If you want to be perfect...

[Guest guest]

One day little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his

hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who

brought them. Jesus said, " Let the little children come to me, and do

not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. "

Then Jesus placed his hands on them and blessed them.

 

Wow! We may ask: what is this quality that gives the child automatic

ticket to the gate of the Kingdom of God? Take some time and watch

the little child lost in the fun of life. What do you see? Total

selflessness! With no sense of " I " and " mine " the little child is

rapt in the bliss of Being. Totally unattached to life, the child

lives in the fullness of Life.

 

Then a certain rich young man came up to Jesus and asked, " Teacher,

what good thing must I do to get eternal life? "

 

" Why do you ask me about what is good? " Jesus replied. " There is only

One who is good. " Surprising, isn't it? But that is the Truth. Only

God is Good! And we can be good only when we realize this Oneness

with the One.

 

Then Jesus said to the young man: " If you want to enter life, obey

the commandments. "

 

" Which ones? " the man inquired. Jesus replied, " Do not kill " (the

Vedic law of Ahimsa) " Do not commit adultery " (the Vedic command of

Brahmacharia) " Do not steal " (the Vedic law of aparigraha) " Do not

give false testimony " (the Vedic command: speak the truth, follow

righteousness) " Honor your father and mother " (the Vedic admonition:

Mother is Divine, Father is Divine) and " Love your neighbor as

yourself " (the Vedic injunction: Do to others what you would like

done unto you)

 

" All these I have kept since I was a child " the young man said. " What

do I still lack? " Hmnn! Let us wait a minute. How many of us can

honestly say this to our Beloved Swami! " I have kept all the Vedic or

Bible or Sathya Sai Code of conducts, etc, (they are all the same)

from my childhood? " This simply means that this rich young man is no

ordinary person. He is indeed a great Soul.

 

Jesus was deeply pleased with this young man. He looked at him with

love and he wished God would bestow on him still greater blessings.

And He saw in him one lack. In spite of his great wealth and despite

his strict adherence to the path of righteousness, he still had no

Peace: that undisturbed stillness of bliss which the world and its

objects cannot give.

 

Jesus then gave him the great invitation: a call to Divinity, a

ticket to `Prashanthi Nilayam', the Abode of Supreme peace. Jesus

said to the man, " If you want to be perfect, go, sell your

possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in

heaven. Then come, follow me. "

 

My Jesus! The man was shocked. His mind reeled round his bank

accounts, his numerous estates and companies, his wife and children,

his honor and social status… all the comfort and pleasures… to give

up all these and come and follow this wondering homeless recluse? His

face bowed down with the burden of decision. His heart was beating

fast. It was a moment with momentum – a divine opportunity not

different from the critical choices which made the Buddha and St.

Francis of Assisi forsake their Kingly Estates in search for

perfection.

 

Meanwhile Jesus stood patiently looking at him…waiting… for

his " yes " . But he walked away sadly. What a life time opportunity

that was missed! How many people today are able to accept these same

commands from the Avatar of the age: " Go… sell all you have… give

them to the poor… come … follow me. "

 

When Swami calls us for interview He always says: " Go " . What is " go " ?

To go is to let go! How can we `go' when we can't `let go'? This is

the first step in the path of self surrender: to let go! When we let

go, then we can sell all, then we can give all, then we can come and

take refuge at the Divine lotus feet, (Manasa bajare Guru charanam),

then we can surrender to that lotus feet who will take us across the

ocean of samsara – circle of birth and death.

 

When the man had left, Jesus said to his disciples, " I tell you the

truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. It

is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a

rich man to enter the kingdom of God. "

 

This was another shocker for the disciples. " In that case " they

asked, " Who then can be saved? " The Jews looked upon wealth as a

blessing from God, a reward for being good, a sign for His special

favour. If the rich - those who from the disciple's point of view

seemed to be first in the line for salvation - cannot be saved, then

who in the world can be saved? Jesus looked at them intently and

said, " From the human point of view, it is impossible. But with God

everything is possible. "

 

In reality, it is not just the rich who have difficulty, for

perfection is not possible for any one from a human point of view.

But from God's View Point, everything is possible! So perfection is

all about the optical medium with which we see Reality. When we see

with the human binoculars we see `I' and `mine', `you'

and `him', `male' and `female', `rich' and `poor', etc. This sense of

duality is the illusion that creates the tangles of attachment. Like

this rich young man we have lots of attachments. This young man

probably did not know that he was deeply attached to his wealth. This

is also true of many of our attachments. You cannot tell what you are

attached to until it is disturbed.

 

Swami often shakes our attachments in order that we may not only

become aware of them, but also to let go of them. But we do not need

to wait for this shaking. We must adopt an attitude of mind whereby

we are always ready to let go! What is this attitude? It is the sense

of " I " and " mine " . It is this sense that we have to let go.

 

Some feel that detachment means letting go of material possessions.

But this is not detachment. In any case it is not possible to let go

of the objects of the world. This is because objects have no

independent existence apart from us. Where can we run away from them?

Be it in the forest or in the city, they are there. Come to

Prashanthi Nilayam and they are there too. Can we go anywhere to

escape them? No! What has to be let go are not the objects but this

sense of possession, this attitude that things belong to us, this

feeling that make things happen for us…

 

When the clothing of " I " and " Mine " is stripped away, then we will

see Perfection because we will see from the Divine View Point: All is

One! There is no other, no owner and owned, no you and me! All is

One, be alike to everyone! This is salvation.

Jesus is telling us today:

 

It is not the doing…

It is the sense " I am the doer " ;

Let go the doer-ship.

It is not the wealth…

It is the sense " I am the owner " ;

Let go the ownership.

It is not the objects…

It is the sense " it is mine " ;

Let go the " I " and " mine " .

 

This is the only way to perfection.

 

Ram Chugani

Kobe, Japan

rgcjp