Is God’s abode like a retirement home?

Do we forget our worries, sit back and relax at God's own home!

What is the reward for that fortunate soul who goes to God’s abode? It is the perpetual service of God. This isn’t like the material world where a lifetime of service results in a comfortable retirement of doing nothing and taking it easy.

Also, even before the Jeeva goes to God’s abode, he has to serve his guru with everything that he has. He has to give his body, mind and material wealth to the guru and serve his guru with the utmost dedication.

What happens when a seeker serves his guru with dedication?

The guru heaps on him more tasks to do. When he finishes that, yet more tasks await the seeker. The guru keeps increasing the volume and tempo of service. To the seeker who accepts this with a cheerful heart, the guru piles more tasks, the ones who grumble and complain, find themselves with very little to do.

It may sound unfair to you, but it is not. The whole point behind this is to increase our speed toward the divine. It is to engross the mind in the divine, without allowing it to digress toward the material world.

Sri Maharaj Ji tells this story of two dogs who set out from Mangarh to Ayodhya in search of better food. The food at Mangarh ashram is bland, it is deliberately so. The dogs had heard that there are grand temples and monasteries in Ayodhya, and that the food is rich and sumptuous. The distance between Mangarh and Ayodhya is about 100 miles, and the dogs planned on travelling 10 miles every day and stopping for the night. In this manner, they reckoned, they would comfortably reach Ayodhya in 10 days.

Dogs are territorial creatures; every dog thinks it is the master of its street and will defend its territory with great ferocity. In particular, dogs are very resentful of other strange dogs. Our dogs covered 10 miles and called it a day in a village. No sooner did they take rest than the dogs of that village chased them away with great vigour. Our dogs ran away from the scene, covered some distance, and settled down to rest. They encountered the same problem as the dogs of that village too did not allow them to settle there. The two dogs could rest nowhere. Yet, they kept on moving toward Ayodhya. Second, they did not turn back to face their tormentors and fight them. In this manner, the two dogs reached Ayodhya in two days, instead of the 10 days that they had planned.

What is the moral of the story?

In the manner the dogs could not rest and had to move forward, the guru tests us to the limit of our endurance. It is the mark of his concern for us he prods, rebukes and cajoles us constantly. Those of us who understand his compassion accept his rebukes as blessings. We have not been given human birth to go slow and take it easy. This is the golden opportunity for us to attain God. Thus, the guru keeps increasing the level of service for us. It is not as if God and guru need our service or our money. We are beggars in the truest sense; what can we offer them? Yet, the guru gives us tasks to perform, and this cleanses the mind and prepares it for divine bliss.

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