How Thirsty are You?
The glories of the human body have been sung by the Vedas, the Darshan Shastras, the Puranas and the Saints. It is only in a human body that we can attain our goal of everlasting, ever increasing happiness, God-realisation. A human body is the first requirement, followed by the association of a genuine spiritual master, Guru. Not just meeting one but associating with him properly. We have met Gurus countless times over countless lives but failed to associate with any of them correctly. We went to them, we offered our obeisance, and we listened to their discourses — even nodding our heads in affirmation, “Oh yes! Yes, I understand.” And then? We did nothing practically and so our minds remained immersed in the world. The Ramayan states that it is by the grace of God that we get birth in a human body. In fact, this is said to be God’s first grace. But His second grace is considered even greater. What is that? When God blesses us with the association of a genuine spiritual master.
Understand that merely meeting a Guru will not serve your purpose. Doing this is a bit like sitting before a lavish banquet but not eating anything. If you simply sat there starring at all the delicacies, you would eventually die of starvation. If water was brought but you refused to drink it, then death is certain. Similarly, just meeting a Saint is fruitless, unless and until, you surrender your mind and intellect to him.
You already have the good fortune of being blessed with both the above graces. God has given us the opportunity to meet countless Saints over countless lives, and they imparted spiritual knowledge to us, and we surrendered to them too. This grace is the reason why you are engaged in practical devotion. What extraordinary feat did you perform to get a human body and a Guru? Have you studied any scripture? On what basis did you receive these graces? Nevertheless, you have not attained your goal. Why? Because there is a third grace still outstanding, and it is even more essential. What is that? To have a genuine thirst for divine love.
A hunger for spiritual food must be present within us. An intense yearning to attain divine love over all else. Adi Jagadguru Shankaracharya termed this mumuksha. The Rasik Saints of Braj refer to this yearning as lalsa. It is known by various names. There should be a thirst, a hunger, a craving — an intense desire and longing; an intense eagerness and longing — to attain divine love. This intense restlessness for God should be such that you cannot live another moment without Him.
Even in the world, the intensity of desire varies. Some desires are very common, and we are satisfied if that desired item becomes readily available, and if not, we can just as easily do without it. In the second class, we exert effort to attain it, but we can still live without it if our efforts do not bear fruit. Then there is a higher class of desire where the degree of intensity is much greater, and it compels us to make an all-out attempt to achieve it and we cannot rest until we have it. The intensity of our search for God must fall into this category and reaching there depends on detachment.
So, what is the extent of your detachment from the world? Ask yourself, how firm is my belief that all my worldly relations and possessions are not for the soul? You are not the body. You are a divine soul, a part of God. This world is material, created by God, to sustain your body. It is not meant for the soul. If spiritual knowledge was deeply entrenched in your mind, then your thirst for divine love and detachment from the world would be much stronger. The way to make it so is through repeated practice. The greater the intensity of your love for God, the sooner you will attain your goal.
You already have a human body and spiritual knowledge acquired through the association of a Guru. Both are the means to attain God. Therefore, your Beloved Lord has done His work; the Guru has done his, and now the rest is up to you …
An excerpt from a discourse originally given in Hindi by:
Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj
10 April 2006
https://www.jkpliterature.org.in/
