Namaste, What is right between these two things?
1. Doing everything that we take up using all our intelligence, taking full care with much industry to come up in life.
2. Leaving everything to God, taking whatever comes on our way as HIS prasad and going spiritually.
Second question: Why everything goes wrong whatever I take up even if I am staunch devotee of a Satguru? Can't HE take away my bad karma so that I can earn a lot money and distribute among the needy if HE just helps me in crucial times?
—Shivo, India
Dear One, Joy to you!
1) Seek Ye first…and all these things will be added unto you. It is to say, everything we do throughout the day, we want to do it for God and with God because God is the doer. Every minute of the day, we need to offer every thought, every activity and, every desire to God. There is a wonderful prayer that helps us keep our focus on staying attuned to God:
“I will reason, I will, I will act, but guide my reason, will and activity to the right thing.”
The more we can remember to say this prayer with sincerity and devotion the better the possibility of us getting our ego’s desire out of the way. And the better our chances are of us keeping the focus on doing God’s will.
It doesn’t matter to God if we are rich, poor, a doctor or street cleaner because God is all things. God wants us to offer Him the love in our hearts. God just wants us to feel His presence in our heart, mind and soul. The rest is just stuff. As sincere devotees our number one priority is to feel His grace and to offer it back to He who is the giver of all things.
2) A sincere devotee understands that God is the doer. He has written a play and we are the actors in His play/drama. He chooses people to play the part according to their talents. Sometimes we get to play the part of a hero and sometimes we get to play the part of a villain. So too, in this drama of life, we may have to play the part of a struggling devotee. Imagine how boring would the play be if the good guy wins everything every time and never has to work hard for anything?
Plays are most enjoyable when a poor person struggles again and again. They continually fall down then get up, brushing them self off time after time. Then one day, just when the devotee falls down and it looks like he can’t get up, Guru’s grace enters his heart and everything changes for the better and everybody lives happily ever after. That would be a fun play to watch.
All this to say, don’t look at your karma as good or bad. It’s just karma. God knows what karma we need to experience to get us closer to Him. And being closer to Him is the most important thing we could do with our life. It’s the only thing that really matters.
Another thought that comes to mind, is the saying —
“It is better to fail at your own karma than to succeed at someone else’s.”
Just do your best and let God do the rest. A wise devotee knows how important it is to not be attached to the fruits of their labor. A good farmer knows he can do everything he can to produce good fruit but it’s up to spirit and nature to bless him with bountiful crops.
Peace to your and yours,
Nayaswami Gopal
