Day: May 11, 2024

Swami ji said…

Man can be a paradoxical creature. God has given him sight to enjoy the world around him. Yet, man very rarely sees and enjoys things as they are, and, more often than not, points at what is missing or could or should have been.

In our everyday lives, this manifests in the form of complaining – a constant drone about how something is missing or not up to our expectation or mis – timed. More often than not these complaints are rarely actual grievances, but , more of weak reasons and excuses to explain why something seems unachievable and cannot be done.

It is this habit that we have ; a weakness – to conjure up and see what is ‘wrong’ or ‘missing’ in any and every situation – that makes us masterful complainants. But true masters, in the physical or spiritual realms of the world, rarely ever complain. They work hard. And no, they do not just make do with what they have – they excel with it. And they do it without feeling sorry for themselves.

Lord Ram, despite having a full-fledged army at his service back in Ayodhya, had to rely on the abilities of the ‘vanar-sena’ – an army that was under the control of Sugriv and not his own – to fight with the ever powerful Ravan. Have we ever heard that Shri Ram had made excuses – “ If only I had my own army…” , “Ravan is lucky to have such powers….”, “If only I had these weapons…” No ! He showed us how the seemingly impossible could be achieved with almost negligible resources by simply wielding one’s effort, patience and faith.

Why then must we lament on that which we have no control over? Why waste time complaining when we can use the same time to make some progress towards one goals?

We must never forget that it is God who provides. And when He is satisfied with our effort and dedication, He provides in abundance, even when it would seem otherwise.Thus, we must never waste time complaining. We must focus on ‘karma’, and ‘karma’ alone.”

And as the saying goes –
” कोशिश करने वाले को ईश्वर हमेशा सहारा देते हैं …”
He , who has gifted this life to us – would undeniably feel let down on seeing us put down our defences ; give up – without making the smallest effort to regain , conquer that what was lost by us – by maybe failing to achieve what we had set our mind to – in the first attempt and give up after that in abject despair. And instead of trying again – just complain by finding fault in our stars. In a way we accept defeat – when we complain in any given situation. Our ‘mantra’ should be to overcome the situation – by putting in double the effort – instead of complaining.

The spiritual seeker’s development is also prone to such hurdles. He is liable to complain about many things that seem to restrain him from pursuing spiritual practices. And, yes, while family, friends, work etc. will always tug the mind and demand more focus and attention ; we must always remember that no amount of time spent on God, spent on knowing oneself – can ever be a waste of time.