Posted on: 13 Apr 2009
[Shri S.S.N. Sharma asked Swami “I like to study more about my profession. At the same time, I am much worried about studying the spiritual knowledge since I am nearing the old age”.]
Swami replied: You can study both alternatively. If you are engaged in the study of one type knowledge only continuously, you will be bored. Change is required for the mind, which has inherent curved nature. Therefore, one need not take up the spiritual knowledge in the old age only and similarly, one need not be confined to the worldly knowledge before the old age. One should have the involvement in both types of knowledge from the beginning so that the alternating involvement of mind satisfies its own nature. Even if you are interested in one type of knowledge only as your real goal, the other type of knowledge is necessary for a change at least. If you understand this requirement, you will appreciate God for creating these worldly affairs and various branches of knowledge related to those affairs. The spiritual knowledge and the effort in the spiritual path require the worldly knowledge and involvement in its affairs as a change. The hot is created as a change in eating the sweet. Day and night, summer and winter, sorrow and happiness are the twins showing the nature of the taste of mind of anyone including God. In fact, God created this world for self-enjoyment or entertainment as said in the Veda (Ekaki na ramate…). The Primary aim of the creation is the entertainment of God. Therefore, the nature of the twins existing everywhere in the creation directly reflects on the inherent taste of God. The taste of the souls is also similar, which is secondary. Therefore, there is nothing in the creation that is unnecessary or unwanted for the souls or God. The soul rejects some item of the creation due to ignorance only. In fact, ignorance itself has its own utility. Knowledge and ignorance are twins. In the continuous stream of knowledge, a break by ignorance gives a change for the continuity. A change is a point of rest. After the rest created by ignorance, the knowledge appears with reinforced shining and is relished very much. Thus, if you do not reject any item or concept in the creation thinking that it has some utility unknown to you, God will be pleased with you, because you have appreciated his creation in-to-to everywhere. If an engineer constructs a big palace and if you appreciate every inch of it, the engineer is extremely pleased. Therefore, there is nothing to leave or to be criticized in this divine creation of God. If you reject or hate somebody in this creation, God is annoyed with you. It is foolish to think that you can please God by leaving something or somebody. That something and that somebody are the creation of the God only. If you reject anything or anyone here, you are insulting the creator. You should love the creator without hating any part of the creation.
God’s Tests are Only on Specific Occasions
Imagine that you are a servant of the producer and director of a film. You have accompanied him to see the film along with him. You appreciate each scene of the film and by this, he is also pleased with you. You are deeply immersed in the cinema and suddenly he wants to leave the hall along with you. You must leave the entire film and should accompany him proving your unchallenged love and loyalty to him. You provehere that your bond with him is beyond your bond to the entire cinema. This is a specific occasion in which your boss is competing with his own creation. In this situation, you rejectthe entire creation. This is test of God for you. You need not bring the philosophy of this situation while you enjoythe cinema with him. Therefore, love the entire creation without rejecting or hating anything and anybody. The reason for your love to the entire creation is your love to the creator. You seethe creator everywhere in the creation and therefore, you love the entire creation. You love the creation not for the sake of yourself. But, once the creator enters into the competition (Datta Pariksha), you rejecteverything and everybody for the sake of the Lord to prove that He is the highest for you as said in the Veda (Na tat samah …). It is in this context that Jesus told that unless one hates everything and everybody, one can not become the disciple of God. You should not extend this context throughout your life and rejecteverything and everybody for the sake of God. You should prove your attachment to God and detachment to the world when the context comes. Your bond with creation should be strong so that you can prove that you can break even the strong bond for the sake of the God. The strength of your bond to the world is a measure of your love to God, which is proved in the context. The strength of your bond to an item of the world should be just diverted to God. The strong bond remains as such and you have to simply replace the object of the bond. Therefore, the strong bond is appreciable.
Bilhana was so much immersed in the love of his darling, Yamini Purnatilaka that He was unable to sense even the feeling that his leg touched a sage during his walk. The sage became very angry and shouted to curse him. But, Bilhana asked the sage that how the sage immersed in God, could sense the touch of his leg, while the same was not felt by him. The sage appreciated the strength of the bond of Bilhana and realized that the same strength was not in his bond to God. The sage preached about the eternal beauty of Lord Krishna and replaced his darling by Lord Krishna. In the case of Bilhana, the same strong bond continued for God also and he got salvation. Therefore, whatever may be the object of the world, if your bond is intensified with it, there is nothing wrong. If you simply replace the object by God, you will be blessed by God. Hence, do not mock the people having strong worldly bonds. A time may come and they may replace the objects of their bonds by God. In such case, they will reach God faster than you. A person runs well in the opposite direction. You are just walking in the right direction. If that person is turned to the right direction by the guidance of some guide, he will cross you in no time!