The secrets to sowing the seeds of luck in our lives
Self-judgment is like weeds in the mind that obstruct the harvest of joy. Some people say, “I will never be able to succeed.”
Here, the seed of failure has already been sown. We have to remove all these weeds from our minds. Unless we switch our attitude from grumbling to gratitude, and unless we consider ourselves lucky, the seeds of misfortune will remain there. Our judgmental self is a hurdle between us and good luck.
We judge ourselves, and then we judge the time. “My whole past was wretched. The future may also not be good. I have no luck with money! I have no luck in relationships! I have no luck with jobs! I have no luck with anything!” Let us take out such beliefs completely from our minds. Say, “I surrender to the Divine, to the Master. I am very lucky. Now I have found the path.” Start here. Believe that you are lucky, and sow the seed of luck. This is the beginning.
Mother Nature never gives us problems that we cannot solve. We already have solutions to the challenges that we face. Let us stop eternalising problems. This is one of the ways to stop attracting more problems in life. Don’t say, “Oh, I always have problems. I only fall sick.” Such strong convictions become our ‘sankalpas’ or intentions. These negative convictions are like weeds. Let us clear our minds of these weeds.
What is the importance of a sankalpa (intention), and how to strengthen it?
The mind is full of sankalpa and vikalpa (imagination, fancy). Each work gets done through sankalpa. Even the act of moving our arm is preceded by the sankalpa in the mind. If twenty sankalpas arise in the mind, then nothing gets done. When the mind is peaceful and restful, then our sankalpa becomes powerful.
The sankalpa of a weak mind is weak, and that of a strong mind is strong. We can make our minds strong by sadhana (spiritual practices) and knowledge. Then our sankalpas will also become stronger. The wise make one sankalpa in fifty days, whereas the ignorant make fifty in a day.
How to fulfil a sankalpa that seems almost impossible?
In The Art of Living, we have this habit of making the impossible possible. If there is hope of fulfilment of our sankalpa, we have to pay more attention to it. When people thought, “Oh, to organise a single event with a thousand sitarists is impossible.” It is because every sitar master has their own style and they direct a group of 15 to 20 sitarists at the most. We were talking about a thousand sitarists coming together. People said, “It is impossible.” However, we made it possible.
So, we have to dream the impossible and work towards it. It may not be easy. But if we think it is impossible and we cannot do it, and we don’t have that much enthusiasm to put effort towards it, then better do what we think is possible. Then we have only the Vishnu Shakti. We maintain whatever we have. Brahma Shakti inspires us to take on challenges. hen our body and mind are in good shape, when we are detoxified, both mentally and physically, we get only good thoughts.
That is why Rishis (sages) in the past always said, “May good thoughts, good intentions dawn in our minds. May all our minds be inspired.” It is plural. The prayer is not, “Only I shall receive good thoughts.” No. They wished, “Hey Ishwar, give all of us good thoughts.”
Let our intellects be soaked in the Divinity, in the pure energy. It is considered to be the highest prayer because our actions can only follow our thoughts. And our thoughts emanate from our brains and our intellects.
If our intellect is in good shape, automatically our thoughts become good. So, soaking our intellects in the Divinity, in the eternal cosmic energy, gives rise to the right thought at the right time. Thus, our sankalpas get fulfilled. Sankalpas need the backing of three components in life.
Factors that determine good luck
Three components in life determine good fortune. The first is effort. Nothing happens without our effort. So we have to put our effort. Will everything happen only through our effort? No. Suppose we make the effort of sowing the seed of a mango tree today, and we want fruits from it tomorrow. It is not going to happen. It will take its own time. Here comes the second component, ie, time.
Everything has a right time. Similarly, there is a right time for taking an action as well. Suppose in winter we sow the seed of a mango tree, and then rue, “Oh, nothing has sprouted!” Will it make sense? The seed of a mango tree will not sprout in winter, unless it has been sown inside a greenhouse.
There is a right time to act and a right time to reap the fruit of action as well. So, time is the second factor. The third factor is the hand of a higher power or grace. Grace keeps room for all possibilities. Let us give a chance to miracles. Logically, we may think that something is impossible, but many times it happens successfully. We all have experienced this in life. A gift from the higher power is full of all possibilities.We can club all three components as perseverance, patience, and possibilities. This is knowledge.
We cannot say at midnight, “I made all the efforts. I removed the curtain, but the sun rays are not coming in.” No, the sun will only come at the right time.
And if we shut all the blinds even when the sun is out, we will not receive the light. So, all three components have to match. For example, in a mobile phone, we need a charger, a SIM card, and a signal at once. If the phone is charged but the SIM card isn’t there or the range isn’t there, then the phone will not work.
If we put effort at the right time, we will succeed. However, sometimes, we put a little effort, and we succeed. This is because the grace is coming to your help.
For example, someone hasn’t put any effort, but they won a jackpot. When time and grace work together, we call it luck. We say, “I don’t know how it all happened!” In a devotee’s life, this happens more often — the right time and grace come together.
When we put in a lot of effort, but there is very little support from nature, that is bad luck. When there is little effort but a lot of support from the Divine, it is good luck.
We sow a seed and we cover it with soil with the faith that it will sprout at the right time. We don’t dig the soil every day to see whether it has sprouted or not! The seed will never sprout in this way. Plant a seed, and that is it. When the sprouting has to happen, and if it is the best thing for us, it will happen.
