Students, you know well. You may want an engineering degree or an M.B.B.S. or an M.B.A. degree. You think that you will be very happy once you get the desired degree. But are you happy? After a degree, you want a job, thinking that a good job will give you happiness. But is there happiness even after getting a job? After getting a job you feel that a promotion will give you happiness. But is there happiness in getting a promotion. You will start desiring a promotion all the time! You want to get married, thinking that you will get happiness. But is there happiness in marriage? Then you want a son. You get a son. But did you get the happiness that you were seeking? Thereafter starts the Korean War between husband and wife! Then they think of God. They begin to pray to God, ‘Oh God what a hell I am in’. All these are chosen by you, hence you are suffering! None of these desires will give permanent joy. All are like passing clouds. Then when do you get happiness? Old age has come, and you performed your duty but ultimately there is no happiness. You are always worried about who will take care of you in your old age, and when your age is ninety you are bed-ridden. Man wants to be happy even at that moment. When the doctor wants to give an injection the old man asks him to administer it in such a way that it doesn’t hurt him! You are after happiness. But where is that happiness? Therefore Tyagaraja said “Oh mind! Tell me the Truth. Is there happiness at all in this world?” God has provided man with all the conveniences. But man is not satisfied. You strive for happiness, but you also should have a spiritual goal.
Worldly pleasure is needed. But it should not be in excess. We eat food. Excess food is eliminated by the body as waste. That which is taken in should be sent out. You breathe in fresh air and exhale impure air. So too, the money earned should be sacrificed in some or the other way. You should use money for the benefit of the poor. Immortality lies in sacrifice. There is bliss in sacrifice. What is this sacrifice? Why we should sacrifice? Should we sacrifice our hearts or should we give up our body? God never asks for such things. Sacrifice the bad qualities within you. God doesn’t want your good qualities or virtues. Offer your bad qualities to God. No one will accept your bad qualities. Even your parents refuse to take your bad qualities, but God is always ready.
You think that your parents love you, your wife and children love you. No. You are wrong. The supreme power lies in the hands of God. Parents love you expecting service from you when they grow old. But, it is only God who loves you without any trace of self-interest and selfishness. Offer your bad qualities to God. A hundred rupee note, for instance, has become dirty and useless. Nobody accepts it. Even beggars are not ready to accept it due to its condition. But, if you surrender this note to the Reserve Bank of India, they will accept the note and give you a new note in return. In the same way nobody will accept your dirty mind, whether it is your father, mother, wife or son. But God, like the Reserve Bank, will accept your bad qualities. Don’t keep any bad thing with you. Offer bad qualities to God. Pray to God, ‘Oh God! I offer all my actions to please You’. Offer everything to God, who is your mother, father and brother. You do your duty.
What is meant by surrender or offering? Surrender is not sitting like a lazy fellow. All your actions must be offered to God and He will give you the reward. You should write your letter and you must post it in the post office. That much is your duty. The letter will be transported on its own wherever it has to go. There is separate postal department to look after it. You don’t need to bother. The letter will go on its own from Bombay to New York. Therefore, you do your duty. Just offer that cover to God. God will certainly give you the reward that you deserve. That faith is missing in mankind today. Faith is most essential. Without faith there is no breath or life. You should have faith full of love. Without love, such faith is useless.
Love Only God
There were once a student and a Guru who stayed in an Ashram nearby. The Guru instructed his student explaining to him every time, “Oh son! In reality there is no father, mother or brother. Be careful. Birth is misery. Life and death are misery. Be careful”. But the student always replied “Swami, these teachings are not for me. My wife and my parents are different. My parents will be waiting at the door step for my arrival. They love me so much. It is meaningless when you say that there is no father, no mother”. The Guru wanted his student to experience the reality. He therefore gave the young student a pill and instructed him to take it as soon as he reached home. The Guru told the student, “As soon as you have this pill you will fall down as if you are dead. Your body will look dead, but you will be conscious. You will be able to hear the conversation that will go around. Everyone will feel that you are dead. Then you will know the truth”. In this modern education system there are so many tests. That is why the students have so much of taste for the tests! The student took the pill and he fell down. His mother came and started crying. In the meanwhile his wife also came and started crying. She started lamenting, “I am the only daughter of my father and if this is my fate what will happen in the future”. She was thinking only of herself even when her husband had died. In the meantime the Guru came over. He asked the student’s father to bring water. The Guru acted as if he was doing some magic and after some time he said, “Anybody who drinks this water will die and the boy will become alive”. He offered the water to the wife of the dead student, but she replied saying that she was the lone daughter of her parents and if she died her parents would not able to bear the loss and would take their own lives. She also said that since her husband was already dead, there was no meaning in dying with him. Then the Guru went to the mother. The mother said, “My first daughter has come home since she is expecting a child. I also have two more daughters yet to get married. If I die, what will happen to them?” Then the Guru took the water to the student’s father. He replied that he was the most elderly person in the house and if he died there would be none to take care of the family. In this way neither the mother, nor the father, nor the wife were ready to give their own lives for the student. Finally all three of them got together and arrived at a master plan. They told, “Guruji, you are so compassionate, why don’t you drink the water and save my son. We will certainly construct a Samadhi for you”. After some time the Guru sprinkled some water on the boy’s face and he got up. He had heard what was going around, and realised the truth that his Guru wanted him to learn.
The whole world is an illusion. No one has got to do anything with anyone. Because of this body attachment you love this body. This is also selfishness. God is the only One who is selfless. Love only God, who is selfless. Whatever good work you do, take it as God’s work. Consider everyone as the form of the Divine. It is the spark of the Divine which is present in each human being. Don’t hate anybody or criticise anybody. Don’t have too much of contact with everyone. Direct all your love to God. Love all, serve all. Have faith in all but believe only in God. The Indweller in this body is God, the Almighty. To cross the ‘Bhava Sagara’ – the ocean of life and death, you have to surrender yourself completely to God. The whole world is in trouble and turmoil because people have lost faith in God. Develop physical, moral and spiritual values and experience the happiness. It is then that you will enjoy this world. Of all that Swami has told you today, try to follow atleast one or two teachings. It will be helpful to you in your future.
Source: The True Goal of Human Life, Discourse 11, My Dear Students Volume 4; Divine Discourse delivered on August 16, 1996 at Prasanthi Nilayam
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