RADIO RUHANIYAT. 07-05-2014: Episode 354

Freedom: for the Soul!                                                                                          _________________________________________________________________________________________________

Freedom or Independence is indeed worth celebration. Fireworks, bar-b-ques and get-togethers are the widely popular ways of celebrating freedom around this time of the year and we hope that everyone had a great July 4^th celebration yesterday.

The Freedom or Independence that really needs to be focused on is that of the soul. The Law of Reincarnation makes the soul take various births and rebirths until it eventually takes the form of a human being. The soul changes body forms like we change clothes. A human being is considered the most superior birth form in which God has given us the opportunity to Know God and Realize Him.

They say God Realization is Self -Realization. If we ask a simple question "Where is God?" then most people knowingly or unknowingly point the finger up to the sky. We find millions of people going to temples, mosques and churches to find God. People consider the birth places or places where Lords, Saints and Prophets of past (such as Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Lord Buddha, Lord Mahavir, Prophet Mohammad, Lord Jesus) lived as shrines and holy places and we find millions of people visiting such holy places and shrines thinking that they will get a step closer God.

We find people who desert their families, who give up the society, who live in solitude with an intention to run away from physical materialistic world. They concentrate their minds on holy books and scriptures, they meditate and indulge in thousands of kinds of rites and rituals to find God. God is not restricted to a place or God cannot be brought physically to a place by any kind of rite or ritual. This is ignorance. Enlightenment, God Realization, God Knowledge is nothing but removal of this ignorance from our minds.

There once was a very wealthy and successful man.  He had more money than he could ever spend and he was admired and looked up to by his community.  Still, he knew that something was missing in his life. He wasn't happy.  All his life he had pursued happiness and strived for happiness but had never been able to find it.

Then one day he heard about a hidden temple in Nepal which had a special room that contained the secret to happiness. He sold all that he owned and set out to find this hidden temple.  After many years of searching and countless hardships he finally arrived there. By then he was weary and penny less, but he knew that none of that mattered now that he had found the temple. He asked a wise, smiling monk if he could enter the special room. The monk agreed and showed him the stairs leading to the room. He climbed them with legs shaking with anticipation and slowly opened the door. 

He stared into the room with sunlight streaming through the window and saw what he had come so far to find.  There hanging on the wall was the secret of happiness.  The man gazed at his reflection in the mirror and laughed.  It is time that we all realized that we are the secret to our own happiness. Happiness is a choice that we make within.

The Ignorance about the Eternal Truth is the cause of unhappiness. Happiness comes from contentment in life. And contentment can only be there if we have faith and trust in God. If we believe that whatever God does is for a reason and for the best, we will be able to accept every situation in life and hence be happy.

It is not the worldly wealth, education and achievement, but the Realization of Truth which makes man truly happy. Happiness resides not in possessions and not in gold; the feeling of happiness dwells in the soul.

They say: “Gaj dhan, gau dhan, baaj dhan. Rattan dhan khan, Jab santosh dhan aayo, sab dhan dhuuli saman.

When contentment arises, all material possessions seem worthless.

God loves us and gives each one of us the ability to fill our lives with love, joy, peace, happiness, and oneness with Him. We choose to do so moment by moment and day by day.  It doesn't matter what our outer circumstances are either, because the Kingdom of Heaven is within us. Don't spend the rest of your life searching the world for happiness then. Just look in the mirror and laugh. Just let the happiness flow from your heart, mind, and soul until it fills your life and the lives of all those around you.   

And always remember: Always be a reason for someone’s happiness but you might not be a part of it.

Always be a part of someone’s sadness but never be a reason for it.