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.
Dedicated to Swamiji Ajay Jain ji 