We are small, ignorant, helpless and unsafe. There should not be any doubt about our smallness with eight billion of us on the earth’s planet itself. It is a known fact that knowledge is unlimited.
How much can we learn in one lifetime?
Helpless we are from the time we are born till the time comes to dispose of our bodies. Just count how many people we need daily to survive well and how unsafe are we . Therefore, we instinctively seek shelter all the time. An infant needs his parents. As one grows, one takes shelter from education to maintain oneself. Education /training over, time comes to seek shelter in a job or a business.
Sex overpowers thinking beginning from a young age. Some are drawn towards fame like a sportsperson, while others get into politics, etc. for power. The most fortunate seek the shelter of Almighty. The shelter of Almighty is crucial to exist . Let us see the degree of difficulty for a quality life. Our nature (temperament) is a huge handicap. Something or other from lust, anger, greed, jealousy, ego, etc. predominates if not more than one.
What chance is there to have a quality life?
Lust derails almost each and everyone. One assumes that sex is pleasure, and it has so many forms. The worst thing is it’s possessing our minds. Ego is not far behind. Have you met anyone who does not feel his or her superiority vis-à-vis others? Greed does not allow us to assess our needs sensibly. More is better is the desire and there is no satisfaction. Anger is always lurking near the surface. It surfaces at the drop of a hat, literally. Then, there are karmaphalas always ready to manifest. We know how bad ones hurt. What most people don’t realise are the ill effects of good karmaphalas. This is when one gets the feeling of invincibility and makes big mistakes.
People look for rewards during success, and we know what these rewards do to us. The third big enemy is old age, when we become weak and are mostly written off.
Are we stuck?
Far from it. Almighty would not have made such a sorry creation. Guidance and help are available to all of us if we accept the role of Almighty in our lives. Ignorance, false pride or laziness stops us from taking God’s help, who is the owner, controller and everything. But we don’t seek guidance; we prefer to be in cyclic thinking short-circuiting our own lives. We condemn ourselves by our obstinate attitude.
Almighty is prepared to help all of us at any time, but there is a rider.
How to determine who should get or who shouldn’t? Therefore, the question everyone should be asking is:
How do we become deserving of Almighty’s ‘kripa’ (favour)? Simply, recognise yourself as a soul – part of the Almighty.
Shouldn’t parts take shelter from AImighty ? Shouldn’t we be very respectful to Almighty and pay obeisance to Him?
What about the ‘dhyan’ (meditation) of the entity, who is everything?
How about thanking God for all that He does for everyone like providing air, water and sunlight free. In short, we should stop taking shelter of anyone or anything except Almighty, and remain there.
(Naresh Purohit is advisor – National Mental Health Programme. The views and opinion expressed in this article are those of the author)
