Posted on: 15 Jun 2024
O Learned and Devoted Servants of God,
1. Do Karma Samnyaasa and Karma Phala Tyaaga come under personal service or the mission of God?
[Ms. Bhanu Samykya asked:- Paadanamaskaaram Swami, these are the petty questions from this petty soul. Please clear my mind from the storm of misunderstandings. At Your Divine Lotus feet, Bhanu Samykya. Do Karma Samnyaasa and Karma Phala Tyaaga come under personal service to God or to the mission of God? Is it the choice of the soul to serve the mission of God or to serve God personally? I personally feel that anyone of both should be granted by God only because if soul wishes nothing will happen. Please correct me.]
Swami replied:- Even if you participate in the mission of God, the world will not change even a millimetre. The qualities of the soul precipitated from millions of births are like endless mountains. The participation in the mission of propagating true spiritual knowledge in this world is only to express your true love to God by participating in His work. God does not need your service at all because in a fraction of a second, He can change the minds of the souls since He is omnipotent. The mission is only an opportunity created by God for you to prove your true love to God by participating in His work. The total aim of the devotee must be God only and nothing else and none else.
2. Isn’t it wrong to be anxious until we get the best results?
[We are supposed to put efforts without thinking of the results. When results are not good, shouldn't we be anxious for betterment? or just be passive by trying and leaving it? Isn’t it wrong to be anxious till we get the best results? Or is this attitude good in spiritual path but bad in worldly path?]
Swami replied:- You should not attach yourself to the result so that you will not get any tension even if the result is not good. You must try for the betterment of the result without any attachment to the betterment. You are trying for the betterment of the result with continuous detachment only without any trace of attachment to the result at any place and at any time. This is common in both worldly life and spiritual life.
3. Do we have to focus on the goal or the path in our spiritual effort?
[I've read in a motivational story that if getting a mango on tree is a goal, our focus should be on climbing the tree (path) and not on the mango (goal). If we focus on mango while climbing, we are certainly to fall. Can we take this example in spiritual path by focusing only on the path but not on goal? If not, how to focus on both the path and the goal?]
Swami replied:- This example works out in the worldly life because the goal or mango is not the omnipotent God. In spiritual life, the goal or God is the most important. Neither the soul travelling nor the path to be travelled are as important as the goal or God. Hence, your entire attention must be on God only so that by His grace only, you can travel in the correct path. Due to His grace, whatever path you travel becomes correct. Even the wrong path of the Gopikas became the most correct path due to the climax love of the Gopikas on God.
4. What should I think while doing the service of God?
[If I'm continuously failing in the spiritual path, what is the lesson to learn? Where should the focus be? Should one not focus on results even in spiritual path i.e. having attitude that "I've done whatever I can. Whether God is pleased or not is not in my hands" correct? Or is there any other attitude to face failures and try to get better in pleasing God. I personally feel that pleasing God is not in my hands nor doing the work that pleases God as God is the doer.
A. So, what should I think while doing the service of God?
B. What should I think when I come to know that God is not pleased?
C. What should I think when God is pleased with my work?
D. Is it wrong if I feel happy or sad based on the reaction of God i.e. whether He is pleased or not?
E. If God is not pleased, then what should a soul do?]
Swami replied:- If your attention to God is single pointed and at the climax level, God is certainly pleased and there is no trace of doubt in this. In such climax love, total surrender (theoretical and practical) exists, in which case, the intelligence shuts up all its activities. Such a decision is full of determination with complete blindness to any other alternative that is suggested by intelligence. This is the state of God Shiva, the final step in the spiritual path. In such a stage, Gopikas replied to Sage Narada that they are prepared to go to hell if the headache of God Krishna is pacified by applying the dust of their feet! The same Gopikas also replied to God Krishna that they can’t leave Him since they are prepared to hug the red-hot copper statue of Krishna in hell for dancing with Him! In this stage, there is no place of analysis of any other alternative except the madness towards God.
5. Please correlate the following statement of Jesus with Yours.
[“Do not be anxious about your materialistic life. Heavenly Father who is taking care of birds, will He not take care of you? Seek the kingdom of God first”- said by Jesus. But Swami, You have said that Pravrutti is the base for Nivrutti and we should first lay strong foundation in Pravrutti. Both statements are contradicting to me. Please clear my misunderstandings.]
Swami replied:- God is giving food to birds only then, when the birds are doing continuous work through a lot of effort for fetching the food. Hence, the above statement does not mean that God will give you food in worldly life without your serious effort for it. You may say that if serious effort is put up, the fruit is inevitable. But, this is not correct because there are so many cases, which have failed in attaining the fruits in spite of their hectic efforts. Hence, the conclusion is that the soul shall put complete effort and wait for the grace of God to get the fruit because only God’s grace gives you the fruit and not your efforts. Thinking that our effort will certainly get the fruit is ego of the soul. Such a soul will learn a lesson preached by God.
6. How do I have a true bond with God when I don't know what He is feeling?
[Most of the top devotees say the phrase "Whatever may happen in life, I have Swami". What does that mean? How can one feel God in daily life? I cannot grasp anything from the side of God. I feel I'm doing whatever is in my capacity for Him and for that also, He is only the doer. I cannot understand what is God feeling for me? What is His side? So, how to have a true bond with God when I don't know what God is feeling? I sometimes aggressively feel that I’m away from God and can’t understand Him at all. I feel very numb and confused sometimes thinking like this. Why is this feeling torturing me time over time again and again? Can’t I come over it with true understanding?]
Swami replied:- When a devotee says that he/she is having Swami with him/her, it means that God alone is doing the work and not the soul. Such a belief removes ego from the soul and also develops detachment from the work even while seriously working. In spiritual line, one need not get depression if one has true love to God both theoretically and practically. True love based on firm determination will give sleep to the intelligence that creates a thousand thoughts, which confuse the self. Intelligence is necessary before making the journey in the path but once the journey is taken up, true love mingled with firm decision will take you to the right goal. If the right goal is an inert item, your intelligence is necessary throughout the journey. But the goal is the omnipotent God and not an inert item. Hence, your true love to God becomes your entire strength for the journey and you will certainly reach the right goal or God.
7. I go into depression again and again. Kindly give knowledge to read and remember at that time.
[Swami, I go into depression again and again, no matter what I do. I feel painful and sad. Please kindly give some points of knowledge to read and remember at that situation.]
Swami replied:- True love to God that is developed spontaneously in both theoretical and practical lines without aspiration for any other thing and for any other soul alone is the medicine for such depression.
8. What are symptoms of neglecting God and how to know whether I'm neglecting God?
Swami replied:- When God comes in human form, He will make an arrangement to develop negligence in the minds of the devotees because the human form has all common properties of an ordinary human body. Such negligence is necessary to get the freedom to mix with God so that every doubt can be clarified with full flexibility. Hence, even negligence has its own value in the program of God. If such negligence is absent, the soul will be excited and will be unable to ask doubts freely. The devotee by his/her efforts shall cross this negligence to recognize God in human form. Both the presence of negligence and the crossing of the negligence have their own values in their corresponding contexts. You should welcome both these in their corresponding stages.
9. I feel that it is impossible to learn spiritual knowledge with the kind of mind and attitude I have. How do I come out of this?
[Swami I always feel that my past is a failure, present is a failure and I'm going to fail in future also. How much ever I try to learn and read, everything goes inside the head in wrong angle only. That right angle is never understood by me. I feel that it is impossible to learn spiritual knowledge properly with the kind of mind and attitude I have. I often get depressed. How to come out of this?]
Swami replied:- If you are not depressed, I would not have cared for you because worldly people are always in wrong angles only regarding spiritual line. But, your depression shows that you are interested in spiritual line. The first and foremost advice I give to you is that you shall forget the word ‘failure’. Theoretical and practical devotion generated from complete true spiritual knowledge without aspiration for anything or anybody else is the path to attain the grace of God or goal. This path must be your goal before you enter this path and for that you have to put various efforts. These efforts differ from one soul to the other based on the psychology and the nature of the surrounding atmosphere. If you try for God’s grace, there is no question of failure because God is omnipotent. You should not compare yourself with anybody else because you have your own type of path towards God. Nobody’s path to God resembles to the path of anybody since the path for a devotee is very very specific like the fingerprint. There is a certain destined path arranged by God based on your psychology and you must try to find it out. The true and complete spiritual knowledge gives all the details of God, which generates theoretical devotion and that generates practical devotion. The root foundation is spiritual knowledge. It must be true and complete so that your foundation has no crack. Fortunately, you attained the Sadguru, who is the topmost incarnation of God Datta! What more grace you expect from God Datta than this fortune for which sages and angels do very very long penance for several births? After getting such a Sadguru, I assure you the success in spiritual line. Have at least a trace of confidence in your Sadguru, which is more than sufficient to lead you to the spiritual goal. I once again assure that you never failed in the past, nor are failing in the present and will not fail in the future.