Free Will and it's consequence.

August 15, 2003

Dear Friends,

We can escape or mitigate the consequences of our actions while exrcising our "free will" by acting selfelessly and acting in such a manner that our conscience is not disturbed.

Actually, as my experience suggests, we may read a lot but when in a crisis we tend to react according to our instincts. So in spiritual life we should try to act one step at a time. In earlier times the common man had only a copy of the Bhagavad Gita. He used to read a sloka every morning and try to practice the essence of the sloka during the day. The direct disciplines of Thakur, though they were spiritual giants, always advocated this method. The truth is very simple. We cannot grasp it because of our complicated minds. We always try to match our own puny intelligence against the cosmic intelligence. But that is a futile attempt. As Ramprasad used to sing, "Can anybody grasp Mother Kali if she herself does not will it?"

Everything boils down to some basic tenets;

1. Yearning and feeling the need for God and his presence.

2. Humility and Self Surrender to God.

3. Serving and worshipping the whole world as a manifestation of God.

4. Practicing renunciation and detachment by discriminating between the real and the unreal.

A couplet composed by Lord Chaitanya comes to mind, "Be as humble as a blade of grass, as tolerant and patient as a tree, give respect to all, expect respect from none, chant unceasingly the name of the Lord."

To end the topic I will venture a word of common sense. Can the all merciful God who is the father of all put himself beyond the reach of the downtrodden and the illiterate? Why should he confine himself to the debates and discussion of the intellectuals alone?

Be simple.

Regards

Jagannath.