Thursday, December 20, 2007

Me and God

Few days back, a beggar was at the door with the usual irritating, elongated alms mongering “A…mma…..tha…YE…! ” . When I gave some snacks, the beggar refused and was asking for money instead.

Is it not natural to feel furious and shout at beggar? After all that person is begging, so whatever I give should be accepted gracefully. Otherwise I have a right to shoo him out of my sight, right?

Now let us analyse my prayers to God.
I go to the God’s door (pooja room, temple and other such religious places) and start begging for comforts and more comforts. To make sure that God is listening to my prayer, I blow conch, ring the bell, sing bhajans etc. It may be terribly irritating as I normally do these things in the early morning or the evenings.

Should I not receive whatever is handed to me gracefully or face the ire of God?

I am quite acquainted with a pushcart fruit vendor. Once he asked me few thousand rupees sighting some urgency. There were two choices for me –
a) Give him the required money.
b) Tell him the inability to spare (in whatever fashion).

But I chose the third way. I wanted to be sure that he really in need of money. So I told him “I will give next week”, though I had money with me.

I think this was very fair and hope you all agree with me.

Since I do meditation every day it is safe to assume that I am quite acquainted with God. So for some extra favours I pray in a special manner with ‘homa, havan’, piligrimmage and such other methods.

Is it not fair on the part of God to take his/her/its own time to assess my requirements and then decide to grant the favours asked for ?

In another incident, my house maid who normally informs whenever she is unable to come, didn’t turn up for two days. On the third day, she came and told she need five thousand rupees immediately as her daughter is in a hospital ICU. I arranged the required money through ATM at that instance.

Now I was thinking that this five thousand rupees ‘gaya’ forever. Knowing her debt-ridden life it is impossible to ask her to return the money. My mind was saying “Aa..re! why she came to me only and how on earth I was available at home on that moment. I could have used that money for this and that….”
Is it not natural to think this way that too when I have unpredictable stream of income?

Though I am fairly regular in my meditations, prayers and poojas there are many occasions when I just don’t do any of them. Of course I can give any number of reasons for it.

There are many instances in my life when I have received the urgent help the very moment it was needed. I am sure every one will have such instances.
Does it not prove that God fulfils everyone’s need, no matter what he/she does?

Couple of months back my brother gifted me a laptop. (I needed it but had not spelt it to him.) It was a latest model with latest software loaded. When I went through the manual, I found it didn’t had certain optional items ( many of them are fancy), my mind started thinking “when he has given this latest thing, could have included all those options.”

If I look at all the things I have received in my life, I think I am always adding some rejoinders constantly like the one in the above example.

Do you agree that if I go on adding more ‘wants’ to all my needs (fulfilled and yet to be fulfilled) even God will turn away and pretend that he/she/it did not notice me?

For your rumination.

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