Grieve Not

Grieve Not


Worshipful homage to the Eternal and Infinite, the all-pervading and indwelling. May Its grace divine be clearly seen and felt. For that Supreme Being is of the very nature of grace. And because that Supreme Being is all-pervading, it means that the presence of grace is at all times with us, all around us. We live, move and have out being in the Divine Grace.

Loving adorations to revered and beloved Holy Master Gurudev Swami Sivananda Maharaj, who was yet another manifestation of this grace. All the great saints and sages are verily proof of God’s grace. They are the very manifestation of that grace. They come into the human world as light in darkness, as pointers to the path of our own divine perfection, as an assurance of the ever-present availability of God’s grace to man.

Holy Master Gurudev Swami Sivananda was very fond of one expression, He used to frequently say: "Nil Desperandum! Never Despair! O man, people of hope, never despair, for grace is at hand. God will never abandon you. Even when you think you are finished, that you’ve lost everything, that all your efforts have been to no purpose that you are defeated, beaten, routed. Even when you think everything is lost, God’s grace comes and raises you up from defeat to victory, from abjectness to divine triumph". Grace therefore, is ever at hand. Hence the expression of Holy Master, "Never Despair, Nil Desperandum, Never Despair". Struggle on. Never give up.

Somewhere I came across a poem, which I thought was worthwhile to include in the little booklet, "Inspiring Thoughts". The heading of that poem is "Don’t Quit". It is when you think everything is lost, that help is nearest at hand, and such a thrice so-called defeat, will become victory. Grace is always at hand. Therefore, don’t quit. Arise, Awake and Attain Illumination. That is why you are here. That is your Divine Destiny.



DON’T QUIT

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest, if you must, but don’t quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won if he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow-
You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out-
The silver tint of the clouds no doubt,
And you can never tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So, stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit-
It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.

Be strong. Be determined. Plod onwards, "Heart within and God overhead". If thus you do, you will get help from God. In your heart have the right attitude and plod on. Exert, and ten from God, help will come.



What is the right attitude?

The wise sadhak always takes the positive approach. "Hope springs eternal in the human breast". This is the right approach. Hope is a divine quality. Determination is a divine quality, a manifestation of Shakti. Therefore, it is our duty to ourselves and to God to always keep our interior in a positive state.

To come to a foregone conclusion and say, "I can’t do something", is irrational. Unless you try first, only then you will know whether you can or can’t. So, give it a fair trial. Try your best. And if, after trying your best, you do not succeed in obtaining the objective, I can assure you that you have not failed. Success may not be yours, but you have succeeded. You have fulfilled a human beings duty.

You are made in the image of God. You are not a bundle of negativity. God is all that is positive, all that is auspicious, good, beautiful. There is no negativity in God. And you are made in His image. Do not belittle your divine nature. Positive and positive only. "heart within and God overhead". The right attitude will help you to succeed in your life.

What exists in reality is only the one non-dual Divine Essence. That alone is. All other things are passing appearances, momentary sense-perceptions, that have no enduring quality. Ever-changing, transitory, fleeting, passing appearances.

Do not unnecessarily create problems for yourself by focusing upon that which is temporary. Always focus on that which is permanent. Know this temporary , phenomenal experience for what it is and reject it. Do not be enslaved by it. Wake up!

Within each of us are two distinct faculties which, acting in combination, have a unique effect. Thought function and sentiment function. When these two are combined, they bring into being a third factor, a unique force, which in Yogic parlance is referred to as "Bhava".

Bhava. It’s uniqueness lies in the fact that it has the ability to bring about experience.

If this inner feeling, this bhava, is directed in a very intelligent and purposeful manner, it has the ability to bring about or transform itself into experience. What your bhav is, that you become. What your bhav is, that is what you experience in the outer world.

If you hold the bhava that the world is real, it becomes a reality. If you hold the bhava that the world is only a myth, just an appearance, a fleeting, changeful temporary appearance, then, it becomes just that, and it looses its power to hold you enslaved. It cannot do anything to you. Not that the world changes, it is what it is. But to you it changes. If you know it, it is only an appearance. You can dismiss it and not be bothered by it.

Think of yourself as a physical being, then you begin to function as a physical being. Think of yourself as a spiritual being, and everything about you will become spiritual.

If you have the bhava that you are divine, everything about you will slowly and gradually begin to become divine. This is the truth. As the bhava, so the experience. This is your unfailing asset. The world becomes to you as the bhava with which you behold it. You become to yourself, what bhava you hold about yourself.

Adi Shankaracharya said, "Let me live with bhava that everything that has happened to me is but an adoration of God, an adoration of the Divine".

Whatever I see, I behold nothing but God. In the stone, in the tree, in the mineral, in the metal, in the grossest thing conceivable, He is. He has taken all these names and forms. Nothing exists other than Him. Whatever I see, hear, taste, touch, smell, Whatever I perceive, is God alone. And, He is here, within the inwardness of my being. He is within and without. When I behold the universe, I behold God. One-without-a second, subtlest of the subtle, grossest of the gross, Everything.

No matter what we are encountering, we are encountering God, that one Being in all the multifarious colors, shapes, names and forms. This is God, That is God. All around me, through the senses, I am surrounded by that One-Unity-Alone. There is no diversity. This is only unity.

God is sporting in these innumerable names and forms. God alone is coming to me through all the five senses, sights and sounds, everything. That alone exists. We are all the time experiencing God and God Alone.

Thus, God becomes an ever-experienced reality. There is no barrier of time and distance between you and God. You are never apart. You and God are ever in a state of unity.

Firmly rooting yourself in this one truth proclaimed by our ancient sages, diversity ceases. As the bhava, so the experience.

Therefore, "Let things happen as they may", says the disciple, "Whatever it be, I shall endure it and bear it, because I am concerned not with them, but with the Supreme Divine Reality alone. All other lesser things are not important, not worthwhile becoming upset or worried about".

Thus, the lover of the Supreme One is ever in a state of serenity in all situations, under all conditions, no matter what happens to him or the world or anyone else, knowing, "God alone is real. God alone is important. God alone I take seriously. Other things I allow to happen as the Supreme Being wills. Thy will be done. Whatever be Your will, that, I accept. Thou art all-knowing, all-wise, omnipotent. In as much as You are doing everything with full wisdom, I am not here to question but t accept".

Accepting, Never agitated, Ever Serene, Knowing the world is in the hands of God, "Let things happen as the are. He knows. He has the power to do anything. He has the wisdom to know what is the right thing. And He does it with infinite love and compassion. Therefore, I do not question. Fully trusting in the all-wisdom, all-love, all-justice and all-ability of God.

Knowing that all experiences, pleasant or unpleasant, come to us through the operation of a just Law. And within the justice of this Law, lies concealed infinite love, infinite goodness, which is of Thy nature. For in this operation of this law, lies the seeds of our highest good. No experience is meaningless. No experience is purposeless. No experience is futile. This Law is our greatest good. It is constantly seeking to awaken us, to guide us, to make us aware of things we would otherwise be blind to. Thus, May our life be lived, with recognition of Your goodness and love in all the experiences You send to us.

"O Arjuna, thou grievest for that which should not be grieved for". Over the inevitable, thou shouldst not grieve. "There is birth, we have to accept it. There is death, we have to accept it. There is disease, we have to accept it. There is old age, we have to accept it. There is sorrow, we have to accept it".

We accept it because it is all part of God’s creation. And we love God and trust in His all-wisdom. We have faith that things will not occur if they are not meant to occur. And if things do occur, it means they were meant to occur. So, we have total trust, total faith. The devotee accepts the decision of the divine.

Yoga is skill in action. Do what the situation calls for. Do the needful. Try your utmost best. Never say, "No use, it is hopeless". Enduring all things with total detachment and dispassion, do the needful. Ours is to do and leave the rest in the hands of God. For all doings, are ultimately in the hands of God.

Accept life as it comes, knowing that there is not much you can do to change outside. Yet do that which is necessary, what one feels that one can do, and then, leave the rest in the hands of God, knowing that ultimately all things occur according to the great Cosmic Plan of which we have no knowledge. Thus, established in His wisdom, one is not shaken even by the greatest sorrow

God bless you. May He give you the wisdom, the vision and the strength to overcome all things.

Om Namo Narayanaya!

-Sri Swami Chidananda

(A Composite of Various Talks By H.H. Sri Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj - Compiled by Sri Swami Nityananda)