Hari Aum.
I was reflecting recently on the interesting subject of the will of God. Many of us accept that if there is God, He/She also has a will. What is the meaning of the phrase "Will of God?". Broadly, this refers to the wish or desire of God. i.e. how God would want something to be. Now the yogi concept of God is one who is desireless. So how then can God have a will, or have a desire?
God is free from selfish desires. He is full and content within Himself. There is no desire for anything outside. However God in the form of Lord Krishna states that He upholds Dharma, or righteousness/goodness. That He takes an avatar when required to re-establish Dharma and eradicate the misery of Adharma or unrighteousness/badness. He also states His wish in the Gita to help jivas/individual souls wandering endlessly in samsara. In fact the whole of the Gita, is about various paths or yogas, to achieve the state of Yoga or union with the Divine which permanently ends the misery of samsara. So God has a will to help us. And He takes avatars, sends saints to give us messages on this and Himself gives teachings in the form of the Gita for this purpose.
But then it is up to us. God has given us the right to choose what we want to do. But then we have to reap the consequences of our choices. Krishna only gives advice to Arjuna after Arjuna asks Him for advice. Krishna does not force advice on Arjuna or anyone else. And even after giving His opinion on Arjuna's problem, He tells Arjuna, "You are free to accept or reject My advice as you see fit. Think well and decide your path". He does not say Oh Arjuna, I will force you to do what I want. No, He says words to the effect that "It's up to you. I can only give you advice when You want it, I can assure you of my support. I can hold out My hand to help you- if you want to reject My help, to push away My hand, that's up to you."
Krishna tells Arjuna lovingly, "I want your welfare, You are dear to me. I want what is good for you". He says words to the effect "I am this creation. I understand it better than you. I know what is good for you, more than you do. Listen to me and take my advice. Good things then will come to you. Spiritual knowledge and bliss will be yours. But if you turn away and walk the path of adharma or unrighteousness, then only suffering will come to you by the law of Karma. But the choice is yours Arjuna".
So there is a God. And He has a will. And His will includes many things beyond our tiny understanding as human beings. But one thing is clear from His words and His actions- He wants that which is good for us.
So coming out of the world of the Gita, in to our day-to-day world, we can ask ourselves "How often do I seek the will of God?".
Mostly we ask God to do our will. We say "Oh Lord, I would like You to kindly do this for me" e.g. Kindly supply me a job, a house, a spouse, a child, a this, a that.....the list never ends. My will is this O Lord, that is what we constantly say. And if He does not deliver on our request, we get angry. As Krishna says in the Gita, when desire is not fulfilled it leads to anger, and anger destroys the intelligence of the being and leads to foolish self-destructive actions. That is what our lives are mainly like.
We never say to God. Oh Lord, I woke up today thanks to Your Grace, I have another day on this mysterious planet. What is Your will for me today? What do You want me to do, to say, to think? What role do You want me to play in this creation of Yours today, O Lord? The saints say that if we seek to know the will of God for us, if we seek to live by His will, then He will guide us on a path in accordance with His will. We may not hear Him immediately replying to us "My dear Mr or Mrs So-and-so, My plan for you today is......". But we will certainly be guided from within on the path more suitable for us and this will lead to our welfare.
The saints say, in all matters seek the will of God. And stick to dharma, because adharma is always opposed to the will of God.
But what shall we do with our wills? We sometimes have such strong desires for this or that. Some have a strong desire for a particular job, a spouse, a child etc etc. We cannot just wish these away. We need a practical solution. If we could immediately surrender all our petty desires to the will of God and become entirely desireless, we would become saints at once. But this is a gradual process, not instantaneous. So what to do?
Well one practical solution would be to consult with God on all matters. Swami Chidananda, disciple of Swami Sivananda and a realised saint, was a fan of talking to God. So we could discuss with God. We could say "I am in this situation where I feel I need a job/spouse/child etc. You know best what is right for me. Please decide what should happen in my life. If this is meant to be as per Your will, then let it be so. If it is not Your will, then let it not be so. And please let me accept Your will gracefully especially when it contrasts with my own will. (as in the case of Arjuna)."
If I take my own life as an example, I can say that most of the things I asked God for which were rejected were in hindsight bad for me. In the past I have wanted a job and a relationship that would, looking back, have been an absolute disaster. At the time, when I did not get what I wanted, I was upset and disappointed. Later I realised that I got a better job and better relationship than I had asked for.
Few things in my life have gone as I planned. Many things just happened. And at the time, I could not understand why these things were happening, and sometimes they were stressful events. But in general, when I look back, I see that many good things resulted from those stressful events.
This is the strange thing about life. God gives us that which is good for us, which is often not what we want. Like a mother gives a child nutritious and healthy food, not just the junk foods that the child asks for. Sometimes to quieten a child who is loudly crying, she may give it what it wants, but in general, she always gives only that which is best for the child.
So let us form a habit of seeking the will of God. As Sivananda advises let us say "I am thine. All is thine. Thy will be done. I want nothing". With sadhana and God's grace, we will be able to say this sincerely.
It is human to be sometimes upset when our wishes are not fulfilled by God. This is our ingrained nature, to expect that our wishes will be fulfilled. But deep inside, underneath the upset feeling, let us acknowledge that whatever is happening is by the will of God and for our own good.
I will end with a quotation in a book by Swami Chidananda that I read earlier "To remember Rama (God), is the only purpose of life. All else is to fill the stomach".
Om Namo Narayanaya.
Hari Aum Tat Sat
I was reflecting recently on the interesting subject of the will of God. Many of us accept that if there is God, He/She also has a will. What is the meaning of the phrase "Will of God?". Broadly, this refers to the wish or desire of God. i.e. how God would want something to be. Now the yogi concept of God is one who is desireless. So how then can God have a will, or have a desire?
God is free from selfish desires. He is full and content within Himself. There is no desire for anything outside. However God in the form of Lord Krishna states that He upholds Dharma, or righteousness/goodness. That He takes an avatar when required to re-establish Dharma and eradicate the misery of Adharma or unrighteousness/badness. He also states His wish in the Gita to help jivas/individual souls wandering endlessly in samsara. In fact the whole of the Gita, is about various paths or yogas, to achieve the state of Yoga or union with the Divine which permanently ends the misery of samsara. So God has a will to help us. And He takes avatars, sends saints to give us messages on this and Himself gives teachings in the form of the Gita for this purpose.
But then it is up to us. God has given us the right to choose what we want to do. But then we have to reap the consequences of our choices. Krishna only gives advice to Arjuna after Arjuna asks Him for advice. Krishna does not force advice on Arjuna or anyone else. And even after giving His opinion on Arjuna's problem, He tells Arjuna, "You are free to accept or reject My advice as you see fit. Think well and decide your path". He does not say Oh Arjuna, I will force you to do what I want. No, He says words to the effect that "It's up to you. I can only give you advice when You want it, I can assure you of my support. I can hold out My hand to help you- if you want to reject My help, to push away My hand, that's up to you."
Krishna tells Arjuna lovingly, "I want your welfare, You are dear to me. I want what is good for you". He says words to the effect "I am this creation. I understand it better than you. I know what is good for you, more than you do. Listen to me and take my advice. Good things then will come to you. Spiritual knowledge and bliss will be yours. But if you turn away and walk the path of adharma or unrighteousness, then only suffering will come to you by the law of Karma. But the choice is yours Arjuna".
So there is a God. And He has a will. And His will includes many things beyond our tiny understanding as human beings. But one thing is clear from His words and His actions- He wants that which is good for us.
So coming out of the world of the Gita, in to our day-to-day world, we can ask ourselves "How often do I seek the will of God?".
Mostly we ask God to do our will. We say "Oh Lord, I would like You to kindly do this for me" e.g. Kindly supply me a job, a house, a spouse, a child, a this, a that.....the list never ends. My will is this O Lord, that is what we constantly say. And if He does not deliver on our request, we get angry. As Krishna says in the Gita, when desire is not fulfilled it leads to anger, and anger destroys the intelligence of the being and leads to foolish self-destructive actions. That is what our lives are mainly like.
We never say to God. Oh Lord, I woke up today thanks to Your Grace, I have another day on this mysterious planet. What is Your will for me today? What do You want me to do, to say, to think? What role do You want me to play in this creation of Yours today, O Lord? The saints say that if we seek to know the will of God for us, if we seek to live by His will, then He will guide us on a path in accordance with His will. We may not hear Him immediately replying to us "My dear Mr or Mrs So-and-so, My plan for you today is......". But we will certainly be guided from within on the path more suitable for us and this will lead to our welfare.
The saints say, in all matters seek the will of God. And stick to dharma, because adharma is always opposed to the will of God.
But what shall we do with our wills? We sometimes have such strong desires for this or that. Some have a strong desire for a particular job, a spouse, a child etc etc. We cannot just wish these away. We need a practical solution. If we could immediately surrender all our petty desires to the will of God and become entirely desireless, we would become saints at once. But this is a gradual process, not instantaneous. So what to do?
Well one practical solution would be to consult with God on all matters. Swami Chidananda, disciple of Swami Sivananda and a realised saint, was a fan of talking to God. So we could discuss with God. We could say "I am in this situation where I feel I need a job/spouse/child etc. You know best what is right for me. Please decide what should happen in my life. If this is meant to be as per Your will, then let it be so. If it is not Your will, then let it not be so. And please let me accept Your will gracefully especially when it contrasts with my own will. (as in the case of Arjuna)."
If I take my own life as an example, I can say that most of the things I asked God for which were rejected were in hindsight bad for me. In the past I have wanted a job and a relationship that would, looking back, have been an absolute disaster. At the time, when I did not get what I wanted, I was upset and disappointed. Later I realised that I got a better job and better relationship than I had asked for.
Few things in my life have gone as I planned. Many things just happened. And at the time, I could not understand why these things were happening, and sometimes they were stressful events. But in general, when I look back, I see that many good things resulted from those stressful events.
This is the strange thing about life. God gives us that which is good for us, which is often not what we want. Like a mother gives a child nutritious and healthy food, not just the junk foods that the child asks for. Sometimes to quieten a child who is loudly crying, she may give it what it wants, but in general, she always gives only that which is best for the child.
So let us form a habit of seeking the will of God. As Sivananda advises let us say "I am thine. All is thine. Thy will be done. I want nothing". With sadhana and God's grace, we will be able to say this sincerely.
It is human to be sometimes upset when our wishes are not fulfilled by God. This is our ingrained nature, to expect that our wishes will be fulfilled. But deep inside, underneath the upset feeling, let us acknowledge that whatever is happening is by the will of God and for our own good.
I will end with a quotation in a book by Swami Chidananda that I read earlier "To remember Rama (God), is the only purpose of life. All else is to fill the stomach".
Om Namo Narayanaya.
Hari Aum Tat Sat
