
FEAR OF GOD
One of the biggest fear more than 95% people suffer from today is The Fear of God
Not knowing, not admitting, rooted deep in the mooladhara, it’s a fear which maximum suffer from today. On one side lies intense devotion on the other this fear rooted in the subtle layers of consciousness does not allow the relation or bond to flower as much as it should even after so much of prayers and sadhanas.
Have you observed the new age children, they do not get into these beliefs or that fear which the previous generations believed in. In fact many of them do not believe in the existence of God itself and its here that the Divine grace flows the most as its in this innocence and openness that The Divine thrives as compared to the false beliefs embedded in our generation.
Let me share with you a story from one of my earlier blogs –
Long time back there used to be a Hindu priest called Srinath who stayed with his family in a village. This priest was in charge of a Krishna temple in the village and used to worship the Lord everyday . he used to wake up at 4 am and open the temple, clean the whole temple himself, garland the Lord, do abhishek and finally open the door for people to enter and worship.
Like a typical poojari, he used to sit in the temple the whole day , place the offerings the devotees brought at the Lord’s feet and give them prasadam in return and complete all the tasks and activities of the temple. Many years passed by, the same way. One day Srinath had to rush to the city for some urgent work and he called upon his son who was 7 years old to carry out the basic work of the temple. After explaining everything, he told his son ”I will return back in the evening today, see to it that you give lunch (bhog) to the Lord before eating your food.”’
Saying this Srinath went away and returned back late in the evening.
On reaching he asked his son ” Did you complete all the work of the temple?” The son replied “Yes.” He further asked ” Did you give lunch to the Lord”. The son replied “Yes, I gave. He does not eat easily though” Curiously Srinath asked “What???”. The son himself quite surprised at this stage said ” Yes, He is difficult to deal with. Initially He was not eating, I kept the food, went to play and asked Him to eat it and finish it. When I came back after a while, He had still not eaten it. Again I requested Him to eat and went to play. The same thing when it repeated thrice, I got angry at Him. Then I used my force and told Him If you don’t eat food now, I will hit you with a stick which is kept behind the temple. Krishna got frightened and immediately came and ate the food. You also use this technique in future if He doesn’t eat.”
Saying this the small boy went to sleep. Srinath was confused ” Is my son telling the truth? If so, how can a stone idol eat food” With all these thoughts in his mind, he went to sleep. That night for the first time in his life, Lord Krishna appeared in his dreams. Crying inconsolably he asked the Lord” I am such a sincere devotee and a priest too and I have dedicated my life at your lotus feet. If my son is right, please tell me how come you ate the food he offered you, whereas till today you have not eaten anything I gave you. Am I so impure that you have not eaten my given food till date, or were you afraid that my son might beat you with the stick.”
The Lord smiled and replied “Dear Srinath, its neither of the above. Your son today treated me like I am a real living being and expected me to eat the food offered, hence I had to come and accept it. In your case, you have been offering me food for 40 years thrice a day. But at no point in your life you thought I will really come and accept the offerings. You treated me like a stone idol and I responded on your beliefs. I am Bhakt paradina i.e dependant on the devotee.” Saying this the Lord vanished, but Srinath learnt a very important lesson in his life. His thinking, his understanding of God, his faith all transformed. He learnt faith is binding, experience is relieving. He was himself bound by just faith, his little son had experienced God.
Are we not entangled in this belief of faith rather than the actual faith itself.
For more than 95% people God is still a belief
When God is a belief then we are bound by these belief systems and are trapped in those boundaries beyond which there is a fear of trespassing. This fear leads us to the turmoil around religion and religious beliefs. And the Supreme Divine power is held captive in your belief systems. A true spiritual person does not live in these boundaries and is open to all the immense possibilities of existence. Its only when you overcome this fear can a spiritual growth accelerate and take you towards your enlightenment or merging with the Divine.
Its here that God becomes an experience.
Today people are trapped so deep into this that they get exploited easily to please the God who has given them this beautiful life. Its become so much that to please God people part away from their hard earned money with such ease. When there is fear of God, there is no trust in the process of life and definitely no surrender.
As we take steps towards ascension, its time we come out of this embedded belief system. Stories have been manufactured to imbibe the fear in us and portray Him as a punishing God. God is the epitome of love and its just our belief systems leading to fear that punishes us. We today have distanced so much from The Divine that we feel there are agents of God and only these have some kind of direct access and others have to go through them to reach God. As if God has given away His sole rights to some people. Its time we come out of this to discover the God in ourselves and connect to Him directly.
This fear of God has apart from the other things also made us dependant upon a sect of people for poojas, mantra chanting, rituals etc. Of course pundits who do it follow certain processes to purify themselves to be eligible for the poojas. But that does not take away our right to perform the pooja / ritual/ havan by ourselves. If we too do it with focus, concentration and dedication, we too become eligible to do these ourselves. And mind you whatever is done with a pure intent always works wonders by whomsoever its done.
Let me share one true incident that happened hardly a month back –
We had gone to Nashik for the last rites of my father in law and my son was the one who was performing the pooja with the pandit. Suddenly there was some hue and cry around and people started running towards the river. On enquiring I came to know that a famous actor had come to immerse the ashes of his departed father and everyone was rushing to have a glimpse of him. It tool around 10 minutes for him to do the needful and he went back in his car. As he went away everyone did as did I to the pooja place and to my shock I discovered the pandit was not there. I asked my son and he said the pandit too ran to see the actor 10 minutes ago and we will have to wait for him to come to continue the pooja.
Many times poojas and rituals do not give the desired results as it is a sacred work and has to be done with atleast love, commitment and dedication for it.
Come Ganpati and break this fear, embrace and welcome the Divine Ganesha with pure intent, deep passion and pooja done by no one else but you.
Every ritual / pooja/ homa done with focus, concentration, interest, passion, connection gives deep long lasting results.
The more you worship with open mind and sanctimonious thoughts—the more Ganapati will bestow you with wisdom, health and prosperity.
Faith and real devotion is what matters than mere mechanical chants.
Are you open to break that fear now and come out of the superstitious beliefs that have held you captive since ages and generations.
If so Do a small little exercise- Connect and sit before any Ganesha idol you feel close to. Look straight into His eyes and ask him
Is it that despite my devotion, there is a fear for you in me?
The answer will for sure come to you if you have asked with an open mindset, it can come in any form or way, but it will be clear, you have to recognize it.
So open up and rise- In you lies every trait of your success. Your God does not reside outside you, its in you that He has to be discovered and its here He has been from time immemorial. Once you get tired and over with looking outside, search within for He is the inner dweller and He is waiting with open arms to embrace you.
Does the fear stand anywhere in between the two, Oh banish it and forget it NOW and here.
Your God awaits your return to His kingdom.
And there is Never a qualification or Eligibility criteria in this most Supreme relation for man.
Wishing you a Happy Ganesh Chaturthi well in advance.