Devotee: What is the goal of life? How to attain it? What are the Sadhanas best suited to a Grihastha?
Swami Papa Ramdas
Different people in the world have set before them different goals. Some want a high position in life, some want wealth, some want children, some want vast property, while some others want objects of the senses for enjoyment.
These are the various objectives people cherish and strive for. But, which is the goal that we must have before us? Worldly possessions, we know from experience, do not bring us real and lasting happiness.
Real happiness can be ours only by attaining God by realising God. God stands for immortal happiness and peace. Without Him happiness is far away from us. Therefore, when we were young, we were told by our parents to go to temples, or to places where there were saints and sages, or to parties where Bhajans were sung, so that we could turn our minds from childhood itself to the source of immortal joy — God. So, our true goal should be God and God alone.
God-realisation does not mean that we are to become something that we are not. We are only to become what we really are. We are, in truth, the Self or Atman which is Divine. By thinking of God constantly, we can realise our oneness with Him. What do we generally think ourselves to be? We think we are the body and nothing more. We think only of sense objects because our mind dwells upon the body. When the body is affected by diseases, we feel we are sick and when death comes to the body, we take it that we die. What a deplorable condition, when, in truth, we are the immortal Spirit, deathless, changeless! This is our true nature, which can be realised only by continuous thought of God. When we take Ram Nam, we commune with our real being, the eternal Truth.
Ram is not different from us from our real Self. He is seated within ourselves. When we repeat His Name with all love and faith, He manifests Himself within us in all His splendour and enables us to merge our little self into His all-pervading being. Therefore, it is said that external worship should end in internal worship. External worship is a means to realise the Divine within us. But, we cannot, at once, go within to find Him. It is difficult for us. So, we begin with external worship, do Puja to an image or a picture of God, and thus awaken Him in our heart. The external aid is necessary before we can see Him within us. Ultimately, we have to see that our inner Self and the all-pervading Self are one and the same.
Chant the Mahamantra Nama kirtan :
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
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