“Just to move forward in life – Vazhvil valam pera Tamil commentary.”

Just to move forward in life – Vazhvil valam pera Tamil commentary. Sahasrara – Islam- Sufism.

Sufi Saints are not respected much although Sufism is a part of Islam. In Sufism, gratitude to God is the only way of worship. One Sufi Saint or Sufi Gnyani and his disciples, in their wanderings, suddenly went without food for 3 days and the 4th day were even chased away by people without being given a place to stay. They slept in a graveyard. The next day morning, the Saint as usual started to say the prayer of Thanksgiving to God. His disciples however refused to follow suit. They asked why they should thank the Lord when they were refused food for 3 days and a place to stay as well. The Saint replied “You have been fed for 30 years and given a place to stay for 30 years, what about thanking him for that? There is still life in us; we need to thank him for that, least of all!”

Discontentment closes this chakra. Gratitude and contentment opens this it.

Life itself is a gift to us from God. Did we work for God day and night and earn this Life? No! We tell God that we want a diamond ring, but don’t thank him for giving us a finger to wear it. While asking, we ask in a very detailed fashion, but while thanking, we thank very superfluously. We need to adopt a life of nothing but gratitude. Ramana Maharishi says ”We always feel that something that we don’t have is as big as a mountain without which we cannot survive, but when we actually get it, somehow it becomes too small a thing to thank God for”. We simply take it for granted. After every gift that we receive, the mind says “What next…?”. We feel no base or root in ourselves. We are like people lost in a crowd and filled with insecurity. This is because we have no faith in or gratitude towards the Cosmic Energy or Prapanja Shakthi that is actually taking care of us every minute.

An Islam Story…A Sufi man lived in the middle of a desert in a small hut. One day, a young boy came by his hut and requested to allow him one night’s sleep and food. The Man agreed and the boy stayed. The next day morning, the Man found out from the boy that he is a burglar by profession. He cried out loud for having given food and accommodation to a burglar after all. He suddenly heard an even louder cry from the heavens. Allah was crying out ”You are crying for giving him all this for one day, imagine me who has been giving him all this for his lifetime!”. We all fail to understand that it is the Cosmic Energy that is taking care of us every minute.

Anyone who hasn’t seen the Himalayas is missing something in Life. You will see that over hundreds of kilometres, Ice Mountains appear as just mountains, and then progressively appear as mountains and water and later as just water. The Cosmic Energy or Life Force, capable of taking care of this phenomenon cannot take care of us? Allah goes on to tell the man, “You Fool! Your ego tells you that you are superior to the boy and hence you took care of him. In reality, it is I who is taking care of him and you and everything else”.

Certain things cannot be proved. Can anyone prove the phenomenon of sunrise and sunset? Can anyone even prove the direction that is east? Like this, whether we like it or not, whether we want it or not, whether we accept it or not, the Life Force is taking care of us every moment. We have a connection with this Force and hence the air that goes into us comes out.

We are all the time fighting the existence of this Life force although it is this that is our actual Life force. Imagine if a fish all the time fights with the sea saying that it has no faith in the sea, and that it is not going to eat or drink, and feels irritated all the time. The fish has to remain in the sea because the sea is its Life Force. Thank God for not giving the fish a mind like he gave man! The fish has escaped! The concept of this Life force will not change just because you do not believe in it.

One day, Mullah Nasrudeen was crying at his doorstep. A Man came up and asked why he was crying. Mullah replied, “My Grandfather has died leaving behind a wealth of fortune for me”. The Man was puzzled and said that the Grandfather was a very old man and had lived a full life and asked why Mullah should cry so much at inheriting all the wealth. Mullah continued “My Uncle passed away a few weeks back leaving all his wealth to me. My paternal Grandmother died a month back and she too left all her wealth for me.” The man was very confused by now and asked “Why are you crying if they all left their wealth to you and departed in their old age?” Mullah replied ” Alas, I have no more relatives who will die leaving their wealth to me”.

We all take things for granted. If you were to make a list of the things that you have got, the list would never end and it will take you unawares. Imagine if you lost your eyesight for 24 hours from the time you woke up one day. Your entire day’s routine which was so seamless till then becomes suddenly unimaginable. You would then probably thank God for your eyes!

Our devotion to God is like a business deal. A lawyer, a doctor and an engineer came together to start a business. They decided to include God as a partner. They fixed a small percentage of the expected profit as God’s share. The business grew and yielded unexpectedly high profit. God’s share suddenly seemed too high to be given away. One of them suggested that they would place a small vessel and throw up all the money. Whatever fell inside the vessel would be God’s and the rest would be theirs. The second man suggested that they place a big vessel and throw up all the coins and whatever fell inside would be theirs and the rest God’s. The lawyer finally said, “No, lets do it this way. Anyway God is sitting above us. We will throw up all the money. Whatever he wishes to take let him take, whatever falls down, we will take”.

If we consciously feel a sense of continued gratitude towards the Cosmic Energy, we will be able to feel ourselves being taken care of in its very lap. We will feel ourselves being cradled by this Energy, like a child is by the Mother. In my days of wandering, I have traveled more than 30,000 km out of which, more than 2000 km by foot. I traveled with just two pieces of clothing and a vessel for begging food, taking a vow not to touch money. People ask me how it was possible. The Geetha says “Ananyas chintha yantho mam yejana paryupasathe, thesham nithyabhiyukthanam yogakshemam vahamyaham…”– A Man who thinks only of me and serves me with shraddha (commitment), will be looked after by me for his well-being”. You may think that this concept is for yester-years of Dharma (justice) and Saints. No! It has happened to me who is sitting right in front of you now.

You say Kali (as in Kaliyuga, the fourth quarter of time) has ripened. No! Faith has disappeared, that’s all. Feel gratitude towards God. Feel him as your Mother and as your Father. Stop asking and start thanking, only then a relationship with the Existence can be established. A Sufi Saint once went to meet a wealthy King for endowment. He saw the King praying to God. He smiled to himself and went away. The King later called for him and asked him the purpose of his visit and why he had gone away without meeting him. The Saint replied “I came to ask for alms but saw you begging”.

In Sufism, there is no concept of asking God for something. The only way of worship is gratitude. A boy once visited a King’s palace. He requested to allow him to stay for a night in the palace. The King agreed and the boy stayed. The next day morning, he came up to the King and complained endlessly about the shortcomings of the accommodation provided to him. The King ordered the boy to be taken out saying that even a day’s accommodation was too much for a person such as him. The boy went to a Sufi Saint and narrated to him the happenings. The Saint asked him to become his disciple. A few months later, the Saint accompanied by the boy went to the King’s palace and asked to be allowed to stay for a few days in the palace. The next day morning, the Saint expressed heart-felt gratitude towards the King for the comforts made for them. The King immediately ordered his men to pay more attention to the arrangements made for the Saint. This is what happens when you thank Existence instead of finding fault with what has been given to you. By feeling gratitude, you are sending out positive vibrations that will automatically bring back more than you can imagine for yourself.

Birbal, an Enlightened Master, and Akbar his King were walking together on the streets. They saw a sandalwood dealer and Akbar said to Birbal “I don’t know why but I feel like hanging this man.” A month later, they walked past the same sandalwood dealer and Akbar this time said “It’s strange but I feel like giving this man some endowment now!”. Birbal replied, “O King! a month back, the sandalwood dealer’s business was suffering and when he saw you walking past, he thought to himself that if you die, the courtiers would come to buy a lot of sandalwood from him for your funeral pyre. He sent out these negative vibrations which prompted you to feel animosity towards him. I immediately purchased a lot of sandalwood from him to make tables and chairs for our kingdom. Today, he feels very grateful towards you and you have been struck by these positive vibrations from him and therefore you feel like giving him some endowment!”. If you feel only gratitude towards the Lord, there will be only happiness in your life. When there is true happiness in your life, good fortune will prevail. This is a maha vakya (great declaration). True Happiness or Ananda has the property of attracting good fortune.

Man is always under the impression that other men are waiting to lay hands on his pocket. In this fear, he builds many walls around him. Finally he finds himself entrapped in his own cell. That is why I say ‘Open the door, let the breeze in’. Have faith that the Life Force will take care of you. Be very clear that I am not saying ‘Don’t lock your houses!’. You need to lock your houses at the physical level. I am only saying that in the mental level, drop the obsession with the lock.

Sharada Devi says “Trust others even if you are exploited. The very quality of trusting the Universe in your being will make you live like God on Earth”.

When intellect sharpens, you will be able to understand like a scientist; when emotions sharpen, trust flowers; when feelings sharpen, Enlightened flowers.

This meditation technique is all about gratitude to Existence. Thanking God does not mean visualizing empty space and thanking it in a jiffy! People, plants and animals are all a part of God. You need to start from thanking the people who built the hospital in which you were delivered from your mother’s womb!