We work endlessly to satisfy our material desires and longings. But there is no end to the amount of desires that arise in us and there is no fulfillment or contentment down this path. We are finally driven to seek God for Himself and not merely the endless gifts that He grants us. We start living a life based on ethics, principles and dharma; learn to look into ourselves and correct ourselves. We do our work honestly and with sincere efforts and accept work as part of worship or way of approaching God. We learn to let go of past and future and live in the present now, doing the best we can in the given circumstances. But there is always the lingering question in the mind: In whatever I am doing, how well am I progressing and how long does it take to reach the goal?
All of us have a marked tendency to follow certain routes to God as per our past karma, mental and philosophical inclinations. Some of us live in the eternal knowledge of the soul and experience the sanctity of time. Our habits of dwelling on past and future reduce and so do the related stress and tension. Some of us like to surrender all unto God and Guru. We trust the Guru to show us the way and initiate us in right practices and regulate our speed of development. Many of us like to take our progress in our own hands and work on ourselves. We follow practices of spiritual evolutionary development which helps us to overcome our karma and transform the inner self to become receptive to receiving the higher truths and wisdom. But none of these paths or ways still answer our question: How quickly will I progress and how soon do I reach the goal. Let us look at this story of the old monk and old woman to get the answer:
Long ago, an old monk went on a pilgrimage to a scared spot in the mountains. As was the practice in those days, he walked the journey and begged for alms on the way for his food and rested in any convenient spot at nights and continued the next day. He was old and weak and continued on his journey through dusty roads and dark forests -- all alone. He had traveled for months and finally he saw the mountains at a distance. A little further he noticed an old woman working in the fields. So he went up to her and asked: Please tell me, how much time I will take to reach the sacred spot in the mountains.
The woman just looked at him and grunted and went back to her work. He repeated the same question thrice and the old woman responded in the same way. He concluded that the old woman was deaf and continued on his way. After he had walked a bit, the old woman called out aloud: You need five more days to reach that spot in the mountains.
The old monk was annoyed and said: I thought you were deaf. But you are not. Why did you not answer me before?
The old woman replied: O Master, when you asked the question, you were standing still. I had to see how fast you were walking, your pace of walk before I could determine how soon you would reach the place!
Most of us are in the same position as the old monk. As we move on in life, doing our best and living a good ethical life, we wonder why no one comes to help us or guide us. We are not aware that others are assessing us in order to help us. In order for them to understand us, our strength and determination, they need time. Sometimes it is a few months, sometimes it is several years. So we should not get discouraged but keep moving on steadily.
When we have a Param Guru to help and guide us, we have a competent and experienced person to guide us and assess us in our development. We must increase the intensity of our desire for God and be regular and steady in our practices and increase our love and surrender to God and Guru. When we do our SitaRam mantra, meditation and follow the teachings of the Guru, the Grace of the Guru will guide us in the shortest possible time in reaching our goal.
