the easiest method to please God?

[dattaswami]

Mr Antony asked what is the easiest method to please God?

Swami replied:

‘What is the easiest method to pass the I.A.S. examination and to become the district collector?’ If corruption and copying are not existing can there be any easy method for this ? The fruit of pleasing God is very high and eternal. You can please the selection committee for the post of a peon easily because the standard of questions and answers is very low. But to please the selection committee for a very high post requires lot of hard work and sacrifice of pleasures in studies. Therefore pleasing God is on one extreme end and the easiest method is on the other extreme end. Love alone can please the Lord. But the Love must not be only in theoretical stage, it should be proved practically. If somebody comes and acts love on you, are you not testing it? The beggar praises you, but you shout at him. Your father shouts at you. But you are submissive to him because you know that he loves you really and his shouting is only for your welfare. Therefore love expressed in words and mental feelings can be also false. Your wife expresses her love through words and feelings. But it is real because it stands your test. When the situation demands she serves you day and night. There fore service is the proof of love. The theoretical love must be associated with practical love which is service. When the guest comes, you are giving a cup of water. That is theoretical love. The water is freely available. Similarly the words and mental feelings are freely available which are supplied by God to all the human beings. After giving the cup of water if you offer a plate of tiffin, that plate indicates the practical love. The food in that plate is your hard earned money. Therefore prayer and devotion must be associated with service. A plate of tiffin without water indicates your foolishness.

Therefore prayer by words, devotion by mind and discussions by intelligence is like a cup of water and it must be followed by service, which essentially is the sacrifice of the fruit of your hard work (Karma Phala Tyaga). The work done in such service is sacrifice of work (Karma Sanyasa). Thus sacrifice of words, mind, intelligence money and work constitutes the five parts of the total sacrifice. If you carefully analyse and if you are frank to accept the naked truth, the sacrifice of hard earned money is the most difficult item. If the money is absent even the body leaves your soul which has to be maintained by money and there is no need of telling about other relatives. Therefore this glaring truth is stated in veda as ‘Dhanena Tyagena Ekena…….’ Which means that you can please the Lord by sacrificing your hard earned money. People who are unable to do this mock at this statement or misinterpret it. You have to realize the truth in yourself only and there is no need of others. It is the fire test which is called as the flame test in chemical analysis. But this does not mean that you throw some money and purchase the Lord. If the most difficult sacrifice can be done it is foolish in not sacrificing easy items like words, mind, intelligence and work.

After this stage the Lord competes even with your life. Gopikas jumped into fire when Krishna left His body. Jesus told that His disciple must be prepared to carry on his own cross for the sake of the Lord. He sacrificed His body, life and finally sacrificed the final item called the soul by submitting it in the hand of the Lord. Thus total sacrifice is required to please the Lord and Jesus is the best example for such total sacrifice. Hanuman tore his heart with his finger nails for the sake of Lord. Prahlada did not leave the name of Lord even though the demons tried to kill him in several ways. You can understand the path by these examples and this is the meaning of the statement of Jesus that He is the path. It means that He proved the path practically through His life. This statement does not mean that Jesus is the path. It means that whatever practiced by Jesus is the path. If you catch Jesus you cannot reach the Lord. If you catch His practice and if you can practice that, you can reach and please God. This is the correct interpretation of His statement. Simply chanting the name of Jesus and crying for His crucification is not the path. He showed the path by practicing it. Similar is the case of Hanuman and Prahlada also.

 

 

At Thy Lotus Feet

 

Anil Antony

 

antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

Universal Spirituality For World Peace