Everything is only God

Everything is only God - if someone wishes to know this point, then he should sit in seclusion and begin to pray - O' Lord! How do I get to know You, how do I realize You?

"Katham vidyamaham yogimstvaam sadaa parichintayan | (Gita 10/17) "How may I realize You, O Master of Yoga! Everything is only You - how do I realize this! How do I realize! In this manner let there be an intense yearning within.
There is an incident about a very poor man. He went to a Mahatma and said "Maharaj! I am deep in debt. I am unable to get food-water-shelter-clothes for my sustenance. Shower me with your grace so that I can be free of debt." The Mahatma said "what is the biggest thing you have in your house?" The poor man said, I have a large stone, on which I sit while bathing. That is the largest object in my house. The Mahatma said, go home and sit on that stone and begin to repeat - Stone, turn into gold !… Stone turn into gold ! …. Stone turn into gold ! Is this much gold adequate for you? The poor man said, my debts will be paid off with a fraction of this gold. The Mahatma told him to go home and repeat the mantra for twenty-four hours. The man went home and began his recitation – stone turn into gold! He continued this recitation for 23 hours. Then he looked at the stone and said, so far even a small portion has not turned to gold, then too he continued. There were only five minutes remaining then too the stone had not converted into gold. He continued the recitation. Now only a minute remained, and being somewhat frustrated he said, if not into gold at least turn in iron. The moment he said this, the stone turned into iron. He went back to the Mahatma and said "Maharaj, that stone turned into an Iron block! How did this happen? The Mahatma said, you must have said so, therefore it turned into iron. You became tired and irritable therefore by your saying it turned into iron. If you did not become tired, and continued to repeat - May the stone become gold, then it would have turned into gold; because that was the time to have said so."

In this manner, an aspirant, should not become tired and impatient and instead get after God for twenty four hours saying – how am I to realize You? O' Lord, How am I to realize you? All can pray in this manner, because being a part of God all are entitled to God. If hunger troubles you, eat a "roti", if thirst troubles you, then drink water, if sleep troubles you, then go to sleep, but do not leave your yearning, your intense longing. Whether mind is engaged or not, whether attention is captured or not, but do not leave the prayer. God is very compassionate. He is the well-wisher of all beings. "Suhurdam sarvabhootaanaam" (Gita 5/29). Out of His mercy, He will make Himself known. That stone becomes gold, but is not so as such; but the world does not become a form of God, rather it is a manifestation of God. Simply we have to change our conception. The gopis therefore prayed to the Lord - "dayit drushyataam" (Srimad Bhagwat 10/32/1) Dear One ! You appear in front of us!" Then the Lord, appears in the center of all the gopis. "taasaamaavirbhoochourih" (Srimad Bhagwat 10/32/2) . What other spiritual practice will be easier than this?


From "Sab Jagah Ishvar Roop Hai" in Hindi by Swami Ramsukhdasji

Why are people so foolish to dedicate their entire lives to sense gratification?

Sense gratification is a losing proposition. If you want to invest your energy in something that will give you a decent return on your investment, you would be smart to begin by scratching sense gratification off of your list. Why?  Because sense gratification has nothing to do with the actual self.  The body is simply a temporary covering in which the actual self is encased. Sense gratification is like sitting down for dinner and feeding your clothes instead of feeding yourself. 

Why are people so foolish to dedicate their entire lives to sense gratification? They do so because this is all they know. Due to being grossly miseducated (which is much worse than being uneducated) people just plain don't know any better. They've been receiving the wrong information about who they are from the very moment they were born, and they will continue to be cheated in this way until the moment of death. A truly sad state of affairs, don't you think? Therefore something has got to be done about it. There must be a wide scale program of global proportions to enlighten every single person on this planet in the science of the self in relationship with the Supreme Self.

If we can simply learn to think, speak, and act at every moment on the platform of the spirit-soul, this world will be easily transformed into a virtual paradise. The time to act is now. Kindly dedicate your life at this minute to this mission. 

 

मान-अपमान में सम रहें

याद रखो-मान-अपमान ‘रूप’ का या ‘शरीर’ का होता है और स्तुति-निंदा नाम की होती है; और ये रूप तथा नाम दोनों ही तुम्हारे स्वरुप नहीं है । देह का निर्माण माता के उदर में गर्भकाल में होता है और नाम जन्म के बाद रखा जाता है । नाम बदले भी जाते हैं । अतएव ये रूप और नाम आत्मा के नहीं है । तुम आत्मा हो; इस देहके निर्माण के पहले भी आत्मारूप में तुम थे, देहावसान के बाद भी तुम रहोगे । आत्मा का मान-अपमान और स्तुति-निंदा कोई कर नहीं सकता । अतएव मान-अपमान तथा स्तुति-निंदा से तुम न हर्षित होओ, न उद्विग्न । दोनों को समान समझकर उन्हें ग्रहण मत करो ।

याद रखो -सत्कार-मान और बडाई-स्तुति जितने प्रिय लगते हैं, उतने ही असत्कार-अपमान और निंदा-गाली अप्रिय लगते हैं और उसी के अनुसार राग द्वेष होता है । राग-द्वेष का परिणाम है – आध्यात्मिक दैवी सम्पदा का नाश और भौतिक आसुरी सम्पदा का विकास । जहां आसुरी संपदा का सृजन होने लगता है, वहाँ भाँती-भाँती के पाप, दुष्कर्म, दुःख, क्लेश, संताप आदि का होना-बढ़ना अनिवार्य होता है । यों मानव जीवन दुखों तथा नरकों का अमोघ साधन बन जाता है । तुम जरा ध्यान देकर सोचोगे तो यह प्रत्यक्ष दिखलाई देगा की तुम न देह हो, न नाम हो और यहाँ के मान-अपमान तथा स्तुति-निंदा ही नहीं, लाभ-हानि, जय-पराजय, शुभ-अशुभ, सुख-दुःख, मित्र-शत्रु, जीवन-मृत्यु आदि द्वंद्व केवल देह-नाम या नाम-रूप से ही सम्बन्ध रखते हैं । तुम इनको भगवान की माया मान लो या उनका लीलामय स्वरुप मान लो बस, तुम इनके ऊपर उठ जाओगे