Q When
the time comes for God to take total control of us, He gives us
major distress, makes us writhe in agony and only then showers
His grace on us. Why so?
That’s true. There are only
two ways to reach God.
1. Reaching super-saturation
in happiness, therefore, growing tired of this happiness and surrendering
to God
2. Undergoing absolute misery,
conquering the resulting distress, being able to ignore the pain
and attaining a state of being unaffected by anything. Surrendering
to God at this point of time.
There
are only these two extreme levels, by which one can attain God.
The Earth is oval-shaped.
As you travel North, you will land up South. When you travel South,
you will end up North.
So also, misery ends in
joy and vice versa. Joy or sorrow -– both lead you to God. How
is this possible?
Was there any pleasure that
Siddhartha did not experience? He had a loving wife, healthy child,
and princely pleasures. He came across a deformed person, an old
man and a dead body. His mind went in a whirl of questions, ‘Why
disease? Why old age? Why death?’ These questions fine-tuned his
mind and propelled him towards God.
Pattinathar was a ship merchant
who had access to a life of pleasures. Lord Shiva came as his
son and at the opportune moment, declared -- ‘none of these will
accompany you on your last journey’ -- and vanished. Pattinathar
realized that his worldly success had prevented him from enjoying
the bliss of having God for his son. He became a staunch devotee
of God and was revered as Pattinathadigal.
Bhadragiri was a renowned
king. There was no pleasure he had not experienced. When people,
out of ignorance, punished the great Pattinathar and the saint
emerged unhurt, Bhadragiri renounced his kingdom and became an
ardent disciple of Pattinathar.
All these are examples of
extreme joy leading one to the path of spirituality.
Arunagirinathar was unable
to continue his life of prolonged disease, and tried to commit
suicide by jumping off Thiruvannamalai Hills. Muruga conquered
his heart. Extreme suffering led him to God.
So joy and sorrow are illusory.
In reality, there is no joy, no sorrow. Wisdom is the state
of being neither in joy, nor in sorrow. You must attain this
state.
Your heart reflects joy and sorrow. It is your karma that
results in your joy or sorrow. One either leads a life of total
virtue, undergoes the joys resulting from that karma, gets sick
of it and comes to spirituality. More like being fed with sweets
non-stop and developing revulsion for that taste. Try that for
ten days and the eleventh day, your taste buds will start yearning
for something bitter. So too, a person who has not tasted sweets
longs for that taste. Sweet or sour, too
much is repulsive. So also joy and sorrow.
( baba's replies to other questions continues next week....)
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