What God wants from man?
Gain the Lord!
Come back to Me, says God!
What God really wants from us, the human beings? It is a tricky question. We can answer what man wants from god and not the other way round! Then the second question is “Why creation”? None has a straight answer. But the sages and saints assert that it is a mere play of god; we can also term it as a dream of god. Then the very next question that arises in the mind is, ‘why god subjects man to troubles and travails? It is a riddle. Swami Ramatirta, who was advanced in spiritual wisdom, told a story to devotee,’ a recluse was going to some place. There, some unruly elements started abusing the recluse and started beating him. The recluse swooned and fell down on the road. After some time, some more saints passed through the place, lifted the recluse and started pouring water in his face to revive him. The recluse opened his eyes and saw the saints. The saint asked him, ‘whether he recognizes them? The recluse replied, ‘those who have beaten me is now tending me! The idea behind the story is simple; one who beats and one who receives the beatings are one and the same. There is no difference at all.
Thus Swami Ramatirtha told his devotees, ‘All are god’s play and god is not different from the man who suffers the turmoil and troubles! Hence it is not correct to think that god inflicts injuries or troubles on others since god is not different from others. This requires lot of wisdom to understand!
Now let us turn to the first question, “what god wants from us? The answer is straight and simple. He wants us to come back to him since we all have parted from him. As the rivers rush back to the sea from which they parted (The rays of the sun evaporate sea water and they ascend to the sky as clouds and on cooling, they pour as rains which combined with many such rain drops become a trickle and then a stream. More such streams combined together and gather speed and start rushing back in the direction of the sea. This is how we all are parted due to the action of Maya or illusion and we suffer birth and death in this mundane world. Our aim is to reach back our source which is God!
All created beings are enveloped in deep delusion. They consider their body as themselves. The real fact is, ‘bodies are simply dresses for the soul. Once the bodies are worn out due to age and disease, the soul chooses a new body. This is birth. Likewise we are all entangled in the cycle of births and deaths. Only a preceptor can open our eyes to wisdom and let us proceed towards Godward path instead of worldly existence. All prayers, chants, visiting churches and temples are for the sole aim of realizing the divine within. But we foolishly seek wealth and progeny, jobs and promotions, health and happiness from god which is ulterior compared to self-realization. We have progressed to human beings after wading through many inferior animal species. Hence, we should never waste the precious human life in eating, drinking, sleeping and mating. All animals and birds eat, drink, sleep and mate. Then why is human superior than animals? It is his thinking capacity and discrimination and choice making faculties which differentiate him from the animals. With those superior powers, we should try to reach god and not waste our time in mundane existence!
This is what god wants from us! Animals cannot work out for their salvation. Even the Devas cannot attain salvation unless they get the precious human birth. In fact, heaven is a temporary residence for Devas where they enjoy the fruits of past merits. Once their enjoyments are complete, they are pushed back to earth to work out for their salvation! Such is the value of human birth. Utilize the body to reach god. Even if we enjoy carnal pleasures for many years, our mind won’t get satisfaction. The mind will crave for more and more such pleasures. It is like pouring fuel on fire. The flame will rise more furiously and demand more and more fuel. The best way is to stop feeding the fire. Similarly, stop catering to the desires of the mind. When you stop feeding the sensory mind, it will die in due course. The quelling of the mind is the ultimate achievement for a spiritual aspirant. Once the mind is subdued, Divine will automatically occupy the vacated space!
