Miscellaneous - Religion   

Rapport with the Lord

CHENNAI : Ignorance and lack of discrimination cause one to seek the glitter of worldly objects and attach importance to relationships. Neither material possessions nor people being permanent, such an attachment cannot give lasting happiness. Real happiness lies in seeking what is enduring. Only God is our permanent relationship. To instruct these truths, God reveals His nature. How he reveals to individual souls depends on the individual's karma.

"Thiruvachakam", the magnum opus of saint poet Manikkavachakar, manifests his fervent Bhakti to Lord Siva, and is capable of easily inspiring an infectious devotion to the Lord. The extremely personal rapport he had with the Lord who blessed him with His divine vision and left him with a promise to come back later, had enhanced his soul's yearning for the Lord, said Sri T.V. Venkataraman in a lecture.

It shows that understanding leads to the unique experience of the divine when the distinction between good and bad, real and unreal, etc., becomes clear. The more one plunges into the soul, the more grateful he is to the Lord, and is unable to do anything in return for the overwhelming compassion of the Lord.

Illness, disease, pain or misery, (result of karmic liabilities) sometimes become the cause for accelerating the soul's spiritual progress.

Kunti in the Mahabharata, who was unwilling to part with Lord Krishna, wished to be unhappy, as it would be a ploy to constantly remember the Lord. It is easy to forget God when one is in the midst of luxury. Karaikal Ammaiyar wished to witness the cosmic dance of the Lord and constantly meditate on Him; and if destined for further births, she longed to be born with a consciousness that never forgets the Lord. Persistent yearning for the Lord is one kind of spiritual attainment. The other is to learn to accept pain.

That the benefits of learning should be used in the service of God is the truth that this saint reinforced. He sang hymns extolling the Lord who is the essence of Jnana, and is the only knowledge to be known.

Service to God being his only motto, his personal equation with the Lord asserts beyond doubt his sincere devotion, and his desire to abide by truth at all costs.

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