Radio Ruhaniyat: July 29, 2017

Greetings to all the listeners and welcome to another episode of Radio Ruhaniyat!!!

God is a must….not an option. He WAS, IS and WILL ALWAYS BE. His existence prevails, regardless of whether we believe in Him or not. He is the one who runs our life…regardless of whether we make Him a priority or not. When we turn to Him and surrender, we tend to live a more blessed and fruitful life. A small step towards Him, and all of a sudden He makes the impossible happen for us. Without God, we struggle in life and are constantly fighting a battle to find peace. When we live our lives making a conscious effort to keep God in our presence of mind, we live in peace and bliss, regardless of our circumstances.

Birbal was a minister in the court of Akbar. Birbal, apart from his sharp intellect, was also a devotee of Sri Rama. Akbar had a special regard for Birbal. He used to openly ask Birbal to clarify his impulsive - and very often-strange doubts. Birbal never failed to give an immediate and a fitting reply to such questions. Wherever Akbar went, he used to take Birbal along with him. During one such instance, when they travelled for some official purpose, they had to take a route through a dense forest. In the course of the journey, both were totally exhausted and famished. So they decided to rest under the shade of a tree for a while before continuing their journey. Since Akbar was very hungry, he wanted to look around the place to see if he can find a house to get some food. He induced Birbal to follow suit. But Birbal; who was in the midst of Rama Nama Japan (Repetition of God's name), chose to stay where he was. Akbar looked at Birbal and said: 'Mere chanting of the names of the Lord would not fetch you food. You have to put in your efforts.... You cannot achieve anything without self-effort...'

A young man was told that God is distributing blessings in the form of a fruit to everyone. Who so ever is fortunate enough to get the fruit will be blessed for the rest of his life. The young man was a very spiritual and God fearing person and wanted the fruit so that he could be blessed for the rest of his life. He went to the place where the blessings were being distributed and saw a very long line. He was determined to seek blessings, so he stood in line without a second thought. After standing and waiting patiently for a very long time, his turn finally came. When he put both his hands forward, God placed the fruit in his hands but for some reason, the fruit dropped from his hands. He was in such an awe of being so close to God that he could not focus on keeping his hands firm. The fruit fell so far down that he could not even see where it went.

Akbar left Birbal in the pursuit of pacifying his belly. In a little while he spotted a house. The members of the household were overjoyed to see their King coming to their very doorstep for food. They treated him to the best of their capacity. Akbar finished his meal and took a little food for Birbal too and left the house. He met Birbal and gave him the food. 'See Birbal, I told you... I made some efforts for the food and I got it. You were just sitting and chanting Rama Nama and you did not get any food.' Birbal ignored his scoffing and took the food given by Akbar. After he finished the meal, he looked up at Akbar and said,

'I have just now experienced the power of God-remembrance, like never before. You are the ruler of the land. But today even the King had to beg for food. But you look at me. I was just spending a few moments with God and my surrender made the king himself get me food, that too by begging. So I got the food, just by sitting here in worship without any other special efforts. Such is the power of making God a priority!!'

Recharge your faith and make a difference in your life. Feel the essence of God’s presence in and around you and watch your life bloom into bliss and ecstasy. God is always with us, but we usually forget to activate His presence in our lives. Realize that He is omnipresent and watching us every moment. As we struggle with life’s hassles, He is watching and hoping that we would remember Him and invite Him into our life, so that He could detangle our knots.

In a beautiful poem about God, Sant Kabir ji said:

Are you looking for me? I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
You will not find me in the stupas, not in Indian shrine rooms, nor in synagogues, nor in cathedrals: not in masses, nor kirtans, not in legs winding around your own neck, or in eating nothing but vegetables.
When you really look for me, you will see me instantly -- you will find me in the tiniest house of time. Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath.

God is not difficult to achieve, neither is He hard to find. It is a matter of priority! We can make the choice of making Him number 1 in our lives and live peacefully or we can choose to struggle throughout our lives by believing that I alone can take care of myself. Always remember the rule of thumb: when it comes to priorities: God is of the first and foremost importance in your life. Then come family, friends and work.

IF YOU HAVE TO MAKE A CHOICE, THEN CHOOSE TO
LEAVE PEOPLE FOR GOD, BUT NEVER LEAVE GOD FOR PEOPLE.

We often get carried away in the daily rut of life and forget the very purpose of why we are here. We came into being for the sole purpose of realizing God and achieving salvation. Materialism is a means to reach our goal: not our goal. Revive your awareness and aim on realizing God. When we make God a priority, material comforts automatically become a blessing because they are nothing more than a state of mind.

-Until next time, this is Preet Sahi reminding you to Stay Spiritual!

Radio Ruhaniyat is inspired by thoughts and views from members of the Sant Nirankari Mission, along with Inspirational & Motivational speeches, posts, articles & stories. The Foundation of this program and the message being conveyed is inspired from www.nirankari.org