To Earn Peace, There Is No Way But Devotion

[Guest guest]

By Prof. Anil Kumar

 

To Earn Peace, There Is No Way But Devotion

 

Similarly, to earn peace, there is no other way other than devotion.

Even an atheist of the top order will have to find his peace in

devotion, at least in the later stages of life. I can give thousands

of examples of those who were all strong atheists, but they were all

so restless. During the latter half of their lives, they turned at

last to devotion.

 

Somebody talked about a big international atheist conference, a

conference of non-believers of God. Non-believers: " We don't

believe! " The president of the international atheist conference got

up and said at the end, " By God's grace, our conference was

successful! " (Laughter) " By God's grace, our atheist conference has

been a grand success! "

 

So, what next? I still feel something wanting in me. I still feel

something that I should get rid of. In spite of being here, in spite

of doing bhajans, in spite of spiritual reading, I still feel that I

am not free from certain weaknesses. I have certain weaknesses that

I am not able to get rid of. What is the way?

 

Here is a simple example. Suppose someone says, " You have put on

weight. " When someone says this to you, you may feel highly

insulted. If someone says, " You are a corrupt man " you won't mind.

If he says, " You are a mad fellow " you also don't mind. Even if he

says, " You are a poor fellow " you won't mind. But if he says, " You

seem to have put on some weight " you are insulted! It should not

happen, because you want to be slim and trim till your last breath.

 

Weaknesses Come From THE Senses and THE Mind

Therefore, we have certain weaknesses, concerning our body, our

senses and our thought process. Weaknesses belong to the mind and

the senses. There is no other weakness beyond that, whether you are

in Antarctica, America, India, or wherever you may be. There are

only two centres of weakness: the senses and the mind. There is

nothing beyond that.

 

How to get rid of these weaknesses? I am not happy about them. I am

not proud of them. I want to get rid of them, but I am not able to.

What next? The solution is again devotion. Devotion is the only path

to get rid of our weaknesses, pitfalls or mistakes. There is no

other way. By mere effort, we will not be able to give up our bad

habits. It is not possible. Mere effort is not enough. Mere wiring

will not give you light; there has to be a power supply. Mere cement

will not do; you also need some gravel to make concrete.

 

Strong Determination Is Not Enough

 

Similarly, if you are determined to give up your bad habits, it is

not enough that you have strong determination. No, it is not enough.

I think you get my point. A simple example: When people say that you

put on weight, what do you do? " All right, let me start dieting from

today! Let me not eat every night. "

 

So I make the decision not to eat every night; I want to be slim

again! In the afternoon, by two o'clock, I feel hungry. Right from

two o'clock, I feel hungry! I start eating something, because that

night I am going to fast. I continue to feel hungry. Again at four

o'clock I eat, because that night I am going to fast. (Laughter) At

six o'clock, I will be hungry again, so I eat something because

tonight I am going to fast. Then finally I feel I am eating anyhow,

so tonight I will eat as usual. (Laughter) As a result, what

happens? That day when I want to fast, I eat more than ever before!

Yes, that happens to us.

 

When a fellow wants to be awake -- most of the students know this --

he will say to himself, " Let me read throughout the night. " That

fellow will feel sleepy right from eight o'clock! (Laughter) After

examinations, he can sleep at 8, but he will never go to sleep then.

Until examinations, he feels sleepy from eight o'clock onwards. That

is the tragedy of life, the paradox of life. That is the melody of

life.

 

Therefore, my friends, let's be sure of it: We can never give up our

bad habits and we can never correct our mistakes by mere

determination. Another example: Let me be determined not to smoke.

Good. After one hour, I say to myself, " This can come into effect

from tomorrow. " But that tomorrow will never come! That is true in

most of our cases.

 

Or, let us meditate. " This is my birthday, so let me meditate from

this day on. " But most people will feel, " My birthday is a day of

celebration; it is not for meditation! Let me think of doing it

tomorrow. " In the meantime, before ever starting meditation, your

next birthday arrives! (Laughter)

 

That's what happens, my friends. It is true for all of us. No one is

exempt from this. If anyone says, " No, I could implement it the

moment I decided to do it " then they are hypocrite #1! We are

humans; let us understand this. We are basically humans. But with

God's support, we will be able to achieve anything.

 

So, strong determination alone will not help you give up your bad

habits or rectify your mistakes, unless you have devotion and full

faith in God. That is guaranteed. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

emphatically made the same point: " Without God's grace, you can't be

a full man. " Only with God's grace can you give up your mistakes,

sins, or anything like that. That's one point to be borne in mind.

 

Life Is Not Partial

 

What next? Whichever religion we belong to, we know thoroughly well

that we experience good or bad, pleasure or pain, as per God's

will. " I have good experiences now. " Good! Then, " I have bad

experiences now. " Good! So, good and bad experiences happen

naturally.

 

You might hear someone say, " Always I have good experiences. " That

man does not know what goodness is! Another might say, " I have only

bad experiences in life. " He is a pessimist, a person who has given

up.

 

Good and bad go together. Life is total, not partial. " I want broad

daylight. " Good! But that will be followed by a dark night. " I like

the dark night because I can enjoy dancing every night. I can go to

the casino, and enjoy drinking and dancing. " OK, but come six

o'clock in the morning, daylight starts! So, you can't avoid broad

daylight, even if you don't like it. You can't avoid dark night,

even if you prefer bright daylight. It is because day and night

together make a full day.

 

So life is total, not partial. But we do not realise this. When I

say I want happiness, unhappiness also follows. When I love, hatred

also will be there. Whom do you hate? If you analyse it in depth,

you will know that you hate the ones whom you love the most. You can

only hate a person whom you love most. So naturally, love and hate

are intertwined. They go together. It is only a question of time.

Personal relationships that are focused and projected in the form of

either love or hatred are both the same.

 

Similarly, happiness and unhappiness are the same. One does not

exist without the other. One is the top side, while the other is the

reverse side. I can't separate the two. Both are present at the same

time. On the paper, some letters are written. I can't separate those

letters from the paper. So letters are on the paper, but the paper

and letters can't be separated. Similarly, happiness and unhappiness

can't be separated.

 

You Can Prefer, BUT You Can't Choose

 

This vision of life, this approach to life, this understanding of

life is possible with devotion only. A devoted man will prefer, but

will never choose. My friends, please remember this particular

phrase that I like the most. I am sure that you will also like it:

Life should be a matter of preference, never a matter of choice.

Life is choiceless.

 

If you choose love, there will be hatred also. If you choose light,

there will be darkness also. If you choose happiness, there will be

unhappiness also. So, how can you choose? So, life is choiceless.

But you can prefer. " I prefer light. " Good! " I prefer happiness. "

Good! " I prefer good dress. " Good! " I prefer coffee. " Good!

 

You can prefer, but you can't choose. What do I mean? I am not

crazy, my friends. In preference, there is the option of

adjustment. " I prefer coffee, but if it is not there, it doesn't

matter. You can give me tea instead. " Or, " I prefer a suit, but it

doesn't matter. I can also wear a shirt and trousers instead. "

Or, " I prefer a cushioned mattress, but it doesn't matter. I can

just have a pillow and blanket. "

 

So, with preference, there is the possibility of adjustment. In

preference, there is understanding. Preference is unconditional.

Preference is a matter of your adjusting to the situation. On the

other hand, if you begin to choose, you become rigid. " I want

coffee. " " Sir, we don't drink coffee. " " Go to hell, nothing less

than coffee! " " What shall we do? "

 

When you choose, you will be failing. When you prefer, you will be

successful. Preference is success, while choice is a failure. God

does what He wants. He will do what He wills. Oh, good! What He

wills, He will do.

 

If you say, " Swami, You should give me darshan tomorrow morning " ,

you choose. He does not. Then He does not come and you lose.

(Laughter) At least we should learn not to choose! Preference is

better: " I prefer Swami's morning darshan. If He doesn't come, I

will see Him in the evening. If He looks at me, that is good. If He

doesn't look at me, it doesn't matter. I am going to be here for a

few more days. " That is preference. But, " He should look at me! "

That is choice. (Laughter) " He has not looked at me, so let me go! I

am leaving this place! " So, choice will put you into a very

embarrassing, inconvenient situation. You will be put in a position

from which you can't come out.

 

Therefore, life is choiceless. To have the understanding of our

choicelessness is called 'choiceless awareness'. Choiceless

awareness means understanding that life is choiceless. Sai devotees

will understand that 100% because He makes sure you are choiceless!

 

You can never choose with Swami! " Swami, I will be here till two

o'clock. You'd better give darshan because I must go after that. "

For sure He will come only at 4:30! (Laughter) " Bhagavan, since You

have come at 4:30 yesterday, let me relax and come around four

o'clock this evening. " Then He will be there by 2:30! (Laughter)

There is no other better place to learn this. There is no higher

guru than Baba to teach this choicelessness. If we don't learn

choicelessness here, we have no choice but to die! (Laughter)

 

Ram Chugani

Kobe, Japan

rgcjp