10 Jun 2011
[Dr. Nikhil asked “You said that God will start loving you if your selfishness is completely eradicated. But the concept of the self is most basic and even while earning one’s livelihood the self stands as the basis. Effort for livelihood is the natural instinct of any living being” Could You please clarify. Given below is Shri Swami’s clarification.]
To retain the identity of self is fundamental and is not wrong. It is also the basic requirement in the absence of which you may be misled to think that you are God.
There are devotees who have even forgotten the livelihood in the context of God. If you are interested in some topic, you will forget taking meals. To remove the selfishness completely, the attraction to God must be intensified to the top level. The power of attraction to God will break the power of your attraction to yourself and other related selves.
Selfishness is different from self-awareness. Self-awareness means the knowledge of the reality of yourself and other selves. If you are aware that you are not God and that you are only a self created by God, this is self-awareness. Selfishness means your attraction to yourself and other selves. Generally, it is thought that if you are attracted to yourself and few other selves only, it is selfishness. It is also thought that if you are attracted to all the selves in this world, it is not selfishness. This point may be correct in confined view. But, with respect to deep and broad view, this is also not correct. If you are attracted to yourself, few other selves and all the selves in the creation, it is selfishness only. If you are attracted to God, then only, it is not selfishness. If you rise above yourself and a few selves and get attracted to all the selves in the creation, then, you will get temporary heaven only. You will get the permanent place of God, if you are detached from the all the selves and get attracted to God only. Therefore, in the attraction to God, there is no attraction to any self including yourself other than God. Hence, the selfishness totally disappears in the devotion to God only. But, you must have the self-awareness during the devotion to God. If self-awareness is absent, there is a danger that you may think that you are the God. Earning the livelihood comes under self-awareness only and not selfishness. You must maintain yourself and other selves in the family so that all of you shall be alive to be in the devotion to God. Without livelihood the self disappears and you must maintain the self to have at least the self-awareness. You can also help any hungry soul by providing the food so that the soul will maintain itself and get devoted to God. God created the souls for the sake of His entertainment. The life of His entertainment is the devotion for which, the maintainence of the soul is essential. Therefore, God created the natural instinct in every soul to earn the livelihood for the maintainence of its life. If any soul resists this instinct and does not act as per the instinct, such a soul will subject to the displeasure of the God. If you follow the instinct, you are co-operating with the maintainence of the drama of the entertainment of God.
Selfishness is involved in the unnecessary extra earning for the sake of luxuries. The environmental sciences prove that any luxury is harmful not only to the individual but also to the society. The science also proves that absence of luxury, maintains perfect health of any human being. Therefore, selfishness is born out of the ignorance of scientific knowledge. The knowledge of science in real sense can eradicate the selfishness and spiritual knowledge is not necessary for this purpose. Selfishness is the harmful love towards yourself and other selves. Sacrifice is the best medicine for this disease of selfishness. Selfishness is the excess of love to self, which is the extra love. The love to self required up to the maintainence by earning livelihood is appreciable to God also. The attraction to luxuries indicates the extra unnecessary love to the self, where the love to God finds no place. When the water tank is full and is over flowing, where is the space for more water to pump in? Therefore, the heart must be vacant to fill with the love to God. The minimum water level, which is the instinct for livelihood is essential. To make the pump work for sucking the ground water, some water must be poured into the pump. This poured water is the essential requirement for sucking the ground water.
Selfishness is not some material to be blown away applying some physical instruments and physical forces. It is conceptual nervous energy existing in the mind and the concept is totally wrong. A wrong concept can be removed by right concept only. A diamond can be cut by another diamond only. Of course, while cutting the diamond, not only another diamond is required but also the force in the process of cutting is required. Another diamond is knowledge and the force in the process of cutting is devotion. Therefore, the right concept associated with devotion to God can only succeed in destroying the selfishness. When the selfishness is cut at the root, your service to God will be perfect and will please God. The service to God with selfishness will not fetch you the real grace from God. You can only receive some boons to satisfy your selfishness. In fact, the selfishness grows more and more by the boons just like the fire grows more and more by receiving the ghee. The process of pacification of selfishness increases it more and more. You can never subside the selfishness by such process of pacification. The selfishness really subsides when it is cut by knowledge associated with devotion. Then your service to God without selfishness will fetch you the real and immense grace from God.
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