Pain and Misery

On 6th February this year, we received a comment on the blog titled, Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi - Part 1: The Mystery of Life and God Consciousness (posted on 10 June 2010). That blog contains Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi's answer to the question "If there is a God, why is there so much misery in this world? Does He not see? Or hasn't He the power to remove these evils?" 

Mother says: "The creation itself is full of grief. How can one understand joy if there is no sorrow? And how can everyone be happy at the same time? There is a story that once Sita said to Rama, 'Why do you not remove everybody's miseries? Make everyone in your kingdom—all your subjects—happy. You can do it if you like.' Rama answered, 'Can everyone be happy at the same time? Well, they can, if you so desire. Why not satisfy all their needs from the royal treasury? Just as you wish.' 

"Then Rama called Lakshmana and said, 'Go and tell everyone in my kingdom that all their needs will be supplied from my treasury.' When the people heard this, they came and explained their needs. The treasury was laid open. Everyone lived in happiness. But such was the dispensation of Rama that soon the roof of the royal palace showed cracks and water seeped through. Masons were sent for to repair the crack. But there were none to be found. Where was any labourer to be found? The subjects also came and complained that because there were no masons or workmen, their houses and buildings were falling to pieces. Then, seeing no other way, Sita said to Rama, 'We cannot suffer in the wet like this! Let everything be as it was. Then we can get workmen again. Everybody cannot be happy at the same time.' 'So be it,' answered Rama. In the twinkling of an eye everything was as it used to be. One could get workmen again. 'Lord, it is true that this life is only a game of yours!' said Sita." 

"No one can suffer for all time. No one will spend all his days on this earth in suffering. Every action brings its own result, and one gets one's opportunities accordingly." 

Disciple: "Then is everything the fruit of Karma?" 

Mother: "What else, if not Karma?"

I was reminded of the words of Swami Vivekananda:

It is misery that teaches more than happiness;
It is poverty that teaches more than wealth;
It is blows that bring out the inner fire, more than praise.

My personal experiences so far have been such that every time I experienced intense misery I turned to God and got immediate solace. Miracles happened. And they strengthened my faith in the Almighty.

God hears our call. And it is 100% true that He comes running towards us as Sri Ramakrishna explains through the child-mother parable: 

So long as the child remains engrossed with its toys, the mother looks after her cooking and other household duties.  But when the child no longer relishes the toys, it throws them aside and yells for its mother,  then the mother takes the rice-pot down from the hearth, runs in haste, and takes the child in her arms.

Pain and misery are temporary as also happiness and peace. May the God give us the wisdom not lose heart in the case of the former nor get carried away by the latter. 

Power of a Name - Har Hare

The power of the Name of God has been extoled in many scriptures. Here is an extract from Sukhmani Sahib (a holy script of Sikhs, composed by Guru Arjan Dev ji, their fifth Guru):

Chanting, intense meditation, spiritual wisdom and all meditations;

six schools of philosophy and sermons on the scriptures;

practice of Yoga and righteous conduct;

renunciation of everything and wandering around in the

wilderness;

performance of all sorts of works;

donations to charities and offerings of jewels to fire;

cutting the body apart and making the pieces into ceremonial fire offerings;

keeping fasts and making vows of all sorts

- none of these are equal to the contemplation of the Name of the Lord.

If one chants the Name of the Lord, even once, one obtains salvation. There is nothing equal to the Name of the Lord.

The Glorious Praise of the Name of the Lord is the highest; the Name has saved so many of the worst sinners.

Chanting the Name of the Lord, sorrow is dispelled, chant it with intuitive ease. If you wish to erase your sorrows, sing the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, within your heart.

To the poor, God’s Name is wealth.

To the homeless, God’s Name is home.

To the dishonored, You, O God, are honor.

To all, You are the Giver of gifts.

Of all religions, the best religion is to chant the Name of the Lord and maintain pure conduct.

Of all efforts, the best effort is to chant the Name of the Lord in the heart, forever.

Of all speech, the most ambrosial speech is to hear the Lord's Praise and chant it with the tongue.

Of all places, the most sublime place, is that heart in which the Name of the Lord abides.

Message from the Gospel - 37. Ego is Useless

People pride over every possible thing: "I belong to a high caste." "I am beautiful." "I am having fair skin." "I am rich." "I am highly educated." "I am working in a great organization as so and so and earning such and such..." It will be an endless list. I have seen people priding over their talents which will be some silly thing or the other and say, "I can do this. I can do that." 

Sri Ramakrishna says: "Let me ask you one thing. Are vanity and egotism the result of knowledge or of ignorance? Egotism is of the nature of tamas; it is begotten by ignorance. On account of the barrier of ego one does not see God. 'All troubles come to an end when the ego dies.' It is futile to be egotistic. Neither body nor wealth will last. Once a drunkard was looking at the image of Durga. At the sight of Her decorations, he said, 'Well, Mother! However You may fix Yourself up, after two or three days they will drag You out and throw You into the Ganges.' (All laugh.) So I say to you all, you may be a judge or anybody else, but it is all for two days only. Therefore you should give up vanity and pride."

Sri Ramakrishna says further "Egotism, sleep, gluttony (habitual eating to excess), lust, anger, and the like, are the traits of' people with tamas. What begets egotism? Knowledge or ignorance? It is only the humble man who attains Knowledge. In a low place rain-water collects. It runs down from a mound."

"A man achieves neither Knowledge nor liberation as long as he has egotism. He comes back again and again to the world. The calf bellows, 'Hamba! Hamba!', that is, 'I! I!' That is why it suffers such agony. The butcher slaughters it and the shoe-maker makes shoes from its hide. Besides, its hide is used for the drum, which is beaten mercilessly. Still no end to its misery! At long last a carding machine is made from its entrails. While carding the cotton the machine makes the sound 'Tuhu! Tuhu!', that is, 'Thou! Thou!' Then the poor calf is released from all suffering. It no longer says, 'Hamba! Hamba!' but repeats, 'Tuhu! Tuhu!' The calf says, as it were, 'O God, Thou art the Doer and I am nothing. Thou art the Operator and I am the machine. Thou art everything.'"

"There is no teacher except Satchidananda. There is no refuge except Him. He alone is the Ferryman to take one across the ocean of the world. If God, through His grace, ever reveals Himself to His devotee and makes him understand, then he will know; but not otherwise."

"God is our Inner Controller. Pray to Him with a pure and guileless heart. He will explain everything to you. Give up egotism and take refuge in Him. You will realize everything."

I heard in a discourse on the Gospel that  even egotistic thoughts such as "I have never told a lie." "I am very honest." "I have never taken bribe." will not allow us to move towards God. May the God remove all types of ego from our mind and help us get closer to Him.

Message from the Gospel – 36. God Will Take Care of Your Family if…

In the previous message we saw that God will not take over our responsibilities unless we get rid of our ego. As long as we think, “I am the doer. I can do this” God will stand at a distance and let us do what we want to do.  When will God take care of our family? The Gospel addresses this question through the following interesting conversation which also answers the interesting question, “How long should a householder support his wife and children?”

SUB-JUDGE: "Sir, we are householders. How long should we perform our worldly duties?"

MASTER (Sri Ramakrishna): "Surely you have duties to perform. You must bring up your children, support your wife, and provide for her in case of your death. If you don't, then I shall call you unkind. Sages like Sukadeva had compassion. He who has no compassion is no man."

SUB-JUDGE: "How long should one support one's children?"

MASTER: "As long as they have not reached their majority. When the chick becomes a full-grown bird and can look after itself, then the mother bird pecks it and doesn't allow it to come near her." (All laugh.)

SUB-JUDGE: "What is a householder's duty to his wife?"

MASTER: "You should give her spiritual advice and support her during your lifetime and provide for her livelihood after your death, if she is a chaste wife.

"But if you are intoxicated with the Knowledge of God, then you have no more duties to perform. Then God Himself will think about your morrow if you yourself cannot do so. God Himself will think about your family if you are intoxicated with Him. If a landlord dies leaving behind a minor son, then a guardian appointed by the court takes charge of the son. These are all points of law; you know them."

SUB-JUDGE: "Yes, sir."

VIJAY: "Ah! Priceless words! God Himself carries on His shoulders all the responsibilities of a person who thinks of Him with single-minded devotion and is mad with divine love. A minor gets his guardian without seeking him. Alas, when shall I have that state of mind? How lucky they are who feel that way!"

TRAILOKYA: "Is it ever possible, sir, to have true knowledge of God while living in the world? Can one realize God here?"

MASTER (with a smile): "Why do you worry? You are enjoying both treacle and refined sugar. (All laugh.) You are living in the world with your mind in God. Isn't that true? Why shouldn't a man realize God in the world'? Certainly he can."

What a powerful assurance! Even householders can realize God through intense love for God and devotion. May all our efforts be diverted to acquire these qualities.

Message from the Gospel – 35. God Does Not Take Over Our Responsibilities Unless…

Will God take over the responsibility of His devotee? If so, when will He do that? The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna answers these questions.

Sri Ramakrishna says, “The ego seems to vanish this moment, but it reappears the next. Unless one renounces the ego, one does not receive the grace of God.”

"Suppose there is a feast in a house and the master of the house puts a man in charge of the stores. As long as the man remains in the store-room, the master doesn't go there; but when of his own will he renounces the store-room and goes away, then the master locks it and takes charge of it himself.

"A guardian is appointed only for a minor. A boy cannot safeguard his property; therefore the king assumes responsibility for him. God does not take over our responsibilities unless we renounce our ego.

"Once Lakshmi and Narayana were seated in Vaikuntha, when Narayana suddenly stood up. Lakshmi had been stroking His feet. She said, 'Lord, where are You going?' Narayana answered: 'One of My devotees is in great danger. I must save him.' With these words He went out. But He came back immediately. Lakshmi said, 'Lord, why have You returned so soon?'  Narayana smiled and said: The devotee was going along the road overwhelmed with love for Me. Some washermen were drying clothes on the grass, and the devotee walked over the clothes. At this the washermen chased him and were going to beat him with their sticks. So I ran out to protect him.' 'But why have You come back?' asked Lakshmi. Narayana laughed and said: 'I saw the devotee himself picking up a brick to throw at them. (All laugh.) So I came back.'”

"I said to Keshab, 'You must renounce your ego.' Keshab replied, 'If I do, how can I keep my organization together?'”

"I said to him: 'how slow you are to understand! I am not asking you to renounce the "ripe ego", the ego that makes a man feel he is a servant of God or His devotee. Give up the "unripe ego", the ego that creates attachment to "woman and gold". The ego that makes a man feel he is God's servant, His child is the "ripe ego". It doesn't harm one.'"

TRAILOKYA: "It is very difficult to get rid of the ego. People only think they are free from it."

MASTER: "Gauri would not refer to himself as 'I' lest he should feel egotistic. He would say 'this' instead. I followed his example and would refer to myself as 'this' instead of 'I'. Instead of saying, 'I have eaten,' I would say, 'This has eaten.' Mathur noticed it and said one day: 'What is this, revered father? Why should you talk that way? Let them talk that way. They have their egotism. You are free from it; you don't have to talk like them.'”

"I said to Keshab, 'Since the ego cannot be given up, let it remain as the servant, the servant of God.' Prahlada had two moods. Sometimes he would feel that he was God. In that mood he would say, 'Thou art verily I, and I am verily Thou.' But when he was conscious of his ego, he felt that God was the Master and he was His servant. After a man is firmly established in the ideal of 'I am He', he can live as God's servant. He may then think of himself as the servant of God.”

  

Therefore the challenge is, “Can we get rid of our ego?” If we can, God Himself will take over all our responsibilities. Getting rid of our ego is the most essential requirement for spiritual advancement.

Message from the Gospel – 34. Don’t Shirk Responsibilities

Sri Ramakrishna does not support practice of spirituality without fulfilling one’s responsibilities. If a young unmarried man expressed his desire to renounce the world, he used to rejoice. He would appreciate it. However, he would still enquire if he had made provisions to take care of his parents. On the other hand, if a married man expressed a desire to renounce his family and practice spiritual disciplines to escape from his responsibilities, he would chide the man and ask him to go back to his family and complete his responsibility towards his family, i.e. to take care of his wife and children. We understand this from the following passage in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (Chapter 1):

 

SRI RAMAKRISHNA: "Pratap's brother came here.  He stayed a few days.  He had nothing to do and said he wanted to live here.  I came to know that he had left his wife and children with his father-in-law.  He has a whole brood of them! So I took him to task.  Just fancy! He is the father of so many children! Will people from the neighbourhood feed them and bring them up? He isn't even ashamed that someone else is feeding his wife and children, and that they have been left at his father-in-law's house.  I scolded him very hard and asked him to look for a job.  Then he was willing to leave here. 

 

Won’t God take responsibility of my family?

 

Then what is the way for married people? Should they get immersed in worldliness? Is there no reprieve for them?

The Gospel answers all these questions. We will see them all in the forthcoming blogs!