|| Shree Hari  ||

Benefits of an Unwavering Aim

उद्देश्यकी दृढ़तासे लाभ

continued.....

There was a saint.   He went to a “jaath’s” (from the Punjabi ethnic group)  house.  The jaath served the saint diligently.   The saint told him to get into a daily discipline of doing “Naam Japa”.  The Jaath said,  Baba,  I do not get time.   The saint said,  OK then,  once a day,  go and see the Lord’s murti .  The Jaath said,  I am in the fields all day,  God’s “murti” (idol) is in the city temple,  therefore, how will it be possible?  The saint revealed many different spiritual practices, so that he may follow certain norms and principles, but the Jaath kept saying,  that all this will not be possible for me.   Should I work in the fields, or should I do mala japa ! Where do I have that much time ?  The children need to be looked after;  we are not “sadhus”  like you all, that we can sit in one place and remember God,  and repeat His Divine Name etc. (bhajan).  The saint said,  OK,  then what is it that you can do?   The Jaath said,  that next door lives a potter, that I am friends with.  Our fields are also next to each other and our houses too;   daily,  on a regular basis,  I will see his face.  The saint said,  OK,   without seeing him,  do not eat your meal.    The Jaath accepted this arrangement.  When his wife told him, that the “rotis”   were ready,  have your meal, then he would instantly climb the fence and peek at the potter and then begin to eat his meal.   He remained firm and committed to this routine.    

One day the Jaath had to leave early to go to the fields,  therefore he had his meal prepared early.   He climbed his fence,  but did not see the potter.   On inquiring, he found out that he had gone somewhere outdoors, to dig for clay.    The Jaath said,  where could he have gone,  minimally, he should be able to see him.   Now the Jaath became very eager and anxious to see the potter and ran speedily.   On the other side, the potter, after digging for a while,  found a pot full of various different kinds of jewels etc.   It came to his mind, that if someone sees him, then it will become difficult and tricky !   Therefore, he climbed up too see if anyone was around,  at which time the Jaath came !  After seeing the potter,  the Jaath ran away,  to which the potter thought that he had seen the pot of jewels, and now will cause troubles.  The potter called out,   please do not go !  Don’t Go!   The Jaath said I have seen it !  Seen it !  The potter said,  OK, if you have seen, then half is yours,  and half is mine, it is yours but do not tell anyone.   When the Jaath returned back,  he got the money.    Now the thought that arose in the Jaath’s mind was that by listening to the saint and following through with a discipline that was to my liking,  I received all this,  if I were to follow his command for the rest of my life then there will be so much more to gain !  With such thought, both the potter and the Jaath,  became devotees of God

It means that we must with a firm conviction,  settle on a single unwavering aim, that whatever may happen,  we want to walk the path towards God, we want to do God’s “bhajan”  (Naam Japa, remembrance etc.)    Even more than deciding on an aim,  recognize the aim.   Because the aim came first, and later came the human birth.   Human birth has been received only for God Realization -  recognize this aim,  accept it without any doubts whatsoever, then “bhajan”  (Naam Japa,  remembrance of God, love and devotion to Him) will take place on its own.  

(to be continued)

   From book ‘Jin Khoja Tin Paayiyaa’ by Swami Ramsukhdasji