Our achievements in this mundane world is null and void!

Today, man is puffed up with pride for his scientific and technological advancements. He never thinks for a moment that the intelligence is really a gift from god and he has not acquired it by his own efforts, the thinking mind, the reasoning faculty, etc. are gifts from god. During our birth, have we brought the brain and nerves, the memory and thinking powers with us? No. All these are the grace of god. We have to use the god gifted powers for raising our conscious to God conscious! Instead we spend our entire energy for earning wealth, acquiring properties, leading a comfortable life without caring for the poor neighbors.

If we contemplate on the achievements of man in the world, it will not help him in the last moment when the life ebbs away from the body. None can come to his help. Even the best doctors will say, ‘we have tried our best, pray to god for his revival’. We have seen many billionaires left the world in spite of their wealth. Doctors can give only temporary relief but the final moment is in the hands of creator. Hence our education, wealth, family and fortune cannot release us from death! What man has learned in this world can be compared an atom. But the powers of deliverance lie in the hands of god. Whatever we enjoy, whatever we suffer, and whatever we experience is the results of our past deeds in this and previous births. There is no escape from this retribution. Even highly advanced sage and saints suffer pains at times which are the result of past births. But, they don’t suffer in the way we do. They are oblivious of the sufferings since they always identify themselves with the self-inside.

Here, I remember Shri Ramana Maharishi, who in the final moments suffered due to extreme pain in the hand due to carcinoma, which was in advanced stage. When a devotee enquired, whether there is pain? Shri Ramana contemplated a little and said, ‘there is pain but I am not in the pain! He never identified himself with the perishable body and hence he allowed a surgeon to perform the operation without any anesthesia! Ramana never bothered about the slicing of the carcinoma. He was peaceful, never bothered about the operation. Such advanced state of the Being is called, “Jeevan Muktha” – Self realized souls though they are living with a body!

Everyone must develop such extreme dispassion with the body. One day or other, the body will be cast in fire. Why not detach from the nauseating body from now onwards? Always remember that you are the INDWELLER and not the outer case. Do we identify ourselves with the dresses we wear? In a similar manner, the body is a dress to the soul. Whenever the body is worn out beyond correction, the soul simply relinquishes the body and wears a new one. This aspect we call as death and birth! At the same time, we must take care of the body so that we can use it for attaining Divine knowledge. Without a body, we cannot achieve god. We have heard about demigods or Devas who live in heaven for their meritorious actions. The moment, their enjoyments are over, they are pushed down to earth to live as a human being to work out for salvation. Hence the Devas really envy the human beings since the human beings get the chance to attain god! Hence even heaven is inferior compared to God-Realization!

Hence human beings must understand the grand opportunity granted to them for being born in this world as human. They must spend their entire time in the contemplation of god, leading righteous ways of living, adhering to truth, treating all beings as equal, loving all, hating none and serving the distressed! In fact, service to mankind is service to God. God really love those who serve their fellowman. Also, there is a proverb, “The hands that serve are holier than the lips that pray”. Hence do not waste the human life by engaging in animal deeds. Raise yourself by your own conscious and get yourself released from this miserable prison life on earth! Yes, we are all imprisoned by the “I” and “My” feelings always. Only by casting away selfishness and ego, we can raise in spiritual ladder!