In his spiritual pursuit, even if a person keeps trying using all his efforts to fix what is broken, it will always remain broken. If he would have been capable of fixing it by himself, then it would never have been broken in the first place. From his side he has always been trying to fix it, but has never been able to do so because possibly he does not know the method to do so. Moreover he does not possess the power to do so. How can the clay itself take the form of a pot? How can a house build itself? The hands of an accomplished professional other than oneself are needed to do these jobs .
The spiritual path is not an easy one. People try to progress rapidly on this path by themselves, thinking that it will be an easy one and that they have all that it takes to complete this journey. They imagine a path lined by pretty flowers and beautiful gardens, thinking that they will always experience peace along the way. Instead, in actuality they encounter a jungle filled with thorns .They still courageously try to continue walking which only results in further injury and hardship as they remain surrounded by wild creatures eager to harm them. Even Lord Buddha faced these hardships and distractions. No one can escape them. In one way or another, every effort that a person makes turns into a disappointment and he does not know what he did wrong, or what to do in order to succeed.
Ultimately, after having unsuccessfully tried everything in his power, the person becomes utterly disappointed and disheartened, and the reality dawns on him that is he alone and by himself is not capable of successfully negotiating this path. He starts wishing for somebody’s assistance. His heart cries out for help. It is at this stage that the divine power appears before him and expects that the person will surrender to him to mend what is broken and to take him where he wanted to go. This divine power however, does not do anything to help him unless he completely surrenders to it just like a small child stands helpless before his mother and only looks at her for fulfilling all his needs .
We are unable to concentrate fully, and incapable of effectively controlling our mind and heart. Even if we are able to control our desires, they can only get us to the gate of where we are trying to go. The gates will be opened by someone else and also, the guide who will show us the various things inside will be someone else. Therefore, unless we truly surrender to him and seek his help we will not be successful. Complete surrender to the God or guru is the remedy to every obstacle one faces in the spiritual path. A person who does not surrender to the guru and tries to do it all by himself remains stuck and never reaches his spiritual goal.
The best spiritual practice or sadhana is the one that our guru does for us. Our guru should keep thinking about us just like Lord Rama used to remember Bharat. In this process we just remain onlookers and our guru becomes the doer. Just like a little child who is weak and helpless, and does not even have words to convey his feelings, and who keeps looking at his mother, we should keep looking at our guru seeking his help.
This state of mind comes only when we acknowledge that we will not be able to do this task ourselves and that nobody but our guru and only our guru will be able to help us. Just like Lord Krishna came to Draupadi’s help only when she got disillusioned from everywhere else, and realized that Lord Krishna was the only one who could help her.
This world is pleasurable only for ignorant people. For people with true wisdom it is painful, until they get united with the divine grace, after which it becomes supremely peaceful and pleasurable. Somebody else, none other than our Guru, prepares us for this union, grooming us, giving us the appropriate attire as well as virtues for this union, but only when we completely surrender to him and accept his help.
We pray to our Guru Maharaj to instill this desire of complete surrender in us. We have yet surrendered only in words not in deeds and thoughts.
Translated from Kalyan Marg a collection of essays by Dr. Brijendra Kumar Ji, from an essay titled, “Sadhan ki Siddhi” by Dr. Ajay Bhardwaj.
