16 October, Harisar Ashram, Kila Raipur: Yet another Sankranti was here to take us from doubts to devotion and demoralization to determination. While Sadhvi Ji emphasized on sorting out our priorities; Swami Ji elaborated on how saints play a significant role in directing us through the journey of getting them sorted, and then fulfilled.
Sadhvi Ji’s discourse:
In the Punjabi folk poetry named Barah Maha Path, the Guru has described the month of Katak to be one of the most beautiful ones. It offers a pleasant weather which is neither too hot nor too cold and therefore the best time to keep our excuses –being unable to sit for long at a time being the most common one– aside. Let’s get this clear that excuses like ‘not feeling well’ and ‘unable to move around’, utterly means that we have forgotten Him. On top of that, instead of accepting this to be the lack of determination on our part we claim our ever-increasing physical and mental problems to be the reason which is, in fact, are the consequences of our laziness.
We are just being a cry-baby who is neither taking medicine nor keeping any precaution. One must commit this to his/her memory that the only remedy to any infirmity it might be is the practice of Guru-mantra. However, being more into instant but momentary gratification we fail to understand that guru-mantra is a power capable of taking us beyond all our issues and worries once and for all. Entangled in the dazzles of this world, we have got this thing cemented in our mind that if and when we’ll get some time we might practice Guru-mantra, and if not, it hardly makes any difference. But, as said, only thirsty tends to search for the well; and so that happens. We remain incapable of focusing our eyes straight on our goal.
We must ponder over this eternal truth that no one gets to stay back, whether it is a beggar or a king. But, on the contrary, we are ever worried about escalating our bank balance, and nothing else. Know this, He, the treasurer, dwells inside us but we are instead busy collecting alms from outside. As long as we do not step forward to claim the inner wealth, we’ll remain a beggar throughout. The door is to engulf this very fact that we are His excerpts to be unlocked with the keys named trust and devotion. And, it is through regular participation in satsangas and keeping the company of saints to get guidance, we make ourselves eligible to get past this door.
So, the message that this auspicious month brings is to commit to practice guru. Be it any circumstance, our each step forward must tend to begin seeking the solace of Guru-mantra.
Swami Ji’s discourse:
The job of a saint is more like a night watchman in India urging to ‘keep awake.’ And, upon a seeker’s request, they earnestly do the service of guidance. But the desire and courage must be depicted by the seeker. Saints can help to fulfill the desire and direct our courage in the right direction. Else, even Lord Krishna known as the Purna Avatar (full divine consciousness) could not convince Duryodhana to stop the battle of Kurukshetra. So, it is not about what speaker is explaining it is rather about what listener/seeker is expecting.
‘Athato brhm jigyasa’, this path begins with curiosity. It can be of different forms, i.e. it is not imperative to desire just about getting enlightened. We might yearn to explore that how this world came into existence, who is the creator, why was I born, what is the goal of my life, etc. These are all nothing but inquisitiveness’s about divine. Whether it is about life, or Him, or His creation, or about soul, any question is indeed about Him. The fundamental part is to have that curiosity.
Decide –holding on to trust and devotion– and then leave everything on Him without any bound lines. Remember, here death clock doesn’t get to tick. It is a timeless path. For the one who choose to trust his/her own mind over the God, the Guru, or the Guru-mantra; Lord Krishna in Gita proclaims, ‘sanshay atma vinashyati’, i.e. consciousness filled with doubts leads to self-destruction. Therefore, devotion or doubt, where we choose to focus our energy on will get empowered. The question is what we choose to see, desire and then dare to step up forward for. We have got our back on Him and face towards the world, and therefore, the wheel of the grindstone named sorrow-happiness will never cease to run. Life will continue to seem like a never-ending journey to the pinnacle.
There is no harm in working incessantly and saving money, or, studying to get good marks for that matter, but we must keep our face towards Him. It is the basic requirement to be free from all the tensions, sorrows, and demoralizations. Rather we’ll get courage and power to move ahead with firm feet, and what’s more, we’ll get His blessings. That same work, which we had to perform anyway, will become sadhana; sounding more like a bonus! More we walk towards the Himalayas or the fire, more the colder or hotter we’ll get, respectively. Likewise, more we dare to walk resolutely towards Him better becomes our access to His blessings.
Summarizing, 1) praying Him filled with love can stop involuntary feeding of energy to the negative thoughts, and 2) daily practice will boost us to give our best keeping Him on priority.
