A Journey Away from Deceit
Jalaludin Rumi was a great Muslim Saint. In his scripture entitled Masnavi he relates a wonderful story about humility, revealing the heights we must reach if we are to achieve our goal of God-realisation in this human birth.
Moses was once coming down a mountain. He had been sent as a messenger by God to teach worldly souls that the only aim of life is to attain God. As he was coming down, he noticed a shepherd in the distance kneeling down with his palms joined. As Moses approached him, he realised that the man was praying, and so, being curious, he paused to listen.
O My Dear Lord! How I yearn to meet You. I wonder what You do for a living. Maybe You herd sheep, cows, or buffaloes? You must be very tired from working all day long. Why don’t You allow me to massage Your lotus feet? You must have lice in your clothes too. Let me pick them out for You. If you are hungry, I can get some honey from the forest for You. Why don’t You take a break and rest here for a while? I will make a comfortable bed of flowers for You to lie down on.
Moses couldn’t believe his ears! He had never heard anyone addressing God in such an uncouth manner. Incensed and full of self-righteousness, he confronted the shepherd. “Just who do you think you are speaking to?” Startled by the outburst, the shepherd replied with folded hands, “Sir, I am speaking to my Beloved Lord.” “You fool,” replied Moses, “do you think God would ever have lice in His clothes? How dare you insult Him in this manner!” Tears welled up in the shepherd’s eyes. “Yes. You are right. I have transgressed terribly. I failed to realise what I was doing and the gravity of the sin I was committing. Please tell me how I can atone for my mistake?” Moses retorted, “There is no atonement for such a grievous sin. You have insulted God!”
Hearing these words, the shepherd was overcome with grief. Leaving his blanket, staff and meagre belongings lying on the ground, he walked off crying bitterly, begging God for forgiveness. Suddenly, there was a thundering voice from above, “Moses! It is not that innocent shepherd who has sinned but you. You have offended Me by destroying the pure devotional sentiments in the heart of My devotee. It is you who must go to him and beg for his forgiveness.”
Jagadguruttam Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj says that as aspiring devotees we all must strive to become as innocent and humble as that shepherd. Understand that offering some highfalutin talk in Sanskrit, Latin, Hindi, English or in any other language in a temple, mosque or church is of no use. The kingdom of God cannot be attained through words. God is not someone we can fool with our sweet talk as we do with one another in the world. We must reach the state of that shepherd and shed genuine tears of love and longing for God. Only then will He manifest before us.
There was once an acrobat who earned a living by performing his routine before the public. One day, he went into a church and saw people kneeling in front of the statue of Mother Mary. They had their hands out and were asking Her for various things. Being innocent at heart, the acrobat concluded that Mother Mary must give people whatever they want, otherwise, why would so many people be begging in front of Her?
When everyone had left the church, the acrobat locked the door from the inside. He decided to try please Mother Mary so that She would reward him too. To entertain Her, he started performing his acrobatics. When the priests heard thumping and banging coming from inside the church, they rushed over to find out what was going on. Finding the door locked, they peeped in through a side window and saw this man leaping about, his perspiration flying all over the place. Appalled by his antics in such a hallowed place, they ordered him to open the doors immediately. Once inside, some parishioners grabbed him and forcibly started to remove him. Just as the acrobat was being taken outside, a bright light emerged from Mother Mary, and She started to speak, “It is you priests who are the real hypocrites! This simple acrobat is My true devotee since he possesses a pure, innocent heart.”
There are numerous other examples of Saints like Dhannajat, Kabir, Mira and so on, all of whom succeeded in attaining God, leaving behind the great scholars of the Vedas and the other scriptures who are unable to shed a single tear for Him. Understand that God’s grace is not dependent on scriptural knowledge. In fact, even the greatest scholars must renounce their knowledge and become innocent and childlike. Only then will they attain God.
History tells us that there have been only a handful of Saints who were great scholars. 99 percent of the time we will find that it is illiterate, simple-hearted people who became God-realised. Why? An absence of pride. Such individuals have realised that they have nothing to be proud of. They possess no wealth to intoxicate them, no scholastic merit to flaunt, no prestige or status in the eyes of others and no honour that all fosters pride in the heart. As such, only they can genuinely say to God, “O Lord! I am the greatest of sinners.”
Conversely, if a person possesses wealth, knowledge, prestige, honour in society, and so on, how can he think himself to be worse than everyone else? Herein lies the problem. Therefore, we must go before God and shed genuine tears born from humbleness and sincerely beg for His divine love. Beg that He reveals Himself to you. Do not go to Him with your list of wants and desires. There should be no worldly desire lurking in your heart. Tell Him that you do not want anything from Him, even if He offers you the greatest worldly or celestial treasures. We have asked Him infinite times for infinite things since eternity, and yet, we have remained beggars.
Let us make a firm resolve not to be deceived any longer. Do not ask God for the world. We must keep moving forward in our devotion, keeping the aim of selfless love for God and Guru in our mind. The more tears of love we shed for God and Guru, the more purified our heart will be. And once it is completely purified, through the grace of Guru, we will attain God’s divine love for eternity.
Jagadguru Kripalu Bhaktiyoga Tattvadarshan — the essence of Vedic wisdom, spirituality and devotion in daily life.
