SHORT-CUT TO GOD
After the Russian revolution, atheism proliferated, resulting in the destruction of places of worship. A poor old woman was found praying turning her rosary beads. She told one of the atheists calmly – everything in the Universe bears witness to the truth that God exists. You cannot extinguish the stars at night. If you ignore the Creator, then there can be no Creation.
God 'is'. We may be unable to see, hear, touch or understand God. But then it is like a child trying to empty the ocean by handfuls of water into his little bowl. This is because it is impossible to comprehend God and His ways through our mind.
Today emphasis is on the mind and the heart is ignored. There is belief in existentialism. Philosophers like Jean Paul Sartre say that life has no meaning. If that is so, then why live at all?
On the other hand, great souls of ancient times like Leo Tse, Gautama Buddha, Mahavir, Guru Nanak, Kabir – all speak of unending bliss and ecstasy in the divine. But for that we have to make God a reality. As the poet Tennyson says – Closer is He to you that breathing, nearer than hands and feet. God is not a distant being dwelling on a far off star. The mercy of God is such that like a parent or a friend we can share our innermost secrets without any reservations or fear. The malady of modern man is living in this excited agitated age of science overpowered by comforts and conveniences. But science makes man egoistic, specially the youth who feel that man can do all on his own. Thus civilization has become sick with passion for power, lust for fame and greed for gold.
Mental, moral, spiritual and physical health can only be restored when we look to God as the source and sustainer of life. We can know God and have contact with him by talking to Him with love and intimacy, feel Him constantly by our side. Hence it is the simple village folk who experience Him more than the apparently intellectual city dwellers who live in their minds.
To awaken our hearts we have to put in the efforts of cultivating longing and love for God, which in turn leads to love of fellow men and creatures. This way we can greet other communities and countries with love instead of bombs.
The ways to God are many but they will take several births. Hence the best short-cut to God is the way of love and longing, pinning for the Beloved. We should love God to distraction, to intoxication. To many God is like a shop-keeper with endless wares which we ask for incessantly. But in silence when you ask only for Him, then He will come unto you and reveal Himself.
We have several desires – the greatest being that of the ego or 'I'ness. With the ego, God cannot enter just like darkness and light cannot exist together. As Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa said: 'anything besides love will take you at best only to the outer gate of the Kingdom of God. Only love will take you to the innermost chambers of God.
God is the essence of love and draws us to Him by His very nature, but only if we open our hearts. We should pray from the bottom of our hearts to be granted the gift of the love of God. For this 10 practical suggestions:
- Never try to show off. A true lover lives a hidden life in the hidden God. Exhibitionism is egoism. One should be humble and sincere.
- Spend as much time as you can with God. One should attend to one's duties but not overwork. Two things can facilitate that: (a) Simple life drop the less important activities. (b) Try and get up early in the morning – Amrit Vela or Brahma Muhurta is the best time to communicate with Him.
- Never react. If one is elf-willed, with an inflated ego, one cannot love. Any form of abuse will cause retaliation. One should remember what Jesus said about turning the other cheek.
- Love is a gift of God which cannot be earned, but can be obtained by the Grace of God which comes by returning good for evil.
- On waking up, one should breathe some aspiration or saying from any of the scriptures; e.g. In the Koran it is said: "Allah is in the East and the West. Wherever we turn is the face of Allah."
- Let your day be of little turnings to God.
- Whatever you eat, whatever austerity or charity you perform, do it as an offering to the Lord.
In every walk of life there are a hundred ways of doing the same thing, some right, some wrong. But the best is that which is done as an offering.
- Rejoice in everything that happens, knowing the meaning of mercy in all. This faith will bring acceptance and closeness to God.
- Hand yourself over to God completely with all your faults and failings, knowing that He will make you 'new'.
- Help others. Lift the load of the less fortunate on the rough road of life. No man is an island.
Only giving happiness to others will make happiness flow into our lives.
As the Chinese proverb goes – if you want to be happy, go out and help others.
(Dada J.P. Vaswani in his talk on Short-Cuts to God on his 86th birthday)
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