(Part 4 of 4)
There are renowned celebrities who have earned name, fame and money, yet failed miserably in their personal life. King Dashrath was so intelligent, skilful and powerful that the celestial beings would call him to fight for them. But he could not keep his family together.
Everything may be stable and coming along well but one crack in a close relation can make you feel you are a failure. So, it is said that your happiness depends on harmony in relationships to a large extent. You must learn to manage them before you can scale the heights in the spiritual world. Let us gain wisdom for maintaining healthy relationships.
O – Offer
Don’t stop at merely showing interest and appreciating. Offer yourself.
When Alexander was returning to his homeland, while passing through a desert, he felt thirsty and asked for water. A soldier got some water in his helmet. Alexander inquired, if there was water for all. The soldier denied and requested Alexander to drink first. Hearing this, Alexander threw away the water saying that he would take only if all others could have it. Mareez, a Gujarati poet writes, ‘whenever and wherever I get happiness, God bless me that I may think of others.’
Everything in nature gives – sun, moon, rivers, trees. You have a Guru and satsang in life. You are spiritually wealthy. Now your whole life should be an offering. Pujyashri Ambalalbhai would offer seva in organising food and stay for the devotees so that they could be comfortable and take complete benefit of the holy association of Param Krupalu Dev.
You have to become a gift to your family, the society, and the world. Kennedy said, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.’ If you keep thinking about what others should have done for you, you may not be inspired to do anything for them. Instead, focus on what you should do to bring joy to others.
You can give in many ways. Give things, a smile, or even lend an ear. In whatever way you can, give. It may not be a big offering, but be sensitive, be prompt, think of others’ happiness. You will gradually become an offering consciousness.
N – Nurture
In your presence, others should feel nurtured, happy, electrified and powerful. They should blossom and grow. Does your two-minute talk with a person of low confidence give him an energy boost and make him regain his confidence? Or do people with good confidence feel they are losing it in your company? In your presence, others should feel happier and wiser.
You have already experienced this when you are in the company of your Guru. In His presence, your best comes out and gradually that best becomes your second nature. What else is satsang? Lord Krishna bestowed His wisdom on Arjuna through Bhagavad Gita. But, He did not give any commands. Lord Krishna’s presence and words empowered Arjuna to drop his confusion. He did not dictate, He explained in a way that helped Arjuna remove his delusion and gain discernment. At the end of the discourse, Lord Krishna said, ‘act as you please’. And Arjuna responded, ‘I shall follow your word.’
If you are in the world, you will have to live with others. You can’t stop events from happening, but you can see to it that they don’t get engraved in your heart. It is difficult to remove a line etched on iron, easy to remove it from sand, a line on water disappears as soon as it is made but in space, a line cannot be drawn. Space does not retain anything. Such is the inner state of an Enlightened One. Events occur, but they leave no impression in His inner space, and this keeps Him peaceful, pure and stable. He does not touch the world, nor the world hinders him. No relation is a burden for Him. He is a joy to the world.
Align your vision with His. ‘Delete’ all the old pains and ‘Save’ all inspiration and enthusiasm; and progress towards your spiritual welfare.
Deep yearning for God has the power to purify you, elevate you and even transform you.