Instead of allowing tricksters to take advantage of you, why don’t you decide to do something good for society?

The day you put into practice what we were discussing today, you become devotees. Devotion is holding on to God even if life offers you an adverse deal. Joys and sorrows combine to give you an exciting life. If your life is only joy, you will soon grow weary of it. Only when you are in the heat of summer, will you come to appreciate the shade of a tree. If you are served only sweets, you will start hating the very sight of sweets after sometime.

Change is the law of life. The farthest end of North is the South, and vice versa. When you experience joy continuously, you reach misery. When you are embroiled in miseries for long, you attain joy. Joy and sorrow complement each other.

Siddhartha led a princely life. When he encountered old age, illness and death on a single-day trip outside the palace, he renounced the palace, seeking the inner meaning of life. Thus emerged the Buddha, the Enlightened One. This is an instance of extreme joy leading to sorrow and resulting in enlightenment.

Arunagirinatha, who led the life of a libertine, decided to end his life, as there was no cure for the disease he contracted. Lord Muruga liberated him. This is an instance of extreme sorrow leading to the joy of enlightenment.

Regardless of whether sorrow led to joy or joy led to sorrow, the moment you reach your destination, you have become a Gnaani. And that is the aim of life. Being rich or poor, is a role you play in this drama of life. Being healthy or sick is another role you have been assigned.

Nothing is constant. Change is the only thing permanent in life. Your appearance changes as you grow, doesn’t it? So, never bother about anything.

The heat of summer causes flowers to droop. Continuous rain causes the flowers to decay. Only if the sun and rain blend will the flower be flower. Balancing of life is very relevant. This is the blessing of life.

The problem with persons is, they would have been praying to a painting of the Lord in the form of Pazhani Muruga. The moment some sorrow befalls them, some dim-witted person would advise them to discard that painting. These so-called devotees would not even stop to reminisce on all those years they were happy; they would immediately donate the painting to some temple. Where did their ‘devotion’ disappear?

The highest form of devotion is illustrated in ‘Abhiraami Andhaadhi’: ‘I am not concerned about what life has to give me, be it joy or sorrow. I have surrendered myself to You, O Lord. Whatever I have is all Yours. Even if my boat capsizes, it is Your decision to rescue me or let me drown’ (‘Nanre variginum, theedhe vilaiginum, naan arivadhu onrumillai. Ini nadukkadalil veezhginum enai karai yetrudhal Nin Thiruvulame!’)

Manickavachagar endorses, ‘When You captivated me, my Lord, my possessions also became Yours. You can decide everything for me. I am Yours; You are my Owner’.  (‘Anre enadhu aaviyum udamaiyum ellaamum Kunreyanayaai Ennai aatkondapodhe kondilaiyo? Ini nanre seivai! Pizhaiye seivai! Naane adharku Naayakame!’)

A child may cuddle a doll or bang it on the wall, depending on its frame of mind. If the child is in a happy mood, it will dress up the doll, feed it and take good care of it. If the child is irritated for some reason, it will pound the doll. The doll has not asked for any particular treatment. If it is tattered, the child will not have anything to play with, the next day.

We are dolls in the hands of God. If anything happens to us, it is His loss. It is in His interest that He takes proper care of us. Why must we be concerned? If you understand this, you will not be concerned about anything. Whatever happens to us is His responsibility. He is our Lord. He is our owner.

You feel insecure only because you are not aware of this. Your insecurity is caused by the expectations you have of this world. Never expect anything. ‘Good and bad are your making’ (theedhum nanrum pirar thara vaara). No one can stop you from being happy, if you set your mind on it. And no one can dissuade you from feeling miserable, if you want to lament your ‘fate’. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Start realizing from this minute that there is nothing called joy, nothing called sorrow; these are fabrications of your mind.

If you are happy, you enjoy the cool breeze wafting through the trees, the stars twinkling down at you. If you are burdened with some misery, you feel annoyed if someone speaks of nature’s bountiful blessings.

The sky, the moon, the stars, the tender breeze – none of these has changed. It is your mind that derives happiness and sorrow from the circumstances. The surroundings reflect the present state of your mind. There is nothing more to it.

It is up to you to transform your mind. Look upon everything that God gives you as a blessing.

Thoughts direct your life. Think on these lines. Devotion is no-expectation. It is not holding on to God when you are terrified or just because you assume that as the only way to get what you want.

Appar was thrown into a limestone furnace. Yet, he was chanting the Lord’s name, ‘Lord Siva is my constant companion. There is nothing to fear’ (‘Anjuvadhu yaadhonrum illai. Anjavaruvadhum illai. Natrunaiyaavadhu Namachivaayame!’)

The demon-king Hiranyakasipu threatened to kill his son Prahlada, because the child was forever chanting Lord Narayana’s name. But the child was firm in his devotion to the Lord. If you can hold on to the Lord like Prahlada did, then you will be acclaimed an ardent devotee.

If you cling firmly to the Lord’s Lotus Feet even if attempts are made to kill you, by elephants engaged to trample you, or by throwing you into a limestone furnace, then you will also be acclaimed as Appar. Till then you are lower. (Baba plays on the pronunciation of the word Appar: ‘upper’)

(Baba's reply for other questions continues next week....)

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