Miscellaneous - Religion   

Submit to God

CHENNAI : The scriptures have prescribed various paths to liberation keeping in mind the different propensities of spiritual seekers and their capacity to follow these means. The difficulty of meditating on the Absolute Reality (the formless aspect of the Supreme Being), which is the method taught in the Upanishads is primarily because of man's identification with his body-mind-intellect personality due to ignorance of his true spiritual nature.

But, man is an embodied being and hence spiritual practices are designed to help the seeker overcome his mistaken identification and reorient to the Self (Atman) within.

In his discourse, Sri Goda Venketeswara Sastri said for meditating on the Absolute a seeker had to overcome attachment to his body. Besides, meditation on the formless aspect of the Supreme Being is difficult. Lord Krishna has also pointed out in the Bhagavad Gita, "Of course, the strain is greater for those who have their mind devoted to the Absolute, for attuning with the Impersonal Absolute is attained with difficulty by those who are centred in the body."

The Lord offered an alternative to Arjuna, "On the other hand, those who depending exclusively on Me, and surrendering all actions to Me, worship Me (God with form), constantly meditating on Me with single-minded devotion, those Arjuna I speedily deliver from the ocean of birth and death." Here the emphasis is on surrendering all actions to the Lord. Why? It is not possible for all to discharge all the duties as enjoined in the scriptures (Karma) perfecting which it is possible to develop devotion, which together will enable the seeker to evolve to the path of knowledge (Jnana).

When the aspirant surrenders his actions to God, the Lord grants the result taking into consideration his devotion. When the same action is performed with ego even if the devotee derives the same result he may not be able to enjoy it properly because only the Almighty knows what each individual is capable of enjoying. So if one develops the attitude of surrender to God while doing any action, the Lord who knows best will give whatever is good for one. This is applicable not only for deriving worldly benefits but also for the highest objective of human life — liberation from bondage.

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