Accepting the will of God

 Hari Aum.

I visited a Krishna temple earlier today that I have been to many times over the years. It is a popular place and is usually quite busy particularly at weekends. A temple, like any other place of worship, is of course a place where people go for a variety of reasons. One can pray anywhere but there is something particularly helpful about a special spot dedicated for the purpose. (Just as one can study for an examination in various places but there is something special about a library-- it is quiet, peaceful and has the right atmosphere). 

So, we go to places of worship for so many different reasons. We go to ask God to help us with this or that issue, to express gratitude for what we have been given, to ask for devotion, for health, for spiritual progress and so on and so forth. When we go to ask Him/Her for specific things, it sometimes can look a little bit like going shopping-- in the sense that we have a list that we need to tick off. "Hi God, thank you for what You've given me so far, I'm really grateful. However, I'd like You to help me out with my house, car, family, health, wealth, work etc etc". And then we expectantly wait to see what God will do. Will He help us? Yes, of course. What we need and what we want are not always the same though. He/She will give us what we need, not always what we want. Sometimes He/She may give us what we asked for, only for us to discover that what we wanted was maybe not such a good idea. We are allowed to make mistakes and learn from these experiences.

A time comes for most of us, particularly when we've been trudging along the spiritual path for a while, and experiencing that seemingly never-ending battle between the higher and lower mind (that continues until one attains God/Self-realisation), when we realise that we can do better than this. We realise that going to God with an endless shopping list is actually not such a smart plan. We recognise that God has His/Her own plan for the universe and for every single being within it. It becomes apparant that what we are asking God for is actually lesser that what He/She would want to give us.

One imagines a parent asking a three year old, "What would you like for your birthday?", and the child after thinking for a while, might say "A red balloon! Red is my favourite colour!". And the parent might say, "Yes of course you can have a red balloon!" and privately think, "Well, that can be part of your present, but I have so much more that I actually want to give you, not just a balloon that will last a few days!". Our relationship with God feels a bit like this. We are His/Her relatively ignorant children, we do not understand the will of God, spiritual laws, the universal plan. We look at our lives with a limited mindset, based on our own small ideas of what we need to be happy. 

Those of us who are spiritual seekers know, on some level, that we need more than people, houses, cars, work, wealth and so on to make us happy. We realise that we need God and that He/She is number one. He/She is the centre, the pivot around which the rest of our lives turn. Everything gradually begins to align to His/Her presence in our lives once we establish a connection with Him/Her through our spiritual practices. 

And then we reach a point, where we start wondering "What is the point of my shopping list for God?". "Why should I ask Him/Her for this or that?". "He/She knows what is best for me, this is increasingly clear. Am I not standing in His/Her way by making all this requests?". 

So finally, one makes only one request. That well-known phrase that spiritual teachers everywhere advise their students to sincerely say to God-- "Thy will be done". One realises that this is, in fact, the most sensible prayer one can ever make. Because He/She alone knows what this entire universe is about, why we are all here, what we are meant to be doing on this planet, why the world is the way it is and all these other complex questions to which we never seem to find a real answer.

In some ways, we live like hamsters running in a wheel. We wake up in the morning, get ready and rush about performing various tasks. The day ends and night arrives. We go to sleep for a few hours, then wake up and repeat the same cycle. Days, months, years and decades pass in this way, and before we know it, our time is up. Our lifetime is over and it is time to go. Where shall we go, leaving everything behind? Leaving all those things behind that we had asked God to give us? None of them will go with us. Only our karma (our noble and ignoble deeds) and our sadhana (spiritual practice) will travel with us to the next realm and will influence future lifetimes, so say the yogis.

So today, when I was at the temple, I was thinking as I looked at the deity, "I've stood here before You so many times over the years. And usually when I'm here, I ask You for something or the other, whether it is spiritual or material. You know my list pretty well."

"But today, I truly just want to say one thing because I feel it pretty strongly-- I know You have a plan for me (like You have for everyone). And I also know that I do not know this plan. And furthermore, I know that Your plan will be good for me. Because You are both wise and good."

"So today all I have to say, is let me truly accept Your plan for me, let me accept Your will.  Whatever it is that You want me to be, let me be just that way. Whatever it is that You want me to do, let me do exactly that. From now onwards and always, let things be this way. Make me sincere in accepting Your will, Your plan for me. For a change, I want what You want (even though I realise I mostly have no idea what that is!). I trust You, and I know that Your will is the best thing for me and for everyone."

I've said "Thy will be done" many times before. But this was possibly the most sincere I've been in saying it. I've come to realise in recent times that we limit ourselves when we ask God for our list of things. It's natural of course to make requests, both material and spiritual, and there is no harm in doing that. It's a human thing and that's ok. But in the end, after we're done with the experience of making all those requests, it just feels right to say to God, "Ultimately, when all is said and done, I want You to do what You feel is best for me".

There is a certain sense of relief in making this prayer. It really takes the pressure off us having to try and get things right all the time in our lives. In submitting to the will of God, we can rest and relax on some level knowing that He/She will do what is good for us.

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat