Seek His help

By Swami Gautamananda

The percentage of spiritual quotient in a person's life time depends on how much time he devotes to God and thoughts of God. Naturally, for one who gets involved in worldly activities in all earnestness, this allotment of time to God may not be much. Sri Ramakrishna advised his disciples to sincerely seek God's help before delving into this quest because only He can guide them to this spiritual realisation.

A mother who is in the advanced stage of pregnancy will find a reduction in her daily chores; and after child birth, her time is totally devoted to looking after the baby. A sincere seeker of God finds himself in a similar situation. When the yearning is strong, by God's grace, worldly responsibilities that seemed to consume one's time would somehow get decreased and the individual would get time for total involvement with God.

That is why great sages and realised souls seek true Bhakti from God. Even the devout Narada sought this favour alone from God. The state of Bhakti ensures that one remains in close union with God in one's thoughts. Those who have attained realisation do not get attracted to worldly objects. Their state of mind is called Samadhi. Some of these realised souls are chosen by God to lead mankind through the spiritual path. Sri Ramakrishna's close disciples knew the times when he had direct vision of God and would be in a state of trance; and through this preceptor's guidance were motivated to seek God.

If one does not catch a glimpse of God's presence, one remains under a delusion that one is acting speaking and thinking, etc. We tend to think that we are able to differentiate between good and bad, right and wrong. One is not aware of the inner Self that remains a witness to the behaviour of the individual and thinks that this body, mind complex is an independent entity with all these faculties.

It is God's Maya that casts a spell on us and prevents us from grasping the true Jnana.

It is through God's grace that one can transcend this Maya. Great devotees like Bhishma and Kunti, understood the power of Lord's Maya and seek His help to save them from its distracting influence.