Radio Ruhaniyat: October 21, 2017

Hi everyone and thanks for joining us for this episode of Radio Ruhaniyat!

Spiritualism and Materialism are like the two banks of a river. We need both to maintain the flow of life’s stream but at the same time, we must balance the two realms of life. We often tend to incline towards materialism and get so entangled in it, that we miss out on the spiritual essence of life. The story of The Fisherman’s Net teaches us how surrendering into the Guru’s feet will always protect us from the pangs of material dilemmas.

Once upon a time, there lived many fish in a pond. Every day, they would wake up in the morning with a dread - The Fisherman’s net!
The fisherman would be there every morning, without fail, to cast his net.
And without fail every morning, many fish would get caught in it.
Some would be taken by surprise, some caught napping, a few would not find any place to hide while others, even though aware of the lurking danger, would simply find no means to escape the deadly net.

Among the fish, was one young fish that was always cheerful.
It had no fear of the fisherman’s net and it seemed to have mastered the art of being alive and staying lively. All the senior fish wondered as to what might be the secret of this little fish.
How could it manage so well when their cumulative experience and wisdom were not enough to save them from the net. Unable to bear their curiosity and desperate to find a way to escape the net, all the fish went to this little fish one evening.

"Hey little one! We have all come here to talk to you.”
"Me?” asked the little fish, “What do you want to speak to me about?”
"We actually want to ask you that tomorrow morning, the fisherman will be back again. Are you not scared of getting caught in his net?”
The little fish smiled, “No! I will not be caught in his net ever!”
Share with us little one, the secret behind your confidence and success”, the elders pleaded.
“Very simple”, said the little fish. “When the fisherman comes to cast his net, I rush and stay at his feet.
That is one place that the net can never reach, even if the fisherman wants to cast! So, I never get caught.”
All the fish simply marveled at the simplicity of the little fish’s wisdom.

Similarly when we cling to Lord’s lotus feet, we can escape the net of ‘MAYA’; which is materialism.

In the Bhagwad Gita 7.14, Lord Krishna says:
“This divine energy of Mine; MAYA, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me, can easily cross beyond it.”
Lord Krishna, was the prophet of the time and he gave us the message of surrendering into the True Master’s feet. There has been a prophet in every era, since the beginning and there is a prophet today.
What exactly does ‘Surrender’ mean? It means humbling ourselves in complete submission. When we give up our ego and truly believe that our capabilities and accomplishments are the grace of God, we enable ourselves to becoming humble.
In Spirituality, there is a simple rule of thumb: Where there is Ego, there is no room for God.
It is only the humble, who have the capacity to draw grace upon themselves. The Lord’s mercy and blessings, fall upon those, who live in surrender to God and the Guru.

Our daily lives consist of the three basic aspects of Maya: or Materialism: “Tan, Man & Dhan”, which are, Body, Mind and Wealth. These three aspects engulf everything we possess materialistically. If we can learn the art of staying detached from all three, we can truly accomplish great heights on the Spiritual platform.
Learning to be attached only to the point where it is a necessity but not to the point that we get attached and greedy; is the key to Detached Attachment.

Our Body belongs to God. Some day, our own loved ones will burn it or bury it, when it has no purpose. Treat it well only for the reason that it is the home for our soul. Our Mind is the root of all troubles. Surrendering the mind teaches us to keep the mind on track. Train your mind to follow you instead of you following the mind. Our Wealth belongs to God. One day we have it, and someday we might not have it. Treat it as a means to reach your goal of Spiritual accomplishments, but don’t make wealth, your goal.

And remember: The Guru shows us the divine path, but it is our job to walk on that path and reach the divine spiritual goal because very soul is incomplete without the Divine!

-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