“The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is
directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on
a machine, made of the material energy.”
– Bhagavad Gita (18.61)
We can’t imitate the pure devotees of Krishna and yet we are not
atheists. We have faith in God but we doubt often; we remember him
during our troubles, yet we forget him many times. We are attracted to
hearing and chanting of Krishna’s holy names and still distractions
and temptations pull us away from devotional services.
How do we navigate our spiritual practises in a world that offers
challenges at every step?
We could remind ourselves to rise from level 2 to 2.5 in our spiritual
practises.
At level 1, we have people who choose not to connect with the Lord;
therefore they ignore God and offer nothing to him. God acknowledges
their desire and doesn’t force Himself upon them. However, He
mercifully accompanies these men and women in their sojourn by
residing in their heart and eagerly waiting for them to make just one
move towards him. The Upanishads compare the lord and the soul to two
birds on a branch of a tree. While one bird is tasting sweet and
bitter fruits of the tree, the other bird, the real well-wisher and
friend of the exploring bird, waits quietly for the restless bird to
turn to him. Likewise, Krishna or God resides in the heart of every
living entity where the individual soul too resides. While the soul
experiments with life in this material realm, the super soul patiently
awaits for us to seek real love and happiness in our connection with
him.
For many who struggle to connect with God and often get distracted by
the temptations of this world, is there an easy way out? Why can’t God
simply make all of us love him; that would save us from so much
trouble and wouldn’t it also be so much easier for us to love him?
Well, no. If God were to compel us to become devotees, it would be
akin to putting a gun on someone’s head and asking him to love you.
Love is spontaneous and can’t be a contrived phenomenon. Therefore for
those who chose to not turn to God, there is no force. The lord is
waiting.
To be continued…
