Radio Ruhaniyat: September 16, 2017

Hi everyone and thanks for joining us for this episode of Radio Ruhaniyat. We are talking about Starving the Ego and Feeding the Soul! Ego always does more damage than good, when we continue to cling on to it.

A small bird once got a piece of meat. He was flying happily thinking that he can sit somewhere on a tree and can have his meal. Suddenly a huge sparrow hawk saw that piece and rapidly came closer to the little bird. He was very scared that this sparrow hawk will kill him and started flying with full force with the meat still in his mouth. The chase continued for a long time and finally the little bird got tired and shouted out in fear. The piece of meat fell down from his beak and the sparrow hawk suddenly diverted and with the same force flew down towards the piece of meat. The little bird was relieved to have survived.

Similar is the case with us human beings. Till the time we hold on to ego, hatred & jealousy in our minds we are inviting troubles and sorrows but no sooner do we surrender our minds to the Almighty God and lose the ego, we start living a joyous life. God provided humans, the worldly material (wealth and power) to serve and help his fellow beings, but in arrogance and ignorance we have been hurting and oppressing them, whereas saints have been using them for the service of humanity and for the welfare of others. Their feet take them to the place of need, or to spread the message of Truth. Their tongue only sings the praise of the Lord; their actions are devoted to Him. In fact the energy is the same; it depends on how and where you apply it. Just as one makes a weapon from the bamboo tree, whereas, another makes a flute to sing the praise of God. Difference is not of kind, but of quality. That is why saints’ greatness lives forever.

Man’s ego and arrogance is the cause of his degeneration. Man boasts of being God lover, worshipper of the Almighty, follower of Gurus and Prophets, but if he has ego and arrogance, how is he pleasing God? God doesn’t like ego and arrogance. How can God reside where there is ego and arrogance, the two cannot live together.

If in a pot filled with water we ask the milkman to put some milk, he would not be able to do it, because it will spill. If we want milk to be poured in the pot, we will have to throw away the water before we can put any milk into it. Those who have ego and arrogance in them, they cannot imbibe humbleness and modesty, unless they throw away the ego and arrogance first. The two cannot be contained in the same pot. One who remains humble and modest, is great in the real sense of the word. In doing so, we will be respecting and rendering honor to our Gurus and Prophets. One who has attained that state is a real saint. Then he will neither be proud of his wealth and power, nor of his wisdom. He will believe that; everything is given by God. If he has got power or fame, he will give credit to God. He will say, “I don’t possess anything, it all belongs to Him. I am only the executor of His will”. For such people, God does everything Himself but makes his devotees look good.

It is correct that God is the doer but HE has given freedom to everyone to do his Karmas (actions). Everybody is allowed to perform the actions as per his/her own will.

Let’s take the example of a school. A School never teaches anyone to fail. A Student, who fails, can't blame the school for this failure because there are other students who are getting good grades. The school is the same, the teachings are the same but the students grasp the education based on their own individual capability and capacity. The students make the choice and decide how much attention they would pay during classes and hence how much they would be able to grasp.

If someone gets good scores, he/she can very easily claim that, because of the high standards of the school’s teaching patterns, he or she is doing well in studies. But on the contrary, if someone fails, they cannot blame the school.

So whatsoever good happens to us, is due to Mercy of the Lord Master along with our Karmas in the right direction. But bad happens due to our Karmas in the wrong direction.

How do we keep a check on our wrong actions? If we know that someone is about to take our picture, we quickly fix ourselves, put on a nice smile and start posing. If we know that someone is making a video, we try to look good and be at our best behavior because we know that what gets captured in the video will be seen by someone. Similarly, we have to always keep in mind that God is watching us every single moment. There is a non-stop constant video being recorded by Him, a video that’ll never get erased. What He saw us doing is left as a memory forever. So, we have to remember to always be at our best because He is recording us, every single moment, throughout our lives. This is a camera that never stops rolling.

And remember: It’s better to be humble and win a relationship than to lose relationships over ego!

Those who choose to lose in humility rise far higher than those who cling on to ego and refuse to be humble!

-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