To begin with, accept the ‘Karmaphala’ principal’ — “what we sow we reap”
We have to make suitable efforts to do that. God is unlike our parents, who are obliged to help, especially when we are quite young. In the case of God, we have to deserve His help. If it wasn’t so, God would be obliged to help everyone. Even parents stop helping as children become self-supporting, except to guide, as required. Therefore, we have to get rid of this false impression that God will help no matter what. Yes, He will if we become deserving. In this article, I will detail some thirty ways we can successfully do that, and which are mostly simple.
The first one has to be following dharma because it is most dear to God. God even incarnates to re-establish dharma. (The Bhagavad-Geeta 4.7) Dharma is the bedrock upon which the creation is based. Don’t we know what social and other norms are? Then, we must not cross their ‘Maryada’ (limits). The second one is to be dutiful because this is the only right given to us. (2.47) Goodness must follow in our behaviour. We must be headed towards purity, as practised by yogis. (5.11) We should try to remember God because He is everything. (7.19) This will lead to ‘dhyan’ – the process of meditation.
Now I take up processes involving others. The first one has to be charity. All of us have something to spare, whether material objects or personal time. Human birth demands that we become useful to others. How else can the creation go on? We must help/serve others and others will do likewise.
The next group of acts are when we directly address God. The first one has to be praying, which comes to us naturally, whenever we are in trouble; even children pray when fearful. We should express our thanks if God responds. Shouldn’t we be highly obliged? If God still does not respond, it is time to seek forgiveness and begin repenting for sins done in the past. Shouldn’t we wonder about God’s non-response and what we must do to deserve His help? Gradually, we must begin giving our minds and intelligence to God. What does this mean? Simply stated, God must be brought into our psyche; we must begin to think about God.
By now we would have become humble enough to do ‘namaskar’ to God giving up our highly bloated ego; visit a nearby temple to have ‘darshan’ of God. These places are generally highly charged with spiritual energy, which will help us to become God-conscious. We can begin worshipping God in our homes. We can begin by choosing a photo of God in whatever form attracts us the most; God has multiple forms. Similarly, we can start chanting God’s name or mantra, whatever appeals to us. All these will lead to our becoming inquisitive about God’s instructions, as detailed in bona fide scriptures like the Geeta. We can try to do whatever God wishes us to do (16.24), which will ensure God’s pleasure. By now, we would have become highly deserving of God’s help, because we in effect would have taken God’s shelter.
This takes us to another level. God takes charge of our lives; He begins to use us as His ‘nimitta’ (instrument). Our lives will begin to become greatly fulfilling. God will get everything done and we will get credit. We will become very useful and highly satisfied. ‘Tapasya’ will begin to come naturally, which will qualify us for more gains, because in the spiritual domain also, the ‘karmaphala principle’ works, the only difference being: in this case our acts are spiritual. The word ‘yogi’ will no longer be a distant concept, we will become one. Sky is the limit then, as Sanjaya of the Mahabharata fame has described, “Where there is the yogeshwar Shri Krishna and where there is the archer Arjuna (in our case us), there will be ‘saubhagya’ (opulence), victory, wealth and definite principles (morality)”.
(The writer is an educator, views are personal)
