An extract from the book “God
In Quest of Man” by Dada J. P. Vaswani.
What
is the mark of him who has received the richest treasure, the Life Eternal?
Self-Surrender. Such a one has found his refuge in the Lord.
The
teaching of the Gita, as Beloved Dadaji has often told us, is summed up in the
one line “Mamekan saranam vraja”. “Seek refuge in Me !” This “seeking”
is not a search for some snug corner of “safety” against the storms and
tempests of life. He who would seek refuge in Krishna, in the Lord, must be
prepared to face storms and triumph over them in the strength of the Lord. To
“seek refuge” is not to shirk life’s battle but to fight it and emerge
victorious. So it is that the word of the Lord rings across the centuries, “Uttishta!
Paramtapa !” “Stand up, O Man of Valour !” To “seek refuge” is to face
abuse, insult, dishonour, disgrace, misunderstanding, malice, with a smile on
your face and a prayer in your heart. To seek “refuge” is to stand unarmed and
unafraid in the face of evil, to let it to its worst to you, to accept the
wounds it inflicts on you as marks of Krishna-Kripa, the Grace of
Krishna. The way of “seeking refuge” is the way of victory. It is the way, not
of the atom-bomb, but of sacrifice.
The
man of self-surrender is free from all attachment and fear. He has not
attachment for any earthly creature of object, for he is riveted to the Lotus
Feet of the Lord. And he is fearless for he lives and moves under the
protection of His loving gaze. He who trusts can have no fear. All fears and
anxieties are crimes against the love of the All-Loving Mother. To trust is to
live in the certainty that all that happened was for the best, all this is
happening is for the best, all that happens will be for the best.
Yes,
God is the All-Loving Mother who loves each one of us, howsoever “fallen” we
be, with a love more immense than the oceans. The Divine Mother loves us more
than we may know and She needs us, each one of us. Each one of us
fulfils a need in God which none else can satisfy. And loving us as she does,
the Mother will not permit any harm to come our way. So let our prayer, each
day, be “Thy Will be done, O Lord ! And Thy will is sweet, sweeter than honey,
sweeter than nectar !”
He
who would grow into this realisation must learn to walk the way of
“acceptance”. He accepts all that comes, to him as coming from the merciful
Hands of God, the Mother. He greets each unknown day as “messenger” from the
Beloved, he accepts all embarrassments and entanglements as “messages” from the
Mother whose mercies ever endure. And in his heart he repeats unceasingly the
Holy Name.
Such
a one keeps claim in all the situations of life. This is most essential to the
enrichment of inner life. The inner balance is essential to spiritual progress.
Harmonious living is more important than doing noble deeds. If in the midst of
your daily work something happens to agitate your mind even for a brief moment,
stop immediately, withdraw into silence and regain the inner calm. It is enough
if throughout the day you practice this one sadhana, that of calling
yourself back to serenity the moment you are in danger of losing it. God dwells
in a house where there is harmony. Every thought, every feeling, which does not
vibrate love, clouds the Golden Face of Reality and takes us away, far away,
from the Lotus Feet of the Lord.
Sadhu Vaswani Mission Web Site - sadhuvaswani.org
