Most Stressful Time: Death and After

O Learned and Devoted Servants of God,

[Message on Dasara, Day-1] Goddess Durga fought with the demon called Mahishasura for ten days and got victory on the tenth day. Durga means protection. This protection has very little significance as far as the problems in this world are concerned. People are not realizing the insignificance of these worldly problems because they have not witnessed the greatest problem, which is faced at the time of the death to go to hell. Unfortunately, this greatest problem is visualized at the exact moment of death, when the person is unable to express even his feelings on seeing the messengers from the hell. A line appears small only when a bigger line is present side by side. If the soul can witness the last scene during the life time itself, then a comparison can be understood through the concept of relativity. When the bigger line is not seen, the smaller line looks big. In fact, the last scene is the biggest line! Unless one experiences, the scriptural knowledge has no value. The knowledge by experience is like the signature of the official and the scriptural knowledge is like the stamp-seal below it. The stamp-seal has no importance if the signature is absent. The signature alone without the stamp-seal is valid. When the experience is obtained and simultaneously the scriptural knowledge is correlated, the person gets full belief like seeing the signature along with the stamp-seal.

The preachers are stressing on the relief of the worldly stress only. The preacher should not stop at this point. He should impress on the minds of disciples regarding the greatest stress that is to be received at the time of and after the death. The solution for the worldly stress is attainment of self (Atma Yoga). This solution is also not real because it does not solve worldly problems. It only gives you the detachment like a sleep tablet. Even in this field of Atma Yoga, if you want the solution for the problem so that you will be relieved from the stress through the solution only, God has to be introduced (Brahma Yoga). Both the introduction of self and superself (God) come under the topic of Jnana Yoga. People misunderstand that Jnana Yoga means only self-attainment. Jnana yoga means attainment of something by knowing its details. When Rukmini got the details of Krishna from Narada, it was Jnana Yoga. In fact, in self-attainment, there is no real attainment. Will you say that you have reached yourself after journey? Attainment means getting something other than yourself by some effort for which the details of that something are needed. Such details are called as Jnana Yoga. Therefore, in the path of attainment of superself by devotion (bhakti) also, knowledge (jnana) is essential. Even in Atma Yoga, if one is very much interested, such intensive interest is self-devotion. Thus, Jnana and bhakti are not two different paths. Both these are components of each path. The two paths are: i) Self-attainment ii) Superself-attainment. The details of self (Jnana), deep interest (bhakti) on self and the self service (like self-eating in the name of offering to God) are the three components of the first path. The details of God, deep interest on God and service to God (like offering food to God in human form or to His best devotees) are the same corresponding components of the second path. Hence, quarrel between the followers of knowledge and devotion is meaningless because they have not cared to analyze the facts.

Therefore, the word Durga indicates the power that protects you by solving your worldly problems (not by giving a sleep tablet like Atma Yoga) and the possessor of such power is God. When you worship Durga, you must feel that Durga is not simple power but God, who is the possessor of that power in human female body. Human incarnation means God in human body, which may be male or female. If your angle is only about the power, you are like a politician, who serves the person in power. He worships the possessor of power just for the sake of utilizing the power. If the person loses his power, the politician will not care for him. Thus, the cult of Shakteya is like the cult of politicians. Durga is not only the savior of these small worldly problems for which your self-effort is sufficient. When you get the problem in the case of your family members, you are becoming weak by losing energy. A weak person can neither think about the correct solution of the problem nor can put any effort to solve the problem. Why the person has become weak and lost the energy? The reason for losing the energy is excitement and tension. What is the reason for this excitement and tension? The only reason is your attachment to your family members, who got a problem. Due to your attachment, you are excited and energy is lost. You become weak and cannot solve your problem. Therefore, you are approaching God to solve the problem. How foolish is this situation! You have sufficient energy to solve your problem. But you have lost the energy due to the attachment. In such state, your concentration is only on the power, which solves that problem. In that state, you are worshipping the possessor of the power to utilize the power for solution like politician worshipping the Chief Minister. In fact, worship of God is not necessary to solve any worldly problem. Even atheists are happy by solving their worldly problems. The grace of God is very much required only in the upper world. Such state of using the grace of God only for the upper world and solving the worldly problems by self-effort is certainly the higher level. The highest level is that in which one does not aspire the grace of God even in the upper world. He serves God to please God and not for getting any help from God. These two higher and highest levels are possible only when you are completely detached from all the worldly bonds and avoid tension. Such detachment comes only by the grace of God. Using God’s grace for the worldly problems, which can be easily solved by you is a low state. Preserving the grace of God to the upper world and solving the worldly problems by self-effort is the middle state. Aspiring only the pleasure of God and not aspiring for the grace of God here or in the upper world is the highest state. If you are in the highest state, you will become the family member of God, called as the liberated soul. For such liberated soul, God gives protection here and there even though it is not aspired by the liberated soul.

Clue for Success in Worldly Efforts

Detachment from the worldly bonds is the main reason for the success in your worldly efforts. Attachment to family members brings tension when they are facing a problem. By this tension, your mind has no strength to think about the solution. Even if somebody gives the solution, you have no energy to put effort in solving practically the problem. Suppose the same problem comes to your neighbors, you are readily giving the solutions and also help them by solving the problem through your practical effort and you are not at all strained in such effort. What is the reason? The only reason is that in the case of neighbors, you are not attached to them and hence, no tension. Therefore, you are energetic to solve their problem but not the problem of your family.

The philosophy of Lord Datta is to cut your worldly bonds (Dattam Chinnam). When you get the detachment from your family, you can help them effectively. Now, you must know whether Datta is helping your family or harming your family. When you are attached to your family, your attachment to God is not real, because real attachment requires single direction (Eka Bhaktih). Generally, people get attached to their wives or husbands and their children. The other attachments are not as strong as the attachment to such limited family. If your family is replaced by God, your attachment to your family becomes weak and sometimes nil. As your bond to your family becomes weaker and weaker, the bond of God to your family becomes stronger and stronger. When your bond with your family becomes nil, your family looks like any other unrelated family in the world. In such case, you can help them very easily without any tension. In such case, even God helps your family to His best. God will take your responsibility on His shoulders. Your family is now fully protected by God. If you are confined only to detachment from your family without attachment to God, your effort to solve their problems succeeds generally if the divine factors do not hinder. But if your detachment to family ends in the attachment to God, even the divine factors do not hinder the solution. Therefore, mere detachment is ineffective but the detachment resulting in the attachment to God is more effective. Real love lies in the welfare of your family. If you really love them, you must withdraw yourself from their love so that they are fully protected by God through your single attachment to God. If you are attached to your family, your love on them is not real because their welfare is not safe.

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