What is our concept of God? That he is distant and aloof. What does Lord Krishna say about this in the Bhagavad Gita? God is having eyes and ears on all sides. (13.13) This means that God is watching and hearing everything all the time.
However, he would help only if we willingly seek his help. Suppose someone is wise and seeks his help by praying. What does God do? This example will illustrate. A student has not been paying attention to his studies. The annual exam comes and he goes to a temple and prays for a good result. What will God do?
Ignore him, because he has not done his duty of studying properly. But the boy has made a good beginning of seeking God’s help. Now he has to become dutiful. Then, God is sure to help.
What does God do to help us? Plenty. I will detail a few of His mercies. Starting with material objects, which all of us dearly want. God can give much more than what our karmapahalas ordain. Explaining this, we are all forever doing acts with our minds, words, and bodies.
These ‘karmas’ (acts) result in ‘karmaphalas’ (fruits of acts), as determined by the divine authority. God has assigned this task to them and they work under his superintendence. (9.10) Fruits come, as destined. We keep on getting both good and bad ones during our lives. If we want more good fruits, God has to be approached. He will help as Sanjay of the Mahabharata fame said, “Where there is Yogeshvara Krishna and where is Arjuna, there will be opulence, victory, wealth and dharma.” (18.78) There are two conditions: become a devotee like Arjuna and take shelter of God as Arjuna did. For us, it is praying for what we need and remaining in the shelter of God.
Remaining in the shelter of God means that we must regularly be doing some spiritual practices like chanting, having darshan of God’s murti and photo, not just one visit to a temple like the boy of our example did. Material objects can be many, such as wealth, fame, power, good health and success.
Money is important because money is a form of karmaphala. We are small souls, who are desirous of attention, the more, the better. Nothing is wrong with such a desire as long as it is deserved. When we take shelter of God, he arranges such attention. Power attracts quite a few and some use it to benefit many. There have been rulers, who like King Janaka, cited by Lord Krishna (3.20), lived a life of social welfare.
Who does not wish for success in whatever one takes up? God, if pleased, can ensure it by giving perfect guidance, because God knows, being omniscient, what will work in given circumstances.
The same is true about good health. God has already given the formula, which is: “Your eating, entertainment, sleeping and choice of activities and its extent should be appropriate only.” (6.17)
What is common in many of the above favours? It is the guidance of God. Success is ensured if we take guidance from God at all times. Then, as guided, we must act. If the task is beyond our capacity, then, God will help. How does God guide? He has many avenues. Mostly, God chooses a person close to us, who would communicate with us. Then, God gives intuitions. How does one know that it is from God? Try it and you will know the result. God also speaks during our sleep, mostly around 4 am. Very rarely does God speak directly, this happens when we become very dear to God.
Are we not extremely fortunate that we have been born in India? God is particularly kind towards this land and us Indians. God incarnates here, and he has a permanent presence here in the form of Lord Hanuman, who is forever ready to help us devotees. Lord Shiva is here to show by example, he keeps on chanting “Rama Rama”. We have the Bhagavad Gita — the ultimate book of knowledge. Our populace is mostly in the mode of passion and goodness compared to some other nations, which are ruled by the modes of passion and darkness. This shows in behaviour. Our people are generally tolerant, they do not get angry readily, we are for a peaceful existence. I used to be surprised to see people in the West getting angry readily, where there is so much material wealth. And we live mostly in joint families, where elders are looked after, not sent away to old age homes. Can we agree that God is extremely merciful, particularly to us Indians?
What are my experiences? I must admit that I have been very fortunate. God is not only favourable but extremely kind to me. The first thing I do when a problem comes is to seek guidance and help from God by praying sincerely and fervently. Sure enough, God communicates as only He can.
I get an intuition, which I cannot miss. Let me cite a finding made by Harvard about intuitions. They concluded that the intuitions of spiritualists are generally true, and the same is not true in the case of the common man. Believe me, mine are mostly true. I begin acting on the intuition and things begin to look better. Yes, sometimes results take long, in some cases quite long, but they come and pleasantly surprise me. What is the conclusion? Have faith that God is very merciful. His one interest vis — a — vis us is for the Creation to continue for millions of years. Is it not what we want?
Do we ever want the creation should be finished? The other is: that God very much wants to help us. It is said that you take one step towards God and he will take 99 towards you. If it was not so, the concept of God could not have lasted from time immemorial. Do not we embrace what benefits us?
(The writer is a spiritual teacher. Views expressed are personal)
