If somebody makes a mistake and you ask, why did you make the mistake?
No Swamiji, it must be the will of God. Will of God that you make a mistake?
This reminds me of one katha. You know it's a humorous katha that when God made
the world, He gave a uniform lifespan to all living beings. So he gave human
beings the lifespan of 40 years and he gave the same to donkeys and dogs and
birds. So human beings became pretty frustrated. Some of them formed a
delegation and went to the Lord and said Maharaj you have given us 40 years to
live. Our Grihasti (household life) just become set and life gets over. This is totally
unreasonable. Can't you extend our lifespan? So God said alright I'll put
your application in pending. Let's see what's going to happen. You
return for now. A few days went by, and a donkey came mining to God. The donkey
said, my lord what kind of creature am I? I take the burden and put it from here
to there and then from there to here and 40 years go by. Can you not reduce my
lifespan a little bit? God remembered human beings wanted an extension and the
donkey wants a cut. So God removed 20 years from the donkey's lifespan. The
donkey's expectancy now came to 20 years. And he added those 20 donkey years to
human life. So God said, is it okay now? 60 years? Human beings said, 60 years?
Oh Maharaj I still have so many desires, to go to Florida beach and to see
football super bowls etc. Can't you consider a further extension? Gods said,
alright. Then let's see what happens? A few more days went by and a few dogs
came barking to God. The dogs said, Maharaj in what format have you made us?
We keep on barking barking barking. Nobody listens. The car comes, we bark
from here to there and then we get tired. Then a next car comes. we bark from here
to here and then get tired. Can't you reduce our
life? Forty years is a bit too much. so God remember that human being wanted
further extension. God removed twenty years from the dog's life as well. So
dog's life expectancy got reduced to 20. God added those 20 years to human life.
Now the human beings could well now expect to live till 80. God said, is not
alright? Human beings said, Maharaj it is alright, but not fully alright. I want to
see my granddaughter's wedding before I die.
People say, every thing else is alright. But I just want to see my granddaughters wedding and then die.
Everybody is saying, this dadaji (grandfather) is a big nuisance.
Dadaji, don't come close. Otherwise you will fall. You sit and see from far. But
dadaji's mind says, I want to see my granddaughter's wedding and then die.
Can you extend a little more? God said, alright, now let us see what happens.
Finally an owl reached God. The owl said, my lord
have you made me by mistake? When the whole world is awake, I am sleeping.
Because I have such big eyes they get blinded, and when the whole world is
sleeping I am flying from rooftop to rooftop. Please reduce my life. God took
away 20 years from the Owls life and added the owl's life also to human beings. Now
the human life expectancy reached 100 years. It is said, in Kaliyug, God has
given hundred years to human beings. However, what is the nature of those
hundred years? The first fort is alright, the BP is alright, the heart is alright
cholesterol is alright, sugar is alright. Then
after that, the donkey years begin. I have to
clear the mortgage before retiring. I have to settle my son, get my daughter
married etc. and create enough bank balance for retirement. So like the
donkey carry the burden, the human being is going from 40 to 60. These are the
donkey years. At sixty, he hits the dog years. Now the primary duty in the Indian
joint family is to take care of the home. The son says, father I'm going with your daughter-in-law
to see the movie. You take care of the home. And no matter what he says, people
say doesn't matter. He's an old man, let him keep on speaking. These are the dog
years going on. At eighty, the owl years start. Doctor, I can't see. What is going on? Doctor sees,
hmm, you got cataract. "Please remove it." Wait, let the other eye also get cataract. I
will remove both together. So that owl years are going. The whole life goes by
and still human beings don't develop vairagya (detachment) that I was not to go in this
direction. I was supposed to go towards God. That is why the scriptures say that
it is His grace which will make all the difference. What does this lead us to
conclude? Does it mean that we now don't need to do any sadhana? We can just sit
down. Hearing today's lecture is tactically very beneficial, because now
we can exploit this piece of knowledge. Whatever little sadhna, devotion, bhakti,
bhajan, we were doing, we will just put it aside and sit down. And if somebody
asks that do you strive to attain God? You would say, no you know that Mukundananda explained
that you can only know God by His grace. There is no point in
self effort. Nowadays we are just sitting and waiting for the grace
to come. Will it come in 2017 or 18 or 27 or 37? Will it come by plane or railroad
or truck load? Will it come from the north or south or east or west? Where will
this grace come from? In other words, utilizing the principle of grace, we have
given up our effort and become lazy, indolent. is this the proper
understanding of grace? No! His grace is required and our effort is also required.
The Shwetashwetaropanishad says,
your effort and grace of God.
This is your effort. Both endeavors are required, from
the soul and from the side of God. Shri Aurobindo has written a book called 'the
mother'. In the first page, first paragraph, he begins like this: There are two great
powers alone that in their conjunction can affect the great and difficult thing
that is the aim of our endeavor. A fixed and unfailing aspiration that calls from
below and the divine grace that answers from above. Why is our effort necessary?
To receive the grace, you need a vessel. In this case, the vessel is the heart.
You need to purify the heart. Supposing you go to your guru and say, Guru ji
please I am seeking five litres of milk. Can you bestow your grace? The Guru says,
my child I've got a drum of milk. But where is your vessel? Get a vessel. Now
you go and return again. Guruji I have a vessel, please give me the stuff I want.
Guru ji says, my child your vessel has got holes in it. if I pour the milk, it
will get drained away. Don't bring a leaky vessel. Third time
again we come. Guru ji this time there are no leaks.
Guruji says, son it is dirty. If I pour the milk, it will split.
Get a clean vessel. Similarly, we say Guruji give us your grace. Guru says, prepare
your vessel. So our effort is necessary and the grace
of God is also necessary. If we don't consider our effort and marginalize it
that will lead to a disaster. Many people make that mistake.
They think, we don't need to do anything. In fact they go one step further and say
God is doing everything. Nothing is in our hands. There is no Gyani (knower), there is no fool.
If God wants somebody to be a gyani, he becomes a gyani. If God wants somebody to be a fool, he becomes the fool.
So if somebody makes a
mistake and you ask, why did you make the mistake? Swamiji, it must be the will
of God. Will of God that you make a mistake?
It is all His doing. Nothing is in our hands.
If you grew up in India, one sentence you must
have heard thousands of times.
The same sentence comes in the Western world, but it's not so
popular. Not a leaf stirth but by the will of
God. So people say you know that even a leaf cannot stir but by the will of God.
So He is doing everything. Let Him do. I don't need to do anything. Amongst all
the thousands of philosophies that are being propagated in the world, this
particular one is the most disastrous. why? Because then we will not do anything
proper and we will blame God for it. So we need to root this concept from our
heart totally and completely.