The Divine Lifestyle (7b)

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I WILL NEVER COMPLAIN AND HAVE NEVER COMPLAINED(Chapter 7)- continuation -'Take

failure if it comes, as a challenge to further effort : Analyze the

reason for your failure and profit by the experience. Learn as true

students, how to succeed in the turmoil of life and how to live without

causing pain to others and without suffering pain yourself.'(Teachings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba - pg 68)This

has been the formula that determined the success of all great people;

even movie stars prior to their success experienced failures. Jackie

Chan, Hong Kong's biggest movie star is said to make almost 50 million

US dollars a year. He endured very rigorous and brutal training program

for more than 10 years from 5 am to midnight at the infamous Academy of

Chinese Opera before he finally worked himself from a stunt man to a

legendary star.The

technological genius and father of mass production, Henry Ford, was not

spare either. Armed only with a limited schooling, he began his hard

life by being an apprentice mechanic, and at night slogged it at the

jewelers, cleaning clocks. A newspaper man named him once an ignoramus

and yet, in later years, his innovations developed the automobile

industry which changed the economic and social aspects of the world.Another

inventor who had only 3 months of formal education went through his

share of tiring times and left behind the world with 1300 US and

foreign patents. The story of Alva Edison is indeed an inspiration.He

failed 10 times from 1895 to 1911 but continued to endure all hardships

until the 11th attempt when Sun Yat Sen finally became, at the age of

46, the President of the Nationalist Republic of China.Each

inspirational story provides a testimony as to the ideal expected by

Bhagavan. If all these people continued to give excuses and complaints

of the constraints they experienced, such miraculous historical

achievements shaping destinies of millions would never have taken

place. It must become increasingly convincing that if the goals sought

by these great people in the material world requires the capacity to

endure for success, what more of the subtle and intrinsic goals

promised at the spiritual plane.'When

defeat or disappointment stares you in the face, you must not give way

to weakness or despondency. You must have muscles of iron and nerves of

steel. To reap life's rich harvest, you must have courage and

confidence. Be like lions in the spiritual field : rule over the forest

of the senses and roam fearlessly with full faith and be victorious!'(Teachings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba - pg 112)

The

advice is extremely useful as everyone must have faced defeat or

disappointment during some period of their existence. We must not let

the small pebble of a problem in the beginning change into a huge

boulder of an obstacle that frightens and limits one's potential. Stare

at the problem. 'Face the devil and finish the game.'Swami said,'Be like lions by ruling over the forest of the senses.'It

is interesting that herein lies the secret art of converting an

obstacle into an opportunity. The force of any individual is dependent

on how integrated his senses are. A curbed, disciplined and tamed mind

prevents thoughts from unnecessarily desiring any object. Hence, if

man's goals are high and noble, mind is constantly preoccupied in

trying to reach that well meant goal. This, thereby, prevents dynamism

and inspiration leakage through the senses. Such a man will be like

lions; armed with muscles of iron and nerves of steel, he will be like

a superman enduring pain to remove the pain and suffering of others.'Why

worry when God, in order to make a lovely jewel out of you, heats and

melts, cuts and carves and resolves your dross in the crucible of

suffering.'(The Embodiment Of Love - pg 232)The

very purpose of life is to evolve the soul, to transform from a greedy

lustful caterpillar to a lovely butterfly admired by the world for its

beauty and appreciated for its role in pollination and fertilization.

The transformation cannot take place unless a strict, rigid discipline

is enforced to curtail the sensuous thoughts from its overzealous

adventure in roaming and experiencing the outer world. Hence, any

student wishing to gain higher experience must come under the scrutiny

of a disciplined teacher. A medical student must rigorously be

subjected to a regime of punishing training under the wise supervision

of the senior doctors before he finally graduates. Severe reprimand and

sometimes harsh scolding leashes the wandering mind of the student so

that every detail of what is being taught is thoroughly understood. In

fact, the greater the potential shown by the student, the more will be

expected from the teacher. Blossoming of excellence in the students

under the sharp rays of wisdom emanating from the experienced teacher,

eventually turns out doctors fit to serve the world.If such a

severe training regime is bestowed to bring the best in normal material

fields of endeavor, then the expectation of the spiritual excellence

demanded must be one hundred fold more. Gold, in order to be made into

a beautiful necklace, must be subjected to strong, intense heat, beaten

and pounded to create the desired design. It is a beautiful analogy to

visualize whenever we suffer or even begin to complain. The discomfort

is the first sign that one is being put in the crucible and if we only

focus on the end product which is the beautiful necklace, this will

relieve us from the suffocating pain and the unexplainable suffering

experienced. Almost hearing the cries of devotees of all religions who

sometimes go through terrible hardships, Bhagavan says,'I stir, I knead, I pound, I bake, I drown you in tears. I have come to reform you, to transmute you.'(The Embodiment Of Love - pg 232)

It

is a process. The tear from the past habits, the push from the comfort

zones of our lives, the pull from complacency, the embrace of a new

environment, can all, become the basis of pain. Here the doctor in

Swami is assuring us that these difficulties are all a process to bring

out the best from us. It is here that we must carefully analyze. Does

this mean that every hardship that comes after severe penance an deep

devotion to their Gods, many untold suffering has continued to heap on

them. To think that there is a biased creator who dishes out

punishments and rewards to His devotees on whim and fancy is totally

unscientific and will be rejected by the modern youth.Without

the will of God, not a blade of grass can move. The touch of life is

what confers us experiences. It is very important to realize without

the soul in us, we will be reduced to a corpse waiting to be buried or

cremated. Blaming God for every hardship is like blaming the petrol of

our car in the accident and not the reckless driving. No doubt the

petrol is responsible for the car to move but it cannot be blamed for

the accident. The driver should accept the full responsibility. Hence,

God is like the petrol, without whose grace life will come to a full

stop but the intelligence in us must be responsible for extracting

life's experiences.Therefore, all hardships and suffering are

the boomerangs returning from the throws made possibly in the previous

life. It can be noticed that some suffer more when they take a

spiritual path. This only means that the karma is hastened so that the

soul with lesser luggage can travel faster to its final destination.Hence,

at one level to imagine that all hardships are the blessing of the lord

provides an avenue to sustain a positive attitude to face all obstacles

with ease. However, when finally we purge all our past tendencies and

exhaust our past karmas, our lives become free from selfish motives. A

hollow, selfless compassionate person whose only ambition is to serve

the teacher will now directly be stirred, pounded and baked by the

teacher to test and see if there are remnants of ego that will surface

and stain the personality. Hence will really be on those who have

exhausted all their selfish desires, purged out every negative tendency

and is completely selfless. But then, how do we know whether the

hardship is the result of the past karma or God's test? We don't need

to worry for both demands the same response from us. As long as every

hardship, however small or big, with a smile, stare at the hurdle and

deal with each without complaining, the problem refuses to pose as one.'Man

should maintain equanimity in pleasure and pain, loss or gain. Without

pain, you cannot enjoy pleasure. Sorrow is verily the royal road to

joy. Sufferings are the stepping stones that lead man towards virtuous

conduct. One should neither be elated by pleasure nor dejected by pain.'(Sanathana Sarathi May 1994 - pg 113)Bhagavan

throws us a life belt while swimming in the ocean riddled with unseen

sharks and other lurking danger. Maintain equanimity. All insults

received, bricks thrown, scolding heaped and curses pronounced, the

instruction implied is to gracefully ignore everyone of the them and

remain calm. Physical or mental injury, receive both with equanimity.

The teacher has demonstrated this personally to the world which denotes

a divine lifestyle. When there was a bout of negative criticism hurled

at Bhagavan, many lost faith and left whilst those who believed in the

teacher was anguished and hurt. Bhagavan never batted an eyelid and

performed his daily duties without addressing the issues for a long

time until at long last to pacify the devotees in one of the discourses

explained the course of events. He remarked that people out of jealousy

and envy are spreading false rumors and warned devotees not to listen

to such lies. The beauty of His actions where he continued to perform

all His obligations with so much of love and grace is really inspiring.

He did not sulk, moan and complain like what most would have done in

these circumstances. Whilst His actions provided a practical lesson on

how one should respond to critics who can disturb the mind, He

beautifully demonstrated how to endure a pain at the physical level.

More recently, Swami suffered a fall from an accident and had to be

subjected to a major surgery. Whilst he was recuperating from the fall,

He had another and broke this time His bone in the hand. These falls

caused great discomfort as perceived at least by those who witnessed

how during the period Swami walked. A short break and Swami was back

again, collecting letters and enquiring the welfare of others. Someone

asked, 'If He was divine, why did He fall in the first place?' Divinity

is not measured by the circumstances that we embrace but the response

we generate to every incident that happens in our life. In this case,

despite the pain and the discomfort experienced, the slow but steady

determination to ensure that the daily routine of His life is not

interrupted by the physical limitation, is yet another clear

demonstration to the level of endurance expected.'One

whose heart is filled with peace... whose speech is suffused with

truth, and whose body is dedicated to service, will be unaffected by

the torments of the Kali Age.'(Sanathana Sarathi July 1994 - pg 169)This

teaching is the key shield when practiced, that can weather all storms

and provide an insulating fence warding off unwanted circumstances. The

next time you are tempted to complain it could well be that your heart

and speech are not suffused with peace and truth respectively. It could

also mean that the body is very anxious to join some form of service

activities. If performed regularly, service shapes an attitude which

will never reduce the personality to complain but develop the capacity

to endure till we reach a Divine status.(From : THE DIVINE LIFESTYLE by DR SURESH GOVIND,With the consent of Sathya Sai Central Council of Malaysia)

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