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.