We all have many grouses against God for making us carry so much burden and pain in life. Right from the time we are born, we face problems after problems. Health issues, money, relationships gone sour and prickly, jobs, wife, children, family, boss, colleagues, power, name, fame, acceptances by others, why, even God is a problem and burden to us. When we look back, we feel we have been carrying unbearable weights on our backs all our lives and no one should suffer the way we do. Our expectations, increased desires and needs in life, the stress of modern life and competitive world, global financial crisis and crashing markets, corrupt politicians, all seem to particularly target our lives and make us miserable. How then can we carry our burdens easily?
We must remember that we are given only what we can carry. The universe never throws us into pits which we cannot climb out of. Before any problem is created, the solution is made available first. Divinity has devised a beautiful life for us. Even before the birth of a child, the milk to sustain its life is made ready in the mother’s body. God always provides for us needs but our greed is so much that we commit blunders which cause our suffering. When we plant thorny cactus, we cannot expect lotuses to bloom from them. We are responsible for our own problem – our actions of this life or previous lives have sown the seeds for which we reap the fruits today.
There was a young man who felt that all was hopeless and lost in his life. He called upon God to help him. God appeared in front of him and said: Come with me and place your burden in this room. And go through that door and pick up any burden of your choice which you feel you can carry easily. The young man was happy and went quickly into the room and placed his burden down. Then he went through the other door and looked around at the bundles of burdens placed there. Some of the bundles there were huge. He could barely see them halfway through. He looked around and finally picked up a tiny one placed in a corner and said: O God, I chose this one. I can bear this one. God smiled and said: My son, this is the one you brought in with you!
Anytime we feel we are carrying too heavy a burden and life has been playing games with us, we should look around and see the lives of others. We will understand that as compared to all others, our lives are quite good and that we are blessed. Let us stop whining and learn to be grateful for all the mercies bestowed on us.
There is another way of facing burdens in life. We can become so large within ourselves that the burden placed on us insignificant. A student grumbled to his Master about his burdens in life. The Master asked him to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and drink it. The student took a sip and spat out as it was unbearably salty. The Master then asked the student to take another handful of salt and throw it into a lake. Then he asked the student to drink the water. The water was cool and sweet to taste and the student drank his fill with gratitude. The Master explained to the student: The pain in life is like handful of salt you threw into the glass or lake now. It remains the same. No more or no less. But the amount we taste depends on the container we put it into.
We must enlarge our sense of being. When we sit in meditation, we lose identification with the body and senses and raise our consciousness to higher dimensions. We become vast from within. When we meditate regularly, our container becomes large and we can hardly taste the pain which is in it. Regular and disciplined japa with SitaRam Mantra and meditation helps us to carry our burdens easily and enlarge our being. So we hardly taste the pain in our lives. Let us learn to bear our burdens with ease.
