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Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com)

 

Man must attune himself to the Lord's will

 

CHENNAI, NOV. 24. Spiritual experience which enables a person to

envision the Supreme Being can be described as a shift in our

understanding of the Reality. This happens in three stages. First

is the insight to see the entire creation as a manifestation of

God, which is different from the normal human comprehension of

only the diversity in the creation. The second stage is the

direct experience of the Divine majesty similar to the experience

Arjuna had when Lord Krishna blessed him to envision His cosmic

form.

 

This is a rare experience which is possible only through

unalloyed devotion to God. As a result of this spiritual

experience, finally the devotee develops the capacity to

appreciate the opposites he confronts in the world by a leap in

his understanding. Worldly experience is in opposites - joy-

sorrow, birth-death, health-disease and so on. While human beings

accept all the good things of life joyfully, they are unable to

digest the hard realities of life. When we do not accept both

joys and sorrows with equanimity it amounts to not appreciating

the Lord's creation totally. For this it is imperative to

understand that as far as the inevitabilities of life are

concerned man does not have a choice. Man has to gracefully

accept the cosmic law and order with the understanding that he

was part of the Lord's design, said Swamini Satyavratananda in

her discourse on the Bhagavad Gita.

 

This active acceptance of all experiences in life results when

the devotee aligns himself to the divine will totally. The

foundation of one's devotion will be shaky when one is not in

tune with the divine will. If there is no true devotion, a person

becomes frustrated and doubts the Lord's compassion when beset

with setbacks in life. When human beings face many situations in

life courageously even when they do not know what the outcome

will be, why then is it so difficult to accept the existential

realities of life like old age, disease and the fact of their

mortality, which are so obvious? One has to reflect on this

paradox to understand the divine will which is responsible for

this creation.

 

What is necessary is a change of attitude which will make it

clear that the joys and sorrows we undergo are due to Karma. So

no one can be blamed for our lot in life. Where then is there

room to blame God when we are only reaping what we had sown? The

Almighty only gives us our due. Spiritual knowledge will endow

man with insight and equanimity of mind to accept whatever he

faces in life joyfully when he submits totally to God.

 

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