a power who ‘gives’ us most of the time. But, ‘He’ too waits in the hope that a day will arrive , when we might ask Him for that which truly matters – ‘gyaan’ – spiritual knowledge. But, we in our ignorance, do not ask him for this. We remain fixated on acquiring more and more in the material world – more than we need and require – as external wealth can be displayed to the world. Spiritual growth, on the other hand, we tell ourselves, can only be experienced internally – and not exhibited to others.

Instead of ‘asking’ God to give us joy, wouldn’t it be better, if , we sought to remain indifferent to – both joy and sadness. Instead of asking Him to satiate our hunger for material prosperity constantly, let us rather ask Him to destroy the hunger for material objects itself. Instead of asking Him to make us receivers of love of others ; let us seek guidance from Him – to be a beacon of love and light for others. Let us ask Him not to ‘give’ us, but , rather teach us how to ‘give’ to others – the way He gives us.

Remember – We are the wealthiest – when rather than feeling embattled in the face of an ordeal – we feel strong , sure and confident of facing and overcoming the crisis – as the ‘awareness’ within us – that has been kindled by a ‘satguru’s’ divine touch and ‘kripa’ – in an unfathomable way – warns us and prepares us for the impending difficult times.

The world’s greatest riches come to us during those special moments – while living in a world of vibrations , visions and voices – we are able to hear His voice – telling us the ‘Truth’ – during the silence that descends between our thoughts. A voice that tells us clearly when and where we erred ; how we can go about doing the right thing ; to correct ourselves for our betterment … ” इस से ज्यादा धन किसी के पास हो सकता है क्या ? “

Swami ji said…

In the epic – ‘Mahabharata’ – there is the story of Lord Krishna , showing Arjun , how he had used Arjun’s chariot – to absorb numerous celestial weapons – which had been used against them by the likes of Karna , Drona and Bhishma Pitama. The Lord told Arjun that he had done this to protect him and ensure his victory in the war – while also not disrespecting the creators of the celestial weapons.

Some say that this revelation had left Arjun humbled – as he realised that the sense of pride that had grown within him – with each victory in the war – was misplaced. The realization that all his skills and knowledge of warfare would have amounted to naught – had it not been for Lord Krishna’s protection ; made him see how powerful he was ‘with’ – and how truly helpless he was ‘without’ the Lord by his side.

More often than not, we too behave like Arjun – while immersed in the day to day grind and struggles of life ; waging small personal battles of our own – we too forget about ‘who’ is looking over us – all the time ; ensuring that we emerge unscathed from the worst of scrapes and falls in life. What is our mental state when we find ourselves tethering precariously at the edge of a precipice and feel that our fall is imminent ?Nothing and no one – according to us – can stop our downward, steep plummet – we cry out in fear – when all of a sudden, out of the blue, in the most unexpected manner – some unseen , invisible force – literally plucks us from the point of danger and places us in a secure and safe zone – and we are left wondering – as to ‘who’ had turned the tide in our favour at the last moment. ‘Who’ is responsible for all the good things that happen to us, even when we sometimes feel we don’t truly deserve them?

Such moments of fear, anxiety and pain – leave us feeling so stressed and fatigued – that they obliterate the deep significance of words of great import – that were said to us by our ‘sadguru’ to us – ” मैं हर पल अपने भक्तों के साथ हूं …” Remembering these words and playing them out in our mind should most definitely enable us to remember the number of times His invisible presence – has successfully bailed us out from troubled waters.

But , so weak is our memory – that rather than drawing strength from the sincerity of His powerful words – and placing complete faith in the reassuring words of our ‘गुरु’ – we continue to remain restless and uncertain about the future. Doubtful and suspicious that we are – we, at times, try foolishly , to gauge the powers of our ‘सद्गुरु’ – by assessing His ability to rescue us from the most dire situations – which at times are created by us – ourselves. We tend to forget that we are no one to test the might and unparalleled powers of a ‘सच्चा संत’. How can we think for even a minute that our ‘guru’ could have said words – filled with such sincerity and promise – lightly ?

What needs to be etched in our memory is that – a ‘sadguru’ doesn’t make any false promises and neither is He here to please any of us by saying things that are meant just to make us happy. Every word said by Him to His devotees is a commitment that He intends to keep. knowing that the divine connection , the spiritual bond that is formed between a ‘sadguru’ and His ‘sadhaks’ is not confined to the realms of the physical world, but , rather transcends barriers of every kind – and remains ‘alive’ between them – even when the ‘sadguru’ has relinquished His physical being – at His will and taken ‘महासमाधी’. The impact and effect of a ‘saccha sant’s’ words – said to His devotees – does not decrease or lessen – once He has discarded His physical form. What was said maybe ten years back by Him – materialises in the shape of a reality – at the time considered appropriate and right by Him. He will not allow any development to take place in our lives – which is not deemed suitable for us by Him.

Once He accepts us as His own – His love for us doesn’t let Him turn away from us – although some of His devotees could turn away from Him – on not receiving all that was desired by them…’परन्तु हमारे ‘गुरु’ हम से सदा प्रेम करते हैं – जैसे श्री कृष्ण अपने प्रिय अर्जुन से करते थे…”

Swami ji said…

“Lord! Give me this! Grant me that!” We do inundate God with our never ending list of demands and wishes. Don’t we ? Even Kamdhenu and Kalpataru would quake with fear, if , they were to see the quantum of mankind’s wants and desires. But, not even once, do we try to hold back our demands for God. We consider Him all – giving and generous ; The One with a heart bigger than the ocean itself. How can He ever refuse? He is our provider after all.This supposition is taken for granted. And, such a belief is perfectly fine too. Afterall, it is only God who is our true provider. Everything we get, we consume, we experience, is all because of His Grace. We must forever remain grateful to Him for His blessings.

But, there is another incorrect belief that we have developed in our psyche. It is one – where we believe that we are not duty bound to Him in any way at all, or , that He does not expect anything from us – quite contrary to the way we depend on him for everything. And, while God never needs anything from us, it would certainly please Him – to see us as we at least make an attempt to try to be dutiful towards Him and His teachings – as we expect Him to be – as He fulfills our wishes.

And, unlike, us, what he would expect from us is not much. He expects honesty and kindness from us and our belief in Him.That is all. But , we, in a manner typical to us have forgotten about our ‘duties’ towards Him – while retaining our ‘rights’ to Him. We say lamely that we are too insignificant to ‘give’ Him anything ; but are ever ready to ‘take’.

And, it is herein, that we need to be aware of the fact – that the body, mind and the lifetime ahead that God blesses us with – are all inter – related. The quality of life that we will live and experience ahead – will be determined by how we use the first two i.e. the body and mind. Purity in mind, clarity in heart, sincerity in action and contentment – would help us to lead happy and healthy lives. But how many of us are willing to follow this up? Instead envy, jealousy and rage have polluted our minds and corrupted our hearts. It takes us less than a second to behave in a hypocritical manner. Feigning emotions of love and compassion for those who we dislike – has become second nature to us. Even after resorting to such uncalled for double – faced tactics , we expect God to love us and shower His Grace on us.

The spiritual seeker must realise that he too is subject to his relationship with God. Yes, it is good to want to seek God. It is good to ‘think’ that God must be attained ; the thought of gaining enlightenment must be pursued. Yes, it is right to think of God as one’s saviour and to leave everything to Him. But , just having these sporadic thoughts is not enough. We must immediately begin with our spiritual practice. When God plants an idea, a thought to do something that will seemingly bring spiritual progress – we must do it immediately ! Not for a minute should we think of how difficult it will be or how it will change our routine or way of life. We need to go ahead and begin ! Yes, God will be there at the end of our journey ! He will fulfil His promise for sure ! But, we too must try our best to do what He asks. We must not take advantage of His love for us. We must not think that God in all His kindness will take us in – no matter what. He does see our effort. He does see our intent.

Would it not seem unfair to all those who dedicate their lives to God ; are completely devoted to God – to be treated by Him in the same manner in which – he would treat those who have never made any effort to try to know Him? We must remember that God walks ten steps towards those who move just an inch towards Him. Thus, we must endeavour to earn God’s Grace and feel worthy enough to be blessed by Him.

Swami ji said…

” तुम अपना ‘लक्ष्य’ कैसे प्राप्त करोगे ?इसे प्राप्त करने में तो
तुम्हारे सामने काफी
समस्याएँ आएंगीं ! ” “How will you achieve this? This feat is next to impossible to achieve ! Maybe you should focus on something else.” All of us have heard these words when they were said to us – either by people we know or a voice , in our mind , filled with doubt , warns us of the improbability of achieving what we have set our heart on. And, many a times, we pay heed to these words – and end up giving up on – not just some enterprising ideas, but , possibly on God sent opportunities too.

From where do these words come up ? Why do they pop up in our mind ? At first, we get an idea , and , see an opportunity that excites us. We see wonderful possibilities unfolding before us.Yet, the moment it comes down to planning and executing these ideas, the never ending doubts start creeping in. All of a sudden, it seems, that our attention turns away from the
‘लक्ष्य’ that had motivated us earlier , and , focuses more now , on the difficulties that might come up – as we set on our journey to achieve our target. And, as the mind conjures up grimmer and difficult situations that one might face along the way, the more quickly does one’s motivation turn lack lustre and also turns into hesitation and dread. This is a sure way to fail even before trying.

While we cannot deny the fact that one will have to endure unforeseen bumps, unpredictable accidents; treacherous and daunting challenges while scaling the summit of success – nothing should be stronger than our ‘लक्ष्य’ – that can distract us ; ‘ चाहे वो किसी भी तरह की समस्या हो …’ to turn away our focus – ‘हमारे लक्ष्य से.’ Should we let the lengthening shadows of the problems dwarf the cherished desire of the heart? Is it truly possible that we let all our dreams and ambitions remain unattainable – by dwelling more on the problems we might face – instead of working with concentration to achieve them ?

We should be inspired from those – who according to us have been truly ‘successful’ – which makes them worthy of our admiration. We will see one common trait in them. They focused solely on the ‘लक्ष्य’ ; and anything and everything that separated them from it – was not given any attention by them. The reason to struggle – is given far more attention – than the struggle itself.

And, what happens when they do eventually face their share of challenges? They simply see how far they have reached and very rarely do they want to turn back. They cannot imagine going back to the point from where they had started. They cannot imagine the cost of having put in effort – to avail no results. So, instead, they use their passion and commitment as weapons to wage war on any odds that they face.To them, the price of success is far lower than the cost of giving up.

We must remember that in life, those who win and succeed are not the smartest, not the most gifted or talented. In fact, they are always the ones who do not give up, but , stay put – when everyone else has left the field. How then can we expect to win, if , even the mere thought of any kind of struggle, sacrifice and perseverance makes us give up on our ambitions ?

The spiritual seekers can often face a similar difficulty too. They could think of the many challenges that might come in the way of their spiritual quest. Some feel that seeking God would mean sacrificing friendship and relationship with their near and dear ones. They feel that their initiative to bring God into their lives might not be accepted by their family and friends and they might feel isolated, alone and lonely. For some, the idea of giving up their vices , might be so daunting that they wrongly feel – that their search for God is not worth all the trouble that they intend to undertake. Some are so comfortable in their current lifestyle – that any change caused to their way of living – appears to be very scary and daunting. But, just like a winner, the spiritual seeker must always let his curiosity of knowing himself overcome the hesitation of the mind. In fact, in all spiritual endeavours there is no such thing as failure. Even a single step forward on the spiritual path – is progress as it is a step closer towards God – and every sacrifice made for one’s spiritual progress is worth it – as with every little step we get just a little bit closer to Him.