In His own Image

[Guest guest]

from a sadhu's notebook:

 

God, the creator of our universe, has, for reasons known only to

Himself, created mankind with free will.

 

Unlike the plants, the animals, the forces of nature, fire, wind,

rain, earthquake...I have been created with the divine power of

choice: the power to choose from a million possibilities--even whether

to live or die.

 

The limitations on my freedom of choice are only two: First, my own

degree of understanding of how free I really am, even in the face of

overwhelming shouts of "No!" from the insentient environment which

surrounds me.

 

And my answer to that, and to all such doubts and negativity, is

simply to remember another divine gift which is mine for the asking:

the power of indomitable Faith--not only Faith in God as is taught in

Western theology, but Faith in myself as well.

 

In sanskrit the term is Shraddha: Faith, not only in God, but also in

myself-a minute speck of conscious dust in an infinite universe, but

made in the very Image of God: having the power to choose from a

million possibilities, to create my own destiny.

 

"Faith entered into Nachiketas", and he went to Yama, the very god of

death himself---and demanded answers. [Katha upanisad].

 

The other limitation on my power of choice is the effect, still in

motion, of the sum total of all my free choosings of the past--"my

karma". If my present choices have power, my choices of the past have

equal power. And they may not always be conducive to my present goals.

 

The principle of karma has nothing to do with "Fate", even less with

"divine punishment". There is no wrathful god who demands punishment

and sacrifice from me, or from his own Son, to appease his ire. There

is only an infinitely loving God, who has made me in His own

Image-with the power to choose. It is only that my choices, though

being real, have not always been wise---but always have consequences.

 

Since God has given me the power to choose, and thus potentially to

get into trouble, He has also given divine help by taking another

form-a very loving and compassionate Form, the form of the Motherhood

of God, my own Divine Mother-to show the Way.

 

But even She is constrained to honor my freedom of choice. She may

shed tears of blood at my suffering, but even She will not overrule my

freedom of will.

 

Prayer is not just one sadhana among others: worship, prayer,

meditation, etc. Prayer is the living dialogue I have about the

circumstances of my life, about what I wish to accomplish and attain,

about the troubles I am encountering, and about how I should proceed

to realize my most cherished spiritual goals

 

My Divine Mother is uncompromisingly invested in my welfare. No one

could be more loving, concerned, or faithful. I am never for one

moment alone in a big empty universe.

 

My Divine Mother is above all a Doer, She wants to Act. She is

Practical. She is not much interested in theories. And, like any other

mother, She wants Her child to be up and doing as well--to grow, to

attain, and to succeed.

 

And, like any mother, She needs a dialogue. She is constantly asking

Her child, and Her children, "What do you want?Who do you want to

be?How high do you want to fly?"

 

And it only remains for me to dialogue, to ask, to Listen, to

Choose--and, above all--to Believe.