Msg for the Day

[Guest guest]

Sri Ramana: "Now, I will ask you a question. When a man gets into a

train, where does he put his luggage?"

 

Devotee: "Either in the luggage compartment or in the luggage van.

 

Sri Ramana: "He doesn't carry it on his head or in his lap while on

the train?"

 

Devotee: "Only a foolish would do so."

 

Sri Ramana: "It is a thousand times more foolish to bear your own

burden once you have undertaken the spiritual quest, whether by the

path of knowledge or devotion."

 

Devotee: "But can I relinquish all my responsibilities. all my

commitments?"

 

Sri Ramana: "You remember the temple tower? There are many statues on

it, aren't there? Well, there are four big ones at the base, one at

each corner. Have you seen them?"

(Here Ramana Maharshi is talking about a tower. At the base of the

tower, on each corner is a statue giving an appearance that the

statues together bear the weight of the tower, when in reality the

tower bears the 4 statues.)

 

Devotee: "Yes."

 

Sri Ramana: "Well, I tell you that the huge tower is supported by

these four statues.

 

Devotee: "How is that possible? What does Bhagawan mean?"

 

Sri Ramana: "I mean that to say that is no more foolish than saying

that you bear all the cares, burdens and responsibilities of life.

The Lord of the universe bears the whole burden. You only imagine

that you do. You can hand over all your burdens to Him. Whatever you

have to do, you will be made an instrument for doing it at the right

time. Do not imagine that you cannot do it unless you have the desire

to. It is not desire that gives you the necessary strength. The

strength is the Lord's."

 

Hari Aum !!!

[Guest guest]

Thank you Umakanth for that beautiful story. People not only fail to

realise that God bears our burden, but also think only what they want

to think. They do only what they want to do.

 

There's a story that depicts this :

Once a man was sitting under a tree by the street on a new moon

night. He was playing with his ring, and he suddenly lost it. He

immediately got up, and started searching for the ring. There was a

street lamp a few yards away, and he was searching under the street

lamp, where it was bright. Soon another man passed by that way, and

asked him what the matter was. He replied that he lost the ring, and

hence the other man also joined him in his search for the ring. A 3rd

man passed by that way, and he too enquired wht the matter was. He

then asked, "Where exactly did you loose the ring?"

 

The first man replied, 'there under that tree".

The 3rd man asked, "What under that tree? Then why are you searching

here?"

The 1st man replied, "Because it's dark there, and only here there is

light and I can see."

 

When we read the above story we feel, how foolish the man is for

searching in a different place, just b'cos there's light there, and

he wants to search there. He doesn't realise that he will find the

ring only where it was lost, and not in places he wants to search. So

too we yearn for happiness and Bliss, but look for it in

materialistic things, where it does NOT exist.

 

We search for happiness in materialistic things, because this is

where we want to search, owing to the outward nature of the mind and

the senses.

 

Our Guru is like the 3rd man who enlightens us the real nature of

things, and teaches us that we need to search, where it exists, and

not in places where we feel like searching.

 

On one occassion Ramana Maharshi told a devotee:

"When you travel in a first class compartment in a train, you just

inform the guard to wake you up when your destination arrives. You

then close the doors and sleep, trusting that the guard will wake you

up, when your destination arrives.

 

So too, in the path of spiritual journey, Guru is like that guard,

who will take care of you during the journey. If only you could trust

your Guru, at least as much as you trust that guard, your only

business is to close the doors and sleep."

 

The Guru will take care of the rest.

 

Hari Aum !!!