 |
Chapter 9
THE SOVEREIGN SCIENCE OF SERVICE TO HUMANITY: YOGA OF SURRENDER
46. The Whole Life Can Be Infused With God
24. After all, who is to decide whether somebody is bad or not? Even if you come across a wicked man, look upon him as the Lord. That will transform him into a saint. Do not ask, “Why should we make unreal suppositions?” Who can be certain that the man is really wicked? It is said that ‘good men, being good, find goodness everywhere, but that is not true.’ Should it then be accepted that only what you see is true? Are we then to suppose that only bad men have the means to know the true nature of the creation? Why not say that there is nothing wrong with the world, but it appears bad to you as you yourself are bad? Look, the creation is but a mirror. You will see in it your true image. It is the eye of the beholder that determines the nature of the world. Therefore, look upon the world as good and sacred. Let this attitude inform even your ordinary actions. Then you will witness a miraculous change. This is what the Lord intends to convey: ‘जें खासी होमिसी देसी जें जें आचरिसी तप। जें कांहीं करिसी कर्म तें करीं मज अर्पण ।’ (‘Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer as sacrifice or gift, whatever austerity you perform, dedicate all that to Me.’)[1] 25. When I was a child, my mother used to tell me a story. It is an amusing story, but it contains a profound truth. There was a lady who had resolved to dedicate everything she did to Lord Krishna. After meals, she would clean the floor with dung[2] and throw the lump of dung out of the house saying, “Krishnarpan.” (I dedicate it to Lord Krishna.) The lump would then reach the idol in the temple and stick to it. The priest got tired of cleaning up the idol again and again. At last he discovered that it was all due to that lady; as long as she was alive, it was impossible to keep the idol clean. One day she fell sick. Death seemed round the corner. She dedicated death also to the Lord. At that very moment, the idol of the Lord cracked and fell to pieces. A heavenly chariot came to take her to the heaven. She dedicated even that to the Lord. That then dashed against the temple and was smashed up. The moral of the story is that heaven is of no value before the love for the Lord. |
 |