Satsang with Shri Chandra Swamiji Udasin

November 2016

Swamiji during satsang

18.11.2016

Question: Just before coming here I visited a 90-year-old reverend master of a Soto Zend Order who is permanently bedridden in a hospital with dementia and physical frailty. She requested I ask you this question on her behalf: “What is the point of living in such a state of helplessness?”

Swamiji: It may be due to her destiny (prarabdha karma) or owing to living in a special manner in this life.

One learns more in one’s old age. Your friends and relatives are also tested in old age. Most friends are associated with you when you are in pleasurable circumstances. When you are in pain, few friend remain with you.

Some people ask why God gives pain. In pain a person learns more. A common person remembers God more when they are suffering then when they are enjoying pleasures and comforts.

In the Guru Granth Sahib there is a shloka written by Guru Tegh Bahadur called the nauvan mahalla shloka. It is full of dispassion and deep spiritual teachings. In one verse it says: “A dog never leaves the home of its Master no matter what happens. Likewise, o man, fix your mind on God with single-minded devotion.”

When faced with suffering, common people say, “God has given me this suffering.” And when enjoying pleasurable circumstances, they say, “I have earned this by my own karmas.”

Question: I recently understood that a body in good health is very important to quickly realize the Truth. However, I also believe that having a health impediment may become a means to go further on the path. Please shed light on this subject.

Swamiji: It depends upon the seeker, how he or she thinks in these states. There is a verse in the Guru Granth Sahib, “Dukh daru, sukh rog bhaya” – “Suffering is the medicine and pleasure is the disease.” The import is that most people remember God more during hardship and forget God in favourable circumstances.

 


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