Whether we are rich or poor, male or female, skilled or unskilled, young or old - God has given one thing in equal measure to all of us. Each human being has twenty four hours at his or her disposal every-day. There is absolutely no favouritism here. A king does not have more hours, neither does a begger have less. What is important is how we use this time. All of us have certain duties that we have to perform. Once we complete these, how do we spend our free time? Do our activities help others and bring them peace? Are we sowing seeds of love and harmony wherever we go? If we look back at our lives, we will see many achievements - several hours spent in rewarding and helpful activities, in gathering valuable skills and knowledge. We will also see many hours spent in wasteful pursuits and many occasions when our attitude, words or actions have caused pain to others. All this will come back to us as pleasant events in life which we call Karma. Our memory of the past years in this very lifetime is dim and we are completely unaware of our previous births.
All of us carry a large load of Karma accumulated over lifetimes which clouds our mind and intellect and creates cycles of favourable and unfavourable circumstances in our lives. Performing the spiritual sadhana prescribed in Devi Mahatmyam washes away our negative Karma of several lifetimes.
Just as we set aside a little time everyday for bathing and purifying the body, likewise performing sadhana everyday purifies our mind and intellect of unwanted tendencies and Karmic residues. Each day of sadhana is equivalent to perennial austerity and well being throughout the year.
The Divine Mother Adiparashakti says - “My dear child, I have created the world with everything that you need. My own divine energy is pulsating in every atom and in every being. I exist as your soul in all of you regardless of your age, gender, status, caste or religion. Enjoy this sweet nectar of My divine presence in you and allow it to flow out and sweeten the life of others.” Though we look different, live in different ways and Extract from ‘The book of direct truths, subtle truths and the mystical truths of Devi Mahatmyam’ by Shri Shri Nimishananda talk different languages, all of us have this divine care in us.
We can understand this easily if we look at an example. All of us use sugar and store it in glass bottles, others in plastic jars or metal boxes. The containers are different, but the sweetness of the sugar in them is the same.
Forgetting this fact, we base our acceptance of people on our own likes and dislikes. Our love and affection are so conditional. When our expectations are met we shower people with love and if their behaviour displeases us, we are cold to them or quarrel with them. Most of our relationships have these ups and downs.
That is why Devi manifests in the form of Aryamba who is the personification of unconditional love. So, if we pray to Her saying - “Mother let the sweetness in my inner core come out as unconditional love and acceptance,” She will surely seal our resolve with Her Grace. To tune ourselves to Her divine frequency, we should chant the mantra - OM NAMO ARYAMBAYEI NAMAHA.”
Let us stir and dissolve the nectar of love into our life with the spoon of sadhana to make our own existence and the lives of others sweet and blissful.
‘Waves of Beauty’ series Saundarya Lahiri by Shri Nimishananda. Visit www.shrinimishamba.org