You are Divine
Such scenarios can be applied on various other events that happen in our lives throughout. We keep promoting the aspects of negativity within us. Going back to the 1st job interview again...what if the job interview was a favorable one and we indeed got the job? Obviously, we would celebrate it. Unfortunately, the company that we joined goes through a bad time and loses market share, profit starts tumbling and they start closing down couple of plants. There's rumors that staff are getting retrenched and staff salary payments are being delayed.
At that juncture, we start saying that, ''I should have stayed in my previous job. Taking this new job has caused misery in my life and I got to seek for a new job again''. Hence, it is becoming more and more obvious that our mind perceives and concludes very narrowly and 'shortsightedly'. It fails to think beyond the current situation and position we are in. This eventually leads my write-up into spirituality....
One with a steady mind and self confidence tends to reconcile sooner. He/she tends to accept the fact that everything happens or doesn't happen for a good reason. This sort of a think process leads to great self confidence, unfading high motivation and willingness to face any sort of challenges. However, this kind of a mindset only comes with good faith in the Almighty and by knowing oneself.
When we truly surrender upon Paramatma, we readily accept challenges and misfortunes as his blessings to refuge us from this Karmic cycle of birth and death. When a beautiful piece of statue is carved, the rock goes through tremendous hammering, 'chiselling', knocking, etc. Likewise, we as the souls who take on various births in various bodies, go through this process towards self betterment.
Yes, we all want to have a smooth sailing, easy-going lives. Truly reflecting on this, we can't get any better without hard times. Hard times make us tougher, stronger and gives us true experience of life. They often say, if you want to know the value of a grain of rice, ask someone whose has been starving for a week. We only appreciate something when we don't have it or when we lack of it. This are lessons that we go through to appreciate life and to be grateful towards the experiences life brings us, to shape us into a beautiful piece of art. Good moments don't last long and bad moments will fade away.
The next phase brings us towards knowing oneself. When we reflect that we are the form the divine and Paramatma himself, we take each and every phase of life positively and steadily. Steady here means not overwhelmed by happiness and sorrow. In Bhagvad Gita this is termed as Stiti Prajna (स्थितप्रज्ञ). Even when God himself took birth as Raama, He experienced life as it came. Though being born in royalty with all the worldly wealth, he went through hardship living in forests. Sorrow and misery of losing his wife- Sita and faced the challenges to rescue his beloved wife from Ravana. if he had not gone through hardship, today, we will not have Raama worships and temples built in the name of Raama. Only through determination, willingness to face challenges, taking the extra mile to preserve Dharma, Raama is revered and dwells in the hearts of each and everyone.
Likewise, we seek refuge from the Lord not to bestow us with mere happiness but the right mindset, attitude and ability to face any storm that sways our steadfastness.
In Sanatana Dharma it is said that we have taken many birth before and many more births to come. This is not the end, neither the beginning. There's nothing that could destroy us. What is destroyed is only this body that bares this particular birth. Due to our Karmic effects, we are born again and die again.
This body was given by and made up of the 5 elements namely, Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space. At the end, this body is consumed by these 5 elements and becomes part of it. Hence, in a funeral ceremony, the Hindus cremate the body. When the pyre is lit up, the air consumes the smoke and taken to the space. The ash is dissolved in the water, the residual of the bones not consumed by the flame, is buried and given back to the earth. Such is the divinity of us and the body that we are made up of.
What are the characteristics of Karma and how do we overcome the Karmic cycle? That's for another chapter. For now, I will end this article with a stanza from Bhaja Govindam by Adi Shankaracharya. let us dwell into the meaning of this stanza and reflect upon our own divine self.
पुनरपि जननं पुनरपि मरणं
पुनरपि जननीजठरे शयनम् ।
इह संसारे बहुदुस्तारे
कृपयाऽपारे पाहि मुरारे ॥ २१॥
Punarapi jananam punarapi maranam,
Punarapi janani, jatare sayanam
Iha samsaare bhahu dusthare,
Kripaya pare pahi Murare
Meaning: Born again, death again,
again to stay in the mother's womb!
It is indeed hard to cross this boundless ocean of samsAra.
Oh Murari ! Redeem me through Thy mercy.
Comments
Post a Comment