Blog

August – 2008

The only private treasure we can possess in this world is our own thoughts within. It is a sacred sanctum and none can invade it.
– Chinmaya

Whether we know or not, God is guiding us every moment. We suffer in life only because we are unaware of this fact.

Bhagavad Geeta says that the Lord is present in the hearts of all beings. But then how does He guide us? He guides us through different states of the mind. All the negative emotions like anger, jealousy, lust, greed, arrogance etc., and also the positive feelings of love, compassion; etc., are nothing but His guidance.

The different dials on a dashboard of a vehicle give the driver an idea of the speed, the fuel quantity etc., thus helping him in reaching the destination safely. In the same way, through these different mental states, the Lord guides us like a true friend in reaching Him quickly.

He guides us by becoming a strict Administrator of His law. And the law is “when negative thoughts are entertained in the mind, the mind becomes disturbed and when positive thoughts are encouraged, the mind becomes peaceful”. Thus any person who craves for happiness is left with no choice but to cultivate noble thoughts.

When consciously these noble thoughts are entertained, over a period of time, the earlier dull mind now shines forth in all purity and then such a pure subtle mind becomes a sacred sanctum through which one then clearly receives the guidance from the Divine. Once when the mind is tuned to the Higher, then for such a person peace, cheerfulness, contentment, fearlessness, compassion, etc. is but natural.

A great devotee was once attacked by several people. Some spat at him, some tore his clothes and some abused him. But he continued to smile. One man asked him, “Where is your God? Why does He not appear in this time of need and show us some miracle?”

The devotee continued to smile and said quietly, “What greater miracle can there be than this that, even though I am treated thus, I feel that I am in heaven?”

And in sheer wonder, the man asked, “I find you are being treated as though you are in hell! Where is your heaven?” And the devotee smiled again and said, “My heaven is in my heart, and no man can take it away from me. And even if my body be cut into pieces, yet I will continue to abide in the joy that is deathless.”

The man again asked, “And what is the secret of this joy?” The devotee answered, “I bow down to the Will Divine- I love the Lord and the Lord loves me. And I know that all is well – supremely well!”

Thus once the bliss of being in tune with the Lord has been tasted, no outer gross sense pleasures can tempt him. No outer obstacles or difficulties can disturb his peace within. Bhakta Prahalad was one such great example who remained fearless and smiling amidst all heinous attempts made by his father to kill him.

Our noble, divine thoughts alone are our greatest treasure and our effort in cultivating them alone is the greatest investment. Let us invest wisely and amass this treasure in this fleeting world of sorrows and miseries.

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